Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Brain pericytes serve as a potential hub for SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of scientists from the United States has recently conducted a study using pericyte-like cell-containing brain cortical organoids as an experimental model to investigate the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on the central nervous system.

11 Feb 2021

Adults with intellectual disabilities are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, study finds

Researchers at the University of Glasgow and the Manchester Metropolitan University in the U.K. report that adults with intellectual disabilities have a higher risk of being infected with SARS-CoV2. They are also more likely to develop worse outcomes once infected.

11 Feb 2021

Health workers and hospitals grapple with millions of counterfeit N95 masks

Thousands of counterfeit 3M respirators have slipped past U.S. investigators in recent months, making it to the cheeks and chins of health care workers and perplexing experts who say their quality is not vastly inferior to the real thing.

11 Feb 2021

New study shares preliminary data on Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness in Israel

Researchers have shown that by mid-January, the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Israel began to decline with a larger and earlier decrease among older people.

11 Feb 2021

Study: Risk of death from COVID-19 is 3.5 times higher than from influenza

A new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) found that the risk of death from COVID-19 was 3.5 times higher than from influenza.

11 Feb 2021

Minimally-invasive deep aging clocks could improve response to COVID-19 vaccine

Deep Longevity, a fully-owned subsidiary of Regent Pacific (SEHK:0575.HK), specializing in the development and the application of next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) for aging and longevity research, today announced the publication of an article in Lancet Healthy Longevity titled "The potential of rapalogs to enhance resilience against SARS-CoV-2 infection and reduce the severity of COVID-19".

11 Feb 2021

COVID-19 immunity study to enroll college students to test vaccine effectiveness

A University of Arizona Health Sciences study that is examining COVID-19 immunity and re-infection among frontline workers is expanding to include some Arizona college students while broadening its research focus to include COVID-19 vaccination effectiveness.

11 Feb 2021

New research yields potential drug target against HIV

Humans possess a formidable multi-layered defense system that protects us against viral infections. Better understanding of these defenses and the tricks that viruses use to evade them could open novel avenues for treating viral infections and possibly other diseases.

11 Feb 2021

Breastfeeding women produce COVID-19 antibodies that neutralize the virus

Breastfeeding women with COVID-19 do not pass along the SARS-CoV-2 virus in their milk but do transfer milk-borne antibodies that are able to neutralize the virus, a multi-institutional team of researchers led by the University of Idaho reported.

11 Feb 2021

1918 pandemic provides a cautionary tale of potential future pandemic

The 1918 influenza pandemic provides a cautionary tale for what the future may hold for COVID-19, says a Michigan State University researcher.

10 Feb 2021

Nursing care during COVID-19 pandemic impacted by fear and isolation

Researchers from the University of Seville's Nursing Department, with the collaboration of professionals from the ICU at Virgen Macarena University Hospital in Seville, have analyzed the key factors in caring for critical COVID-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic.

10 Feb 2021

Scientists make four major discoveries about SARS-CoV-2

University of Minnesota Medical School researchers studied SARS-CoV-2 infections at individual cellular levels and made four major discoveries about the virus, including one that validates the effectiveness of remdesivir - an FDA-approved antiviral drug - as a form of treatment for severe COVID-19 disease.

10 Feb 2021

Metabolomics and machine learning used to identify possible COVID-19 biomarkers

One of the many mysteries still surrounding COVID-19 is why some people experience only mild, flu-like symptoms, whereas others suffer life-threatening respiratory problems, vascular dysfunction and tissue damage.

10 Feb 2021

Obesity, age and COVID-19 infection can make someone a super-spreader of SARS-CoV-2

Scientists and public health experts have long known that certain individuals, termed "super-spreaders," can transmit COVID-19 with incredible efficiency and devastating consequences.

10 Feb 2021

Exposure to seasonal coronaviruses does not produce antibodies that protect against SARS-CoV-2

Past exposure to seasonal coronaviruses (CoVs), which cause the common cold, does not result in the production of antibodies that protect against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, according to a study led by Scott Hensley, PhD, an associate professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

10 Feb 2021

Lung ultrasound helps predict clinical progression of severe COVID-19 patients

Lung ultrasound, considered a simple method for diagnosing lung disease, can also help predict the clinical progression of severe COVID-19 patients, according to a study conducted at the University of São Paulo's Medical School in São Paulo City, Brazil.

10 Feb 2021

Second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine may not benefit previously infected individuals

Researchers at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine have shown that a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine may not offer any additional protection against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) over one dose among individuals previously infected with the causative agent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

10 Feb 2021