Review

New pandemics: HIV and AIDS, HCV and chronic hepatitis, Influenza virus and flu

Anne Gatignol¹ , Jean Dubuisson² , Mark A Wainberg³ , Éric A Cohen⁴ and Jean-Luc Darlix⁵

¹  Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, and Department of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

²  Institut de Biologie de Lille (UMR8161), CNRS, Université de Lille I & II and Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France

³  McGill University AIDS Centre, Montréal, Québec, Canada

⁴  Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada

⁵  LaboRetro, Unité INSERM 758 de Virologie Humaine, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon, France

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Retrovirology 2007, 4:8doi:10.1186/1742-4690-4-8

Published:	1 February 2007

Abstract

New pandemics are a serious threat to the health of the entire world. They are essentially of viral origin and spread at large speed. A meeting on this topic was held in Lyon, France, within the XIXth Jacques Cartier Symposia, a series of France-Québec meetings held every year. New findings on HIV and AIDS, on HCV and chronic hepatitis, and an update on influenza virus and flu were covered during this meeting on December 4 and 5, 2006. Aspects of viral structure, virus-host interactions, antiviral defenses, drugs and vaccinations, and epidemiological aspects were discussed for HIV and HCV. Old and recent data on the flu epidemics ended this meeting.