CORONAVIRUS NEWS

High blood pressure and treatments to control it do not increase the risk of hospitalisation and death from Covid-19, according to a large European-wide study which in the UK was co-ordinated at UCLH and UCL.

Thousands more vulnerable people in England are now eligible to receive the UK’s second oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19.

A research team led by Jae Jung, PhD, Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Global Center for Pathogen & Human Health Research, has uncovered the critical role a viral gene, ORF8, plays in infection and disease outcomes of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19.

A study from Sweden published by The BMJ has found an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot in the leg) up to three months after COVID-19 infection, pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lung) up to six months, and a bleeding event up to two months.

A new study has analysed over 3000 proteins to identify which are causally linked to the development of severe COVID-19. This is the first study to assess such a large number of proteins for their connection to COVID-19.

Regulations making COVID-19 vaccination a condition of deployment in health and social care will be revoked on Tuesday 15 March, the Health and Social Care Secretary has confirmed.

Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have identified a promising drug candidate for the treatment of multi-inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).

The NHS Confederation's chief executive, Matthew Taylor, and other health leaders, have raised concerns over the Government's 'Living with COVID-19' strategy.

A new study has confirmed that vitamin D levels may positively influence the outcome of COVID-19 infection.

Adults over the age of 50 or with an underlying health condition who test positive for COVID-19 are being urged to sign up for a world-first COVID-19 study which is providing life-saving antivirals to thousands of people.

Allowing large numbers of people in low and middle-income countries to go unvaccinated is “a reckless approach to public health” that could lead to new variants of Coronavirus, scientists have warned.

Researchers from the Australian National University, with King’s Heparin, have discovered that heparin can limit lung damage when inhaled by COVID-19 patients.

The first results of an early trial of a multivariant COVID-19 vaccine booster, launched in September 2021 and supported by the NIHR, has released positive data.

An international team of scientists have identified antibodies that neutralise omicron and other SARS-CoV-2 variants. These antibodies target areas of the virus spike protein that remain essentially unchanged as the viruses mutate.

The protection offered by the Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine declines after three months of receiving two doses.

A University of Arizona Health Sciences-led research team has received $7.16 million in funding to determine why sufferers are less likely to contract COVID-19.

A Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) study examining the profile and outcomes of people hospitalised with COVID-19 in the first and second waves of the pandemic has been published, aiming to help teams prepare for future case surges.

Early symptoms of COVID-19 can’t be clearly differentiated from vaccine side-effects, new findings show. Researchers recommend that if people show symptoms of COVID-19 after vaccination, they should stay at home and arrange to have a test.

Thousands of vulnerable people are to receive cutting-edge antiviral and antibody treatments for coronavirus (COVID-19).

​A small study has suggested that COVID-19 patients who continue to be short of breath during physical activity one year after recovering from the infection may have suffered heart damage.