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.

New network model may be used to form effective strategies to contain infectious diseases

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have performed numerical simulations based on network theory which show how numbers of infections in a pandemic change when a new variant emerges.

21 Feb 2022

Omicron surge linked to rise in January unemployment

Unemployment rose for people with and without disabilities as the surge in the omicron variant affected the labor market in January, according to today's National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) COVID Update.

21 Feb 2022

Emergence of new HIV variant underscores importance of monitoring virus mutations

A new study published in the journal Science reported the presence of a subtype-B variant of HIV-1 with remarkably high virulence, circulating in the Netherlands during the past two decades.

20 Feb 2022

The relative contagiousness of the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants

A new study, available on the arXiv* server, proposes a simple dynamic model for estimating the relative contagiousness of two variants of SARS-CoV-2, namely Alpha and Delta. Furthermore, it demonstrates how to compute the effective reproduction number for a new variant without contemporaneous sequencing results. This is important to assess the state of the pandemic in real-time.

20 Feb 2022

Full schedule of CoronaVac vaccine shown to be highly effective in children

A recent study on vaccine effectiveness showed that a complete primary immunization with CoronaVac effectively protects against severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) for children and adolescents between 6 and 16 years of age – consistent with the results from phase 2 clinical trials. The paper is currently available on the Preprints with The Lancet* server while it undergoes peer review.

20 Feb 2022

Gradual decline in pathogenicity and enhanced cytokine induction in SARS-CoV-2 variants

A new study focuses on understanding the factors associated with the ability of the Omicron variant to infect a wide range of age groups.

20 Feb 2022

N-glycosylation blockers reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new Virology study shows that the N-glycosylation pattern of SARS-CoV-2 is crucial to normal spike activity.

20 Feb 2022

Mechanism of fatty-acid coupled adaptive immunity in SARS-CoV-2 revealed

A new study explains how SARS-CoV-2 adapts its immunogenicity to the immune response of the host.

20 Feb 2022

Four times as many children hospitalized during Omicron COVID wave compared to Delta

The emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variants caused severe disease and hospitalizations among children and adolescents.

20 Feb 2022

Historical trauma, transgression shape Black and Indigenous Americans’ views about outdoor recreation

The closure of a gate at a national wildlife refuge in Denver about a decade ago ensured protection for bison, bald eagles and other wildlife inside, but also created a physical and metaphorical barrier for people living in diverse communities just outside the fence.

18 Feb 2022

T-cell responses linked with protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection in vaccinated individuals with or without cancer

T-cell responses directed against the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein were associated with protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection in vaccinated individuals with or without cancer, with lower T-cell responses observed in patients with blood cancers.

18 Feb 2022

Prescribing of ineffective COVID drugs could have been influenced by political affiliation

Two treatments that have been shown to be ineffective against COVID-19—hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin—were more heavily prescribed in the latter part of 2020 in U.S. counties with a higher Republican vote share in the 2020 presidential election, according to a new research letter co-authored by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

18 Feb 2022

U-M's COVID-19 dashboard: Majority of the campus community up to date on vaccinations

A majority of students, faculty and staff at the University of Michigan have been verified as up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations, according to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard, which now includes booster status for the campus community.

18 Feb 2022

Inmates who died asked for release before falling ill with covid

Rory Adams did not know that Christmas in a small rural hospital in West Virginia would be the last time he saw his wife alive. She'd entered prison in early January 2021 to serve a 42-month sentence for failure to collect payroll taxes.

18 Feb 2022

VA researchers shine light on the dangerous mental health consequences of COVID-19

The most menacing fallout from COVID-19 often shows itself only after the initial "acute" infection passes. A team of VA researchers has been shining a light on various dangerous and enduring consequences that can arise following the initial COVID bout. These COVID complications include mental health disorders.

18 Feb 2022

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

New network model may be used to form effective strategies to contain infectious diseases

Omicron surge linked to rise in January unemployment

Emergence of new HIV variant underscores importance of monitoring virus mutations

The relative contagiousness of the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants

Full schedule of CoronaVac vaccine shown to be highly effective in children

Gradual decline in pathogenicity and enhanced cytokine induction in SARS-CoV-2 variants

N-glycosylation blockers reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection

Mechanism of fatty-acid coupled adaptive immunity in SARS-CoV-2 revealed

Four times as many children hospitalized during Omicron COVID wave compared to Delta

Historical trauma, transgression shape Black and Indigenous Americans’ views about outdoor recreation

T-cell responses linked with protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection in vaccinated individuals with or without cancer

Prescribing of ineffective COVID drugs could have been influenced by political affiliation

U-M's COVID-19 dashboard: Majority of the campus community up to date on vaccinations

Inmates who died asked for release before falling ill with covid

VA researchers shine light on the dangerous mental health consequences of COVID-19

The ability of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 variant

Meta-analysis of population-based seroprevalence studies to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Africa

Response of peripheral immune cells to ex vivo SARS-CoV-2 exposure compared to SARS-CoV

Study explores efficacy of mRNA vaccine booster doses during the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron wave

Immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety of BNT162b2 or mRNA1273 fourth dose

Best practices - optimize qPCR processes for pathogen detection eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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