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Research offers clues to how SARS-CoV-2 gets into respiratory tissue and exploits our defenses

What makes SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, such a threat? A new study, led by Jose Ordovas-Montanes, Ph.D. at Boston Children's Hospital and Alex K. Shalek, Ph.D. at MIT, pinpoints the likely cell types the virus infects.

22 Apr 2020

Is hydroxychloroquine effective against COVID-19?

Following the emergence of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China, in the last month of 2019, it has spread globally to produce the first pandemic of the 21st century. The virus, called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has already affected over 2.5 million and killed more than 177,000 people as of April 22, 2020.

22 Apr 2020

Pets have a low risk of transmitting multi-drug resistant bugs to owners, study finds

Zoonoses are diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans. About 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonoses, just like the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that’s caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Domesticated animals such as pets can carry parasites and other pathogens to people. However, a new study suggests that pets are not a significant source of transmission to humans.

21 Apr 2020

The influence of crowding on COVID-19 transmission dynamics

Researchers in the United States have analyzed the effects that geographic factors have on the spread of COVID-19 disease. They found that the epidemic intensity is significantly influenced by crowding, with epidemics in densely-populated cities lasting longer and having a more significant overall incidence.

21 Apr 2020

UMA researchers develop ventilator for COVID-19 patients

The ventilator, developed by researchers from the Medical Robotics Research Group of the University of Málaga in a record time of 20 days to strengthen health care response to COVID-19, is already being manufactured, after receiving authorization from the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices upon fulfilling all requirements for its approval.

21 Apr 2020

Modeling the spread and influence of COVID-19 in China

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic led Chinese researchers to model the course of the epidemic early in the year. Their study was published in the Journal of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

21 Apr 2020

Exploring how to maximize diagnostic accuracy of swallow study while minimizing risk

More than half a million children are diagnosed with swallowing problems each year. The gold standard for diagnosing swallowing problems is the videofluoroscopic swallow study, also known as the modified barium swallow study.

21 Apr 2020

Managing new-onset type 1 diabetes during COVID-19 pandemic with tele-diabetes

Two new case studies highlight the use of tele-diabetes to manage new-onset type 1 diabetes in an adult and an infant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

21 Apr 2020

Immunity to coronavirus infection may help stem the pandemic

The raging coronavirus pandemic is causing immense fear and uncertainty across the world. One of the most distressing aspects of COVID-19 disease is the seemingly large number of unknowns. These include the burning question of immunity. Does a person who was sick with the COVID-19 and then recovered or was infected without symptoms, have immunity against re-infection?

21 Apr 2020

Difference between flu and novel coronavirus disease

Both influenza and COVID-19 disease are caused by infectious respiratory agents and cause symptoms that can look quite similar. Coronaviruses cause both. So, what’s the difference?

21 Apr 2020

Army doctors develop COVID-19 isolation chamber to protect health care providers

Army doctors working at hospitals within the Defense Health Agency have prototyped an isolation chamber that can be placed over the head and chest of patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

21 Apr 2020

New study may offer a breakthrough in treating telomere diseases

Capping decades of research, a new study may offer a breakthrough in treating dyskeratosis congenita and other so-called telomere diseases, in which cells age prematurely.

21 Apr 2020

Deep learning model can make dentists' work easier

In order to plan a dental implant operation and the implant size and position, dentists need to know the exact location of the mandibular canal, a canal located in both sides of the lower jaw that contains the alveolar nerve.

21 Apr 2020

Non-invasive, low-cost ventilator developed for regions with limited means

Researchers from the Biophysics and Bioengineering Unit of the UB have created a non-invasive low-cost ventilator, to support patients with respiratory diseases in areas with limited means.

21 Apr 2020

Many phase II trials overestimate drug efficacy, pose a barrier in drug licensing

Based on a systematic analysis of trials related to rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis arthritis, a MedUni Vienna study group at the Division of Rheumatology at MedUni Vienna/Vienna General Hospital was able to show that many clinical phase II trials systematically overestimate the efficacy of therapeutics, so that the results of subsequent phase III trials can often be disappointing. Essentially this situation also applies in many other areas.

21 Apr 2020

‘It hurts our soul’: Nursing home workers struggle with thankless position

In the months before county health officials ordered the evacuation of COVID-19-plagued Magnolia Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, the facility's employees complained of bounced checks.

21 Apr 2020

A switch to Medicaid managed care worries some Illinois foster families

Rebecca and Bruce Austin in central Illinois have six kids — ranging in age from 4 to 22.

21 Apr 2020

How Hong Kong reduced COVID-19 transmission

Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, many countries across the globe have imposed lockdowns in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus. Still, some countries have not opted for lockdowns, and community quarantines, and still are doing well. Hong Kong, for one, appears to have averted a major COVID-19 outbreak despite not imposing lockdown.

21 Apr 2020

McKelvey engineers receive federal funding for rapid COVID-19 test

Engineers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have received federal funding for a rapid COVID-19 test using a newly developed technology.

20 Apr 2020

Mutations in novel coronavirus make it more dangerous

A new report published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 reveals that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 shows the presence of new mutations acquired within infected human cases, which significantly increase its ability to cause human disease.

20 Apr 2020