At the heart of each coronavirus is its genome, a twisted strand of nearly 30,000 “letters” of RNA. These genetic instructions force infected human cells to assemble up to 29 kinds of proteins that help the coronavirus multiply and spread. As viruses replicate, small copying errors known as mutations naturally arise in their genomes. A lineage of coronaviruses will
What do we know about the new variant emerging from Brazil? This variant, known as P.1 or VOC202101/02 in the UK, was first detected in travellers from Brazil who arrived in Japan in January 2021. It involves 17 unique amino acid changes, three deletions, four synonymous mutations, and one 4nt insertion. It has several mutations
Research conducted by the University of Bari in collaboration with the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome The studies carried out by the research team of the University of Bari in collaboration with the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, formed by Luigi Leonardo Palese, Anna Maria Sardanelli, and Camilla Isgrò of the Department of Basic Medical
COVID-19 tests that use patients’ saliva to screen for the virus are just as effective as those that use swabs collected from the nose and throat, an analysis published by JAMA Internal Medicine found. Saliva-based tests correctly identified those infected with the new coronavirus 83% of the time, while nose-throat swab tests were 85% accurate, the review of
On December 14, 2020, the United Kingdom reported a SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC), lineage B.1.1.7, also referred to as VOC 202012/01 or 20I/501Y.V1.* The B.1.1.7 variant is estimated to have emerged in September 2020 and has quickly become the dominant circulating SARS-CoV-2 variant in England (1). B.1.1.7 has been detected in over 30 countries,
The RECOVERY trial was established as a randomised clinical trial to test a range of potential treatments for COVID-19. Since May 2020, the RECOVERY trial has included a randomised comparison of convalescent plasma vs. usual care alone. Convalescent plasma has been widely used as a treatment for COVID-19 but to date there has been no
Imbalances in type and volume of bacteria may also be implicated in ‘long COVID’ The variety and volume of bacteria in the gut, known as the microbiome, may influence the severity of COVID-19 as well as the magnitude of the immune system response to the infection, suggests research published online in the journal Gut. Imbalances in
EMA has received an application for conditional marketing authorisation (CMA) for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. The assessment of the vaccine, known as COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, will proceed under an accelerated timeline. An opinion on the marketing authorisation could be issued by 29 January during the meeting of EMA’s scientific committee for human medicines (CHMP), provided
A model developed by CDC researchers estimates that 59% of coronavirus cases in the United States are spread by asymptomatic carriers. Transmissions from individuals who have not yet begun to exhibit signs of infection account for 35% of that total, while transmissions from people who never develop symptoms make up the other 24%. A model
Pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 appear to be at higher risk of developing severe cases of COVID-19 than infected women who are not pregnant. Yet newborns are mostly doing well. Reports indicate that only about 5 percent of babies born to COVID-19-infected mothers are themselves infected, and most newborns who test positive have mild or
