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.

Antibody recognition of linear SARS-CoV-2 epitopes preserved in mutated B.1.1.7 strain

In a recent medRxiv research paper, the US scientists examined the effects of non-synonymous mutations in the circulating B.1.1.7 strain of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on linear antibody epitope signal for viral spike glycoprotein and nucleoprotein – and demonstrated that mutations should not result in immune evasion.

11 Jan 2021

Indirect effects of COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular disease patients and care

Deaths from ischemic heart disease and hypertensive diseases in the United States increased during the COVID-19 pandemic over the prior year, while globally, COVID-19 was associated with significant disruptions in cardiovascular disease testing.

11 Jan 2021

Research used to shape how dentistry can be carried out safely during Covid-19

Leading research at Newcastle University has been used to shape how dentistry can be carried out safely during the Covid-19 pandemic by mitigating the risks of dental aerosols.

11 Jan 2021

Study finds association between severity of COVID-19 and shorter telomeres

Patients with severe COVID-19 disease have significantly shorter telomeres, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in collaboration with the COVID-IFEMA Field Hospital, published in the journal Aging.

11 Jan 2021

Over half of COVID-19 cases are spread by asymptomatic carriers, CDC study finds

In a new study conducted by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over half of SARS-CoV-2 infections are believed to be transmitted asymptomatically.

11 Jan 2021

Sustained immune response memory detected in recovered COVID-19 patients

A team of researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine has found that people who had mild COVID-19 developed a multi-layered immune response against SARS-Cov-2. The researchers detected neutralizing antibodies against the virus for at least three months after recovering from the infection.

11 Jan 2021

How effective are masks in preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission?

Can face masks protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection? Faruque Ahmad, MD, recently explored the role of face masks in mitigating the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2.

11 Jan 2021

Seroprevalence and asymptomatic carrier status of SARS-CoV-2 in China

As asymptomatic transmission chains play a role in SARS-CoV-2’s viral spread, a new study by researchers in Wuhan, China, investigated the seroprevalence and asymptomatic carrier status of SARS-CoV-2 in the region.

11 Jan 2021

Even with Senate control, Democrats will need buy-in from GOP on key health priorities

Democrats have argued for more generous pandemic relief, more pressure on drugmakers to lower prices and more attention to systemic racism in health care.

11 Jan 2021

New agent-based model can be used for making informed choices regarding COVID-19 restrictions

What happens when municipalities in the Copenhagen area experience a COVID-19 flare-up? Would closing the schools have any effect, or would a better choice be directing the parents to work from home? Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities worldwide have several times implemented steps to keep the pandemic in check.

11 Jan 2021

‘Peer respites’ provide an alternative to psychiatric wards during pandemic

Mia McDermott is no stranger to isolation. Abandoned as an infant in China, she lived in an orphanage until a family in California adopted her as a toddler.

11 Jan 2021

One ambulance ride leads to another when packed hospitals cannot handle non-covid patients

Keely Connolly thought she would be safe once the ambulance arrived at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center in Kansas.

11 Jan 2021

Is your covid vaccine venue prepared to handle rare, life-threatening reactions?

As the rollout of covid-19 vaccines picks up across the U.S., moving from hospital distribution to pharmacies, pop-up sites and drive-thru clinics, health experts say it's vital that these expanded venues be prepared to handle rare but potentially life-threatening allergic reactions.

11 Jan 2021

Schlieren techniques demonstrate patterns of exhaled air spread from wind instruments and singers

In an interesting new research paper published recently on the bioRxiv preprint server, scientists describe the dispersal of exhaled air, potentially infected, from singers and those playing wind instruments, using Schlieren techniques, a visual process that is used to photograph the flow of fluids of varying density. This could help assess measures to assess the actual spread of infectious droplets or aerosols in such situations.

10 Jan 2021

Tetherin downregulation by SARS-CoV-2 enhances viral spread

A new preprint research paper published on the bioRxiv server describes the role of a host protein called tetherin in the spread of the novel coronavirus.

10 Jan 2021

Synthetic lung organoids provide high-throughput platform to identify new cellular targets of SARS-CoV-2

An interesting new study published on the bioRxiv preprint server describes a new platform that allows a high-throughput workflow to generate matched human lung buds in the tens of thousands. This allows researchers to study SARS-CoV-2 infection and therapeutics in lung tissue that mirrors the key aspects of human lung development.

10 Jan 2021

Large-scale genome sequencing shows how SARS-CoV-2 mutated

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* describes the results of genomic sequencing of the virus, which may help trace the routes of transmission of the virus from person to person, and from country to country.

10 Jan 2021

Researchers pinpoint spike protein regions as targets for passive and active COVID-19 vaccines

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have identified regions of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that have relatively few mutations and might therefore serve as important targets for prophylactic agents against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

10 Jan 2021

Modeling study sheds light on SARS-CoV-2 genome packaging

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have conducted a study exploring how the spatial patterning of certain genomic RNA regions in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) promotes compaction, packaging, and cyclization of the viral genome.

10 Jan 2021

New test detects SARS-CoV-2 in less than 5 mins

A fast and accurate virus detection strategy is very crucial to reduce the rate of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pathogen responsible for COVID-19. The global scientific research community responded to this unprecedented demand in diagnostic testing by developing several detection platforms, the most sensitive of which detect the viral RNA.

10 Jan 2021

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Antibody recognition of linear SARS-CoV-2 epitopes preserved in mutated B.1.1.7 strain

Indirect effects of COVID-19 pandemic on cardiovascular disease patients and care

Research used to shape how dentistry can be carried out safely during Covid-19

Study finds association between severity of COVID-19 and shorter telomeres

Over half of COVID-19 cases are spread by asymptomatic carriers, CDC study finds

Sustained immune response memory detected in recovered COVID-19 patients

How effective are masks in preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission?

Seroprevalence and asymptomatic carrier status of SARS-CoV-2 in China

Even with Senate control, Democrats will need buy-in from GOP on key health priorities

New agent-based model can be used for making informed choices regarding COVID-19 restrictions

‘Peer respites’ provide an alternative to psychiatric wards during pandemic

One ambulance ride leads to another when packed hospitals cannot handle non-covid patients

Is your covid vaccine venue prepared to handle rare, life-threatening reactions?

Schlieren techniques demonstrate patterns of exhaled air spread from wind instruments and singers

Tetherin downregulation by SARS-CoV-2 enhances viral spread

Synthetic lung organoids provide high-throughput platform to identify new cellular targets of SARS-CoV-2

Large-scale genome sequencing shows how SARS-CoV-2 mutated

Researchers pinpoint spike protein regions as targets for passive and active COVID-19 vaccines

Modeling study sheds light on SARS-CoV-2 genome packaging

New test detects SARS-CoV-2 in less than 5 mins

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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