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.

Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants contain mutations that interfere with genomic sequencing

A recent study by researchers in Canada shows how mutations in newly emerging lineages of SARS-CoV-2 may disrupt the sequencing process and thus interfere with this important area of research.

14 Jun 2021

The Native Antigen Company wins ‘The Best COVID-19 Responder’ at OBN 2020 Awards

The Native Antigen Company, part of LGC Clinical Diagnostics, won ‘The Best COVID-19 Responder’ at OBN 2020 Awards.

From The Native Antigen Company 14 Jun 2021

Study reports self-disinfecting polymer surfaces that can inactivate SARS-CoV-2

Surfaces with anionic block copolymers can inactivate different viruses within minutes by making the polymer-microbe interface very acidic. Such surfaces can continuously disinfect surfaces without the need for reapplication of disinfectant.

14 Jun 2021

New poll finds low public awareness of how to get enough vitamin D year-round

Despite vitamin D being essential for healthy bones, only half of people (51%) realize that it is important for bone health and 43% have never even considered what they need to do to look after their bones, according to a recent poll of 2,000 UK adults by YouGov and commissioned by the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS).

14 Jun 2021

Joint ICMRA and WHO statement explains how COVID-19 vaccines are regulated for safety, effectiveness

Healthcare professionals and public health authorities have a central role in discussing vaccination against COVID-19 with their patients.

13 Jun 2021

Teachers and school staff should be prioritised for COVID vaccines

In a communication paper recently published in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health by Koirala et al. (June 8th, 2021), it is argued that Australian schools should remain open, with proper testing, tracing, and quarantine protocols in place.

13 Jun 2021

Philippines poorly prepared to deal with COVID-19, report says

In a recent study published in the WHO WPSAR journal, researchers described the challenges and early response of the Philippines to COVID-19.

13 Jun 2021

Role of traditional medicine against SARS-CoV-2

A group of researchers at Kannur University reviewed selected papers and in silico work on potential drug leads that could be used to manage COVID-19.

13 Jun 2021

Humoral innate pattern recognition molecules against SARS-CoV-2

In a paper recently uploaded to the preprint server medRxiv by Garlanda et al. (June 8th, 2021), humoral pattern recognition molecules are explored for affinity towards SARS-CoV-2, contributing to unraveling the role of these molecules in COVID-19 disease progression.

13 Jun 2021

Long-range airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2

In an early release copy of a short commentary paper recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal by Addleman et al. (June 8th, 2021), the impact of, and possible solutions to, the short- and long-range airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 are explored.

13 Jun 2021

An analysis links COVID-19 to brain microvascular injury and inflammation

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-2 (SARS-CoV-2), an RNA virus that belongs to the family Coronaviridae. According to research, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients often suffer from neurological disorders like strokes, lost taste or smell, memory loss, confusion, and delirium.

13 Jun 2021

Study reveals maternal and neonatal benefits of Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA vaccine

A new commentary, published as an ‘In-Press Preview’ in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, addresses the salient issue of vaccination against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in pregnancy and potential antibody transfer to the fetus – and provides the evidence in support of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine safety and efficacy for both maternal and child health.

13 Jun 2021

Study shows poor antibody response in naive elderly of nursing homes after mRNA vaccination

A new study describes inadequate antibody responses to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in elderly residents of a care home with no prior history of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), compared to those with such a history. This adds to the current understanding of vaccine efficacy against infection.

13 Jun 2021

Researchers identify brain regions involved in seeking information about negative events

The term "doomscrolling" describes the act of endlessly scrolling through bad news on social media and reading every worrisome tidbit that pops up, a habit that unfortunately seems to have become common during the COVID-19 pandemic.

11 Jun 2021

Study shows feasibility of using Olfactory Virtual Reality to address anxiety, pain and stress

Findings from a study on the feasibility of addressing anxiety, pain and stress with Olfactory Virtual Reality (OVR) - a new form of VR that incorporates the sense of smell into its augmented reality - paint a clearer picture for clinical psychiatrists about how it could be used to safely and effectively help mental health and mood disorders.

11 Jun 2021

AI identifies gene signatures to reveal patients’ immune responses to viral infection

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine used an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to sift through terabytes of gene expression data -- which genes are "on" or "off" during infection -- to look for shared patterns in patients with past pandemic viral infections, including SARS, MERS and swine flu.

11 Jun 2021

Children of well-educated parents survive more often than others

Every day, around 15000 children under the age of five die from causes that could have been prevented.

11 Jun 2021

High single-dose efficacy of Pfizer vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in older adults

In British Columbia (BC), Canada, vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began with the Pfizer/Moderna mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines began with nursing home residents and frontline healthcare workers. These are known to have a high protective efficacy of 92-93% after a single dose, but this data comes from younger and healthy adults, for the most part.

11 Jun 2021

New Astra-Zeneca B.1.351 vaccine AZD2816 strongly immunogenic against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

A new study, released on the bioRxiv* preprint server, supports the efficacy of the wildtype ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine against B.1.351, B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2, while showing that a booster dose of vaccine based on the B.1.351 spike induces further increase in antibody titers.

11 Jun 2021

Has COVID-19 vaccine confidence dropped following the pause of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen?

A new study, which was conducted by Vishala Mishra and Joseph P. Dexter at Madras Medical College, Chennai, India, suggests that the infamous pause in the administration of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J)/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, advised by the FDA, has left doubt about the veracity of vaccine safety claims. This is a development that may have engendered vaccine hesitancy in a segment of the population.

11 Jun 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants contain mutations that interfere with genomic sequencing

The Native Antigen Company wins ‘The Best COVID-19 Responder’ at OBN 2020 Awards

Study reports self-disinfecting polymer surfaces that can inactivate SARS-CoV-2

New poll finds low public awareness of how to get enough vitamin D year-round

Joint ICMRA and WHO statement explains how COVID-19 vaccines are regulated for safety, effectiveness

Teachers and school staff should be prioritised for COVID vaccines

Philippines poorly prepared to deal with COVID-19, report says

Role of traditional medicine against SARS-CoV-2

Humoral innate pattern recognition molecules against SARS-CoV-2

Long-range airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2

An analysis links COVID-19 to brain microvascular injury and inflammation

Study reveals maternal and neonatal benefits of Pfizer COVID-19 mRNA vaccine

Study shows poor antibody response in naive elderly of nursing homes after mRNA vaccination

Researchers identify brain regions involved in seeking information about negative events

Study shows feasibility of using Olfactory Virtual Reality to address anxiety, pain and stress

AI identifies gene signatures to reveal patients’ immune responses to viral infection

Children of well-educated parents survive more often than others

High single-dose efficacy of Pfizer vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in older adults

New Astra-Zeneca B.1.351 vaccine AZD2816 strongly immunogenic against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

Has COVID-19 vaccine confidence dropped following the pause of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen?

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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