Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Dead virus fragments are causing COVID-19 reinfection false positives

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has ravaged across the globe, infecting a staggering 3.5 million people, and taking over 251,000 lives. One of the most significant concerns in this global pandemic is the possibility of reinfection as previous reports in South Korea and Japan show people testing positive with the coronavirus again.

4 May 2020

Analysis of India's battle with COVID-19

A new paper published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 suggests, based on mathematical models, that premature removal of lockdown restrictions in India could be highly counterproductive, enhancing the secondary spread of COVID-19, pushing up the number of fatalities and prolonging the course of the pandemic in India.

4 May 2020

New information on viral antigens could improve COVID-19 testing

Researchers in France and China have characterized antibody responses to a wide range of antigens present on severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

4 May 2020

Stringent social distancing measures in Louisville are saving lives, study finds

A new modeling study by the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences and the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness (LMPHW) indicates that stringent social distancing measures the city put in place in March have significantly slowed the spread of COVID-19 in the city.

4 May 2020

Scientists develop a highly sensitive COVID-19 diagnostic platform

Cima Universidad de Navarra researchers have developed a large-scale, highly sensitive COVID-19 diagnostic platform more efficient than the commercial PCR test kits currently available.

4 May 2020

ASU team identifies new, unique SARS-CoV-2 mutation

As the coronavirus pandemic has swept across the U.S., in addition to tracking the number of COVID daily cases, there is a worldwide scientific community engaged in tracking the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself.

4 May 2020

UC San Diego receives $55 NIH grant to advance clinical and translational research

The Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute at University of California San Diego has received a five-year, $54.7 million Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science, part of the National Institutes of Health.

4 May 2020

MU researcher finds four antiviral drugs effective in inhibiting novel coronavirus

Now, a researcher at the University of Missouri has found that four antiviral drugs, including remdesivir, a drug originally developed to treat Ebola, are effective in inhibiting the replication of the coronavirus causing COVID-19.

4 May 2020

New computer modeling systems to predict spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus

Joe Mihaljevic, mathematical epidemiologist and assistant professor in Northern Arizona University's School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, is leading a new project to create computer modeling systems to predict outcomes of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, across four northern Arizona counties--Coconino, Navajo, Apache and Mohave.

4 May 2020

Viruses from stool can help fight obesity and type 2 diabetes

Obese mice with unhealthy lifestyles gain significantly less weight and avoid type 2 diabetes when they receive viruses transplanted from the stool of lean mice. These are the findings of a new University of Copenhagen study.

4 May 2020

Testing in California still a frustrating patchwork of haves and have-nots

Months into the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, widespread diagnostic testing still isn't available, and California offers a sobering view of the dysfunction blocking the way.

4 May 2020

A $10 million grant enables expansion of BCG vaccine trial against COVID-19

An A$10 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will allow the Murdoch Children's Research Institute's clinical trial of the BCG vaccine against COVID-19 to extend to 10,000 healthcare workers across Australia, Spain and The Netherlands.

4 May 2020

Study defines new starting points for therapy and vaccine research on coronavirus

The SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects lung cells and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The viral spike protein mediates entry of the virus into host cells and harbors an unusual activation sequence.

4 May 2020

Newly identified antibody prevents SARS-CoV-2 virus from infecting cultured cells

Researchers at Utrecht University, Erasmus Medical Center and Harbour BioMed (HBM) today reported that they have identified a fully human monoclonal antibody that prevents the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus from infecting cultured cells.

4 May 2020

As lawmakers reconvene, not everyone agrees on COVID-only agenda

California lawmakers return to the Capitol this week to begin what they describe as necessary but painful negotiations to keep the state running and redirect dwindling funds to the costly coronavirus pandemic.

4 May 2020

TissueGnostics joins the global fight against infectious diseases

The world is facing an unprecedented challenge in form of SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19, and TG stand strong to support the mankind and our research community!

From TissueGnostics 4 May 2020

COVID-plagued California nursing homes often had problems in past

When Jorge Newbery finally got through to his 95-year-old mother, Jennifer, on a video call April 18, she could barely talk or move and her eyes couldn't focus.

4 May 2020

Number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Spain increases to almost 10% of the people infected

A multidisciplinary research group of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) and the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) have analysed the diagnostic delay between the development of symptoms of COVID-19 and the registration of a positive case in ten countries in the European Union.

4 May 2020

Study reveals variable sites in novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

Understanding the varying aggressiveness of SARS-CoV-2 may provide valuable data to trace its spread across populations. In the study, published on the preprint server BioRxiv, the researchers traced amino acid variants that possess high frequency in Europe, particularly in Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries.

4 May 2020

Scientists develop CRISPR-based test for SARS-CoV-2

Now, a team of scientists at the University of California Santa Barbara has developed a low-cost, rapid, and high-tech test that can detect SARS-CoV-2 effectively. They have developed a CRISPR-based test that is sensitive and effective as traditional tests.

4 May 2020