covid 19 News and Research

RSS

Actual mortality rate of COVID-19-affected adults is less than what was previously reported

An online first study published in Critical Care Medicine indicates the actual mortality rate of adults with critical illness from COVID-19 is less than what was previously reported.

5 Jun 2020

Antiviral effects for COVID-19: Early is better

A new study by an international team of researchers and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 describes the possible reasons for inconsistent or null findings in clinical studies of antiviral drugs to date. It proposes a new approach to decide the sample size in light of its findings.

5 Jun 2020

Precautions for intimacy, sex, during COVID-19

Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, safe sex practices are as important as other measures to prevent infection. Little focus has been given to sexual health, but a new study highlights how couples can reduce the transmission of the novel coronavirus.

5 Jun 2020

Study highlights increased consumption of opioids in patients with osteoarthritis

Fentanyl, tramadol or tilidine: New European figures show that even in Europe increasingly more people are taking opioids for pain connected with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.

5 Jun 2020

WHO resumes hydroxychloroquine drug trial in COVID-19

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has rippled across the world with a devastating effect. As scientists raced to find an effective treatment for patients, existing malaria and rheumatoid arthritis drug hydroxychloroquine became one of the most popular candidates.

5 Jun 2020

U.K. doctors test lipid ibuprofen as COVID-19 treatment

The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) Ibuprofen is being tested as a potential treatment for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Doctors in the United Kingdom rolled out a clinical trial of the everyday painkiller to see if it reduces respiratory failure in patients experiencing severe COVID-19 disease.

4 Jun 2020

Next-generation sequencing of COVID-19 virus offers powerful metagenomic data

Next-generation sequencing of the COVID-19 virus is providing powerful metagenomic data, which, combined with clinical data, will inform the search for effective treatments, as reported in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology.

4 Jun 2020

Assessing the integrity of remdesivir clinical trial during COVID-19 pandemic

As acknowledged in the first remdesivir double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial addressing treatment for COVID-19 recently published in Lancet (Wang, et al., April 29, 2020), a statistician at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey was called on to guard the integrity of that trial.

4 Jun 2020

A SARS-CoV-2 antibody magnetic immuno-detection test

A new report, released on the preprint server bioRxiv by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, describes the development of an innovative serologic test that could provide a fast, easy, and inexpensive method of detecting high titers of antibody in the serum of SARS-CoV-2 infected people.

4 Jun 2020

Designing a prototype spike protein vaccine for SARS-CoV-2

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the development of a prototype vaccine containing multiple antigenic sites, based on the spike protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is causing the current COVID-19 pandemic. If successful, this could lead to the development of an effective, non-allergenic vaccine that induces both humoral and cellular immunity.

4 Jun 2020

Comparing genomes to understand how mutations affect the COVID-19 pandemic

Now, a new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Center for Computational Biology, Flatiron Institute and published online on the bioRxiv preprint server describes how the use of comparative genomics helps to identify protein-coding and non-coding functional genes.

4 Jun 2020

SARS-CoV-2 gene deletions may cause milder infections and increase human-to-human transmission

In their recent paper released on the bioRxiv preprint server, a research group from Spain demonstrated how genome changes and deletions in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) could represent a strategy of natural selection used for lessening the impact of infection in order to increase viral transmission potential.

4 Jun 2020

Alpaca-derived antiviral agent neutralizes SARS-CoV-2

Researchers at Karolinska University Hospital and the University of Cape Town have identified an antibody fragment that targets the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein and potently neutralizes the virus.

4 Jun 2020

Scientists aim to develop a gene-targeting, antiviral agent against COVID-19

A team of scientists from Stanford University is working with researchers at the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience user facility located at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), to develop a gene-targeting, antiviral agent against COVID-19.

4 Jun 2020

Universal preoperative screening of pediatric patients for COVID-19 improves safety

Universally screening pediatric patients for COVID-19 before they undergo surgical procedures has allowed hospitals to improve safety by identifying all patients who test positive for the virus, half of whom have no symptoms, according to new research led by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

4 Jun 2020

3D facial imaging could speed diagnoses of genetic syndromes

Most children with rare genetic diseases spend years undergoing medical tests and waiting for a diagnosis -- a long, exhausting process that takes its toll on children and their families. Almost half of these children never get a definitive diagnosis.

4 Jun 2020

Potential new immunotherapy for critical COVID-19

Researchers at the Chongqing Medical University in China have identified a cytokine that could serve as a potential candidate for treating patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

4 Jun 2020

Opioid addiction treatment has increased for all age groups except the youngest

Prescriptions for an FDA-approved treatment for opioid addiction have increased over the past decade in all age groups except the youngest (age 15-24), a new analysis of prescription data by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center has found.

4 Jun 2020

New technology to monitor anti-drug antibodies in MS patients may have potential for COVID-19 testing

A new study led by Queen Mary University of London has demonstrated the effectiveness of using a novel light technology to monitor the presence of anti-drug antibodies in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, which can lead to drug resistance and treatment failure.

4 Jun 2020

New initiative to determine extent of COVID-19 infections in Virginia

UVA Health has partnered with the Virginia Department of Health and other hospitals around the state to determine how many Virginians have been infected with COVID-19 - and how many remain at risk.

4 Jun 2020