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Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody among blood donors in China

Now, a study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in July 2020 reports on the low seroprevalence of antibodies to the virus, now designated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), among blood donors in Wuhan, the Chinese city it all started in, and two other equally large cities in China.

17 Jul 2020

NCI funds researchers to investigate how antibody responses affect COVID-19 outcomes

A $328,000 National Cancer Institute grant will enable researchers at Dartmouth's and Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) to investigate one of the mechanisms that may be responsible for the body's inability to fight COVID-19.

16 Jul 2020

British Columbia’s successful response to COVID-19 - policy anchored by science

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the BC Center for Disease Control in Vancouver have reported the first estimates of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence for Canada before and after mitigation measures were relaxed in May.

16 Jul 2020

Eosinophil count can aid in early detection of COVID-19 in patients

A rapid laboratory test, the eosinophil count, readily obtained from a routine complete blood cell count (CBC) can aid in the early recognition of COVID-19 in patients, as well as provide prognostic information, according to new research in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.

16 Jul 2020

Selective statins may reduce SARS-CoV-2 cell entry and inhibit infection

Statins are a class of drugs often used to control high cholesterol levels in obesity. Now, a study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in July 2020 suggests that statins do not aggravate the risk of COVID-19 infection and may have a small beneficial effect in some cases.

16 Jul 2020

Children with MIS-C have different antibody responses than adults with COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint medRxiv in July 2020 reveals that children with the condition Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) have a distinctly different pattern of antibody generation compared to adults with COVID-19 disease.

16 Jul 2020

Study finds significant variability in the accuracy of currently available COVID-19 antibody tests

A new peer-reviewed study by researchers at NSF International and Novateur Ventures finds significant variability in the accuracy of currently available COVID-19 antibody tests.

15 Jul 2020

New test uses a single drop of blood to rapidly detect radiation sickness

A new proof-of-concept study reports evidence that a new testing method has the potential to rapidly identify radiation sickness based on biomarkers measured through a single drop of blood.

15 Jul 2020

Moderna vaccine induces robust immune response against SARS-CoV-2

The race to develop an effective vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is on, and one of the potential candidates shows promise in inducing an immune response.

15 Jul 2020

Common FDA-approved drug may be a powerful tool in fighting COVID-19

A common drug, already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, may also be a powerful tool in fighting COVID-19, according to research published this week in Antiviral Research.

15 Jul 2020

Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 disappear within three months

The question is, does this infection confer lasting immunity? A new study published in the journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection in July 2020 appears to show that it does not, with antibodies to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disappearing within three months of infection.

15 Jul 2020

Ashion's GEM ExTra assay receives Medicare coverage

Ashion Analytics LLC announced today that Palmetto GBA, a Medicare administrative contractor for the Molecular Diagnostic Services Program (MolDX), has awarded coverage to its proprietary cancer profiling test, GEM ExTra®, one of the nation's most comprehensive genomic cancer analysis tests.

15 Jul 2020

Saliva promising alternative to upper airway swabs for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2

The standard diagnostic test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Now, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in July 2020 describes the use of saliva as a sample in RT-PCR for diagnosis in place of nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swabs.

14 Jul 2020

A new measles-based COVID-19 vaccine

Now, a new study by researchers from Germany's Paul Ehrlich Institute and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 describes a potential vaccine based on the measles vaccine, which elicits both an antibody response and cellular immunity against the virus. This also protects against the measles virus. This could be a significant weapon in the fight against these two threats.

14 Jul 2020

Current assays reflect non-neutralizing antibodies, finds study

Several serologic tests have been developed to help diagnose the presence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), either currently or in the past. However, all of them are not equally effective.

14 Jul 2020

Study identifies three novel broad-spectrum SARS-CoV-2 cell entry inhibitors

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Cornell University in the U.S. just described several new inhibitors of human coronavirus spike proteins by screening a library of approved drugs with SARS-S and MERS-S pseudotyped particle entry assays. Their exciting findings are currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

13 Jul 2020

Serology distinguishes children with MIS-C associated with COVID-19

Researchers in the United States say that measuring antibody titers against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may help to distinguish between multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and other clinically similar syndromes.

13 Jul 2020

As winter comes other viruses will compete with SARS-CoV-2 for susceptible hosts

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in July 2020 traces how COVID-19 became the predominant cause of respiratory infection in the period from early January until the present.

10 Jul 2020

Novel antibody test for SARS-CoV-2

A team of researchers in the United States have developed highly specific and sensitive assays that could improve understanding of the antibody response in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and help to determine the effectiveness of vaccines.

9 Jul 2020

Insilico Medicine, Arctoris announce technology partnership to discover new COVID-19 drugs

Insilico Medicine, a biotechnology company developing an end-to-end drug discovery pipeline utilizing next-generation artificial intelligence, today announced a technology partnership with Arctoris, the world's first fully automated drug discovery platform, offering remotely accessible, pre-optimized and fully validated R&D processes for its partners and clients globally.

9 Jul 2020