Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Developing a new rapid test for COVID-19

News-Medical speaks to Professor Matt Gibson about his groundbreaking research where his team has developed a new rapid test for COVID-19 detection.

15 Jun 2020

COVID-19 transmission from mother to baby during pregnancy is uncommon

Transmission of COVID-19 from mother to baby during pregnancy is uncommon, and the rate of infection is no greater when the baby is born vaginally, breastfed or allowed contact with the mother, according to a new study.

15 Jun 2020

BCG vaccination strengthens the immune system

A tuberculosis vaccine developed 100 years ago also makes vaccinated persons less susceptible to other infections. While this effect has been recognized for a long time, it is not known what causes it.

15 Jun 2020

Combination of nelfinar and amodiaquine shows promise for treating COVID-19

Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 7.4 million people have been infected, and more than 410 000 have died. As yet, there is no treatment or vaccine for the disease.

15 Jun 2020

New project could help healthcare providers plan for coronavirus consequences

Could COVID-19 harm patients after the infection has gone? Members of the EUROMENE COST Action are adapting their work on chronic fatigue syndrome to coronavirus patients.

15 Jun 2020

Tumor-resident T cell levels underlie improved survival in throat cancer patients

Research led by the Centenary Institute has discovered that immune cells accumulating within the tumor environment, called tumour-resident T cells, are a critical determinant in survival rates of patients suffering from throat cancer.

15 Jun 2020

New study investigates the impact of COVID-19 on sleep

An international group of researchers led by Professor Colin Espie from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford is investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sleep and daily rhythms in adults.

15 Jun 2020

A teen’s death from COVID

It started as a normal day. Dawn Guest, 54, got up and headed out to her job as a nurse around 5 a.m. She heard her 16-year-old son, Andre, stirring in his room, but he had always been an earlier riser, even when his school was shut for COVID-19.

15 Jun 2020

Researchers are developing new diagnostic tool for rapid detection of coronavirus

Coronavirus diagnostics currently require centralized facilities and collection/distribution of swabs and results are 'next day'.

15 Jun 2020

GlobalData: New Zealand’s aggressive approach to control COVID-19 spread has proven to be effective

After a little over 100 days since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 reported on 28 February 2020, New Zealand has lifted almost all restrictions after reporting no active cases in the country.

15 Jun 2020

American Thoracic Society calls for moratorium on tear gas use during COVID-19 pandemic

The American Thoracic Society calls for a moratorium on the use of tear gas and other chemical agents deployed by law enforcement against protestors participating in demonstrations, including current campaigns sparked by the death of George Floyd.

15 Jun 2020

Experts recommend tweezers to protect children from ticks

Not all bloodsuckers are created equal in parents' eyes. When it comes to bug bites, parents are twice as likely to be concerned about ticks as they are about mosquitoes transmitting disease, a new national poll finds.

15 Jun 2020

White House left states on their own to buy ventilators. Inside their mad scramble.

Fearful that New Orleans would run out of ventilators by early April as the number of COVID-19 patients rose by the hundreds, even thousands, per day, Louisiana officials set out to get every device they could find. At the time, that meant securing an additional 14,000.

15 Jun 2020

Study aims to identify key genes involved in the body's response to COVID-19 infection

Data from popular home genetic-testing kits could help scientists shed light on why some people who catch coronavirus have no symptoms while others become very ill.

15 Jun 2020

Tuberculosis and polio vaccines may offer temporary protection against SARS-CoV-2

As the world grapples with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, scientists race to develop an effective vaccine to protect against the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus. While potential vaccines are still being developed and tested, researchers propose that existing vaccines could give the immune system a temporary boost to ward off infection.

14 Jun 2020

Glycans "lock and load" the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein for infection

A new study by scientists from the University of California San Diego, USA and Maynooth University, Ireland and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 reports preliminary results showing that the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2, as well as its glycan coat, has “hitherto unseen functional and structural” properties. These may be useful in designing novel therapeutics to target this molecule.

14 Jun 2020

Hydroxychloroquine ineffective in animal SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new study by scientists from the U.S and U.K. and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports that there is no evidence of efficacy for the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) against infection with SARS-CoV-2 in hamsters or macaque models. This finding does not support the current widespread prophylactic and therapeutic use of HCQ in COVID-19.

14 Jun 2020

Steroidal drugs subvert SARS-CoV-2 interaction with ACE2 receptors

A new study by Italian researchers and published online on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 reports the ability of several existing steroidal drugs to reduce the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 to the ACE2 receptor. This could help define newer strategies using viral entry blockers to reduce viral load.

14 Jun 2020

Remdesivir prevents replication of SARS-CoV-2 in human intestinal organoids

A new German study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 shows that the drug remdesivir can reduce the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in human intestinal organoids.

14 Jun 2020

Effect of human genes on severity and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2

Now, a new paper published on the preprint server medRxiv* reports the results of an analysis of the association between the genetic variants in the patients and the clinical progression of the disease. The study included 332 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in a single-center, with widely varying laboratory and clinical features. There were 25, 12, and 17 patients with asymptomatic, mild, and critical disease.

14 Jun 2020