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UrduUC San Diego Health now offers a telemedicine clinic to help patients with COVID-19 recover at home.
Tag: SARS-CoV-2
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.
Clinical Trial to Investigate Whether Hypertension Drug Ameliorates COVID-19 Severity
UC San Diego scientists have launched a clinical trial to investigate whether a drug approved for treating high blood pressure might also reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, lowering rates for intensive care unit admissions, the use of mechanical ventilators and all-cause mortality.
Arthritis Drug Presents Promise as Treatment for COVID-19 Pneumonia
UC San Diego Health has launched a Phase III clinical trial to assess whether a medication used to treat rheumatoid might also have therapeutic value for patient with COVID-19 who have developed or are at high risk of developing serious lung damage from SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Loss of Smell Associated with Milder Clinical Course in COVID-19
Researchers at UC San Diego Health report in newly published findings that olfactory impairment suggests the resulting COVID-19 disease is more likely to be mild to moderate, a potential early indicator that could help health care providers determine which patients may require hospitalization.
Soup to Nuts
The COVID-19 pandemic demands action on many fronts, from prevention to testing to treatment. Not content to focus its research efforts on just one, the laboratory of George Church in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University is tackling the problem from seven different angles.
Indiana State Department of Health, IU partner on COVID-19 study
The Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI is collaborating with the state health department to conduct a scientific study to measure the spread of COVID-19 throughout Indiana.
Computer simulations explore potential COVID-19 therapeutics
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago recently published a study in the journal ACS Nano that details findings from computer simulations seeking to identify inhibitors, which eventually could assist chemists to develop new medicines to combat the coronavirus.
University of Utah Invests $1.3 million in COVID-19 Research, from Investigating Domestic Violence to Drug Development
The University of Utah has awarded $1.3 million in grants to 56 projects that will examine a host of issues arising out of the pandemic. These multidisciplinary projects will not only address ways to prevent and treat the disease, but will also explore how to design better personal protective equipment as well as dampen the long-term effects of physical isolation on domestic violence and mental health.
Researchers use live virus to identify 30 existing drugs that could treat COVID-19
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, the University of Hong Kong, Scripps Research, UC San Diego School of Medicine, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and UCLA have identified 30 existing drugs that stop the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The study was placed on bioRxiv (pronounced “bio-Archive”), an open-access distribution service for preprints of life science research.
SLAS Releases COVID-19 Infographics to Explain Research Terminology
SLAS has released the first two infographics in an ongoing series of tools to help the general public better understand the technical jargon being discussed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Official press conferences, news articles, statistical reports, social media posts and health organizations use technical research terms that often are misunderstood (or not understood at all) by a general audience.
UC San Diego Health Launches Novel Coronavirus Blood Testing to Identify Past Exposure
Physicians and scientists at UC San Diego Health have launched a pair of serological tests that will look for novel coronavirus antibodies—evidence in persons tested that they have previously been infected by the viral cause of COVID-19, even if they never experienced tell-tale symptoms.
Coriell Institute for Medical Research Fills Gaps in COVID-19 Testing Materials Supply
Answering the growing need for additional testing, and in direct response to shortages encountered in testing kit supply pipelines, the Coriell Institute for Medical Research is now offering services to create viral testing collection tubes containing different media and/or buffer formulations, for use in COVID-19 testing kits. Coriell is also exploring the feasibility of saliva as a means for testing for the new coronavirus.
Loss of Smell and Taste Validated as COVID-19 Symptoms in Patients with High Recovery Rate
Researchers at UC San Diego Health publish the first empirical findings that strongly associate sensory loss and COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
New Rutgers Saliva Test for Coronavirus Gets FDA Approval
The FDA has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to Rutgers’ RUCDR Infinite Biologics and its collaborators for a new collection approach that utilizes saliva as the primary test biomaterial for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the first such approval granted by the federal agency. The new saliva collection method, which RUCDR developed in partnership with Spectrum Solutions and Accurate Diagnostic Labs (ADL), will allow for broader population screening than the current method of nose and throat swabs.
Mount Sinai Study Finds First Cases of COVID-19 in New York City are Primarily from European and US Sources
First definitive molecular epidemiology study of SARS-CoV-2 in New York City to describe the route by which the virus arrived
COVID-19: Social distancing works — just ask these animals
As social distancing is now being practiced at all levels of human society in order to mitigate a pandemic’s spread, a Virginia Tech expert in disease ecology says we need to look no further than our animal counterparts to understand why…
Repurposing Existing Drugs Could Offer Faster Path to COVID-19 Treatment
A map of interactions between the novel coronavirus and human proteins is helping scientists identify drugs that might work as therapeutics.
Artificial Intelligence Enables Rapid COVID-19 Lung Imaging Analysis at UC San Diego Health
With support from Amazon Web Services, UC San Diego Health physicians are using AI in a clinical research study aimed at speeding the detection of pneumonia, a condition associated with severe COVID-19.
Tulane University awarded $10.3 million to test therapeutics, vaccines for novel coronavirus
The National Institutes of Health has awarded Tulane National Primate Research Center a contract of up to $10.3 million to evaluate vaccines and treatments to combat coronavirus disease 2019.
UCLA clinical trial tests anti-viral drug remdesivir and other therapies against COVID-19
UCLA Health is one of 75 sites around the globe participating in a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to test the effectiveness of a candidate anti-viral drug against COVID-19.
COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Shows Promise in First Peer-Reviewed Research
A potential COVID-19 vaccine, delivered by microscopic needles, produces antibodies specific to the virus when tested in mice. This is the first peer-reviewed paper describing a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The next step is a human clinical trial.
Scientists Take Aim at the Coronavirus Toolkit
PNNL scientist Garry Buchko is part of a nationwide network exploring the complex 3D structures of the 27 proteins of the novel coronavirus, each part of the molecular toolkit that the virus uses to infect, replicate and spread. Creating atomic-level pictures of the protein structures is a crucial first step toward mucking up the virus’s inner workings.
Rutgers Launches Genetic Testing Service for New Coronavirus
Rutgers’ RUCDR Infinite Biologics has launched a test for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and is using its automation experience and infrastructure to test as many as tens of thousands of samples daily. RUCDR has also submitted an emergency use authorization request for a saliva collection method that will allow for broader population screening.
Virus-Scanning Tool Could Detect Previous COVID-19 Infections and Inform Vaccine Development
Using a research assay called VirScan, scientists plan to study how antibodies from people who have had COVID-19 attack the virus that causes it.
Solving a medical mystery and changing CDC screenings for COVID-19
UC Davis Health physicians and medical staff who treated the first case of community transmission of COVID-19 in the U.S. provide a detailed case study of her condition and the medical steps and challenges they experienced before arriving at a diagnosis and treatment.
AASLD Releases Clinical Insight Guide for Treating Patients with Liver Disease and COVID-19
The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) has released a clinical insight document for clinicians and frontline healthcare providers who are treating patients with liver disease during the COVID-19 pandemic. The document, which cites recent studies conducted in China, assesses how hepatologists and liver transplant physicians/surgeons and their patients may be affected by the COVID-19 virus (also known as SARS-CoV-2) and provides continued guidance on clinical approaches to disease management.
UC San Diego Health Launches Clinical Trial to Assess Antiviral Drug for COVID-19
Researchers at four University of California Health medical centers have begun recruiting participants for a Phase II clinical trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of treating adult patients with COVID-19 with remdesivir, a drug that has shown promising activity against multiple viruses.
AACC Launches Directory of U.S. Labs That Are Performing COVID-19 Testing
To facilitate rapid identification of COVID-19 cases, AACC has launched a directory of U.S. clinical laboratories that are, or will be, performing testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This directory is designed to help healthcare providers quickly find laboratories that can diagnose patients suspected to have COVID-19.
Aerosol expert measuring airborne viruses and removing them from enclosed spaces
Pratim Biswas heads the Aerosol and Air Quality Research Laboratory (AAQRL) at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. AAQRL researchers are currently in discussions with the School of Medicine to deploy aerosol monitoring equipment and sensors…
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Sanitizing Smartphones to Avoid COVID-19
Rutgers scholar Donald Schaffner is available to discuss how often, and with what chemicals, smartphone users should sanitize their devices amid fears of COVID-19.
The Best Ways to Kill Coronavirus In Your Home
Your kitchen cabinet may already be stocked with cleaning agents that can kill coronavirus. But not all chemicals will work, and none are as gentle on your skin as commercial hand sanitizers, according to Rutgers University experts.
Siobain Duffy, an Associate Professor of ecology with expertise in emerging viruses and microbial evolution, and Donald Schaffner, a Distinguished Professor and extension specialist in food science with expertise in microbial risk assessment and handwashing, offer the following tips for cleaning to kill the pathogens that cause COVID-19 and other deadly diseases.
COVID-19 Appears Less Severe in Children, Says Review in Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
As outbreaks of COVID-19 disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continue worldwide, there’s reassuring evidence that children have fewer symptoms and less severe disease. That’s among the insights provided by an expert review in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, the official journal of The European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
COVID-19 Appears Less Severe in Children, Says Review in Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
As outbreaks of COVID-19 disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continue worldwide, there’s reassuring evidence that children have fewer symptoms and less severe disease. That’s among the insights provided by an expert review in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, the official journal of The European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERTS RECOMMEND USING ANTIBODIES FROM COVID-19 SURVIVORS AS STOPGAP MEASURE TO TREAT PATIENTS AND PROTECT HEALTH CARE WORKERS
Countries fighting outbreaks of the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 should consider using the antibodies of people who have recovered from infection to treat cases and provide short-term immunity—lasting weeks to months—to critical health care workers, argue two infectious disease experts.
Early research on existing drug compounds via supercomputing could combat coronavirus
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have used Summit, the world’s most powerful and smartest supercomputer, to identify 77 small-molecule drug compounds that might warrant further study in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is responsible for the COVID-19 disease outbreak.
Russian biologist explains recent findings regarding coronavirus structure
MOSCOW (MIPT) — The atomic structure of the novel coronavirus envelope has explained why it is exceptionally contagious. Its structural features make it much easier for the Chinese coronavirus to bind to target receptors, compared with the previously known SARS…
As U.S. Struggles to Get Coronavirus Testing Up and Running, AACC Calls on FDA to Allow Clinical Labs to Develop Their Own Tests for the Virus
In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), AACC is urging the agency to allow clinical laboratories to develop coronavirus tests without going through FDA review. Lifting this regulatory requirement is key to ensuring that all patients have access to high-quality coronavirus testing and that healthcare workers have the tools they need to control the spread of this disease in the U.S.
Expert who studies history of epidemics: ‘Panic may be the worst possible response’
A Virginia Tech professor who studies the history of international epidemics says the United States “should look to history for guidance on how to interpret news reports” about the spread of SARS-CoV-2, previously known as the 2019 novel coronavirus. “Our…
WashU Expert: Ingredients for a virus to become a pandemic
As of Feb. 25, 2020, the World Health Organization reported 79,339 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Thirty-four countries have reported cases, including 2,619 deaths.The WHO has not declared COVID-19 as a pandemic — a situation defined somewhat vaguely by the WHO as “the worldwide spread of a new disease.