The vaccine in childhood is related to the prevention of acute infection with Covid-19, and cigarette smoke increases the risk. These are some of the data that we will review from the latest scientific studies on the emerging corona virus - its scientific name SARS Cove 2 - and the efforts made to find a treatment or vaccines for the disease "Covid-19" Caused by the virus.

Balloons

Cells infected with the emerging corona virus die within a day or two, and researchers have found a way to find out what the virus does with them.

By combining multiple imaging techniques, they saw that the virus creates "virus-copying factories" in cells, which resemble groups of balloons.

The researchers said on Tuesday in the journal "Cell Host and Microbe" - according to Reuters - that the virus disrupts the cellular systems responsible for secreting substances.

Moreover, the virus reorganizes the "cytoskeleton" that gives cells their shape and "works like a railroad system to allow the transport of different charges inside the cell," said Ralph Bartenschlager, co-author of the study from Heidelberg University in Germany.

Partenschlager added that when his team added drugs that affect the cytoskeleton, the virus encountered a problem in copying itself, "indicating that the virus needs to reorganize the cytoskeleton in order to reproduce efficiently."

He continued, "We now have a much better idea of ​​how (SARS Cove 2) changes the intracellular structure of an infected cell, and this will help us understand why cells die so quickly."

He said that the Zika virus causes similar changes in cells, so it may be possible to develop drugs for Covid-19 that also work against other viruses.

The Zika virus is transmitted by mosquito bites and causes what is known as Zika fever, which is related to microcephaly, in newborns.

Childhood vaccination may help prevent acute COVID-19 infection

New data suggests that people whose immune systems have responded strongly to the MMR vaccine may be less likely to become severely infected with the emerging coronavirus.

The MMR II vaccine, manufactured by Merck and licensed in 1979, stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies.

On Friday, the researchers reported in the journal "mBio" that it was found that - of the 50 patients with Covid-19 under the age of 42 who were vaccinated with the "MMR2" vaccine, while they were children - the higher the levels of antibodies that were The vaccine produced is called EGJ and is specifically targeted against the mumps virus. The symptoms were less severe.

And "Covid-19" was asymptomatic in people who had the highest level of mumps antibodies.

More research is needed to prove that the vaccine prevents acute COVID-19 infection.

However, Jeffrey Gould, who participated in the study, said in a statement, that the new findings "may explain the reason why children have a significantly lower incidence of Covid-19 compared to adults, as well as a much lower mortality rate."

"Most of the children get the first vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella at the age of 12 to 15 months, while they get the second vaccination from the age of 4 to 6 years," he added.

Cigarette smoke increases cells' exposure to Covid-19

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that exposure to cigarette smoke makes airway cells more vulnerable to infection with the emerging coronavirus.

They obtained the cells lining the airway from 5 individuals without Covid-19 and exposed some cells to cigarette smoke in test tubes, and then they exposed all the cells to the Corona virus.

The researchers said in the journal "Cell Stem Cell" on Tuesday, that when compared to cells that were not exposed to smoke, cells exposed to smoke were two or 3 times more likely to be infected with the virus.

An analysis of each individual's airway cells showed that cigarette smoke reduces the immune response to the virus.

"If the air passages are considered like high walls that protect a castle, smoking cigarettes is like making holes in these walls. Smoking reduces the natural defenses and this allows the virus to enter and take over cells," said Brigitte Jumper, who was involved in the research, told Reuters.

AstraZeneca vaccine against "Covid-19" appears to be promising for the elderly

Researchers in The Lancet reported on Thursday that the experimental "Covid-19" vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford produced strong immune responses in older adults during an intermediate stage trial.

Late-stage trials are still being conducted to ascertain whether the vaccine protects against "Covid-19" in a wide range of people, including those with basic diseases.

The current study included 560 healthy volunteers, 240 of whom were aged 70 years or over.

The volunteers received one or two doses of the vaccine made with a weak version of the common cold virus found in chimpanzees, or a placebo.

No serious side effects were reported.

Participants over the age of 80, physically weak patients, and those with underlying chronic diseases were excluded, according to an editorial published with the study.

The study authors said, "It is increasingly known that debility affects the elderly’s response to vaccines," and "it is important to devise a plan to take physical weakness into account when developing a Covid-19 vaccine."

About a million people have received two Chinese vaccines against "Covid-19"

Sinopharm announced that nearly one million people had actually received an "urgent" vaccination for two experimental vaccines against the "Covid-19" virus from the Chinese group of drugs, which did not mention any clinical data on their feasibility.

Since the summer, China has allowed giving vaccines that have not yet been licensed to people in situations considered urgent, such as employees and students who travel abroad, or even workers who are particularly vulnerable to infection with the emerging coronavirus, such as therapists.

"Our vaccines have been given to about one million people and we have not received any information about serious negative reactions," said Liu Jing Chen, president of "Sinopharma" on the group's website.

The company stated that none of the people who received the two vaccines had contracted Covid-19, despite their travel "to more than 150 countries."