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.

Reducing the airborne transmission risk for SARS-CoV-2

Rapid Reviews: COVID-19 (RR:C19), an open-access overlay journal published by the MIT Press that accelerates peer review of COVID-19-related research preprints, is currently soliciting reviews of the following COVID-19 preprints.

6 Nov 2020

UNICEF and WHO issue urgent call to action to avert measles, polio epidemics

UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) today issued an urgent call to action to avert major measles and polio epidemics as COVID-19 continues to disrupt immunization services worldwide, leaving millions of vulnerable children at heightened risk of preventable childhood diseases.

6 Nov 2020

Anxiety disorders increase among US citizens during COVID-19 pandemic

Scientists from the University of North Carolina and City University New York have recently revealed that a majority of United States citizens have suffered from anxiety disorders amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Financial adversity is one of the major causative factors for anxiety symptoms. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

5 Nov 2020

A digital CRISPR-based method for quick detection and absolute quantification of SARS-CoV-2

In a recent medRxiv* preprint manuscript, researchers from Singapore and the United States report the development of a digital CRISPR method for the sensitive, specific, and rapid detection of viral nucleic acids at a constant temperature, which could be exploited for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

5 Nov 2020

New Zealand case study shows room for improvement in genomic sequencing of COVID-19 outbreaks

Researchers in New Zealand, the United States and Australia have demonstrated the effectiveness of real-time genomic sequencing at tracking the re-emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in New Zealand, in August this year.

5 Nov 2020

Pre-existing anti-IFN autoantibodies may worsen COVID-19 in lupus patients

“Our observations suggest that the presence of these autoantibodies may predispose SLE patients to infection with SARS-CoV-2 with a more severe presentation and represent an additional risk factor in this patient population,” write Sarthak Gupta and colleagues from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland.

5 Nov 2020

First-time mothers report how the pandemic has disrupted breastfeeding experiences

The COVID-19 pandemic and the implications of physical distancing have disrupted new mothers' birth and breastfeeding experiences even if they are not COVID-19 positive or a person awaiting results.

5 Nov 2020

Persistent and extensive lung damage seen in COVID-19 patients

A team of researchers at the University of Trieste in Italy aimed to determine the extent and the causes of lung damage from COVID-19 to better understand the pathological correlates of the disease.

5 Nov 2020

Occupational risk of COVID-19 in 3.5 million Norwegians

A team of researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health have sought to determine which among workers and employees have higher odds of COVID-19 infection in the first and second waves of the outbreak.

5 Nov 2020

Children produce different antibodies in response to infection with new coronavirus

Children and adults produce different types and amounts of antibodies in response to infection with the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, a new study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has found.

5 Nov 2020

Insulin has met an evolutionary cul-de-sac making most people vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes

Scientists have found that insulin has met an evolutionary cul-de-sac, limiting its ability to adapt to obesity and thereby rendering most people vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes.

5 Nov 2020

Nanobodies efficiently neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in cells

Two separate studies have identified nanobodies - which could be produced less expensively than monoclonal antibodies - that bind tightly to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and efficiently neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in cells.

5 Nov 2020

Stanford researchers create a highly automated device that can detect COVID-19 in 30 minutes

Throughout the pandemic, infectious disease experts and frontline medical workers have asked for a faster, cheaper and more reliable COVID-19 test.

5 Nov 2020

UCF researcher leads project to identify factors linked to preterm births among Black women

The rate of preterm births in the U.S. has been on the rise during the past six years, with a stark difference in the rate of preterm births among non-Hispanic Black women compared to non-Hispanic white women.

5 Nov 2020

Climate change linked to higher rates of cancer

Climate change will bring an acute toll worldwide, with rising temperatures, wildfires and poor air quality, accompanied by higher rates of cancer, especially lung, skin and gastrointestinal cancers, according to a new report from UC San Francisco.

5 Nov 2020

Argonne supports the largest analysis of COVID-19 genome sequences in the U.S.

Argonne computational resources supported the largest comprehensive analysis of COVID-19 genome sequences in the U.S. and helped corroborate growing evidence of a protein mutation.

5 Nov 2020

Longtime health advocate Donna Shalala loses house reelection race

Rep. Donna E. Shalala of Florida, the first-term Democratic member of Congress and former Health and Human Services secretary in the Clinton administration, lost her campaign for reelection Tuesday.

5 Nov 2020

World Health Assembly to discuss plan for addressing COVID-19 response and critical health goals

As health leaders prepare to gather for a virtual session of the resumed 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA), WHO has three messages to share.

5 Nov 2020

Poor and minority children with food allergies overlooked and in danger

As Emily Brown stood in a food pantry looking at her options, she felt alone. Up to that point, she had never struggled financially. But there she was, desperate to find safe food for her young daughter with food allergies. What she found was a jar of salsa and some potatoes.

5 Nov 2020

Green tea and some fruit juices inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

Green tea, chokeberry juice, and pomegranate juice killed flu and SARS-CoV-2 viruses when incubated with the viruses in vitro. Thus, oral rinsing using these might be effective in preventing COVID-19.

5 Nov 2020

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Reducing the airborne transmission risk for SARS-CoV-2

UNICEF and WHO issue urgent call to action to avert measles, polio epidemics

Anxiety disorders increase among US citizens during COVID-19 pandemic

A digital CRISPR-based method for quick detection and absolute quantification of SARS-CoV-2

New Zealand case study shows room for improvement in genomic sequencing of COVID-19 outbreaks

Pre-existing anti-IFN autoantibodies may worsen COVID-19 in lupus patients

First-time mothers report how the pandemic has disrupted breastfeeding experiences

Persistent and extensive lung damage seen in COVID-19 patients

Occupational risk of COVID-19 in 3.5 million Norwegians

Children produce different antibodies in response to infection with new coronavirus

Insulin has met an evolutionary cul-de-sac making most people vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes

Nanobodies efficiently neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in cells

Stanford researchers create a highly automated device that can detect COVID-19 in 30 minutes

UCF researcher leads project to identify factors linked to preterm births among Black women

Climate change linked to higher rates of cancer

Argonne supports the largest analysis of COVID-19 genome sequences in the U.S.

Longtime health advocate Donna Shalala loses house reelection race

World Health Assembly to discuss plan for addressing COVID-19 response and critical health goals

Poor and minority children with food allergies overlooked and in danger

Green tea and some fruit juices inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

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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