Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Children are immune prepared for SARS-CoV-2

At least 30 new diseases have emerged in the last 20 years and now together threaten the health of hundreds of millions of people. For many of these diseases, there is no treatment, cure, or vaccine. While most of these diseases are dangerous to children, especially those younger than five years old, the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), seems to spare most of them.

8 May 2020

Pangolins may be the key to new COVID-19 treatments

Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, have made an important discovery about the immune response to coronaviruses in pangolins that could point to new approaches for treating human cases of infection.

8 May 2020

Antibodies from llamas may hold cure for novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

As scientists across the globe race to find an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus, a team of scientists believe that a four-year-old llama named Winter may hold the key to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

7 May 2020

New evidence suggests that schools should be kept closed to prevent COVID-19 spread

With most countries at a standstill, the circulating novel coronavirus has changed the way people live. Though some countries are starting to ease lockdown measures, with schools reopening, health experts worry that this may aggravate the situation. Two new studies provide evidence that children spread the coronavirus and transmit it, making them potential carriers of the infection.

7 May 2020

Predicting the dose for repurposing nitazoxanide in COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 reports a model that could help evolve appropriate dosage protocols for future clinical trials of the repurposed drug nitazoxanide in COVID-19 prevention and treatment. The researchers say, “It was possible to achieve plasma and lung tizoxanide concentrations, using proven safe doses of nitazoxanide, that exceed the EC90 for SARS-CoV-2.”

7 May 2020

Study predicts the spread of COVID-19 in India

Dr. Shinjini Ghosh and colleagues from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States, have come up with a predictive model that analyzes the spread of COVID-19 infection in India. Their study titled, "Predictive Model with Analysis of the Initial Spread of COVID-19 in India," was released prior to peer review on the preprint server Medrxiv.

7 May 2020

SARS-CoV-2 found in semen of COVID-19 patients

Since the novel coronavirus, now called the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in December 2019, viral loads have been detected in body fluids, such as urine samples, saliva, stool samples, and in the gastrointestinal tract. Now, a new study reveals the SARS-CoV-2 virus in semen.

7 May 2020

U.S. needs to boost the number of beds for COVID-19 patients

A new study published in JAMA Network Open sheds light on the increased demand for intensive care and inpatient beds amid the coronavirus outbreak, based on two cities in China to determine the level of hospital capacity needed to respond to outbreaks of severe coronavirus disease 2019 in U.S. cities.

7 May 2020

Vitamin D could improve outcomes in COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 shows that vitamin D could have a beneficial effect on the course of illness for COVID-19 patients.

7 May 2020

Excluding children from COVID-19 clinical trials may limit their treatment options

A new viewpoint article from Harvard Medical School, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, discusses the hesitancy to include children in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) clinical trials, potentially diminishing their therapeutic options in the long run.

7 May 2020

Talking and breathing can contribute to COVID-19 spread, shows study

Current knowledge about the role of aerosols in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 warrants urgent attention.

7 May 2020

Low levels of vitamin D can increase susceptibility to COVID-19 infection

A new study has found an association between low average levels of vitamin D and high numbers of COVID-19 cases and mortality rates across 20 European countries.

7 May 2020

Portable, reusable coronavirus sensor produces results within a minute

"Testing, testing, testing." It's a mantra that health officials have been constantly promoting because screening people for COVID-19 is the best way to contain its spread. In the U.S., however, that crucial necessity has been hampered due to a lack of supplies.

7 May 2020

How the pandemic and an anti-vax health official are roiling a Montana community

Even as Montana begins a gradual easing of stay-at-home restrictions intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the political schism it highlighted is creating reverberations in one community in the northwestern corner of the state.

7 May 2020

EFP develops safety protocol for dental practices during Covid-19

Oral healthcare is severely affected all over the world by the Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic because of the risk implied for both dental professionals and patients.

7 May 2020

Economic blow of the coronavirus hits America’s already stressed farmers

Richard Oswald, still mourning the loss of his family's homestead to flooding along the Missouri River, is planting corn and soybeans into ground that last year was feet deep underwater.

7 May 2020

Cholesterol lowering drugs can improve composition of gut bacteria in obese individuals

The human gut microbiota consists of trillions of bacteria, fungi and virus constituting an inner chemical factory producing a multitude of microbial compounds affecting immunity, neurobiology and metabolism of the human host.

7 May 2020

Twist Bioscience Identifies Competitive Antibodies for SARS-CoV-2

Twist Bioscience Corporation has identified competitive antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, which could potentially be used for diagnostic tests and treatments.

7 May 2020

Researchers shed new light on the structure of RNA

Australian and US researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding the structure of a key genetic molecule, called RNA, and revealing for the first time how these changes impact RNA's function.

7 May 2020

Severe blood clotting and high bleeding risk identified in critically ill COVID-19 patients

Emerging data is pointing to a faulty blood clotting system in the most critically ill COVID-19 patients. Patients with underlying health problems are presenting a severe risk of VTE (blood clotting) – previously an unknown risk factor – as well as an increased bleed risk.

7 May 2020