Even in the worst COVID-19 cases, the body launches immune cells to fight back
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A new study from researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) and Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC) shows that even the sickest COVID-19 patients produce T cells that help fight the virus. The study offers further evidence that a COVID-19 vaccine will need to elicit T cells to work alongside antibodies.
Existing drugs can prevent SARS-CoV-2 from hijacking cells
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An international team of researchers has analysed how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, hijacks the proteins in its target cells. The research, published in the journal Cell, shows how the virus shifts the cell's activity to promote its own replication and to infect nearby cells. The scientists also identified seven clinically approved drugs that could disrupt these mechanisms, and recommend that these drugs are immediately tested in clinical trials.
Study is first to identify potential therapeutic targets for COVID-19
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A team from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University are the first in the world to profile the body's immune response to COVID-19. By studying blood samples from critically ill patients at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), the research team identified a unique pattern of six molecules that could be used as therapeutic targets to treat the virus. The study is published this week in Critical Care Explorations.
Initial COVID-19 infection rate may be 80 times greater than originally reported
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Many epidemiologists believe that the initial COVID-19 infection rate was undercounted due to testing issues, asymptomatic and alternatively symptomatic individuals, and a failure to identify early cases.
Now, a new study from Penn State estimates that the number of early COVID-19 cases in the U.S. may have been more than 80 times greater and doubled nearly twice as fast as originally believed.
Mayo finds convalescent plasma safe for diverse patients with COVID-19
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Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators have found investigational convalescent plasma to be safe following transfusion in a diverse group of 20,000 patients. The findings - from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Expanded Access Program for COVID-19 - are reported in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Researchers identify potent antibody cocktail to treat COVID-19
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Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) evaluated several human antibodies to determine the most potent combination to be mixed in a cocktail and used as a promising anti-viral therapy against the virus that causes COVID-19. Their research, conducted in collaboration with scientists at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, was published in the journal Science.
Nanosponges could intercept coronavirus infection
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Nanoparticles cloaked in human lung cell membranes and human immune cell membranes can attract and neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus in cell culture, causing the virus to lose its ability to hijack host cells and reproduce.
The first data describing this new direction for fighting COVID-19 were published on June 17 in the journal Nano Letters. The "nanosponges" were developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego and tested by researchers at Boston University.
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