Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Improvements in air quality and health during COVID-19 lockdown

COVID-19 has devastated lives and communities and will have a horrendous impact on the economy, but it has also revealed some environmental truths that we as humans may not want to hear.

24 Apr 2020

USask's VIDO-Intervac receives $23 million to fast-track development of COVID-19 vaccine

The University of Saskatchewan's VIDO-InterVac (Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre) has been awarded $23 million to fast-track efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today.

24 Apr 2020

Study looks into COVID‐19 preparedness in Michigan nursing homes

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit some nursing homes especially hard - including in the hotspot state of Michigan. Hundreds of deaths of residents in homes from Seattle to Boston have raised concerns about how well facilities are protecting the 1.3 million older Americans who live in them.

24 Apr 2020

Indiana State Department of Health and IU collaborate to study COVID-19 spread

The Indiana State Department of Health is collaborating with the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI to conduct a scientific study to measure the spread of COVID-19 throughout the state.

24 Apr 2020

FAU scientists aim to develop a passive vaccine against COVID-19

Nothing less than the development of a passive vaccine against Covid-19 has been undertaken by a team of scientists from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universitätsklinkum Erlangen and their partners from the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology in Leipzig and the German Primate Centre in Göttingen.

24 Apr 2020

Siemens Healthineers to expand SARS-CoV-2 testing to include a total antibody test to aid in the COVID-19 pandemic

Siemens Healthineers announced today it is significantly expanding its infectious disease testing capabilities to aid in the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing the critical need for accurate diagnostic testing to manage COVID-19, the company has developed a laboratory-based total antibody test1 to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood.

From Siemens Healthineers Point of Care Diagnostics 24 Apr 2020

Anti-vaccine activists latch onto coronavirus to bolster their movement

While most of the world hungers for a vaccine to put an end to the death and economic destruction wrought by COVID-19, some anti-vaccine groups are joining with anti-lockdown protesters to challenge restrictions aimed at protecting public health.

24 Apr 2020

Fear, isolation and stigma attached to COVID-19 impact mental health of Africans

Fear, isolation and stigma are impacting the mental health of Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists say.

24 Apr 2020

Vaping, opioid addiction accelerate coronavirus risks, says NIDA director

In 2018, opioid overdoses claimed about 47,000 American lives. Last year, federal authorities reported that 5.4 million middle and high school students vaped. And just two months ago, about 2,800 cases of vaping-associated lung injuries resulted in hospitalizations; 68 people died.

24 Apr 2020

Research shows how the immune system reacts to hepatitis C viruses

If a virus penetrates a cell, the immune system reacts immediately and produces the signaling protein interferon.

24 Apr 2020

Born into a pandemic: Virus complicates births for moms and babies

Mallory Pease's contractions grew stronger as her husband, Mitchell, drove her to Oaklawn Hospital in Marshall, Michigan, to give birth to their second child. It had been a routine pregnancy, but she told her doctor she'd recently developed a sore throat, aches, coughing and shortness of breath — symptoms her provider knew could indicate COVID-19.

24 Apr 2020

Goblet cells in the human nasal passage may play key role in enabling COVID-19 infections

Two significant international studies involving hundreds of scientists, including a human geneticist at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest that specific cells in the human nasal passage shaped like a champagne glass, known as goblet cells, may play a significant role in enabling COVID-19 infections.

24 Apr 2020

New guide released for screening and managing lung cancer during COVID-19

A new expert panel consensus statement published simultaneously today in the journals Radiology: Imaging Cancer, Chest and the Journal of the American College of Radiology provides guidance to clinicians managing lung cancer screening programs and patients with lung nodules during the COVID-19 pandemic.

24 Apr 2020

American Lung Association calls for urgent universal COVID-19 antibody testing

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented rates of lung infections and deaths in modern history.

24 Apr 2020

Researchers report promising Phase 1 results for first oral polio vaccine in 50 years

Before being halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a relentless vaccination campaign had nearly succeeded in eradicating polio from the world.

24 Apr 2020

Biosero and Scripps Research Institute offer automated lab screening for COVID-19 drug therapy candidates

Biosero has designed and implemented an automated lab workflow for Scripps Research Institute so researchers can accelerate the screening of COVID-19 drug therapy candidates.

24 Apr 2020

Scientists are developing synthetic COVID-19 antibody to treat sick patients

A team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in collaboration with GenScript, is developing a synthetic antibody to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This antibody is intended to block the virus from entering human lung cells, and would be another potential treatment option for COVID-19.

24 Apr 2020