(Reuters) - The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Numerous neurological problems such as tremors, seizures, and impaired consciousness have been linked to severe COVID-19, and a small German study may have uncovered a mechanism by which the virus appears to trick the body into attacking the brain.

Heartburn drugs tied to higher coronavirus risk.

Widely used heartburn drugs that have been linked with numerous complications including higher risk for kidney disease and dementia with long-term use may also be tied to a higher risk for COVID-19, researchers have found.

Inflammation of organs not necessarily tied to viral load in fatal COVID-19.

In fatal cases of COVID-19, the places in the body with the worst inflammation and organ damage are not necessarily the places with the highest amount of virus, or viral load, according to a small study.

Autopsies of 11 patients who died from COVID-19 showed that some tissues - including the intestine, liver and kidney - contained a high amount of virus but were not inflamed, while tissues with inconsistent or patchy virus levels - in particular, the lungs - were severely inflamed.

The fact that virus levels do not correlate with organ damage in these fatal cases may mean some tissues tolerate the virus better than others, and "suggests that treatments that reduce inflammation in the lung could be particularly effective, since the virus alone may not be causing tissue damage," researcher David Dorward of University of Edinburgh Center for Inflammation Research told Reuters.