Researchers in the United States, UK, and Canada have published a commentary challenging the suggestion that the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may not be airborne. The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that continues to pose a significant threat to global public […]
A study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that wearing two face coverings can nearly double the effectiveness of filtering out SARS-CoV-2-sized particles, preventing them from reaching the wearer's nose and mouth and causing COVID-19. The reason for the enhanced filtration isn't so much adding layers of cloth, but eliminating any gaps or poor-fitting […]
A team of scientists recently conducted a large-scale study at Northwell Health, New York, USA, to evaluate the efficacy of neutralizing monoclonal antibody (MAB) therapies in preventing disease progression among patients with mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The findings reveal that the timing of initiating MAB therapy is a crucial factor in determining […]
The rollout of vaccines is on in an attempt to achieve population immunity against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, the recent emergence of several variants that have altered transmissibility, infectivity and virulence characteristics has cast doubt on the feasibility of this goal. A […]
A new study published in the journal Science Immunology analyzed lung epithelial cells from patients infected with COVID-19 and found the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) induces the complement system as a dangerous weapon for viral infection. The complement system is an extension of the innate immune system to recognize pathogens and remove […]
A team of scientists from the University of California Santa Cruz, USA, recently identified a novel variant (B.1.x) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that might be circulating in at least 20 US states and six countries globally. The mutations found in this variant are also present in other known variants of concern […]
The effect of different neutralizing antibodies, both vaccine-elicited and from convalescent sera, suggests new variants are emerging that can evade the human immune response. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) binds to host cells via its spike protein, which has two parts, the S1 and S2 subunits. The S1 subunit has the receptor-binding […]
Evolutionary ecology theory offers avenues to anticipate the future behavior of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogen. The repeated emergence of more infectious and possibly more virulent variants of SARS-CoV-2 shows that the virus is adapting under selective pressure. Although there has been a lot of discussion on how biodiversity-related events facilitate […]
The emergence of a novel human coronavirus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. SARS-CoV-2 causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a heterogeneous disease. Due to its rapid spread across the world within a short period, by March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared […]
The variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus known as B.1.1.7 is still susceptible to antibodies induced after COVID-19 infection or immunization with a currently available vaccine, according to Emory University scientists. The increasingly prevalent B.1.1.7 variant was first identified in the United Kingdom, and was detected in the United States in December 2020. It is thought […]
