Efforts to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 may benefit from a new analytical tool developed by a team led by biologists at Boston College, who report their computer simulation of molecular interactions can predict mutations of the virus and help develop insights into future variants of concern before they emerge. “We computationally predict what mutations
Anew study raises significant doubts about whether at-home rapid antigen tests can detect the Omicron variant before infected people can transmit the virus to others. The study looks at 30 people from settings including Broadway theaters and offices in New York and San Francisco where some workers were not only being tested daily but were, because
A new paper published on JAMA Pediatrics by researchers of Columbia University Irving Medical Center analyses a ssociations between in utero exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection and neurodevelopment which are speculated, but currently unknown. To examine the associations between maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy, being born during the COVID-19 pandemic regardless of maternal SARS-CoV-2 status,
The first comprehensive analysis of its kind examines hospital inpatient costs and length of stay. A new study published in Advances in Therapy provides the first comprehensive analysis of the hospitalization costs for COVID-19 patients, factors associated with costs and length of stay, and the monthly trends of costs and length of stay from April to December
In South Africa, the pattern of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 early in the fourth wave showed fewer hospitalizations and reduced severity of illness compared with earlier waves, according to a research letter published online Dec. 30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Caroline Maslo, M.D., Ph.D., from Netcare Ltd. South Africa in Johannesburg, and
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have investigated the effect of infection with COVID-19 on the levels of oxidative stress, oxidant damage and glutathione, the most abundant physiological antioxidant. Compared to healthy age-matched individuals whose samples were taken before the pandemic started in 2019, patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had significantly increased levels of oxidative stress and
A new coronavirus variant has been discovered in southern France, spreading in a small outbreak, according to a new study.The variant, tentatively identified B.1.640.2 according to a recent study backed by the French government that has yet to be peer-reviewed, is believed to be Cameroonian in origin and have so far spread to 67 patients in southern France.
Research from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and the University of Melbourne has revealed that T cells, one of the body’s key defences against COVID-19, are expected to be effective in mounting an immune response against Omicron despite its significantly higher mutations compared to previous variants of concern. T cells, generated
Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have designed a high-quality assay that can be used in at-home tests for rapid COVID-19 screening. Results from an early preclinical study suggest that tests with the new assay may be just as reliable as the laboratory-based molecular tests — called PCR tests — used by hospitals for clinical diagnostics. “Having fast and
FINDINGS Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have identified rare, naturally occurring T cells that are capable of targeting a protein found in SARS-CoV-2 and a range of other coronaviruses. The findings suggest that a component of this protein, called viral polymerase, could potentially be added
