SARS CoV 2 News and Research

RSS

Bispecific antibody shows efficacy against new SARS-CoV-2 variants

A team of international scientists has recently developed a bispecific antibody that can bind two non-overlapping regions of the spike receptor-binding domain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and completely prevent the viral-host interaction.

25 Jan 2021

Herd immunity to SARS-CoV-2 may not be achievable with current vaccines

A recent preprint research paper posted on the medRxiv server asks the question: “Is “herd immunity” to COVID-19 a realistic outcome of any immunization program with the two main vaccines currently licensed in the UK?”

25 Jan 2021

European soccer players may have up to 3.5 times higher risk for COVID-19

As efforts are underway to keep the season going under existing restrictions, a preprint research paper appearing on the medRxiv server describes the estimated incidence and the risk of infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among European soccer players.

25 Jan 2021

Study identifies early warnings of COVID-19 outbreak on Twitter posts

Even before public announcements of the first cases of COVID-19 in Europe were made, at the end of January 2020, signals that something strange was happening were already circulating on social media.

25 Jan 2021

Promising nanobodies against COVID-19 produced by llamas

News-Medical speaks to Dr. David Brody about his latest research that involved discovering nanobodies produced by llamas that could help combat coronavirus.

25 Jan 2021

Scientists call for strict control measures to reduce the spread of new COVID-19 variants

A group of scientists is calling on governments to consider the continued use of strict control measures as the only way to reduce the evolution and spread of new COVID-19 variants.

25 Jan 2021

Second-generation double antibody protects from SARS-CoV-2 and its tested variants

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB; Bellinzona, Switzerland), affiliated to the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) developed a second-generation 'double antibody' that protects from SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, and all its tested variants. It also prevents the virus from mutating to resist the therapy.

24 Jan 2021

Study looks at anxiety of HCW during the COVID-19 pandemic

The study reveals that healthcare workers from Saudi Arabia suffer from a high level of anxiety due to a higher risk of acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

24 Jan 2021

Transcriptional regulator BRD2 as a potential therapeutic target for COVID-19

A team of international scientists has demonstrated that therapeutic inhibition of a transcriptional regulator BRD2, required for the endogenous expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), can potentially suppress severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

24 Jan 2021

Experts advise disaggregating data on COVID-19 patients by sex

Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine have highlighted the importance of ensuring studies of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) report data in a sex-disaggregated manner.

24 Jan 2021

Researchers show how to estimate long-term efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines

Researchers at the University of North Carolina and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Washington have developed a way to evaluate vaccines' long-term efficacy against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

24 Jan 2021

George Mason researchers investigating COVID-19 therapies

Yuntao Wu, Professor, Molecular and Microbiology, and Ramin Hakami, Associate Professor, School of Systems Biology, are conducting studies of COVID-19 therapies.

22 Jan 2021

Study shows disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black and Asian populations

Patients of Asian and black backgrounds suffered disproportionate rates of premature death from COVID-19, according to a study of 1,737 patients by Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust.

22 Jan 2021

NSAIDs dampen antibody and inflammatory responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice

New research shows that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) reduced both antibody and inflammatory responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice. The study appears this week in the Journal of Virology, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology.

22 Jan 2021

Novel neutralizing antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 N-terminal domain discovered

A new study by US-based researchers shows the presence of protective antibodies that target the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the spike instead of the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD).

22 Jan 2021

Can the onset and end of an epidemic be predicted? A SARS-CoV-2 modeling case study

A recent study by researchers in France shows how differences in infection history and viral spread patterns are important factors in predicting the time course of a localized epidemic of SARS-CoV-2.

22 Jan 2021

How have new SARS-CoV-2 strains become more transmissible?

A new study discusses the effect of specific mutations on the sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2's spike protein to elastase, and on the intramolecular conformational changes.

22 Jan 2021

Researchers update automated computation tool for SARS-CoV-2 genome analysis

Researchers updated a previous version of an automated tool to include SARS-CoV-2 genome analysis. Genome analysis using the freely available software could help track the evolution of the virus and promptly identify variants that increase viral transmission or virulence.

22 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2’s nonstructural proteins dysregulate immune responses, study finds

Researchers provide an overview of SARS-CoV-2 and its life cycle pathways, addressing the functional changes in the viral proteins, providing important strategic clues to help that may help in the ongoing development of therapies against COVID-19.

22 Jan 2021