Severe Acute Respiratory News and Research

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Inhalable nanobody shows potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vivo

Researchers have developed a stable and ultrapotent homotrimeric Pittsburgh inhalable Nanobody 21 (PiN-21) against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Syrian hamsters. They demonstrated the high therapeutic efficacy of this homotrimeric Nb, leveraging both intranasal and aerosol delivery.

26 Feb 2021

What is the impact of demographics and air quality on COVID-19 mortality?

A new piece of research was conducted using a wide range of variables related to demographic and environmental factors in New York State (NYS), USA. NYS consists of urban and ethnically diverse counties, some of which are population-dense while others are population-sparse.

26 Feb 2021

Is one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 convalescents sufficient?

Researchers evaluated the immune response in a cohort of 1,089 healthcare workers who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Southern California.

26 Feb 2021

Mandatory public health measures to combat COVID-19 are more effective, says study

In a new study, researchers at Lundberg Health Advocates and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the U.S. compared mandatory and voluntary implementations of shelter-in-place policies. They assessed their respective bearings on COVID-19 mortality, equity, and economic outcomes.

26 Feb 2021

Antibody and T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 persist up to 8 months: Study of Ski Resort Ischgl

The first instance of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak in Austria was observed in the Ski resort Ischgl in early March 2020. Later, the virus spread across Austria and other countries in Northern Europe.

25 Feb 2021

Pre-existing cross-reactive HCoV antibodies could protect against SARS-CoV-2

A team of researchers from Spain and Canada recently characterized the antibody kinetics and neutralization capacity at 4 cross-sectional surveys between March and October 2020 and determined the seroprevalence in the same cohort of healthcare workers.

25 Feb 2021

Microbes could predict fatal outcomes in ventilated COVID-19 patients

The study "Microbial signatures in the lower airways of mechanically ventilated COVID19 patients associated with poor clinical outcome" is available as a preprint on the medRxiv* server, while the article undergoes peer review.

25 Feb 2021

Study finds link between Googling symptoms and COVID-19 cases

Yasser El-Manzalawy and colleagues from Geisinger sought to find patterns with Google searches that could predict coronavirus spread. Based on Google search trends for nine symptoms, the team suggests their model can estimate the number of COVID-19 cases across the United States up to three weeks ahead.

25 Feb 2021

CRISPR screen identifies clinically approved immunosuppressants that could treat coronavirus infections

Researchers in Switzerland and Germany have identified host cell factors required for coronavirus replication that could serve as targets for treatment with clinically-approved drugs.

25 Feb 2021

Study pinpoints potential transmission advantage of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7

Researchers in the UK have shown that the increased transmissibility of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineage B.1.1.7 that emerged in the UK during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic does not appear to be the result of increased viral replication or immune escape.

25 Feb 2021

SARS-CoV-2 ORF7a mutation limits host immune suppression, finds study

Researchers have identified a high variability in the C-terminal end of ORF7a in SARS-CoV-2 sequences collected from around the globe. They noted that mutations result in a defective suppression of interferon and lowered replication rate.

25 Feb 2021

SNX-5422 could make an effective COVID-19 prophylactic, says study

SNX-5422 is a heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor currently undergoing clinical trials as a cancer therapeutic. A recent study examines the applicability of repurposing the drug towards severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication inhibition.

25 Feb 2021

Study reports lasting immune response in convalescent COVID-19 patients

Researchers report the cellular immune response of convalescent patients in Germany, who recovered from mild or moderate infection compared to that of healthy people with no history of COVID-19.

25 Feb 2021

Study of children hospitalized with COVID-19 shows 2% mortality

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been observed to be less serious in infants and children. However, this age group is also subject to certain complications following infection. A new study describes the findings of an observational study of children hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infection in several different hospitals across three countries.

25 Feb 2021

Neuroinvasiveness of SARS-CoV-2 shown by viral RNA and inflammation in the brain

A new study describes the results of a macaque study that showed the development of neurological features of inflammation, following infection by SARS-CoV-2.

25 Feb 2021

Study explores individual differences of SARS-CoV-2 infection in ACE2-expressing stem cells

The clinical phenotype of COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is remarkable for its wide range of severity among individual patients. Genetic variations are known to mediate part of these differences. To examine these differences, researchers in a new study used human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from different genetically diverse individuals. These cells are used to model genetic disease since they contain the donor’s genetic information. Researchers use a panel of iPSCs from over 500 individuals. The researchers preferred undifferentiated iPSCs to reduce the time required to differentiate them, especially since infection is not always reliable.

25 Feb 2021

Novel single-particle digital assay using plasmonic nanobubbles

An interdisciplinary team from the University of Texas applied DIAMOND to the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) diagnostics and demonstrated that DIAMOND is 150 times more sensitive than commercial lateral flow assays. They found that the measurements are completed within 2 minutes. The results of this study are published on the medRxiv* preprint server.

25 Feb 2021

High expression of ACE2 receptors in developing ovaries increases SARS-CoV-2 risk

A team of scientists from China collaborated to find if SARS-CoV-2 could also infect the ovary at different developmental stages.

25 Feb 2021

Is the CDC 10-day COVID-19 quarantine guideline enough?

Researchers at the University of Florida and the Florida Department of Health evaluated test positivity rates for SARS-CoV-2 infection among student contacts. The team found that nine days are not enough to ascertain that the student did not contract the virus.

24 Feb 2021

SARS-CoV-2 transmission bottleneck is of the order of one to three virions

Now, a new study, posted to the bioRxiv preprint server by the same researchers, focussing on the Austrian region, found that SARS-CoV-2 transmission bottlenecks to be much tighter than previously thought.

24 Feb 2021