- How dangerously US played with coronaviruses? Lab under Fauci tied up with Wuhan institute for viral research WION
- NIH-Funded US Lab Tested SARS-Like Virus on Bats in 2018 Newsmax
- REVEALED: Anthony Fauci-run lab in MONTANA experimented with coronavirus strain shipped in from Wuhan a year B Daily Mail
- Fauci-run Montana lab conducted coronavirus experiments on bats with virus shipped from Wuhan in 2018: report The Post Millennial
- Fauci-Run Lab in Montana Experimented with Coronavirus Strain Year Before Pandemic The Western Journal
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Tag Archives: Coronaviruses
Scientists find human antibodies that can block multiple coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2 – Medical Xpress
- Scientists find human antibodies that can block multiple coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2 Medical Xpress
- SARS-CoV-2 BA.1 and BA.2 breakthrough infections likely protect against BA.4 infection News-Medical.Net
- Human antibodies found that can block multiple coronaviruses: Study timesofindia.com
- Efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and the dose–response relationship with three major antibodies: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials The Lancet
- New cell-based assay shown to rapidly profile drug resistance to three widely used SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibiting drugs News-Medical.Net
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Evidence that cross-reactive immunity from common human coronaviruses can influence response to SARS-CoV-2 – News-Medical.Net
- Evidence that cross-reactive immunity from common human coronaviruses can influence response to SARS-CoV-2 News-Medical.Net
- Human antibodies found that can block multiple coronaviruses: Study Indiatimes.com
- Efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and the dose–response relationship with three major antibodies: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials The Lancet
- New cell-based assay shown to rapidly profile drug resistance to three widely used SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibiting drugs News-Medical.Net
- View Full Coverage on Google News
New Banana-Derived Therapy Is Effective Against All Known Coronaviruses and Flu Strains
According to the researchers, the therapy, H84T-BanLec, holds unique promise. They hope to start human testing soon.
The potential therapy was derived from a banana protein.
A study published on January 13th, 2020 touted the development of a potential therapy that may be used to fight all known strains of the flu.
One week later, the first laboratory-confirmed case of
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SARS-CoV-2 has evolved an incubation time more like seasonal coronaviruses
The incubation period for COVID-19—the time between when SARS-CoV-2 first infects a person and when resulting COVID-19 symptoms first appear—has gradually shortened as the pandemic has stretched on and the virus has mutated. That’s according to a new meta-analysis published this week in JAMA Network Open by researchers in Beijing, who harvested data on over 8,000 patients from 142 COVID-19 studies.
When the original version of the novel virus mushroomed out of Wuhan, China, the mean incubation period was 6.65 days, according to pooled data from 119 studies. But then, the incubation period got shorter as the variants evolved. The alpha variant had a mean incubation of 5 days, according to one study; beta, 4.5 days, according to another; delta had a mean of 4.41 days, according to pooled data from six studies; and now with omicron, the incubation period has shrunk to 3.42 days, according to data from five studies.
The current shortened incubation period now puts SARS-CoV-2 more in line with commonplace respiratory viruses, including the four human coronaviruses that circulate seasonally and cause mild infections similar to the common cold. Their incubation period is 3.2 days. Rhinovirus, the most common cause of the common cold, has a mean incubation period of 1.4 days. For influenza it can range from 1.43 to 1.64 days, and parainfluenza has a mean of 2.6 days.
Better or worse
In terms of disease severity, the significance of a shorter incubation period isn’t entirely clear—which was demonstrated by studies included in the meta-analysis that broke out specific groups of people, including older adults, children, and people who developed severe COVID-19.
For instance, pooled data from eight studies that estimated the incubation period just in people over the age of 60—people who are at relatively high risk of severe COVID-19—found that they tended to have slightly longer incubation periods, with a mean of 7.43 days. This fit with earlier data, which found that older adults also had longer incubation periods in the original SARS virus outbreak in the early 2000s. Researchers then and now speculate that the longer incubation period in older adults reflects slower immune responses to the virus.
But children, who are at relatively low risk of severe COVID-19, also tended to have relatively longer incubation periods with SARS-CoV-2. Their mean incubation period was 8.82 days, according to pooled data from eight studies. The authors speculate that this may be because symptoms in children are so mild, detection of COVID-19 symptoms can be delayed.
Further muddling the picture is pooled data from six studies that looked specifically at incubation periods in people who developed severe disease and those who developed non-severe disease. In this comparison, the patients with severe COVID-19 tended to have shorter incubation periods (6.69 days) than those with non-severe cases (6.99 days). The authors of the meta-analysis speculate that this could be related to people with severe disease starting off with more cells initially infected with the virus than those who only have mild illness.
“Great significance”
Overall, the complex relationship between incubation time and COVID-19 severity highlights that the disease is dependent on a variety of factors, particularly virus-related factors (i.e. virulence of the virus and infectious dose) and human host-specific factors (i.e. immune system function and prior immunity from infection or vaccination). Omicron, the most recent variant and the one with the shortest incubation period so far, is considered to cause relatively mild disease. But it also came along after widespread vaccination and prior infections, which are generally protective against severe disease.
Still, despite the complexity, the incubation period is “one of the most important epidemiological parameters of infectious diseases,” the authors write. “Knowledge of the disease’s incubation period is of great significance for case definition, management of emerging threats, estimation of the duration of follow-up for contact tracing and secondary case detection, and the establishment of public health programs aimed at reducing local transmission,” such as social distancing, isolation, face mask mandates, and quarantining. This is particularly key for SARS-CoV-2, which has proven highly effective at pre-symptomatic transmission.
The meta-analysis has several limitations. Like all meta-analyses, it harvested data from diverse data sets from studies conducted in many different countries, creating the potential for confounding variables. Some of the data also relied on people’s recall of exposure dates. Last, the majority of the studies included in the analysis were during the initial version of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, estimates of the incubation periods for the more recent variants relied on less data. However, the meta-analysis’s general finding has been echoed by others that found that the incubation period has shortened over the pandemic and, in the era of omicron, is now in the range of three to four days.
Antibodies From Llama Blood Can Protect Against COVID, Future and Other Coronaviruses
Aside from the vaccine, one of the biggest reasons we’ve seen a drop in COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic is because of the development of effective treatments. Doctors and nurses are better equipped to help patients who come in with a serious case of the virus, shortening hospital stays and alleviating pressure on a strained medical system. And, as time passes, better and more effective treatments are being discovered—and sometimes in very surprising places.
That’s the case with some new research led by a team at Mount Sinai Hospital who discovered a strong “super-immunity” particle in llamas’ blood. Yes, you read that correctly: llamas’ blood. The same creatures known for chewing cud, spitting at tourists, and being voiced by David Spade.
In a study published today in the journal Cell Reports, the researchers found evidence that tiny immune molecules in llamas known as nanobodies could help develop an inhalable antiviral drug for COVID patients to serve as a fast-acting treatment to the pandemic. Moreover, the research suggests that it protects against every COVID variant—meaning we may have a future-proof treatment that will remain effective as the virus evolves.
“We learned that the tiny size of these nanobodies gives them a crucial advantage against a rapidly mutating virus,” Ian Wilson, a professor of structural biology at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California and co-author of the study, said in a press release. “Specifically, it allows them to penetrate more of the recesses, nooks, and crannies of the virus surface, and thus bind to multiple regions to prevent the virus from escaping and mutating.”
Creatures specifically in the biological family Camelidae including camels, alpacas, and llamas are capable of producing tiny antibodies that are about a tenth the size of a normal one. Despite their size, the antibodies are very hardy and can glom onto disease-causing intruders like the coronavirus very well. The researchers were able to hack the antibodies and link them together, ensuring that they’re even more effective against viruses.
“Because of their small size and broad neutralizing activities, these camelid nanobodies are likely to be effective against future variants and outbreaks of SARS-like viruses,” Yi Shi, associate professor of pharmacological sciences at Mount Sinai and lead author of the study, said in the release.
Shi added that the antibodies are also capable of protecting “both the upper and lower respiratory tracts against infection,” indicating they could be an effective drug when paired with vaccine and current antibody treatments.
This study builds off previous research into the awesome, super-immunity powers of llamas’ blood that actually predates the pandemic. With the urgency of the pandemic, though, it makes sense that researchers would want to revisit our wooly, mountain-climbing friend.
However, it’d behoove everyone to keep in mind that this is still in fairly early stages. Much more research needs to be done in order to refine and develop an actual treatment. And if the whole horse dewormer fiasco has taught us anything, it’s that we should avoid jumping to knee jerk conclusions before the research has been done.
In other words, for the love of everything holy, don’t go out and start slaughtering llamas and drinking their blood. That won’t help you. It’ll do the opposite of helping you. In fact, you might end up being cursed a la “The Emperor’s New Groove” and become a llama yourself.
UV-LED Lights Can Destroy Coronaviruses and HIV With the Flip of a Switch
Replacing standard lighting with UV-LED lights could be a powerful tool in stopping the spread of COVID-19, say U of T Scarborough researchers.
The same lightbulbs used in offices and public spaces can destroy coronaviruses and HIV, according to a new study from U of T Scarborough.
Researchers killed both viruses using UV-LED lights, which can alternate between white light and decontaminating ultraviolet (UV) light. With a cheap retrofit, they could also be used in many standard lighting fixtures, giving them a “unique appeal” for public spaces, says Christina Guzzo, senior author of the study.
“We’re at a critical time where we need to use every single possible stop to get us out of this pandemic,” says Guzzo, an assistant professor in the department of biological sciences. “Every mitigation strategy that can be easily implemented should be used.”
UV lights kill viruses through radiation. Guzzo, alongside PhD students Arvin T. Persaud and Jonathan Burnie, first tested the lights on bacterial spores notorious for their resistance to this radiation (known as Bacillus pumilus spores).
“If you’re able to kill these spores, then you can reasonably say you should be able to kill most other viruses that you would commonly encounter in the environment,” says Guzzo, principal investigator at the Guzzo Lab.
Within 20 seconds of UV exposure, the spores’ growth dropped by 99 percent.
Christina Guzzo conducted her research in the Guzzo Lab, a viral immunology lab at U of T Scarborough that focuses partly on HIV. Credit: Ken Jones
The researchers then created droplets containing coronaviruses or HIV, to mimic typical ways people encounter viruses in public, such as from coughing, sneezing, and bleeding. The droplets were then exposed to UV light and placed in a culture to see if any of the virus remained active. With just 30 seconds of exposure, the virus’ ability to infect dropped by 93 percent.
Upon testing the viruses at different concentrations, they found samples with more viral particles were more resistant to the UV lights. But even with a viral load so high Guzzo calls it “the worst-case scenario,” infectivity dropped 88 percent.
Though it wasn’t included in the study, Guzzo and her students also compared UV light to two heavy duty disinfectants used in lab research. They found the lights were similarly effective in their ability to deactivate viruses.
“I was really surprised that UV could perform on the same level of those commonly used lab chemicals, which we regard as the gold standard,” she says. “That made me think, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is a legitimate tool that’s really underutilized.’”
Balance UV’s pros and cons with clever use, researchers say
While the lights still left a small percentage of the virus viable, Guzzo references the “Swiss cheese model” of defense against COVID. Every strategy to fight the spread has its holes, but every layer is another chance to stop straggling virus particles.
Repeated exposure to UV light is key to catching those missed particles – fortunately, it’s as easy as flipping a switch. It’s also simpler to change a lightbulb than an air filtration system. Guzzo notes that UV-LEDs are cheap and could be easy to retrofit in existing light fixtures, and that the bulbs are long-lasting and simple to maintain.
“You could disinfect in a way that wouldn’t be infringing on people’s enjoyment of that everyday ‘normal’ life that they long for,” Guzzo says.
The lights also benefit from automation. A standardized, germicidal dose of light can be delivered each time, while the process of wiping down spaces with disinfectants leaves room for human error. Chemicals and waste from these disinfectants also end up in watersheds and landfills as hands are washed and wipes thrown away.
But the lights aren’t harmless, and there’s a reason for wearing sunscreen and sunglasses – UV radiation damages nucleic
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Army vaccine could protect against COVID and all future coronaviruses
The Army’s COVID vaccine entered clinical human trials in March 2021.
Marcy Sanchez/US Army
For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites.
White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci recently underscored the government’s investment in a universal COVID-19 vaccine that could successfully combat all variants. In an interview with NBC Thursday, Fauci said there was a concerted effort to develop a universal COVID vaccine that “would mean that the initial vaccination would cover all of these little variants, so you wouldn’t have to worry.”
“We want a pan-coronavirus vaccine so that you have it on the shelf to respond to the next viral pandemic,” Fauci said. “Ultimately, you want to get a vaccine that covers everything.”
That dream of a universal vaccine is exactly what researchers at the US Army’s Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) have been working on for most of the past year. In December, the US Army announced that its pan-coronavirus vaccine, the spike ferritin nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine (aka SpFN) had completed Phase 1 of human trials with positive results.
Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of infectious diseases at WRAIR and co-inventor of SpFN, told Defense One, “We’re testing our vaccine against all the different variants, including omicron,” the strain causing breakthrough infections, even in people who have received booster shots.
SpFN still needs to undergo Phase 2 and 3 human trials, though, to test its efficacy and safety in comparison to current treatments, Modjarrad said.
We’ll share what we know about the Army’s COVID-19 vaccine, including how it works and when it could become available.
For more, here’s what we know about the omicron variant today and the evolving definition of what it means to be “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19.
What is the US Army COVID-19 vaccine?
The three vaccines authorized right now for use in the US take two approaches to preventing COVID-19 infection: The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA to build up immunity, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a harmless rhinovirus to train the body’s immune system to respond to COVID.
The Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine, or SpFN, takes a third approach, using a harmless portion of the COVID-19 virus to spur the body’s defenses against COVID.
SpFN also has less restrictive storage and handling requirements than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, allowing it to be used in a wider variety of situations. It can be stored between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit for up to six months and at room temperature for up to one month, according to military scientists. Pfizer’s vaccine requires an ultracold freezer (between minus 112 and minus 76 degrees F) for shipment and storage and is only stable for 31 days when stored in a refrigerator.
The Army’s vaccine has been tested with two shots, 28 days apart, and also with a third shot after six months.
Will the Army vaccine work against different strains of COVID-19 like omicron and other coronaviruses?
SpFN is being tested in humans against the omicron variant, according to Modjarrad, and has shown positive results.
The vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson all target the specific virus — SARS-CoV-2 — that causes COVID-19. But Army scientists designed their vaccine to be “pan-coronavirus,” meaning it could protect against future strains of COVID as well as other coronaviruses.
The Army’s SpFN vaccine is shaped like a soccer ball with 24 faces. Scientists can attach the spikes of multiple coronavirus strains to each of the different faces, allowing them to customize the vaccine for any new COVID variants that arise.
“The accelerating emergence of human coronaviruses throughout the past two decades and the rise of SARS-CoV-2 variants, including most recently omicron, underscore the continued need for next-generation preemptive vaccines that confer broad protection against coronavirus diseases,” Modjarrad said in a statement last month. “Our strategy has been to develop a ‘pan-coronavirus’ vaccine technology that could potentially offer safe, effective and durable protection against multiple coronavirus strains and species.”
Watch this:
What to do if you lose your vaccination card, and how…
3:00
When will the Army’s COVID vaccine be available?
No date has been set. SpFN successfully completed animal testing and wrapped Phase 1 of human trials in December, but it must still complete Phases 2 and 3 of human testing, when its safety and efficacy is compared to current vaccine options.
Normally, completing all three phases can take up to five years, but the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic is speeding up the process. The Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, for example, were tested, reviewed and authorized by the Food and Drug Administration over the course of one year.
What happens next with the Army SpFN vaccine?
After data from the Phase 1 human trials is collected, analyzed and published, Phase 2 and 3 trials will begin. There is very little information so far on when or how those trials will proceed or if the phases will overlap.
To follow the progress of the Army vaccine trials, visit the SpFN COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker provided by the US Army Medical Research and Development Command.
For more on COVID-19, here’s what we know about how the CDC defines being fully vaccinated, how to store your vaccine card on your phone, and what we still don’t know about the virus after two years.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
Covid: US Army claims it is close to developing vaccine against all variants and coronaviruses
The US Department of Defence (DOD) is just weeks away from announcing a vaccine that can fight against Covid-19, including the Omicron and Delta variants, and other coronaviruses that have killed millions of people across the globe.
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the largest biomedical research facility of the DOD, is close to a breakthrough after two years of work into a vaccine that would work not only against the existing strains and variants but also other potential ones, reported Defense One.
Walter Reed’s vaccine, named Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle Covid-19 vaccine, or SpFN, completed animal trials earlier this year with positive results. Phase 1 of human trials have also been conducted this year with positive results, Kayvon Modjarrad, the director of Walter Reed’s infectious diseases branch, said.
The vaccine is yet to undergo phase 2 and phase 3 trials while results of phase 1 are under review.
“It’s very exciting to get to this point for our entire team and I think for the entire Army as well,” Dr Modjarrad said.
The institute said it took longer than expected for human trials because the vaccine had to be tested on people who had neither been inoculated nor infected with Covid to know its efficacy.
“With Omicron, there’s no way really to escape this virus. You’re not going to be able to avoid it. So I think pretty soon either the whole world will be vaccinated or have been infected,” Dr Modjarrad said.
“We need to evaluate it in the real-world setting and try to understand how does the vaccine performs in much larger numbers of individuals who have already been vaccinated with something else initially…or already been sick,” he added.
Walter Reed has not yet revealed the name of its industry partner, who would undertake the wider rollout of the vaccine.
The research institute said it was focused on the “longer game” to understand how the viruses mutate and not only the original emergence of SARS.
Exposure to Harmless Coronaviruses Boosts COVID-19 Immunity
Strong antibody responses against harmless coronaviruses also partially protect against SARS-CoV-2.
Infections with the novel coronavirus and vaccination lead to strong antibody responses against 
Strong antibody responses against harmless coronaviruses also partially protect against SARS-CoV-2. Credit: University of Zurich
People are only fully protected against SARS-CoV-2 shortly after they have recovered from an infection or have received an effective vaccination. This is when antibody levels against the virus are still very high. As these levels drop over time, infection is no longer prevented, but the immunological memory quickly reactivates the body’s defenses, the production of antibodies as well as the T cell defense. “Of course, immune responses targeting SARS-CoV-2 that are mounted by the memory cells are far more effective than cross-reactive responses. But even though the protection isn’t absolute, cross-reactive immune responses shorten the infection and reduce its severity. And this is exactly what is also achieved through vaccination, just much, much more efficiently,” says Trkola.
Towards comprehensive protection against coronaviruses
It is not yet known whether this cross-reactivity also works in the opposite direction. Whether immunity to SARS-CoV-2 – achieved through vaccination, for example – also offers protection against other human coronaviruses still needs to be elucidated. “If SARS-CoV-2 immunity also offers some degree of protection from infection with other coronaviruses, we would be a significant step closer to achieving comprehensive protection against other coronaviruses, including any new variants,” the virologist explains. This idea is also supported by the fact that cross-reactive protection is not only based on antibodies, but very likely also on T cells.
Reference: “Multifactorial seroprofiling dissects the contribution of pre-existing human coronaviruses responses to SARS-CoV-2 immunity” by Irene A. Abela, Chloé Pasin, Magdalena Schwarzmüller, Selina Epp, Michèle E. Sickmann, Merle M. Schanz, Peter Rusert, Jacqueline Weber, Stefan Schmutz, Annette Audigé, Liridona Maliqi, Annika Hunziker, Maria C. Hesselman, Cyrille R. Niklaus, Jochen Gottschalk, Eméry Schindler, Alexander Wepf, Urs Karrer, Aline Wolfensberger, Silvana K. Rampini, Patrick M. Meyer Sauteur, Christoph Berger, Michael Huber, Jürg Böni, Dominique L. Braun, Maddalena Marconato, Markus G. Manz, Beat M. Frey, Huldrych F. Günthard, Roger D. Kouyos and Alexandra Trkola, 18 November 2021, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27040-x
The study was funded through the Pandemic Fund of the University of Zurich, the Swiss Red Cross, the University Hospital Zurich, the Swiss National Science Foundation and Gilead.