Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

George Mason researcher examining the use of Brilacidin for treatment of coronavirus infections

Aarthi Narayanan, Assistant Professor, National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, received $35,000 from Innovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., for a project in which she is examining the use of Brilacidin for the treatment of coronavirus infections.

5 Jun 2020

High mortality rates among coronavirus-positive dialysis patients

Spain is one of the European countries besides the UK and Italy that was particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic in March.

5 Jun 2020

Kidney impairment significantly higher among hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Germany was not hit as hard by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic as many other European countries. The reason for this is that the wave of infection reached Germany later, that the authorities were warned by the situation in Italy and Spain and at an early stage ordered a lockdown and conducted extensive testing.

5 Jun 2020

Tear-gassing protesters during an infectious outbreak ‘a recipe for disaster’

In nationwide demonstrations sparked by the killing of George Floyd in police custody, protesters have been frequently pepper-sprayed or enveloped in clouds of tear gas.

5 Jun 2020

New approach helps identify protein biomarkers in the blood of COVID-19 patients

People respond very differently to infection with the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). While some patients develop no symptoms at all, others will develop severe disease and may even die. For this reason, there is an urgent need for 'biomarkers', quantifiable biological characteristics which could provide a reliable means of predicting disease progression and severity.

5 Jun 2020

New ECL-based mechanism enables development of increasingly efficient serological tests

A research group led by the University of Bologna identified a new mechanism that allows to obtain serological tests that are quicker, more cost-effective and more reliable than those currently in use.

5 Jun 2020

T cells can counteract dangerous phenomenon of mosquito-borne viruses

Every year, more than 68,000 people end up with a clinical case of Japanese encephalitis. One in four of these patients will die. The mosquito-borne virus, which is most common in Southeast Asia, also causes severe neurological damage and psychiatric disorders.

5 Jun 2020

Social media fears about lack of coverage for protest injuries may be overblown

Thousands of protesters thronged the streets in recent days to express their anger over the killing of an African American man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis.

5 Jun 2020

New digital tool to support mental health of MS patients developed with UK HCPs

Biogen Inc. today announced the launch of a free, new, digital self-help tool to help people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) navigate the emotional challenges of life with the disease. The tool, named ACT MySelf, was developed by Biogen in collaboration with people living with MS, the MS Trust, a team of MS specialist nurses and an MS clinical psychologist.

5 Jun 2020

A roadmap to help older Britons struggling with 'shopping lists' of medication

New research provides a roadmap to help the millions of older Britons struggling with 'shopping lists' of medication, as fears grow that the current coronavirus lockdown could be further isolating the most vulnerable.

5 Jun 2020

Antiviral effects for COVID-19: Early is better

A new study by an international team of researchers and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 describes the possible reasons for inconsistent or null findings in clinical studies of antiviral drugs to date. It proposes a new approach to decide the sample size in light of its findings.

5 Jun 2020

Precautions for intimacy, sex, during COVID-19

Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, safe sex practices are as important as other measures to prevent infection. Little focus has been given to sexual health, but a new study highlights how couples can reduce the transmission of the novel coronavirus.

5 Jun 2020

WHO resumes hydroxychloroquine drug trial in COVID-19

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has rippled across the world with a devastating effect. As scientists raced to find an effective treatment for patients, existing malaria and rheumatoid arthritis drug hydroxychloroquine became one of the most popular candidates.

5 Jun 2020

Study: Eggs can be used as low-cost coating to protect fruits and vegetables

Eggs that would otherwise be wasted can be used as the base of an inexpensive coating to protect fruits and vegetables, according to Rice University researchers.

5 Jun 2020

U.K. doctors test lipid ibuprofen as COVID-19 treatment

The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) Ibuprofen is being tested as a potential treatment for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Doctors in the United Kingdom rolled out a clinical trial of the everyday painkiller to see if it reduces respiratory failure in patients experiencing severe COVID-19 disease.

4 Jun 2020

Next-generation sequencing of COVID-19 virus offers powerful metagenomic data

Next-generation sequencing of the COVID-19 virus is providing powerful metagenomic data, which, combined with clinical data, will inform the search for effective treatments, as reported in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology.

4 Jun 2020

A SARS-CoV-2 antibody magnetic immuno-detection test

A new report, released on the preprint server bioRxiv by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, describes the development of an innovative serologic test that could provide a fast, easy, and inexpensive method of detecting high titers of antibody in the serum of SARS-CoV-2 infected people.

4 Jun 2020

Designing a prototype spike protein vaccine for SARS-CoV-2

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the development of a prototype vaccine containing multiple antigenic sites, based on the spike protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is causing the current COVID-19 pandemic. If successful, this could lead to the development of an effective, non-allergenic vaccine that induces both humoral and cellular immunity.

4 Jun 2020

Comparing genomes to understand how mutations affect the COVID-19 pandemic

Now, a new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Center for Computational Biology, Flatiron Institute and published online on the bioRxiv preprint server describes how the use of comparative genomics helps to identify protein-coding and non-coding functional genes.

4 Jun 2020

SARS-CoV-2 gene deletions may cause milder infections and increase human-to-human transmission

In their recent paper released on the bioRxiv preprint server, a research group from Spain demonstrated how genome changes and deletions in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) could represent a strategy of natural selection used for lessening the impact of infection in order to increase viral transmission potential.

4 Jun 2020