Latest News

Study: Lateral flow tests cannot rule out SARS- CoV-2 infection

Lateral flow devices for asymptomatic mass testing are proving controversial. At the heart of the matter is a flawed process, with the decision to implement society-wide “Moonshot” testing made before robust field evaluations of the tests were completed. Subsequent selective emphasis of unrealistic performance estimates has caused confusion. Little surprise we are now in a mess.

read more

Study: Saliva is more sensitive than nasopharyngeal or nasal swabs for diagnosis of asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 infection

Acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily diagnosed via reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detection of viral genetic material. However, considering the three primary modes of transmission of SARS-Cov-2 i.e., contact, droplet and aerosol routes, various types of samples have been suggested for the purpose of detection.

read more

Study: Benefits of Mobile Contact Tracing on COVID-19: Tracing Capacity Perspectives

For effectively suppressing COVID-19’s spread, contact tracing has been widely used to identify, isolate, and follow-up with those who have come in close contact with an infected person (or “close contacts”). Traditionally, contact tracers in local health offices interview an infected person to identify visited places (or hotspots) and then check any close contacts. For the accurate recall of travel history, several countries including South Korea corroborate multiple data sources, such as cell location or credit card transactions.

read more

Article: The tragedy of long COVID

Tens of thousands of people in the United States have lingering illness following COVID-19. In the US, we call them post-COVID “long haulers.” Currently, the condition they are suffering from is known as “long COVID,” although other names are being proposed.

read more

Study: SARS-CoV-2 immune evasion by variant B.1.427/B.1.429

SARS-CoV-2 entry is mediated by the spike (S) glycoprotein which contains the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the N-terminal domain (NTD) as the two main targets of neutralizing antibodies (Abs). A novel variant of concern (VOC) named CAL.20C (B.1.427/B.1.429) was originally detected in California and is currently spreading throughout the US and 29 additional countries. It is unclear whether antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection or to the prototypic Wuhan-1 isolate-based vaccines will be impacted by the three B.1.427/B.1.429 S mutations: S13I, W152C and L452R. 

read more