Strong activation of anti-bacterial cells of immune system linked to severe COVID-19: Study

SEP 29, 2020 LONDON: A type of the immune system's T cells known to fight against bacterial infections is strongly activated in people with moderate to severe COVID-19, according to a study which provides a better understanding of how the body responds to the novel coronavirus infection. Researchers, including those from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, noted that this component of the immune system called MAIT cells make up about one to five percent of T cells in the blood of healthy people, and are primarily important for controlling bacteria, but can also be recruited to fight some viral infections. They explained that T cells are a type of white blood cells that are specialised in recognizing infected cells, and are an essential part of the immune system. In the current study, published in the journal Science Immunology, the scientists assessed the role played by MAIT cells in COVID-19 disease. They examined the presence and character of MAIT cells in blood samples from 24 patients admitted to Karolinska University Hospital with moderate to severe COVID-19 disease, and compared these with blood samples from 14 healthy controls and 45 individuals who had recovered from COVID-19. Four of the patients died in the hospital, the study noted. "To find potential treatments against COVID-19, it is important to understand in detail...

Read More........→September 29, 2020

Student develops UV-E SAFE kit to check COVID-19

A 23-year-old student, K. Goutam Kumar, has developed an UV-E SAFE kit that helps in sanitising money, documents, files and other belongings within a minute. Kumar is pursuing entrepreneurship skills training from Bharatiya Skill Development University (BSDU). Taking about his invention, Kumar said: "In times of a global pandemic like COVID-19, a sudden need to sanitise our belongings has emerged. These belongings could be mobiles, laptops or anything that we carry. We were also worried how academic material could be exchanged without the fear of infection. This was the reason behind this invention." Describing the device, Prof Achintya Choudhury, President, BSDU, said, "It is a sanitation device that sterilises money, notes, documents, files and many more things that otherwise are impossible to sanitize through conventional means. The use of ultraviolet ensures that up to 99.9 per cent of bacteria and pathogens are killed in a minute. "It's safe and moreover it is portable as the sleek design makes it easy to carry it around," he added. "We cannot avoid carrying items such as mobile phone, jewellery, laptop or an innocuous appearing letter and all are possible carriers of the pathogens they come in contact with. It is not always possible to clean these things with a sanitizer. Hence, UV E-SAFE kit could prove...

Read More........→August 07, 2020