Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Genomic sequences from all over the world help fight SARS-CoV-2

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the world, killing hundreds of thousands and infecting over 4.1 million, researchers are racing against time to understand the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The SARS-CoV-2 genome has now been sequenced in many different regions of the world, and researchers are collaborating by sharing information to better understand the make-up and mutations that the virus has undergone.

11 May 2020

Varied performance of SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests in detecting protective immunity

The performance of commercially available serological tests in real patient samples and the correlates of immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) provided by IgG antibodies are still a matter of debate. A new bioRxiv preprint paper cross-examines the performance of several assays and proclaims the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) as a method of choice.

11 May 2020

Regeneron and CCPM collaborate to advance human genetics, precision medicine

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus today announced a large-scale research collaboration designed to advance the field of human genetics and precision medicine through the sharing of 450,000 DNA samples and corresponding health records from de-identified, consented patient participants in the expansive UCHealth system.

11 May 2020

South Africa obtains first laboratory isolate of SARS-CoV-2

While much of the scientific and medical community rushes to develop therapeutic agents for COVID-19 based on clinical data, getting a better understanding of the brand-new virus remains crucial.

11 May 2020

GCS centers support research to fight against global COVID-19 pandemic

In December 2019, the world learned of a new and deadly pathogen. News coming out of Wuhan, China confirmed public health experts' worst fears--a novel coronavirus appeared to have jumped from animals to humans.

11 May 2020

Scientists explore why some COVID-19 patients lose their sense of smell

Doctors have reported that partial or total loss of the sense of smell is often an early symptom of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

11 May 2020

Clinical trial launched to evaluate experimental COVID-19 therapies

Clinical leaders from the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Center, College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy have launched a clinical trial for experimental therapies to treat patients infected with COVID-19.

11 May 2020

ACC to collect COVID-19 data through NCDR Chest Pain-MI and CathPCI registries

The American College of Cardiology will begin collecting COVID-19 data through the NCDR Chest Pain-MI and CathPCI registries to capture the relationship between COVID-19 and heart disease and maximize data on the cardiac impact of the virus.

11 May 2020

New HIV vaccine better at preventing infection and offers more durable protection

Researchers from the Emory Consortium for Innovative AIDS Research in Nonhuman Primates and their colleagues across North America have shown a new HIV vaccine is better at preventing infection and lasts longer, continuing to protect one year after vaccination.

11 May 2020

Study finds children at greater risk for severe complications from COVID-19

Children, teens and young adults are at greater risk for severe complications from COVID-19 than previously thought and those with underlying health conditions are at even greater risk, according to a study coauthored by a Rutgers researcher.

11 May 2020

How COVID colors the salon experience

Blush Beauty Bar hair salon had been closed 48 days, a consequence of stay-at-home orders to stem the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic.

11 May 2020

New tool to address potential COVID-19 outbreaks

Researchers from the Alcoy campus of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) have collaborated to design a prevision and simulation model that makes it possible to improve the flow of patients and assistance quality at the Department of Health of Alcoy (Alicante) and to manage the crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic.

11 May 2020

Researchers launch antibody test to understand COVID-19 immunity

University of Kentucky researchers have launched antibody testing that will help to understand what immunity to COVID-19 really means.

11 May 2020

Expanding sick leave protection is crucial during the COVID-19 crisis

At a time when the world's attention is focused on curbing the spread of infectious disease, new research by the UCLA WORLD Policy Analysis Center shows that strengthening guarantees of paid sick leave is crucial to protecting health and economic security around the globe.

11 May 2020

Southwest CEO’s boast about airplanes’ low COVID risk flies by key concerns

During a May 3 appearance on "Face the Nation," Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said that he believed it was safe for Americans to fly during the coronavirus epidemic and that a plane is as safe as any other space.

11 May 2020

Keeping the COVID plague at bay: How California is protecting older veterans

Dr. Vito Imbasciani has been at war with viruses since he was 5. Growing up near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, he contracted polio in 1952 and couldn't walk for two months. In medical school in Vermont 30 years later, he witnessed AIDS steal the lives of otherwise healthy gay men.

11 May 2020

Analysis: We knew the coronavirus was coming, yet we failed 5 critical tests

The arrival of COVID-19 has provided a nuclear-level stress test to the American health care system, and our grade isn't pretty: at least 73,000 dead, 1.2 million infected and 30 million unemployed; nursing homes, prisons and meatpacking plants that have become hotbeds of infection.

11 May 2020

COVID survivors’ blood plasma is a sought-after new commodity

Diana Berrent learned she had tested positive for COVID-19 on a Wednesday in mid-March. Within a day, she had received 30 emails from people urging her to donate blood.

11 May 2020

Innovative antibacterial solution enables professional-level dental hygiene at home

Elective dental procedures have been restricted globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Novel innovation enables professional-level oral hygiene at home.

11 May 2020

Italy develops vaccine candidate that neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 in mice

As the world grapples with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), scientists race to develop treatments and vaccines to combat the viral infection. Though many ongoing trials show promise in fighting the novel coronavirus, Italian researchers claim they have developed a vaccine that can neutralize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in animal cells.

10 May 2020