Influenza News and Research

Latest Influenza News and Research

South Africa obtains first laboratory isolate of SARS-CoV-2

While much of the scientific and medical community rushes to develop therapeutic agents for COVID-19 based on clinical data, getting a better understanding of the brand-new virus remains crucial.

11 May 2020

Clinical trial launched to evaluate experimental COVID-19 therapies

Clinical leaders from the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Center, College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy have launched a clinical trial for experimental therapies to treat patients infected with COVID-19.

11 May 2020

New HIV vaccine better at preventing infection and offers more durable protection

Researchers from the Emory Consortium for Innovative AIDS Research in Nonhuman Primates and their colleagues across North America have shown a new HIV vaccine is better at preventing infection and lasts longer, continuing to protect one year after vaccination.

11 May 2020

Expanding sick leave protection is crucial during the COVID-19 crisis

At a time when the world's attention is focused on curbing the spread of infectious disease, new research by the UCLA WORLD Policy Analysis Center shows that strengthening guarantees of paid sick leave is crucial to protecting health and economic security around the globe.

11 May 2020

Southwest CEO’s boast about airplanes’ low COVID risk flies by key concerns

During a May 3 appearance on "Face the Nation," Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said that he believed it was safe for Americans to fly during the coronavirus epidemic and that a plane is as safe as any other space.

11 May 2020

Keeping the COVID plague at bay: How California is protecting older veterans

Dr. Vito Imbasciani has been at war with viruses since he was 5. Growing up near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, he contracted polio in 1952 and couldn't walk for two months. In medical school in Vermont 30 years later, he witnessed AIDS steal the lives of otherwise healthy gay men.

11 May 2020

Italy develops vaccine candidate that neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 in mice

As the world grapples with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), scientists race to develop treatments and vaccines to combat the viral infection. Though many ongoing trials show promise in fighting the novel coronavirus, Italian researchers claim they have developed a vaccine that can neutralize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in animal cells.

10 May 2020

COVID-19 could accelerate activation of dormant tuberculosis (TB)

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has thrown much of the world into disarray, with over 4 million people reported infected and well over 282,000 deaths. A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in May 2020 suggests that the long-term impact of the virus could include activation of dormant bacterial infections like tuberculosis (TB).

10 May 2020

Neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 via S protein

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in May 2020 reports on a method to block severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by destroying its main spike protein, which is responsible for attachment to the host cell membrane.

10 May 2020

Internet search patterns important in tracing and predicting COVID-19 spread

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 has identified a link between Internet search patterns and local disease progression for COVID-19. It recommends the use of search data to track and predict COVID-19 spread as a complementary method to established public health surveillance methods.

10 May 2020

Researchers discover new type of antigen-presenting immune cell

With a discovery that could rewrite the immunology textbooks, an international group of scientists, including the teams of Bart Lambrecht, Martin Guilliams, Hamida Hammad, and Charlotte Scott (all from the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research) identified a new type of antigen-presenting immune cell.

8 May 2020

Researchers discover molecular mechanism that helps HSV1 infect the brain

Herpes simplex virus (HSV1) infections are initiated at mucosal surfaces where the virus infects epithelial cells.

8 May 2020

Children are immune prepared for SARS-CoV-2

At least 30 new diseases have emerged in the last 20 years and now together threaten the health of hundreds of millions of people. For many of these diseases, there is no treatment, cure, or vaccine. While most of these diseases are dangerous to children, especially those younger than five years old, the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), seems to spare most of them.

8 May 2020

Predicting the dose for repurposing nitazoxanide in COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 reports a model that could help evolve appropriate dosage protocols for future clinical trials of the repurposed drug nitazoxanide in COVID-19 prevention and treatment. The researchers say, “It was possible to achieve plasma and lung tizoxanide concentrations, using proven safe doses of nitazoxanide, that exceed the EC90 for SARS-CoV-2.”

7 May 2020

Vitamin D could improve outcomes in COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 shows that vitamin D could have a beneficial effect on the course of illness for COVID-19 patients.

7 May 2020

Study discovers inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 entry priming protein by approved drug

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome -coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread to most of the world, causing millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths. A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* shows that a protease inhibitor drug already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could inhibit viral entry.

6 May 2020

COVID-19 and exposure to air pollution

A scientist from the Netherlands has worked on a study that looked at the association between COVID-19 infections and exposure to air pollution. Researcher Bo Pieter Johannes Andrée’s study titled “Incidence of COVID-19 and Connections with Air Pollution Exposure Evidence from the Netherlands” was released prior to the peer review process on the online server Medrxiv.

5 May 2020

Study explores maternal infection and its role in neurodevelopmental disorders

The immune responses of a female mouse before pregnancy can predict how likely her offspring are to have behavioral deficits if the immune system is activated during pregnancy, according to researchers from the Center for Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis.

5 May 2020

Loss of smell should be listed as early symptom of COVID-19

Though the two common symptoms are cough and fever, recent studies and reports point to a loss of smell as a symptom early in the disease process. A team of researchers at the Technical University Dresden (TU Dresden) revealed that the sudden loss of smell is experienced by many patients infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

4 May 2020

New information on viral antigens could improve COVID-19 testing

Researchers in France and China have characterized antibody responses to a wide range of antigens present on severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

4 May 2020