We have got you covered with all of the latest news and research surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic from the past fortnight.
Statistics
At the time of writing, there have been:
- 186,358,051 cases
- 4,026,907 deaths
- 170,496,832 recoveries
Research
- An international collaboration has uncovered several genetic markers associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease severity. (COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, 2021)
- A new study has found that SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-based vaccination of humans can produce germinal centres which enable individuals to form strong and long-lasting immunity. (Turner et al, 2021)
- Researchers have identified how multiple mutations on the spike protein can independently create variants that are more transmissible and potentially resistant to antibodies. (Gobeil et al, 2021)
- According to a recent study, COVID-19 vaccination can reduce severity, length and viral load for those who still get infected with the virus. (Thompson et al, 2021)
- Researchers have compared immune responses following vaccination between elderly participants and younger healthcare workers. (Collier et al, 2021)
- A preprint article has reported that COVID-19 vaccines are able to dampen genomic diversity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. (Niesen et al, 2021)
- Researchers have designed a new COVID-19 therapy that uses a defective version of the virus to drive the disease-causing version to extinction. (Yao et al, 2021)
- A new study has addressed the potential interrelations between activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) and so-called APOBEC proteins and the SARS-CoV-2 virus. (Meshcheryakova et al, 2021)
- Researchers have identified that SARS-CoV-2-encoded miRNA can be used as a biomarker for stratification of severely affected patients. (Fu et al, 2021)
- New data has shown that the Epsilon variant is able to dampen neutralising potency of antibodies and thus evade the immune response. (McCallum et al, 2021)
- Scientists have revealed that those infected by early variants in 2020 produced sustained antibodies. However, these antibodies are not effective against contemporary variants. (Tea et al, 2021)
Other news
- A phase 3 clinical trial has found that the Novavax vaccine conferred 89.7% protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection. It also showed high efficacy against the B.1.1.7 variant. (Heath et al, 2021)
- A recent Science article has explored the existing evidence surrounding the impact of sex on the severity of COVID-19 infection. (O’Grady, 2021)
Image credit: By starline – freepik
