Disease/Infection News

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Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine causes steep drop in COVID-19 among healthcare workers

A team of scientists from Spain has recently evaluated the efficacy of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2). Their findings reveal that a 2-dose regimen of BNT162b2 vaccine is capable of providing almost 100% protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers.

29 Mar 2021

Corticosteroid therapy in pregnant women with COVID-19

A new study describes the outcome of corticosteroid use in pregnancy.

29 Mar 2021

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted birth statistics in the U.S.?

A new study examines national-level changes in fertility, preterm birth and other obstetric outcomes, in the U.S., over the period of the pandemic throughout 2020.

29 Mar 2021

Rare genetic variant may explain severe COVID-19 in young healthy male patients

A recent study describes the association of rare alleles in a specific gene with severe COVID-19 in young male patients.

29 Mar 2021

Researchers develop new rapid and highly sensitive SAR-CoV-2 RNA detection test

In an alternative approach to the PCR-based methods, CRISPR-Cas proteins have been employed by a large team of researchers to identify the SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA in patient samples with PCR-derived cycle threshold (Ct) values up to 22 - corresponding to ~1600 copies/µl in the assay.

29 Mar 2021

Researchers examine circRNAs encoded by MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2

New research published in Briefings in Bioinformaticsm has identified thousands of circRNAs in Betacoronaviruses, including MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1, and SARS-CoV-2, from the RNA-sequencing data of viral infections. These coronaviruses have a similar genomic structure with a diverse circRNA coding ability. Researchers have also systematically characterized circRNAs in coronaviruses, with regard to their size, sequence feature, expressions, genome, location preference, and functions. This opens the door to further explore and understand the mode of action of individual circRNAs in coronaviruses.

29 Mar 2021

Researchers develop novel nanoadjuvant COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Researchers at the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), introduced a new vaccine, which compromises the spike protein’s receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the manganese nanoadjuvant (MnARK), inducing humoral and cellular responses.

29 Mar 2021

Study identifies key features in SARS-CoV-2 genome essential for replication in respiratory cells

Researchers at the Institute of Medical Virology, the University of Zurich in Switzerland, have identified features in the SARS-CoV-2 genome that are important for human respiratory cell growth.

29 Mar 2021

Addressing the increasing plasticity of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers summarize what this rapid increase of plasticity of SARS-CoV-2 could mean for the future of the pandemic and anti-SARS-CoV-2 measures.

29 Mar 2021

Developing orally administrable drugs to combat SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in China have reported the successful design and synthesis of two antiviral compounds that target the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)’s main protease, essential in virus replication.

29 Mar 2021

Virus-cell interaction may partly explain the higher infection rate of COVID-19

Bioengineering researchers at Lehigh University have identified a previously unknown interaction between receptors in human cells and the spike, or "S," protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

29 Mar 2021

Large U.S. study identifies sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 testing and positivity

The massive and continuing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), throughout the world, has led to a staggering toll of over 549,000 deaths in the USA, among over 30 million cases. A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv* server discusses the factors related to the chances of testing positive for this virus.

29 Mar 2021

Single Sputnik V vaccine dose elicits robust immune response in previously infected individuals

A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv server describes successful immunization of the vaccinated population with a single dose of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.

29 Mar 2021

Linear epitope mapping of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

The spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been the primary target of many drug discovery efforts and is similarly utilized in each of the approved COVID-19 vaccines to elicit the generation of anti-spike protein antibodies, thereby granting immunity.

28 Mar 2021

Boerhavia diffusa possess potential therapeutic properties against COVID-19

Several companies and research groups have been searching for suitably docking ligands that inhibit the function of this protein. In a research paper recently published to the Springer journal VirusDisease by Surya & Praveen (March 6th, 2021) in silico docking simulations towards 3CLpro have been performed, focusing in particular on natural products obtained from the plant Boerhavia diffusa.

28 Mar 2021

Combined clinical and genomic data better predicts COVID-19 severity

The current COVID-19 outbreak is one of the worst pandemics in history and has claimed millions of lives across the globe, overwhelmed healthcare systems, and created unprecedented socio-economic ramifications.

28 Mar 2021

Antibody agents effective at neutralizing European, South African, and United States SARS-CoV-2 variants

Researchers in the United States have demonstrated the effectiveness of three antibody agents at neutralizing recently emerged variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

28 Mar 2021

New SARS-CoV-2 genome variants identified in US mink

Researchers in Canada have discovered two novel variants in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) gene sequences collected from mink in the United States.

28 Mar 2021

Research finds polymerase of SARS-CoV-2 can adopt an alternative structure

New research by German scientists has uncovered another form of coronavirus polymerase. The current polymerase thought to be used for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) for replication and transcription. It contains a monomeric enzyme with the catalytic subunit nsp12, two copies of subunit nsp8, and one copy of subunit nsp7.

28 Mar 2021

mRNA vaccines and monoclonal antibodies protect against new NYC-B.1.526 variant

A new fast-spreading severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant called B.1.526 recently emerged in New York City and caused concerns for its potential to resist the immune system.

28 Mar 2021