COVID-19

Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Long COVID remains an unsolved, complex and urgent healthcare crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 9 adults in the United States who have ever had COVID-19 continue to experience Long COVID with a wide range of symptoms. Many symptoms are debilitating, affecting patients’ ability to work and go to school.

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has posed unprecedented challenges worldwide. While extensive efforts have focused on understanding the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, certain aspects of the virus behavior, such as reactivation and recurrence, remain elusive. 

Novavax, Inc a global company advancing protein-based vaccines with its novel Matrix-M™ adjuvant, today announced that the Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted (2023-2024 Formula) (NVX-CoV2601) has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 in individuals aged 12 and older. Immediately upon authorization, Novavax's vaccine has also been included in the recommendations issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on September 12, 2023.

The National Institutes of Health launched and is opening enrollment for phase 2 clinical trials that will evaluate at least four potential treatments for long COVID, with additional clinical trials to test at least seven more treatments expected in the coming months. Treatments will include drugs, biologics, medical devices and other therapies. The trials are designed to evaluate multiple treatments simultaneously to identify more swiftly those that are effective.

People who contract COVID-19 but never develop symptoms the so-called super dodgers may have a genetic ace up their sleeve. They’re more than twice as likely as those who become symptomatic to carry a specific gene variation that helps them obliterate the virus, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco researchers. 

Novavax, Inc a global company advancing protein-based vaccines with its novel Matrix-M adjuvant, has been granted full Marketing Authorization (MA) by the European Commission in the European Union (EU) for Nuvaxovid  (NVX-CoV2373). This decision follows positive opinion for a full MA from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency. The vaccine is now fully authorized for use as a primary series in individuals aged 12 and older and as a booster dose in adults aged 18 and older for the prevention of COVID-19.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has announced that the Omicron-specific mRNA-based Booster vaccine developed using the indigenous platform technology by Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. and supported under the Mission COVID Suraksha, implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), has got a nod from the office of the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).

The National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), New Delhi, is one of the research institution of Indian Council of Medical Research under Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, established in 1977 as Malaria Research Centre, which was renamed as National Institute of Malaria Research in November 2005. NIMR building  The primary task of the Institute is to find short term as well as long-term solutions to the problems of malaria through basic, applied and operational field research.

People with HIV have impaired immune responses to some pathogens and immunizations, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, they often experienced severe symptoms if infected with SARS‐CoV‐2.