Coronavirus News and Research

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Pfizer's anti-viral 3CL protease inhibitor shows antiviral potential against SARS-CoV-2

Now, a new study by researchers from Pfizer, University of Arizona, Purdue University, The Scripps Research Institute, and UC San Diego School of Medicine and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in September 2020 reports that an enzyme inhibitor may act in synergism with the approved antiviral remdesivir to suppress viral replication in COVID-19.

16 Sep 2020

Heparan sulfate aids COVID-19 virus to penetrate human lung cells

A molecule known as ACE2 sits like a doorknob on the outer surfaces of the cells that line the lungs. Since January 2020, researchers have known that SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, primarily uses ACE2 to enter these cells and establish respiratory infections.

16 Sep 2020

Researchers receive NIH grant to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on heart disease patients

A University of Illinois Chicago research study on how to improve care for heart disease patients struggling with hopelessness has been supplemented by the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, to determine whether the study intervention called "Heart Up!" limits the negative impact of COVID-19 shelter-in-place and physical distancing measures on health outcomes.

16 Sep 2020

AI and machine learning tools can help separate COVID-related claims

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, researchers have published hundreds of papers each week reporting their findings - many of which have not undergone a thorough peer review process to gauge their reliability.

16 Sep 2020

New images capture startlingly high SARS-CoV-2 viral loads

Now, a team of scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine produced striking images in respiratory tract cultures of the infectious form of the SARS-CoV-2 produced by infected epithelial cells.

16 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 infection severity linked to superior humoral immunity against the S-protein

In a recent bioRxiv* preprint paper, Jenna J. Guthmiller et al., focus on the acute infection of SARS-CoV-2 and observe that the humoral immunity is distinctive with the infection stage and viral antigens.

16 Sep 2020

Microfiber pillows could harbor SARS-CoV-2 particles

A new study by researchers at the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China and published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety suggests that respiratory pathogens can not only fall on the fabric covers but can also penetrate the outer cover and go into the microfiber stuffing.

16 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 N protein forms biomolecular condensates with viral RNA

Now, a study by researchers from the University of California has shown that the N protein forms biomolecular condensates with the viral RNA in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The research titled, ‘SARS CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein forms condensates with viral genomic RNA’, was published on the preprint server bioRxiv on September 14th, 2020.

15 Sep 2020

Different variants of SARS-CoV-2 identified in San Francisco Bay Area sewage

A team of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, Innovative Genomics Institute, Illumina, Inc., and Stanford University has performed a genomic sequencing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) collected from sewage in the San Francisco Bay Area.

15 Sep 2020

Can amodiaquine short circuit this pandemic?

A recent study by the US researchers highlights the value of the human organ chip technology as a more robust and physiologically relevant platform for rapid drug repurposing, and suggest that amodiaquine may be used to prevent the infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

15 Sep 2020

A wireless device to treat brain diseases at patients’ homes

Ana Maiques has always been attracted by the mysteries of the human brain.

15 Sep 2020

Study aims to address the effects of Covid-19 on pregnant women's placenta and fetus

Addressing the risks that Covid-19 infection may cause to a pregnant woman, particularly to placenta and fetus, is the aim of a new study of the R&D&I group "Maternal-fetal medicine, epigenetics, women's diseases and reproductive health" of the Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga, which received EUR 10,000 funding from the American pharmaceutical company "FERRING".

15 Sep 2020

Sex and gender not receiving enough attention in COVID-19 trials

Researchers in Denmark and the Netherlands have conducted a study showing that sex and gender are not being adequately considered in clinical trials investigating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

15 Sep 2020

Patients with more severe SARS-CoV-2 infection exhibit larger antibody response

Researchers in the United States have found that individuals who develop more severe disease following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mount a larger antibody and memory B cell response during both acute infection and convalescence.

15 Sep 2020

Patients on immunosuppressive therapy are not at increased risk for contracting COVID-19

Patients on immunosuppressive therapy for common skin and rheumatic diseases like psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis are not at increased risk for contracting COVID-19 and should continue taking their medicine as prescribed, say Henry Ford Health System dermatology researchers in a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

15 Sep 2020

COVID exodus fills vacation towns with new medical pressures

The staff at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital is accustomed to the number of patients tripling or even quadrupling each summer when wealthy Manhattanites flee the city for the Hamptons. But this year, the COVID pandemic has upended everything.

15 Sep 2020

Lights, camera, no action: Insurance woes beset entertainment industry workers

Before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the entertainment industry in March, Jeffrey Farber had a steady flow of day jobs in film and television, including work on "Hunters" and "Blue Bloods."

15 Sep 2020

Identifying, preventing and treating drug-induced arrhythmias

Health care professionals should become more familiar with medications that cause irregular heart rhythms called arrhythmias, according to "Drug- Induced Arrhythmias," a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, published today in the Association's flagship journal Circulation.

15 Sep 2020

Loss of taste in COVID-19 is highly variable by geographic region

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads in different parts of the world, scientists are still attempting to define the characteristic signs and symptoms that are useful in diagnosing the disease. This is essential knowledge to help contain severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. Especially when it comes to diagnosing symptomatic or mild cases of COVID-19, such research could hold the key to identifying more people and preventing viral spread.

15 Sep 2020

New antibody assay for COVID-19 promises sensitive mass-scale detection

A new paper by researchers at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, published on the preprint server medRxiv in September 2020, reports on the development of a serologic assay that is suitable for sensitive high-throughput antibody testing for COVID-19.

15 Sep 2020