Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

How SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike mutations contribute to increased infectivity

Researchers study the functional impact of Omicron mutations.

25 Jul 2022

Quarantine guidance for Omicron infection

The CDC provides updated guidelines on how the U.S. population can protect themselves and others from the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.

25 Jul 2022

A VSV-based COVID vaccine effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants

A new study discusses the development of recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus COVID-19 vaccines.

25 Jul 2022

Long-COVID is relatively infrequent, but still poses a threat

A new study suggests that long COVID complaints may not be common among COVID-19 patients as compared to the general population.

25 Jul 2022

Why Omicron is more infectious than other SARS-CoV-2 variants

Researchers describe SARS-CoV-2 Omicron mutations and their impact on neutralization and infectivity.

25 Jul 2022

Insights into molecular folding of AAT protein will help develop new therapies for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

In a major new development in the quest to develop better gene therapies with which to treat a host of diseases, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and UMass Chan Medical School recently announced that they have mapped the expression and maturation of the protein alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) with unprecedented clarity.

25 Jul 2022

New method uses drones to quickly deliver at-home COVID-19 diagnostic tests

Researchers at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health have developed a new COVID-19 test distribution method that uses drones to quickly deliver at-home diagnostic tests to individuals who suspect they have COVID-19.

25 Jul 2022

Scientists investigate how interferons interact with SARS-CoV-2 variants

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have investigated how antiviral proteins called interferons interact with SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.

25 Jul 2022

Medical professionals use Twitter amplifiers to tackle COVID-19 misinformation

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when false information about the virus began to spread on Twitter, physicians and scientists from Northwestern Medicine and other institutions banded together to combat the deadly misinformation and disinformation and support one another when they ultimately were attacked online for doing so.

25 Jul 2022

SARS-CoV-2 oral vaccine candidate found to induce neutralizing mucosal IgA

A new study reported the outcomes of a clinical trial evaluating the oral vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2 developed by Vaxart.

25 Jul 2022

Using CRISPR technology to successfully prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infections

In what is believed to be a first, a research team led by Duke Health has demonstrated a way to use CRISPR technology to successfully prevent and treat COVID infections.

25 Jul 2022

SARS-CoV-2 hijacks tiny bridges that link infected cells with neurons to gain access to brain cells

COVID-19 often leads to neurological symptoms, such as a loss of taste or smell, or cognitive impairments (including memory loss and concentration difficulties), both during the acute phase of the disease and over the long term with "long COVID" syndrome.

25 Jul 2022

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can lead to heart muscle injury through the inflammatory process

Heart damage is common among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, leading many to wonder how the virus affects the heart.

25 Jul 2022

How prepared are we for a widespread monkeypox outbreak?

In a new study, researchers summarized the epidemiology, etiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and prevention and treatment strategies for monkeypox (MPX) caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV).

25 Jul 2022

New RT-PCR platform gives results faster than other COVID-19 tests on the market

For more than 30 years, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been the gold standard in molecular diagnostic testing, detecting genetic material, such as those from a virus or from human DNA.

25 Jul 2022

Study provides the crucial antigenic map of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

Twenty different COVID-19 variants were effectively identified and neutralized after a third booster, according to the new study for which the University of Surrey provided the crucial antigenic map of variants of concern.

25 Jul 2022

MolGen showcases its lab automation solutions at AACC in Chicago

MolGen B.V. of Veenendaal (NL), a global solutions provider of hardware, reagents, consumables, software and service for human and animal diagnostics, the agriculture and biotech industries, participates in the American Association for Clinical Chemistry Fair (AACC) in Chicago on July 24th - 28th, 2022.

From MolGen 25 Jul 2022

Maternal antibodies may play a key role in protecting infants from congenital HCMV infections

Antibodies that summon virus-engulfing white blood cells may play an important role in protecting infants from potentially serious congenital infection with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), according to a study led by an investigator at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

22 Jul 2022

Antibodies' neutralization efficacy against Omicron variants BA.1 And BA.2 wanes rapidly, study finds

The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was first detected in South Africa in November 2021. The high level of infectiousness of the virus and its ability to quickly spawn additional variants has also been observed in Germany: Since January 2022 the Omicron variant BA.1 has dominated here, followed in subsequent months by the variant BA.2.

22 Jul 2022