Category: Science and Tech
Pfizer’s Paxlovid Antiviral Lowered Long-Covid Risk in Study
(Bloomberg) Pfizer Inc.’s blockbuster Paxlovid antiviral that lowers rates of illness and death in people infected with the coronavirus also cuts the risk of some symptoms of disabling long Covid, a study found.Taking the oral medication within five days of testing positive for a SARS-CoV-2 infection was linked to a 26% lower risk of lingering […]
Nov 7, 2022
USDA to Fund Research on SARS-CoV-2 in Animals
(Pork) USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will disseminate $30 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to address SARS-CoV-2 in animals and advance the nation’s ability to protect the health of humans and animals. This funding opportunity is part of APHIS’ multipronged approach under its American Rescue Plan Strategic Framework, to build […]
Nov 1, 2022
UNMC tapped for trial of monkeypox treatment
(Nebraska Examiner) The University of Nebraska Medical Center is among more than 60 sites nationally that has been tapped for a trial study of a monkeypox treatment. The STOMP (Study of Tecovirimat for Human Monkeypox Virus) is a phase 3 trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the antiviral tecovirimat drug.
Nov 1, 2022
Bird flu infects Iowa egg farm with 1 million chickens
(ABC News) Iowa agriculture officials say another commercial egg farm has been infected with bird flu, the first commercial farm case identified since April when a turkey farm was infected. Iowa agriculture officials said Monday that another commercial egg farm in the state has been infected with bird flu, the first commercial farm case identified […]
Nov 1, 2022
Covid uses our proteins against us. A new strategy seeks to block that.
(Washington Post) With the United States headed into its third full winter of the pandemic amid fears that new variants will evade immunity from vaccines and prior infections, some scientists are seeking ways to blunt the coronavirus’s slippery evolution by blocking the human proteins it uses against us. If the strategy works, it has the potential […]
Nov 1, 2022
U.S. government to test Pfizer’s Paxlovid for long COVID
(Reuters) The U.S. National Institutes of Health’s $1 billion RECOVER Initiative has picked Pfizer Inc’s (PFE.N) antiviral drug Paxlovid as the first treatment it will study in patients with long COVID, organizers of the study said on Thursday. The complex medical condition involves more than 200 symptoms ranging from exhaustion and cognitive impairment to pain, fever and […]
Oct 28, 2022
Fungal Pathogens Flourish in the Pandemic’s Shadow
(The Scientist) The World Health Organization’s first ever fungal priority pathogens list highlights the growing threat of fungal diseases and antifungal resistance. In a new list of fungal “priority pathogens,” the World Health Organization identifies 19 of these often-overlooked microbes that pose the greatest threat to human health. The report, released today (October 25), highlights the […]
Oct 25, 2022
(Science) The United States is moving to tighten oversight of studies that could make viruses more dangerous. But how far should it go? In a U.S. government lab in Bethesda, Maryland, virologists plan to equip the strain of the monkeypox virus that spread globally this year, causing mostly rash and flulike symptoms, with genes from […]
Oct 21, 2022
Which Animals Catch COVID? This Database Has Dozens of Species and Counting
(Scientific American) Tracking how SARS-CoV-2 spreads among animals could help us prepare for the next pandemic. The virus that causes COVID-19 is a prolific sack of genes that targets not just humans but nonhuman animals as well. And just as humans and animals can infect one another, animals can also infect other animals, says Amélie Desvars-Larrive, […]
Oct 18, 2022
New Lab-Made Covid-19 Coronavirus At Boston University Raises Questions
(Forbes) This was one of those should-have-seen-it-coming moments. On October 14, a team of researchers posted on bioRxiv a preprint that described how they had created a new hybrid version of the Covid-19 coronavirus in their lab at Boston University and used this lab-created virus to infect mice, which ended up killing 80% of the mice. These days, if […]
Oct 18, 2022