Category Archives: Microbiology

New antibody drug added to Oxford University trial of Covid-19 treatments

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Regeneron’s experimental drug REGN-COV2 to be added to UK’s Recovery trial

The Oxford-based Recovery trial which proved that steroids saved the lives of some Covid patients will now take on a promising but far more expensive new antibody combination treatment, it has been announced.

A cohort of patients joining the trial in most NHS acute hospitals will be randomly allocated to Regeneron’s experimental drug, called REGN-COV2. The drug is a combination of two human neutralising antibodies against the virus. The company previously developed a similar antibody drug against Ebola.

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I was infected with coronavirus in March, six months on I’m still unwell

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Charlie Russell, 27, is one of an estimated 600,000 people with post-Covid illness, a condition that may give an insight into ME

It’s day 182 after being infected by Covid-19, and Charlie Russell is not doing the things that other 27-year-olds are doing.

He’s not running 5km three times a week like he used to. He’s not going to the pub. He’s not working. And he’s not getting better.

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Coronavirus: France hits daily record of over 10,000 cases; protests in Germany against restrictions – live updates

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Number of new cases in California falls; Cuba restricts internal travel; English hospitals stress test for a second wave. Follow all the developments

Brazil registered 814 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 33,523 additional cases, the nation’s health ministry said on Saturday evening.

The South American country has now reported 131,210 total deaths and 4,315,687 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

El Salvador’s government said on Saturday it plans to reopen airports for international flights starting on 19 September, but with a twist: incoming passengers will be required to show a negative PCR coronavirus test no more than three days old.

Anyone lacking the test would be denied entry, according to the Associated Press.

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How the race for a Covid-19 vaccine is getting dirty

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Scientists worldwide are working against the clock to find a viable coronavirus vaccine – but are corners being cut for the sake of political gain and profit?

To begin with, it felt like a sleek performance from a well-honed relay team. On 11 January, only 10 days after reporting a new respiratory disease, the Chinese published the genome sequence of the virus that causes it. Researchers around the world set to work building vaccines against Covid-19, as the disease became known, and the first candidate entered human trials on 16 March; it was joined, as the months passed, by dozens of others.

Scientists were jubilant, and they had every right to be. They’d broken all vaccinology records to get to that point. But then tensions began to surface among the team members, and lately even the most distracted spectator will have noticed that they appear to be trying to nobble each other openly on the track. With accusations that the Russians and Chinese hacked research groups in other countries, biotech executives criticised for cashing in on their own, as yet unapproved vaccines, and Russia approving a vaccine that is still in clinical trials, the quest for a vaccine seems to have turned sour.

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Why do Covid fatalities seem steady when infection numbers are rising?

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While some scientists believe the virus has become less deadly, others look at the factors that suggest otherwise

Are Covid-19 death rates decreasing?
Most statistics indicate that although cases of Covid-19 are rising in many parts of Europe and the United States, the number of deaths and cases of severe complications remain relatively low. For example, patients on ventilators have dropped from 3,000 at the epidemic’s peak in Britain to 70. At the same time, the number of cases in the UK have begun to rise in many areas.

What lies behind this trend?
Doctors are unsure exactly what is going on. Some suggest that medical interventions are more successful at treating those who suffer complications from the disease. For example, the drug dexamethasone was recently shown to improve survival rates among patients requiring ventilation. Others argue that different factors are involved. One suggestion is that Covid-19 is now becoming a disease of younger people who are less likely to die or suffer serious complications.

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Case of man reinfected with coronavirus stokes immunity fears

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Hong Kong case leads scientists to doubt development of antibodies in previous patients, but other experts say it is no cause for alarm

A young man has been diagnosed with coronavirus more than four months after he recovered from a first episode of the disease, suggesting that immunity to the virus can be short-lived and raising more questions about vaccines against Covid-19.

The case in Hong Kong is the first lab-confirmed reinfection. Genetic sequencing by scientists at the University of Hong Kong established that the second episode, in an otherwise healthy young man, was caused by a slightly different strain. Researchers had hoped that the man’s immune system would still have recognised and fought off the virus at the second encounter.

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Coronavirus live news: Hong Kong man’s second Covid-19 infection gives rise to immunity concerns

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Man cleared of virus in April but has now tested positive again; France to impose reciprocal quarantine on travellers returning from UK; ‘Very low evidence’ for plasma therapy authorised by Trump — WHO

The number of new, confirmed cases of Covid-19 in France has risen by 1,955 compared to the previous day, although the increase in new cases was less than in previous days.

The French health ministry said the number of deaths from Covid-19 had risen by 15 from the previous day to stand at 30,528 casualties, while the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases stands at 244,854.

Hi everyone, this is Jessica Murray taking over the blog for the next few hours.

Please do get in touch with any story tips or personal experiences you would like to share:

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Coronavirus live news: China says it has been vaccinating key workers as Trump approves plasma treatment

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Chinese government has been administering a vaccine candidate to selected groups of key workers since July; Trump authorises plasma treatment for coronavirus amid attacks on FDA; send children to school, UK PM urges. Follow the latest updates

Australian theatres are reopening – nervously and with mandatory masks and temperature checks – Elissa Blake reports for the Guardian.

Sydney Theatre Company has announced it is ready to open the doors of the Roslyn Packer theatre and present its first show since March.

Related: Australian theatres nervously reopen with mandatory masks and temperature checks

The Chinese government has been administering a vaccine candidate to selected groups of key workers since July, a senior health official told state media yesterday.

Zheng Zhongei, head of the national health commission’s science and technology centre, told CCTV the government had authorised “emergency use” and it was in line with the law, the South China Morning Post has reported.

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Why do Covid fatalities remain low when infection numbers are rising?

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While some scientists believe the virus has become less deadly, others look at the factors that suggest otherwise

Are Covid-19 death rates decreasing?
Most statistics indicate that although cases of Covid-19 are rising in many parts of Europe and the United States, the number of deaths and cases of severe complications remain relatively low. For example, patients on ventilators have dropped from 3,000 at the epidemic’s peak in Britain to 70. At the same time, the number of cases in the UK have begun to rise in many areas.

Why lies behind this trend?
Doctors are unsure exactly what is going on. Some suggest that medical interventions are more successful at treating those who suffer complications from the disease. For example, the drug dexamethasone was recently shown to improve survival rates among patients requiring ventilation. Others argue that different factors are involved. One suggestion is that Covid-19 is now becoming a disease of younger people who are less likely to die or suffer serious complications.

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Coronavirus live news: British holidaymakers arrive home with minutes to spare before quarantine as Denmark makes face masks compulsory

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Australian death toll stands at 379; France removed from UK travel corridor; Greece and Croatia impose midnight curfew on bars and restaurants

Related: For Manhattan's retail industry normal may never return

It should have been a great year for Spanish wine: a bumper crop of grapes resulting in millions and millions of extra bottles for sipping or swilling at home and abroad.

But with Covid-19 leading to a catastrophic drop in wine sales, the Spanish government is offering growers subsidies to destroy part of this year’s record grape harvest.

Related: Spain’s vineyards destroy record harvest as wine sales crash

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Covid live news: Lebanon hits record daily cases after blast; Russian vaccine must follow safety procedure, says WHO

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Coronavirus updates: New Zealand records first new local cases in 102 days; global deaths likely to pass 750,000 this week, says WHO

As we reported earlier, the Dutch health minister said he plans to introduce mandatory home quarantine for people identified by local authorities as having been in close contact with somebody infected with coronavirus, and for travellers returning from high-risk countries.

Health minister Hugo de Jonge said in a letter to lawmakers that mandatory quarantine could be imposed if people refuse to isolate voluntarily.

Germany has extended a partial travel warning for Spain to the capital of Madrid and the Basque region due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The foreign ministry said it was warning against any unnecessary tourist trips to both regions because of a rising number of new infections and local restrictions put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus.

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What we are learning about Covid-19 and kids

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As schools around the world prepare to reopen, new scientific evidence about children and coronavirus is coming to light

Back in April, the French epidemiologist Arnaud Fontanet found himself leading an investigation in the town of Crépy-en-Valois, a small community of 15,000 inhabitants just to the north-east of Paris. In February, the town’s middle and high schools had become the centre of a new outbreak of Covid-19.

Fontanet and colleagues from the Pasteur Institute in Paris were tasked with conducting antibody testing across Crépy-en-Valois to understand the extent to which the virus had been circulating. As they surveyed the town, they noted an interesting pattern. While the virus had spread rampantly through the high school, with 38% of students being infected, along with 43% of teachers and 59% of non-teaching staff, the same was not true for the town’s six primary schools. While three primary-age pupils had caught Covid-19 in early February, none of these infections had led to a secondary case. Overall, just 9% of primary age pupils, 7% of teachers and 4% of non-teaching staff had been infected with the virus.

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Revealed: UK’s rapid Covid test not yet approved by regulators

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Exclusive: no data on accuracy of this and other test bought by government has been published

One of two 90-minute rapid coronavirus tests bought by the UK government and announced on Monday has yet to be approved by regulators, while no data on the accuracy of either has been published, the Guardian has learned.

The test, from Oxford Nanopore, a young biotech company spun off from Oxford University, has not yet gained a CE mark. Before Covid-19, Oxford Nanopore had been involved only in research, not tests for patients.

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Cramped workplaces, parties … the factors fuelling local Covid-19 spikes

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What have resurgences around the world taught us about how local clusters emerge?

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    • It is not always possible to pinpoint the origin of a local spike in cases, particularly in countries like the UK, where the disease is still circulating at relatively significant levels.

    But in countries where overall caseloads are lower, and with rigorous test-and-trace schemes, it has been possible to pinpoint the factors that have sparked or fuelled local outbreaks.

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    Baldness and rashes? Experts split over unusual Covid-19 risk factors and symptoms

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    Academics analyse whether hair and hearing loss may also be linked to coronavirus

    From hearing loss and rashes, to being tall and bald, as the Covid-19 pandemic develops, a host of new symptoms and risk factors are being linked to the virus. We take a look at the evidence.

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    Know sweat: scientists solve mystery behind body odour

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    University of York researchers trace the source of underarm aromas to a particular enzyme

    Scientists have unravelled the mysterious mechanism behind the armpit’s ability to produce the pungent smell of body odour.

    Researchers at the University of York traced the source of underarm odour to a particular enzyme in a certain microbe that lives in the human armpit.

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    Britain wins rare praise for leading race to test life-saving Covid drugs

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    UK’s high infection rate and centralised NHS have enabled Recovery team to help victims across the world

    It has been a startling week for those following Britain’s response to the pandemic. Roundly derided for the lateness of its lockdown and its bungled testing programmes, the UK was the unexpected recipient of a sudden bout of lavish praise for its scientists’ efforts to combat the d isease.

    “The Brits are on course to save the world,” wrote leading US economist Tyler Cowen in Bloomberg Opinion, while the journal Science quoted leading international scientists who have heaped praise on British researchers’ anti-Covid work.

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    ‘Major’ breakthrough in Covid-19 drug makes UK professors millionaires

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    Synairgen’s share price rises 540% on morning of news of successful drugs trial

    Three professors at the University of Southampton school of medicine have this week made a “major breakthrough” in the treatment of coronavirus patients and become paper millionaires at the same time.

    Almost two decades ago professors Ratko Djukanovic, Stephen Holgate and Donna Davies discovered that people with asthma and chronic lung disease lacked a protein called interferon beta, which helps fight off the common cold. They worked out that patients’ defences against viral infection could be boosted if the missing protein were replaced.

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    Coronavirus live news: California sees record daily cases as global infections top 15m

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    California Covid-19 cases pass New York’s after record day; WHO emergencies chief says vaccinations unlikely before 2021; global cases pass 15m. Follow the latest updates

    The BBC reports that the coronavirus pandemic has pushed South Korea into a recession, with the country seeing a 2.9% fall in GDP:

    South Korea has fallen into recession as the country reels from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

    Asia’s fourth-largest economy saw gross domestic product (GDP) fall by a worse-than-expected 2.9% in year-on-year terms, the steepest decline since 1998.

    China plans to provide a $1bn loan to make its coronavirus vaccine accessible for countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, the Mexican foreign ministry said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

    Mexico’s foreign ministry said in a statement that China had made the pledge in a virtual meeting between ministers from some Latin American and Caribbean countries.

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    First active leak of sea-bed methane discovered in Antarctica

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    Researchers say potent climate-heating gas almost certainly escaping into atmosphere

    The first active leak of methane from the sea floor in Antarctica has been revealed by scientists.

    The researchers also found microbes that normally consume the potent greenhouse gas before it reaches the atmosphere had only arrived in small numbers after five years, allowing the gas to escape.

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