Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Severe COVID-19 linked to age, body mass index and ABO blood group

With the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infecting over 50 million people worldwide with hundreds of thousands experiencing severe respiratory illness, researchers have been trying to find the factors associated with severe disease. From the start of the pandemic in March this year, several studies have indicated heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, etc. could be linked to severe disease. Now German researchers have published a study on the association between severe respiratory infection caused by SARS CoV-2 and factors such as age, body mass index (BMI) and ABO blood group.

10 Nov 2020

Identifying SARS-CoV-2 spike protein mutations resistant to antibodies

Using a set of different monoclonal antibodies, researchers determined different mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that leads to resistance. Understanding these resistant mutations is important in developing effective therapeutic strategies.

10 Nov 2020

UVA develops new method to understand how HIV begins the infection process

Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have developed a method to understand how HIV and other viruses first begin to infect our cells, and that could help us prevent COVID-19 and other diseases.

10 Nov 2020

Researchers shed new light on stigma and conspiracy theories about coronavirus

The World Health Organization calls the spread of false information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) an "infodemic," and the results are broadly visible across society.

10 Nov 2020

Mask wearing, social distancing considerably reduce incidence of many diseases

Measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 through non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as mask wearing and social distancing are a key tool in combatting the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

10 Nov 2020

Study shows dexamethasone can reduce chance of COVID-19-related death

Research has shown that dexamethasone, a widely available steroid, can significantly reduce the chance of death from COVID-19.

10 Nov 2020

Genetic disposition plays key role in the human immune system

A genetic disposition that plays a role in the development of the heart in the embryo also appears to play a key role in the human immune system.

10 Nov 2020

New three-step approach promises to improve COVID-19 testing accuracy

One critical barrier in efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic has been the relatively high false-negative rate of the most commonly-used Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing methods.

10 Nov 2020

Japanese woman diagnosed with frosted branch angiitis

Leukemias and lymphomas are life-threatening malignancies affecting white blood cells and the immune system; fortunately, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, combined with stem cell therapy, can improve survival significantly.

10 Nov 2020

Exosome-mediated mRNA delivery generates broad immune response to multiple SARS-CoV-2 proteins

Recently, researchers from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, and Capricor Therapeutics, Inc., Beverly Hills, CA, USA, described a new approach to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development using exosomes to deliver mRNAs that encode the antigens from multiple structural proteins of the virus.

9 Nov 2020

Using wastewater epidemiology to monitor SARS-CoV-2 in Houston

Now, a team of researchers at Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, and the Houston Health Department show SARS-CoV-2 RNA wastewater levels to be a strong predictive of trends in the nasal positivity rate two weeks in advance. This could help track the positivity rate for populations, speeding up the isolation and treatment of infected people.

9 Nov 2020

After SARS-CoV-2 antibodies fade B and T-cells persist

Now, an international team of thirty researchers from Sweden, Italy, Germany, the USA, and China aimed to determine the longevity of the immune response against SARS-CoV-2, particularly the specific memory B-cell and T-cell responses over time in convalescent COVID-19 patients.

9 Nov 2020

Research explores links between Alzheimer's and Parkinson′s to COVID-19

In a recent medRxiv* preprint paper, Dr. L. Miguel Martins and colleagues from the University of Cambridge investigate the links between neurodegeneration and COVID-19.

9 Nov 2020

Melatonin may be a viable treatment option for COVID-19, study suggests

Results from a new Cleveland Clinic-led study suggest that melatonin, a hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and is commonly used as an over-the-counter sleep aid, may be a viable treatment option for COVID-19.

9 Nov 2020

Wake Forest Baptist scientists use pre-clinical model to develop a safe, effective flu vaccine for infants

Newborns and young infants are particularly susceptible to the flu and are six times more likely to die from the infection than older children. Currently there is no flu vaccine available for babies less than 6 months old.

9 Nov 2020

Study suggests herd immunity to COVID-19 in New York City is low

Researchers in the United States have estimated that the proportion of people in New York City who developed antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is around one in eight.

9 Nov 2020

COVID-19 lockdown had significant toll on New Zealanders' well-being, study reveals

Research has confirmed the nationwide Alert Level 4 COVID-19 lockdown had a significant toll on New Zealanders' well-being, especially for younger people - but the results were not all negative.

9 Nov 2020

Promising yeast-expressed SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate effective in mice

Researchers at the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, USA, have published a report on the preprint server bioRxiv that describes a yeast-expressed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) receptor-binding domain (RBD) protein, a key target of current vaccine development efforts.

9 Nov 2020

Translational study within SARS-CoV-2 infected cells opens up new therapeutic avenues

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in October 2020 shows what the protein translation process looks like in specific terms. In doing so, the study has provided new insights that might prove helpful in developing new therapies for COVID-19 patients.

9 Nov 2020

ACE2 and TMPRSS2 not the only virus-receptors to mediate SARS-CoV-2 entry

However, a recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in November 2020 uncovers the major role played by the N-terminal domain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in host infection. This could be of great use in measuring the usefulness of antibodies used in convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19.

9 Nov 2020