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Genomic surveillance is vital to combat COVID-19

Although the development and increasingly widespread availability of effective and safe vaccines provides the greatest hope for the future recovery from the increasingly devastating COVID-19 pandemic, genomic surveillance is emerging as a vital necessity to achieve effective mitigation and containment.

18 Aug 2021

Severe COVID-19 characterized by phosphorylation of STAT1

A new study reports an enhanced expression of STAT1 in mild and severely infected COVID-19 patients as compared to controls

18 Aug 2021

Videos capture the inexorable spread of SARS-CoV-2 in live animals

Video images capture for the first time in live animals the inexorable spread of the COVID-19 virus, tracking the infection as it moved from the noses of mice to the lungs and other organs over the course of six days, in a new study led by researchers at Yale and Université de Montréal.

18 Aug 2021

Convalescent plasma does not benefit high-risk COVID-19 outpatients with early symptoms, study shows

The final results of the Clinical Trial of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma in Outpatients (C3PO) demonstrate that COVID-19 convalescent plasma did not prevent disease progression in a high-risk group of outpatients with COVID-19, when administered within the first week of their symptoms.

18 Aug 2021

The White House says boosters for all. Here’s what you need to know.

The Biden administration announced plans Wednesday to offer boosters to all U.S. adults as soon as next month, saying that recent data, including some made available only in the past few days, played a role in that decision.

18 Aug 2021

Study examines prevalence of neutralizing antibodies to HCoV-NL63 in healthy adults in Australia

A new study has been published in the MPDI journal Viruses, which focuses on determining the seroprevalence of neutralizing antibodies against HCoV-NL63, in healthy adults, in a cross-sectional study.

18 Aug 2021

Rush to boosters sparks confusion, differing recommendations

When the Food and Drug Administration announced last week that a third dose of Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine may boost the immunity of some people who are immunocompromised, officials repeated their stance that fully vaccinated, healthy people do not need another dose.

18 Aug 2021

Children’s Hospital Colorado helps prove safety and efficacy of CF treatment in younger pediatric patients

Researchers at the Children's Hospital Colorado Breathing Institute, the largest pediatric cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical care center in the U.S., participated in the pivotal international multi-center Phase 3 clinical trial, sponsored by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, leading to FDA approval of TRIKAFTA (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor), a highly effective CF treatment, for patients ages 6 through 11 who have at least one copy of the F508del mutation.

17 Aug 2021

New nanobiotechnology shows remarkable ability to battle dangerous fungal infections

They’re roughly the same size as a coronavirus particle, and 1000 times smaller than a human hair, yet newly engineered nanoparticles developed by scientists at the University of South Australia, are punching well above their weight when it comes to treating drug-resistant fungal infections.

17 Aug 2021

Data reinforces SAB-185’s potential to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants

A study, available on the pre-print server bioRxiv*, evaluated the neutralizing capacity of a fully human polyclonal antibody (SAB-185) against the Delta, Kappa, and Lambda variants using a lentiviral-based pseudovirus assay.

17 Aug 2021

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine safe and efficacious in adolescents according to a new study

The safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of the vaccines in adolescents are largely unknown. Now, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluates the safety and efficacy of the mRNA-1273 vaccine in adolescents (12-17 years of age).

16 Aug 2021

Sphingolipid profile could predict severity of heart disease in African American patients with lupus

A team of researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina report in Frontiers in Immunology that they have identified a type of fat known as a sphingolipid that could predict the severity of heart disease in African American patients with lupus.

16 Aug 2021

Obtained SARS-CoV-2 immunity, naturally or via vaccination persists 12 months

In a research paper recently uploaded to the preprint server medRxiv* by Havervall et al. (August 12th, 2021), neutralizing antibody titers towards wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and several variants of concern in individuals having either been vaccinated or infected with mild COVID-19 one year earlier are assessed, finding a reduced neutralization capacity against some strains.

16 Aug 2021

Response to a third SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose amongst immunocompromised

In a research paper recently uploaded to the preprint server medRxiv* by Schrezenmeier et al. (August 12th, 2021) the potential benefit of three vaccine doses in either a homogenous or heterogeneous dosing regimen amongst kidney transplant patients is assessed, finding that the search for viable vaccination approaches amongst these patients remains an urgent medical need.

16 Aug 2021

Researchers assess the genetic features of T-cell immunity development to SARS-CoV-2 variants

The continuing emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 mutations allows the virus to spread more effectively and evade antibodies. However, it is unclear whether new strains are capable of evading T-cell immunity - one of the body's main lines of defense against COVID-19.

16 Aug 2021

First dose of COVID-19 vaccine to be offered to all young people aged 16 to 17 in England

All young people aged 16 to 17 in England are to be offered the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Monday 23 August to give them the vital protection provided by the vaccine before returning to school in September, the Health and Social Secretary Sajid Javid has announced today (15 August).

16 Aug 2021

Pfizer CEO to public: Just trust us on the covid booster

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was confident in June about the ability of his company's vaccine to protect against the highly contagious delta variant, as it marched across the globe and filled U.S. hospitals with patients.

13 Aug 2021

Discovery of highly potent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications has reported two neutralizing antibodies, namely, nCoVmab1 and nCoVmab2, which are potent against SARS-CoV-2.

13 Aug 2021

How replication and recombination contribute to emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been caused by the rapid outbreak of a novel coronavirus, namely, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 was first reported in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Since then, the virus has already claimed more than 4.3 million lives worldwide.

13 Aug 2021

Research debunks myth that COVID vaccination promotes mutations

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland, USA, has highlighted the importance of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in reducing the frequency of mutations in the delta variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

13 Aug 2021

Efficacy News and Research

Genomic surveillance is vital to combat COVID-19

Severe COVID-19 characterized by phosphorylation of STAT1

Videos capture the inexorable spread of SARS-CoV-2 in live animals

Convalescent plasma does not benefit high-risk COVID-19 outpatients with early symptoms, study shows

The White House says boosters for all. Here’s what you need to know.

Study examines prevalence of neutralizing antibodies to HCoV-NL63 in healthy adults in Australia

Rush to boosters sparks confusion, differing recommendations

Children’s Hospital Colorado helps prove safety and efficacy of CF treatment in younger pediatric patients

New nanobiotechnology shows remarkable ability to battle dangerous fungal infections

Data reinforces SAB-185’s potential to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine safe and efficacious in adolescents according to a new study

Sphingolipid profile could predict severity of heart disease in African American patients with lupus

Obtained SARS-CoV-2 immunity, naturally or via vaccination persists 12 months

Response to a third SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose amongst immunocompromised

Researchers assess the genetic features of T-cell immunity development to SARS-CoV-2 variants

First dose of COVID-19 vaccine to be offered to all young people aged 16 to 17 in England

Pfizer CEO to public: Just trust us on the covid booster

Discovery of highly potent neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

How replication and recombination contribute to emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants

Research debunks myth that COVID vaccination promotes mutations

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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