Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Latest Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Could microalgae-derived antiviral compounds combat SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses?

A new review article published in the journal Antibiotics reports the presence of a large number of bioactive compounds in microalgae that target chemical structures present only in their structure.

28 Jun 2021

Vaccines and drugs must be adapted to combat emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, says study

A new review of the emerging variants of concern (VOCs) of the SARS-CoV-2, which has caused the COVID-19 pandemic, shows that there is a major need to constantly re-evaluate the utility of existing therapeutics and vaccines against the virus and to develop new ones.

28 Jun 2021

Tocilizumab and sarilumab shown to be effective in critical COVID-19

A new study, released as a preprint on the medRxiv* server, describes how a team of researchers from the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands explored the efficacy of four monoclonal antibodies that antagonize powerful pro-inflammatory pathways. The team sought to determine which were useful in treating critically ill COVID-19 patients on organ support.

28 Jun 2021

An affordable, scalable and highly sensitive virus-genome-based testing approach

Aiming to reduce human suffering, economic costs, and restrictions on personal freedom caused by COVID-19 to a minimum, researchers from Germany and Austria proposed an alternative method - efficient population-based genome-based testing.

28 Jun 2021

Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine induces robust T cell-based immunity

A recent study conducted by an international team of scientists has revealed that the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, AZD1222, is capable of inducing strong spike-specific CD4+ T cell helper type 1 (Th1) and CD8+ T-cell responses in vaccinated individuals. A detailed description of AZD1222-induced cellular immunity is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

28 Jun 2021

Why SARS-CoV-2 delta variant is more infectious

German experts recently explained why the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) delta variant is more infectious and pathogenic than its ancestor. By conducting a series of in vitro experiments, they have revealed that increased ability to induce cell-to-cell fusion (syncytia) and reduced susceptibility to vaccine and infection-induced antibodies make the delta variant more infectious than previously circulating variants. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

28 Jun 2021

An oral pill for COVID-19? Molnupiravir shows promise

Recently, researchers reported molnupiravir as the first oral and direct-acting antiviral that is highly effective at reducing SARS-CoV-2 levels.

27 Jun 2021

Swedish study reveals how long immunity lasts after mild COVID

As a result of the ongoing pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its associated disease, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the global public health at risk has never been more dire.

27 Jun 2021

Oxford study sheds light on level of antibodies needed to protect against COVID-19 symptoms

Researchers in the UK have reported on the relationship between humoral (antibody) responses and protection against infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) following immunization with AstraZeneca’s ChAdOx1 vaccine.

27 Jun 2021

Lambda lineage of SARS-CoV-2 has potential to become variant of concern

Researchers have described the first reported infection with the C.37 (Lambda) lineage of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Southern Brazil.

27 Jun 2021

Study examines safety of COVID-19 vaccination during lactation

A new preprint, recently released on the medRxiv* server, reports from real life in a cohort of mother-child dyads in Singapore. The mothers were lactating after having received COVID-19 vaccination.

25 Jun 2021

Overcrowding and multigenerational housing arrangements increase SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk

Researchers at the Weill Cornell Medical College aimed to determine the role of overcrowded households as a risk factor for COVID-19. The study's objective, which appeared in the medRxiv* pre-print server, was to examine the link between overcrowded and multigenerational households and COVID-19 in New York City.

25 Jun 2021

Renowned scientists recover deleted SARS-CoV-2 data from Wuhan

Renowned evolutionary researcher, Jesse Bloom from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has conducted a phylogenetic analysis suggesting that the early severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequences that were obtained from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, are not fully representative of the viruses circulating in the city at the time of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

24 Jun 2021

Pronation maneuvers for critically ill COVID-19 patients - multidisciplinary management reduce complications

A recent study aimed to determine the efficacy of pronation maneuvers by the ICU physiotherapy team when used on critically ill COVID-19 patients.

24 Jun 2021

Mask-wearing reduces COVID-19 transmission significantly, study finds

Researchers from the University of Bristol found that an entire population that wears masks in public leads to a reduction in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by almost 26%.

24 Jun 2021

Care home staff burdened by increased workload caused by COVID-19 pandemic

A recent group of researchers aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the working practices of care home staff, particularly those caring for people with dementia.

24 Jun 2021

Scientists predict driver mutations of future SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

A team of scientists from the USA has recently predicted the driver mutations that may appear in future variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The prediction is based on currently available genetic surveillance data on amino acid mutations present in SARS-CoV-2 variants. A detailed description of the study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

24 Jun 2021

Is COVID-19 more severe in pregnancy?

A new study, released as a preprint on the medRxiv* server, indicates that pregnant women are more likely to develop severe disease following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

24 Jun 2021

Could polio vaccines induce cross-reactive antibodies that target SARS-CoV-2?

A new preprint released on the medRxiv* server explores a link between immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the earlier SARS-CoV, and childhood poliovirus vaccination. Almost 90% of the world’s people have received this vaccine, but antibodies elicited by it reduce over time and are almost absent at the end of adolescence.

24 Jun 2021

SARS-CoV-2 causes ER-stress-activated unfolded protein response leading to cell death

A new study describes the varying ways in which the virus co-opts the machinery of the host cell following infection to evade or modulate the host immune response, alter the pattern of translation of viral proteins, and the release of new viral particles.

24 Jun 2021