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.

In rural America, twisting arms to take a covid vaccine first takes trust

Lee Wright was hard at work, constructing a nail salon near the city's abandoned hospital, when Jody Johnson stopped by to introduce himself on a recent afternoon.

16 Aug 2021

Obtained SARS-CoV-2 immunity, naturally or via vaccination persists 12 months

In a research paper recently uploaded to the preprint server medRxiv* by Havervall et al. (August 12th, 2021), neutralizing antibody titers towards wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and several variants of concern in individuals having either been vaccinated or infected with mild COVID-19 one year earlier are assessed, finding a reduced neutralization capacity against some strains.

16 Aug 2021

Response to a third SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose amongst immunocompromised

In a research paper recently uploaded to the preprint server medRxiv* by Schrezenmeier et al. (August 12th, 2021) the potential benefit of three vaccine doses in either a homogenous or heterogeneous dosing regimen amongst kidney transplant patients is assessed, finding that the search for viable vaccination approaches amongst these patients remains an urgent medical need.

16 Aug 2021

More than one in ten COVID-19 patients acquired the virus in a hospital during UK's first wave

More than one in ten COVID-19 patients in 314 UK hospitals caught the infection in hospital during the first pandemic wave say researchers conducting the world's largest study of severe COVID-19.

16 Aug 2021

Study explores how racial minorities have been unequally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

Racial minorities comprise around a quarter of Utah's population but represent a third of COVID-19 cases in the state. A similar story has played out across the country. Why have racial minorities been unequally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?

16 Aug 2021

New system combines computer software and cryo-EM to determine 3D structures of RNA-only molecules

The single-stranded genetic material RNA is best known for guiding the assembly of proteins in our cells and carrying the genetic code for viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and HIV.

16 Aug 2021

Research suggests toll-like receptor 4 appears to play role in severe COVID

A group of researchers re-evaluated their previously proposed hypothesis, which stated that the TLR4 activated by the spike glycoprotein S1 domain increases ACE2 expression and, thereby, aids in COVID-19 infection.

16 Aug 2021

Modeling the spread and development of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in the US

In a research paper recently uploaded to the medRxiv* preprint server, high-resolution contact data is utilized to characterize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission in the USA, considering infections' mobility and seasonality and vaccination status seroprevalence within the population.

15 Aug 2021

COVID-19 prevention strategies for the U.S. food industry

A new study discusses the measures that should be taken to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 among food industry workers.

15 Aug 2021

World-first trial of third dose COVID-19 booster vaccine shows improved protection in transplant patients

Scientists with the Ajmera Transplant Centre at UHN have conducted a first-in-the-world randomized placebo-controlled trial of third dose COVID-19 booster vaccine for transplant patients that shows substantially improved protection.

14 Aug 2021

Study exposes the dire need for new clinical risk management tools to prevent COVID-19 deaths

A new study exposes the dire need for new clinical risk management tools to help hospital healthcare workers prevent the deaths and intensive care admissions of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) COVID-19 patients with pneumonia, say researchers.

13 Aug 2021

UC Davis joins with Pfizer for COVID-19 booster vaccine trial

As COVID-19 booster shots begin for those with compromised immune systems, researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine continue to collect data from clinical trial participants.

13 Aug 2021

Emergency Department sees a significant increase in COVID-19 cases during August 2021

The Emergency Department (ED) at UC Davis Medical Center saw a 33% increase in COVID-19 patients during the first week of August, providing treatment for 107 patients, up from 80 patients the week before.

13 Aug 2021

Excess COVID-19 cases, deaths in the U.S. may be attributable to PM2.5 pollution from wildfires

Thousands of COVID-19 cases and deaths in California, Oregon, and Washington between March and December 2020 may be attributable to increases in fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) from wildfire smoke, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

13 Aug 2021

‘I don’t want to risk my life for a paycheck’: Immunosuppressed people grapple with returning to work

Elizabeth Groenweghe got a kidney transplant 14 years ago. She now takes several medications to prevent her body from rejecting her transplant organ. But these medications also weaken her immune system, putting her at higher risk of becoming seriously ill if she catches covid-19.

13 Aug 2021

L452R mutations may have triggered the emergence of several COVID-19 variants

Most of the recently risen coronavirus variants of interest or concern -- delta, kappa, epsilon, iota and lambda -- are universally carrying a mutation in amino acid L452 of the Spike protein that helps the virus bind to host cells.

13 Aug 2021

Study: Empty football stadiums have a huge negative effect on the success of home teams

Playing professional football games in empty stadiums had a hugely negative effect on the success of home teams, with home advantage almost halved, new research shows.

13 Aug 2021

Scientists document person-to-person transmission of antimicrobial-resistant pneumonic plague

Although the world is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many other dangerous pathogens still out there, like Yersinia pestis, which causes plague – the deadly disease that killed tens of millions of people during the infamous Black Death in the 14th century.

13 Aug 2021

UK Emergency Medical Team deployed to support Tunisian healthcare services in tackling Covid-19 crisis

Following a request from the Tunisian Government, experts from the UK’s Emergency Medical Team (UK EMT), supported by the UK-Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) have arrived in Tunisia today (13 August) to help the country tackle their COVID-19 crisis.

13 Aug 2021

WHO outlines the next series of studies on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 virus

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO has been working with the Member States and the scientific community to better understand how this pandemic began so that we can be better prepared for the next one.

13 Aug 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

In rural America, twisting arms to take a covid vaccine first takes trust

Obtained SARS-CoV-2 immunity, naturally or via vaccination persists 12 months

Response to a third SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose amongst immunocompromised

More than one in ten COVID-19 patients acquired the virus in a hospital during UK's first wave

Study explores how racial minorities have been unequally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

New system combines computer software and cryo-EM to determine 3D structures of RNA-only molecules

Research suggests toll-like receptor 4 appears to play role in severe COVID

Modeling the spread and development of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in the US

COVID-19 prevention strategies for the U.S. food industry

World-first trial of third dose COVID-19 booster vaccine shows improved protection in transplant patients

Study exposes the dire need for new clinical risk management tools to prevent COVID-19 deaths

UC Davis joins with Pfizer for COVID-19 booster vaccine trial

Emergency Department sees a significant increase in COVID-19 cases during August 2021

Excess COVID-19 cases, deaths in the U.S. may be attributable to PM2.5 pollution from wildfires

‘I don’t want to risk my life for a paycheck’: Immunosuppressed people grapple with returning to work

L452R mutations may have triggered the emergence of several COVID-19 variants

Study: Empty football stadiums have a huge negative effect on the success of home teams

Scientists document person-to-person transmission of antimicrobial-resistant pneumonic plague

UK Emergency Medical Team deployed to support Tunisian healthcare services in tackling Covid-19 crisis

WHO outlines the next series of studies on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 virus

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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