Coronavirus News and Research

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World Health Day 2021: The humanitarians building a fairer world

In commemoration of World Health Day 2021, News-Medical interviews the International Medical Corps on how they are helping to achieve a fairer and healthier world.

7 Apr 2021

CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance announces outcomes of NIH-funded Phase 3 ITAC clinical trial

The CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance today announced that the Phase 3 Inpatient Treatment with Anti-Coronavirus Immunoglobulin (ITAC) clinical trial sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), did not meet its endpoints. No serious safety signals were raised in the trial.

7 Apr 2021

70% of SARS-CoV-2 infected in Wuhan still have IgG antibodies

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) first emerged in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Though it has been more than one year since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was reported, it is still unclear how long the antibodies persist in those who have recovered.

7 Apr 2021

Natural selection and adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 in mammals

Researchers of the Hubei University of Medicine, China, have analyzed several mutations in different variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from mammal species that suggest natural selection and host adaptation are occurring in the virus.

6 Apr 2021

Researchers identify a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant (A.VOI.V2) in southern Africa

Scientists recently explored the transmission dynamics of currently circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2 in a southern African country. By analyzing the genomic sequences of these variants, they have identified a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant with multiple spike mutations. They have temporarily designated the variant A.VOI.V2.

6 Apr 2021

Can limiting the priming dose of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine improve immunity?

Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Rochester in the U.S. addressed this question in their study. The researchers also explored whether the vaccines administered across the world could confer sterilizing immunity while preventing severe disease and death.

6 Apr 2021

Is non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infection characterized by early T cell proliferation?

To date, little evidence has been documented regarding the immune responses after the onset of the symptoms or virus detection. Further, no cross-sectional studies have been conducted that define the time of infection. Thereby, no report is available that explains the relationship between the earliest immune responses to COVID-19 and temporal kinetics. New research deals with this research gap using blood transcriptomics, multiparameter flow cytometry, and T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing methods.

6 Apr 2021

What Covid means for the athlete’s heart

For sports fans across the country, the resumption of the regular sports calendar has signaled another step toward post-pandemic normality. But for the athletes participating in professional, collegiate, high school or even recreational sports, significant unanswered questions remain about the aftereffects of a Covid infection.

6 Apr 2021

Colleges and universities plan for normal-ish campus life in the fall

Dr. Sarah Van Orman treads carefully around the word "normal" when she describes what the fall 2021 term will look like at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and other colleges nationwide.

6 Apr 2021

Study suggests T-cells don't determine survival in severe COVID-19

In the study, which appeared on the pre-print server medRxiv, the team found that when the monkeys were reinfected, the T cell-depleted animals showed anamnestic immune responses, the enhanced reaction of the body's immune system to an antigen that is related to an antigen previously encountered.

6 Apr 2021

Research shows efficacy of early warning signals for disease emergence amid COVID-19

The study, published on the pre-print server medRxiv, shows that early warning signals (EWS) provide expected trends, predicting future epidemics and disease emergence.

6 Apr 2021

CAL20.C SARS-CoV-2 variant skyrocketing in California evades host immune response

In a study published on the bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers report the effect of neutralizing antibodies from recovered patients or mRNA vaccinated individuals on neutralizing this variant.

6 Apr 2021

Researchers take key step toward new drugs and vaccines to combat COVID-19

Researchers in the Oregon State University College of Science have taken a key step toward new drugs and vaccines for combating COVID-19 with a deep dive into one protein's interactions with SARS-CoV-2 genetic material.

6 Apr 2021

Novel hydrogel-based vaccine formulation shows high efficacy against SARS-CoV-2

A fascinating new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server discusses impressively high neutralizing responses elicited with a single dose of a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine formulation, which could help turn the tide of the current pandemic if validated.

6 Apr 2021

Research explores sex differences in placental defenses against SARS-CoV-2 infection

A plethora of earlier studies has reported on the differences between the sexes in susceptibility to the currently circulating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as well as its severity. A new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server extends this to the placenta in pregnancy.

6 Apr 2021

South Africa SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.351 easily escapes Sputnik vaccine

A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv* server reports on vaccine resistance data that pushes the end of the pandemic further away.

6 Apr 2021

New nanoparticle SARS-CoV-2 vaccine confers robust protection with single dose after two weeks

In a methodologically ‘state-of-the-art’ approach, US researchers have developed a protein-based nanoparticle vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with a swift generation of antibodies and the potential to protect individuals who cannot receive other COVID-19 vaccines for medical reasons. The research is posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server.

5 Apr 2021

Vermont to give minority residents vaccine priority

States have tried with limited success to get covid vaccines to people of color, who have been disproportionately killed and hospitalized by the virus.

5 Apr 2021

Survey: Public trust in the CDC has declined during COVID-19 pandemic

Public trust in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has fallen during the coronavirus pandemic, with the decline bringing overall population-level trust in the agency to the same lower level of trust long held by Black Americans about the agency, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

5 Apr 2021

Phase 1 clinical study of unique vaccine to protect against COVID-19 begins

A unique vaccine to protect against COVID-19 begins clinical testing Tuesday, 6 April, at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command.

5 Apr 2021