Latest news with #GuangzhouLaboratory
The Star
25-05-2025
- Health
- The Star
Experts in China work on Covid-19 antibody treatments for young children
GUANGZHOU: Zhong Nanshan (pic), a noted expert on respiratory illness, said his team is now actively developing antibodies to Covid-19, aiming to explore effective treatment methods more suitable for children under five years old in the following months. "Now the research of Covid-19 drug in this group of people is not sufficient, and it lacks sufficient safety evidence," said Zhong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. "It cannot be arbitrarily inferred that children over five years old can use it, and children as young as one year old are equally applicable," he said. "Now there is no relevant evidence to support this point of view." Zhong, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 2025 Guangzhou Science and Technology Week on Saturday. He said the current Covid-19 outbreak is still at its peak period across the country and is predicted to decline after June. Zhong urged relevant departments to pay great attention to the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 and influenza, and the infected individuals to take relevant medicine within the first 48 hours to avoid developing severe symptoms. Zhong expressed regret that Taiwan actress Barbie Hsu died of influenza in February. The incidence rate of influenza has recently been declining, he said, adding that patients should attach great importance to the timely treatment of influenza, especially the elderly, he said. "Certain dangers do exist for senior residents with underlying diseases," he said. According to monitoring data from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, from March 31 to May 4, the Covid-19 positivity rate among outpatient and emergency influenza-like cases nationwide increased from 7.5 per cent to 16.2 per cent, while the positivity rate of hospitalized cases also increased from 3.3 per cent to 6.3 pe rcent. Zhong, head of Guangzhou Laboratory, a key State facility focused on studying respiratory diseases, is the winner of the Medal of the Republic, China's highest honour for outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to the country. - China Daily/ANN
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New bat coronavirus discovered in China sparks pandemic concerns
The discovery of a new bat coronavirus in China has sparked concerns about another pandemic. The virus, named HKU5-CoV-2, is similar to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in that it targets the same human receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2), according to a report in the South China Morning Post. HKU5-CoV-2 could potentially lead to human-to-human or even cross-species transmission, the researchers found. Positive People Came Through Covid Much Better Than Others: New Study The research team was led by Zheng-Li Shi at Guangzhou Laboratory in Guangdong, China. Shi, who is known as the "batwoman," worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, which came under fire as the potential source of COVID-19. Read On The Fox News App "This study reveals a distinct lineage of HKU5-CoVs in bats that efficiently use human ACE2 and underscores their potential zoonotic risk," the researchers wrote in the study, which was published in the scientific journal Cell on Feb. 18. Some Winter Viruses Could Trigger Heart Complications, Experts Warn Researchers from the Guangzhou Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology also contributed. In the study, HKU5-CoV-2 was found to infect human cells as well as artificially grown lung and intestine tissues, according to reports. Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, noted that bats are known to harbor several different species of coronaviruses. "In this case, Shi-Zhengli discovered that a pipistrellus species of bats is carrying a HKU5-COV2 coronavirus that is a cousin of the MERS virus, which caused a limited outbreak in humans in 2012," Siegel told Fox News Digital. "This particular strain has an ability to bind to the same receptor in the lungs, nose and respiratory passages that allowed SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) to infect humans — so there is a chance of what is known as zoonotic spillover, where this virus could also infect humans and go human to human," he confirmed. The doctor stated, however, that the risk of this happening remains "very low," as the binding is weaker and the virus is "much less powerful" than SARS-CoV-2. Click Here To Sign Up For Our Health Newsletter "Even as we continue to investigate potential human pathogens, and even as we prepare for possible pandemics, it is very important that we not give in to fear," Siegel said. "The COVID pandemic is the worst in a century, but it doesn't mean another is about to happen from bird flu or this or anything else." In an ideal scenario, Siegel said, an international consortium of scientists could be established to help provide global protection. "That certainly did not happen with the COVID pandemic, and the cloak of secrecy remains," he said. "But studies like this, published in a prominent journal, are a step in the right direction." For more Health articles, visit "What we know far less about is exactly what research on bat coronaviruses is being conducted in that lab."Original article source: New bat coronavirus discovered in China sparks pandemic concerns
Fox News
23-02-2025
- Health
- Fox News
New bat coronavirus discovered in China sparks pandemic concerns
The discovery of a new bat coronavirus in China has sparked concerns about another pandemic. The virus, named HKU5-CoV-2, is similar to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in that it targets the same human receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2), according to a report in the South China Morning Post. HKU5-CoV-2 could potentially lead to human-to-human or even cross-species transmission, the researchers found. The research team was led by Zheng-Li Shi at Guangzhou Laboratory in Guangdong, China. Shi, who is known as the "batwoman," worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, which came under fire as the potential source of COVID-19. "This study reveals a distinct lineage of HKU5-CoVs in bats that efficiently use human ACE2 and underscores their potential zoonotic risk," the researchers wrote in the study, which was published in the scientific journal Cell on Feb. 18. Researchers from the Guangzhou Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology also contributed. In the study, HKU5-CoV-2 was found to infect human cells as well as artificially grown lung and intestine tissues, according to reports. Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, noted that bats are known to harbor several different species of coronaviruses. "In this case, Shi-Zhengli discovered that a pipistrellus species of bats is carrying a HKU5-COV2 coronavirus that is a cousin of the MERS virus, which caused a limited outbreak in humans in 2012," Siegel told Fox News Digital. "Even as we continue to investigate potential human pathogens, it is very important that we not give in to fear." "This particular strain has an ability to bind to the same receptor in the lungs, nose and respiratory passages that allowed SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) to infect humans — so there is a chance of what is known as zoonotic spillover, where this virus could also infect humans and go human to human," he confirmed. The doctor stated, however, that the risk of this happening remains "very low," as the binding is weaker and the virus is "much less powerful" than SARS-CoV-2. "Even as we continue to investigate potential human pathogens, and even as we prepare for possible pandemics, it is very important that we not give in to fear," Siegel said. "The COVID pandemic is the worst in a century, but it doesn't mean another is about to happen from bird flu or this or anything else." In an ideal scenario, Siegel said, an international consortium of scientists could be established to help provide global protection. "That certainly did not happen with the COVID pandemic, and the cloak of secrecy remains," he said. "But studies like this, published in a prominent journal, are a step in the right direction." For more Health articles, visit "What we know far less about is exactly what research on bat coronaviruses is being conducted in that lab."
South China Morning Post
21-02-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Chinese team finds new bat coronavirus that could infect humans via same route as Covid-19
A Chinese team has found a new bat coronavirus that carries the risk of animal-to-human transmission because it uses the same human receptor as the virus that causes Covid-19. Advertisement The study was led by Shi Zhengli – a leading virologist known as the 'batwoman' due to her extensive research on bat coronaviruses – at the Guangzhou Laboratory along with researchers from the Guangzhou Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Shi is best known for her work at the Wuhan institute , which has been at the centre of the controversy about the origins of Covid, with one theory suggesting it came from a lab leak in the city. While there is still no consensus on the origin of the virus, some studies suggest it originated in bats and jumped to humans through an intermediate animal host. Shi has denied that the institute was to blame for the outbreak The latest discovery is a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus first identified in the Japanese pipistrelle bat in Hong Kong. Advertisement The new virus comes from the merbecovirus subgenus, which also includes the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers). The virus is able to bind to the human angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE2), the same receptor used by the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, to infect cells.
