Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

ACTG initiates novel clinical trial to evaluate multiple therapeutics for COVID-19

The AIDS Clinical Trials Group, the world's largest and longest established HIV research network, today announced the initiation of the ACTIV-2 Outpatient Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Therapies Trial, which will be conducted by the ACTG.

4 Aug 2020

NIH trial to evaluate potential new therapeutics for mild, moderate COVID-19

A Phase 2 clinical trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of potential new therapeutics for COVID-19, including an investigational therapeutic based on synthetic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to treat the disease.

4 Aug 2020

Decoy receptor neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 virus in tissue cultures

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, scientists and health care providers are seeking ways to keep the coronavirus from infecting tissues once they're exposed. A new study suggests luring the virus with a decoy - an engineered, free-floating receptor protein - binds the virus and blocks infection.

4 Aug 2020

Picomolar inhibitors to SARS-CoV-2 proteins

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 reports the development of mini-inhibitors based on computational design, that are suitable for such topical use.

4 Aug 2020

Test, trace, isolate key to safe schools in COVID-19

Researchers led by Professor Kristine Maccartney from the National Centre for Immunization Research and surveillance, the Children's Hospital at Westmead and the University of Westmead, Australia explain that schools around the world have shut down to prevent the virus transmission.

4 Aug 2020

Novel mutation identified in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein from Sweden

Researchers from Sweden and Brazil have identified a novel mutation in a strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) obtained from a patient in Stockholm, Sweden, in late April.

4 Aug 2020

Regeneron antibody cocktail shows promise as potential COVID-19 treatment

Researchers in the U.S. have shown both preventive and treatment effects of an antibody cocktail in animal models of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) - the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

4 Aug 2020

Clinical trial to test safety, efficacy of antibody treatment in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Patients admitted with COVID-19 at select hospitals may now volunteer to enroll in a clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of a potential new treatment for the disease.

4 Aug 2020

Study finds low rate of COVID-19 transmission in educational settings

The rate of COVID-19 transmission in New South Wales (NSW) educational settings was extremely limited during the first wave of COVID-19, research findings published today in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health have shown.

4 Aug 2020

Yale researchers develop new mouse model to study SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine have developed a new mouse model to study SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease and to accelerate testing of novel treatments and vaccines against the novel coronavirus.

4 Aug 2020

Maryland County pledges investigation of health worker’s coronavirus death

Officials in Maryland's Prince George's County say they "will spare no time or expense" investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a veteran public health worker who died of COVID-19 after relatives and co-workers believe she contracted the coronavirus on the job.

4 Aug 2020

Illustrating the dystopic nature of people’s approach to COVID-19

Are we "Waiting for Godot"- A Metaphor for Covid-19 "Waiting for Godot", one of the greatest works of the Theater of the Absurd is used to illustrate the dystopic nature of our approach to COVID-19.

4 Aug 2020

Normal DNA repair process can lead to mutations in cancer

Hypermutation is an unusual occurence that can lead to many nearby mutations at once, severely damaging our genetic material and potentially causing cancer.

4 Aug 2020

Lower incidence of COVID-19 in high-altitude residents is intriguing, but requires more research

Despite recent reports of lower COVID-19 incidence among high-altitude populations, current data is insufficient to conclude that high altitude is protective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as reported in the peer-reviewed journal High Altitude Medicine & Biology.

4 Aug 2020

When green means stop: How safety messages got so muddled

When Marquita Burnett heard Philadelphia was moving to the "green" phase of reopening, she was confused. She was pretty sure the city had already earned a green designation from Pennsylvania's governor (it had). The next thing she knew, the city was scaling back some of the businesses it had planned to reopen (namely, indoor dining and gyms). But it was still calling this phase "restricted green."

4 Aug 2020

Estrogen modestly protective against COVID-19?

Almost from the beginning, scientists have been struck by the disproportionately higher numbers of men and older adults who have developed severe COVID-19 disease compared to younger individuals and women. Prior research has shown that in 37 of the 38 countries from which sex-stratified data was available, males were at a higher risk of death. Also, post-menopausal women are at increased risk of severe COVID-19. However, the biological underpinnings of this have been less visible.

4 Aug 2020

Despite COVID-19 pressures, hospitals are maintaining emergency cardiac services in majority of cases

The death rate for patients who experienced what is normally a lower-risk heart attack rose sharply during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in England, according to an analysis of NHS data.

4 Aug 2020

Researchers initiate multiple studies to identify coronavirus-related heart problems

COVID-19 is shown to impact the heart and, in some cases, have long-lasting cardiac effects. To discover the extent to which COVID-19 affects the heart, cardiologists and researchers with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have begun multiple studies.

4 Aug 2020

Penis microbiome is reservoir for bacterial vaginosis-associated bacteria

Previous studies have pointed out that the reproductive microbiomes of partners might be exchanged in bacterial vaginosis (BV). Now, a team of researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago compared the microbiota of couples before and after the development of BV.

4 Aug 2020

Five alternative methods of SARS-CoV-2 suppression

The current pandemic has proved to be challenging to control without stringent and comprehensive non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs), relying mostly on isolation and contact tracing of cases, along with social distancing. However, strategies like these have a huge human cost in terms of restriction of social interactions, resulting in depressive tendencies, disruption of economic activity, and loss of educational resources.

3 Aug 2020