Pandemic News and Research

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A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.

Interactive dashboards improve hand hygiene compliance

Hand hygiene is the simplest, most effective way to prevent the spread of infections in healthcare, yet healthcare worker adherence is often low. Infection preventionists at two health systems will present their successful hand hygiene interventions at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology's (APIC's) Annual Conference in Orlando Florida, June 26-28.

27 Jun 2023

Hospitals urged to adopt new MRSA prevention strategies

A group of five medical organizations have released updated recommendations for the prevention of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA, transmission and infection. MRSA causes approximately 10% of hospital-associated infections in the United States and such infections are associated with an increased risk of death. Certain infections caused by MRSA rose by as much as 41% during the pandemic after falling in preceding years.

27 Jun 2023

Study reveals impact of age and variants on SARS-CoV-2 transmission: Insights from Toyama, Japan

Global spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants caused multiple epidemic waves. This study analyzes the effects of age and VOCs on transmission using contact tracing data in Toyama, Japan.

26 Jun 2023

Race- and gender-specific interventions may be more effective at preventing overdose deaths

Interventions to address stimulant and opioid use that consider race and gender may prove more effective at preventing overdose deaths than current methods, according to a Penn State-led team of researchers who studied how drug treatment admissions and overdose deaths differed among race and gender.

26 Jun 2023

Rubella elimination target extended to 2023 in Southeast Asia amid challenges

Study describes the progress toward eliminating rubella in the South-East Asia region (SEAR) of the World Health Organization (WHO).

26 Jun 2023

Berlin's senator for economic affairs, Franziska Giffey, and state secretary Michael Biel visit lab-tech company KNAUER

The management of KNAUER Wissenschaftliche Geräte GmbH, a well-known Berlin-based manufacturer of high-tech laboratory instruments.

From KNAUER Wissenschaftliche Geräte GmbH 26 Jun 2023

Nasal decolonization decreases pediatric MRSA rates by 50%

Facing persistent cases of hospital-onset Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) during the pandemic, the infection prevention and control (IPC) team at Children's Hospital New Orleans developed an inexpensive nasal decolonization regimen previously used only in their adult patients that decreased rates of MRSA by 50 percent. Their results are being presented at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology's (APIC's) Annual Conference in Orlando Florida, June 26-28.

26 Jun 2023

Hybrid immunity and vaccine Imprinting: Powerful defenses against Omicron reinfection

Recent research explores the impact of hybrid immunity and vaccine-only imprinting on omicron reinfection. Findings suggest effective protection and immune response in a long-term imprinted population.

25 Jun 2023

Child tax credit monthly payments linked to improved adult health and food security

Monthly cash payments to eligible families under the temporary pandemic-era expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit led to better adult health and food security, new UCLA-led research suggests.

25 Jun 2023

COVID-19: Excess deaths shifted from cities to rural areas in second year of pandemic

Between the first and second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, excess deaths decreased in large metropolitan counties and increased in rural counties in the United States, according to a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn).

23 Jun 2023

New model could help speed up vaccine distribution during pandemics

A model for optimizing the dispensing of vaccines during pandemics that uses a new measure of success for such efforts has been developed by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, the Ithaca campus of Cornell University, Singapore University of Technology and Design and San Jose State University in California.

23 Jun 2023

Prior exposure to air pollutants and black carbon load predicts outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Researchers investigated whether black carbon particles in the blood increased COVID-19 severity.

23 Jun 2023

An examination of whether long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with risk of COVID-19 and who is most susceptible

An examination of whether long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with risk of COVID-19

23 Jun 2023

Eating disorder and self-harm diagnosis surged during the COVID-19 pandemic: an urgent need for intervention

Researchers examined incidence rates of eating disorders and self-harm after the COVID-19 pandemic.

23 Jun 2023

New rapid automated viral plaque detection system enabled by holography and deep learning

In a new paper published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, a team of scientists led by Professor Aydogan Ozcan from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at UCLA and an associate director of the California NanoSystems Institute, developed a rapid, stain-free, and automated viral plaque detection system enabled by holography and deep learning.

23 Jun 2023

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Interactive dashboards improve hand hygiene compliance

Hospitals urged to adopt new MRSA prevention strategies

Study reveals impact of age and variants on SARS-CoV-2 transmission: Insights from Toyama, Japan

Race- and gender-specific interventions may be more effective at preventing overdose deaths

Rubella elimination target extended to 2023 in Southeast Asia amid challenges

Berlin's senator for economic affairs, Franziska Giffey, and state secretary Michael Biel visit lab-tech company KNAUER

Nasal decolonization decreases pediatric MRSA rates by 50%

Hybrid immunity and vaccine Imprinting: Powerful defenses against Omicron reinfection

Child tax credit monthly payments linked to improved adult health and food security

COVID-19: Excess deaths shifted from cities to rural areas in second year of pandemic

New model could help speed up vaccine distribution during pandemics

Prior exposure to air pollutants and black carbon load predicts outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

An examination of whether long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with risk of COVID-19 and who is most susceptible

Eating disorder and self-harm diagnosis surged during the COVID-19 pandemic: an urgent need for intervention

New rapid automated viral plaque detection system enabled by holography and deep learning

Viral clearance: A potential predictor of COVID-19 treatment efficacy

Pangolin study uncovers novel strains of coronaviruses and raises concerns about origin

Study examines the relationship between pre-existing disease and COVID-19 outcomes in the Midwest

New standard more effective at preventing graft-versus-host disease

What’s it really like to be HHS secretary? Three who’ve done it spill the beans

Best practices - optimize qPCR processes for pathogen detection eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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