Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Scientists investigate immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 spike immunogens

The coronavirus pandemic is actively spreading across the globe, with millions of people infected. Amid the global health crisis, scientists race to develop an effective vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

10 Jun 2020

Researchers evaluate survivin expression in neuroendocrine tumors

Volume 11, Issue 23 of @Oncotarget reported that tissue microarrays of 132 patients were stained for survivin using immunohistochemistry and correlated with outcomes.

10 Jun 2020

Unique antiviral action of cholesterol 25-hydroxylase against SARS-CoV-2

A new study by U.S. and Chinese researchers, currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server, demonstrates how cholesterol 25-hydroxylase and its enzymatic product 25-hydroxycholesterol can inhibit membrane fus

10 Jun 2020

The 2019 3Rs prize awarded to two pieces of novel research

The 2019 3Rs prize has been jointly awarded to Dr Francesca Nunn and Dr Marta Shahbazi for papers describing research that reduces the number of chickens and mice respectively. The 3Rs prize is awarded by the NC3Rs and sponsored by GSK.

10 Jun 2020

COVID-19 mouse model could accelerate the search for treatments, vaccines

The global effort to quickly develop drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 has been hampered by limited numbers of laboratory mice that are susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

10 Jun 2020

Tocilizumab in Critical COVID-19 Patients

A new study by scientists at Metro Infectious Disease Consultants and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 reports that the cytokine blocker tocilizumab is a useful adjunct to supportive medical care in severe COVID-19, with increased survival and a lower requirement for mechanical ventilation.

10 Jun 2020

Specific immune signature identified in COVID-19 patients

Researchers at King’s College London and collaborators have identified an “immune signature” that could help researchers better understand coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and serve as a valuable resource for predicting patient prognosis and informing clinical risk-based stratification.

10 Jun 2020

Expanding flu vaccine coverage could reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing

Up to 76 percent of all outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in the United States may be inappropriate, with peak prescribing associated with the flu season.

10 Jun 2020

Mitigating "second wave" COVID-19 risk to health frontliners and patients

Researchers at University College London have made important discoveries about the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among frontline healthcare workers that could help to inform new policies for protecting staff and patients in the future.

10 Jun 2020

Immuno-oncology may accelerate the development of treatments for COVID-19

Researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center have been actively engaged in the effort to develop treatments or other control strategies that can help communities worldwide to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 Jun 2020

Role of nuclear cardiology in COVID-19

"We know that without a vaccine we're going to be dealing with this virus for a while," said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health, in an interview with Johannes Czernin.

10 Jun 2020

Deep UV LED inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 - fast and effective

The ongoing pandemic has aroused considerable effort to find methods to prevent and control the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19 disease. Rapid inactivation devices would be of great help in this area, to prevent viral transmission through aerosols and contact with infected surfaces.

9 Jun 2020

Lockdowns combined with widespread use of facemasks can stop the resurgence of SARS-CoV-2

Population-wide use of facemasks keeps the coronavirus 'reproduction number' under 1.0, and prevents further waves of the virus when combined with lockdowns, a modelling study from the universities of Cambridge and Greenwich suggests.

9 Jun 2020

Unique mutations could weaken Indian SARS-CoV-2 strain

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 suggests that the presence of unique mutations in the viral strains circulating in India has led to their attenuation.

9 Jun 2020

"A shred of evidence" BCG vaccinations protect against COVID-19

Professor David Levine from the University of California, Berkeley, says a study of people in Spain and Italy has provided a “shred of evidence” that the BCG vaccination may protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

9 Jun 2020

New model can estimate regional disease burden and impact of vaccination

Researchers have developed a model that can estimate regional disease burden and the impact of vaccination, even in the absence of robust surveillance data, a study in eLife reveals.

9 Jun 2020

Immune cell discovery could help develop new treatments for hepatitis B

For the first time, researchers at The Westmead Institute for Medical Research have identified and described a new and unique subset of human cells that are involved in the immune response against hepatitis B (HBV) infection. The discovery could help develop new treatments for HBV and inform future vaccine design.

9 Jun 2020

Scientists harness cancer immunotherapy tools to identify targets for COVID-19 vaccine

Cancer researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have harnessed tools used for the development of cancer immunotherapies and adapted them to identify regions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to target with a vaccine, employing the same approach used to elicit an immune response against cancer cells to stimulate an immune response against the virus.

8 Jun 2020

Reflections and expectations: Are we handling COVID-19 in the right way?

COVID-19 Reflections: Severe lockdowns and Stay-at-Home orders have been hallmark of the national and global response to this Pandemic. They have been imposed with little precedent and scant evidence of their effectiveness as opposed to less restrictive social distancing measures.

8 Jun 2020

Census of viral spike protein antigens could benefit development of SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics

A group of researchers has determined how different proteins associated with SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes COVID-19 - generate immune responses when given to rabbits as immunizations.

8 Jun 2020