Category Archives: Virology

Keeping up with virus taxonomy

Posted on July 16, 2018 by

As sequencing technologies continue to become more efficient, more and more viruses are being discovered. However, classification of these new viruses still relies upon information about physical properties. New viruses cannot be defined on sequence alone.  The International Committee on … Continue reading →

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Using yeast to produce a better polio vaccine

Posted on June 7, 2018 by

On 14-15 June, the Early Careers Microbiologists’ Forum Conference will be held at the University of Birmingham. The Conference will give Early Career Microbiologists the opportunity to present their research, network and attend professional development sessions.  Lee Sherry provides some … Continue reading →

Posted in Clinical and Medical Microbiology, Events, Mycology, Virology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Déjà flu: can science help the NHS cope with the annual burden of respiratory infections?

Posted on April 26, 2018 by

Last winter’s flu season was widely covered as having put huge pressure on the NHS, with reports the NHS is being thrown into ‘crisis’. What went wrong? And how can the NHS be supported in the future? At the Microbiology … Continue reading →

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HPV In Malawi

Posted on September 26, 2017 by

Malawi, in Sub-Saharan Africa, has the highest incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in the world. Nearly all cases of cervical cancer are caused by human papillomavirus, or HPV. Earlier this year, the Microbiology Society funded one of our members, … Continue reading →

Posted in Clinical and Medical Microbiology, Grants, Virology | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Researchers are hunting for viruses that could cause the next pandemic

Posted on July 13, 2017 by

Scientists around the world are looking for the next SARS or MERS virus in wildlife from disease emergence ‘hotspots’. giulia/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 In late 2002, a new kind of lung infection began to emerge in the Guandong province of southern … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Microbiology, Emerging Diseases, On the Horizon, Virology | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Koalas have a virus that might protect them from chlamydia

Posted on April 4, 2017 by

In 2016, the koala was upgraded from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The cuddly-looking marsupial is not only threatened by habitat loss, but also by disease – most notably chlamydia infections. Different species … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Microbiology, Events, Virology | 3 Comments

How concerned should we be about H7N9 flu?

Posted on February 24, 2017 by

The past few weeks have seen an increasing amount of coverage about an ongoing outbreak of the H7N9 strain of avian influenza in China (often called ‘bird flu’). Reports suggest that in January almost 200 people were confirmed as being … Continue reading →

Posted in Clinical and Medical Microbiology, Virology | Tagged , | 3 Comments