COVID and SARS News

January 1, 2026

Top Headlines

MIT Scientists Find a Way to Rejuvenate the Immune System as We Age

Dec. 29, 2025 As the immune system weakens with age, scientists have found a way to restore some of its lost strength. By delivering mRNA to the liver, they created a temporary source of immune-boosting signals that normally come from the thymus. Older mice ...

Stanford Scientists Uncover Why MRNA COVID Vaccines Can Trigger Heart Inflammation

Dec. 27, 2025 Stanford scientists have uncovered how mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can very rarely trigger heart inflammation in young men — and how that risk might be reduced. They found that the vaccines can spark a ...

Researchers Identify Viral Suspects That Could Be Fueling Long COVID

Dec. 14, 2025 Scientists are uncovering a new possibility behind long COVID’s stubborn symptoms: hidden infections that awaken or emerge alongside SARS-CoV-2. Evidence is mounting that viruses like Epstein-Barr and even latent tuberculosis may flare up when ...

Kids’ Anxiety and Depression Dropped Fast After COVID School Reopenings

Dec. 13, 2025 Researchers discovered that children who went back to school during COVID experienced far fewer mental health diagnoses than those who stayed remote. Anxiety, depression, and ADHD all declined as in-person learning resumed. Healthcare spending tied ...

A Routine Shingles Shot May Offer Powerful Defense Against Dementia

Dec. 3, 2025 A unique vaccine rollout in Wales gave researchers an accidental natural experiment that revealed a striking reduction in dementia among seniors who received the shingles vaccine. The protective effect held steady across multiple analyses and was ...

COVID Vaccine Linked to Fewer Infections and Allergies in Kids with Eczema

Nov. 8, 2025 New research suggests the COVID-19 vaccine could help children with eczema stay healthier overall. Vaccinated kids had lower rates of infections and allergies, including asthma and rhinitis, compared with unvaccinated peers. Experts believe the ...

Scientists Discover COVID MRNA Vaccines Boost Cancer Survival

Oct. 28, 2025 Researchers found that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines significantly increased survival in lung and skin cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy. The vaccine appears to prime the immune system in a powerful, nonspecific way, enhancing cancer treatment ...

Cancer Patients Who Got a COVID Vaccine Lived Much Longer

Oct. 19, 2025 A groundbreaking study reveals that cancer patients who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy lived dramatically longer than those who didn’t. Researchers from the University of Florida and MD Anderson Cancer ...

Scientists Finally Reveal What’s Behind Long COVID’s Mysterious Brain Fog

Oct. 7, 2025 Researchers in Japan have pinpointed a biological cause of Long COVID brain fog using advanced PET brain imaging. They discovered widespread increases in AMPA receptor density linked to cognitive ...

Common Allergy Spray Slashes COVID-19 Risk in Surprising Trial

Sep. 7, 2025 A common hay fever nasal spray was found to cut COVID-19 infections by two-thirds in a clinical trial, while also reducing rhinovirus cases. Researchers believe it could serve as an easy, low-cost preventive measure, pending further ...

Ancient DNA Finally Solves the Mystery of the World’s First Pandemic

Aug. 30, 2025 Scientists have finally uncovered direct genetic evidence of Yersinia pestis — the bacterium behind the Plague of Justinian — in a mass grave in Jerash, Jordan. This long-sought discovery resolves a centuries-old debate, confirming that the ...

The Common Cold’s Unexpected Superpower Against COVID

Aug. 26, 2025 A nationwide study found that recent colds caused by rhinoviruses can give short-term protection against COVID-19. Children benefit most, as their immune systems react strongly with antiviral defenses, helping explain their lower rates of severe ...

Latest Headlines

updated 7:49am EST

Strange Microscopic Structures Found in Long COVID Blood

Nov. 13, 2025 Scientists have discovered strange microscopic structures in the blood of people with Long COVID—clusters of tiny microclots tangled together with sticky immune webs known as neutrophil ...

Millions Could Be Living With Hidden Smell Loss After COVID Without Knowing

Oct. 3, 2025 A massive NIH-backed study reveals that COVID-19’s toll on smell may be more widespread and lasting than most realize. Even patients without noticeable symptoms often performed poorly on scent ...

A New Cancer Vaccine Just Wiped out Tumors in Mice

Aug. 19, 2025 A breakthrough mRNA cancer vaccine has shown the ability to supercharge the effects of immunotherapy in mice, sparking hope for a universal “off-the-shelf” treatment that could fight multiple ...

Even Mild Covid May Leave Blood Vessels Five Years Older

Aug. 18, 2025 Researchers discovered that Covid accelerates blood vessel aging by about five years, especially in women. Even mild infections increased arterial stiffness, with vaccinated individuals showing less ...

Scientists Detect Virus Traces in Blood That May Unlock Long COVID’s Mystery

Aug. 12, 2025 Scientists have found protein fragments from the COVID-19 virus hidden inside tiny cellular packages in the blood of long COVID patients, offering ...

Researchers Discover Key Social Factors That Triple Long COVID Risk

Aug. 4, 2025 New research led by Mass General Brigham reveals that people facing social challenges—like food insecurity, financial strain, and limited healthcare access—are two to three times more likely to ...

This Vaccine Uses Dental Floss Instead of Needles

Aug. 3, 2025 Scientists have discovered that flossing between your teeth could one day help vaccinate you. By targeting a uniquely permeable gum tissue called the junctional epithelium, this new method stimulates ...

COVID Vaccines Saved 2. 5M Lives Globally—a Death Averted Per 5,400 Shots

July 27, 2025 Between 2020 and 2024, COVID-19 vaccines saved 2.5 million lives globally, preventing one death for every 5,400 doses. A groundbreaking worldwide study led by researchers from Università Cattolica ...

Even Without Catching COVID, the Pandemic May Have Quietly Aged Your Brain

July 24, 2025 Even people who never caught Covid-19 may have aged mentally faster during the pandemic, according to new brain scan research. This large UK study shows how the stress, isolation, and upheaval of ...

Scientists Just Resurrected the 1918 “Spanish Flu” Virus—here’s What They Found

July 24, 2025 Scientists in Switzerland have cracked open a century-old viral mystery by decoding the genome of the 1918 influenza virus from a preserved Zurich ...

Teen Bats Are Spawning New Viruses—here’s Why Scientists Are Paying Close Attention

July 22, 2025 New research from the University of Sydney sheds light on how coronaviruses emerge in bat populations, focusing on young bats as hotspots for infections and co-infections that may drive viral ...

One Pregnancy Shot Slashes Baby RSV Hospitalizations by 72% — and Shields for Months

July 21, 2025 A new UK study shows that vaccinating pregnant women against RSV has led to a staggering 72% drop in hospitalizations of newborns with severe lung infections. By passing virus-fighting antibodies to ...

A Tiny Chemistry Hack Just Made mRNA Vaccines Safer, Stronger, and Smarter

July 21, 2025 What if mRNA vaccines could be made more powerful and less irritating? Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to do just that—by tweaking a key molecule in the vaccine’s ...

Breakthrough Microchip Reveals How Your Body Fights Viruses—in Just 90 Minutes

July 12, 2025 A team at Scripps Research has created a microchip that can rapidly reveal how a person's antibodies respond to viruses using only a drop of blood. This game-changing technology, called mEM, ...

Scientists Just Found a Major Flaw in a Key COVID Drug Study

July 4, 2025 A promising path to fighting COVID and other coronaviruses may have been based on a serious mistake. Scientists had zeroed in on a part of the virus called the NiRAN domain, believed to be a powerful ...

One Shot to Stop HIV: MIT's Bold Vaccine Breakthrough

June 19, 2025 Researchers from MIT and Scripps have unveiled a promising new HIV vaccine approach that generates a powerful immune response with just one dose. By combining two immune-boosting adjuvants alum and ...

Scientists Discover Llama Antibodies That Shut Down COVID — and Its Future Variants

June 16, 2025 Powerful llama-derived antibodies could be the key to stopping not just current SARS viruses, but future ones too. Scientists have discovered a unique class of nanobodies that clamp the coronavirus ...

COVID-19 Protein Triggers Immune Attacks on Healthy Cells — but a Common Drug Can Stop It

June 24, 2025 Scientists have uncovered a stealthy tactic used by the SARS-CoV-2 virus: one of its proteins can leap from infected cells to healthy ones, effectively tricking the immune system into attacking the ...

Scientists Warn of Bat Virus Just One Mutation from Infecting Humans

June 25, 2025 Viruses closely related to the deadly MERS coronavirus are lurking in bats and one group, known as HKU5, may be just one mutation away from making the jump to humans. A new study reveals how these ...

New mRNA Vaccine Is More Effective and Less Costly to Develop

June 3, 2025 A new "trans-amplifying" mRNA vaccine delivers powerful immunity using 40 times less material and could protect against many virus strains at once. Scientists say it may pave the way for ...

Evolution of a Single Gene Allowed the Plague to Adapt, Survive and Kill Much of Humanity Over Many Centuries

May 29, 2025 Scientists have documented the way a single gene in the bacterium that causes bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis, allowed it to survive hundreds of years by adjusting its virulence and the length of ...

Tiny Genetic Switch Found to Control Brain Balance and Behavior

May 22, 2025 Researchers have identified a remarkably small but critical piece of genetic code that helps determine how brain cells connect, communicate, and function. The discovery not only deepens our ...

Engineered Bacteria Can Deliver Antiviral Therapies, Vaccines

May 21, 2025 New research demonstrates how specially engineered bacteria taken orally can operate as a delivery system for vaccines and antiviral ...

Two HIV Vaccine Trials Show Proof of Concept for Pathway to Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies

May 15, 2025 A decades-long scientific challenge in HIV vaccine development has been finding a way to train the immune system to produce antibodies that can target many variants of the virus. Traditional ...

Particles Carrying Multiple Vaccine Doses Could Reduce the Need for Follow-Up Shots

May 15, 2025 MIT scientists have designed self-boosting vaccines that release doses over time from a single injection. This breakthrough could make multi-shot vaccines one-and-done, protecting children in even ...

World's Largest Bat Organoid Platform Paves the Way for Pandemic Preparedness

May 15, 2025 Until now, most research has used either generalized cell samples or organoids made from just one type of tropical fruit bat, and only from a single organ. But a breakthrough has arrived: a research ...

New Study Offers Insights Into Designing Safe, Effective Nasal Vaccines

May 14, 2025 Most vaccines -- and boosters -- are injected directly into muscle tissue, usually in the upper arm, to kickstart the body's immune system in the fight against disease. But for respiratory ...

Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of a Smallpox Vaccine for Preventing Mpox

May 8, 2025 The recent global monkeypox (mpox) outbreak, with a new and aggressive variant, has underscored the dire need for safe, broadly effective, and accessible vaccines. The LC16m8 vaccine, an attenuated ...

Building Vaccines for Future Versions of a Virus

May 8, 2025 Researchers have developed EVE-Vax, an AI tool that forecasts viral mutations and designs test proteins to guide next-generation vaccines. The breakthrough could allow scientists to build vaccines ...

Vaccines of the Future: Harnessing the Immune System for Long-Lasting Protection

May 7, 2025 Scientists have uncovered a promising new way to enhance the effectiveness of vaccines by tapping into the potential of a specific type of immune cell, opening the door to long-lasting vaccines for ...