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.

SARS-CoV-2 spike engagement of ACE2 shown to prime S2′ site cleavage and fusion initiation

In a new study, researchers used a cell-cell fusion assay to extract potentially cleaved spike protein products from syncytia in order to explore the functional and biochemical characteristics of spike (S) protein when it engages its receptor ACE2 in living cells.

10 Jan 2022

Association of vaccination status with Long COVID symptoms

Scientists examined whether vaccination was associated with reporting long-term symptoms post-SARS-CoV-2 infection.

10 Jan 2022

Strategy for capturing SARS-CoV-2 through functionalized cellulose materials

Researchers from Northeastern University have developed a new, more cost-effective method for immobilizing SARS-CoV-2.

10 Jan 2022

SARS-CoV-2 Delta sublineage AY.4.2 shows no increase in cell entry or antibody evasion

Researchers from Germany, in their recent study published in the journal Cellular & Molecular Immunology, have evaluated the mutations in the S protein of one such SARS-CoV-2 strain, a Delta sublineage AY.4.2, which is currently expanding in the UK, and have found that it neither contains any potential for increased cell entry nor antibody escape.

10 Jan 2022

New lab-on-a-chip platform for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in resource-limited settings

A recent study shows how a novel and integrated lab-on-a-chip platform can represent a rapid, affordable, and exact molecular diagnostic tool for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The paper is currently available for free on the medRxiv* preprint server while it undergoes peer review.

9 Jan 2022

NYBC discovers novel small-molecule pancoronavirus fusion inhibitors

New York Blood Center has published a study that reports the discovery of highly potent small molecules with the ability to inhibit COVID-19 in infected individuals.

9 Jan 2022

History of SARS-CoV-2 infection affects longitudinal responses to BNT162b2 vaccine

In a recently published article in the journal Cell Reports, scientists have demonstrated that individuals with or without a history of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exhibit differential humoral and cellular immune responses 14 days after receiving mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech. However, at a later time point, the responses become comparable between the two groups.

9 Jan 2022

Engineered small extracellular vesicles for the neutralization of SARS-CoV-2

Characterizing these engineered sEVs, the researchers demonstrated that the soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (sACE-2) loaded sEV successfully binds and thus inhibits the entry of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 as well as its variants, protecting against SARS-CoV-2 infection. They also demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of these engineered sEVs in vivo.

9 Jan 2022

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant uses endosomal entry pathway and grows in upper respiratory tract cells

Researchers demonstrate that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant grows rapidly in human primary nasal epithelial cultures.

9 Jan 2022

New Better Health campaign launched to encourage families to eat better

Families will be given support to help to improve the diets of their children through a new campaign as the new statistics reveal the number of parents giving unhealthy snacks to their children has increased during the pandemic.

9 Jan 2022

Emerging SARS-CoV-2 B.1.619 and B.1.620 variants in South Korea

Researchers investigate the spread and transmission ability of SARS-CoV-2 lineages B.1.619 and B.1.620 in South Korea.

9 Jan 2022

SARS‑CoV‑2 Omicron variant escapes monoclonal antibodies

Researchers determine the neutralizing activity of four mAbs against ten strains of SARS-CoV-2.

9 Jan 2022

Lab engineered human A549 lung cell model conducive for investigating SARS-CoV-2 antivirals

Researchers developed a human A549 lung epithelial cell-based model to probe SARS-CoV-2 replication.

9 Jan 2022

Slight pH adjustment may turn a metabolic inhibiting drug into promising COVID-19 treatment

Mechanical engineering and materials science professor David Needham has shown that a slight increase in solution pH might be all it takes to turn a metabolic inhibiting drug, traditionally used to treat gut parasites, into a promising prophylactic/preventative nasal spray and early treatment throat spray for COVID-19.

7 Jan 2022

ED visits for pediatric poisonings increased nine times following cannabis legalization

Ontario saw nine times more emergency department (ED) visits per month for cannabis poisonings in young children under the age of 10 after Canada legalized recreational cannabis, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

7 Jan 2022

Researchers analyze the role of self-deception in everyday life

A philosophy team from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and the University of Antwerp analyzed the role self-deception plays in everyday life and the strategies people use to deceive themselves.

7 Jan 2022

Vaccinated mothers transfer SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to their breastfed infants

Women vaccinated against COVID-19 transfer SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to their breastfed infants, potentially giving their babies passive immunity against the coronavirus, according to University of Massachusetts Amherst research.

7 Jan 2022

Supreme Court weighs Biden’s workplace vaccine requirements

The Supreme Court on Friday took up one of the most contentious issues of the covid-19 pandemic, hearing a series of cases challenging the Biden administration's authority to require workers to get a covid vaccine or be tested for the virus regularly.

7 Jan 2022

N95 respirators can be safely re-used up to 25 times after VHP decontamination

N95 respirators are commonly used in hospitals worldwide to protect healthcare personnel from infectious pathogens. During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities have experienced shortages of the respirators, forcing personnel to re-use them or resort to less protective masking alternatives.

7 Jan 2022

December 2021 nTIDE report: Job numbers for people with disabilities remain above pre-pandemic levels

Despite a small decline in December, the job numbers for people with disabilities remained above pre-pandemic levels, according to today's National Trends in Disability Employment – Monthly Update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD).

7 Jan 2022

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

SARS-CoV-2 spike engagement of ACE2 shown to prime S2′ site cleavage and fusion initiation

Association of vaccination status with Long COVID symptoms

Strategy for capturing SARS-CoV-2 through functionalized cellulose materials

SARS-CoV-2 Delta sublineage AY.4.2 shows no increase in cell entry or antibody evasion

New lab-on-a-chip platform for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in resource-limited settings

NYBC discovers novel small-molecule pancoronavirus fusion inhibitors

History of SARS-CoV-2 infection affects longitudinal responses to BNT162b2 vaccine

Engineered small extracellular vesicles for the neutralization of SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant uses endosomal entry pathway and grows in upper respiratory tract cells

New Better Health campaign launched to encourage families to eat better

Emerging SARS-CoV-2 B.1.619 and B.1.620 variants in South Korea

SARS‑CoV‑2 Omicron variant escapes monoclonal antibodies

Lab engineered human A549 lung cell model conducive for investigating SARS-CoV-2 antivirals

Slight pH adjustment may turn a metabolic inhibiting drug into promising COVID-19 treatment

ED visits for pediatric poisonings increased nine times following cannabis legalization

Researchers analyze the role of self-deception in everyday life

Vaccinated mothers transfer SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to their breastfed infants

Supreme Court weighs Biden’s workplace vaccine requirements

N95 respirators can be safely re-used up to 25 times after VHP decontamination

December 2021 nTIDE report: Job numbers for people with disabilities remain above pre-pandemic levels

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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