Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Latest Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Infect, replicate, and rapidly mutate: Computational virus modeling study

A new bioRxiv* preprint study led by Barbara A Jones of IBM Research-Almaden in San Jose, California, used computational modeling to investigate how viruses rapidly mutate as well as how they respond or adapt to different host conditions. They observed a range of behaviors from glassy dynamics, bimodal quasispecies distributions, and periodic steady states.

22 Dec 2021

Protein-based nanoparticle vaccines for protection against SARS-CoV-2

A recent review article discusses recent advances in protein-based nanoparticle vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.

22 Dec 2021

COVID can affect sperm quality for three months

Researchers determine whether SARS-CoV-2 could cross the blood-testis barrier and be detected in human semen after infection.

22 Dec 2021

How COVID vaccines protected Americans against the Delta variant

A new study analyzed the COVID-19 breakthrough case and death rates among fully vaccinated individuals who were 12 years of age or above.

22 Dec 2021

rVSV-based bivalent vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 delta variant and influenza

Researchers developed four distinct recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV)-based bivalent vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus.

22 Dec 2021

Study confirms coronavirus RNA synthesis occurs inside membrane-bound compartments

Researchers have experimentally proved that virus-related double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and the sites of viral RNA synthesis are associated with one another.

22 Dec 2021

Importance of booster vaccine doses for maintaining protection against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

A new study shows that although the Omicron variant exhibits significant immune escape compared to other SARS-CoV-2 variants, antibody neutralization can be largely restored with booster doses of mRNA vaccines.

22 Dec 2021

Role of novel SARS-CoV-2-derived svRNAs and the involvement of tRF in COVID-19

A new study revealed new long sv-COV-2 using T4 PNK pretreatment and qRT-PCR and also identified piRNAs and tRFs as the most abundant sncRNAs in COVID-19 positive samples.

22 Dec 2021

Omicron evades roughly twice the number of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies than Delta

New study results highlight that Omicron has an increased affinity to ACE-2 receptors, therefore, has increased infectivity, viral load, and transmissibility compared to other variants of concern, including the Delta variant.

22 Dec 2021

Extended interval between second and third vaccination beneficial against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

A new study proposes a multi-boost vaccine strategy with a longer duration between the second and third dose, as that would be beneficial in acquiring immunity against severely mutated SARS-CoV-2 variants.

22 Dec 2021

Study suggests nitazoxanide fails to reduce the severity of SARS-CoV-2

A new study shows that the optimization of nitazoxanide formulations may allow the review of the potential use of the drug for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

22 Dec 2021

Scientists identify a panel of nanobodies with good neutralizing efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

A team of scientists from Canada has recently characterized a panel of nanobodies against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.

22 Dec 2021

Defensosomes can act as decoys to protect against SARS-CoV-2

In a new study, researchers from New York University have been examining the ability of defensosomes to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection.

22 Dec 2021

Furin cleavage site similarities in SARS-CoV-2 and rodent coronavirus indicate common wildlife host

New study findings show that AcCoV-JC34 is the only luchacovirus containing a –RR-R- motif that is identical to the one found in SARS-CoV-2.

22 Dec 2021

Exploring the Mediterranean diet as a potential strategy against SARS-CoV-2

A study found that the Mediterranean diet, when combined with non-smoking and regular physical activity, can lower susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2.

22 Dec 2021

Importance of pneumococcal vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic

A new study discusses the necessity and role of pneumococcal immunization in strengthening the global health system amid the current COVID-19 pandemic.

22 Dec 2021

Two-dose ChAdOx1 vaccine protection wanes after three months

New research reported in the journal The Lancet examines the temporal association between the two-dose ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Oxford-AstraZeneca) vaccination regimen and the risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 in Scotland vs. Brazil, where the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 was dominant and rare, respectively.

21 Dec 2021

Broad neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by an unconventional antibody fragment

A new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server examines the nature and effects of the spike mutations and identifies a vulnerable point that could help develop broad-spectrum protection against circulating variants.

21 Dec 2021

National U.S trial confirms effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines

In a recent study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, scientists conducted a target trial emulation study and documented that among the elderly in the U.S. (with significant comorbidities), the efficacy of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines was much lower in terms of preventing infection, than previously reported. However, the effectiveness against death was found to be high.

21 Dec 2021

Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests

Researchers test commercially rapid antigen tests to evaluate their analytical sensitivity and specificity, as well as clinical sensitivity for detecting SARS-CoV-2.

21 Dec 2021