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Exploring immunity and severe disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

A new study describes the findings of a seroprevalence survey intended to establish the infection rates and the incidence of severe COVID-19 through December 15, 2021, in Gauteng, a crowded province that compresses a quarter of the country’s people into less than 2% of its area.

23 Dec 2021

Pain science education can help people to recover from chronic pain

Outwit, outplay, outlast. Just like the motto on television show Survivor, a three-pronged approach to learning about pain could improve the lives of people experiencing chronic pain, according to new research from the University of South Australia.

23 Dec 2021

Assessing the clinical severity of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

A recent preprint examines the proportion of Omicron infection and the risk of severe disease with this variant of SARS-CoV-2.

23 Dec 2021

Pediatric hospital admissions rise with omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant

A new study examines the impact of the Omicron variant on hospitalizations among children in South Africa.

23 Dec 2021

Mapping access to HIV care

In this interview, we speak to Professor Diego Cuadros about his latest research in which he mapped individuals' access to HIV care in Africa.

23 Dec 2021

Study reports that children develop sustained cross-reactive adaptive immunity against coronaviruses

A new study shows that both antibody and cellular arms of the adaptive immune response against SARS-CoV-2 are displayed strong, sustained, and cross-reactive against other coronaviruses, in young children than the immune responses in adults.

23 Dec 2021

Boceprevir-based molecules show high antiviral potency against SARS-CoV-2

In a study posted to the bioRxiv* pre-print server, a team of researchers conducted a structure-activity relationship study of boceprevir-based molecules to find antiviral drug candidates targeting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) protease MPro.

22 Dec 2021

Survey finds acceptable levels of COVID-19 awareness and preparedness among healthcare workers

A survey of healthcare workers in 57 countries found that while overall preparedness for and awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic were at levels deemed acceptable during the first wave, significant differences in these levels were seen across worker groups and countries.

22 Dec 2021

The transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV2 Omicron variant

In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers developed a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) model-inference system in South Africa to determine transmission dynamics and immune evasion associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant.

22 Dec 2021

Researchers explore problematic smartphone use during COVID-19 pandemic

A new survey study has identified links between problematic smartphone use and low sense of control, repetitive thinking, and fear of missing out (FOMO) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2021, suggesting possible avenues for reducing the severity of such use.

22 Dec 2021

Brown anole lizard helps solve breathing problems with ultimate simplicity

When it comes to studying lungs, humans take up all the air, but it turns out scientists have a lot to learn from lizards.

22 Dec 2021

How the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant grew to dominate the UK epidemic

Researchers examine SARS-CoV-2 genomes in England to evaluate the effectiveness of COVID-19 policies.

22 Dec 2021

Decline in protection against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in prior infected and fully vaccinated

In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers investigated the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta and Omicron variants among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive individuals who were either naive, fully vaccinated, or had a previous infection to further investigate possible escape from vaccine- or infection-induced immunity by Omicron compared to Delta.

22 Dec 2021

Scientists develop methods to quantify the transmissibility of new COVID-19 variants

As the discovery of the new omicron variant illustrates, new COVID-19 variants will continue to regularly emerge.

22 Dec 2021

T-cell response to Omicron after an mRNA COVID vaccine booster

In a recent prospective observational study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers determined Omicron variant-associated T cell responses before and after a third dose of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccination against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in anti-CD20-treated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

22 Dec 2021

Study assesses the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dental faculty well-being

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to withdraw for safety in 2020, faculty at dental schools did not report significant decreases in measures of their well-being, according to results from a study led by Carlos S. Smith, D.D.S., at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry.

22 Dec 2021

More breakthrough infections but less severe COVID-19 with Omicron

In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* pre-print server, an international team of researchers reported the occurrence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) breakthrough infections (BTIs) among health care workers (HCWs) participating in a phase III vaccine trial in Sisonke, South Africa.

22 Dec 2021

Infect, replicate, and rapidly mutate: Computational virus modeling study

A new bioRxiv* preprint study led by Barbara A Jones of IBM Research-Almaden in San Jose, California, used computational modeling to investigate how viruses rapidly mutate as well as how they respond or adapt to different host conditions. They observed a range of behaviors from glassy dynamics, bimodal quasispecies distributions, and periodic steady states.

22 Dec 2021

Study points toward an alternative drug strategy to stall Alzheimer’s neurodegeneration

Boosting levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine with atomoxetine, a repurposed ADHD medication, may be able to stall neurodegeneration in people with early signs of Alzheimer's disease, a study conducted at Emory Brain Health Center suggests.

22 Dec 2021

Amino acid valine plays a key role in the growth of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

A molecular building block of many animal proteins, the amino acid valine, plays a key role in cancerous growth seen in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a new study shows.

22 Dec 2021