A mood of deep pessimism has spread among the international community of AIDS scientists after the failure of a trial of a promising vaccine at the end of last year.
As of 28 March, 2008, the Brazilian health authorities have reported a national total of 120,570 cases of dengue including 647 dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) cases, with 48 deaths.
Officials are deeply concerned that the high level of virus circulation in birds in the country could create conditions for the virus to mutate and to finally cause a human influenza pandemic.
An experimental, combination vaccine against Ebola and Marburg viruses using virus-like particles (VLPs) provides complete protection against infection in monkeys.