Coronavirus News and Research

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Efficacy of the mRNA-1273 vaccine against emerging COVID-19 variants

A new study emphasized the effectiveness of two doses of mRNA-1273 in preventing infection with SARS-CoV-2 and hospital admission with covid-19 due to variants including delta.

21 Dec 2021

Some groups are left out of Montana covid test giveaway program

As Montana's tally of new covid cases neared 1,000 each day in September, Shelly Stanley-Lehman worried about when the virus would reach her day care in Billings.

21 Dec 2021

Pandemic poses short- and long-term risks to babies, especially boys

The pandemic has created a hostile environment for pregnant people and their babies. Stress levels among expectant mothers have soared. Pregnant women with covid are five times as likely as uninfected pregnant people to require intensive care and 22 times as likely to die. Infected moms are four times as likely to have a stillborn child.

21 Dec 2021

Vulnerable children in UK faced a healthcare shortage during the pandemic period

A new preprint describes the pattern seen among children who needed healthcare during the pandemic, demonstrating how the vulnerable had a higher rate of care deficits.

21 Dec 2021

Estimating vaccine efficacy against COVID-like illness from omicron and other COVID-19 variants

A new study combines real-time syndromic surveillance data from daily cross-sectional surveys with a COVID-like illness (CLI) prevalence-based vaccine efficacy estimator to better explain the early onset of the omicron variant.

21 Dec 2021

New method to detect SARS-CoV-2 helps get reliable results more quickly

You're worried that you may have been exposed to the coronavirus, so you decide to take a test. But which do you choose?

21 Dec 2021

Researchers create 'UV Curtain' that can sterilize rooms against coronaviruses

Researchers from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich have created a new system to protect areas from the virus, using a light-emitting diode (LED)-based ultraviolet C (UV-C) light curtain. Specific wavelengths of UV-C are known to inactivate viruses and bacteria, and this tool could help keep areas sterile.

20 Dec 2021

Booster shots improve CD8+ T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 in animal model

In a new study, published on the bioRxiv* preprint server, scientists showed in a mice model that three doses of the same synthetic peptide vaccine, eliciting an exclusive CD8+ T cell response against one SARS-CoV-2 Spike epitope, protected against lethal SARS-CoV-2 infection, in the absence of neutralizing antibodies. Researchers also showed that the third dose resulted in superior generation of effector-memory T cells in the circulation and tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells.

20 Dec 2021

An Omicron wave predicted for England from December 2021 to April 2022

A study, published on the medRxiv* preprint server, focuses on the interaction between Omicron variants and public health interventions in England that promote immunity.

20 Dec 2021

New oral pill for COVID-19 home treatment

As cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in many countries, new treatments are being sought to arrest the progression of the disease, preventing severe illness and death or disability. One such is the small molecule molnupiravir, the focus of a new research paper.

20 Dec 2021

QTQTN motif upstream of furin-cleavage site in SARS-CoV-2 infection and pathogenesis

A new study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server aimed to demonstrate whether the loss of the QTQTN motif attenuates SARS-CoV-2 replication in respiratory cells in vitro and pathogenesis in hamsters.

20 Dec 2021

New study suggests most monoclonal antibody treatments are ineffective against Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant

The arrival of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant has brought into question the effectiveness of current COVID-19 treatments in preventing infection and death. New research published in the preprint bioRxiv* server suggests the efficacy of most monoclonal antibody treatments are ineffective against Omicron.

20 Dec 2021