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.

South African SARS-CoV-2 variant escapes antibody neutralization

Researchers in South Africa have conducted a study showing that the novel 501Y.V2 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has emerged in the country is able to escape the neutralizing antibodies that are elicited by previously circulating strains of the virus.

20 Jan 2021

Mask-wearing together with social distancing has maximum impact on COVID-19, study finds

A recent study published in the journal The Lancet has revealed that self-reported use of face masks together with social distancing has a considerable impact on controlling the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the United States.

20 Jan 2021

Ethacrynic acid, a diuretic drug with potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity

A study published recently in the journal Viruses has identified a potent diuretic ethacrynic acid as an efficient inhibitor of the main protease of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This drug can be potentially repurposed to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

20 Jan 2021

Biden takes the reins, calls for a united front against covid and other threats

Joe Biden on Wednesday took the oath to become the 46th president of the United States, vowing to bring the nation together in the midst of an ongoing pandemic that has claimed more than 400,000 lives, enormous economic dislocation and civil unrest so serious that the U.S. Capitol steps where he took his oath were surrounded not by cheering crowds, but by tens of thousands of armed police and National Guard troops.

20 Jan 2021

Advocates view health care as key to driving LGBTQ rights conversation

When Allison Scott came out as a trans woman in 2013, she told not only family and friends, but also her primary care physician.

20 Jan 2021

Biden’s covid challenge: 100 million vaccinations in the first 100 days. It won’t be easy.

It's in the nature of presidential candidates and new presidents to promise big things. Just months after his 1961 inauguration, President John F. Kennedy vowed to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade.

20 Jan 2021

California is overriding its limits on nurse workloads as covid surges

California’s telemetry nurses, who specialize in the electronic monitoring of critically ill patients, normally take care of four patients at once. But ever since the state relaxed California’s mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios in mid-December, Nerissa Black has had to keep track of six.

20 Jan 2021

Patients fend for themselves to access highly touted covid antibody treatments

By the time he tested positive for covid-19 on Jan. 12, Gary Herritz was feeling pretty sick. He suspects he was infected a week earlier, during a medical appointment in which he saw health workers who were wearing masks beneath their noses or who had removed them entirely.

20 Jan 2021

New multidisciplinary center to study origin and course of infectious diseases

The University of Bern is establishing a multidisciplinary center to study the origin and course of infectious diseases and their impact on health, society and economics. The new research center is to receive some 30 million Swiss Francs financial support from the Vinetum Foundation over a period of 10 years.

20 Jan 2021

Immune systems of COVID-19 patients may rely on antibodies from earlier coronaviruses

The results of a study led by Northern Arizona University and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest the immune systems of people infected with COVID-19 may rely on antibodies created during infections from earlier coronaviruses to help fight the disease.

20 Jan 2021

Over 100 million in India may have been infected by SARS-CoV-2

A large new study posted on the preprint server medRxiv describes the seropositivity rate to this virus, as well as the persistence of antibodies over time, both neutralizing and others.

19 Jan 2021

Administration of COVID-19 vaccine may lead to “catastrophic moral failure”, warns WHO

As few as 25 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in one of the world's poorest countries, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said, warning of a "catastrophic moral failure".

19 Jan 2021

How COVID-19 changed exercise routines in the UK

A new preprint research paper published on the medRxiv server describes the changes that have taken place in moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity (MVPA) and muscle-strengthening activity (MSA).

19 Jan 2021

Essential coaching for mothers during COVID-19

Pregnancy and childbirth are especially high-risk periods for mental ill-health. The mobile health program called Essential Coaching for Every Mother (ECEM) was designed to meet the needs of mothers during this critical time, but its introduction was delayed because of the onset of the pandemic.

19 Jan 2021

The structure dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in cells, cell lysates and virions

Now, a new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv server describes the structures observed during the lifecycle of the RNA virus in terms of both canonical and alternative structures, RNA-RNA interactions, and replication regulation.

19 Jan 2021

Mapping antibody reactivity in COVID-19 patients by using multi-coronavirus protein microarray

In an exciting, state-of-the-art study currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server, US researchers created a multi-coronavirus protein microarray containing full-length proteins, peptide libraries, and overlapping protein fragments from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as well as four other human coronaviruses.

19 Jan 2021

Study finds increase in drinking among people with anxiety and depression during COVID-19

People with anxiety and depression are more likely to report an increase in drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic than those without mental health issues, according to a new study by researchers at NYU School of Global Public Health published in the journal Preventive Medicine.

19 Jan 2021

Data analysis reveals a second decline in cardiovascular admissions during COVID-19 pandemic

Data analysis is revealing a second sharp drop in the number of people admitted to hospital in England with acute heart failure or a heart attack.

19 Jan 2021

Wuhan study has important implications for managing COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers in China and the United States have conducted a study assessing the household transmissibility of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has important implications for managing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

19 Jan 2021

Effects of low-fat, plant-based diet compared to low-carb, animal-based diet

People on a low-fat, plant-based diet ate fewer daily calories but had higher insulin and blood glucose levels, compared to when they ate a low-carbohydrate, animal-based diet, according to a small but highly controlled study at the National Institutes of Health.

19 Jan 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

South African SARS-CoV-2 variant escapes antibody neutralization

Mask-wearing together with social distancing has maximum impact on COVID-19, study finds

Ethacrynic acid, a diuretic drug with potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity

Biden takes the reins, calls for a united front against covid and other threats

Advocates view health care as key to driving LGBTQ rights conversation

Biden’s covid challenge: 100 million vaccinations in the first 100 days. It won’t be easy.

California is overriding its limits on nurse workloads as covid surges

Patients fend for themselves to access highly touted covid antibody treatments

New multidisciplinary center to study origin and course of infectious diseases

Immune systems of COVID-19 patients may rely on antibodies from earlier coronaviruses

Over 100 million in India may have been infected by SARS-CoV-2

Administration of COVID-19 vaccine may lead to “catastrophic moral failure”, warns WHO

How COVID-19 changed exercise routines in the UK

Essential coaching for mothers during COVID-19

The structure dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in cells, cell lysates and virions

Mapping antibody reactivity in COVID-19 patients by using multi-coronavirus protein microarray

Study finds increase in drinking among people with anxiety and depression during COVID-19

Data analysis reveals a second decline in cardiovascular admissions during COVID-19 pandemic

Wuhan study has important implications for managing COVID-19 pandemic

Effects of low-fat, plant-based diet compared to low-carb, animal-based diet

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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