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.

Business Risk Index quantifies the potential risk of COVID-19 transmission

Just one year after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic, three COVID-19 vaccines are available in the United States, and more than 2 million Americans are receiving shots each day.

16 Mar 2021

Janssen’s vaccine added to list of safe, effective tools against COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) today listed the COVID-19 vaccine Ad26.COV2.S, developed by Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), for emergency use in all countries and for COVAX roll-out. The decision comes on the back of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorization, which was announced yesterday.

16 Mar 2021

Study highlights the importance of ensuring newborns have close contact with parents during COVID-19

New research from WHO and partners shows that the COVID-19 pandemic is severely affecting the quality of care given to small and sick newborns, resulting in unnecessary suffering and deaths.

16 Mar 2021

Analysis: The Trump health care policies that deserve to stick around

President Joe Biden's goal of providing health care for more Americans advanced this week with his signing of an economic stimulus package that includes subsidies for health insurance premiums and new incentives for states to expand Medicaid, as well as the potential confirmation of Xavier Becerra as secretary of Health and Human Services.

16 Mar 2021

WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund appeals for continued support

One year ago WHO created the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to respond to the unprecedented show of support by individuals and companies to help WHO in the fight against COVID-19.

16 Mar 2021

Study: Slow walkers have higher risk of contracting severe COVID-19

SLOW walkers are almost four times more likely to die from COVID-19, and have over twice the risk of contracting a severe version of the virus, according to a team of researchers from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre led by Professor Tom Yates at the University of Leicester.

16 Mar 2021

New strategy may change the course of evolving COVID-19 pandemic

Launched in April 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), European Commission, France and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ACT Accelerator is a partnership of leading public health agencies with equity at its heart.

16 Mar 2021

Study explores how SARS-CoV-2 mutations produce antibody resistance and enhanced transmissibility

An interesting new study deals with the effects of the natural mutations in the spike antigen of the SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen that is responsible for the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic.

16 Mar 2021

Backtracking occurs within SARS-CoV-2 replication-transcription complex

Researchers continue to achieve a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. One such effort has been reported in a new preprint on the bioRxiv server, dealing with the phenomenon of backtracking.

16 Mar 2021

The role of RNA capping of SARS-CoV-2 in immunity evasion

The SARS-CoV-2 pathogen successfully uses multiple immune evasion mechanisms to achieve infection within its host. An intriguing new study describes one such process, which may help develop drugs to counteract the virus more effectively.

16 Mar 2021

Use of artificial intelligence to tackle coronavirus must go through ethical checks, say experts

Rapid deployment of artificial intelligence and machine learning to tackle coronavirus must still go through ethical checks and balances, or we risk harming already disadvantaged communities in the rush to defeat the disease.

16 Mar 2021

Online platforms can increase drug overdose

HSE University researchers together with specialists from the Humanitarian Action Charitable Fund (St. Petersburg) and the University of Michigan School of Public Health (USA) studied the specifics of remote work with Russian people who use drugs to reduce the harm of drug use.

16 Mar 2021

COVID-19 pandemic is affecting quality of care given to small and sick newborn babies

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the quality of care given to small and sick newborn babies in all regions of the world and threatening implementation of life-saving interventions, suggests new research published in BMJ Global Health.

16 Mar 2021

Study shows 'equivalent' patient satisfaction scores between telemedicine and office-based postoperative visits

After arthroscopic surgery on the meniscus of the knee, patients using telemedicine for postoperative follow-up are just as satisfied with their care as those making in-person visits, reports a study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

16 Mar 2021

Study suggests daily testing instead of self-isolation for contacts of SARS-CoV-2 cases

In the study, which appeared in the pre-print server medRxiv*, the researchers aimed to evaluate the acceptability and engagement with the daily testing as an alternative to self-isolation. They found that daily testing is acceptable and may help promote adherence to self-isolation.

16 Mar 2021

Chimeric vaccines may provide universal protection against viruses like SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in the United States have developed “chimeric” vaccines that provided cross-protection against different strains of sarbecovirus in mice, including the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

15 Mar 2021

Study unveils SARS-CoV-2 persistence and contamination concentration on common surfaces

A recent environmental study from the United Kingdom, currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server, shows that certain common surfaces could represent an infectious risk if contaminated with high concentrations of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – albeit the level of viable viral particles is likely to be low.

15 Mar 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Business Risk Index quantifies the potential risk of COVID-19 transmission

Janssen’s vaccine added to list of safe, effective tools against COVID-19

Study highlights the importance of ensuring newborns have close contact with parents during COVID-19

Analysis: The Trump health care policies that deserve to stick around

WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund appeals for continued support

Study: Slow walkers have higher risk of contracting severe COVID-19

New strategy may change the course of evolving COVID-19 pandemic

Study explores how SARS-CoV-2 mutations produce antibody resistance and enhanced transmissibility

Backtracking occurs within SARS-CoV-2 replication-transcription complex

The role of RNA capping of SARS-CoV-2 in immunity evasion

Use of artificial intelligence to tackle coronavirus must go through ethical checks, say experts

Online platforms can increase drug overdose

COVID-19 pandemic is affecting quality of care given to small and sick newborn babies

Study shows 'equivalent' patient satisfaction scores between telemedicine and office-based postoperative visits

Study suggests daily testing instead of self-isolation for contacts of SARS-CoV-2 cases

Chimeric vaccines may provide universal protection against viruses like SARS-CoV-2

Study unveils SARS-CoV-2 persistence and contamination concentration on common surfaces

Telemedicine care during the pandemic increased mostly in affluent and metropolitan areas

Exercise during pregnancy can disrupt the vicious cycle of parents-to-child transmission of diseases

Virginia Tech researcher to pursue life-saving solutions for aging adults with $1.3 million federal grant

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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