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Oxford study sheds light on level of antibodies needed to protect against COVID-19 symptoms

Researchers in the UK have reported on the relationship between humoral (antibody) responses and protection against infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) following immunization with AstraZeneca’s ChAdOx1 vaccine.

27 Jun 2021

Lambda lineage of SARS-CoV-2 has potential to become variant of concern

Researchers have described the first reported infection with the C.37 (Lambda) lineage of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Southern Brazil.

27 Jun 2021

SARS-CoV-2 virus sequences could be identified from hospital surface swabs

A new study by UC Davis researchers confirms the low likelihood that SARS-CoV-2 contamination on hospital surfaces is infectious.

25 Jun 2021

Some people wanted more sex during the pandemic than ever before, research finds

It is widely assumed that Americans' sexual activity took a nosedive during the early chaotic months of the coronavirus pandemic. But a new study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine challenges this popular narrative.

25 Jun 2021

Study examines safety of COVID-19 vaccination during lactation

A new preprint, recently released on the medRxiv* server, reports from real life in a cohort of mother-child dyads in Singapore. The mothers were lactating after having received COVID-19 vaccination.

25 Jun 2021

The WHO didn’t reverse its position on kids and Covid vaccines

A social media post circulating on Facebook and Instagram claims that the World Health Organization recently flipped its policy recommendation about children receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.

25 Jun 2021

Evaluation of COVID-19 vaccination effects on outbreak dynamics in Japan

Among the developed nations, Japan was the last to commence vaccination (February 2021). Only 8.7% of Japanese people are fully vaccinated as of today, June 25th, 2021. Fortunately for Japan, the incidence of the disease has been much lower than in Europe or the United States. Now, a new study published on the medRxiv* preprint server analyzes the impact of vaccination on the COVID-19 outbreak in Japan

25 Jun 2021

Researchers model infection-spreading scenarios to understand the impact of COVID-19

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, together with epidemiologist Lone Simonsen from Roskilde University form part of the panel advising the Danish government on how to tackle the different infection-spreading situations we have all seen unfold over the past year.

25 Jun 2021

An “analytical chronicle" of COVID-19 crisis in India

The initial spread of the coronavirus in India led to the introduction of a national lockdown in March 2020. After the first wave of the pandemic had subsided and a nationwide vaccination campaign had begun, a mutation of the virus in the spring of 2021 caused infection and mortality rates to rise steeply again.

25 Jun 2021

New analysis of U.S. COVID-19 deaths reveals bigger drop in average life expectancy, disparities

An updated analysis of American COVID-19 deaths throughout 2020 reveals an even bigger drop in average life expectancy as well as still-substantial disparities by race and ethnicity.

25 Jun 2021

Overcrowding and multigenerational housing arrangements increase SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk

Researchers at the Weill Cornell Medical College aimed to determine the role of overcrowded households as a risk factor for COVID-19. The study's objective, which appeared in the medRxiv* pre-print server, was to examine the link between overcrowded and multigenerational households and COVID-19 in New York City.

25 Jun 2021

Researchers decode humans’ survival from historical coronavirus outbreaks

An international team of researchers co-led by the University of Adelaide and the University of Arizona has analyzed the genomes of more than 2,500 modern humans from 26 worldwide populations, to better understand how humans have adapted to historical coronavirus outbreaks.

25 Jun 2021

Renowned scientists recover deleted SARS-CoV-2 data from Wuhan

Renowned evolutionary researcher, Jesse Bloom from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has conducted a phylogenetic analysis suggesting that the early severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequences that were obtained from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, are not fully representative of the viruses circulating in the city at the time of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

24 Jun 2021

Pronation maneuvers for critically ill COVID-19 patients - multidisciplinary management reduce complications

A recent study aimed to determine the efficacy of pronation maneuvers by the ICU physiotherapy team when used on critically ill COVID-19 patients.

24 Jun 2021

Mask-wearing reduces COVID-19 transmission significantly, study finds

Researchers from the University of Bristol found that an entire population that wears masks in public leads to a reduction in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by almost 26%.

24 Jun 2021

Care home staff burdened by increased workload caused by COVID-19 pandemic

A recent group of researchers aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the working practices of care home staff, particularly those caring for people with dementia.

24 Jun 2021

Scientists predict driver mutations of future SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

A team of scientists from the USA has recently predicted the driver mutations that may appear in future variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The prediction is based on currently available genetic surveillance data on amino acid mutations present in SARS-CoV-2 variants. A detailed description of the study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

24 Jun 2021

Is COVID-19 more severe in pregnancy?

A new study, released as a preprint on the medRxiv* server, indicates that pregnant women are more likely to develop severe disease following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

24 Jun 2021

Could polio vaccines induce cross-reactive antibodies that target SARS-CoV-2?

A new preprint released on the medRxiv* server explores a link between immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the earlier SARS-CoV, and childhood poliovirus vaccination. Almost 90% of the world’s people have received this vaccine, but antibodies elicited by it reduce over time and are almost absent at the end of adolescence.

24 Jun 2021

SARS-CoV-2 causes ER-stress-activated unfolded protein response leading to cell death

A new study describes the varying ways in which the virus co-opts the machinery of the host cell following infection to evade or modulate the host immune response, alter the pattern of translation of viral proteins, and the release of new viral particles.

24 Jun 2021