In the most recent installment of our “Hope Behind the Headings” series, we take a look at the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials that have been progressing successfully, and at one promising therapeutic approach for COVID-19: Convalescent plasma treatment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has actually been taking its toll on the world for months now, but scientists have actually not been sparing at any time or resources in trying to find ways to beat the new coronavirus that triggers this illness.
When every 2 weeks at Medical News Today, we review the most appealing findings and clinical advances in the fight against SARS– CoV-2.
Formerly, we looked at new drug prospects for the treatment of COVID-19, and at some practical research methods for researchers studying the infection.
In this function, we upgrade you on the progress of some of the most hopeful vaccine and therapy trials so far.
In a study paper appearing in Science on May 20, scientists from Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, and other working together institutions report that they obtained promising outcomes with a DNA vaccine that they trialed in rhesus macaques.
DNA vaccines are relative newcomers in the field of vaccine research study. They work by presenting DNA molecules into the body, indicating to stimulate an immune reaction to markers of a particular infection.
In the research study in Science, the research study group developed six various DNA vaccines with the function of eliciting an immune action versus the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2– to put it simply, the protein that allows this virus to contaminate healthy cells.
The scientists injected 35 rhesus macaques with the numerous DNA vaccine versions and after that infected them with the new coronavirus to see whether and which of the vaccines were effective.
They discovered that one of the 6 vaccines– which encoded the full length spike protein– had a higher protective impact than the other prospects.
While the immunized monkeys did develop moderate symptoms consistent with SARS-CoV-2 infection, they also established neutralizing antibodies– or the particles that have the ability to recognize and battle the virus.
Therefore, these monkeys provided an immune response to SARS-CoV-2 that was similar to the one seen in nonhuman primates and human beings who have recovered from an infection with the brand-new coronavirus.
The researchers also saw that monkeys that they had vaccinated had a lower viral load than unvaccinated monkeys, following infection with SARS-CoV-2, which recommends a more robust immune response in the previous.
From their observations, the detectives conclude that their vaccine candidate works primarily by inducing a rapid immune response upon the individual’s direct exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
” More research will need to deal with the essential questions of the durability of protective immunity and the ideal vaccine platforms for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for human beings,” the team composes in the study paper.
A research study that Nature recently accepted for publication is the work of researchers connected with Vir Biotechnology, a biotech company with headquarters in San Francisco, CA. This research study has actually discovered a new lead for vaccines.
The authors argue that an antibody present in the blood of someone who had actually recuperated from SARS– the illness triggered by the coronavirus SARS-CoV– might also be effective against SARS-CoV-2.
In laboratory tests, the scientists pitted the antibody they call “S309” against both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. They discovered that it was able to reduce the effects of both.
The investigators explain that they at first recognized S309 in blood samples from an individual who contracted SARS-CoV during the epidemic of 2002–2003
While these are early days, the team suggests that this newfound knowledge may ultimately assist control the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
” Accelerated advancement of [monoclonal antibodies