Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Researchers uncover an active role of glycans in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, researchers are working overtime to develop vaccines and therapies to thwart SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease Many efforts focus on the coronavirus spike protein, which binds the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on human cells to allow viral entry.

24 Sep 2020

NeutrobodyPlex nanobodies help monitor SARS-CoV-2 immune responses

Researchers recently described a set of 11 Nbs derived from an immunized alpaca which showed high-affinity binding to the glycosylated SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor domain (RBD) in a study published in the preprint server bioRxiv.

23 Sep 2020

Fourth Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating COVID-19 vaccine begins in the U.S.

A fourth Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun enrolling adult volunteers.

23 Sep 2020

New model provides district-based forecast of COVID-19 infections

Neuroinformatics scientists at Osnabrück University and data specialists at Forschungszentrum Jülich are releasing new model results daily to forecast COVID-19 infections.

23 Sep 2020

Study finds no link between SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy and complications in neonates

In a new study published in the esteemed journal JAMA researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital have examined the association between a positive SARS-CoV-2 test during pregnancy and complications in mothers and their newborn babies.

23 Sep 2020

Most people with COVID-19 develop symptoms, study says

A new study by researchers at the University of Bern and published in the journal PLOS Medicine reports that while some people never experience any symptoms, most of those infected with the novel coronavirus do develop symptoms.

23 Sep 2020

Elegant, efficient way to find recombinant SARS-CoV-2 viruses from >85,000 genomes

The low divergence of near-identical genomes that are sequenced in short periods presents a statistical challenge that is not addressed by methods available currently. In a recent bioRxiv** paper, Ales Varabyou et al. from John Hopkins University present an efficient method designed to detect recombination and reassortment events between clades of viral genomes – a new algorithm called ‘Bolotie’.

23 Sep 2020

How families are keeping Halloween from turning into a COVID nightmare

For Laura Stoutingburg and her family, Halloween has always been a monthlong celebration of corn mazes, pumpkin patches and, of course, trick-or-treating in their suburban Denver neighborhood.

23 Sep 2020

Study on domestic cats and dogs in COVID-19+ households

A recent survey conducted by a team of scientists from France reveals that pets living with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have a high prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

23 Sep 2020

New T-cell-based vaccine strategy provides broader protection against seasonal influenza

As Americans begin pulling up their sleeves for an annual flu vaccine, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have provided new insights into an alternative vaccine approach that provides broader protection against seasonal influenza.

23 Sep 2020

No discernable difference in SARS-CoV-2 viral loads of young children versus older children and adults

Sharline Madera et al. , in a recent medRxiv* preprint paper, show a detailed investigation of viral nucleic acid among young children and adults, involving over 5,000 cases confirmed by RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase – Polymerase Chain Reaction) assay.

23 Sep 2020

Bat and pangolin coronavirus structure sheds light on SARS-CoV-2 evolution

Researchers at Tsinghua University, Beijing, have conducted a study providing possible new insights into the evolution and cross-species transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent responsible for the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

23 Sep 2020

UV-C irradiation rapidly inactivates SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces

Researchers at University Hospital Tübingen, Germany, have shown that ultraviolet C (UV-C) irradiation effectively inactivates surface-dried preparations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

23 Sep 2020