Disease/Infection News

RSS

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

High throughput screening for COVID-19 with the VOYAGER pipette

The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down research in many scientific areas, but for the Jain Lab in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida, the pandemic has created an exciting opportunity to repurpose their work.

From INTEGRA Biosciences 24 Mar 2021

Delays in TB diagnosis often exceed WHO’s recommendations, shows study

Tuberculosis remains a rare disease in the United States, but when it does occur, delays in diagnosing it often exceed recommendations by the World Health Organization, according to a new report by Harvard Medical School researchers published March 22 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

24 Mar 2021

Survey of surge capacity managers captures pandemic preparedness status of the U.S. health care system

A University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine-led survey of dozens of surge capacity managers at hospitals nationwide captures the U.S. health care system's pandemic preparedness status in the months before the first COVID-19 cases were identified in China.

24 Mar 2021

Delaying second doses of COVID-19 vaccines can reduce positive cases

Delaying second doses of COVID-19 vaccines should reduce case numbers in the near term; however, the longer term case burden and the potential for evolution of viral ‘escape’ from immunity will depend on the robustness of immune responses generated by natural infections and one or two vaccine doses, according to a study from McGill University and Princeton University published today in Science.

24 Mar 2021

Epitope antibody testing is effective in detecting immune responses to SARS-CoV-2

A new preprint study led by Shawn S-C. Li from Western University in Ontario, Canada, provides evidence of epitope-specific antibody responses and designed a test to measure this in relation to disease severity and outcome after infection.

24 Mar 2021

New range of lung-on-chip technologies represent the vital properties of lung tissue

According to the National Institutes of Health, respiratory viruses are the most frequent cause of disease and death in humans, a fact highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the potential to cause severe disease, over 70% of viral infections remain asymptomatic.

24 Mar 2021