Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

FDA authorizes use of Symbiotica COVID-19 Self-Collected Antibody Test System

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it has issued an emergency use authorization for the Symbiotica COVID-19 Self-Collected Antibody Test System, the first antibody test authorized for use with home collected dried blood spot samples.

6 Apr 2021

Researchers identify a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant (A.VOI.V2) in southern Africa

Scientists recently explored the transmission dynamics of currently circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2 in a southern African country. By analyzing the genomic sequences of these variants, they have identified a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant with multiple spike mutations. They have temporarily designated the variant A.VOI.V2.

6 Apr 2021

Can limiting the priming dose of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine improve immunity?

Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Rochester in the U.S. addressed this question in their study. The researchers also explored whether the vaccines administered across the world could confer sterilizing immunity while preventing severe disease and death.

6 Apr 2021

Is non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infection characterized by early T cell proliferation?

To date, little evidence has been documented regarding the immune responses after the onset of the symptoms or virus detection. Further, no cross-sectional studies have been conducted that define the time of infection. Thereby, no report is available that explains the relationship between the earliest immune responses to COVID-19 and temporal kinetics. New research deals with this research gap using blood transcriptomics, multiparameter flow cytometry, and T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing methods.

6 Apr 2021

What Covid means for the athlete’s heart

For sports fans across the country, the resumption of the regular sports calendar has signaled another step toward post-pandemic normality. But for the athletes participating in professional, collegiate, high school or even recreational sports, significant unanswered questions remain about the aftereffects of a Covid infection.

6 Apr 2021

For this hospice nurse, the Covid shot came too late

Antonio Espinoza loved the Los Angeles Dodgers. He loved them so much that he was laid to rest in his favorite Dodgers jersey. His family and friends, including his 3-year-old son, donned a sea of blue-and-white baseball shirts and caps in his honor.

6 Apr 2021

Study suggests T-cells don't determine survival in severe COVID-19

In the study, which appeared on the pre-print server medRxiv, the team found that when the monkeys were reinfected, the T cell-depleted animals showed anamnestic immune responses, the enhanced reaction of the body's immune system to an antigen that is related to an antigen previously encountered.

6 Apr 2021

Researchers take key step toward new drugs and vaccines to combat COVID-19

Researchers in the Oregon State University College of Science have taken a key step toward new drugs and vaccines for combating COVID-19 with a deep dive into one protein's interactions with SARS-CoV-2 genetic material.

6 Apr 2021

Novel hydrogel-based vaccine formulation shows high efficacy against SARS-CoV-2

A fascinating new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server discusses impressively high neutralizing responses elicited with a single dose of a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine formulation, which could help turn the tide of the current pandemic if validated.

6 Apr 2021

Research explores sex differences in placental defenses against SARS-CoV-2 infection

A plethora of earlier studies has reported on the differences between the sexes in susceptibility to the currently circulating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as well as its severity. A new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server extends this to the placenta in pregnancy.

6 Apr 2021

South Africa SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.351 easily escapes Sputnik vaccine

A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv* server reports on vaccine resistance data that pushes the end of the pandemic further away.

6 Apr 2021

Researchers to test a promising treatment for high-risk COVID-19 outpatients

The nation has been coping with the pandemic for more than a year, and in this time, researchers have learned a great deal about how to treat COVID-19.

6 Apr 2021

New nanoparticle SARS-CoV-2 vaccine confers robust protection with single dose after two weeks

In a methodologically ‘state-of-the-art’ approach, US researchers have developed a protein-based nanoparticle vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with a swift generation of antibodies and the potential to protect individuals who cannot receive other COVID-19 vaccines for medical reasons. The research is posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server.

5 Apr 2021

Researchers generate a precise map of basal ganglia connectivity

Thousands of our daily activities, from making coffee to taking a walk to saying hello to a neighbor, are made possible through an ancient collection of brain structures tucked away near the center of the cranium.

5 Apr 2021

Vermont to give minority residents vaccine priority

States have tried with limited success to get covid vaccines to people of color, who have been disproportionately killed and hospitalized by the virus.

5 Apr 2021

Phase 1 clinical study of unique vaccine to protect against COVID-19 begins

A unique vaccine to protect against COVID-19 begins clinical testing Tuesday, 6 April, at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command.

5 Apr 2021

New software package employs deep-learning algorithms to analyze T-cell receptor sequencing data

Researchers at the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed DeepTCR, a software package that employs deep-learning algorithms to analyze T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing data. T-cell receptors are found on the surface of immune T cells.

5 Apr 2021

Can universal vaccines and treatments against future SARS-CoV-2 variants be developed?

A team of researchers from Saudi Arabia and Spain recently quantified the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 by tracking the mutations of the virus globally, focusing on the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the virus’s spike protein, which determines its infectivity.

5 Apr 2021

SARS-CoV-2 cryptic transmission modeling shows emergence of first wave in US and Europe

To analyze this cryptic transmission phase and the first wave of the pandemic that ensued, researchers from Italy, UK, and the US used a data-driven, spatial, stochastic, and age-structured epidemic model. They developed a mechanistic understanding of the evolution of the epidemic and estimated the time required for local transmission in various states and countries. The model developed by the team offers a statistical idea of SARS-CoV-2 introductions across European countries and many states in the US.

5 Apr 2021

Montana sticks to its patchwork Covid vaccine rollout as eligibility expands

Montana's Covid-19 vaccine distribution is among the most efficient in the nation, but closer examination reveals a patchwork of systems among counties and tribal governments that will be put to the test as the state opens vaccine eligibility to all people 16 and older starting this month.

5 Apr 2021