Coronavirus News and Research

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COVID-19 studies should provide sex-disaggregated data, researchers warn

Researchers have warned that studies examining sex-specific responses to infection with SARS-CoV-2 must provide sex-disaggregated data.

21 Jun 2021

Research identifies SARS-CoV-2 cavities as potential drug targets

New research found the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein has druggable cavities with the best target being compatible with more than 1 billion compounds.

21 Jun 2021

Can a prior rhinovirus infection protect against COVID-19?

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine found that rhinovirus accelerates interferon-stimulated genes.

21 Jun 2021

Zinc inhibits SARS-CoV-2’s main protease in vitro

Zinc has antiviral properties. However, the detailed kinetics and the mechanism of zinc in the inhibition of viruses, particularly SARS-CoV-2 – the causative virus of COVID-19 – is unclear. To probe the role of zinc as an anti-SARS-CoV-2 agent at the structural and molecular level, researchers in India studied the binding kinetics and the inhibition mechanism of zinc with SARS-CoV-2’s viral proteins.

21 Jun 2021

‘It’s a mission’: Volunteers treat refugees massing at the border

El Chaparral Plaza once teemed with tourists, street vendors and idling taxis. But the plaza, just outside the San Ysidro port of entry on the Mexican side of the border, now serves as a sprawling refugee camp where migrants from Mexico, Central America and Haiti wait in limbo while they seek asylum in the U.S.

21 Jun 2021

What it means when celebrities stay coy about their vaccine status

When two St. Louis Blues hockey players were sidelined because of covid-19 just days before this year's NHL playoffs, the team said young defenseman Jake Walman had been vaccinated against the deadly illness. But it was mum about the vaccination status of a more well-known player: star forward David Perron.

21 Jun 2021

Montana tribe welcomes back tourists after risky shutdown pays off

Millions of people will flock to Montana's Glacier National Park this summer after last year's pandemic-caused tourism skid, and they will once more be able sightsee and camp nearby on the recently reopened Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

21 Jun 2021

COVID-19 vaccine uptake low among pregnant women in U.S., study finds

Despite the availability of vaccines, the U.S. CDC reports that there has been a lack of pregnant women who are getting vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.

21 Jun 2021

Study shows that COVID-19 was present in five U.S. states in December 2019, even before the first reported case in China

In a recent study, a group of researchers aimed to identify exactly how early SARS-CoV-2 was circulating throughout the United States.

21 Jun 2021

Anti-coronavirus molecules from microbes could be key to new treatments

Microbes in the gut that produce beneficial compounds could hold the key to treating coronavirus symptoms.

21 Jun 2021

Can convalescent plasma therapy improve COVID-19 outcomes in patients with hematologic cancers?

A recent study discusses the findings of a study on patients with hematologic cancers who received convalescent plasma therapy following their diagnosis of COVID-19.

21 Jun 2021

How symptom reporting among hospital employees can be used to monitor the spread of COVID-19 within the community

A recent study discusses the potential utility of daily symptom tracking tools to estimate the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations that will occur within one week.

21 Jun 2021

Benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the complications, long-term effects of the disease

An international study, headed by Antonio Hernández, Professor of the Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology of the University of Granada, has reviewed the assessment reports of the European Medicines Agency regarding the Coronavirus vaccines produced by Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.

21 Jun 2021

Commensal bacteria in the human intestine produce compounds that inhibit SARS-CoV-2

Researchers from Yonsei University in South Korea have found that certain commensal bacteria that reside in the human intestine produce compounds that inhibit SARS-CoV-2.

21 Jun 2021

Could a fungus-derived compound reduce hyperinflammation in severe COVID-19?

New research from scientists at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, demonstrates that cyclosporine A (CSA), a calcineurin inhibitor that modulates cytokine production, may have potential antiviral properties against coronaviruses.

18 Jun 2021

RIG-1 agonist shows potent antiviral efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of scientists from the United States has recently revealed the antiviral efficacy of stem-loop RNA 14, a RIG-1 agonist, in controlling severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in mice. The compound reduces the risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by inhibiting viral replication in the lower respiratory tract. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

18 Jun 2021

Scientists develop low-cost lab-on-paper device for rapid and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2

A team of scientists from the University of Connecticut, USA, has developed a low-cost lab-on-paper technology to rapidly and easily detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The work has recently been published in a Royal Society of Chemistry’s Lab on a Chip journal.

18 Jun 2021

Combination of interferon-α and nafamostat inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in vivo

A new study, released as a preprint on bioRxiv* server, shows that a combination of the biological interferon-α and the small molecule nafamostat are effective against SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro, as well as in vivo.

18 Jun 2021

COVID-19 outbreak in Mauritius dominated by new SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.318

Underlining the key role of genomic surveillance in keeping tabs on the spread of SARS-CoV-2, a new medRxiv* preprint shows how a new variant called B.1.1.318 rose to dominance in the small island country of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean.

18 Jun 2021

Could horse-derived antibody therapy be effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern?

A new study, released as a preprint on the bioRxiv* server, reveals the high neutralizing efficacy of hyperimmune horse serum against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This could prove, if validated, to be a more affordable yet potent therapeutic in reducing the morbidity and mortality caused by this virus.

18 Jun 2021