Virus

Anne Arundel Internet virus idles 2,000 computers An Internet virus that has bedeviled media outlets across the country forced Anne Arundel County to shut down more than 2,000 computers, sending technicians on a furious race to contain the outbreak and produce payroll checks for county employees. The fast-mutating virus, known as Rinbot, disrupted operations at the Turner Broadcasting System, then attacked computers at The Boston Globe and almost all of McClatchy Co.'s 32 newspapers.

State and local health officials have concluded that a sick employee who was handling food transmitted a virus to more than 350 guests who dined at Turf Valley Resort and Conference Center in Ellicott City last month.The determination closed a three-week investigation into an outbreak of a Norwalk-like virus that caused vomiting and diarrhea, officials said."This was your common, garden-variety virus that can cause flu-like conditions," said Tori Leonard, state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene spokeswoman.

Three new studies, including one at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, have quashed the hope that some patients taking triple-drug "cocktails" for AIDS can stop taking their medications after a few years of successful treatment.The findings have had an immediate effect -- prompting Dr. David Ho, the famous AIDS researcher in New York City, to shelve plans to take a few patients off drugs to see if the infection bounces back.The action was to be a bold test of his theory that the drugs were capable of curing patients within a few years.

I SPEND a lot of time recounting tales of woe from friends and readers, but this one is my own.Naturally, it happened at the worst possible time. With a business trip scheduled the next day, I was trying to finish off a dozen little jobs, including a presentation for the conference I was attending. This involved copying a lot of files between two different desktop computers and a laptop machine.I copied a couple of Microsoft Word files from a new computer running Windows 95 and opened them using my regular desktop machine, which was running Windows 3.1.I knew something was wrong when it took a long time for the file to open.

It's a busy night at Bunns, a gay nightclub near Lexington Market. At 11 p.m., men are congregating outside, awaiting a weekly pageant in which competitors dance along a mirrored runway to booming hip-hop and a cheering crowd.The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. Although several men show up in drag, adorned in blouses, jewelry and glossy cosmetics, most wear jeans, flannels and T-shirts.At bars that cater to African-American gays along the East Coast, the contest has become a regular attraction.

NEW YORK -- The United Nations AIDS organization has released disturbing estimates of the seemingly relentless expansion of the HIV pandemic.At a time when many Americans are optimistic that drug therapy might eliminate the virus, HIV is taking a heavy toll worldwide.According to the agency, every minute six people become infected with HIV: 7,500 adults per day and 1,000 children. About 30 million people have acquired the virus during the past 15 years; 6.4 million of them have died of AIDS.

For the first time since the AIDS epidemic began sweeping across America and the world, physicians think they may have the weapons to place them on an equal footing with the deadly virus.While cautious about using the word "cure," researchers gathering Sunday in Vancouver, British Columbia, for the 11th International Conference on AIDS are optimistic that they can begin to bring the epidemic under control.In new studies that will receive their first formal presentations at the conference, researchers have found that potent combinations of new and old drugs can reduce HIV concentrations in AIDS victims to levels below detectability.

KIKWIT, Zaire -- Sister Dinarosa Belleri, an Italian nursing nun who devoted nearly three decades to serving the poor and sick here, had an unusual funeral yesterday in the sad and dusty graveyard behind the city's cathedral.The coffin came on a hospital gurney. The five pallbearers wore full-length green gowns, heavy plastic goggles, surgical face masks, white helmets, thick gloves and knee-high rubber boots. They nearly dropped the casket before nervously lowering it into the freshly dug grave.

Lisa W. Yingling looks the picture of good health. She smiles broadly and often, and pokes fun at AIDS, the disease that is threatening her life."Even my husband is totally optimistic," she said. "He says I look well, so I must be well."Five years ago, with the tiny prick of a needle, this 36-year-old Carroll County nurse went from care giver to carrier of deadly HIV. Now an AIDS patient retired on disability, Ms. Yingling is telling her story to anyone willing to listen. Her husband, who is not infected, supports her efforts, she said.

PHILADELPHIA -- One of the great mysteries about AIDS is how people can live for years with the human immunodeficiency virus and still feel healthy. Then, for unknown reasons, they begin getting sick and die.What causes this devastating downturn?University of Pennsylvania scientists announced Monday that they may have discovered how the virus moves out of its "latent" stage to begin its aggressive and lethal attack on the body's immune system.The culprit may be a protein, unique to people with acquired immune deficiency syndrome, that appears to tell infected cells when to make more virus.

Two more people in Maryland have died of swine flu, bringing the state's tally of deaths associated with the H1N1 virus to 12, state health officials said Wednesday. The two who died were unrelated adults from the Baltimore area with no underlying health problems. Officials confirmed that one of the dead was Walter Brooks Jr., 18, a graduate of North County High School in Glen Burnie, who died Oct. 21. Maryland is among 46 states nationwide where the virus is widespread, contributing to 279 hospitalizations statewide.

President Barack Obama declared the swine flu a federal emergency over the weekend. Has the government's response to the H1N1 virus been satisfactory so far? Yes 27% No 64% Not sure 9% (790 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Should Mayor Sheila Dixon sign a City Council-approved bill expanding the areas of Baltimore where restaurants and bars can offer live music and other types of performances? Vote at baltimoresun.com/vote

The Obama administration last week announced restrictions on executive pay for companies that received government bailout funds. Did the crackdown on excessive pay go far enough? Far enough 10% Not far enough 36% Too far 54% (2,402 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : President Barack Obama declared the swine flu a federal emergency over the weekend. Has the government's response to the H1N1 virus been satisfactory so far? Vote at baltimoresun.com/vote

A 10th person in Maryland has died of swine flu, state health officials said Tuesday. The person, an adult from Western Maryland, had underlying health problems. As with other deaths related to the H1N1 virus, officials would not release further details. Since the outbreak of the virus in the spring, 217 people in Maryland have been hospitalized and two children have died, one of them a 14-year-old girl with no underlying health problems. Nationwide, 81 children have died of the swine flu, according to figures released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A fifth person has died of swine flu in Maryland, state health officials said Friday. The person was an adult from the Washington suburbs who had an underlying medical condition, officials said. As with other deaths from the H1N1 virus, officials would not release the person's name, gender or hometown. Since the outbreak this spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 436 deaths and 6,506 hospitalizations nationwide stemming from the virus. The agency has stopped keeping track of cases that don't result in deaths or hospital stays as the pandemic continues to spread.

As Mexico City closed schools and began taking other measures to contain the spread of a swine flu outbreak that might have infected hundreds of people and killed as many as 60, U.S. officials said Friday they had found one new case in San Diego, bringing the total number of U.S. cases to eight. The most recent victim, a child, has recovered fully - as did all of the other seven victims - said Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Six of the eight U.S. cases occurred in California's San Diego and Imperial counties and two in Guadeloupe County, Texas.

Health officials said Monday that they are trying to contain Maryland's first measles outbreak since 2001, after a fourth case was diagnosed in Montgomery County. Since February, three adults and a baby have developed measles, a highly infectious viral disease characterized by a red skin rash. Most Americans are immunized against measles, which has largely disappeared in the U.S. But last year, the number of cases doubled throughout the nation, which health officials attributed mostly to people who traveled overseas and may not be inoculated or have poor immune systems.

How secure is an unencrypted public Wi- Fi connection? - Leon Bricker, Woodstock, Ga. A public network isn't secure at all. I've watched passwords and e-mails roll by while sitting in a coffee shop with a security expert. We used a free program - available for download on the Internet - and an ordinary laptop. It's a mistake to use these wireless networks to do banking or pay bills. I think even casual browsing using a public network is asking for trouble. My subscription to Norton Anti-Virus is expiring, and I don't want to pay $50 to renew it. I am not protected against viruses now. Do I really need a firewall and anti-virus protection on an old system?

Doctors and researchers almost never use the word "cure," but they came as close as they ever do this week describing a combination of drugs used to treat the severe liver disease hepatitis C. Among some patients, the drug cocktail of pegylated interferon and ribavirin completely kills the virus that causes hepatitis C, and keeps it from coming back, doctors reported at a Digestive Disease Weekly conference in Washington. The catch is, the drug combo does not work in about half of people with hepatitis C, and researchers still are not sure why it works so completely for some but fails in others.

Anne Arundel Internet virus idles 2,000 computers An Internet virus that has bedeviled media outlets across the country forced Anne Arundel County to shut down more than 2,000 computers, sending technicians on a furious race to contain the outbreak and produce payroll checks for county employees. The fast-mutating virus, known as Rinbot, disrupted operations at the Turner Broadcasting System, then attacked computers at The Boston Globe and almost all of McClatchy Co.'s 32 newspapers.