Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Latest Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Around 30 percent of Australians hesitant to accept SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, study finds

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in November 2020 suggests that a significant proportion of the Australian population is likely to show vaccine hesitancy. This indicates the need for public health messaging as well as, in some cases, other policy measures.

18 Nov 2020

COVID-19 during pregnancy can cause placental inflammation and impaired immunity

A new study conducted by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University, USA, has observed how pregnant women infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) show stunted antiviral immune responses.

18 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 causes a unique cytokine storm, study finds

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in November 2020 reports some of the unique elements of COVID-19-induced CRS and how understanding these distinctive characteristics of the disease could help in formulating specific interventions and therapies.

18 Nov 2020

Bioelectronic rapid test for COVID-19

A recent study presents a bioelectronic sensor platform to detect protein at the single-molecule level that is simple, rapid, and robust enough for widespread POC (point-of-care) or bedside application.

18 Nov 2020

Chilblain-like skin lesions reported in adolescents and young adults during the pandemic

A team of investigators in the Department of Dermatology, Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús, Madrid, Spain and Dermatologia Pediatrica Association, Bari, Italy, say acral ischemic lesions, similar to chilblains, have been reported across the globe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

17 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 was circulating in Italy before China recognized its existence

This study, published in the Tumori Journal, sheds light on the possibility that the virus had been spreading in Italy well before the outbreak was officially reported in Wuhan, China.

17 Nov 2020

Long COVID lessons from a study of wounded healers

The study, which appeared on the preprint server medRxiv*, highlights healthcare workers' experiences of long COVID or persistent symptoms even after recovering from the illness.

17 Nov 2020

ECG abnormalities can predict COVID-19 mortality

A team of scientists from New York University Langone Medical Center, USA, has revealed that the clinical severity of hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be predicted by analyzing the level of troponin elevation and electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities. The study is currently available on the medRxiv preprint server.

17 Nov 2020

Natural products and herbal medicines show promise in fight against COVID-19

Researchers in China and the United States have called for more research into the potential prophylactic effects of natural products and herbal medicines on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and subsequent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

17 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2-specific IgM / IgG responses accurately predict COVID-19 outcome

Researchers from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, recently built a proteome microarray with 20 out of the 28 predicted SARS-CoV-2 proteins to help understand IgM/IgG responses specific to SARS-CoV-2.

17 Nov 2020

COVID-19 rising among children and young adults in Washington State

Researchers from the University of Washington, USA, and the Swedish Cancer Institute, Washington, USA, have found that between March and August 2020, the number of young adults and children infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Washington state rose.

17 Nov 2020

Hydrogen therapy may help severely ill COVID-19 patients

Researchers from the Department of Critical Care Medicine, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu in China, have explored the possibility of using hydrogen therapy on severely ill COVID-19 patients. The team published their study's findings, titled "Hydrogen: A Potential New Adjuvant Therapy for COVID-19 Patients," in the latest issue of the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.

17 Nov 2020

Males may have higher but more transient SARS-CoV-2 immunity than females post-infection

Adding another piece to the puzzle that is coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) serology, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in November 2020 suggests that males have stronger but more transient anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) protective immunity than females.

17 Nov 2020

Universal mask-wearing can reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility by almost two-thirds, study finds

A new study presents more empirical evidence that universal masking can reduce transmissibility by almost two-thirds, even with inadequate social distancing. The study was published on the preprint server medRxiv* in November 2020.

17 Nov 2020

Compliance in UK with pandemic control measures has decreased, study finds

Scientists at University College London (UCL) surveyed 21,000 adults living in the United Kingdom to gauge the national population’s compliance level. They found that compliance in the UK with pandemic control measures had decreased as the stringency of lockdown measures eased over the course of this year (2020).

17 Nov 2020

Widespread COVID-19 testing may be possible with new dried blood tests

Researchers have developed dried blood spot sample testing that could be instrumental in preventing the spread of SARS- CoV-2.

17 Nov 2020

Study shows limited influence of BMI on shaping SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses

A new study by researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard showed that obesity is not tied to the increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the team demonstrated that obesity is associated with increased manifestations of symptoms in mild COVID-19 infections, suggesting that obesity impacts the pathophysiology of COVID-19.

16 Nov 2020

Significant SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy in the U.S.

A new study has found that an alarming amount of parents in the United States say they are unlikely to vaccinate their children or themselves against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2).

16 Nov 2020

Asymptomatic individuals mount polyfunctional antibody response to SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in France have conducted a study showing that people who are asymptomatic following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – elicit a polyfunctional antibody response to the virus.

16 Nov 2020

Study compares deaths in Sweden and Norway before and after COVID pandemic

A recent epidemiological study, currently available on the medRxiv preprint server, demonstrates that all-cause mortality was mostly unchanged during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic compared to the previous four years in Norway and Sweden – two countries which took very different routes in their battle against this disease.

16 Nov 2020