CoronaVirus

Oct 23rd, 2021 - When you’re infected with the coronavirus, your body pumps out special proteins called antibodies that help protect you from getting sick again. They stick around for months or years, slowly diminishing with time. Now, a new small study shows antibodies lodged in your airways wane more quickly and completely disappear three months after infection compared to those swimming in your blood, which remain stable for at least eight months. But vaccination can quickly trigger a strong increase in ... [Read More]

Oct 23rd, 2021 - MIS-C is a rare but life-threatning side effect of COVID-19 in children. Scientists are racing to find the cause A bustling hallway in the emergency department at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital due to coronavirus (COVID-19) patients in Oceanside, New York Like most other kids with COVID, Dante and Michael DeMaino seemed to have no serious symptoms. Infected in mid-February, both lost their senses of taste and smell. Dante, 9, had a low-grade fever for a day or so. Michael, 13, had a "tickle ... [Read More]

Oct 23rd, 2021 - Fall Travel Tips: With travel restrictions lifting around the world, digest this ultimate guide for a perfect travel experience this fall... Fall is undoubtedly the best time of the year, the weather is excellent, and it is when you get to drink pumpkin enlivened lattes, warm up in your favourite sweater and wear those fuzzy socks everywhere in your house. It’s the season of cosiness . If you feel like getting out of the house, it will be to see the fantastic and beautiful colours of the ... [Read More]

Oct 23rd, 2021 - An update on Chuck Smeeton’s breakthrough COVID infection. More on: covid vaccines As detailed in the previous instalment , after a couple of days I considered myself the textbook case of a fully vaccinated individual that has caught COVID but has pretty mild symptoms. I was starting to wonder if this was going to be a one-entry COVID diary. However, by day four it got a bit more challenging. The annoying cold that had emerged on day three was solidly in place – nose streaming, headaches, ... [Read More]

Oct 23rd, 2021 - Northern Ireland's Covid-19 restrictions are due to ease further next week after decisions made at the executive on Thursday evening. It is a move which has been criticised as "stupid" and "madness" by the chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) in Northern Ireland, Dr Tom Black. Two executive ministers - the SDLP's Nichola Mallon and Naomi Long of the Alliance Party - have both expressed concern about the planned easing. As ever during the pandemic, numbers and statistics lie at the ... [Read More]

Oct 23rd, 2021 - Why Health Officials Recommend Face Masks at Holiday Parties, Even If You're Vaccinated Wearing a mask, regardless of vaccination status, may keep the elderly and children safe at your holiday celebration. Federal health officials have released new COVID-19 safety guidelines for holiday celebrations and events later this year. Guidelines call for guests to be fully vaccinated if possible, as this will greatly reduce risk among those who are traveling to visit your home; after earlier guidance ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - Unruly passengers add dread to MIA’s holiday forecast as police target airport bars Miami International Airport expects to hit two records this holiday season, one of them welcome. Airlines expect to sell more Miami tickets than ever this winter , wiping away MIA’s pandemic travel slump even as international flights continue to severely lag 2019 levels. With U.S. travel restrictions lifting next month on 39 countries for vaccinated travelers , MIA expects a surge in foreign arrivals, too. ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - Those planning to attend Diwali celebrations in Leicester over the weekend are being asked to take a lateral flow test first. The festive light switch-on will take place on the city's Golden Mile on Sunday in a different event from normal with no main stage or firework display. The street celebration could not happen last year due to Covid restrictions. Leicester City Council is asking visitors to walk, cycle or use public transport instead of driving. This year's Diwali light switch-on has ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - Research by John P. Haran, MD, Ph.D., and Evan S. Bradley, MD, Ph.D., at UMass Chan Medical School, shows that patients with persistent long COVID symptoms have oral microbiomes with a significantly higher abundance of bacteria that induce inflammation. These findings suggest an association between the oral microbiome and long COVID that may point to dysfunction in the oral microbiome as a contributor to long COVID. "We don't understand the mechanism of long COVID. Nobody knows how or why it ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - ariants The B.1.1.7 lineage is also known as the Alpha variant and is categorized as a VOC. It was first reported in the United Kingdom in September 2020. Scientists revealed that the Alpha variant has a significantly higher reproduction number and causes a more severe infection with a higher mortality rate than the original strain. B.1.617.2 lineage is known as the Delta variant and falls under the category of VOC. This variant was first reported in India in October 2020. It has higher ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday took aim at the question of whether the Delta variant of the coronavirus causes more severe disease, finding no significant differences in the course of hospitalized patients’ illnesses during the Delta wave compared to earlier in the pandemic. But larger and more detailed studies from a number of other countries have found that people with Delta infections were considerably more likely to be hospitalized in the first ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - , and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. A team of researchers from the Grossman School of Medicine, USA, measured the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 variants C.1.2, Mu, and Delta+501S and determined the susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies gained through previous infection or via vaccination. Also, the authors tested if these variants were susceptible to neutralization from monoclonal antibodies. A preprint version of this study, which is yet to undergo peer review, is available on the The ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - They studied coronaviruses in order to prevent the next pandemic. Now they’re being blamed for potentially causing one. Leaks. Research. Spy reports . The search for the origins of the worst pandemic anyone can remember has yielded a sea of information, yet there’s no conclusive evidence that the virus causing COVID-19 either emerged naturally or escaped from a lab, the two leading hypotheses. But this much has become clear: Both nature and humans are seeking to create new, sometimes ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has killed over 4.9 million people worldwide. With a rapid transmission rate, few effective therapeutics, and a high mortality rate for at-risk groups, the disease forced governments worldwide to introduce social distancing measures, lockdowns, and mandatory face masks. These measures helped to keep the disease under control while vaccines were developed. The causative agent of COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - Scientists from RUDN, National Medical Research Centre for Hematology, and Lomonosov Moscow State University have uncovered one of the possible pathogenetic mechanisms of severe lymphopenia in patients with COVID-19. For the first time, they presented evidence of the possibility of direct infection of lymphocytes with SARS-CoV-2 virions. The article was published in the journal Viruses . Lymphocytes are the main cells of the immune system. Deep lymphopenia (≤1000/µl) is observed in 96% of ... [Read More]

Oct 22nd, 2021 - Amidst growing concerns on the use and potential benefits of therapy, a research group in the United States has identified three human antibodies (Abs) that, when combined, demonstrate both robust viral suppressive properties against all tested severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Variants of Concern (VoC) and profound antiviral efficacy These recombinant Abs, identified initially from coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) convalescent patients’ plasma, bind to three ... [Read More]