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.

Health disparities in Pennsylvania have become more pronounced during COVID-19, shows report

A new report by AARP Pennsylvania and Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions highlights how geographic, racial/ethnic and economic factors are combining to restrict access to health care services for many Pennsylvanians, creating disparities that have become more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

5 Apr 2021

Vaccine nationalism reinforces inequities in access and exacerbates health disparities

While the U.S. has begun to vaccinate millions of Americans each day, COVID-19 vaccine supplies around the world remain scarce.

5 Apr 2021

Study: Alzheimer's disease treatments could reduce the financial burden to U.S. state budgets

Alzheimer's disease treatments that slow progression of the disease could significantly reduce the financial burden to U.S. state budgets, according to a new USC study.

5 Apr 2021

Masks, good ventilation are more important than social distancing for reducing COVID spread

A new study from the University of Central Florida suggests that masks and a good ventilation system are more important than social distancing for reducing the airborne spread of COVID-19 in classrooms.

5 Apr 2021

EMS workers face triple the risk for mental health problems

Emergency medical service (EMS) workers face triple the risk for significant mental health problems such as depression and posttraumatic stress disorder compared to the general population, according to a recently published study by researchers from Syracuse University.

5 Apr 2021

Researchers study how social media misinformation influences vaccine readiness in Appalachia

The saying goes, "You can't believe everything you find on the Internet." As simple as that sounds, navigating social media can often blur the line between reality and fantasy. This proves especially difficult when trying to fight a global pandemic.

5 Apr 2021

Survey: Public trust in the CDC has declined during COVID-19 pandemic

Public trust in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has fallen during the coronavirus pandemic, with the decline bringing overall population-level trust in the agency to the same lower level of trust long held by Black Americans about the agency, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

5 Apr 2021

Phase 1 clinical study of unique vaccine to protect against COVID-19 begins

A unique vaccine to protect against COVID-19 begins clinical testing Tuesday, 6 April, at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command.

5 Apr 2021

Can universal vaccines and treatments against future SARS-CoV-2 variants be developed?

A team of researchers from Saudi Arabia and Spain recently quantified the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 by tracking the mutations of the virus globally, focusing on the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the virus’s spike protein, which determines its infectivity.

5 Apr 2021

Researchers Identify potent small molecule inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2

A team of scientists from the USA and Sweden has recently screened 8 million small molecule inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2.

5 Apr 2021

SARS-CoV-2 cryptic transmission modeling shows emergence of first wave in US and Europe

To analyze this cryptic transmission phase and the first wave of the pandemic that ensued, researchers from Italy, UK, and the US used a data-driven, spatial, stochastic, and age-structured epidemic model. They developed a mechanistic understanding of the evolution of the epidemic and estimated the time required for local transmission in various states and countries. The model developed by the team offers a statistical idea of SARS-CoV-2 introductions across European countries and many states in the US.

5 Apr 2021

Montana sticks to its patchwork Covid vaccine rollout as eligibility expands

Montana's Covid-19 vaccine distribution is among the most efficient in the nation, but closer examination reveals a patchwork of systems among counties and tribal governments that will be put to the test as the state opens vaccine eligibility to all people 16 and older starting this month.

5 Apr 2021

Research surveys hygiene practices in food supply chains during COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers survey hygiene procedures in food supply chains implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

5 Apr 2021

Study shows rates of prolonged visits for pediatric mental health ED visits increased over a decade

Rates of prolonged visits for pediatric mental health emergency department visits increased over a decade, in contrast to non-mental health visits for which visit times remained stable, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics.

5 Apr 2021

Study explores the implications of online social endorsement for encouraging Covid-19 vaccination

A third of the UK adult population intend to use social media and personal messaging to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a new, large scale, multi-university study involving Loughborough researchers has found.

5 Apr 2021

FIND announces launch of a request for proposals to expand access to COVID-19 testing services

The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) announced today the launch of a request for proposals (RFP) to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and market availability of accurate, affordable, quality-assured and easy-to-use SARS-CoV-2 self-tests for use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

5 Apr 2021

Stay-at-home measures may have offered protective effects for youth mental health early in the pandemic

A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports that middle schoolers from a predominantly Latinx community, with elevated levels of mental health problems, showed a reduction in symptoms during the early stages of the pandemic.

3 Apr 2021

Type of material used in face masks and fabric layers can affect Covid-19 exposure risk

Wearing a face mask can protect yourself and others from Covid-19, but the type of material and how many fabric layers used can significantly affect exposure risk, finds a study from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

3 Apr 2021

Chemical inhibitor can reduce SARS-CoV-2's ability to infect host cell lines

James McKerrow, MD, PhD, dean of the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego, has long studied neglected tropical diseases -- chronic and disabling parasitic infections that primarily affect poor and underserved communities in developing nations.

3 Apr 2021

50-state analysis finds excess deaths from COVID-19 and other causes in the U.S.

Extended surges in the South and West in the summer and early winter of 2020 resulted in regional increases in excess death rates, both from COVID-19 and from other causes, a 50-state analysis of excess death trends has found.

3 Apr 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Health disparities in Pennsylvania have become more pronounced during COVID-19, shows report

Vaccine nationalism reinforces inequities in access and exacerbates health disparities

Study: Alzheimer's disease treatments could reduce the financial burden to U.S. state budgets

Masks, good ventilation are more important than social distancing for reducing COVID spread

EMS workers face triple the risk for mental health problems

Researchers study how social media misinformation influences vaccine readiness in Appalachia

Survey: Public trust in the CDC has declined during COVID-19 pandemic

Phase 1 clinical study of unique vaccine to protect against COVID-19 begins

Can universal vaccines and treatments against future SARS-CoV-2 variants be developed?

Researchers Identify potent small molecule inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2 cryptic transmission modeling shows emergence of first wave in US and Europe

Montana sticks to its patchwork Covid vaccine rollout as eligibility expands

Research surveys hygiene practices in food supply chains during COVID-19 pandemic

Study shows rates of prolonged visits for pediatric mental health ED visits increased over a decade

Study explores the implications of online social endorsement for encouraging Covid-19 vaccination

FIND announces launch of a request for proposals to expand access to COVID-19 testing services

Stay-at-home measures may have offered protective effects for youth mental health early in the pandemic

Type of material used in face masks and fabric layers can affect Covid-19 exposure risk

Chemical inhibitor can reduce SARS-CoV-2's ability to infect host cell lines

50-state analysis finds excess deaths from COVID-19 and other causes in the U.S.

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