Research News

Although SARS-CoV-2 has taken the world by storm, it’s not the only coronavirus that can infect humans. But unlike SARS-CoV-2, common human coronaviruses (HCoVs) generally cause only mild disease. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Infectious Diseases have shown that infections with two different HCoVs don’t generate antibodies that effectively cross-react with SARS-CoV-2. So, prior infection with HCoVs is unlikely to protect against COVID-19 or worsen a SARS-CoV-2 infection through antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), the researchers say.

Clinician-scientists in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai developed a clinical algorithm that, for the first time, distinguishes between treatable sudden cardiac arrest and untreatable forms of the condition.

The findings, published today in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Clinical Electrophysiology, have the potential to enhance prevention of sudden cardiac arrest unexpected loss of heart function—based on key risk factors identified in this study.

Researchers at the George Washington University published findings from the world’s largest cohort study showing that hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19 who were given aspirin early on in their treatment had a lower risk of dying compared to patients who were not given aspirin.

University of Notre Dame researchers have discovered another way tumor cells transfer genetic material to other cells in their microenvironment, causing cancer to spread.

Short term use of oral benzodiazepines, BZDs, for periprocedural anxiolysis seems to be safe and effective. The 2020 FDA black-box warning should not deter their appropriate use in dermatologic surgery and other low-risk outpatient procedures, says recent research from Ohio State University.

Children previously infected with COVID-19 develop natural circulating antibodies that last for at least seven months, according to a new study led by researchers at UTHealth Houston.

The study was published today in Pediatrics.
Researchers examined data from 218 children across the state of Texas between the ages of 5 and 19 who were enrolled in the Texas CARES survey, which began in October of 2020 with the goal of assessing COVID-19 antibody status over time among a population of adults and children in Texas.

A study has found that much higher doses of antibiotics are needed to eliminate a bacterial infection of the airways when other microbes are present. It helps explain why respiratory infections often persist in people with lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis despite treatment.

To quote veteran science writer Ed Yong’s simple yet extremely accurate words in The Atlantic, “The immune system is very complicated.” As the COVID-19 pandemic had made abundantly clear, science still doesn’t fully understand the sophisticated defense mechanisms that protect us from microbe invaders. Why do some people show no symptoms when infected with SARS-CoV-2 while others suffer from severe fevers and body aches? Why do some succumb to cytokine storms of the body’s own making? We still lack exact answers to these questions.