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.

Researchers characterize a large set of therapeutic antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants

A team of scientists from A-Alpha Bio., USA, has recently conducted a large-scale screening of 33 therapeutic antibodies to examine their binding affinity to a number of SARS-CoV-2 variants. The team analyzed the impact of potential mutations in the spike RBD on antibody efficacy.

29 Apr 2021

A ‘dose of hope’? Fact-checking President Joe Biden’s first speech to Congress

In his first speech before Congress, President Joe Biden argued it was time to turn the coronavirus pandemic into a historic opportunity to expand government for the benefit of a wider range of Americans, urging investments in jobs, climate change, child care, infrastructure and more.

29 Apr 2021

Covid forces cohousing communities to examine shared values and relationships

Tensions were running high at PDX Commons, a cohousing community for adults 55 and older in Portland, Oregon. Several people wanted to keep visitors off-site until all 35 residents were vaccinated. Others wanted to open to family and friends for the first time in a year.

29 Apr 2021

Is Hong Kong’s fourth wave of COVID-19 due to the Q57H SARS-CoV-2 variant?

A recent article in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Emerging Infectious Diseases reveals that the last of these was probably due to the introduction of a new variant from Nepal. This novel variant had been circulating in the community for about a month before the last outbreak was reported.

29 Apr 2021

COVID-19 vaccination willingness in Australia hinges on public perception of health threat

A new study reports the results of a survey in Australia on vaccine willingness at two points: the first wave in April 2020, and during November of the same year, when cases had dropped significantly.

29 Apr 2021

Risk factors for long COVID-19 in children

A new study describes the risk factors and outcomes of “long COVID-19” in a cohort of children who were hospitalized with COVID-19.

29 Apr 2021

Study: Failure to combat second-dose vaccine attrition could prolong the pandemic

Though more than 131 million Americans have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to date, public confusion and uncertainty about the importance of second doses and continued public health precautions threaten to delay a U.S. return to normalcy, according to Cornell-led research published April 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

29 Apr 2021

Study reports 70% decline in heart attack patients who sought care during the pandemic

Results from a retrospective observational study, presented today at Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions 2021 Virtual Scientific Sessions, reveal a 70% decline in the number of patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during April 2020 compared to April 2019.

29 Apr 2021

Eight countries prove that halting malaria is achievable

With human and financial resources deployed to fight the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, there is no doubt that healthcare services are facing major disruption.

29 Apr 2021

Long COVID also affects children, study finds

Older children and children with allergies or asthma were found to have greater odds of having persistent symptoms even months after recovery.

28 Apr 2021

Potent monoclonal antibody shows promise against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

In a new study currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server, a group of US-based researchers developed a panel of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 that can block viral attachment to cells – and pinpointed a specific one that can potently neutralize all tested variants of concern.

28 Apr 2021

Safety and efficacy of Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines even better than clinical trials predicted

Researchers in the UK and United States have demonstrated the efficacy of one dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine against infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a real-world community setting in the UK.

28 Apr 2021

Recovered COVID-19 patients show signs of long-term immunity

A study conducted by researchers in the United States has found that most patients who recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) showed signs of long-lasting immunity against the causative agent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

28 Apr 2021

Higher ratio of green spaces associated with reduced disparity in coronavirus infection rates

A higher ratio of green spaces at the county level is associated with a lower racial disparity in coronavirus infection rates, according to a new study.

28 Apr 2021

Brazilian coronavirus variant could pose a bigger threat than previously assumed

A new study with the University of Copenhagen represented indicates that the coronavirus variant called P.1, which originated in Brazil, could pose a bigger threat than previously assumed.

28 Apr 2021

Cloth face masks can be as effective as surgical masks in reducing transmission of COVID-19

Researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Surrey have found that well-fitting, three-layered cloth masks can be as effective at reducing the transmission of COVID-19 as surgical masks.

28 Apr 2021

Study examines mRNA COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness across age and gender

The findings reveal that although the two-dose vaccine regimen initially induces robust antibody response in all age groups, older male individuals are particularly associated with a gradual decline in vaccine-induced immunity six weeks after the second vaccine dose.

28 Apr 2021

Can control theory explain differences in virulence and transmission of SARS-CoV-2?

A new study discusses variations in viral pathogenicity and in transmission, which are responsible for asymptomatic infection and for superspreading events. The ability to understand this would open the way to understand how this virus behaves the way it does, in terms of its virulence, its spread, and its emergent variants of concern.

28 Apr 2021

COVID-19 donor antibodies show broad cross-reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 variants and related viruses

A new study reports on a set of antibodies from COVID-19 donor serum, which seems to be cross-reactive across multiple Sarbecoviruses, including the very similar SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)-CoV.

28 Apr 2021

Peptide nucleocapsid vaccine candidate elicits protective T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in vivo

A new study describes a synthetic peptide used as a platform to generate protective adaptive cellular immunity to the virus in rhesus macaques, which are the gold standard for preclinical testing in humans.

28 Apr 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Researchers characterize a large set of therapeutic antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants

A ‘dose of hope’? Fact-checking President Joe Biden’s first speech to Congress

Covid forces cohousing communities to examine shared values and relationships

Is Hong Kong’s fourth wave of COVID-19 due to the Q57H SARS-CoV-2 variant?

COVID-19 vaccination willingness in Australia hinges on public perception of health threat

Risk factors for long COVID-19 in children

Study: Failure to combat second-dose vaccine attrition could prolong the pandemic

Study reports 70% decline in heart attack patients who sought care during the pandemic

Eight countries prove that halting malaria is achievable

Long COVID also affects children, study finds

Potent monoclonal antibody shows promise against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

Safety and efficacy of Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines even better than clinical trials predicted

Recovered COVID-19 patients show signs of long-term immunity

Higher ratio of green spaces associated with reduced disparity in coronavirus infection rates

Brazilian coronavirus variant could pose a bigger threat than previously assumed

Cloth face masks can be as effective as surgical masks in reducing transmission of COVID-19

Study examines mRNA COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness across age and gender

Can control theory explain differences in virulence and transmission of SARS-CoV-2?

COVID-19 donor antibodies show broad cross-reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 variants and related viruses

Peptide nucleocapsid vaccine candidate elicits protective T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in vivo

Best practices - optimize qPCR processes for pathogen detection eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

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