A single dose of the flu drug baloxavir marboxil can reduce the spread of the illness within households, new research concludes. A study examining 752 household contacts of 545 patients with the flu found that flu infections were much less common in household members who received the drug than among those who received a placebo....
Of a small number of patients, 15% died compared with the 85% expected Overall 70% of patients who were on the brink of death saw improvements The researchers admitted they did not expect such positive results The treatment works by injecting patients with cells taken from fat tissue The stem cells are known to bolster...
A pair of recent studies found that people with Type A blood are no more at risk of getting the virus or falling dangerously ill than others, contradicting preliminary evidence based on a relatively small sample of people. Over the past few months, after looking at thousands of additional patients with Covid-19, scientists are reporting...
by Cardiff University New markers hidden inside the influenza virus have been discovered by scientists at Cardiff University. The researchers from the School of Medicine worked with an international team of experts—including collaborators in Moscow, Russia and Melbourne, Australia—to look at how people’s immune systems responded to the new proteinmarkers. They showed for the first...
INSERM (INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTÉ ET DE LA RECHERCHE MÉDICALE) Approximately 5% of people with Covid-19 progress to a severe or critical form, including the development of severe pneumonia that progresses to acute respiratory distress syndrome. While these forms sometimes occur early in the course of the disease, clinical observations generally describe a two-stage...
by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Strains of a common subtype of influenza virus, H3N2, have almost universally acquired a mutation that effectively blocks antibodies from binding to a key viral protein, according to a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The results have implications for flu...
In recent years academic interest has grown in the study of the gut microbiome. Researchers are making inroads into understanding the considerable influence of these microbial populations over the progression of health and aging. The gut microbiome may be as influential as physical activity in these matters. The balance of microbial populations shifts unfavorably over...
by Nardy Baeza Bickel, University of Michigan Adults with obesity are more susceptible to influenza A/H1N1pdm—the swine flu virus, according to a new study that did not, however, find a similar association with the seasonal flu. The results could be relevant in understanding the mechanisms by which infectious diseases such as influenza or the ongoing...
Researchers have shown that a variation in the viral genome of Covid-19 improved its ability to infect human cells and helped it become the dominant strain circulating around the world today. The study, published today in the journal Cell, shows the variation is more infectious in cell cultures under laboratory conditions. The variant, named ‘D614G’,...
Melissa Healy, June 26, 2020, 8:00 AM MST The new coronavirus’ reputation for messing with scientists’ assumptions has taken a truly creepy turn. Researchers exploring the interaction between the coronavirus and its hosts have discovered that when the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects a human cell, it sets off a ghoulish transformation. Obeying instructions from the virus,...
