We have your fortnightly summary of some of the latest news and research surrounding the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Statistics
At the time of writing, there have been:
- 210,950,162 cases
- 4,419,045 deaths
- 188,857,651 recoveries
Research
- Researchers have developed a platform that can quickly identify common mutations on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that enable it to escape antibodies and infect cells. (Francino-Urdaniz et al, 2021)
- Russian scientists have investigated the immune response to 11 SARS-CoV-2 variants and subsequently developed the T-cell COVID-19 Atlas portal. (Nersisyan et al, 2021)
- Mount Sinai researchers have found an important clue to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children following COVID-19 infection. (Beckmann et al, 2021)
- Researchers have identified two sugar-binding proteins that impede the viral entry of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants. (Hoffmann et al, 2021)
- A recent study has found that deficient RNA immunity can increase the risk of COVID-19 infection in elderly people and patients with diabetes. (Wang et al, 2021)
- Researchers have found that vaccinated individuals and those recovering from COVID-19 produce identical clones of antibody-producing white blood cells. (Chen et al, 2021)
- A recent study suggests COVID-19 is evolving towards more efficient airborne transmission. (Adenaiye et al, 2021)
- A new, nanoparticle-based COVID-19 vaccine that mimics the shape of the virus has been shown to elicit a potent antibody response. (Volpatti et al, 2021)
- A South African based study has shown T cells maintain 85% of their ability to detect variants. (Riou et al, 2021)
- Researchers have found that increased blood clotting may contribute to long COVID pathogenesis. (Fogarty et al, 2021)
- Oxford University based researchers have found that vaccinated individuals infected with the Delta variant have viral loads as high as infected unvaccinated individuals. (Pouwels et al, 2021)
Other news
- A biomedical sciences researcher has received two grants from the National Institutes of Health totalling $816,534 to study two coronaviruses – MERS and SARS-CoV-2. (Georgia State University, 2021)
- A recent review in Science Advances has summarised the potential and ongoing cell therapy trials for COVID-19. (Zaki et al, 2021)
- The US Food and Drug Administration has authorised the use of an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose in immunocompromised individuals. (US FDA, 2021)
- A new antibody treatment has been approved for use against COVID-19 in the UK. (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, 2021)
Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash
