An Oxford University study has found that COVID-19 can cause the brain to shrink, reduce grey matter in the regions that control emotion and memory, and damage areas that control the sense of smell.
A World Health Organization (WHO) panel on March 2 backed the use of Merck & Co. Inc.’s COVID-19 antiviral pill for high-risk patients.
An experimental oral drug being developed by Redhill Biopharma Inc. interrupts a process that helps the coronavirus infect cells and might keep COVID-19 patients from becoming seriously ill, the company said. Additionally, the risk of hospitalization after vaccination with Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine was about five times higher than for those who received the Pfizer and BioNTech shot, a large French study found.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled that the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in humans belongs to the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, not the University of California, Berkeley.
Patients with severe COVID-19 who develop diabetes while hospitalized may have only a temporary form of the disease and their blood sugar levels may return to normal afterward, according to new findings. Additionally, new data illustrate the jumps in U.S. coronavirus infection rates caused by the Omicron variant and the heavier toll it has taken on minorities in the latest example of racial disparity in the pandemic.
Antibodies induced by mRNA COVID-19 vaccines keep improving in quality for at least six months while the immune system continues to “train” its antibody-producing B cells, according to a new study. In other research, dysfunctional red blood cells contribute to the blood vessel injuries common in severe COVID-19, according to laboratory studies that also may suggest a way to treat the problem.
Malaysian researchers found that treatment with the anti-parasite drug ivermectin did not prevent patients with COVID-19 from becoming severely ill in a randomized clinical trial published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal on February 18.
The World Health Organization indicated WHO is tracking four Omicron subvariants: BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2 and BA.3. BA.2 has a growth advantage over BA.1, the variant responsible for the recent Omicron surge.
Three patients whose lower bodies were left completely paralyzed after spinal cord injuries were able to walk, cycle and swim using a nerve-stimulation device controlled by a touchscreen tablet, researchers reported on Feb. 7.
A new variant of HIV was recently discovered in Europe that is more contagious and more deadly – the virus degrades the immune system into AIDS twice as fast as previous strains.
