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.

Europe is the main source of COVID-19 spread, shows study

The University of Huddersfield's Archaeogenetics Research Group has mapped out the dispersal of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, responsible for the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, putting Europe centre-stage as the main source of the spread.

4 Nov 2020

New system wirelessly captures data from pulse oximeters for COVID-19 monitoring

Automating the collection and presentation of healthcare data is crucial in the fight against COVID-19 - it adds capacity to screening efforts by automating routine tasks, thereby allowing frontline staff such as dormitory operators and healthcare workers in community care facilities to focus on more pressing tasks while receiving regular updates on the health status of the individuals under their care.

4 Nov 2020

Study sheds light on possible lung damage caused by COVID-19 virus

The study, published today in The Lancet's eBioMedicine, by King's College London in collaboration with University of Trieste and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biology in Italy, shows the unique characteristics to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and may explain why patients suffer from 'long COVID'.

4 Nov 2020

Discoverey of four SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors, boceprevir, calpain inhibitors II and XII and GC-376

A team of scientists from the United States has recently revealed that small molecule inhibitors of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) main protease exhibit potent antiviral activity. These inhibitors show better efficacy when used in combination with antiviral medicine Remdesivir. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

3 Nov 2020

Most SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals develop durable B cell-mediated immunity

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University and The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, investigated the durability of B cell immunity following SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovery in their recent work published on the preprint server medRxiv.

3 Nov 2020

Evidence of robust and persistent antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

A team of researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, have worked in collaboration to try and answer one of the most baffling questions surrounding the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic: do antibodies against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) last after a primary infection?

3 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 mutations becoming more contagious

A team of researchers working with Scott Wesley Long from Houston Methodist Hospital and colleagues from Texas, New York, and Illinois studied the patterns of genetic mutations of SARS CoV-2 and its impact on the second wave of infections worldwide.

3 Nov 2020

Key populations need to be prioritized for early COVID-19 immunization in Canada

Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends vaccinating key populations, such as people at risk of severe illness or death, those at risk of transmitting the virus and essential workers, during the initial rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine in Canada.

3 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 T-cell immunity is retained for at least six months

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv shows that functional SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses are retained for six months following infection. However, the strength of this response depends on the clinical features of the primary infection.

3 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 attack rates among household contacts higher than among non-household contacts

Now, a team of researchers at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases in Singapore aimed to determine the transmission risk factors of SARS-CoV-2 among household and non-household contacts.

3 Nov 2020

Study finds a subset of quick COVID-19 healers and antibody 'sustainers'

One of the pressing questions about COVID-19 remains: How long does immunity last? One key indicator of immunity is the presence of virus-specific antibodies.

3 Nov 2020

AI speech processing framework detects inaudible COVID-19 cough

Now, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that asymptomatic people may differ from those who are healthy in the way they cough. The differences are inaudible to the human ear but can be detected by artificial intelligence (AI).

3 Nov 2020

Researchers track the flight trajectory of airborne cough droplets

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led many researchers to study airborne droplet transmission in different conditions and environments. The latest studies are starting to incorporate important aspects of fluid physics to deepen our understanding of viral transmission.

3 Nov 2020

16 new lineages of SARS-CoV-2 emerge in South Africa despite lockdown

Published in a recent medRxiv* paper, researchers from South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Brazil found that these mutations in SARS-CoV-2 lineages are localized to South Africa. These unique strains, not found elsewhere in the world, are thought to have contributed around 42% to the country's total infection rate.

3 Nov 2020

Some of the main osteoporosis treatments could have a protective effect against COVID-19

Some of the principal treatments for osteoporosis, denosumab, zoledronate and calcium, could have a protective effect against COVID-19 in patients who take them, specifically a 30 to 40% reduction in the rate of infection, according to the results of a joint study by Hospital del Mar, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Pompeu Fabra University and the Pere Virgili Health Park.

3 Nov 2020

Rapid generation of divergent synthetic antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in a cell-free engineering platform

In a groundbreaking bioRxiv paper, a research group from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US engineered antibodies against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike glycoprotein by using a novel approach. In doing so, they also identified more than 800 predicted binder families.

3 Nov 2020

Primary care for acute health conditions declined dramatically since UK lockdown

Researchers have conducted a study showing substantial reductions in the number of people attending primary care services for key physical and mental health conditions in the UK since lockdown was introduced on March 23rd this year.

3 Nov 2020

Re-thinking advance care planning during COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers in the UK have warned that healthcare professionals and providers need to consider how Advance Care Planning (ACP) can be resourced and normalized as part of standard care during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), ahead of recurrent or future waves.

3 Nov 2020

Review: One in five COVID-19 patients may only show gastrointestinal symptoms

Almost one in five patients with COVID-19 may only show gastrointestinal symptoms, according to a review of academic studies published in the journal Abdominal Radiology. The findings of the review suggest abdominal radiologists need to remain vigilant during the pandemic while imaging patients.

3 Nov 2020

Infection prevention practices during COVID-19 result in shorter hospital stays for moms, babies

New infection prevention practices implemented during the coronavirus pandemic have resulted in significantly shorter hospital stays for mothers and their babies, according to investigators at Cedars-Sinai, with no changes in the rates of cesarean deliveries, complications or poor outcomes.

3 Nov 2020

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Europe is the main source of COVID-19 spread, shows study

New system wirelessly captures data from pulse oximeters for COVID-19 monitoring

Study sheds light on possible lung damage caused by COVID-19 virus

Discoverey of four SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors, boceprevir, calpain inhibitors II and XII and GC-376

Most SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals develop durable B cell-mediated immunity

Evidence of robust and persistent antibodies against SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2 mutations becoming more contagious

Key populations need to be prioritized for early COVID-19 immunization in Canada

SARS-CoV-2 T-cell immunity is retained for at least six months

SARS-CoV-2 attack rates among household contacts higher than among non-household contacts

Study finds a subset of quick COVID-19 healers and antibody 'sustainers'

AI speech processing framework detects inaudible COVID-19 cough

Researchers track the flight trajectory of airborne cough droplets

16 new lineages of SARS-CoV-2 emerge in South Africa despite lockdown

Some of the main osteoporosis treatments could have a protective effect against COVID-19

Rapid generation of divergent synthetic antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in a cell-free engineering platform

Primary care for acute health conditions declined dramatically since UK lockdown

Re-thinking advance care planning during COVID-19 pandemic

Review: One in five COVID-19 patients may only show gastrointestinal symptoms

Infection prevention practices during COVID-19 result in shorter hospital stays for moms, babies

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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