Update from the 7th annual meeting of the Italian Society of Virology

The Italian Society of Virology (SIV) held a meeting in Orvieto (June 24-26, 2007) aimed at promoting interactions and collaborations between scientists in the field of Virology. The meeting had an attendance of about 170 virologists from Italy. In accordance with the normal format of the SIV National Meeting the conference transcended all areas of Virology. Sessions included invited speakers together with selected oral presentation. Covered topics included: General Virology and Viral Genetics, Medical Virology and Antiviral Therapy, Viral Biotechnologies and Gene Therapy, Viral Oncogenesis and Vaccines, Virus-Host Interactions and Pathogenesis, Emerging and Zoonotic Viral Infections. In this edition, a special effort was addressed to the HPV infection and prevention and to the guidelines for the preemptive (presymptomatic) therapy of human cytomegalovirus infections in transplant recipients. A summary of the main topics are reported.