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.

Study examines perceived benefits of digital skills training among older adult learners

Older people need digital skills training to learn to use digital technology more independently, but they also seek digital training opportunities because of the social benefits they offer, according to a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland.

8 Jun 2021

Link between SARS-CoV-2 organotropism and kidney injury

It was clear at a relatively early stage of the pandemic that SARS-CoV-2 causes a wide range of symptoms; in addition to typical respiratory symptoms, patients also had neurological symptoms (starting with anosmia), gastrointestinal symptoms, elevated liver values, and renal, urinary or hematological changes, for example.

8 Jun 2021

Mandating vaccination could have a substantial negative impact on voluntary compliance

Citizen opposition to COVID-19 vaccination has emerged across the globe, prompting pushes for mandatory vaccination policies.

8 Jun 2021

France's public health measures in response to SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant

A study undertaken by the Toulouse Institute for Infectious and Inflammatory Disease (INFINITy) in France evaluated the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 in France with higher positive tests found, as well as analyzing the result of health measures such as social distancing and vaccinations. The research is published in the journal Viruses.

7 Jun 2021

Distinct spike protein mutations in SARS-CoV-2 variant in Russia

Additionally, a novel variant has recently been characterized by researchers from Russia in the journal Viruses. The variant, first discovered in January 2021 in Northwest Russia, is characterized by distinct spike protein mutations.

7 Jun 2021

Repeated low-dose dose exposure to SARS-CoV-2 may protect against severe COVID-19

The Italian authors of this paper, published in the journal Viruses, have taken this hypothesis and expanded it to include viral particles suspended in the air or on inanimate objects as a possible source of T cell immunity due to the repeated low-dose exposure, potentially explaining virus immunity found in non-infected individuals.

7 Jun 2021

Novel method allows rapid, absolute quantification of viral nucleic acids

Researchers from Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine, an Interdisciplinary Research Group at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, have developed a new method for rapid and accurate detection of viral nucleic acids - a breakthrough that can be easily adapted to detect different DNA/RNA targets in viruses like the coronavirus.

7 Jun 2021

New model reveals the effectiveness of travel restrictions to slow COVID-19 transmission

More strategic and coordinated travel restrictions likely could have reduced the spread of COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic.

7 Jun 2021

Natural products show promise against COVID-19 via iron chelation

Researchers at the University of Catania in Italy investigated whether natural compounds could prevent disease progression. Their study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine found that iron chelators and protease inhibitors can counteract SARS-CoV-2 infection.

7 Jun 2021

New edition of a best-selling handbook for sports coaches released

Ashley Gill, Course Director of Postgraduate Study in Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University, has edited a fully revised third edition of the Routledge's popular Foundations of Sports Coaching textbook which was last published in 2014.

7 Jun 2021

Minimally-invasive procedure could offer hope to patients with high blood pressure

A minimally-invasive procedure that targets the nerves near the kidney has been found to significantly reduce blood pressure in hypertension patients, according to the results of a global multicentre clinical trial led in the UK by researchers at Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust.

7 Jun 2021

Genome-scale CRISPR screens pinpoint promising antiviral compounds against SARS-CoV-2

In a recent research paper currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server, scientists in the US used genome-scale CRISPR knockout screens to identify factors that promote infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), revealing the potential for broad-spectrum activity across the coronavirus family.

7 Jun 2021

mRNA vaccines shown to be 97% protective against COVID-19 in working-age population

Researchers in the United States have demonstrated the effectiveness of messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccination at protecting against infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among almost 47,000 healthcare workers.

7 Jun 2021

Risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission aboard aircraft is low: A review of evidence

Researchers in Romania, the UK, and Canada have systematically reviewed the evidence available on the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) aboard aircraft.

7 Jun 2021

Study observes broad and invariable memory B cell response following SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new study by researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in the USA goes far in answering this question by showing the presence of memory B cells that react to the original SARS-CoV-2 as well as VOCs.

7 Jun 2021

Study offers overview of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children

A new study by researchers in the USA summarizes what is known about the prevalence of the infection, the viral load and transmissibility in children.

7 Jun 2021

Could COVID-19 vaccinations or prior infections protect against other coronaviruses?

A new study provides encouraging proof of the feasibility of this project, showing that both natural infection with and vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 are associated with an increase in cross-reactive antibodies against other CoVs.

7 Jun 2021

Around 5% of children develop long COVID-19 symptoms, suggests new study

A new study, by researchers at University College London (UCL) in the UK, shows that even though children rarely develop symptomatically severe COVID-19, the prevalence of long COVID in children with a history of infection is over 4.5%.

7 Jun 2021

Could sustained inflammation following mild to moderate COVID-19 be a driver of long COVID?

A new study describes the discovery of sustained though low-level rises in inflammatory mediators and immune cells, as well as the loss of some subsets of naïve un-activated cells. This may indicate a widespread though muted immune-mediated inflammatory response in these patients.

7 Jun 2021

The great promise of antiviral peptides against SARS-CoV-2

A new study, recently published in the journal Viruses, describes the impressive evidence for the role of antimicrobial peptidse (AMPs) in the treatment of COVID-19.

7 Jun 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Study examines perceived benefits of digital skills training among older adult learners

Link between SARS-CoV-2 organotropism and kidney injury

Mandating vaccination could have a substantial negative impact on voluntary compliance

France's public health measures in response to SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant

Distinct spike protein mutations in SARS-CoV-2 variant in Russia

Repeated low-dose dose exposure to SARS-CoV-2 may protect against severe COVID-19

Novel method allows rapid, absolute quantification of viral nucleic acids

New model reveals the effectiveness of travel restrictions to slow COVID-19 transmission

Natural products show promise against COVID-19 via iron chelation

New edition of a best-selling handbook for sports coaches released

Minimally-invasive procedure could offer hope to patients with high blood pressure

Genome-scale CRISPR screens pinpoint promising antiviral compounds against SARS-CoV-2

mRNA vaccines shown to be 97% protective against COVID-19 in working-age population

Risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission aboard aircraft is low: A review of evidence

Study observes broad and invariable memory B cell response following SARS-CoV-2 infection

Study offers overview of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children

Could COVID-19 vaccinations or prior infections protect against other coronaviruses?

Around 5% of children develop long COVID-19 symptoms, suggests new study

Could sustained inflammation following mild to moderate COVID-19 be a driver of long COVID?

The great promise of antiviral peptides against SARS-CoV-2

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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