Disease/Infection News

RSS

Alzheimer’s symptoms linked to COVID-induced brain injury

New research shows further evidence between COVID-19 infection and the development of long-term neurological symptoms. The findings found COVID-induced neuroinflammation and microvascular injury contributed to dementia-like symptoms. However, they also found evidence indicating a low possibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) directly invading the brain.

24 Mar 2021

Fluoxetine (Prozac) performs strongly in vitro against SARS-CoV-2 (including mutants)

Researchers from Finland, to expand on these studies, tested some of these drugs against the new SARS-CoV-2 variants. The study is published on the preprint server bioRxiv.

24 Mar 2021

‘COVID-19 fears’ prevent many Africans from accessing malaria treatment

Fears of contracting COVID-19 are preventing people accessing vital health services, experts say.

24 Mar 2021

New initiatives expand COVID-19 saliva-based testing to underserved schools in Illinois

The University of Illinois System, with a $1.4 million grant from The Rockefeller Foundation, announces the expansion of its SHIELD Illinois and SHIELD CU COVID-19 testing initiatives to help safely reopen underserved K-12 schools in communities across the state using the covidSHIELD test, an innovative, saliva-based test developed at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

24 Mar 2021

Study finds rapid spread of B.1.1.220 variant with E484K mutation in New York

New research led by Patrick McGann from Walter Reed Army Institute of Research found the first cases of the B.1.1.220 variant with an E484K mutation on the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. Their results suggest the variant recently emerged as B.1.1.220 was not found in New York before December 2020. Still, it quickly made up 25% of coronavirus strains in late January and early February.

24 Mar 2021

Increased replicative fitness of SARS-CoV-2 UK strain in human bronchial cells

A recent study from France showed that the UK variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – also known as B.1.1.7 variant – can replicate much more efficiently in a reconstituted human bronchial epithelium, which may explain why it spreads so rapidly in the human population. The study is currently freely available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

24 Mar 2021

Seating assignments on airplanes can limit the risk of COVID-19 transmission

COVID-19 has been shown to spread on airplanes by infected passengers, so minimizing the risk of secondary infections aboard aircraft may save lives.

24 Mar 2021

Deep learning tool predicts hosts based on early SARS-CoV-2 samples

The study, which appeared on the pre-print server bioRxiv*, revealed how DeepHoF could help prevent future outbreaks that may become as large as the current pandemic.

24 Mar 2021

Researchers propose a new group testing method for COVID-19

Researchers Mario Guarracino from the HSE Laboratory of Algorithms and Technologies for Networks Analysis in Nizhny Novgorod and Julius Žilinskas and Algirdas Lančinskas from Vilnius University, have proposed a new method of testing for COVID-19.

24 Mar 2021

Repurposed heart and flu drugs that protect platelets improve survival of septic mice

Despite continued improvements in antibiotics and hospital intensive care, staph sepsis -; a bloodstream infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria -; still causes severe illness or death in 20 to 30 percent of patients who contract it.

24 Mar 2021

Researchers examine acriflavine's antiviral potential against SARS-CoV-2

Acriflavine is traditionally employed as a topical antiseptic, though has more recently been implicated as an antiviral agent at low doses, potentially by stimulating the production of interferon. In a new study recently uploaded to the bioRxiv* preprint server, the application of the drug to SARS-CoV-2 infection is investigated, demonstrating a broad activity towards a range of other betacoronaviruses.

24 Mar 2021

SARS-CoV-2 can cause persistent dendritic cell deficiencies

In a new study, the persistent influence of SARS-CoV-2 on dendritic cell deficiency seven months post-infection is asserted, and the mechanism of action investigated.

24 Mar 2021

Reduced mRNA COVID-19 vaccine response in nursing home residents

A recent study has examined the response of nursing home residents who were naïve to SARS-CoV-2 infection following vaccination by the mRNA BNT162b2 model from Pfizer-BioNTech.

24 Mar 2021

Pangolin coronavirus sheds light on UK SARS-CoV-2 variant's evolutionary trajectory

Researchers at the Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, UK, have provided key insights into the characteristics of the B.1.1.7 (or UK) variant of SARS-CoV-2.

24 Mar 2021

Long-term complications are common among COVID-19 recovered individuals

A team of scientists from the United Kingdom has recently conducted a multicenter, prospective cohort study to investigate long-term consequences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

24 Mar 2021

Researchers develop innovative biosensor that can detect and quantitate SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers have generated protease-activatable fluorescent and luminescent biosensors for SARS-CoV-2 MPro (main protease) and PLPro (papain-like protease) activity, one based on “flip” GFP (FlipGFP), and the other based on circularly permuted firefly luciferase (FFluc).

24 Mar 2021

Cognitive decline is linked to COVID-19 lockdown, shows study

A decline in cognitive functions - such as memory, attention and decision-making - is connected to the tightest restrictions in Scotland's COVID-19 lockdown, a new peer-reviewed study has found.

24 Mar 2021

Modeling study predicts SARS-CoV-2 variants with high receptor binding affinity

A new study adds to the sum of knowledge about SARS-CoV-2, with respect to its natural and biologically significant mutations, using computational modeling of the virus-receptor interactions. Understanding how viral mutations affect the virus-host interactions is crucial for shaping proper strategies to control the virus.

24 Mar 2021

Neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in mice depend on Fc effector function

A new study reports the essential nature of Fc-mediated functionalities in determining the efficacy of such antibodies.

24 Mar 2021

New covalent and non-covalent SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors discovered in silico

A new study describes the use of a combination of virtual and experimental screening protocols to identify potential inhibitors of the virus, which could lead to rapid drug development.

24 Mar 2021