Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Brain damage is not caused by direct COVID-19 attack, indicates study

n an in-depth study of how COVID-19 affects a patient's brain, National Institutes of Health researchers consistently spotted hallmarks of damage caused by thinning and leaky brain blood vessels in tissue samples from patients who died shortly after contracting the disease.

3 Jan 2021

Phase 3 results show investigational vaccine is effective in preventing severe COVID-19

The investigational vaccine known as mRNA-1273 was 94.1% efficacious in preventing symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to preliminary results from a Phase 3 clinical trial reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Jan 2021

Sustained immune dysregulation due to COVID-19 in non-hospitalized patients

COVID-19, which has killed 1.7 million people worldwide, does not follow a uniform path.

29 Dec 2020

New, rapid antibody test gives detailed information on how the immune system reacts to Covid-19

A new type of antibody test is being developed by researchers at Linnaeus University and the bioanalysis company Attana. Compared to the binary antibody tests used today, this rapid test can give more detailed information on how our immune systems react to Covid-19 and other types of viruses and bacteria.

29 Dec 2020

Live free or die if you must, say Colorado urbanites — but not in my hospital

Whenever Larry Kelderman looks up from the car he's fixing and peers across the street, he's looking across a border. His town of 28,000 straddles two counties, separated by County Line Road.

29 Dec 2020

Researchers discover how chromosomal instability allows cancer cells to avoid immune defenses

Cancer cells are known for spreading genetic chaos. As cancer cells divide, DNA segments and even whole chromosomes can be duplicated, mutated, or lost altogether. This is called chromosomal instability, and scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering have learned that it is associated with cancer's aggressiveness.

28 Dec 2020

Phase 3 trial of Novavax COVID-19 vaccine candidate begins enrolling volunteers

The Phase 3 trial of another investigational coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine has begun enrolling adult volunteers.

28 Dec 2020

In fast-moving pandemic, health officials try to change minds at warp speed

Nine months into the pandemic that has killed more than 320,000 people in the U.S., Kim Larson is still trying to convince others in her northern Montana county that COVID-19 is dangerous.

28 Dec 2020

Popular glucose-lowering drug may cause rare diabetes complication in COVID-19 patients

Diabetes is a known risk factor for morbidity and mortality related to COVID-19. In diabetes patients, rare but severe complications, like the potentially lethal condition diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), can arise when illness or certain conditions prevent cells from receiving enough glucose to fuel their functioning.

28 Dec 2020

Researchers develop new system for direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 in aerosols

Researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, in collaboration with specialists from the University of Valencia (UV), have come up with a new system based on a high-sensitivity mass biosensor that continuously monitors signals for the direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 in environmental aerosols.

28 Dec 2020

Severity of COVID-19 correlates with the ratio of antibodies targeting crucial viral protein

COVID-19 antibodies preferentially target a different part of the virus in mild cases of COVID-19 than they do in severe cases, and wane significantly within several months of infection, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford Medicine.

24 Dec 2020

SARS-CoV-2 spike-antibody binding strength and hydrogen bond numbers are temperature dependent, study finds

A new preprint on the bioRxiv* server describes the interactions between the binding spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with the antibodies. Earlier studies have addressed the similarity in the 3D structures of the spike protein in the two SARS viruses as seen on cryo-EM.

24 Dec 2020

Could engineered red blood cells be an effective antiviral against SARS-CoV-2?

In a new study, released on the bioRxiv* preprint server, a team of researchers explores the antiviral potential of red blood cells against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of COVID-19.

24 Dec 2020

Animal study suggests palmitoylation inhibitor reduces virulence of SARS-CoV-2

A new study preprint on the bioRxiv* server demonstrates the ability of a fatty acid synthase inhibitor to improve the survival of mice infected with murine hepatitis virus. In so doing, it adds to the sum of knowledge about the relationship of SARS-CoV-2 with cholesterol metabolism in the host cell.

24 Dec 2020

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 NTD-directed antibodies are protective against lethal infection

As the world struggles to contain the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for over 1.6 million deaths and 76 million infections globally, researchers are trying to pin down the determinants of lethality, of infectivity and of protection. Such data would help contain its spread and develop preventive and therapeutic antivirals and vaccines. A new preprint that appeared recently on the bioRxiv* server describes the high degree of protection afforded by antibodies that target the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the virus.

24 Dec 2020

Immunologic modeling of COVID-19 severity and chronicity

In a new study by researchers at Universidad de Costa Rica and other institutions, a bioinformatics approach is used to determine whether Chronic COVID-19 (CC) might have a distinct immunologic signature compared to the mild to moderate (MM) or the severe/critical COVID-19.

24 Dec 2020

Reopening college campuses could initiate COVID-19 superspreading

Researchers at Stanford University in the United States have conducted a study showing that college campuses have an extremely high incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and that reopening them could initiate superspreading into neighboring communities.

24 Dec 2020

Kobe University and Sysmex conduct joint research on ELISPOT method for identifying COVID-19

Kobe University and Sysmex Corporation have been engaged in joint research on the ELISPOT method, a new blood test for identifying the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

24 Dec 2020

How has the COVID19 pandemic affected the well-being of pregnant women?

A new study by researchers at the Department of Women and Children’s Health at Uppsala University, Sweden, aimed to determine the effects of COVID-19 on pregnant women's mental health and well-being.

24 Dec 2020

A common compound in mouthwashes found to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

Researchers found that cetylpyridinium chloride, found in most mouthwashes, lowers infectivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in vitro, likely by inhibiting viral fusion with target cells. With more tests to prove validity, mouthwashes could be a simple, cheap way of curbing transmission.

24 Dec 2020