Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Scientists use genomics and bioinformatics to analyze blueprint of novel coronavirus

Australian researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) have found a new way to decode the genome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 disease. This approach could help in drug and vaccine development. Their work titled, "Supporting pandemic response using genomics and bioinformatics: a case study on the emergent SARS-CoV-2 outbreak," is published in the latest issue of the journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases.

21 Apr 2020

COVID-19 and immunodeficiency

COVID-19 disease, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a highly infectious disease. As of today, over 170,000 people worldwide have succumbed to the infection. Reports have shown that some comorbidities and illnesses raise the risk of getting infected and also influence the severity of the disease. Having a compromised immune system can also drastically raise the risk of getting COVID-19.

21 Apr 2020

Does high COVID-19 viral load mean more risk of infection?

The risk of getting infected with COVID-19 disease is higher among healthcare workers who are in close contact with infected patients

21 Apr 2020

Role of ACE/ARB inhibitors in the treatment of COVID-19

A new opinion piece published in the journal Circulation Research in April 2020 defends the use of antihypertensive drugs called ACE inhibitors and ARBs in patients with pandemic viral pneumonia called COVID-19.

20 Apr 2020

University of Utah invests $1.3 million in multidisciplinary COVID-19 research projects

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe, University of Utah scientists are at the forefront of efforts to learn more about how to lasso the virus that causes it and understand its potential long-term social, economic, and psychological effects.

20 Apr 2020

CSIRO researchers unveil new approach to understand evolving SARS-CoV-2 virus strains

Researchers from CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, have unveiled a new approach to analyzing the genetic codes - or the blueprint - of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

20 Apr 2020

McKelvey engineers receive federal funding for rapid COVID-19 test

Engineers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have received federal funding for a rapid COVID-19 test using a newly developed technology.

20 Apr 2020

ACE2 receptor expression by SARS-CoV-2 across different animal species

A new report published on the preprint server bioRxiv in April 2020 reports that several species of animals can be infected with relative ease by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is the causative agent of the currently raging COVID-19 pandemic. This casts much light on the possible natural hosts and routes of transmission of this virus.

20 Apr 2020

Mutations in novel coronavirus make it more dangerous

A new report published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 reveals that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 shows the presence of new mutations acquired within infected human cases, which significantly increase its ability to cause human disease.

20 Apr 2020

BGU researchers develop new type of self-sterilizing air filter

With the worldwide focus on coronavirus prevention and transmission, a new type of air-filter that self-sterilizes and decontaminates is being developed at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel based on water filtration technology.

20 Apr 2020

ACE2-TMPRSS2 profiling indicates tissue vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new study published in April 2020 on the preprint server bioRxiv reports that the different levels of susceptibility of various organs to viral attack by the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the huge pandemic of COVID-19 sweeping around the world can be predicted from the level of expression of two molecules, the ACE2 receptor, and the TMPRSS2 protein.

20 Apr 2020

Do ACE inhibitors increase SARS-CoV-2 binding to ACE2?

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced clinicians and academicians to intensive research to find evidence for many conventional therapies. A new round-up editorial published in the journal Cardiovascular Research in April 2020 summarizes the current clinical grounds for and against the use of the commonly used angiotensin axis inhibitors in patients with COVID-19.

20 Apr 2020

Attitudes towards vaccination vary significantly across Europe

Researchers in France have reported findings resulting from a web-based survey called Vaccinoscopie 2019 that asked 1,500 parents across five European countries how they feel about and what they know about vaccination.

20 Apr 2020

HIV-1 and influenza antivirals not effective for treating mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases

An exploratory randomized, controlled study on the safety and efficacy of either lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) or Arbidol--antivirals that are used in some countries against HIV-1 and to treat influenza , respectively--as treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, suggests that neither drug improves the clinical outcome of patients hospitalized with mild-to-moderate cases of the disease over supportive care.

20 Apr 2020

New biosensor rapidly detects SARS-CoV-2 from nasopharyngeal swabs

According to many experts, early diagnosis and management are critical for slowing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

20 Apr 2020

Antibody detection for COVID-19 - promise and risks

Recently, several research groups emphasized how the pervasive screening for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies may prove pivotal in determining infection seroprevalence in a given population defining previous exposure, screening health care workers, but also identifying highly reactive individuals that may act as donors for the therapeutic use of their convalescent serum.

20 Apr 2020

CRISPR technology mobilized for rapid COVID-19 diagnosis

A group of authors from the United States published a study in the scientific journal Nature Biotechnology in which they have described a CRISPR-Cas-based approach for rapid and accurate diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection – without the need for complex laboratory infrastructure.

20 Apr 2020

Cost-effective plastic canopy system protects health workers at risk of airborne coronavirus infection

Researchers have designed a cost-effective, constant flow plastic canopy system that can help to protect healthcare workers who are at risk of airborne coronavirus infection while delivering non-invasive ventilation or oxygen via high flow nasal canula, according to a research letter published in the European Respiratory Journal.

20 Apr 2020

Researchers to develop predictive COVID-19 Intervention Modelling for East Africa

A £1m grant from the Wellcome Trust has enabled researchers from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick, to work with East African countries in their emergency preparations for COVID-19 as the pandemic spreads across Africa.

20 Apr 2020

Food insecurity in Vermont increased 33% during coronavirus pandemic, survey reveals

Food insecurity in Vermont has increased by one-third during the coronavirus pandemic, from 18.3% to 24.3%, according to a statewide survey conducted by the University of Vermont at the end of March and announced in a series of briefs today.

20 Apr 2020