Omicron News and Research

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More types of lung cells can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 than previously thought, scientists report

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys, University of California San Diego and their international collaborators have reported that more types of lung cells can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 than previously thought, including those without known viral receptors.

23 Jul 2024

High mutation count in new COVID-19 variants does not increase immune evasion, study finds

New research from UNC Charlotte's Center for Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER) has found that the two recent and prevalent strains of the virus that cause COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 variants BA.2.86 and JN.1, are not significantly better than their predecessor Omicron at evading immune responses and causing infections despite having a high number of mutations compared to Omicron.

19 Jul 2024

Vaccines and virus changes cut long COVID risk by 50%, but Omicron still poses a threat

Research shows that vaccination and temporal changes have significantly reduced the incidence of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but a substantial risk remains during the Omicron era.

18 Jul 2024

Study offers insights on prevalence and risk factors of persistent post-COVID-19 symptoms

Early on during the coronavirus pandemic, there were reports of cases of persistent post-infection symptoms.

14 Jul 2024

Digital contact tracing data reveals detailed epidemic patterns in England and Wales

Data from digital contact tracing, using examples from the National Health Service (NHS) COVID-19 app for England and Wales, has revealed epidemic dynamics in unprecedented detail.

12 Jul 2024

Frequent infections and pathobionts boost children's nasal immunity, study reveals

Dynamic interactions with viruses and bacterial pathobionts significantly enhance nasal innate immunity in children, revealing distinct immunophenotypes driven by microbial load and type.

2 Jul 2024

Regular booster doses of bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines help neutralize multiple strains

People who have received solid organ transplants and take immunosuppressant medications to prevent rejection are among those most susceptible to the damaging effects of COVID-19, including breakthrough infections, severe illness, hospitalization and death.

2 Jul 2024

NIH launches Phase 1 trial for innovative nasal COVID-19 vaccine

A Phase 1 trial testing the safety of an experimental nasal vaccine that may provide enhanced breadth of protection against emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is now enrolling healthy adults at three sites in the United States.

1 Jul 2024

Low-cost CRISPR-based paper strip test offers rapid influenza diagnosis

Fewer than one percent of people who get the flu every year get tested, in part because most tests require trained personnel and expensive equipment.

21 Jun 2024

Study shows vaccines cut long COVID risk, especially for those with preexisting conditions

A study in JAMA Network Open found that women and individuals with preexisting cardiovascular conditions are more likely to suffer from long COVID, but vaccinations, especially multiple doses, significantly reduce this risk.

18 Jun 2024

New research on long COVID prevalence and risk factors

Early in the pandemic, many people who had SARS-Cov-2 infection or COVID-19 began to report that they couldn't shake off their symptoms even after a month or more-;unusually long for a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract-;or developed new, persistent symptoms soon after the infection cleared.

18 Jun 2024

At-home antibody tests could drive higher COVID-19 booster rates, new research finds

The feasibility and benefits of lateral flow assay (LFA)-based antibody tests for detecting inadequate COVID-19 immunity.

17 Jun 2024

N95 respirators potential standard of care in nursing homes and healthcare settings during respiratory viral infections

Researchers examined the efficiency of surgical masks, fabric masks, N95 respirators, and KN95 respirators in lowering the SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in the exhaled breath aerosol samples of COVID-19 patients.

4 Jun 2024

TMPRSS2 protein facilitates SARS-CoV-2 entry via unexpected pathway

How exactly do Sars-Cov-2 particles enter host cells? An international team led by Dr Richard Brown from Dr Daniel Todt's Computational Virology group at the Department of Molecular and Medical Virology at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, together with researchers from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, investigated this question.

31 May 2024

Three-year study shows lingering effects of COVID-19

New findings on long COVID -; long-term effects on health experienced by many who have had COVID-19 -; present a good-news, bad-news situation, according to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care system.

30 May 2024

Inexpensive “duckbill” N95 becomes the champion in COVID-19 mask effectiveness

In a head-to-head comparison of masks worn by people with active COVID-19, the inexpensive "duckbill" N95 came out on top, stopping 98% of COVID-19 particles in the breath of infected people from escaping into the air.

30 May 2024

COVID-19 boosters targeting omicron subvariants remain effective, but wane over time

Boosters that target the omicron subvariants of SARS-CoV-2 are still providing reasonably durable protection against infection, hospitalization and death from COVID-19, according to new data from a study led by researchers at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

29 May 2024

New antibody shows promise as universal weapon against COVID-19 variants

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, continues to evolve and evade current vaccine and therapeutic interventions.

29 May 2024

100-year-old BCG vaccine protects individuals with type 1 diabetes from infectious diseases

In new research, investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) show that the 100-year-old Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, originally developed to prevent tuberculosis, protects individuals with type 1 diabetes from severe COVID-19 disease and other infectious diseases.

22 May 2024

LVRNA009 mRNA vaccine shows long-term efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was caused by SARS-CoV-2.

20 May 2024