Tag: virus

Speaking whilst infected with COVID-19 may cause it to spread

Thought LeadersDr. Keiko IshiiAssistant ProfessorAoyama Gakuin University In this interview, News-Medical speaks to Dr. Keiko Ishii about her research efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and how speaking whilst infected can cause the virus to spread, and why wearing masks is so important. What provoked your research efforts into the COVID-19 pandemic? Our research started when

Putin says Russia vaccinated two million against virus

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia had vaccinated more than two million people with its two-dose Sputnik V vaccine, while another two million had received their first dose. His comments came as the European Union began reviewing the Russian vaccine, moving closer to approving the jab in what would be

Time to implement measures preventing future viral zoonoses

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to spread globally, infecting over 114 million people. The virus first emerged in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, from a potential animal host. Zoonotic diseases have caused outbreaks throughout history, claiming millions of lives. These diseases occur when pathogens

KAUST researchers develop a safe, fast and cheap testing method to detect viruses

A safe, fast and cheap testing method that uses magnetic nanoparticles to detect viruses in both clinical and wastewater samples has been developed by KAUST researchers. The centrifuge-free approach is compatible with magnetic bead-based automated systems that are already used to process hundreds of samples. Our silica magnetic nanoparticle-based workflow can be assembled from scratch

How effective has Israel’s SARS-CoV-2 testing and vaccination campaign been against the UK variant?

Several genetic variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have risen to prominence during the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, one of which is the UK variant – termed B.1.1.7 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This variant is associated with increased transmissibility compared to the wild-type

Current monoclonal antibodies less potent against SARS-CoV-2 variants

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to wreak havoc across the globe. Scientists are racing to develop effective therapeutic regimens to combat the infection. One of therapy currently used to stimulate a robust immune response against the virus is monoclonal antibodies, a treatment used for

US tops 500,000 virus deaths, matching the toll of 3 wars

The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. topped 500,000 Monday, all but matching the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined. The lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, are about equal to the population of Kansas City, Missouri, and greater than that of Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina; or

COVID-19 and lung cancer have a common pathway, say researchers

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a transmissible viral disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen responsible for the ongoing global pandemic. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 and to date has caused over 109 million infections worldwide. With over 2.4 million

Immune response to SARS-CoV-2 may be limited by a set of genes

Neutralizing antibodies develop within two weeks of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, but their durability and intensity can vary by individual, prompting concerns about the prospects of long-lasting immunity and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. In a PLOS ONE paper, published online February 11, 2021, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that individual

Rich nations see virus rates fall quicker—study

Richer countries were more likely to see rates of COVID-19 fall faster during the first wave of the pandemic, according to new research published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health. The study by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) professors Shahina Pardhan and Nick Drydakis examined economic indicators in 38 European countries, such as Gross Domestic

Detection of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant in New York

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena have developed a software tool called "Variant Database" that has detected an emerging lineage of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) isolates in New York. The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that continues to sweep the globe

Researchers report a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern in Uganda

The etiological agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Since then, the virus has infected more than 107 million people worldwide and caused over 2.4 million deaths. Due to its high transmissibility, it has been difficult to

UK tightens virus controls as New Zealand hunts source of outbreak

Britain on Monday began mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals from high-risk countries as New Zealand identified its first cases of the UK strain from the outbreak that forced its largest city into lockdown. Peru’s foreign minister meanwhile became the latest senior figure to resign in a growing scandal over top officials jumping the queue for

SARS-CoV-2 evolves antibody resistance in immunocompromised patient

Researchers in the United States who tracked the evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in an immunocompromised patient found that convalescent plasma therapy was associated with the emergence of viral variants that were less susceptible to neutralizing antibodies. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that

Study finds low SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 cases

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread across the globe. Caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, the disease exhibits an array of clinical outcomes (from asymptomatic to critical). The majority of cases are asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic, wherein there are no symptoms or only a few manageable ones.

Subgenomic RNAs could help identify asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection

With new variants emerging, often showing increased transmissibility and virulence, governments and health organizations do not appear to be within striking distance of effectively containing the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), this condition presents with a wide spectrum of severity, ranging from asymptomatic infection