Virology
Origin of current influenza H1N1 virus
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
Influenza viruses of two subtypes, H1N1 and H3N2, have been causing respiratory infections in humans since 1977. Before that year, it was believed that only one human subtype circulated each flu season. How did this unusual situation come about? Major changes in the surface glycoproteins of influenza virus – called antigenic shift – lead to …
TWiV #22: Viral Bioinformatics
By Vincent Racaniello | | Events
In episode #22 of This Week in Virology, Vincent and Chris Upton converse about hepatitis B in India, AIDS gene therapy with a ribozyme, antibodies that neutralize many influenza virus strains, killing tumors with vaccinia virus, myxoma virus of rabbits, and the Viral Bioinformatics Resource Center. Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to …
A plethora of papillomaviruses
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
When Harald zur Hausen identified the first human papillomavirus (HPV-16) in 1983 in women with cervical cancer, little did he know he would receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery 25 years later. He probably also did not know how difficult it would be to propagate these viruses in a way that would allow …
Dreaming of inactivated poliovirus vaccine
By Vincent Racaniello | | Commentary
The World Health Organization’s global polio eradication effort uses the live, attenuated poliovirus vaccines developed by Albert Sabin. When the eradication program was announced in 1988, the goal was to eliminate global poliomyelitis, then cease immunization with poliovirus at some point in the future. In 2002 an outbreak of polio in the Dominican Republic sent …
Influenza vaccine for life?
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
The best way to prevent influenza is by immunization. Unlike vaccines for polio and measles, which confer life-long immunity, the influenza vaccine protects for only one year. Influenza virus undergoes antigenic variation, necessitating annual production of a new vaccine. Is it possible to formulate an influenza vaccine that protects against all virus strains for life? Two studies …
Anti-HIV ribozyme: an alternative to HAART?
By Vincent Racaniello | | Information
The treatment of AIDS patients with a combination of three or four antiviral drugs is known as HAART, or highly active antiretroviral therapy. Combination therapy has been effective for long-term control of infection, and represents one of the high points in AIDS research. The downside of HAART is that strict adherence to daily therapy must …
David Tuller
Trial By Error: News Bits–“Frail & Furious” for #Millions Missing; Usual Suspects at Psych Confab; Long COVID Advocates Channel ACT UP
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month at UC Berkeley. If you’d like to support my work, the link is here. ********** “Frail and Furious” on May 12th Each year on May 12th, an international day of ME awareness, #MillionsMissing protests are held in cities across the world and draw significant media attention. This …
Trial By Error: Claims on Exercise for Long COVID Were “Overly Assertive,” Agree Meta-Analysis Authors
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month at UC Berkeley. If you’d like to support my work, the link is here. I posted two days ago that a Lancet journal, eClinicalMedicine, had just published a letter of mine, as well as an unsatisfactory corrigendum to the study I had criticized. That study, “Effects of …
Trial By Error: Lancet Journal Publishes My Letter Challenging Claims on Exercise and Long COVID
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month at UC Berkeley. If you’d like to support my work, the link is here. *UPDATE: The journal has now published, in addition to the corrigendium, a response from the authors in which they acknowledge my concerns. Last year, eClinicalMedicine, a journal in the Lancet stable, published an …
Trial By Error: Article in New Scientist Questions Value of Exercise for Long COVID (and quotes me)
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month at UC Berkeley. If you’d like to support my work, the link is here. ********** When it comes to exercise and Long COVID, investigators have routinely claimed success for their interventions–and many news articles have followed their lead in covering the issue. Most reporters don’t have the …
Trial By Error: Pushback Against Psychologizing on BBC and in Medical Journal
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month at UC Berkeley. If you’d like to support my work, the link is here. ********** BBC Radio 4 highlights criticism of interview with neurologist and author Suzanne O’Sullivan In March, neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan spoke on a BBC Radio 4 podcast called Radical, hosted by journalist Amol Rajan. …
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Trial By Error: Two Interviews–My Latest Appearance on “Tub Talks with Damon”; Julie Rehmeyer on her NYT “Modern Love” Piece
By David Tuller, DrPH *This is a crowdfunding month at UC Berkeley. If you’d like to support my work, the link is here. ********** Once again, I get into Damon’s tub “Tub Talks with Damon” is a series hosted by Damon Jacobs, a sex-positive therapist and advocate for gay men’s and queer people’s health. And yes, …