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 suggests no protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection from recent exposure to HCoVs

In the study, published on the pre-print server medRxiv*, the researchers found a slight but significantly elevated risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in households with young children between 10 months and five years old. However, recent exposure to human coronaviruses does not reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in households with young children.

4 Mar 2021

Robotics platform could revolutionize how labs track the spread of COVID-19, other pathogens

A robotics platform designed by Toronto researchers to screen thousands of COVID-19 samples at once has the potential to revolutionize how labs track the spread of viruses and other pathogens, according to new findings.

4 Mar 2021

Study reports persistent SARS-CoV-2 with increasing viral variants in pediatric patients

New research, published on medRxiv preprint server, has reported the effect of prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infection in immunocompromised children and young adults.

4 Mar 2021

COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on childhood cancer care, shows survey

The COVID-19 pandemic has had major impacts on childhood cancer care worldwide, according to a survey of more than 300 clinicians from 200 hospitals worldwide published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal.

3 Mar 2021

SARS-CoV-2 variants do not substantially affect CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, study shows

Researchers from California in the United States have conducted a study showing that important adaptive immune responses to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are not affected by four recently emerged variants of the virus.

3 Mar 2021

Researchers lay out bioinformatics bottlenecks that are hindering response to COVID-19 pandemic

A global group of researchers is calling for better integration of viral genetics, bioinformatics, and public health to enable better pandemic response now and better pandemic preparedness in the future.

3 Mar 2021

Wikipedia maintained high-quality COVID-19 coverage during first pandemic wave

Researchers in Israel have demonstrated that Wikipedia's coverage of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continued to be based on respected media and academic sources, despite a surge in coverage as the pandemic grew during the first wave.

3 Mar 2021

Study shows lower antibody cross-reactivity after infection with the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant

In a recent research paper currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server, a diverse group of researchers has examined the immunogenicity of antibodies against the variant B.1.1.7 of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) initially found in the United Kingdom – and revealed diminished recognition and neutralization of either parental strains or the South African variant.

3 Mar 2021

Liquid-handling robots for wastewater surveillance help predict COVID-19 cases in San Diego

In earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic, before diagnostic testing was widely available, it was difficult for public health officials to keep track of the infection's spread, or predict where outbreaks were likely to occur.

3 Mar 2021

Low-cost, non-electric ventilator allows non-specialized workers to treat COVID-19 patients

A team of engineers from Loughborough University has designed and built a unique low-cost, non-electric ventilator in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

3 Mar 2021

Scientists search for new ways to fight against fungal infections

Systemic fungal infections are much rarer than other illnesses, but they are potentially deadly, with limited options for treatment.

3 Mar 2021

Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 vaccine effective from day 11 post 1st vaccination

New research from a team of scientists in Australia finds that the second ‘booster’ dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine did not increase vaccine efficacy against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The results suggest one dose of the vaccine was sufficient in providing a robust immune response 11 days after inoculation.

3 Mar 2021

Bayreuth researchers develop a rapid test to detect quality and authenticity of olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil is extracted from cold-pressed, high-quality olives and is one of the most popular foods in Europe. However, inferior counterfeits are coming onto the market in increasing number.

3 Mar 2021

Vaccine candidate shows promise to protect against dozen-plus flu strains

Ask Eric Weaver about pandemics, and he's quick to remind you of a fact that illustrates the fleeting nature of human memory and the proximal nature of human attention: The first pandemic of the 21st century struck not in 2019, but 2009.

3 Mar 2021

Higher life satisfaction associated with positive health and well-being outcomes

New research from UBC finds that higher life satisfaction is associated with better physical, psychological and behavioral health.

3 Mar 2021

UK public health authorities review early data on the effectiveness of Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines

A team of UK scientists has recently evaluated the effectiveness of the Pfizer (BNT162b2) and AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1) vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The findings reveal that both vaccines are effective in significantly reducing SARS-CoV-2 infection in older adults and providing long-term protection.

3 Mar 2021

Researchers develop ultrapotent miniproteins that target SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain

Researchers have investigated the effectiveness of a bioengineered miniprotein in protecting against SARS-CoV-2 infection in vivo. The researchers evaluated the miniprotein, LCB1, against SARS-CoV-2-mediated lung disease in human ACE2-expressing transgenic mice.

3 Mar 2021

Obesity may reduce COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, say researchers

A startling indicates that obesity may reduce the immune response to the current COVID-19 vaccines, along with other factors like age and sex. This could have significant implications for vaccination strategies in obese people.

3 Mar 2021

Delayed second dose strategy with mRNA vaccines may reduce COVID-19 mortality, say researchers

An interesting new preprint shows that even if countries are forced to delay the second dose of the current vaccines administered against SARS-CoV-2, to arrest the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the cumulative mortality would still fall significantly.

3 Mar 2021

Researchers conduct large meta-analysis of COVID-19’s neurological manifestations

The global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has led to intense interest in the various manifestations of the infection, including its neurological features. A compact summation by researchers across the UK of what is known at present about this facet of the disease is presented in a new paper.

3 Mar 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Study suggests no protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection from recent exposure to HCoVs

Robotics platform could revolutionize how labs track the spread of COVID-19, other pathogens

Study reports persistent SARS-CoV-2 with increasing viral variants in pediatric patients

COVID-19 pandemic had major impacts on childhood cancer care, shows survey

SARS-CoV-2 variants do not substantially affect CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, study shows

Researchers lay out bioinformatics bottlenecks that are hindering response to COVID-19 pandemic

Wikipedia maintained high-quality COVID-19 coverage during first pandemic wave

Study shows lower antibody cross-reactivity after infection with the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant

Liquid-handling robots for wastewater surveillance help predict COVID-19 cases in San Diego

Low-cost, non-electric ventilator allows non-specialized workers to treat COVID-19 patients

Scientists search for new ways to fight against fungal infections

Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 vaccine effective from day 11 post 1st vaccination

Bayreuth researchers develop a rapid test to detect quality and authenticity of olive oil

Vaccine candidate shows promise to protect against dozen-plus flu strains

Higher life satisfaction associated with positive health and well-being outcomes

UK public health authorities review early data on the effectiveness of Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines

Researchers develop ultrapotent miniproteins that target SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain

Obesity may reduce COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, say researchers

Delayed second dose strategy with mRNA vaccines may reduce COVID-19 mortality, say researchers

Researchers conduct large meta-analysis of COVID-19’s neurological manifestations

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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