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.

Does cross-immunity exist between SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.28 and P.1 variants?

A team of researchers recently cross-tested severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies to assess their neutralization activity against different variants. The team recently released their findings as a preprint on the medRxiv* server.

20 May 2021

SARS-CoV-2 variant spread study in France shows B.1.351/V2 variant outgrowing B.1.1.7/V1 variant

A recent study by researchers in France has compared the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern. The team found a significant transmission advantage of V2 (from lineage B.1.351) over V1 (from lineage B.1.1.7). A pre-print version of the research paper is available on the medRxiv* server.

20 May 2021

Stark racial disparities persist in vaccinations, state-level CDC data shows

Black Americans’ covid-19 vaccination rates are still lagging months into the nation's campaign, while Hispanics are closing the gap and Native Americans show the highest rates overall, according to federal data obtained by KHN.

20 May 2021

Seed money: Black entrepreneurs hope pandemic gardening boom will grow healthier eating

Ietef Vita had planned to spend most of 2020 on the road, promoting "Biomimicz," the album the rapper had released on his #plantbasedrecords label in January.

20 May 2021

Despite pandemic, Newsom declines to boost local public health budgets — again

In spite of a pandemic that has killed about 62,000 Californians — more than enough to pack Dodger Stadium — Gov. Gavin Newsom has again declined to boost the budgets of the state's underfunded and understaffed local public health departments.

20 May 2021

Could graphene oxide nanosheets be an effective SARS-CoV-2 antiviral in PPE?

A new study has been published in Small, which has combined in silico and in vitro analysis to examine if graphene oxide (GO) sheets have an inhibitory effect against SARS‐CoV‐2 surface proteins.

20 May 2021

Tokyo sees rapid rise of SARS-CoV-2 R.1 lineage

A new research paper posted to the preprint server medRxiv* reports the rise of a new lineage in Tokyo, Japan, bearing a combination of two biologically important mutations.

20 May 2021

Extensive cancer research data to be presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, a leader in cutting-edge clinical trials and health outcomes analyses and a designated Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute, together with RWJBarnabas Health, today announced that data from its cancer clinical research program will be presented at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, to be held virtually from June 4-8.

20 May 2021

Plant-produced COVID-19 vaccine shows potent immunogenic profile in humans

An interim report on a phase 2 clinical trial indicates both the safety and efficacy of a plant-produced virus-like particle vaccine candidate against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The vaccine candidate has shown an acceptable safety profile and high potency in inducing humoral and cellular immune responses in adults (18 – 64 years) and elderly (65 years and above) individuals. The report is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

20 May 2021

Four months of multi-drug therapy for tuberculosis is as effective as standard regimen

Four months of multi-drug therapy that included rifapentine and moxifloxacin treated active tuberculosis (TB) as effectively as the standard six-month regimen in a multinational study, cutting treatment time by a third.

20 May 2021

Childhood immunization rates in Texas declined sharply during COVID-19 pandemic

Despite expert recommendations that children continue to get regularly scheduled vaccines during the pandemic, vaccination rates have decreased in several states.

20 May 2021

Philly CEAL team receives NIH grant to extend COVID-19 outreach

José A. Bauermeister, PhD, and Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, are leading one of 10 new research teams from across the country that received National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants totaling $14 million to extend the reach of the NIH's Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities.

20 May 2021

Study addresses “leaky pipeline” that prevents Black medical students in reaching their residency goals

Self-affirmation, the practice of reflecting upon one's most important values, can aid Black medical students in reaching their residency goals. But conversely, it can lead to the perception that they are less qualified for a prestigious residency than their peers.

20 May 2021

New pan-European survey explores the effect of COVID-19 restrictions on physical, mental health

A new pan-European survey funded by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee exploring the impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns and associated restrictions (in those countries where there has been no Lockdown), has found that nearly two thirds of adults (61%) expressed concern about their worsening mood; two times higher than those concerned about physical inactivity (24%).

20 May 2021

Study confirms that human endocrine system is strongly involved in SARS-Cov-2 infection

The endocrine system is strongly involved in SARS-Cov-2 infection - so much so that evidence of an "endocrine phenotype" of COVID-19 has emerged, according to a statement by the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) published in the journal Endocrine in April 2021.

20 May 2021

Antithrombotic endothelial dysfunction is prevented by Tie2 activation in severe COVID-19

Researchers from the US recently assessed if severe COVID-19 is linked to procoagulant dysfunction of the endothelium and changes in the Tie2-angiopoietin axis. They assessed circulating endothelial markers in a study cohort of 98 patients with mild, moderate, or severe COVID-19. This study is published on the medRxiv* preprint server.

19 May 2021

Working conditions and non-workplace factors affect COVID-19 mortality in England

Researchers from England recently estimated occupational variations in COVID-19 mortality in England and Wales during 2020 and examined how these differences changed post adjustment for non-workplace factors.

19 May 2021

Human monoclonal antibodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in an Fc-independent manner

Researchers from Israel recently isolated a set of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing monoclonal antibodies from blood samples of patients with severe COVID-19. They were the first to show that transgenic K18-hACE2 mice infected with lethal doses of SARS-CoV-2 can be fully protected by administering antibodies even 3 days after infection

19 May 2021

B.1.1.7 not associated with change in serial interval of COVID-19

With data obtained from the Virus Watch study in England and Wales, researchers found that the serial interval of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is broadly similar to estimates from previous studies and there is no evidence that the B.1.1.7 variant is associated with any change.

19 May 2021

COVID-19 pandemic presents the "perfect storm" for intimate partner violence, domestic abuse

In an article published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, experts stress that the COVID-19 pandemic presents the "perfect storm" for family violence, where a set of rare circumstances have combined to aggravate intimate partner violence, domestic abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse.

19 May 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Does cross-immunity exist between SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.28 and P.1 variants?

SARS-CoV-2 variant spread study in France shows B.1.351/V2 variant outgrowing B.1.1.7/V1 variant

Stark racial disparities persist in vaccinations, state-level CDC data shows

Seed money: Black entrepreneurs hope pandemic gardening boom will grow healthier eating

Despite pandemic, Newsom declines to boost local public health budgets — again

Could graphene oxide nanosheets be an effective SARS-CoV-2 antiviral in PPE?

Tokyo sees rapid rise of SARS-CoV-2 R.1 lineage

Extensive cancer research data to be presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting

Plant-produced COVID-19 vaccine shows potent immunogenic profile in humans

Four months of multi-drug therapy for tuberculosis is as effective as standard regimen

Childhood immunization rates in Texas declined sharply during COVID-19 pandemic

Philly CEAL team receives NIH grant to extend COVID-19 outreach

Study addresses “leaky pipeline” that prevents Black medical students in reaching their residency goals

New pan-European survey explores the effect of COVID-19 restrictions on physical, mental health

Study confirms that human endocrine system is strongly involved in SARS-Cov-2 infection

Antithrombotic endothelial dysfunction is prevented by Tie2 activation in severe COVID-19

Working conditions and non-workplace factors affect COVID-19 mortality in England

Human monoclonal antibodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in an Fc-independent manner

B.1.1.7 not associated with change in serial interval of COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic presents the "perfect storm" for intimate partner violence, domestic abuse

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