Pandemic News and Research

RSS

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.

Addition of wound care nurse to prone-positioning team reduces the odds of pressure injuries in patients

The addition of a certified wound and skin care nurse to a multiprofessional prone-positioning team at Penn Medicine Princeton Health significantly reduced the odds of patients with COVID-19 developing pressure injuries, according to a study published in American Journal of Critical Care.

5 Jan 2022

Scientists estimate transmission advantage of Omicron over Delta variant as +105%

Researchers use statistical models to assess the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron using variant-specific screening tests and genome sequencing.

5 Jan 2022

Distrust in state power closely linked vaccine hesitancy

Distrust of the state in Turkey, religion and abortion resistance in the United States. Politics and culture are just as important in explaining vaccine hesitancy as health.

5 Jan 2022

Anti-fogging sprays and cloths may contain high levels of PFAS, finds study

The anti-fogging sprays and cloths many people use to prevent condensation on their eyeglasses when wearing a mask or face shield may contain high levels of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), a new Duke University-led study finds.

5 Jan 2022

Homeschooling improved sleep and health-related quality of life for teenagers

The school closures in spring 2020 had a negative effect on the health and well-being of many young people.

5 Jan 2022

Impact of delaying the lifting of SARS-CoV-2 lockdown restrictions

New study findings provided critical insights into competitive behavior and the relative transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 variants, which could be used for planning responses to future emerging variants and exploring co-infections with different strains of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus.

5 Jan 2022

Exploring SARS-CoV-2-like viruses to mitigate the risk of zoonotic transmission to humans

In a new study, a team of researchers developed a genetic assay to evaluate several clade 2 and clade 3 receptor-binding domains (RBD) of spike (S) protein sequences of genus sarbecovirus.

5 Jan 2022

Public attitudes to the COVID-19 pandemic during the emergence of the Omicron variant

Researchers from Swansea University have been investigating public attitudes to the pandemic.

5 Jan 2022

Oral bacteria-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine platform

In a new study, researchers engineered the bacterial strain, Salmonella, to express differently-sized antigens to serve as vaccine platforms.

5 Jan 2022

COVID-19 mitigation behaviors and vaccination status prediction via delay discounting and future orientation

New data imply that cognitive characteristics such as future-oriented thinking, evaluative processing, and behavioral control are linked to the likelihood of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and predict more consistent mitigation behavior implementation.

5 Jan 2022

Can the COVID-19 delta variant evade vaccine-induced immunity?

Can the COVID-19 delta variant evade vaccine-induced immunity? We spoke to Professor Brian J. Willett from the University of Glasgow to find out.

5 Jan 2022

mRNA booster vaccine confers strong protection against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in cancer patients

A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv* server reports the induction of high neutralizing activity in these patients against the Omicron VOC with a booster dose.

5 Jan 2022

Scientists provide a structural framework for Omicron immune evasion and ACE2 receptor recognition

An interesting preprint research paper describes structural changes resulting from the multiple mutations found in the recent Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent behind the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In addition, the research describes the consequent effects of these changes on Omicron’s infectivity and immune evasion capabilities.

5 Jan 2022

Transplant recipients benefit from a COVID-19 vaccine booster

A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv* server describes the reduction in humoral immunity in SOTR following vaccination, as well as the improvement with an additional dose of the vaccine.

4 Jan 2022

Novel insight into the immune characteristics of bats

Many studies have indicated that bats are significant reservoirs of innumerable viruses, such as influenza, coronaviruses, and rabies. These studies have also reported that bats predominantly remain asymptomatic or develop mild diseases during viral infections caused by henipaviruses, Ebola virus, coronaviruses, etc.

4 Jan 2022

Birth during the pandemic associated with slightly lower scores in infants' motor and social skills

Columbia researchers found that babies born during the pandemic's first year scored lower on a developmental screening test of social and motor skills at 6 months - regardless of whether their mothers had COVID during pregnancy - compared to babies born just before the pandemic.

4 Jan 2022

BNT162b2 provides low vaccine responders adequate anti-spike and neutralizing antibodies to prevent SARS-CoV-2

A new study, published on the medRxiv* preprint server, investigated the changes in SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels among HCWs after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The study also assessed whether low responders produced sufficient SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike and neutralizing antibodies.

4 Jan 2022

Children with chronic illness or special education needs require more support with online learning

Online learning poses additional challenges to children with chronic medical conditions or special education needs, and these patients could benefit from more support from pediatric clinicians to be academically successful, according to a new opinion piece in JAMA Pediatrics released today and co-written by researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Medicine.

4 Jan 2022

Oxford researchers demonstrate the feasibility of increasing the speed and volume of vaccine production

The University of Oxford's vaccine manufacturing research team has today published a pre-print paper demonstrating the feasibility of a step change in the speed and volume of production of adenovirus-vectored vaccines against new virus variants or other future pandemics.

4 Jan 2022

Study finds no evidence to link in-person schooling and SARS-CoV-2 community incidence

A new study led by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York shows that COVID-19 incidence rates were not statistically different in counties with in-person learning versus remote school modes in most regions of the U.S.

4 Jan 2022

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Addition of wound care nurse to prone-positioning team reduces the odds of pressure injuries in patients

Scientists estimate transmission advantage of Omicron over Delta variant as +105%

Distrust in state power closely linked vaccine hesitancy

Anti-fogging sprays and cloths may contain high levels of PFAS, finds study

Homeschooling improved sleep and health-related quality of life for teenagers

Impact of delaying the lifting of SARS-CoV-2 lockdown restrictions

Exploring SARS-CoV-2-like viruses to mitigate the risk of zoonotic transmission to humans

Public attitudes to the COVID-19 pandemic during the emergence of the Omicron variant

Oral bacteria-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine platform

COVID-19 mitigation behaviors and vaccination status prediction via delay discounting and future orientation

Can the COVID-19 delta variant evade vaccine-induced immunity?

mRNA booster vaccine confers strong protection against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron in cancer patients

Scientists provide a structural framework for Omicron immune evasion and ACE2 receptor recognition

Transplant recipients benefit from a COVID-19 vaccine booster

Novel insight into the immune characteristics of bats

Birth during the pandemic associated with slightly lower scores in infants' motor and social skills

BNT162b2 provides low vaccine responders adequate anti-spike and neutralizing antibodies to prevent SARS-CoV-2

Children with chronic illness or special education needs require more support with online learning

Oxford researchers demonstrate the feasibility of increasing the speed and volume of vaccine production

Study finds no evidence to link in-person schooling and SARS-CoV-2 community incidence

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

Latest News