Dry air could prompt further disease spread A study focused on the Greater Sydney area during the early epidemic stage of COVID-19 found an association between lower humidity and an increase in community transmission. Now a second study by the same team confirms the risk. The study is published today in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases....
Tag: <span>viruses</span>
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Diagnosis and Treatment of Encephalitis
By Benedette Cuffari, M.Sc. Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. By definition, encephalitis is the inflammation of the brain. The causes of infectious encephalitis can be viral, bacterial, fungal, protozoal, or helminthic; however, about 70% of encephalitis cases are viral in etiology. Types of encephalitis Encephalitis can be characterized as either primary or secondary. Whereas primary...
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Exposure to common cold coronaviruses can teach the immune system to recognize SARS-CoV-2
by La Jolla Institute for Immunology Your immune system’s ‘memory’ T cells keep track of the viruses they have seen before. This immune cell memory gives the cells a headstart in recognizing and fighting off repeat invaders. Now, a new study led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) shows that memory helper...
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Amid the rush for COVID-19 drugs, a case for the helicase
Upon entry into our cells, SARS-CoV-2 immediately gets to work replicating itself. The process is nothing short of impressive: A suite of enzymes and proteins work to copy the virus’s genetic material into thousands of more copies, wrapping each in proteins and lipids, and ultimately sending them bursting out of the cell-like confetti from a...
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‘Good’ virus for common infection
Antibiotic-resistant diabetic foot ulcer application FLINDERS UNIVERSITY Australian researchers have shown how viruses can be used to save lives, developing the potential use of bacteriophages in bandages to treat life-threatening golden staph infections which may not respond to traditional antibiotics. Targeting multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (‘golden staph’) in diabetic foot ulcers, Flinders University microbiology researchers have...
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What Do We Know About Children and COVID-19?
Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. As COVID-19 burns through Texas, districts and health departments across the state are wrestling with how to provide childcare and schooling to the state’s 7 million-plus children. Jerri Barker, who runs a daycare in Waco, has watched warily as other facilities...
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In cell studies, seaweed extract outperforms remdesivir in blocking COVID-19 virus
by Mary L. Martialay, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute In a test of antiviral effectiveness against the virus that causes COVID-19, an extract from edible seaweeds substantially outperformed remdesivir, the current standard antiviral used to combat the disease. Heparin, a common blood thinner, and a heparin variant stripped of its anticoagulant properties, performed on par with remdesivir...
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Antiviral method against herpes paves the way for combatting incurable viral infections
by Lund University Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered a new method to treat human herpes viruses. The new broad-spectrum method targets physical properties in the genome of the virus rather than viral proteins, which have previously been targeted. The treatment consists of new molecules that penetrate the protein shell of the virus...
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The explosion of new coronavirus tests that could help to end the pandemic
Researchers are scrambling to find other ways to diagnose the coronavirus and churn out millions of tests a week — a key step in returning to normality. The timing couldn’t have been worse. In March, just as Thailand’s coronavirus outbreak began to ramp up, three hospitals in Bangkok announced that they had suspended testing for...
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In one hour, surface coating inactivates virus that causes COVID-19
A chemical engineering professor at Virginia Tech has developed a surface coating that, when painted on common objects, inactivates SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Door knobs, light switches, shopping carts. Fear runs rampant nowadays when it comes to touching common surfaces because of the rapid spread of the coronavirus. A Virginia Tech professor has...