SARS CoV 2 News and Research

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Many hospitalized COVID-19 patients exhibit neurological symptoms, study finds

Nearly a third of hospitalized COVID-19 patients experienced some type of altered mental state and function, ranging from delirium to confusion, and in some cases, unresponsiveness, a new study has found.

7 Oct 2020

CDC recognizes airborne transmission of COVID-19

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to ravage across the globe, with the number of confirmed cases topping 35.65 million.

7 Oct 2020

Do air purifiers reduce SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission?

Researchers recently discussed their experiments to test the efficiency and practicality of using mobile air purifiers in school classrooms to reduce airborne transmission risk of SARS-COV-2 in a preprint paper published on medRxiv.

6 Oct 2020

New clinical report on brain changes in deceased COVID-19 patients

German researchers published a report on a series of cases on post mortem findings of COVID-19 patients who succumbed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection along with neurological complications. Their study titled “Neuropathology of patients with COVID-19 in Germany: a post-mortem case series” is published in the latest issue of The Lancet Neurology.

6 Oct 2020

Binge drinking is increasing, especially in women during COVID-19

Researchers last week released their work studying the pattern of alcohol use and its consequences on Americans during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

6 Oct 2020

Proteolytic activation of the SARS-CoV-2 spike S1/S2 site

In a recent paper published on the bioRxiv preprint server, Cornell University researchers study the proteolytic activation of the SARS-CoV-2 spike sites, re-evaluating the furin cleavage.

6 Oct 2020

Using virus-like particles to study SARS-CoV-2 assembly, budding, and entry

In a recent preprint paper published on the bioRxiv server, researchers from the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, discuss their efforts to assess the 4 SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins for their ability to produce VLPs from human cells to create a competent system for BSL-2 studies of SARS-CoV-2.

6 Oct 2020

Self-isolation on arrival at airports dramatically improves detection of disease importation

Researchers from Public Health England have conducted a study showing that screening and quarantining travelers on arrival at airports significantly reduces the risk of disease importation during international outbreaks, compared with screening alone.

6 Oct 2020

Low lymphocyte count before COVID-19 heightens death risk

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have conducted a study suggesting that having a low white blood cell count (lymphocytopenia) prior to exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be associated with an increased risk of dying from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

6 Oct 2020

Antigen testing detects SARS-CoV-2 better than PCR

A team of scientists from the United States demonstrates that rapid antigen tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are more effective in determining the actual infection status in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) than real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR)-based tests.

6 Oct 2020

Study reveals potential utility of artemisinin-based treatments against SARS-CoV-2

In a recent, methodologically robust bioRXiv preprint paper, researchers from Germany, Denmark and Hong Kong report in vitro efficacy of extracts from the sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua), but also artemisinin, artesunate and artemether derivatives against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

6 Oct 2020

Dried blood spot samples accurately detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 S glycoprotein antibodies

Using dried blood spot samples (DBS) is an accurate alternative to venous blood in detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests, a new study by immunology experts at the University of Birmingham has found.

6 Oct 2020

Older heavier COVID-19 positives likely to be superspreaders

The spread of SARS-CoV-2 is known to be through respiratory droplets as well as via aerosols, composed of minute particles normally exhaled during natural breathing.

6 Oct 2020

SARS-COV-2 traveled from China to West Africa directly or via Europe

With the onset of COVID-19, the focus of medical research has been on tracing the origin of SARS-CoV-2, which was first reported in China’s Wuhan city.

6 Oct 2020

SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in England “Higher than at any time from May 2020.”

The UK was badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the numbers of patients requiring hospitalization high during the first wave of the infection.

6 Oct 2020

Plasma ACE2 concentration associated with increased risk of major cardiovascular events

A team of scientists at the Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences, and McMaster University, Hamilton, in Ontario, Canada, revealed that increased plasma ACE2 levels in the blood could indicate a higher risk of major cardiovascular events. The study is published in the journal The Lancet.

6 Oct 2020

SARS-CoV-2 and anti-COVID-19 drugs activate Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* aimed to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on people with various illnesses. Specifically, the researchers at the Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences wanted to see the effects of COVID-19 on patients with cancer and other infectious diseases.

6 Oct 2020

COVID-19 increases flu vaccine acceptance in the U.K., study finds

In the United Kingdom, a team of researchers at Imperial College London has found that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has increased vaccination acceptance among the study participants. The research is published on the preprint server medRxiv.

6 Oct 2020

Chronic illnesses promote active SARS-CoV-2 infection via suppressed mucosal immunity

A recent paper published in the preprint server medRxiv in September 2020 discusses the “clinically relevant variation in the expression of COVID-19-related genes”, which is associated with the host and environmental factors, as well as host genetic factors.

6 Oct 2020

Thiopurines could help stop viral replication in human coronaviruses

Researchers from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Dalhousie University, University of Calgary, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Canada, worked with human coronaviruses in cell cultures to look for drugs that might prevent accumulation and replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

6 Oct 2020