Since the beginning of the pandemic, researchers worldwide have been looking for ways to treat COVID-19. And while the COVID-19 vaccines represent the best measure to prevent the disease, therapies for those who do get infected remain in short supply. A new groundbreaking study from U-M reveals several drug contenders already in use for other purposes - including one dietary supplement - that have been shown to block or reduce SARS-CoV2 infection in cells.

To further accelerate COVID-19 research on a global scale, investigators from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have created a multidimensional dataset, known as the COVIDome dataset, derived from hospitalized COVID-19 patients versus negative controls. The team has now launched a public online portal called the COVIDome Explorer to share that data in real time.

The United States recently secured 1.7 million doses of a compound that could help to treat COVID-19 patients. In preliminary studies, Molnupiravir reduced the transmission of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen and the Julius Maximilians University Würzburg have now elucidated the underlying molecular mechanism. The antiviral agent incorporates RNA-like building blocks into the RNA genome of the virus.

The research found that those with more severe COVID-19 symptoms scored lower on an online series of tests, with performance on reasoning and problem-solving tasks being most affected. Further analysis of the data indicated that those who received mechanical ventilation to help them breathe whilst in hospital had the greatest impairment on cognitive tasks.

Even as several safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are being administered to people worldwide, scientists are still hard at work developing different vaccine strategies that could provide even stronger or longer-lasting immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have immunized mice with nanoparticles that mimic SARS-CoV-2 by displaying multiple copies of the receptor binding domain (RBD) antigen, showing that the vaccine triggers robust antibody and T cell responses.

Research by Lancaster University scientists to create a COVID-19 vaccine which can be administered through the nose has taken a significant step forward.

The pre-clinical animal trials of the intranasal vaccine showed a reduction in both the impact of the disease itself and transmission of the virus.

The levels of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein remain stable, or even increase, seven months after infection, according to a follow-up study in a cohort of healthcare workers coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by "la Caixa" Foundation, in collaboration with the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. The results, published in Nature Communications, also support the idea that pre-existing antibodies against common cold coronaviruses could protect against COVID-19.