A drug treatment that acts as a decoy against SARS-CoV-2 was highly effective at preventing death and lung damage in humanized animal models of severe COVID-19 disease, according to a Nature Chemical Biology study from researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago. The study suggests that the drug has the potential to treat COVID-19 patients,
Since the B.1.1.529 variant was declared a Variant of Concern and assigned the name Omicron on 26 November 2021, our understanding of this variant has increased considerably, thanks to collaborative global research and the passing of time, allowing us to observe its behaviour and how it affects individuals and communities over a number of weeks.
Anecdotal reports and results from small studies on the diagnostics’ accuracy have prompted questions about the devices’ usage with the new variant, but researchers say more data are needed and emphasize the continued importance of SARS-CoV-2 testing. A short seven weeks after the World Health Organization declared Omicron a SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern, this new
Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) refers to varying degrees of trauma to peripheral nerve stems or branches. PNIaccounts for 1.5–4.0% of global trauma cases annually and is one of the most challenging health issues at present. Nerve regeneration is a complicated cellular process involving infammation, neurotrophic factors, neurotransmitters, adhesion, the formation of axons and growth cones,
One-Third of Clinical Trial Participants Who Received No Vaccine Reported Systemic Adverse Advents Like Headache and Fatigue The placebo effect is the well-known phenomenon of a person’s physical or mental health improving after taking a treatment with no pharmacological therapeutic benefit – a sugar pill, or a syringe full of saline, for example. While the
A single blood sample from a critically ill COVID-19 patient can be analyzed by a machine learning model which uses blood plasma proteins to predict survival, weeks before the outcome, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS Digital Health by Florian Kurth and Markus Ralser of the Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin,
Research from the School of Medicine suggests how a newly developed gene therapy can treat Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy, and potentially prolong survival for people with the condition. The gene therapy, developed by Stoke Therapeutics, is now in clinical trials. Because most Dravet syndrome cases are caused by a mutation in the SCN1A gene, resulting in
This report has been published to share the detailed variant surveillance analyses which contribute to the variant risk assessments and designation of new variants of concern (VOC) and variants under investigation (VUI). This specialist technical briefing contains early data and analysis on emerging variants and findings have a high level of uncertainty. SARS-CoV-2 Routine variant
Survivors of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection frequently experience lingering neurological symptoms, including impairment in attention, concentration, speed of information processing and memory. This long-COVID cognitive syndrome shares many features with the syndrome of cancer therapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI). Neuroinflammation, particularly microglial reactivity and consequent dysregulation of hippocampal neurogenesis and oligodendrocyte lineage cells,
An emerging and complex health problem that remains poorly characterized and understood is long coronavirus disease 2019 (Long COVID). The rapid outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Long COVID is a post-infection condition in which individuals do not recover completely for
