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.

Systematic review explores the effects of ivermectin in preventing and treating COVID-19

Ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasites such as scabies in humans and intestinal helminths in cattle, was screened in 2020 for activity against COVID-19. Laboratory tests suggested a weak effect on SARS-CoV-2 virus in a test tube but did not seem feasible in humans as the doses needed would be large.

28 Jul 2021

China earns a malaria-free certification from WHO

Following a 70-year effort, China has been awarded a malaria-free certification from WHO – a notable feat for a country that reported 30 million cases of the disease annually in the 1940s.

28 Jul 2021

Global leaders come together in a joint call for new international pandemic treaty

The international community should work together "towards a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response" to build a more robust global health architecture that will protect future generations, world leaders said in a commentary published today in several newspapers around the world.

28 Jul 2021

Sign-up window for free COBRA coverage for many laid-off workers closes this week

After being laid off from her job as a systems analyst for a specialty chemicals company in December, Gabriela de Pompignan opted to hang on to her former employer's insurance coverage under the federal law known as COBRA.

28 Jul 2021

How do people with post acute sequelae of COVID-19 react to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines?

A new study focuses on the impact of vaccines on the changes in the symptoms in the PASC group.

27 Jul 2021

Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in renal transplant and dialysis patients using Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines

A study analyzes the immune responses of medical personnel, as well as immunocompromised DP and immunosuppressed KTR patients.

27 Jul 2021

T cells are not critical for recovery of primates from acute COVID-19 infections, study reveals

New research conducted in monkeys reveals that T cells are not critical for the recovery of primates from acute COVID-19 infections.

27 Jul 2021

Impaired immune response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in immunocompromised patients

A new study describes how immunocompromised vaccine recipients may not always respond as expected to the COVID-19 vaccine.

27 Jul 2021

Researchers warn against relaxing Covid-19 restrictions prematurely

Relaxing Covid-19 restrictions could pave the way for new vaccine-resistant virus mutations – according to researchers at the University of East Anglia and the Earlham Institute.

27 Jul 2021

Off-season resurgence of respiratory viruses poses a threat to vulnerable infants

Canada should anticipate a resurgence of a childhood respiratory virus as COVID-19 physical distancing measures are relaxed, authors warn in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

27 Jul 2021

Amount of testing matters more than the sensitivity of COVID-19 tests

A computational analysis of COVID-19 tests suggests that, in order to minimize the number of infections in a population, the amount of testing matters more than the sensitivity of the tests that are used. Philip Cherian and Gautam Menon of Ashoka University in Sonipat, India, and Sandeep Krishna of the National Centre for Biological Sciences TIFR, Bangalore, India, present their findings in the open-access journal PLOS Computational Biology.

27 Jul 2021

Measurement of death needs to be improved to save lives in future

In a world dealing with the worst public health crisis in a century, the current U.S. system for tracking deaths suffers from organizational, political and procedural flaws that actually put public health and safety at risk, and requires significant updates and reform to solve the problems laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic.

27 Jul 2021

How a doctor breaks norms to treat refugees and recent immigrants

Fatumo Osman, a 65-year-old Somali refugee who speaks limited English, was in a bind. She made too much money at a meal prep service job so she no longer qualified for Medicaid.

27 Jul 2021

PerkinElmer to Acquire Antibody and Reagent Leader BioLegend

PerkinElmer, Inc. today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire BioLegend, a leading, global provider of life science antibodies and reagents.

From Revvity 27 Jul 2021

Scientists identify an antiviral metabolite as a potential serum biomarker for SARS-CoV-2 infection

Scientists from the UK have recently identified an antiviral metabolite 3'-Deoxy-3',4'-didehydro-cytidine as a potential serum biomarker to diagnose active severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server while awaiting peer review.

27 Jul 2021

SARS-CoV-2 interacts with unusual RNA structures in human cells

The study, published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research, demonstrated that G4 ligands, the chemical that binds with G4s, prevent this interaction. The results could pave the way for developing inhibitors of these interactions as potential antiviral compounds.

26 Jul 2021

CDC study on efficacy of mRNA vaccines against symptomatic COVID-19

A new study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server derives measures of substantial efficacy for these vaccines in preventing mild to moderate COVID-19 from a group of outpatients with and without a history of vaccination.

26 Jul 2021

‘Social prescribing’ may help lonely older adults to avoid harmful sedatives and painkillers

Lonely, older adults are nearly twice as likely to use opioids to ease pain and two-and-a-half times more likely to use sedatives and anti-anxiety medications, putting themselves at risk for drug dependency, impaired attention, falls and other accidents, and further cognitive impairment, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco.

26 Jul 2021

New statistical framework could help determine the 'true prevalence' of COVID-19 pandemic

Government officials and policymakers have tried to use numbers to grasp COVID-19's impact. Figures like the number of hospitalizations or deaths reflect part of this burden. Each datapoint tells only part of the story.

26 Jul 2021

Sick leave eligibility rules in the U.S. widen racial inequalities in the labor market, finds study

Paid sick leave is one of the most powerful tools for preventing the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases and ensuring all workers can access treatment - yet tens of millions of workers across the U.S. lack coverage.

26 Jul 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Systematic review explores the effects of ivermectin in preventing and treating COVID-19

China earns a malaria-free certification from WHO

Global leaders come together in a joint call for new international pandemic treaty

Sign-up window for free COBRA coverage for many laid-off workers closes this week

How do people with post acute sequelae of COVID-19 react to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines?

Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in renal transplant and dialysis patients using Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines

T cells are not critical for recovery of primates from acute COVID-19 infections, study reveals

Impaired immune response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in immunocompromised patients

Researchers warn against relaxing Covid-19 restrictions prematurely

Off-season resurgence of respiratory viruses poses a threat to vulnerable infants

Amount of testing matters more than the sensitivity of COVID-19 tests

Measurement of death needs to be improved to save lives in future

How a doctor breaks norms to treat refugees and recent immigrants

PerkinElmer to Acquire Antibody and Reagent Leader BioLegend

Scientists identify an antiviral metabolite as a potential serum biomarker for SARS-CoV-2 infection

SARS-CoV-2 interacts with unusual RNA structures in human cells

CDC study on efficacy of mRNA vaccines against symptomatic COVID-19

‘Social prescribing’ may help lonely older adults to avoid harmful sedatives and painkillers

New statistical framework could help determine the 'true prevalence' of COVID-19 pandemic

Sick leave eligibility rules in the U.S. widen racial inequalities in the labor market, finds study

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