Thai authorities urged calm on Tuesday as they scramble to trace a potential coronavirus outbreak after at least four women tested positive on returning from neighbouring Myanmar. Since detecting the first case outside of China back in January, Thailand has managed to keep COVID-19 infections low, at just over 4,000 cases, in part by imposing […]
NIH begins large clinical trial to test immune modulators for treatment of COVID-19
The National Institutes of Health has launched an adaptive Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of three immune modulator drugs in hospitalized adults with COVID-19. Some COVID-19 patients experience an immune response in which the immune system unleashes excessive amounts of proteins that trigger inflammation—called a “cytokine storm”—that can lead to […]
Nine COVID-19 vaccine developers pledge to carefully test shots
Nine US and European companies leading the coronavirus vaccine race make ‘historic pledge’ to carefully test their shots amid rising safety concerns Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, BionTech, Pfizer, GlaxoKlineSmith and Novavax signed the pledge It promises they will ‘uphold the integrity of the scientific process’ as they near the end of vaccine […]
FDA gives emergency approval to rapid, cheap coronavirus antigen test
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized a new, rapid antigen test for COVID-19, which costs $5 and can diagnose an infection in 15 minutes. The test, made by Abbott Labs, is the size of a credit card and does not require any lab equipment to run. Rather, the device has a similar design […]
Pre-brain surgery test protects language in some tumors
A technique that maps a patient’s language centers before going into surgery works best when their brain tumor is not in those areas. The finding, published by Nagoya University researchers in the journal Scientific Reports, refines understanding of the test’s effectiveness and could help improve surgical planning. Gliomas are a common brain tumor that require […]
For babies born with a rare immune deficiency, a unique new test to better target care
A new test developed at CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal will enable better management of patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). The results of this work was presented Tuesday in the medical journal Blood Advances published by the American Society of Hematology. Routine neonatal screening, although not yet available in Quebec, has led to an increase […]
New test paves the way for tailored treatment of deadliest form of ovarian cancer
University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers have led an international team in developing a new test to better diagnose different types of ovarian cancer, a tool that could one day guide and improve treatment options for women diagnosed with the most common and deadliest form of the disease. The development and validation of the test […]
Small study suggests COVID-19 antibody test shows promise
A test that can detect the presence of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the blood of human patients is described in Nature Medicine. This assay, tested in 16 patients, may help to identify individuals whose plasma contains antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, which could potentially be used to treat other patients. Tests that detect the presence […]
World-first saliva test detects hidden throat cancer
A simple saliva test developed by QUT biomedical scientists has detected early throat cancer in a person who had no symptom and no clinical signs of cancer. In what is believed to be a world-first, the non-invasive test picked up HPV-DNA in a saliva sample from an infected healthy person. Persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection […]
German researchers develop first test for new virus from China
Credit: CC0 Public Domain German researchers said Thursday they have developed the first diagnostic test for a new virus that has emerged in central China. The virus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year and cases have since been reported in Thailand and Japan. Dozens of people in China have been […]