Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Combination of nelfinar and amodiaquine shows promise for treating COVID-19

Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 7.4 million people have been infected, and more than 410 000 have died. As yet, there is no treatment or vaccine for the disease.

15 Jun 2020

New project could help healthcare providers plan for coronavirus consequences

Could COVID-19 harm patients after the infection has gone? Members of the EUROMENE COST Action are adapting their work on chronic fatigue syndrome to coronavirus patients.

15 Jun 2020

A teen’s death from COVID

It started as a normal day. Dawn Guest, 54, got up and headed out to her job as a nurse around 5 a.m. She heard her 16-year-old son, Andre, stirring in his room, but he had always been an earlier riser, even when his school was shut for COVID-19.

15 Jun 2020

Researchers are developing new diagnostic tool for rapid detection of coronavirus

Coronavirus diagnostics currently require centralized facilities and collection/distribution of swabs and results are 'next day'.

15 Jun 2020

At a time of great need, public health lacks ‘lobbying muscle’

If there were ever a time for more public health funding, health experts say, it's now.

15 Jun 2020

Sygnature Discovery supports New York Medical College pharmacologist in the fight against Covid-19

Sygnature Discovery, a leading independent integrated drug discovery and pre-clinical services company, is supporting Professor Sachin Gupte, a pharmacologist at the New York Medical College, in his endeavours to find a drug treatment for the lung damage that can result from Covid-19 infection.

From Sygnature Discovery Limited 15 Jun 2020

Chimeric reference standards for validating controls in SARS-CoV-2 tests

A preliminary study by researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the University of New South Wales and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the use of chimeric design to produced reference standards for diagnostic tests. This could allow a highly flexible approach to the development of different genetic features in the same test, even for organisms that are not directly related.

15 Jun 2020

Study aims to identify key genes involved in the body's response to COVID-19 infection

Data from popular home genetic-testing kits could help scientists shed light on why some people who catch coronavirus have no symptoms while others become very ill.

15 Jun 2020

Tuberculosis and polio vaccines may offer temporary protection against SARS-CoV-2

As the world grapples with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, scientists race to develop an effective vaccine to protect against the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus. While potential vaccines are still being developed and tested, researchers propose that existing vaccines could give the immune system a temporary boost to ward off infection.

14 Jun 2020

Glycans "lock and load" the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein for infection

A new study by scientists from the University of California San Diego, USA and Maynooth University, Ireland and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 reports preliminary results showing that the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2, as well as its glycan coat, has “hitherto unseen functional and structural” properties. These may be useful in designing novel therapeutics to target this molecule.

14 Jun 2020

Hydroxychloroquine ineffective in animal SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new study by scientists from the U.S and U.K. and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports that there is no evidence of efficacy for the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) against infection with SARS-CoV-2 in hamsters or macaque models. This finding does not support the current widespread prophylactic and therapeutic use of HCQ in COVID-19.

14 Jun 2020

Steroidal drugs subvert SARS-CoV-2 interaction with ACE2 receptors

A new study by Italian researchers and published online on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 reports the ability of several existing steroidal drugs to reduce the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 to the ACE2 receptor. This could help define newer strategies using viral entry blockers to reduce viral load.

14 Jun 2020

Remdesivir prevents replication of SARS-CoV-2 in human intestinal organoids

A new German study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 shows that the drug remdesivir can reduce the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in human intestinal organoids.

14 Jun 2020

Factors that determine COVID-19 mortality

A potentially important new study by MIT researchers and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 shows that COVID-19 death rates in U.S. states correlate with several factors like commuting to work, temperatures, and geographical location, but not with ICU beds, obesity or poverty. This work, if validated, could help identify the actual contributing factors that shape mortality rates across the USA.

14 Jun 2020

Effect of human genes on severity and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2

Now, a new paper published on the preprint server medRxiv* reports the results of an analysis of the association between the genetic variants in the patients and the clinical progression of the disease. The study included 332 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in a single-center, with widely varying laboratory and clinical features. There were 25, 12, and 17 patients with asymptomatic, mild, and critical disease.

14 Jun 2020

An entire trimeric S-protein of SARS-CoV-2 is necessary for protective immune response

Researchers from Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington described a high-throughput and rapid technique to quantify circulating levels of functional antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), suggesting that the entire viral spike protein should be used to characterize the immune response. Their paper is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

14 Jun 2020

Early respiratory distress syndrome caused by SARS-CoV-2 in a newborn

A recent case report from the researchers at the University of São Paulo, published in the journal CLINICS, shows how newborns can also be infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and develop serious symptoms, even though the most likely route of infection in such cases is still not completely clear.

14 Jun 2020

Early neutralizing response to SARS-CoV-2 dominated by IgA antibodies

Researchers from France and the U.S. demonstrated how severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection could induce an early and vigorous virus-specific IgA response that paves the way for the production of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies, with even better neutralizing properties. Their paper is currently available on the medRxiv preprint server.

14 Jun 2020

Cannabis plant may harbor SARS-CoV-2 for at least a week

Researchers at the Medicinal Genomics Corporation have warned that cannabis flowers exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may harbor the virus for at least seven days.

14 Jun 2020

NIAID and Moderna scientists describe SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Moderna Inc., have described the potent neutralizing effects of a candidate vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is currently being tested in a phase II trial.

14 Jun 2020