Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

A cheaper and rapid pooling strategy for RT-PCR-based detection of SARS-CoV-2

In a report in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, published by Elsevier, researchers at Augusta University and PerkinElmer Genomics describe a cheaper, rapid, and accurate pooling strategy for the RT-PCR-based detection of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples.

31 Jul 2020

New simple way of detecting COVID-19 in blood plasma

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic claims increasing numbers of patients, testing numbers are rising in most nations at the leading edge. However, the current reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) testing is often unavailable and takes up to several days for results to arrive.

31 Jul 2020

War of sugars - estrogen provides protection in COVID-19

Now a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 reports that sex hormones could affect the function of the fusion protein that is dependent upon the human ACE2 receptor, thus preventing the entry of the virus into the host cell.

31 Jul 2020

Researchers report a liquid biopsy for COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in July 2020 reports the potential of cell-free DNA as a marker of the severity of disease in COVID-19. This could help triage patients as well as provide a prognostic marker.

30 Jul 2020

Lab profiles differentiate MIS-C from severe COVID-19 in children

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 virus seemed only rarely to have serious complications in children.

30 Jul 2020

Researcher uses in silico analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to fast-track passive immunity

With millions of COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, people are turning to antibody tests to find out whether they have been exposed to the coronavirus that causes the disease. But what are antibodies? Why are they important? If we have them, are we immune to COVID-19? And if not, why not?

30 Jul 2020

CZI, CZ Biohub, and The State Of California join forces to track COVID-19 transmission

Today, the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, in partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, announced that it will provide free whole genome sequencing and analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to all California Departments of Public Health and California local health jurisdictions through a newly-launched effort called the California COVID Tracker.

30 Jul 2020

From swab to sequencing - scalable method for identifying SARS-CoV-2

A research group headed by Stanford University scientists has developed a scalable, high throughput method to generate high fidelity whole genome and HLA sequencing, viral genomes, and representation of human transcriptome from single nasopharyngeal swabs of coronavirus disease (COVID19) patients. Their results are published on the medRxiv preprint server.

30 Jul 2020

Deep neural networks to identify pneumonia caused by COVID-19 in CT scans

As COVID-19 cases in the United States continue to surge, there is an ongoing search for quick and reliable testing.

30 Jul 2020

Caution needed in reopening of U.S. primary schools during COVID-19

Researchers in Italy have reported on the success of the contact tracing efforts made to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in the province of Trento during phase I (March to April) of the epidemic.

30 Jul 2020

Novel vaccine candidate robustly protects non-human primates against SARS-CoV-2

The development of a safe and effective vaccine will likely be required to end the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of scientists, led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center immunologist Dan H. Barouch, MD, PhD, now report that a leading candidate COVID-19 vaccine developed at BIDMC in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson raised neutralizing antibodies and robustly protected non-human primates against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

30 Jul 2020

Smoking worsens COVID-19 severity, warn researchers

A study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, suggests that smoking increases the risk of more severe lung disease in cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

30 Jul 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Republicans in COVID disarray

President Donald Trump's pivot to a more serious view of the coronavirus pandemic didn't last long. This week, he was again touting hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that has not been shown to work against the virus.

30 Jul 2020

Medi-Cal agency’s new head wants to tackle disparities and racism

When Will Lightbourne looked at the statistics behind California's coronavirus cases, the disparities were "blindingly clear": Blacks and Latinos are dying at higher rates than most other Californians.

30 Jul 2020

New test rapidly determines neutralizing antibodies against Sars-Cov-2

To determine immunity to Sars-Cov-2 and the effectiveness of potential vaccines, the amount of neutralizing antibodies in the blood of recovered or vaccinated individuals must be determined.

30 Jul 2020

Namaste noir: Yoga co-op seeks to diversify yoga to heal racialized trauma

Beverly Grant spent years juggling many roles before yoga helped her restore her balance.

30 Jul 2020

Missourians to vote on Medicaid expansion as crisis leaves millions without insurance

Haley Organ thought she had everything figured out. After graduating from a small private college just outside Boston, she earned her master's degree, entered the workforce and eventually landed a corporate job here as a data analyst.

30 Jul 2020

New program to reverse the effects of Type 2 diabetes and beat COVID-19

The Diabetes Reversal Company has developed a pioneering programme based on weight loss, lifestyle change and one-to-one clinical support to reduce and reverse the effects of Type 2 diabetes, helping deliver the goals in the Government’s newly published National Obesity Strategy.

30 Jul 2020

Urgent care providers are driven to deliver outstanding, integrated clinical care

Round the clock primary and community care has rarely been in the spotlight in terms of the role it plays in the wider healthcare landscape.

30 Jul 2020

Scientists develop human lung organoids to study SARS-CoV-2 infection

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 reports the development of a human distal lung culture system that can be functionally tested. This will help not only to understand how this infection produces disease but also to test the proliferative capacity of the stem cells in this part of the body.

30 Jul 2020