Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Scientists create new compliance-based model for SARS-CoV-2 transmission

Researchers from Utrecht University have been investigating the interactions between compliance social distance measurements, infection, and vaccination coverage in order to inform public health policy further. A research paper covering their work is available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

28 Sep 2021

Super-resolution imaging and size analysis of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles

Researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Warwick have collaborated to develop a method to better understand and evaluate these pleiomorphisms.

28 Sep 2021

Study shows link between smoking and COVID-19 severity, death

Smoking is highly likely to worsen the severity of COVID-19 and the risk of dying from the infection, finds a large UK Biobank study published online in the respiratory journal Thorax.

28 Sep 2021

Evidence of persisting autoreactivity in post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection?

It has been demonstrated in recent studies that there is a significant breadth of emerging autoreactivity associated with severe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. More specifically, researchers from Emory University have identified a relaxation of peripheral tolerance within early antibody secretion cells that arise in individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, as important drivers of those responses.

28 Sep 2021

Novel polyclonal antibody therapy meets the criteria for graduation to phase 3 in ACTIV-2 trial

The AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), the largest global HIV research network, which recently expanded its focus to include evaluating outpatient treatment for COVID-19, today announced that SAB-185, a novel polyclonal antibody therapy, has demonstrated safety and efficacy in phase 2 that meet the criteria for graduation to phase 3 in the ACTIV-2 Outpatient Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Therapies Trial (ACTG A5401).

28 Sep 2021

Risk factors associated with in-school transmission of SARS-CoV-2

As schools resume in the United States and COVID-19 cases amongst children begin to rise, a new study published on the medRxiv* preprint server has highlighted the risk factors for in-school transmission of COVID-19. They also provide evidential support for the layered prevention strategies in schools settings.

28 Sep 2021

COVID Moonshot receives key funding to accelerate drug discovery efforts

The COVID Moonshot, a non-profit, open-science consortium of scientists from around the world dedicated to the discovery of globally affordable and easily-manufactured antiviral drugs against COVID-19 and future viral pandemics has received key funding of £8 million from Wellcome, on behalf of the Covid-19 Therapeutics Accelerator.

28 Sep 2021

Confinement drastically reduced the transmission of COVID-19 variants in Spain during first wave

The most complete studies on the variants of the coronavirus that dominated the first waves in Spain have just been published in Nature Genetics. The study was carried out by the SeqCOVID consortium, which includes more than 50 Spanish institutions led by the University of Valencia, the Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (IBV, CSIC), and the Fisabio Foundation.

28 Sep 2021

Scientists identify potential antibody candidate with broad-spectrum neutralizing efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants

A team of scientists from China and the USA has recently described the antiviral efficacy of a monoclonal antibody candidate targeting the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Importantly, they have observed that emerging spike mutations could not affect the potency of this antibody. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

27 Sep 2021

New discovery greatly improves detection of HPV in the bloodstream

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre researchers have made new findings which greatly improve detection of the human papillomavirus (HPV) in the bloodstream and could further hone precision treatment of the illness.

27 Sep 2021

Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appears effective against SARS-CoV-2 mu variant

Researchers in Japan have conducted a study showing that the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) seems to be adequately effective against the B.1.621 (mu) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

27 Sep 2021

New 'reporter viruses' make it easier to observe SARS-CoV-2 in real time

A version of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, has been successfully modified to glow brightly in cells and animal tissues, providing a real-time way to track the spread and intensity of viral infection as it happens in animal models, researchers at Texas Biomedical Research Institute report in the journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Sep 2021

UK's top rugby players support COVID-19 vaccine roll out

Some of the country's top rugby players have today (Tuesday 28 September) encouraged young people to get their COVID-19 vaccine as they discuss their personal experiences of the pandemic.

27 Sep 2021

Researchers discover protein previously unknown to be involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers in the UK and Germany have provided evidence for a novel mechanism by which severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – binds to human host cells.

27 Sep 2021

Drug treatment decreases risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes in patients with Type 2 diabetes

A type of drug already used to treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes, when taken six months prior to the diagnosis of COVID-19, was associated with a decreased risk of hospitalization, respiratory complications and death in COVID-19 patients with Type 2 diabetes, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

27 Sep 2021

Researchers investigate dynamic changes in mosquitoes and their viromes in Wuhan during 2020

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. Researchers from Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Wuhan, China, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, Jinan University, Shenzhen, China and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China consider dynamic surveillance of mosquitoes and their viromes in Wuhan during 2020.

27 Sep 2021

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Scientists create new compliance-based model for SARS-CoV-2 transmission

Super-resolution imaging and size analysis of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles

Study shows link between smoking and COVID-19 severity, death

Evidence of persisting autoreactivity in post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection?

Novel polyclonal antibody therapy meets the criteria for graduation to phase 3 in ACTIV-2 trial

Risk factors associated with in-school transmission of SARS-CoV-2

COVID Moonshot receives key funding to accelerate drug discovery efforts

Confinement drastically reduced the transmission of COVID-19 variants in Spain during first wave

Scientists identify potential antibody candidate with broad-spectrum neutralizing efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants

New discovery greatly improves detection of HPV in the bloodstream

Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appears effective against SARS-CoV-2 mu variant

New 'reporter viruses' make it easier to observe SARS-CoV-2 in real time

UK's top rugby players support COVID-19 vaccine roll out

Researchers discover protein previously unknown to be involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection

Drug treatment decreases risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes in patients with Type 2 diabetes

Researchers investigate dynamic changes in mosquitoes and their viromes in Wuhan during 2020

Third COVID-19 mRNA vaccine booster dose indicated for myelofibrosis patients

Monoclonal antibodies may reduce hospital stay, but not mortality in COVID-19

New research shows certain groups of vaccinated people could still be at risk from COVID-19

Chronic COVID-19 and divergent variants of SARS-CoV-2

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

CellVoyant's AI-Powered Vision for the Future of Cell Therapy

Scalable, Smart, and Accessible: The Future of Lab Automation

Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures: A Conversation with WHO’s Dr. Allotey

Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

A new way of characterising biomolecules eBook

CellVoyant's AI-Powered Vision for the Future of Cell Therapy

Scalable, Smart, and Accessible: The Future of Lab Automation

Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures: A Conversation with WHO’s Dr. Allotey

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