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.

New compound may provide a basis for drug development against COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, arrived one year ago and turned our lives upside-down.

24 Mar 2021

Researchers examine acriflavine's antiviral potential against SARS-CoV-2

Acriflavine is traditionally employed as a topical antiseptic, though has more recently been implicated as an antiviral agent at low doses, potentially by stimulating the production of interferon. In a new study recently uploaded to the bioRxiv* preprint server, the application of the drug to SARS-CoV-2 infection is investigated, demonstrating a broad activity towards a range of other betacoronaviruses.

24 Mar 2021

Reduced mRNA COVID-19 vaccine response in nursing home residents

A recent study has examined the response of nursing home residents who were naïve to SARS-CoV-2 infection following vaccination by the mRNA BNT162b2 model from Pfizer-BioNTech.

24 Mar 2021

Pangolin coronavirus sheds light on UK SARS-CoV-2 variant's evolutionary trajectory

Researchers at the Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, UK, have provided key insights into the characteristics of the B.1.1.7 (or UK) variant of SARS-CoV-2.

24 Mar 2021

Long-term complications are common among COVID-19 recovered individuals

A team of scientists from the United Kingdom has recently conducted a multicenter, prospective cohort study to investigate long-term consequences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

24 Mar 2021

Researchers develop innovative biosensor that can detect and quantitate SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers have generated protease-activatable fluorescent and luminescent biosensors for SARS-CoV-2 MPro (main protease) and PLPro (papain-like protease) activity, one based on “flip” GFP (FlipGFP), and the other based on circularly permuted firefly luciferase (FFluc).

24 Mar 2021

Persistent loneliness during midlife can increase risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease

Being persistently lonely during midlife (ages 45-64) appears to make people more likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) later in life. However, people who recover from loneliness, appear to be less likely to suffer from dementia, compared to people who have never felt lonely.

24 Mar 2021

Modeling study predicts SARS-CoV-2 variants with high receptor binding affinity

A new study adds to the sum of knowledge about SARS-CoV-2, with respect to its natural and biologically significant mutations, using computational modeling of the virus-receptor interactions. Understanding how viral mutations affect the virus-host interactions is crucial for shaping proper strategies to control the virus.

24 Mar 2021

Neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in mice depend on Fc effector function

A new study reports the essential nature of Fc-mediated functionalities in determining the efficacy of such antibodies.

24 Mar 2021

New covalent and non-covalent SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors discovered in silico

A new study describes the use of a combination of virtual and experimental screening protocols to identify potential inhibitors of the virus, which could lead to rapid drug development.

24 Mar 2021

High throughput screening for COVID-19 with the VOYAGER pipette

The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down research in many scientific areas, but for the Jain Lab in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida, the pandemic has created an exciting opportunity to repurpose their work.

From INTEGRA Biosciences 24 Mar 2021

Living guidelines for stroke management can guide clinical practice, improve patient outcomes

Clear guidelines about effective rehabilitation techniques for leg and arm weakness after stroke have been introduced, providing greater direction for health professional and improved patient outcomes.

24 Mar 2021

New device set to revolutionize the resuscitation process for first responders

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, performance manufacturer Keela Outdoors, NHS Tayside and Scottish Health Innovations (SHIL), have collaborated to design and develop a device that is set to revolutionize the resuscitation process for first responders.

24 Mar 2021

Survey of surge capacity managers captures pandemic preparedness status of the U.S. health care system

A University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine-led survey of dozens of surge capacity managers at hospitals nationwide captures the U.S. health care system's pandemic preparedness status in the months before the first COVID-19 cases were identified in China.

24 Mar 2021

Research reveals varied experiences of people involved in maternity care during COVID-19 pandemic

Doctors, midwives and midwifery students were more concerned about their exposure to COVID-19 while at work than the women receiving maternity care in the same settings, while the partners of those women reported feeling isolated because of changes to the way care was provided, new Curtin University research has found.

24 Mar 2021

Telehealth consults accounted for 24% of outpatient consults with health care providers

A study co-authored by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that telehealth consults among privately insured working-age patients accounted for almost 24 percent of outpatient consults with health care providers during the early phase of the pandemic, March to June 2020, up from less than 0.3 percent during the same period in 2019.

24 Mar 2021

Researchers develop “Crisis Standards of Care” policy to address ethical issues

During a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. hospitals need to allocate scarce medical resources in an equitable manner, according to clinicians and ethicists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

24 Mar 2021

New range of lung-on-chip technologies represent the vital properties of lung tissue

According to the National Institutes of Health, respiratory viruses are the most frequent cause of disease and death in humans, a fact highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the potential to cause severe disease, over 70% of viral infections remain asymptomatic.

24 Mar 2021

Rapid antigen testing helps decrease the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Slovakia

In Slovakia, in counties subject to two rounds of rapid antigen testing for SARS-CoV-2 where those who tested positive then isolated, the approach helped decrease the prevalence of positive tests by more than 50% in a week - all while primary schools and workplaces remained open.

24 Mar 2021

Research suggests toothpaste and mouthwash ingredients could help prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection

Now, new research published on the bioRxiv preprint server focuses on the effect of some typical ingredients present in commercially available mouthwashes and toothpaste on the mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells.

24 Mar 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

New compound may provide a basis for drug development against COVID-19

Researchers examine acriflavine's antiviral potential against SARS-CoV-2

Reduced mRNA COVID-19 vaccine response in nursing home residents

Pangolin coronavirus sheds light on UK SARS-CoV-2 variant's evolutionary trajectory

Long-term complications are common among COVID-19 recovered individuals

Researchers develop innovative biosensor that can detect and quantitate SARS-CoV-2 infection

Persistent loneliness during midlife can increase risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease

Modeling study predicts SARS-CoV-2 variants with high receptor binding affinity

Neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in mice depend on Fc effector function

New covalent and non-covalent SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors discovered in silico

High throughput screening for COVID-19 with the VOYAGER pipette

Living guidelines for stroke management can guide clinical practice, improve patient outcomes

New device set to revolutionize the resuscitation process for first responders

Survey of surge capacity managers captures pandemic preparedness status of the U.S. health care system

Research reveals varied experiences of people involved in maternity care during COVID-19 pandemic

Telehealth consults accounted for 24% of outpatient consults with health care providers

Researchers develop “Crisis Standards of Care” policy to address ethical issues

New range of lung-on-chip technologies represent the vital properties of lung tissue

Rapid antigen testing helps decrease the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Slovakia

Research suggests toothpaste and mouthwash ingredients could help prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection

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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