SARS CoV 2 News and Research

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Scientists unveil novel coronavirus variants in India

The global coronavirus disease COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the world, affecting 185 countries and territories and infecting 2.4 million people. Now, a team of scientists aims to shed light on the variants of the novel coronavirus strains in India, showing how changes correspond to its transmission and how it causes disease.

19 Apr 2020

Research suggests Nelfinavir and Cepharanthine as potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents

A new study published in the journal bioRxiv in April 2020 reports the identification of a promising multidrug treatment against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for causing COVID-19 disease. The team predicts that this combination will prevent the virus from reproducing, hence both halting the transmission and progress of the disease.

19 Apr 2020

Scientists estimate fatality ratio across full spectrum of COVID-19 disease

A team of researchers from Imperial College London has conducted a study aimed at calculating a reasonably accurate case fatality ratio and infection fatality ratio, which is based on Chinese data as well as international reports. The research is published on the pre-print server MedRxiv.

19 Apr 2020

Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin treatment in 80 COVID-19 patients: short-term outcomes

The COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading around the world and affecting nearly 2.4 million people, with over 164,000 dead so far. With neither vaccine nor proven therapeutic drug being available so far, the need of the hour is for effective treatment. Now, a new study reports the potential usefulness of a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment in mild cases of COVID-19 infection and urges the need for further evaluation and widespread use if its findings are confirmed.

19 Apr 2020

Computer simulations yield promising vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2

In a recent study that appeared on a preprint server bioRxiv, scientists from India designed a multi-epitope peptide-based vaccine that predicted high immunogenic response in the population.

19 Apr 2020

New model predicts the impact of outbreaks such as COVID-19 on global supply chains

A transportation review written by a professor from the Berlin School of Economics and Law presents a way of analyzing the predicted impacts epidemic outbreaks have on global supply chains and describes the results of a simulation-based analysis of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) as an example.

19 Apr 2020

Researchers identify a promising model for testing COVID-19 therapeutics

After comparing how infections from SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19) and two other human coronaviruses develop in cynomolgus macaques, researchers report that SARS-CoV-2 gives the animals a mild COVID-19-like disease.

18 Apr 2020

Projecting the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a major unanswered question is how SARS-CoV-2 will persist in the human population after its initial pandemic stage.

18 Apr 2020

UC San Diego Health launches serological tests to detect past exposure to novel coronavirus

Clinical laboratory physicians and scientists at UC San Diego Health have launched a pair of serological tests that will look for novel coronavirus antibodies -- evidence in persons tested that they have previously been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the viral cause of COVID-19, even if they never experienced tell-tale symptoms.

18 Apr 2020

Kehn-Hall working to rapidly test, deploy new tool to enhance detection of SARS-CoV-2

Kylene Kehn-Hall, Associate Professor/Associate Director, School of Systems Biology, National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, is working to rapidly test and deploy a universal virus enrichment tool that can be used to enhance the detection of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) for any type of diagnostic assay under development, thereby reducing false negatives and the risk of worldwide pandemic.

18 Apr 2020

UniFrac microbiome tool optimized for computer GPUs

Researchers at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California San Diego have been applying their high-performance computing expertise by porting the popular UniFrac microbiome tool to graphic processing units in a bid to increase the acceleration and accuracy of scientific discovery, including urgently needed COVID-19 research.

18 Apr 2020

McMaster researchers to study why some people are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2

Two McMaster University professors have received research funding to boost their work to identify COVID-19 infection rates and to understand why some people are more susceptible to the virus.

17 Apr 2020

A promising antiviral drug to fight COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 patients in a clinical trial at Houston Methodist Hospital are responding quickly to the antiviral drug Remdesivir. The trial's criteria allows for the treatment of patients early in their clinical course and, in some cases, at times where they might have otherwise been intubated.

17 Apr 2020

Sense accelerates launch of new SARS-CoV-2 disposable test

Sense Biodetection Limited has today announced an accelerated programme to launch the world’s first instrument-free, point-of-care molecular diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

17 Apr 2020

Scientists predict how the novel coronavirus spreads in a typical household

A team of scientists recently carried out a study on the transmissibility of the virus in households. Simply put, they’re trying to predict how the virus spreads in a typical family: if one person gets sick, how many others get sick? How sick? How long would it take the family to recover? These are the practical questions this study tries to answer.

17 Apr 2020

Gimsilumab trial starts in first US patient with ARDS and COVID-19

The first American patient with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been put on the drug gimsilumab at Temple University Hospital, as part of the BREATHE clinical trial. The trial, sponsored by Roivant Sciences, will evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous gimsilumab in preventing death in patients with COVID-19 and ARDS.

16 Apr 2020

Random testing key to a safe exit from COVID-19 lockdown

The coronavirus disease (COVID019) global pandemic has placed many countries and regions in lockdown. There are thousands of cases reported daily, with the global infection toll topping 2.15 million. How can nations shift from lockdown back to normal daily routines while ensuring there won’t be a second wave of viral infection?

16 Apr 2020

On and off social distancing may be needed until 2022

Lockdown and social distancing measures are in place in many countries across the world, intended to stem the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic. These measures work by reducing the risk of viral transmission in communities, reducing the burden of the healthcare system in dealing with the surge of patients, overwhelming its resources and workforce. Now, experts warn that these social distancing measures may still be needed until 2022.

16 Apr 2020

Experts explain how to decontaminate N95 masks from SARS-CoV-2

Amid the coronavirus global pandemic, the world is facing a shortage of medical supplies, especially those intended to protect health workers. With the high demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), including surgical masks and N95 masks, many people are left with no choice but to try and decontaminate this equipment for extended use. Now, a new study by experts shows how N95 masks can be adequately decontaminated for further use.

16 Apr 2020

Supercomputer helps find 64 compounds as potential inhibitors of the COVID-19 protease

A new study published in Chemrxiv in April 2020 describes the identification of 64 compounds that could potentially be inhibitors of replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is causing the current COVID-19 disease pandemic. The research was carried out using a pharmacophore model of an essential viral enzyme, mining data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database of conformations of approved drugs.

16 Apr 2020