Can we get infected by a virus while reading Newsgroups ?

From: Gileht.com (I.do.not_at_want.spam.net)
Date: 09/02/03 

Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 10:43:03 -0400

Hi,

For: microsoft.public.security.virus

I would like to know if we can get infected by virus by reading
Newsgroups using software like Microsoft Outlook Express.
And, if yes, what should we do to prevent this.

Gileht