Figure 1. Regions where Zika has a potentially viable environment suitable for transmission. The fight against the Zika virus has been a difficult one. The arboviral disease is easily transmissible, through a viral vector known as Aedes aegypti, in layman’s terms mosquitoes. The virus first began in Micronesia in 2007, following Oceania in 2013, leading…

Hepatitis C viral infection is a worldwide problem with hundreds of millions of people currently infected. Unfortunately, due to the rate of infection and the poor quality controls in place to ensure accurate counts, figures vary widely from 130 million to 184 million patients (Douam et al., 2016; Poordad et al., 2014).

Retroviruses are being developed for use as vectors in viral gene therapy for the treatment and possible cure of hemophilia and other genetic diseases. Hemophilia is a genetic disease where mutations in genes for clotting factors disrupt the formation of blood clots, causing excessive bleeding. Current treatments for hemophilia vary depending on the severity of…

Noroviruses are the most common cause of gastroenteritis in the United States. They are thought to be responsible for close to 90% of epidemic, non-bacterial gastroenteritis around the world. An estimated 71,000 deaths each year are associated with norovirus gastroenteritis (Huhti 2016). Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the stomach and small and large intestines, and…

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a member of the herpes family and primarily infects B cells and epithelial cells. It is one of the most common viruses and persists in the body for life. It infects over 90% of the human population, but a majority of individuals show no recognizable illness in response to the…

Oncolytic viruses are viruses that affectively target and kill cancer cells. In theory they are a great remedy for cancer therapy but like all science there are gray areas with theories. For example, if one oncolytic virus treatment works for one person does not mean it works for another. However, this does not stop science…

Rabies virus is not something that we hear much about anymore. Since the 1970’s the number of rabies-attributed deaths in the United States has been steadily declining. This is a result of vaccination protocols as well as animal control programs. Currently human rabies cases in the United States are rare, with only 1 to 3…

            Increasing discoveries in the medical field has allowed for more available treatments and cures to various diseases. One type of treatment that is continuously being researched is gene therapy. Gene therapy involves using a vector to transplant a healthy copy of a gene into a patient’s cells in order to cure the patient or…

I was in first grade and it was a few days before our first school concert.  The concert was Disney themed and I couldn’t be anymore fired up about it.  I discovered an itchy bump on my back and was told to visit the school nurse.  The nurse claimed it was nothing and sent me…