Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

What is the association between natural killer cell dysfunction and COVID-19 disease severity?

Researchers assessed the association between natural killer cell dysfunction and COVID-19 disease severity.

20 Jul 2022

Researchers describe viral shedding of monkeypox virus in patients to better understand the possible role of different bodily fluids in disease transmission

Researchers described the shedding of the monkeypox (MPX) virus (MPXV) in Barcelona city of Spain.

20 Jul 2022

Omicron-specific mRNA vaccine provides superior immune protection against two viral subvariants

Yale scientists have developed a novel Omicron-specific mRNA vaccine that offers superior immune protection against two viral subvariants than standard mRNA vaccines.

20 Jul 2022

Scientists find new evidence against using BET inhibitors to treat COVID-19

A while ago, some researchers had suggested that blocking a set of proteins, known as bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) proteins, might be a way to fight COVID-19.

20 Jul 2022

Adolescents are more likely than older adults to get COVID

At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a general perception that children and teenagers were much less likely to get COVID-19 than adults. It was fueled by early data from across the globe that found very low rates of COVID in adolescents (defined as ages 10-19) and youth (15-24). But the data was mixed and some questioned its validity.

20 Jul 2022

Patients who contract COVID-19 face a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes

Patients who contract COVID-19 face a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, particularly in the three months following infection, according to a new study by Emma Rezel-Potts, Martin Gulliford, and colleagues of King's College London, United Kingdom, publishing July 19th in the open access journal PLOS Medicine.

20 Jul 2022

Skins swabs may help identify Covid-19 infection in the future

Skin swabs are "surprisingly effective" at identifying Covid-19 infection, according to new research from the University of Surrey, offering a route to a non-invasive future for Covid-19 testing.

19 Jul 2022

Potential mRNA vaccines for influenza

Scientists discuss the benefits of shifting the global influenza vaccination system to a mRNA-based platform,

19 Jul 2022

New vaccine shows promise to fight Lassa virus

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch have achieved success with a new vaccine developed to fight Lassa Virus, a pathogen that causes Lassa fever.

19 Jul 2022

CDC experts update on monkeypox in the United States

Scientists working with the CDC provide the latest information about monkeypox in the U.S.

19 Jul 2022

COVID-19 vaccine-boosted neutralizing antibody levels decrease substantially within 3 months

Although COVID-19 booster vaccinations in adults elicit high levels of neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, antibody levels decrease substantially within 3 months, according to new clinical trial data.

19 Jul 2022

Gut-lung axis: Using commensal bacteria to reinforce mucosal immunity

A recent study discusses the use of commensal bacteria in the gut and/or respiratory tract to deliver viral antigens to the host, thus acting as vaccines

19 Jul 2022

Molnupiravir does not induce resistance mutations in SARS-CoV-2 genome

A new study has pointed out that Molnupiravir treatment increases the ratio of transition to transversion mutations in COVID-19 patients and that the treatment does not appear to induce resistance mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome.

19 Jul 2022

Study shows how a critical Lassa virus protein drives infection

Lassa fever is a viral illness that is far too common in West Africa. Although it can have a mortality rate of 15 percent in severe cases, up to 90% in pregnant women, and causes deafness in a quarter of survivors, there is no vaccine or antiviral to protect against Lassa virus.

19 Jul 2022

Researchers discover new key protection against COVID-19 in saliva

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread around the world at an unprecedented rate, evading containment countermeasures.

19 Jul 2022

The known and proposed interactions of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 with DNA damage response pathways

Researchers reviewed the consequences of infection with sSARS-CoVs on the host DNA damage response.

19 Jul 2022

Influence of chr12q24.13 domain on COVID-19 severity

Researchers evaluated the probable impact of the chr12q24.13 domain on the outcomes of laboratory-validated SARS-CoV-2 infection.

19 Jul 2022

What were the drivers of influenza decline during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Researchers investigated the potential drivers of a global decline in influenza virus circulation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

19 Jul 2022

What is the efficacy of the second, third, and fourth dose of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine?

Investigators examined the effectiveness of two, three, and four SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses during the Omicron prevalent phases.

19 Jul 2022

Six-country African study highlights the potential dangers of getting COVID-19 during pregnancy

A new study involving hospitalized women in six African countries from the University of Maryland School of Medicine's (UMSOM) Institute of Human Virology (IHV) showed that pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, had double the risk of being admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and four-times the risk of dying in-hospital than pregnant women who did not have COVID-19.

19 Jul 2022