by King’s College London Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The omicron variant is less likely to cause long COVID than the delta variant, new research has found. Analysis by researchers from King’s College London of data from the ZOE COVID Symptom study app is published today in a letter to The Lancet. The findings are from the...
by Eric Hamilton, University of Wisconsin-Madison Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The antiviral therapies remdesivir, molnupiravir, and the active ingredient in Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill (nirmatrelvir), remain effective in laboratory tests against the BA.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The BA.2 variant also remains susceptible to at least some of the monoclonal antibodies used...
by Delene Beeland, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Remember alpha, the first COVID-19 variant? It first appeared in Great Britain in late 2020. Alpha put the world on alert that mutations can change everything we thought we knew—within mere weeks—about what to expect from COVID-19. Back then, Carolina economist...
Heidi Ledford T cells (seen in this scanning electron microscope image) from people who have been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 can recognize and target the Omicron variant.Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/SPL When immunologists Wendy Burgers and Catherine Riou heard about the Omicron coronavirus variant last November, they knew they would need to find the answers to...
by Massachusetts General Hospital Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain An additional “booster” dose of Moderna or Pfizer mRNA-based vaccine is needed to provide immunity against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a study by researchers at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard. The results of this study, reported...
by Tanner Stening, Northeastern University Northeastern community members receive a first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Cabot Testing Center. Credit: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University As the U.S. enters its third year of the pandemic, COVID-19 cases are at an all-time high thanks to the highly transmissible omicron variant. Unlike earlier phases of the...
by Carla K. Johnson Do at-home COVID-19 tests detect the omicron variant? Credit: AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin Do at-home COVID-19 tests detect the omicron variant? Yes, but U.S. health officials say early data suggests they may be less sensitive at picking it up. Government recommendations for using at-home tests haven’t changed. People should continue to use...
By BETSY LADYZHETS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM PUBLISHED: 15:47 EST, 21 December 2021 | UPDATED: 08:49 EST, 22 December 2021 Scientists have used an electron microscope to map how the mutations of the Omicron variant help it bond with human cells more effectively, making it a more infectious strain of coronavirus. Researchers at the University of British Columbia, in Canada,...
Smriti Mallapaty Passengers in a largely empty terminal wait for a flight in Cape Town, South Africa.Credit: David Silverman/Getty More than 50 countries have stepped up border controls to slow the spread of Omicron, a highly mutated SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern that is sweeping through South Africa. But researchers say many of the restrictions — especially those...
By Benedette Cuffari, M.Sc.Nov 28 2021 Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc. On November 24, 2021, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa. The Omicron variant has joined several other SARS-CoV-2 variants as a variant of concern (VOC), which indicates...
