CoronaVirus

Apr 24th, 2024 - Key Takeaways As we segue from winter illnesses to spring allergies, runny noses may feel perpetual. If you're finding allergy medications aren't helping with your drippiness, it's time to consider whether you're experiencing a different condition. Your runny nose could be from chronic rhinosinusitis , a persistent inflammatory condition that causes the sinuses to swell for more than three months. You could even have allergies and chronic rhinosinusitis at the same time. According to a recent ... [Read More]

Apr 23rd, 2024 - Researchers have described the optimal timing for COVID-19 patients to take the antiviral, Paxlovid, to get the most benefit from the treatment, according to a study published April 16 in eLife . The findings suggest that taking Paxlovid three to five days after COVID-19 symptoms emerge may maximize the drug's ability to reduce viral loads, minimize viral spread and reduce viral rebound. They also indicate that broader use of Paxlovid during this window might be a powerful tool to help curb the ... [Read More]

Mar 19th, 2024 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday issued an advisory addressed to clinicians and public health officials to note a recorded increase in global and U.S. measles cases since the start of the year, and repeat its call for vaccinations against the disease. The public health agency urged Americans to make sure children over the age of 1 are up-to-date on their measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccinations to prevent infections and reduce the risk of community transmission of the ... [Read More]

Feb 27th, 2024 - The currently recommended five-day course of molnupiravir, an antiviral treatment, may not be long enough to treat COVID-19, according to a new paper involving UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Communications , was conducted as part of PANORAMIC, an ongoing clinical trial evaluating potential treatments for COVID-19. In this virology sub-study, the researchers analyzed viral samples provided by 577 trial participants from across the U.K. who were randomly assigned to receive ... [Read More]

Jan 10th, 2024 - Case numbers were higher in the fortnight ending 6 January than during the 2023 winter peak, NSW Health data shows Covid-19 infections in the greater Sydney area are approaching levels not seen since December 2022 as the JN.1 variant continues to drive cases throughout Australia, but hospital presentations and admissions have reduced since late 2023. The latest New South Wales Covid surveillance data published on Thursday shows that in the fortnight ending 6 January, community transmission of ... [Read More]

Nov 24th, 2023 - India prepared for any kind of public health exigency, says Centre amid child pneumonia outbreak in China NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry on Friday said there is a "low risk" to India from the recent outbreak of H9N2 and pneumonia cases being reported in parts of China. However, the ministry said that it is closely monitoring the situation. In a statement, the health ministry noted that there have been media reports about the rising cases of respiratory illness among children in northern ... [Read More]

Nov 22nd, 2023 - Covid-19 vaccines may offer better protection if they just target the omicron variant, rather than both omicron and the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain "Bivalent" covid-19 vaccines based on proteins from the initial SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus as well as the more recent omicron variant may be less effective than those that just target omicron, a study suggests. The findings come not from a randomised trial, the best kind of medical evidence, but from studying people's responses to natural infections. ... [Read More]

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Sep 6th, 2023 - In a recent article posted to the  bioRxiv * server, researchers performed an experimental assessment of the antigenicity and infectivity of BA.2.86, a newly emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) saltation variant designated as a variant under monitoring (VUM) by the World Health Organization (WHO) on August 18, 2023. *Important notice: bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as ... [Read More]

Sep 5th, 2023 - A recent Virology Journal   study evaluates cross-species transmission of newly emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants between humans and poultry species. Study:  Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern potentially expand host range to chickens: insights from AXL, NRP1 and ACE2 receptors Background The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 resulted in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has claimed almost seven million lives worldwide. ... [Read More]

Sep 4th, 2023 - In a recent preprint posted to the  bioRxiv * server, researchers characterized two novel XBB variants, EG.5.1 and XBB.2.3, with the former on track to become the dominant severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant. *Important notice: bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Background The ... [Read More]

Aug 31st, 2023 - A recent  Scientific Reports  study evaluated the humoral response in the elderly population after receiving the fourth mRNA vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).  Study: Antibody response in elderly vaccinated four times with an mRNA anti-COVID-19 vaccine Background The rapid transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the availability of vaccines, the pandemic is continuing due to the ... [Read More]

Aug 29th, 2023 - OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada has detected its first case of coronavirus infection from the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant of Omicron in a person in British Columbia who had not traveled outside the Pacific province, health officials said on Tuesday. The individual is not hospitalized, and the detection of BA.2.86 virus has not changed the risk to people in British Columbia, the province's top doctor, Bonnie Henry, and Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a joint statement. "It was not unexpected for ... [Read More]

Aug 24th, 2023 - At least two cases of a new COVID-19 virus subvariant, BA.2.86, have been identified in the U.S., prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a risk-assessment summary on August 23 explaining what is known about it so far. Cases of the new variant have been reported globally and scientists are concerned that built-up immunity and vaccinations may not protect against it. All viruses change over time, including the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2. These changes can ... [Read More]

Aug 24th, 2023 - Scientists led by a team from Duke-NUS Medical School have identified three distinct serotypes of SARS-related coronaviruses, marking the need for vaccines that can provide broad-spectrum protection against them. This discovery, published in the journal hLife , suggests that immunity from vaccination or prior infection by one serotype may be ineffective against another or against new variants. This is because while the viruses of different serotypes can be genetically similar, they function and ... [Read More]