Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

CRISPR-based COVID-19 surveillance

A recent US study available on the medRxiv preprint server supports the use of self-collected oropharyngeal swabs, together with CRISPR- and PCR-based diagnostic assays, as rapid, feasible and reliable approach for the surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in university students and other asymptomatic individuals

10 Aug 2020

NIH awards $1.2 million grant to create humanized mice susceptible to COVID-19

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a grant of $1.2 million to the Mouse Biology Program at the University of California, Davis, to create mice that are susceptible to the COVID-19 virus, and to distribute them to researchers.

10 Aug 2020

Additional $400,000 awarded for research projects focused on cardiovascular impact of COVID-19

The American Heart Association has awarded an additional $400,000 in research grants focused on the cardiovascular impact of COVID-19.

10 Aug 2020

Mouthwashes could lower the transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Sars-Cov-2 viruses can be inactivated using certain commercially available mouthwashes. This was demonstrated in cell culture experiments by virologists from Ruhr-Universität Bochum together with colleagues from Jena, Ulm, Duisburg-Essen, Nuremberg and Bremen. High viral loads can be detected in the oral cavity and throat of some Covid-19 patients.

10 Aug 2020

Pandemic hampers reopening of joint replacement gold mine

Dr. Ira Weintraub, a recently retired orthopedic surgeon who now works at a medical billing consultancy, saw a hip replacement bill for over $400,000 earlier this year.

10 Aug 2020

As crisis grows, farms try to balance health of field workers and food supply

It's a busy time for the tomato-producing farms in this part of the state. Farms have staffed up with hundreds of workers, most of whom are Latino.

10 Aug 2020

A 'short list' of signature peptides for tracking down SARS-CoV-2 virus

SPI researchers (Marcoule) used proteomics to identify signature peptides of the SARS-CoV-2 virus expressed in vitro.

10 Aug 2020

Mass spectrometry shows potential for rapid SARS-CoV-2 detection

A team from SPI in Marcoule detected by mass spectrometry, in 3 minutes and without specific reagents, signature peptides of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in clinical samples. It thus provides a proof of concept of the use of this method as a possible alternative to PCR, currently the reference method.

10 Aug 2020

Reopening after COVID-19 lockdown and impact on disease

The study shows that 8 of 11 European countries had significantly more cases after reopening, but Germany, the UAE, and Poland had fewer. In five of the eight, the cases increased, peaked, and then dropped before the reopening happened, while Romania and Serbia showed a rapid rise before reopening.

10 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 droplets travel further and last longer than thought, and even more in humid air

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is spread by respiratory aerosols, in which tiny droplets of saliva and mucus containing the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are expelled from the upper respiratory tract. Though quite a few studies have investigated the viral load of such droplets, not much is known about how far these droplets move or how long they linger in the air, even though such information is crucial to determining how infectious they are.

10 Aug 2020

Planning low-risk school re-opening in the U.S.

With the rapid and extensive spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the USA witnessed an almost universal closure of schools in March 2020. Now, after months of enforced online schooling, federal authorities are impatient for schools to re-open. However, how should this be done without endangering the lives of teachers, administrative and other non-teaching staff, and students at school, and parents/other family members at home?

10 Aug 2020

People may have a pre-existing immune response to COVID-19 thanks to common colds

Now, a new study shows that some people have immune responses against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, thanks to how the body reacted the last time it caught a cold. This means that even if a person has not been exposed to the novel coronavirus, the body has a memory of it and can trigger an immune response to fight the infection.

10 Aug 2020

Vaccine 'nationalism' will slow coronavirus fight if poor countries are left exposed

As the coronavirus vaccine race charges on, many of the investigational candidate vaccines are nearing the final stages of human trials. The results of these trials will determine if they will be granted the green light to manufacture and distribute the vaccine to countries across the globe.

10 Aug 2020

COVID-19 patient with repeatedly undetectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

A recent case study published in the Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine in August 2020 illustrates this with its finding of persistent seronegativity in a patient confirmed to be SARS-CoV-2 positive.

10 Aug 2020

DHODH inhibitor PTC299 shows potential as a COVID-19 therapeutic

As COVID-19 continues to take a heavy toll on human health and life in many parts of the world, there is still no effective antiviral drug or vaccine. This has fueled an intensive search for small molecules and proteins that can inhibit viral entry and replication.

10 Aug 2020

USA the source of most of New Zealand's coronavirus cases

New Zealand, an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, is marked by its early and fierce determination to totally arrest the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the viral illness that is causing the current COVID-19 pandemic.

9 Aug 2020

How have non-pharmaceutical interventions helped in COVID-19?

The COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of abating, with outbreaks in many spots still occurring across the world. From the start, health organizations and governments were focused on implementing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in the absence of any effective antivirals or vaccines.

9 Aug 2020

Speed of Novavax vaccine development does not compromise quality of the SARS-CoV-2 immunogen

A new study by researchers from the Scripps Research Institute and Novavax Inc. in the US affirms the structural integrity of the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein immunogen. It enables the interpretation of immune responses to this multivalent nanoparticle immunogen. Their results are currently available on bioRxiv preprint server.

9 Aug 2020

Encouraging results from Phase I NovaVax SARS-CoV-2 nanoparticle vaccine trial

NVX-CoV2373, a recombinant nanoparticle vaccine developed by Novavax and manufactured at Emergent Biosolutions, was found to be well tolerated and immunogenic – inducing T-cell response and neutralization antibodies four-fold higher than the mean observed in hospitalized coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, shows a recent study available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

9 Aug 2020

Cutting edge synthetic peptides block SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

Researchers at Ligandal Inc., the University of California San Francisco and Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago, have designed novel synthetic peptides that potently inhibit the ability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to infect host cells.

9 Aug 2020