Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Peptide nucleocapsid vaccine candidate elicits protective T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in vivo

A new study describes a synthetic peptide used as a platform to generate protective adaptive cellular immunity to the virus in rhesus macaques, which are the gold standard for preclinical testing in humans.

28 Apr 2021

Ohio’s Amish suffered a lot from Covid, but vaccines are still a hard sell

The Amish communities of northeastern Ohio engage in textbook communal living. Families eat, work and go to church together, and through the pandemic, mask-wearing and physical distancing have been spotty. That has meant that these communities bore a high rate of infection and death.

28 Apr 2021

You don’t have to suffer to benefit from Covid vaccination — but some prefer it

If you think vaccination is an ordeal now, consider the 18th-century version. After having pus from a smallpox boil scratched into your arm, you would be subject to three weeks of fever, sweats, chills, bleeding and purging with dangerous medicines, accompanied by hymns, prayers and hell-fire sermons by dour preachers.

28 Apr 2021

SARS-CoV-2 recruits heme metabolites in antibody evasion

A research paper recently published in the journal Science Advances by Cherepanov et al. (April 22nd, 2021) demonstrated that the NTD binds to biliverdin, a product of heme catabolism, leading to enhanced antibody escape at physiologically relevant concentrations.

28 Apr 2021

Eosinophils modify the respiratory barrier during influenza A infection, shows study

For the first time in published literature, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) researchers showed that a variety of white blood cells known as eosinophils modify the respiratory barrier during influenza A (IAV) infection, according to a recent paper in the journal Cells.

28 Apr 2021

Novel platform has potential to detect many disease-related biomarkers in just one test

Most conventional molecular diagnostics usually detect only a single disease-related biomarker. Great examples are the PCR tests currently used to diagnose COVID-19 by detecting a specific sequence from SARS-CoV-2.

28 Apr 2021

Scientists design 'smart' cellular biosensors for detecting SARS-CoV-2 spike

New research led by Hana El-Samad of the University of California, San Francisco, and the Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub confirmed the beneficial use of an antiviral therapeutic called SARSNotch, which uses a combination of the SynNotch platform and de-novo designed protein binders. SARSNotch uses sentinel T cells to detect and mount a genetic response toward the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein.

28 Apr 2021

Study reveals the role of lncRNAs in immune dysfunction during severe COVID-19

Scientific studies rarely focus on long non-coding RNA molecules (lncRNAs), even though they potentially regulate several diseases. The role of several lncRNAs in anti-viral inflammatory response regulation has recently been reported.

28 Apr 2021

Why do we lose our sense smell/taste with COVID?

The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) enzyme attached to the membranes of cells is the entry point for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). They are abundantly found all over the body and most prominently in the lungs and nose.

28 Apr 2021

ASPS survey reveals COVID-19's impact and patient demand for plastic surgery

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) - the world's largest plastic surgery organization, representing nearly 8,000 members - today released the 2020 results of the organization's annual procedure survey coupled with national consumer research reflecting trends during the COVID-19 era to help predict what 2021 will bring.

28 Apr 2021

Neonates exposed to SARS-CoV-2 can sustain adverse health outcomes

The incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission from mothers to newborns appears low and may be linked to biological as well as social factors. However, studies focusing on the factors associated with neonatal viral testing outcomes.

27 Apr 2021

SARS-CoV-2 virus neutralized with half-second exposure to very high temperature

As reported in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering, the team from Texas A&M University developed a simple fluidics system that measures the sub‐second heat inactivation of coronaviruses.

27 Apr 2021

Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) vaccine successfully curbs COVID-19 in Israel

Researchers in Israel have shown that three national programs established by the Israeli government have successfully reduced cases of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and death caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

27 Apr 2021

Researchers design "nanotraps" to capture and destroy SARS-CoV-2 viruses

Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago have designed a completely novel potential treatment for COVID-19: nanoparticles that capture SARS-CoV-2 viruses within the body and then use the body's own immune system to destroy it.

27 Apr 2021

Heat treatment for less than a second completely inactivates SARS-CoV-2

Arum Han, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, and his collaborators have designed an experimental system that shows exposure of SARS-CoV-2 to a very high temperature, even if applied for less than a second, can be sufficient to neutralize the virus so that it can no longer infect another human host.

27 Apr 2021

ANTICOV clinical trial to test new treatment for people with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in Africa

The ANTICOV clinical trial, conducted in 13 African countries, has started the recruitment of participants to test a new drug combination, nitazoxanide + ciclesonide, to treat people with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 before their cases become severe.

27 Apr 2021

New treatment reduces the severity of ARDS in influenza-infected mice

A new treatment is among the first known to reduce the severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by the flu in animals, according to a new study.

27 Apr 2021

SARS-CoV-2 clade linked to disease severity in the early phase of the pandemic

A new study in the journal JAMA Network reports on the disease severity associated with some clades of the virus, from an analysis of genomes from specimens isolated in the initial phase of the pandemic.

27 Apr 2021

Israel study suggests elementary school reopenings are low-risk for COVID-19 transmission

Ever since COVID-19 first emerged with devastating ferocity, the emphasis has been on interrupting its spread until effective, safe and targeted antivirals and vaccines become available. The chief focus has been on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), including school closures, social distancing and shelter in place orders.

27 Apr 2021

Some heart medications may facilitate SARS-CoV-2 infection through increasing ACE2 receptor levels

An interesting poster, just presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 2021, reports an association between the use of certain heart medications and the risk of COVID-19.

27 Apr 2021