Severe Acute Respiratory News and Research

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Australian scientists develop a nasal spray that could stop SARS-CoV-2 infection

The novel product, called INNA-051, is being developed by Ena Respiratory, and laboratory experiments have shown that it reduced viral replication by as much as 96 percent in the animal study. Spearheaded by Public Health England’s (PHE) Deputy Director, Professor Miles Carroll, the new study described the potential treatment and has been published in the open-source preprint server bioRxiv*.

29 Sep 2020

Case fatality rates for COVID-19 and health indicators

Researchers from Turkey and Switzerland collaborated to study the nation-specific case fatality rates for COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The pandemic has affected around 33.5 million people worldwide and killed over 1 million making it one of the largest global health crises in recent memory.

29 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 infects human embryonic epithelial and lung cells

As COVID-19 continues to spread the world over, investigators are still trying to understand how it ravages the human body. A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in September 2020 shows that the virus is capable of infecting human embryonic cells that are destined to form the epithelial surfaces of the body, both internal and external, as well as lung cells.

29 Sep 2020

Discovery of specific kinase as a novel drug target against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses

By using a modern genome-wide knockout approach to single out coronavirus host factors in human cells, researchers from Rega Institute in Belgium discovered a potential new target that might be exploited for developing drugs against the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, but also future outbreaks of highly pathogenic coronaviruses

29 Sep 2020

A special issue on the emerging COVID-19 infection

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B publishes special issue on 'Research on Emerging COVID-19 (Target, Mechanism, and Therapeutics)' edited by Hai-Bin Luo, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Shilin Chen, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing, China and Peiqing Liu, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.

29 Sep 2020

Fasting blood glucose levels upon admission tied to COVID-19 prognosis, study finds

In the study, which appeared on the pre-print open-source medRxiv* server, the investigators aimed to determine the prognostic value of blood glucose in predicting outcomes in COVID-19 disease, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

28 Sep 2020

Smell and taste changes last longer than other COVID-19 symptoms

A preprint paper published on the medRxiv server details a recent study by researchers from The Hebrew University, Hadassah-Hebrew University medical center, and Hadassah University Hospital, which addresses this gap in knowledge about the symptoms experienced by COVID-19 patients.

28 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 re-infection is real but rare: Case study

Now, American researchers have looked at all reported cases of re-infection and the possible reasons behind them. Their study titled, “Re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and Failure of Humoral Immunity: a case report,” is published online on the preprint server medRxiv in September 2020.

28 Sep 2020

Healthy vitamin D levels could reduce COVID-19 complications

Published in the journal PLOS ONE, the study investigates the link between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and its effect on adverse clinical outcomes and parameters of immune function and mortality due to COVID-19.

28 Sep 2020

One-third of parents in the U.S. won’t get flu shots for their kids during the pandemic

A survey from the National Poll on Children’s Health, however, revealed that one-third of American parents have no plans of getting their children vaccinated for the flu virus this year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

28 Sep 2020

J&J's COVID-19 vaccine shows potent immune response in phase 2 human trial

A multicenter phase 1/2a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial has been conducted recently to evaluate the safety, reactogenicity, and immunogenicity of a non-replicating adenovirus-based vaccine, namely Ad26.COV2.S against severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

28 Sep 2020

Hamsters and ferrets clear low dose SARS-CoV-2 infection in 14 days

A recent study by French researchers has demonstrated that experimental exposure to severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is capable of inducing mild infection in hamsters and ferrets within 7 – 10 days of exposure. However, the infection completely resolves within 14 days. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

28 Sep 2020

Resveratrol and pterostilbene inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro

A team of scientists at the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, demonstrates that a natural plant product, resveratrol, and its structural analog, pterostilbene, have long-lasting antiviral effects against severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

28 Sep 2020

Life-threatening COVID-19 associated with specific genetic variants

Results of a genome-wide association study on 2,244 critically-ill patients due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from 208 intensive care units across the United Kingdom revealed significant host-specific genetic determinants that can predispose people to the severe form of the disease. The report is currently available on the medRxiv preprint server.

28 Sep 2020

Mapping the evolutionary profile of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 using mutation order approach

Several months into the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), we still do not know much about the early evolutionary history and order of mutational events of the virus during this pandemic.

28 Sep 2020

Genetic mutations hinder immune response in severe COVID-19

Now, a truly international team of nearly 140 researchers aimed to determine why some people develop severe illness when once infected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19 disease.

28 Sep 2020

Auto-antibodies may explain why some people develop severe COVID-19

Now, a new study by an international team of health experts shows that some life-threatening cases of COVID-19 can be traced to specific weak spots in the patients' immune system.

28 Sep 2020

Clover Biopharma's new trimeric subunit vaccine candidate prevents COVID-19 in monkeys

The vaccine candidate produced a high level of neutralizing antibodies in animal models. Rhesus macaques immunized with the vaccine candidate showed reduced viral loads in the lungs. The research is published on the preprint server bioRxiv.

28 Sep 2020

Special formulation of inhaled niclosamide may be effective against SARS-CoV-2

Now in new research published on the preprint server bioRxix*, a novel formulation of the drug Niclosamide (NIC) is observed to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV in mouse models; it also protects against methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia and inflammatory lung damage.

28 Sep 2020

Anti-N-protein IgG may predict severity of COVID-19

A recent study by researchers at the University of Miami, Miami VA Healthcare System and Express Gene and published on the preprint server medRxiv in September 2020 reports on the prognostic significance of the anti-N Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

28 Sep 2020