Monoclonal antibodies against MERS coronavirus show promise in phase 1 NIH-sponsored trial
(NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) A randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1 clinical trial of two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against the coronavirus that causes MERS found that they were well tolerated and generally safe when administered simultaneously to healthy adults. The experimental mAbs target the MERS coronavirus (MERS CoV) spike protein used by the virus to attach to and infect target cells. The mAbs were discovered and developed by scientists at the biopharmaceutical company Regeneron. The trial was sponsored by NIAID. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - February 23, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Vaccinate, don ’t hesitate!
UNISON doesn’t think that people should be forced to be vaccinated, but the union is encouraging members to get the vaccine when they have the chance. Vice president James Anthony – a frontline NHS worker – has had his first dose, so we fired a few questions in his direction.
James, you’re a frontline worker in a hospital and you’ve been caring for COVID patients during the pandemic – what’s that been like?
I’m a nurse specialist and, in the first peak, I was mostly doing a lot of advice work with our patients, many of whom were very scared, while also looking after my heart patients who became poorly durin...
Source: UNISON Health care news - February 12, 2021 Category: UK Health Authors: Amanda Kendal Tags: Article News Covid-19 vaccine Source Type: news
A series of knocks: Oxford/AstraZeneca's bumpy road to Covid vaccine confidence
From doubts about safety in older people to questions about variants, scientists have faced a battle to convince the public and regulatorsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid has barely been out of the news from the moment the race to protect the world ’s population from the novel coronavirus began. But not always in a good way.Talented scientists at the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, led by Prof Sarah Gilbert, were incredibly quick off the mark in developing a potential vaccine, as soon as the virus in Wuhan had been sequenced and m...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 9, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Sarah Boseley Health editor Tags: Coronavirus Vaccines and immunisation Health Infectious diseases Medical research Science Society World news University of Oxford Higher education Pharmaceuticals industry Regulators Business Source Type: news
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Between 1 June through 31 December 2020, the National IHR Focal Point of Saudi Arabia reported four additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) with one associated death. The cases were reported from Riyadh (two cases), Taif (one case), and Al-Ahsaa (one case) Regions. The link below provides details of the four reported cases. (Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks)
Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks - February 1, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: news Source Type: news
mRNA Technology Gave Us the First COVID-19 Vaccines. It Could Also Upend the Drug Industry
“No!” The doctor snapped. “Look at me!”
I had been staring her in the eyes, as she had ordered, but when a doctor on my other side began jabbing me with a needle, I started to turn my head. “Don’t look at it,” the first doctor said. I obeyed.
This was in early August in New Orleans, where I had signed up to be a participant in the clinical trial for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It was a blind study, which meant I was not supposed to know whether I had gotten the placebo or the real vaccine. I asked the doctor if I would really been able to tell by looking at the syringe. &...
Source: TIME: Health - January 11, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Walter Isaacson Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Magazine Source Type: news
mRNA Technology Gave Us the First COVID-19 Vaccines. It Could Also Upend the Drug Industry
“No!” The doctor snapped. “Look at me!”
I had been staring her in the eyes, as she had ordered, but when a doctor on my other side began jabbing me with a needle, I started to turn my head. “Don’t look at it,” the first doctor said. I obeyed.
This was in early August in New Orleans, where I had signed up to be a participant in the clinical trial for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It was a blind study, which meant I was not supposed to know whether I had gotten the placebo or the real vaccine. I asked the doctor if I would really been able to tell by looking at the syringe. &...
Source: TIME: Science - January 11, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Walter Isaacson Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Magazine Source Type: news
Recovery from COVID-19, RCGP (updated 4th January 2021)
This 30-minute, updated (4th January 2021) RCGP Learning course summarises what is known so far about sequelae of COVID-19 and reflects on what can be learnt from other causes of severe illness, including previous coronavirus outbreaks, for example Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - January 4, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Origin story: what do we know now about where coronavirus came from?
When Chinese scientists alerted colleagues to a new virus last December, suspicion fell on a Wuhan market. What have health officials learned since then?Show your support for rigorous, independent Guardian journalismCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMaria van Kerkhove was staying with her sister in the US for the Christmas holidays, but checking her emails. As always. Every day there are signals of potential trouble, said the World Health Organization virologist who was to become a household name and face within weeks.“There’s always something that happens at Christmas time. There’s always...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - December 12, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Sarah Boseley Tags: Coronavirus Medical research Infectious diseases Biology World news Health China Asia Pacific World Health Organization Microbiology Science Society Long Covid Animals Source Type: news
Comparative host-coronavirus protein interaction networks reveal pan-viral disease mechanisms
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a grave threat to public health and the global economy. SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the more lethal but less transmissible coronaviruses SARS-CoV-1 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Here, we have carried out comparative viral-human protein-protein interaction and viral protein localization analyses for all three viruses. Subsequent functional genetic screening identified host factors that functionally impinge on coronavirus proliferation, including Tom70, a mitochondrial chaperone protein that i...
Source: ScienceNOW - December 3, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Gordon, D. E., Hiatt, J., Bouhaddou, M., Rezelj, V. V., Ulferts, S., Braberg, H., Jureka, A. S., Obernier, K., Guo, J. Z., Batra, J., Kaake, R. M., Weckstein, A. R., Owens, T. W., Gupta, M., Pourmal, S., Titus, E. W., Cakir, M., Soucheray, M., McGregor, M Tags: Engineering, Microbiology, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
The long game: the race for a vaccine against all coronaviruses
There is hope that Covid-19 immunisation might soon be a reality, but some scientists are aiming for a broader solutionCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHopes have been raised worldwide this week that a Covid-19 vaccine is getting closer, after one version was shown to be 90% effective in reducing disease symptoms, but a handful of scientists are working on an ambitious plan for a different sort of vaccine.Their project, which is fraught with technical and financial challenges, is to find a vaccine that could protect against not just Covid, but other viruses in the same family that cause Sars, M...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - November 13, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Natalie Grover Tags: Coronavirus Infectious diseases Medical research Microbiology Science World news Vaccines and immunisation Health Society Source Type: news
The Covid-carrying Danish mink are a warning sign – but is anyone heeding it? | Matthew Baylis
Sars, Mers, now this: we must think hard about how we farm animals that are known hosts of human coronavirusesTwo decades ago, aseminal study from the University of Edinburgh compiled a list of all known human infectious diseases. It found a total of 1,415 different human pathogens, and claimed that 61% were capable of spreading between humans and animals. Today, with the world put on hold by adeadly disease that seems likely to have spread first from bats to humans, we know the dangerous effects of such pathogens all too well.The group of diseases that spread from animals to humans are collectively known as zoonoses. The ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - November 10, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Matthew Baylis Tags: Coronavirus Farming Environment Science Sars Infectious diseases Denmark Europe Source Type: news
The Covid Pandemic: Broadening the Discourse
Thailand’s COVID-19 response an example of resilience and solidarity: a UN Resident Coordinator’s BlogBy Asoka BandarageCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Nov 10 2020 (IPS) SARS-CoV-2, the corona virus that causes COVID-19, has been spreading exponentially across the world over the last ten or so months. As of November 6th, according to the Center for Systems Science at Johns Hopkins University, there have been 49,195,581 cases of COVID-19, including 1,241,031 deaths.
More than a third of the global population has been placed on lockdown. The global economy is experiencing the deepest global recession since World War 2 and massive n...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - November 10, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Asoka Bandarage Tags: Featured Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Peace TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
Supporting resilience and mental well-being in frontline healthcare professionals during and after a pandemic
This study was carried out immediately after the Ebola outbreak, and investigated whether staff who were training to give other people (such as patients and their family members) ' psychological first aid ' felt less ‘burnt out’. The authors had some concerns about the results that this study reported and about some of its methods. This means that confidence in the evidence is very low and the authors cannot say whether the intervention helped or not.Objective 2: all 16 studies provided some evidence about barriers and facilitators to implement interventions. The author team found 17 main findings from these studies. T...
Source: Cochrane News and Events - November 5, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: Katie Abbotts Source Type: news
Free fatty acid binding pocket in the locked structure of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), represents a global crisis. Key to SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic development is unraveling the mechanisms that drive high infectivity, broad tissue tropism, and severe pathology. Our 2.85-angstrom cryo–electron microscopy structure of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein reveals that the receptor binding domains tightly bind the essential free fatty acid linoleic acid (LA) in three composite binding pockets. A similar pocket also appears to be present in the highly pathogenic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviru...
Source: ScienceNOW - November 5, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Toelzer, C., Gupta, K., Yadav, S. K. N., Borucu, U., Davidson, A. D., Kavanagh Williamson, M., Shoemark, D. K., Garzoni, F., Staufer, O., Milligan, R., Capin, J., Mulholland, A. J., Spatz, J., Fitzgerald, D., Berger, I., Schaffitzel, C. Tags: Biochemistry reports Source Type: news
New COVID-19 related genes — helpful and harmful — found in massive screen
Research by Yale and partner institutions sheds new light on the genetics behind cells ’ susceptibility to infection by SARS-Cov-2 and MERS viruses. (Source: Yale Science and Health News)
Source: Yale Science and Health News - October 26, 2020 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
