SARS CoV 2 News and Research

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Care home staff burdened by increased workload caused by COVID-19 pandemic

A recent group of researchers aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the working practices of care home staff, particularly those caring for people with dementia.

24 Jun 2021

Scientists predict driver mutations of future SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

A team of scientists from the USA has recently predicted the driver mutations that may appear in future variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The prediction is based on currently available genetic surveillance data on amino acid mutations present in SARS-CoV-2 variants. A detailed description of the study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

24 Jun 2021

Is COVID-19 more severe in pregnancy?

A new study, released as a preprint on the medRxiv* server, indicates that pregnant women are more likely to develop severe disease following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

24 Jun 2021

Could polio vaccines induce cross-reactive antibodies that target SARS-CoV-2?

A new preprint released on the medRxiv* server explores a link between immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the earlier SARS-CoV, and childhood poliovirus vaccination. Almost 90% of the world’s people have received this vaccine, but antibodies elicited by it reduce over time and are almost absent at the end of adolescence.

24 Jun 2021

SARS-CoV-2 causes ER-stress-activated unfolded protein response leading to cell death

A new study describes the varying ways in which the virus co-opts the machinery of the host cell following infection to evade or modulate the host immune response, alter the pattern of translation of viral proteins, and the release of new viral particles.

24 Jun 2021

New tablet-sized device can profile multiple COVID-19 antibodies and biomarkers simultaneously

Biomedical engineers at Duke University in the USA have developed a device that detects coronavirus disease (COVID-19) antibodies as well as biomarkers that distinguish between antibodies produced in response to SARS-CoV-2 and four other coronaviruses with complete accuracy.

24 Jun 2021

New study suggests an earlier and faster spread of COVID-19 than initially thought

Researchers from Kent University in the UK have shown that the first coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient likely dates back to October 2019. They also found that the spread to other continents of its causative pathogen – the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – occurred faster and sooner.

24 Jun 2021

Long COVID has low prevalence in school-age children, UK study suggests

A new study, released as a preprint on the medRxiv* server, offers some insights into what may be expected in this field, how common it is, how it presents, and how it compares with chronic sequelae of other respiratory viruses.

24 Jun 2021

New insights can pave the way for targeted therapies to fight blood clots in COVID-19 patients

Driven by the mystery of the blood clots reported in both living and deceased COVID-19 patients, researchers from Shoolini University, India, dig deeper into the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and other similar viral diseases, looking for ways in which these clots could be formed.

24 Jun 2021

Researchers reanalyze COVID RECOVERY trial data on tocilizumab

A Bayesian analysis of the RECOVERY trial suggests the immunosuppressive drug tocilizumab can reduce deaths in hospitalized COVID-19 patients taking corticosteroids as well as patients on oxygen or non-invasive ventilation and likely increases hospital discharge rates. However, it is not clear if patients on invasive ventilation also benefit.

24 Jun 2021

Green tea catechins might be useful as pan-coronavirus inhibitors

Scientists from the Queen’s University, Canada, have recently uncovered the broad-spectrum antiviral activity of epigallocatechin gallate, a bioactive compound from green tea, against highly pathogenic coronaviruses found in humans and animals. The compound prevents viral infection by interfering with virus-host cell attachment. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

24 Jun 2021

Bivalent DNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine induces strong humoral and cellular immunity in mice

A team of UK-based scientists has developed and validated a DNA vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that encodes both spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) and nucleocapsid of the virus as vaccine immunogens.

24 Jun 2021

Resurgent SARS-CoV-2 infections in England linked to Delta variant

A major factor contributing to the ongoing pandemic of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been the emergence of new variants. Because the mutations of the original virus make variants more transmissible, there is more potential for the contagion to spread through social mixing due to the easing of lockdown.

24 Jun 2021

COVID-19 prevalence in the U.S. has far exceeded the known number of cases

In a new study, National Institutes of Health researchers report that the prevalence of COVID-19 in the United States during spring and summer of 2020 far exceeded the known number of cases and that infection affected the country unevenly.

24 Jun 2021

New class of compounds can stop the reproduction of coronavirus

A human genetic mechanism hijacked by SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, to help it spread also makes it vulnerable to a new class of drug candidates, a new study finds.

24 Jun 2021

A study of circulating biomarkers in hospitalized patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant

Now, a new study published on the medRxiv* preprint server proposes a rapid method to identify the mutations in B.1.1.7 (N501Y mutation and H69/V70 deletion) and the impact of this variant on various biomarkers in hospitalized patients. This is the first study that correlates the biomarker levels to SARS-CoV-2 variants.

23 Jun 2021

SARS-CoV-2 detection with a simple, inexpensive, and sensitive molecular test

Researchers from the US recently described a rapid molecular test named WHotLAMP for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva. WHotLAMP is easy to use, very sensitive at 3.6 viral RNA copies per microliter of saliva, specific, and inexpensive. This study is published on the medRxiv*preprint serve.

23 Jun 2021

Study finds no evidence for remdesivir's benefit in severe COVID-19 patients

A new analysis of current data indicates that remdesivir does not show efficacy in regulating the severity of the illness.

23 Jun 2021

SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant likely to become dominant in the United States

Researchers have conducted a study showing that the B.1.1.7 lineage of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that emerged in the UK is now rapidly being displaced as the dominant strain in the United States by the variants of concern B.1.617.2 (Delta) and P.1 (Gamma) that emerged in India and Brazil, respectively.

23 Jun 2021

Research suggests people living with HIV/AIDS may be less susceptible to SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in India have conducted a study showing that the seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – was lower among people living with HIV and AIDS than among the general population.

23 Jun 2021