covid 19 News and Research

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Overlooked animal viruses slipping past global disease surveillance

The study on Influenza D and Canine Coronavirus HuPn-2018 underscores urgent needs for targeted surveillance and diagnostics in infectious disease research.

2 Feb 2026

How the CDC prepares influenza vaccines for pandemics

CDC scientists outline the comprehensive methodology involved in the development of influenza candidate vaccine viruses.

2 Feb 2026

Religious faith linked to lower psychological distress during Covid-19 lockdown

Two Cambridge-led studies suggest that the psychological distress caused by lockdowns (UK) and experience of infection (US) was reduced among those of faith compared to non-religious people.

1 Feb 2026

African investment vital for medical research and innovation

Africa’s health future hinges on its ability to finance and commercialise its own medical innovations, rather than rely on increasingly uncertain international funding, African science leaders have warned.

31 Jan 2026

Wastewater surveillance reveals hidden COVID spread beyond reported cases

As COVID-19 testing becomes less routine, official case numbers can make outbreaks look smaller than they really are.

30 Jan 2026

Genetic inheritance and life experience leave distinct epigenetic marks in immune cells

The COVID-19 pandemic gave us tremendous perspective on how wildly symptoms and outcomes can vary between patients experiencing the same infection.

29 Jan 2026

Emerging animal viruses may pose overlooked threats to future human outbreaks

Two emerging pathogens with animal origins - influenza D virus and canine coronavirus - have so far been quietly flying under the radar, but researchers warn conditions are ripe for the viruses to spread more widely among humans.

29 Jan 2026

How DNA and life experiences leave distinct marks on the human immune system

Using single-cell epigenomic profiling of immune cells from 110 individuals, researchers show that genetic variation and environmental exposures shape the human immune system through distinct DNA methylation mechanisms. Genetic effects concentrate within gene bodies of memory cells, while environmental exposures primarily remodel regulatory regions in naive immune cells.

28 Jan 2026

UVA Health scientists pioneer a new way to create vaccines far more quickly than ever before

UVA Health scientists are reporting promising success as they pioneer a new way to create vaccines far more quickly, nimbly and inexpensively than ever before.

28 Jan 2026

Depression and anxiety together raise long COVID risk in older women

Older women who have a history of both depression and anxiety had a 78% higher risk of developing long COVID after a SARS-CoV-2 infection, report University of California San Diego researchers in the Jan. 27, 2026 online edition of the journal Menopause.

27 Jan 2026

Analyzing the role of smoking in viral recovery

COVID-19 brought about lasting changes that are still being felt today in the post-pandemic era, with one being the unprecedented side effect known as Long COVID.

27 Jan 2026

Trump policies at odds with emerging understanding of covid’s long-term harm

27 Jan 2026

Blood protein albumin identified as key defense against deadly black fungus

A new international study published in Nature has identified albumin, the most abundant protein in human blood, as a powerful and previously unrecognized defense against mucormycosis, a rare but often fatal fungal infection.

27 Jan 2026

Three daily servings of full-fat dairy do not worsen weight or blood markers

This randomized 12-week trial examined whether adding three daily servings of full-fat dairy to diets aligned with Canada’s Food Guide affects body weight, cardiometabolic markers, and nutrient intake in adults with overweight or obesity. Full-fat dairy intake did not adversely affect weight, body composition, or metabolic health and increased calcium and protein intake, supporting dietary compatibility rather than therapeutic benefit.

26 Jan 2026

Scientists discover a non-classical platelet mechanism linked to severe infections

Platelets are small, anucleate blood cells that play an essential role in hemostasis. Their primary task is to recognize vascular injury, become activated, and aggregate via their surface receptor integrin αIIbβ3. This leads to the formation of a stable platelet plug that seals the wound and stops bleeding. When this process becomes dysregulated, however, it can result in vessel-occluding clots - so-called thromboses - which may cause myocardial infarction or stroke.

23 Jan 2026

Targeted uterine mRNA treatment boosts fertility outcomes in mice

Researchers from the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine Center for Nanomedicine - which designs nanotechnology-based platforms for clinical translation across specialties - developed a strategy for delivering therapeutic messenger RNA (mRNA) to the inner lining of the uterus (endometrium) in mice via modified lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which are small capsules made of fatty molecules.

22 Jan 2026