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UrduA Virginia Tech chemical engineering professor has developed a surface coating that, when painted on common objects, inactivates SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Tag: SARS-CoV-2
Common FDA-Approved Drug May Effectively Neutralize Virus That Causes COVID-19
A common drug, already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), may also be a powerful tool in fighting COVID-19, according to research published this week in Antiviral Research.
Keck Medicine of USC enrolling patients as part of international clinical trial to study antiviral drug as treatment for COVID-19
Keck Medicine of USC physicians are enrolling patients as part of an international clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an antiviral drug, DAS181, as a possible treatment for hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19.
Drug that calms ‘cytokine storm’ associated with 45% lower risk of dying among COVID-19 patients on ventilators
Critically ill COVID-19 patients who received a single dose of a drug that calms an overreacting immune system were 45% less likely to die overall, and more likely to be out of the hospital or off a ventilator one month after treatment, compared with those who didn’t receive the drug, according to a new observational study.
Does Blood Plasma from COVID-19 Survivors Help Patients Infected with Novel Coronavirus?
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Health have launched a clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP) to prevent COVID-19 after a known exposure to the virus.
San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics Fuels COVID-19 Research
Fueling transformative research through collaboration, the San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics (SAPPT) announces the funding of three more collaborative COVID-19 research efforts in San Antonio. SAPPT has awarded more than $600,000 to fund these projects, following the funding of a SARS CoV-2 vaccine project announced in April of this year.
Signatory to letter to WHO focused on understanding virus transmission by aerosols
On Monday, more than 230 scientists from around the world declared “It’s time to address airborne transmission of COVID-19.”In a letter signed by Washington University in St. Louis faculty and published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, directed toward “Most public health organizations, including the World Health Organization,” the scientists urged that public health organizations need to make recommendations beyond hand washing and mask-wearing.
Tip Sheet: SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, COVID-19 and health disparities, eating in tough times and immune protection in breast milk
Summaries of recent Fred Hutch research findings and other news.
Harmful Microbes Found on Sewer Pipe Walls
Can antibiotic-resistant bacteria escape from sewers into waterways and cause a disease outbreak? A new Rutgers study, published in the journal Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, examined the microbe-laden “biofilms” that cling to sewer walls, and even built a simulated sewer to study the germs that survive within.
Study: Identifying Optimal Points of Intervention to Address Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Fatality Rates in New York State
Results from a new COVID-19 epidemiological study have been released from the University at Albany in partnership with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH); the findings were published today in the peer-reviewed journal, Annals of Epidemiology.
UC San Diego Health (@UCSDHealth) Reproductive Expert Talks about COVID-19 and Fertility
During the novel coronavirus pandemic, many couples have concerns about reproductive consequences related to COVID-19. Experts say when it comes to the impact of infections similar to coronavirus — such as influenza — on female and male fertility, the evidence…
COVID-19: Study Shows Virus Can Infect Heart Cells in Lab Dish
A new study shows that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus), can infect heart cells in a lab dish, indicating it may be possible for heart cells in COVID-19 patients to be directly infected by the virus. The discovery, published today in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, was made using heart muscle cells that were produced by stem cell technology.
Clues to COVID-19 Complications Come from NET-like Inflammatory Response
An overactive defense response may lead to increased blood clotting, disease severity, and death from COVID-19. A phenomenon called NETosis—in which infection-fighting cells emit a web-like substance to trap invading viruses—is part of an immune response that becomes increasingly hyperactive in people on ventilators and people who die from the disease.
Mount Sinai Researchers Find That COVID-19 Patients with HIV Did Not Experience Poorer Outcomes
Patients with HIV who were hospitalized with COVID-19 did not experience poorer outcomes compared to a similar comparison group of patients.
Sanford Burnham Prebys announces research agreement with Lilly for COVID-19 antibody research
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute today announced a research agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) to characterize Lilly’s next-generation anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. These collaborative studies aim to build on Lilly’s current portfolio of neutralizing antibodies by exploring novel cocktails, half-life extension technologies and strategies to further enhance potency.
Research shows COVID-19 is an independent risk factor for acute ischemic stroke.
Corresponding Author: Puneet Belani, MD, Assistant Professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology. Bottom Line: COVID-19 infection is significantly associated with strokes, and patients with COVID-19 should undergo more aggressive monitoring for stroke.…
X-rays size up protein structure at the ‘heart’ of COVID-19 virus
Researchers have performed the first room temperature X-ray measurements on the SARS-CoV-2 main protease—the enzyme that enables the virus to reproduce. It marks an important first step in the ultimate goal of building a comprehensive 3D model of the enzymatic protein that will be used to advance supercomputing simulations aimed at finding drug inhibitors to block the virus’s replication mechanism and help end the COVID-19 pandemic.
Defining Paths to Possible Mother to Child Coronavirus Transmission
UC Davis Health physicians defined the conditions of coronavirus transmission from mother to baby during pregnancy and delivery.
UAH’s Baudry Lab finds 125 naturally occurring compounds with potential against COVID-19
The Baudry Lab at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has identified 125 naturally occurring compounds that have a computational potential for efficacy against the COVID-19 virus from the first batch of 50,000 rapidly assessed by a supercomputer.
Study: Urban Density Not Linked to Higher Coronavirus Infection Rates—and Is Linked to Lower COVID-19 Death Rates
A new study suggests that denser places, assumed by many to be more conducive to the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, are not linked to higher infection rates.
Cellular nanosponges could soak up SARS-CoV-2
Researchers reporting in Nano Letters have used nanosponges coated with human cell membranes –– the natural targets of the virus –– to soak up SARS-CoV-2 and keep it from infecting cells in a petri dish.
Nanosponges Could Intercept Coronavirus Infection
Nanoparticles cloaked in human lung cell membranes and human immune cell membranes can attract and neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus in cell culture, causing the virus to lose its ability to hijack host cells and reproduce.
History of insightful HIV research inspires neutron scattering approach to studying COVID-19
What began as novel investigations into HIV, abruptly pivoted to the novel coronavirus as it began to spread across the globe. Now, ORNL researchers are using neutrons to learn more about the SARS-CoV-2 protease—a protein enzyme that enables the virus to replicate within the human body. Insights on the protein structure and its behaviors will be used to create more accurate models for simulations in aims of finding drug inhibitors to block the virus’s ability to reproduce.
Individualized Treatment for COVID-19 Patients Should Be Based on Three Disease Phases
A new review details three distinct phases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and urges medical professionals to consider an individualized treatment approach based on the disease phases and each patient’s symptoms. The review is published ahead of print in Physiological Reviews.
COVID-19 mouse model will speed search for drugs, vaccines
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a mouse model of COVID-19 that is expected to speed up the search for drugs and vaccines for the potentially deadly disease.
Cancer Researchers Have a Head Start in Fight Against COVID-19
Researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center have been actively engaged in the effort to develop treatments or other control strategies that can help communities worldwide to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yale scientists develop a new experimental method to study infection and disease, including COVID-19
Yale Cancer Center scientists have developed a new cell screening method for agents that alter biologic functions. This approach uses thousands of artificial proteins called “traptamers” and may help to answer research questions that are difficult to address with other cell screening methods, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus, COVID-19. The data is published today in the journal Cell Reports.
Targeting SARS-CoV-2 Enzyme with Inhibitors
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, many researchers are studying epidemiological models to predict its propagation. However, a mathematician and expert in complex systems decided to focus on finding targets within SARS-CoV-2 for new drugs to attack. In the journal Chaos, he discusses the dramatic increase in the sensitivity of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 to small disturbances, which made him suspect there is a role for inhibitors to play in killing the virus.
Researchers Map SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Cells of Nasal Cavity, Bronchia, Lungs
UNC-Chapel Hill researchers show how SARS-CoV-2 infects the nasal cavity to a great degree, and progressively less so lower down the respiratory tract, suggesting the virus tends to become firmly established first in the nasal cavity, but can be aspirated into the lungs to cause serious disease.
Using Wastewater to Track, Contain SARS-CoV-2
Researchers took a novel approach to tracking the virus that causes COVID-19 that promises to be cost effective and ensure privacy by using a method that surveils for the virus in a local’s untreated wastewater facilities.
As Businesses Reopen, It’s Crucial We Wear Masks, Safely Distance
In a perspective piece published today in the journal Science, UC San Diego experts describe in detail the growing evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, can be spread by asymptomatic people via aerosols — a reality that…
Experts available to comment on racial and social inequality in COVID-19 health care
As all 50 U.S. states ease economic restrictions implemented in response to the coronavirus, health and policy experts are braced for a potential second wave of COVID-19. Based on the first phase of the crisis, the hardest-hit populations are anticipated among communities of color, which have been disproportionally affected. According to a recent report from American Public Media Research Lab, African Americans are more than twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as Latino or Asian Americans, and nearly 2 1/2 times as likely as whites. Indiana University experts on racial inequality, social inequality in health care and demographics data are available to comment on these topics.
Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C): What You Need to Know
A panel of University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital experts answered questions about what is known about Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) so far.
What we can learn from SARS
Seventeen years ago, another viral outbreak was in the news. People wore masks, many were nervous to fly. This outbreak, known as SARS, was caused by a type of coronavirus we now call SARS-CoV-1. The difference was that SARS-CoV-1 was controlled and the virus is all but extinct. The newspaper headlines became a distant memory.
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Risks of Ocean Activities During COVID-19 Pandemic
New Brunswick, N.J. (May 21, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Kay Bidle is available for interviews on the possible risks from the novel coronavirus or other pathogens while swimming or surfing in oceans, bays, lakes and rivers. “We currently know very…
Mount Sinai Health System and Renalytix Form Joint Venture, Kantaro Biosciences, To Develop and Scale Production of COVID Antibody Test Kits
– Kantaro Biosciences partners with Bio-Techne for manufacturing and global kit distribution
– Scaled kit production to enable clinical laboratories to conduct 10M tests per month is planned to begin in July
LightStrike Robots Proven to Deactivate SARS-CoV-2 on Surfaces in 2 Minutes
A new study published on medRxiv reports the effectiveness of a broad spectrum, pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) disinfection system in quickly deactivating SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces, and the implications for reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission everywhere that people work, travel, play and live.
‘Like looking for a needle in a haystack’: the global hunt to find key molecule to block COVID-19
A molecular biologist from the University of South Australia is working with a world leader in artificial intelligence-based drug discovery to help find a molecule that could prevent the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strain causing COVID-19 from infecting human cells.
IU, Indiana State Department of Health release preliminary findings about impact of COVID-19 in state
Preliminary results from a scientific study aimed at measuring the spread of the novel coronavirus in Indiana show a general population prevalence of about 2.8 percent of the state’s population.
Mouthwash Could Be a Promising Weapon in the Fight Against Coronavirus Transmission
Readily available dental mouthwashes have the potential to destroy the lipid envelope of coronaviruses, combating virus replication in the mouth and throat. The findings are presented in a new review article published today in Function, concluding that there is an urgent need to test the effectiveness of this approach in clinical trials.
Study confirms cats can become infected with and may transmit COVID-19 to other cats
In a study published today (May 13, 2020) in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists in the U.S. and Japan report that in the laboratory, cats can readily become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and may be able to pass the virus to other cats.
Study finds COVID plasma therapy safe, with 76% patients improving
The first convalescent plasma transfusion trial results from Houston Methodist have been released. Of the 25 patients in the study, 19 have improved and 11 have been discharged. With no adverse side effects caused by the therapy, the study concluded that convalescent plasma is a safe treatment option for patients with severe COVID-19. This is the largest cohort assessed for outcomes related to convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19.
SARS-CoV-2 Targets Many Cell Types, Analysis of Single-Cell Data Suggests
The new coronavirus invades cells that sport certain molecules on their surfaces. A network of researchers realized they already had the data to identify these cells.
Houston Methodist researchers find telling clues in virus genes from COVID-19 patients
Houston Methodist released gene sequencing results from the first strains of the virus causing COVID-19 disease in Houston. Results reveal multiple introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into Houston followed by rapid community spread. No evidence was found of mutations making any strains of the virus more severe. Pathologists analyzed genomes of 320 SARS-CoV-2 strains collected from COVID-19 patients, making this the largest sample of SARS-CoV-2 genes sequenced from patients in the southern U.S.
FDA Approves First At-Home Saliva Collection Test for Coronavirus
Rutgers’ RUCDR Infinite Biologics received an amended emergency use authorization from the FDA late Thursday for the first SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus test that will allow people to collect their own saliva at home and send to a lab for results. The decision follows the FDA’s recent emergency approval to RUCDR Infinite Biologics for the first saliva-based test, which involves health care workers collecting saliva from individuals at testing sites.
RNA Scientist Receives NSF Funding for Rapid Coronavirus Testing
A biomedical engineer is leading new research that could soon deliver coronavirus test results much faster and at much lower cost.
Introducing the UC San Diego Return to Learn Program
Program makes COVID-19 testing available to thousands of students in effort to track the novel coronavirus and better position the campus to resume in-person activities in the fall.
Expert @UofUHealth: New Coronavirus Unlikely to Have Escaped From Lab
While there is speculation that the new coronavirus caused today’s pandemic after escaping from a lab, there is no evidence to support the claim, says University of Utah Health evolutionary virologist Stephen Goldstein, PhD. In contrast, Goldstein indicates several lines…
UC San Diego Health Offers Virtual Appointments to Patients with COVID-19
UC San Diego Health now offers a telemedicine clinic to help patients with COVID-19 recover at home.
Tip Sheet: Coronavirus biology, Q&A with Joel McHale, brain topographic maps, single cell sequencing and more
Summaries of recent Fred Hutch research findings and other news with links for additional background and media contacts.