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Wuhan study has important implications for managing COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers in China and the United States have conducted a study assessing the household transmissibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has important implications for managing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

19 Jan 2021

Memory B cell response to SARS-CoV-2 evolves up to 6 months after infection, study finds

A new study shows that the memory B cell response to SARS-Cov-2 evolves between 1.3 and 6.2 months after infection in a manner that is consistent with antigen persistence.

19 Jan 2021

RECoVERY: New open-source software developed for analyzing SARS-CoV-2 genomes

Researchers report an open-source platform-independent tool for building SARS-CoV-2 genomes from raw sequencing reads. The tool can be used without any extra hardware or software and be run using any browser from a desktop or mobile.

19 Jan 2021

Lower CD4 T cell reactivity to seasonal coronaviruses found in healthcare workers with COVID-19

A new study by US-based researchers describes the results of a study on the immune response among healthcare workers, in particular, their T cell responses predating the pandemic.

19 Jan 2021

Inflammation may contribute to the persistence of C. diff infection, shows study

A new study from North Carolina State University shows that the inflammation caused by Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infection gives the pathogen a two-fold advantage: by both creating an inhospitable environment for competing bacteria and providing nutrients that enable C. diff to thrive.

19 Jan 2021

Australian scientists develop a new method for rapid synthesis of safe vaccines

With COVID-19 dominating medical science and human concern, our chemists have developed a method to quickly and safely synthesize protein vaccines for respiratory diseases for pre-clinical tests.

18 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2 RNA in blood serum could predict COVID-19 mortality

Researchers find that the presence of SARS-CoV-2's genetic material in the serum of positive patients could be a sturdy biomarker for predicting COVID-19-related mortality.

18 Jan 2021

Angiopoietin-2 is a crucial determinant of COVID-19 prognosis, study finds

A team of scientists from the United States and Sweden has recently demonstrated that increased levels of a proinflammatory cytokine, angiopoietin-2, is responsible for hypercoagulation observed in severe COVID-19 patients.

18 Jan 2021

Could procalcitonin indicate bacterial co-infections in COVID-19 patients?

A recent study conducted by Austin Health, Australia, has revealed that the serum level of procalcitonin can be a strong indicator of bacterial co-infection with COVID-19.

18 Jan 2021

What are the key factors and impact of interventions in England’s COVID-19 epidemic?

Researchers from Imperial College London provide a mathematical model to help understand how SARS-CoV-2, the causative pathogen of (COVID-19), spread across England in the first two waves of the epidemic, and the effect of various interventions by the government.

18 Jan 2021

Severe COVID-19 linked to genetic make-up of both host and virus, say researchers

A recent study conducted by a team of international scientists has revealed that the infectivity and pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 strongly depend on the genetic background of both the virus and the host.

15 Jan 2021

White-tailed deer susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, study finds

A team of scientists recently demonstrated that white-tailed deer are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, the infected animals are capable of transmitting the virus to their non-infected counterparts via indirect contact.

15 Jan 2021

Image-based deep learning haplotype-guided study maps the global adaptation of SARS-CoV-2

A new study used deep learning with image recognition technology to trace the emergence of variants with increased viral fitness. Higher fitness leads to rapid expansion of these lineages in the areas where they are introduced. This type of study could facilitate the development of more effective antibodies and vaccines to help contain the pandemic.

15 Jan 2021