immunity News and Research

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Immunity to coronavirus infection may help stem the pandemic

The raging coronavirus pandemic is causing immense fear and uncertainty across the world. One of the most distressing aspects of COVID-19 disease is the seemingly large number of unknowns. These include the burning question of immunity. Does a person who was sick with the COVID-19 and then recovered or was infected without symptoms, have immunity against re-infection?

21 Apr 2020

Difference between flu and novel coronavirus disease

Both influenza and COVID-19 disease are caused by infectious respiratory agents and cause symptoms that can look quite similar. Coronaviruses cause both. So, what’s the difference?

21 Apr 2020

Antibodies against Imood could be potential treatment for OCD

Mental health conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder could be treated in a new way using drugs that target the immune system, research suggests.

21 Apr 2020

Study shows why MDS cells have a competitive advantage that supports disease progression

A powerful clue has emerged in a long-running mystery about how the cells of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) manage to outcompete normal blood cells to cause a disease state that often leads to leukemia, according to a study published online April 20, 2020, in Nature Immunology.

21 Apr 2020

COVID-19 and immunodeficiency

COVID-19 disease, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a highly infectious disease. As of today, over 170,000 people worldwide have succumbed to the infection. Reports have shown that some comorbidities and illnesses raise the risk of getting infected and also influence the severity of the disease. Having a compromised immune system can also drastically raise the risk of getting COVID-19.

21 Apr 2020

Antibody detection for COVID-19 - promise and risks

Recently, several research groups emphasized how the pervasive screening for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies may prove pivotal in determining infection seroprevalence in a given population defining previous exposure, screening health care workers, but also identifying highly reactive individuals that may act as donors for the therapeutic use of their convalescent serum.

20 Apr 2020

Penn Medicine launches convalescent plasma therapy trial for COVID-19 patients

Convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients -- an experimental approach of giving a transfusion of plasma collected from a donor who has recovered from COVID-19 to a patient with an active infection -- is the focus of a new two-part research initiative at Penn Medicine.

20 Apr 2020

Study reveals new therapeutic options for multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is known as "the disease with a thousand faces" because symptoms and progression can vary dramatically from patient to patient.

20 Apr 2020

Potential new therapies for multiple sclerosis

In every MS patient cells of their body's own immune system migrate to the brain, where they destroy the myelin sheath.

20 Apr 2020

FAU scientists win $1.7 million NIH grant for research on neuroinflammation

Anxiety, depression and cognitive decline are prominent psychopathologies that together affect more than 40 million people in the United States.

20 Apr 2020

Computer simulations yield promising vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2

In a recent study that appeared on a preprint server bioRxiv, scientists from India designed a multi-epitope peptide-based vaccine that predicted high immunogenic response in the population.

19 Apr 2020

Salk scientists uncover surprising role of tuft cells in pancreatitis

Persistent inflammation of the pancreas (chronic pancreatitis) is a known risk factor for developing pancreatic cancer, the third-deadliest cancer in the United States.

18 Apr 2020

Projecting the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a major unanswered question is how SARS-CoV-2 will persist in the human population after its initial pandemic stage.

18 Apr 2020

UC San Diego Health launches serological tests to detect past exposure to novel coronavirus

Clinical laboratory physicians and scientists at UC San Diego Health have launched a pair of serological tests that will look for novel coronavirus antibodies -- evidence in persons tested that they have previously been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the viral cause of COVID-19, even if they never experienced tell-tale symptoms.

18 Apr 2020

McMaster researchers to study why some people are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2

Two McMaster University professors have received research funding to boost their work to identify COVID-19 infection rates and to understand why some people are more susceptible to the virus.

17 Apr 2020

New study raises red flags about strategy to block cancer drug resistance

Sooner or later, most cancer patients develop resistance to the very chemotherapy drugs designed to kill their cancer, forcing oncologists to seek alternatives.

17 Apr 2020

Greater occurrence of infections correlates with future cancer diagnosis

Patients experienced a greater occurrence of infections in the years preceding a cancer diagnosis.

17 Apr 2020

URMC launches new coronavirus study to examine immune response

The University of Rochester Medical Center is launching a new study to understand how the body's immune system responds to COVID-19, including if and when a person could be re-infected with the virus and whether some people have pre-existing immunity.

17 Apr 2020

On and off social distancing may be needed until 2022

Lockdown and social distancing measures are in place in many countries across the world, intended to stem the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic. These measures work by reducing the risk of viral transmission in communities, reducing the burden of the healthcare system in dealing with the surge of patients, overwhelming its resources and workforce. Now, experts warn that these social distancing measures may still be needed until 2022.

16 Apr 2020

Gold-containing drug auranofin kills 95% of SARS-CoV-2 virus in 48 hours in lab conditions

A drug called auranofin, approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, effectively inhibits severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in laboratory conditions, as described in a new study by Georgia State University researchers.

16 Apr 2020