New commercial neutralization assay has modest value added compared to classical alternatives
A study published in pre-print designed and executed by CITF scientific advisors, Dr. Jesse Papenburg, Dr. Matthew Cheng and Dr. Cedric Yansouni, evaluated multiple assays that detect antibodies capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They compared classic neutralization assays to surrogate neutralization assays that measure binding between spike’s receptor binding domain (RBD) and the cellular receptor and immunoassays that measure antibodies against RBD.
COVID-19 should be considered in all hospitalized children
Dr. Jesse Papenburg, one of the CITF’s scientific advisors, collaborated with researchers from 15 paediatric hospitals in Canada, Iran, and Costa Rica to collect information on symptomatic and asymptomatic children up to 17 years old who had a laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and who were admitted to hospital.