SARS CoV 2 News and Research

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Aerosol transmission through new vs. reused N95 masks

The world is grappling with the worst pandemic in over 100 years. Caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel coronavirus which emerged in China in December 2019 but has now spread across the globe. With a rapid rate of transmission, SARS-CoV-2 has now affected over 4.88 million people and resulted in over 322,000 deaths.

19 May 2020

The use of rheumatoid arthritis drug sarilumab in severe COVID-19 pneumonia

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 reports the beneficial effects of the monoclonal antibody sarilumab in severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

19 May 2020

Do parasites protect against SARS-CoV-2?

The world has rarely seen such a readily transmissible infection as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) over the last century. Within five months, the virus has created a Tsunami of COVID-19 positive cases, comprising almost 4.88 million people and causing 322,000 deaths.

19 May 2020

Does COVID-19 infect peripheral blood cells?

The emergence of the novel coronavirus outbreak in December 2019 was followed by its spread on a global scale unparalleled in the last 100 years. At present, it has claimed over 322,000 lives the world over, with over 4.88 million cases having tested positive.

19 May 2020

Did SARS-CoV-2 adapt to humans long before the index case?

A new study from Canada and the U.S. suggests that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may have already been pre-adapted to human transmission when it emerged in late 2019, which means there may be lingering populations of progenitor SARS-CoV-2 adept for human transmission and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) re-emergence. The research is published on the preprint server bioRxiv in May 2020.

19 May 2020

Sleep apnea may increase the risk of severe COVID-19, say researchers

An analysis conducted by researchers at the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital in Finland has suggested that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be a risk factor for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019).

19 May 2020

No SARS-COV-2 among young children in Belgium attending daycare, report researchers

A study conducted by researchers in Belgium has found no evidence to support concerns that asymptomatic young children may be a source of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission.

19 May 2020

Steroids and immunotherapy improve outcomes in children with COVID-related multi-system inflammatory syndrome

Treatment with antibodies purified from donated blood - immune globulin therapy - and steroids restored heart function in the majority of children with COVID-related multi-system inflammatory syndrome, according to new research published yesterday in Circulation, the flagship journal of the American Heart Association.

19 May 2020

X-ray experiments demonstrate a new way to block the entry of SARS-CoV-2

As scientists across the globe race to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, an international team led by Davide Corti at Vir Biotechnology and David Veesler at the University of Washington has been working around the clock on a complementary approach - identifying neutralizing antibodies that could be used as a preventative treatment or as a post-exposure therapy.

19 May 2020

Oxford Immunotec releases the T-SPOT® Discovery™ SARS-CoV-2 kit

Oxford Immunotec Global PLC, a global, high-growth diagnostics company, today announces the release of the T-SPOT Discovery SARS-CoV-2 test kit.

19 May 2020

New study may help understand the likely trajectory of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

In influencing the trajectory of the pandemic stage of an emerging pathogen, a population's susceptibility to a novel disease is more influential than climate factors like humidity.

19 May 2020

COVID-19 is more deadly than flu, concludes new study

Is COVID-19 more deadly than the flu? It's a lot more deadly, concludes a new study by the University of Washington published May 7 in the journal Health Affairs.

19 May 2020

Common cytokine profile in ARDS, severe COVID-19 and sepsis

Many lives have been lost to the severe pneumonic disease COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), during the ongoing pandemic. The reason for the critical lung injury that results in a fatal outcome in a significant minority of patients has been supposed to be the dramatic oversecretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines triggered by the virus.

19 May 2020

New animal model for COVID-19

As the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to ravage the world, scientists are frantically searching for a vaccine or new drug that will effectively counter the lethal effects of the virus that leads to COVID-19 disease.

19 May 2020

New UV disinfection technology is effective for deactivating SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces

Surfaces contaminated with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, pose a grave threat to the safety of healthcare workers, patients, frontline responders, military service members, cruise line passengers, hotel guests and people everywhere.

19 May 2020

Study shows how RNA editing affects the replication of COVID-19 virus

Two human deaminase enzymes edit the RNA of the SARS-CoV-2 virus when it enters a patient's body, with implications for the evolution of the virus and the spread of the infection, according to a new study.

19 May 2020

Three FDA-approved drugs can block the replication of COVID-19 virus

Three drugs that are already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other international agencies can block the production of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in human cells, according to computational and pharmaceutical studies performed by UT Southwestern scientists.

19 May 2020