Costa Rica is set to begin clinical trials on antibody-rich plasma that has been extracted from horses with the purpose of treating COVID-19 patients.
Two versions of the plasma were shown to inhibit the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in tests performed at the National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases in the United States.
In a laboratory in New York City, researchers coaxed a key piece of the coronavirus — its infamous outer “spike” — to mutate so that it became invisible to disease-fighting antibodies, according to a new study that has not yet been published in a scientific journal.
Good levels of vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, help people to fight the coronavirus more quickly and effectively and reduce chances of hospitalization, Israeli researchers have concluded.
However, others are cautioning broad conclusions, saying other factors may be involved.
Researchers have long known that masks can prevent people from spreading airway germs to others — findings that have driven much of the conversation around these crucial accessories during the coronavirus pandemic.
As the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly throughout the U.S. and beyond, many are wondering: How on earth will this end? In an interview televised this week, President Trump reiterated his belief that sooner or later the virus will burn itself out. "I will be right eventually," the president told Fox News host Chris Wallace. "It's going to disappear, and I'll be right."
But scientists are increasingly of the view that this virus will not disappear. In interviews and correspondence with more than a dozen researchers around the world, NPR found that the vast majority believes the virus will persist at some level for a long time in places like the U.S. and Europe.
