Respiratory News and Research

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Binge drinking is increasing, especially in women during COVID-19

Researchers last week released their work studying the pattern of alcohol use and its consequences on Americans during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

6 Oct 2020

Proteolytic activation of the SARS-CoV-2 spike S1/S2 site

In a recent paper published on the bioRxiv preprint server, Cornell University researchers study the proteolytic activation of the SARS-CoV-2 spike sites, re-evaluating the furin cleavage.

6 Oct 2020

Using virus-like particles to study SARS-CoV-2 assembly, budding, and entry

In a recent preprint paper published on the bioRxiv server, researchers from the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, discuss their efforts to assess the 4 SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins for their ability to produce VLPs from human cells to create a competent system for BSL-2 studies of SARS-CoV-2.

6 Oct 2020

Self-isolation on arrival at airports dramatically improves detection of disease importation

Researchers from Public Health England have conducted a study showing that screening and quarantining travelers on arrival at airports significantly reduces the risk of disease importation during international outbreaks, compared with screening alone.

6 Oct 2020

Liquid gel in COVID patients' lungs could be the key to new effective therapies

In some patients who died with severe COVID-19 and respiratory failure, a jelly was formed in the lungs. Researchers have now established what the active agent in the jelly is and thanks to that, this new discovery can now be the key to new effective therapies.

6 Oct 2020

Low lymphocyte count before COVID-19 heightens death risk

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have conducted a study suggesting that having a low white blood cell count (lymphocytopenia) prior to exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be associated with an increased risk of dying from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

6 Oct 2020

Antigen testing detects SARS-CoV-2 better than PCR

A team of scientists from the United States demonstrates that rapid antigen tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are more effective in determining the actual infection status in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) than real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR)-based tests.

6 Oct 2020

Study reveals potential utility of artemisinin-based treatments against SARS-CoV-2

In a recent, methodologically robust bioRXiv preprint paper, researchers from Germany, Denmark and Hong Kong report in vitro efficacy of extracts from the sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua), but also artemisinin, artesunate and artemether derivatives against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

6 Oct 2020

Easier-to-use coronavirus saliva tests start to catch on

As the coronavirus pandemic broke out across the country, health care providers and scientists relied on the standard method for detecting respiratory viruses: sticking a long swab deep into the nose to get a sample. The obstacles to implementing such testing on a mass scale quickly became clear.

6 Oct 2020

Older heavier COVID-19 positives likely to be superspreaders

The spread of SARS-CoV-2 is known to be through respiratory droplets as well as via aerosols, composed of minute particles normally exhaled during natural breathing.

6 Oct 2020

Plasma ACE2 concentration associated with increased risk of major cardiovascular events

A team of scientists at the Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences, and McMaster University, Hamilton, in Ontario, Canada, revealed that increased plasma ACE2 levels in the blood could indicate a higher risk of major cardiovascular events. The study is published in the journal The Lancet.

6 Oct 2020

SARS-CoV-2 and anti-COVID-19 drugs activate Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* aimed to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on people with various illnesses. Specifically, the researchers at the Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences wanted to see the effects of COVID-19 on patients with cancer and other infectious diseases.

6 Oct 2020

COVID-19 increases flu vaccine acceptance in the U.K., study finds

In the United Kingdom, a team of researchers at Imperial College London has found that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has increased vaccination acceptance among the study participants. The research is published on the preprint server medRxiv.

6 Oct 2020

HPV vaccination mandates did not improve rates of HPV vaccine series completion, shows study

A postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Riverside, has discovered human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccination mandates fall short of ensuring both higher levels of uptake and equal uptake of the vaccine across socioeconomic and racial-ethnic groups.

6 Oct 2020

Chronic illnesses promote active SARS-CoV-2 infection via suppressed mucosal immunity

A recent paper published in the preprint server medRxiv in September 2020 discusses the “clinically relevant variation in the expression of COVID-19-related genes”, which is associated with the host and environmental factors, as well as host genetic factors.

6 Oct 2020

Thiopurines could help stop viral replication in human coronaviruses

Researchers from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Dalhousie University, University of Calgary, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Canada, worked with human coronaviruses in cell cultures to look for drugs that might prevent accumulation and replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

6 Oct 2020

Cats and dogs are low risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission to humans

Researchers from the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University studied the possible transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among domestic cats and dogs.

5 Oct 2020

Production of six monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

Youjia Guo et al. in a recent bioRxiv preprint paper demonstrate the robust performance of mouse anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike monoclonal antibodies in immunoassays, including western blotting, ELISA, immunofluorescence, and immunoprecipitation and also neutralizing activity in vitro against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

5 Oct 2020

Development of a coarse-grained model of SARS-CoV-2 virion

A team of scientists of the University of Chicago and the University of California San Diego has developed a coarse-grained (CG) model of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virion. The model can be used as a valuable resource to perform multiscale simulations of the SARS-CoV-2 virion. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

5 Oct 2020

Eli Lilly's LY-CoV555 antibody shows potential as COVID-19 treatment

Researchers in the United States and Canada have discovered a monoclonal antibody that potently neutralizes severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent responsible for the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

5 Oct 2020