Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Swiss study suggests very low prevalence of long COVID in pediatric population

Researchers from Switzerland recently analyzed long COVID symptoms in children and adolescents with a 6-month follow-up based on their SARS-CoV-2 serology. A longitudinal cohort analysis, the Ciao Corona study investigated SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and case clustering among ~2500 children from 55 primary and secondary schools in Zurich, Switzerland.

20 May 2021

Intranasal COVID-19 therapeutic shows promise in preclinical trials

Researchers from the US and Denmark recently described a novel therapeutic option that targets the SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA) using locked nucleic acid antisense oligonucleotides (LNA ASOs). They identified an LNA ASO that binds to the 5’ leader sequence of SARS-CoV-2 ORF1a/b. This disrupts a highly conserved stem-loop structure with nanomolar efficacy and inhibits viral replication in host cells.

20 May 2021

Researchers speculate the low prevalence of COVID-19 in Japan

Protective immune memory--through B cells, which make antibodies, and/or T cells, which in the case of CD8+ T cells can kill virus-infected cells--can be induced by identical but also by related viruses.

20 May 2021

Resuming global childhood vaccination campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic

New research published on the medRxiv* preprint server suggests childhood vaccination to prevent other infectious diseases has plummeted during the pandemic. The decrease appears to stem from the suspension of health campaigns promoting immunization and the risk of catching the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

20 May 2021

COVID-19 cases in summer 2020 was not as low as previously thought, new genome-based model suggests

Many have attributed the low number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the summer of 2020 to hot weather or increased outdoor activities. But a new study from researchers in Germany suggests this might not have been the case.

20 May 2021

How is COVID-19 changing hunting patterns during lockdown in India?

To examine the real impact of COVID-19 lockdown on wildlife hunting across India, a team of researchers conducted a study from March-May 2020. Using media reports and online interviews with wildlife researchers, enforcement staff and NGO employees, the research team explored the change in hunting patterns and the socio-economic and institutional factors underlying these changes.

20 May 2021

Does cross-immunity exist between SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.28 and P.1 variants?

A team of researchers recently cross-tested severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies to assess their neutralization activity against different variants. The team recently released their findings as a preprint on the medRxiv* server.

20 May 2021

SARS-CoV-2 variant spread study in France shows B.1.351/V2 variant outgrowing B.1.1.7/V1 variant

A recent study by researchers in France has compared the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern. The team found a significant transmission advantage of V2 (from lineage B.1.351) over V1 (from lineage B.1.1.7). A pre-print version of the research paper is available on the medRxiv* server.

20 May 2021

Stark racial disparities persist in vaccinations, state-level CDC data shows

Black Americans’ covid-19 vaccination rates are still lagging months into the nation's campaign, while Hispanics are closing the gap and Native Americans show the highest rates overall, according to federal data obtained by KHN.

20 May 2021

Despite pandemic, Newsom declines to boost local public health budgets — again

In spite of a pandemic that has killed about 62,000 Californians — more than enough to pack Dodger Stadium — Gov. Gavin Newsom has again declined to boost the budgets of the state's underfunded and understaffed local public health departments.

20 May 2021

Could graphene oxide nanosheets be an effective SARS-CoV-2 antiviral in PPE?

A new study has been published in Small, which has combined in silico and in vitro analysis to examine if graphene oxide (GO) sheets have an inhibitory effect against SARS‐CoV‐2 surface proteins.

20 May 2021

A SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate based on B.1.351 spike trimer shows broad neutralizing capability

Researchers tested the vaccine candidate in mice with up to three doses and found it produces high levels of antibodies against both SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and the original virus strain.

20 May 2021

Two new SARS-like coronaviruses described in Russian horseshoe bats

Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus sp.) are known reservoirs of zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs). Over the last twenty years, viruses thought to have originated from these bats have given rise to two severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic outbreaks in humans: SARS-CoV-1 in 2002/2003, which was limited mostly to Asia, and the currently globally circulating SARS-CoV-2, first identified in December 2019.

20 May 2021

Tokyo sees rapid rise of SARS-CoV-2 R.1 lineage

A new research paper posted to the preprint server medRxiv* reports the rise of a new lineage in Tokyo, Japan, bearing a combination of two biologically important mutations.

20 May 2021

Are COVID-19-related complications in children explained by abnormal immune responses?

A common theme in reports on COVID-19 around the world has been the large number of children who have not been infected or shown signs of disease. However, though the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes less acute infection in this age group, it is associated with a severe immune-mediated multisystemic illness called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).

20 May 2021

Early treatment may prevent clotting in COVID-19 vaccine-related thrombocytopenia

Now, a new report in the Journal of Thrombosis and Hemostasis reveals that timely diagnosis and treatment of this condition may prevent further morbidity and mortality, and enable the vaccine to be used widely with confidence.

20 May 2021

FDA reminds the public about the limitations of COVID-19 antibody

The following quote is attributed to Tim Stenzel, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

20 May 2021

Plant-produced COVID-19 vaccine shows potent immunogenic profile in humans

An interim report on a phase 2 clinical trial indicates both the safety and efficacy of a plant-produced virus-like particle vaccine candidate against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The vaccine candidate has shown an acceptable safety profile and high potency in inducing humoral and cellular immune responses in adults (18 – 64 years) and elderly (65 years and above) individuals. The report is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

20 May 2021

Monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab reduces hospitalization and death in moderate-to-severe COVID-19

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center found that monoclonal antibodies, a COVID-19 treatment administered early after infection, reduce the risk of hospitalization and death by 60 percent in people at high risk of suffering complications from the condition.

20 May 2021

Study confirms that human endocrine system is strongly involved in SARS-Cov-2 infection

The endocrine system is strongly involved in SARS-Cov-2 infection - so much so that evidence of an "endocrine phenotype" of COVID-19 has emerged, according to a statement by the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) published in the journal Endocrine in April 2021.

20 May 2021