Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

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

Community-based sampling needed for COVID-19 control, say researchers

Researchers in the UK have warned that it will be essential to carry out community-based sampling in addition to symptomatic testing if the ongoing transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARs-CoV-2) is going to be properly understood and controlled.

9 Aug 2020

Scientists develop a simple approach to visually evaluate mask effectiveness

Using inexpensive and widely available tools, scientists have developed a simple approach to visually evaluate how effectively different types of masks prevent the spread of droplets that could contain SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, according to a new study.

9 Aug 2020

New platform shows potential to generate most effective vaccines with fewest side effects

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is shining a bright spotlight on vaccine development. As numerous vaccines race through clinical trials, physicians and researchers continue to work on developing new vaccine technologies to generate the most effective vaccines with the fewest side effects.

7 Aug 2020

New process could fast track antiviral and anticancer drug discovery

Discovering antiviral and anticancer drugs will soon be faster and cheaper thanks to new research from Simon Fraser University chemist Robert Britton and his international team.

7 Aug 2020

Swansea University tests new way to give vaccines through microneedle skin patches

A revolutionary new way to give vaccines through microneedle skin patches is being tested at Swansea University, thanks to £200,000 of EU funding announced by the Welsh Government.

7 Aug 2020

A titanium oxide nanowire-based air filter can trap and destroy pathogens

Filter “paper” made from titanium oxide nanowires is capable of trapping pathogens and destroying them with light. This discovery by an EPFL laboratory could be put to use in personal protective equipment, as well as in ventilation and air conditioning systems.

7 Aug 2020

Study identifies five immune response markers that may predict COVID-19 patient outcomes

Galit Alter, PhD, Group Leader at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Helen Chu, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington School of Medicine, and UW Medicine physician, have recently published a paper which identifies five immune response markers which, collectively, were able to correctly classify both convalescent COVID-19 patients and those who did not survive the disease.

7 Aug 2020

Advanced analysis offers new insights into immune system’s role in severe COVID-19

By conducting advanced analyses of immune system activation in patients with severe COVID-19, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have managed to identify several cell types that play a key part in the immune response to the new coronavirus and the hyperinflammation seen in severe cases of the disease.

7 Aug 2020

Your favorite store or restaurant is open. How do you know it’s ok to go in?

Just because many businesses are open again doesn't mean the pandemic is over. The coronavirus is still on the loose — actually surging in many locations — which means people have to make serious choices about their health all day, every day.

7 Aug 2020

In rural Missouri, Latinos learn to contain and cope with the coronavirus

Francisco Bonilla is a pastor in Carthage, Missouri, tending to the spiritual needs of the town’s growing Latino community. He's also a media personality, broadcasting his voice far beyond the walls of Casa de Sanidad. Bonilla runs a low-power, Spanish-language radio station from the church.

7 Aug 2020

Test sites quickly attract thousands for COVID-19 vaccine study

Dr. Eric Coe jumped at the chance to help test a COVID-19 vaccine.

7 Aug 2020

Immunothrombotic dysregulation is key marker of disease severity in COVID-19

In severe cases of COVID-19, the infection can lead to obstruction of the blood vessels in the lung, heart and kidneys. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich researchers have now shown that activated immune cells and blood platelets play a major role in these pathologies.

7 Aug 2020