Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Latest Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

New platform for detecting and monitoring SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses

Researchers in the U.S. have released a new study that describes a powerful but inexpensive tool designed to detect and monitor specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 over time.

1 Feb 2021

Routine vaccinations in India disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic

A team of researchers studied the disruptions in the vaccinations across India during the current pandemic.

1 Feb 2021

Inhaled single dose vaccine creates antibodies and prevents infection in rhesus macaques

Now, a new preprint research paper describes a chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored vaccine that, when administered intranasally in rhesus macaques, led to a robust immune response and demonstrated protection against infection by the virus that causes COVID-19, namely, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The preprint is published on the bioRxiv server.

1 Feb 2021

India's Covaxin vaccine likely effective against UK SARS-CoV-2 variant: Study

A new preprint research paper, posted to the preprint server bioRxiv, presents data indicating that the Indian-made Covaxin vaccine candidate successfully neutralizes this variant, preventing infection when challenged by it.

1 Feb 2021

Complication of severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia results in persistent cortical blindness: Case report

A study recently published in the journal Cureus has described a case report of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient who presented with pneumonia, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES), and persistent cortical blindness. A detailed clinical presentation of the patient is provided in the report.

31 Jan 2021

E484K mutation is potentially associated with SARS-CoV-2 adaptive fitness

A team of Brazilian scientists has recently conducted genomic and phylogenetic analyses of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome to understand the viral evolution process better. Their analyses reveal that the E484K mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2 is present in three different lineages in four Brazilian regions and that the mutation may serve as a common solution for viral evolution.

31 Jan 2021

Lung mechanics and hypoxemia in COVID-19 patients with ARDS

To better understand how low blood oxygen level, or hypoxemia, and lung compliance varies in COVIDARDS and how they relate to disease outcomes, researchers developed a dataset of using more than 11,000 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital. A research paper published on the medRxiv* preprint server reports their results.

31 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells are key players in decreasing COVID-19 mortality

A recent US study, currently available on medRxiv preprint server, supports a beneficial rather than immunopathologic role for effector T-cells during serious infections with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) –

31 Jan 2021

Synergistic effect between NF-κB inhibitors and zinc in vitro reducing ACE2 expression

Researchers at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei have conducted a study demonstrating the potential effectiveness of a novel drug combination at reducing morbidity and mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

31 Jan 2021

Crystal structures of nanobodies could aid the design of COVID-19 therapies

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, have shown how certain synthetic nanobodies bind to the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – a development that could help inform the design of therapies.

31 Jan 2021

Researchers explore adaptive immunity against human coronaviruses

A recent study shows that long-term adaptive immunity to endemic coronaviruses is widespread, but low in magnitude, and that it shares phenotypic features of spike-specific antibodies and T cell memory across all tested coronaviruses.

29 Jan 2021

U.S. public divided over COVID-19 “immunity passports” idea

A nationally representative survey conducted in the U.S. suggests that the public is fairly evenly divided in its support of immunity certificates or “passports” to enable the selective lifting of restrictions placed on people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

29 Jan 2021

What are the natural origins of SARS-CoV-2?

Researchers from the UK and China performed a comprehensive analysis of horseshoe bat and pangolin Sarbecoviruses to shed light on the origins of SARS-CoV-2.

29 Jan 2021

Study finds protective genetic associations with mild COVID-19

Using self-reported survey data, researchers have defined eight phenotypes associated with COVID-19 outcomes. Analysis of the data revealed possible protective genetic associations.

29 Jan 2021

How feasible is at-home antibody testing for COVID-19?

Researchers at King’s College, London, have found that self-administered, at-home antibody testing could be a simple method for virus surveillance on university campuses.

29 Jan 2021

Researchers develop ‘next-generation vaccine platform’ against SARS-CoV-2

Researchers have designed a subunit vaccine based on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein co-administered with CpG (Oligodeoxyribonucleotides) adjuvant.

29 Jan 2021

Viruses like SARS-CoV-2 may be more widespread than previously thought

Researchers in Cambodia, France, and the United States have conducted a study indicating that viruses related to SARS-CoV-2 – the agent that causes COVID-19 – are far more geographically widespread than previously thought.

28 Jan 2021

Variants emerging during COVID-19 pandemic resist antibody neutralization

Researchers in the U.S. have warned that recently emerged variants of SARS-CoV-2 have become worryingly resistant to monoclonal antibody therapies, plasma from convalescent patients and sera from vaccinated individuals.

28 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2 is resistant to extreme variations in temperature, finds study

A recent study from Belize and Taiwan shows that four essential proteins of SARS-CoV-2 are well adapted to habitable temperatures and exhibit extreme thermostability, which means temperature changes between the winter and summer months have a negligible effect on the viral spread.

28 Jan 2021

Moderna vaccine shows robust suppression of SARS-CoV-2 infection in animal model

Researchers have demonstrated that the prime or prime-boost vaccination of Moderna vaccine in hamsters induced robust neutralizing antibodies, ameliorated weight loss, and suppressed SARS-CoV-2 replication in the airways.

28 Jan 2021