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Seroepidemiologic surveys for assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

In a new study, a team of researchers demonstrated that Japan had witnessed a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta variant-induced endemic between August and December 2021.

17 Jan 2022

Nine-month survey of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in North Carolina

A new paper reports increased breakthrough infections with SARS-CoV-2, the agent behind the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

17 Jan 2022

Study investigates whether immune responses to BNT162b2 vaccine differ in subjects with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new paper published in the journal JCI Insight reports on the differential levels of immunity achieved in those with and without a history of prior infection with the virus following one and two doses of the earliest vaccines to be approved for emergency use.

17 Jan 2022

New model to identify biological markers in patients with COVID-19 and other illnesses

Investigators who recently developed a mathematical model that indicated why treatment responses vary widely among individuals with COVID-19 have now used the model to identify biological markers related to these different responses.

17 Jan 2022

WHO's recommendation provides two new options for treating COVID-19

WHO has recommended two new drugs for COVID-19, providing yet more options for treating the disease. The extent to which these medicines will save lives depends on how widely available and affordable they will be.

16 Jan 2022

UV-C light prevents airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers demonstrate that ultraviolet light-C (UV-C) effectively prevents airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

16 Jan 2022

BNT162b2 COVID vaccine 94% effective against adolescent hospitalization

A recent study revealed the effectiveness of 93% for the BNT162b2 vaccine against COVID-19 hospitalization among adolescents (12 to 18 years). This study included 179 patients at 19 sites in 16 states. The same group of researchers have extended their analysis to 31 locations in 23 states across the U.S. and recruited 266 more patients who had been hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

13 Jan 2022

COVID-19 vaccination breakthrough infections in a real-world setting

Researchers describe the pattern and characteristics of infections after COVID-19 vaccination.

13 Jan 2022

Virus-like particles as delivery vehicles for gene-editing

Scientists deliver gene-editing proteins through the use of engineered virus-like particles, which mediated efficient base editing both in vitro and in vivo.

13 Jan 2022

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Dealing with drug prices

Medicare officials have preliminarily decided to restrict reimbursement for Aduhelm, the controversial Alzheimer's drug, to only patients participating in approved clinical trials.

13 Jan 2022

Harmful effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women and their newborns

Pregnant women should get vaccinated to minimize the detrimental health effects COVID-19 has on the placenta, the fetus and the newborn, states Roberta L. DeBiasi, M.D., M.S., division chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children's National Hospital in an editorial published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

13 Jan 2022

Novel biomarker can be used to identify disease progression in ALS

An international collaboration led by Flinders University has identified a potential biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Motor Neuron Disease, providing a way to test the effectiveness of future clinical trials.

13 Jan 2022

Exploring factors favoring transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Delta sublineage AY.4.2 over the Delta variant

In the present study, researchers isolated an infectious AY.4.2 strain of COVID-19 from the nasopharyngeal swab of a symptomatic individual from the Paris region. Then, they introduced the AY.4.2 signature mutations - T95I, Y145H, and A222V - in an expression plasmid coding the Delta protein to study the function of the AY.4.2 S protein.

13 Jan 2022

COVID-19 infection sera analysis against varying antigens of SARS-CoV-2 variants

In a new study, researchers assessed the sera from COVID-19 infected and vaccinated individuals against the receptor-binding domain in the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 wildtype virus and its variants.

13 Jan 2022

The unique T cell response elicited by SARS-CoV-2 during a primary immune response by infection and vaccination

The distinctive characteristics of the T cell response generated by SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination and the relationship to CCCoVs and VOC was explored in a review published in Frontiers in Medicine.

13 Jan 2022

Cannabinoids may prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2, including variants

A new study published in the Journal of Natural Products of the American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy has shown that isolated cannabinoids or those in hemp extracts have the potential to prevent and treat the infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) – primarily by blocking viral cell entry.

13 Jan 2022

Overall survival rate has nearly doubled for Ph+ ALL patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplant

For patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) carrying the Philadelphia chromosome and whose disease relapsed after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT), the two-year overall survival rate has nearly doubled from the period between 2000 and 2004 to the period between 2015 and 2019.

13 Jan 2022