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.

Researchers use viral signatures to reveal transmission patterns of SARS-CoV-2

The coronavirus, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has one official name--SARS-CoV-2. But according to virologists, mutations lead to hundreds of genetically-distinct versions of the virus.

23 Oct 2020

Vitamin C and COVID-19: A Review

In a recent review published in Preprints*, Patrick Holford et al. address vitamin C's role as adjunctive therapy for respiratory infection, sepsis, and COVID-19.

23 Oct 2020

Seropositivity to SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic blood donors in New York

New York was the hardest-hit U.S. state during the peak of the outbreak in the country. Now, a team of researchers from the New York Blood Center and Serimmune, an immune intelligence company, aimed to determine the prevalence of seropositive people for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, among healthy blood donors.

23 Oct 2020

Biomimetic virus-like particles for safer positive controls in SARS-CoV-2 detection

In an attempt to overcome these issues, a team of researchers from various departments at the University of California San Diego recently proposed using biomimetic virus-like particles (VLPs) as positive controls for assays used in SARS-CoV-2 detection. Their study is published on the preprint server bioRxiv.

23 Oct 2020

Meaning in life and self-control protect against stress during COVID-19 pandemic

Numerous studies over the last few weeks have pointed out that the effects of the Corona pandemic on people's mental health can be enormous and affect large parts of the population.

22 Oct 2020

Nutritional status may impact susceptibility to COVID-19, study says

Now, a team of researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the University of Oxford wanted to provide a systematic review of the latest evidence on how malnutrition across all forms, including undernutrition, obesity, and micronutrient status, may influence the susceptibility and severity of COVID-19.

22 Oct 2020

Anxiety and stress caused by COVID-19 associated with body image issues

A new study has found that anxiety and stress directly linked to COVID-19 could be causing a number of body image issues amongst women and men.

22 Oct 2020

Initial lockdown in France substantially curbed COVID-19, but many remain susceptible to the virus

Now, a new study by researchers at the Santé Publique France conducted seroprevalence estimates in France, one of the countries with high COVID-19 cases in Europe.

22 Oct 2020

WHO and Wikimedia Foundation expand public's access to most reliable information about COVID-19

The World Health Organization and the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that administers Wikipedia, announced today a collaboration to expand the public's access to the latest and most reliable information about COVID-19.

22 Oct 2020

DNA vaccine-induced antibodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is far from over as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to ravage across the globe. With the vast spread of the virus, many countries who reported flattening the curve over the past months have reported clusters of new cases and second waves of the outbreak.

22 Oct 2020

$2 million NCI SeroNet grant aims to increase diversity in COVID-19 immunology research

A new, $2 million grant from the NCI Serological Sciences Network for COVID-19 (SeroNet) is aimed at enhancing representation of Black and Hispanic people in SARS-CoV-2 immunology research through the use of storytelling--an approach in which community members become "video stars" and provide honest messages about the importance of being represented in COVID-19 research studies.

22 Oct 2020

First antiviral treatment for COVID-19 receives FDA approval

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the antiviral drug Veklury (remdesivir) for use in adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older and weighing at least 40 kilograms (about 88 pounds) for the treatment of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization.

22 Oct 2020

Recovered COVID-19 patients exhibit cognitive deficits

Researchers in the UK and the United States have reported concerning findings showing that patients who had recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exhibited significant cognitive deficits.

22 Oct 2020

Study reveals factors that account for reduced death rates from COVID-19

Fewer New Yorkers are dying from the coronavirus than health experts had anticipated, a new study shows. Regional death rates have dropped from the highs seen at the start of the outbreak, partially due to a shift in the population contracting the disease toward those who are more resilient.

22 Oct 2020

Study shows how genome sequencing can track mutations in SARS-CoV-2 virus

A study published in Cell Reports shows how next generation genetic sequencing can track mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which can in effect help with transmission tracing, diagnostic testing accuracy and vaccine effectiveness.

22 Oct 2020

Web-based analytics can help predict and respond to COVID-19 hot spots

Web-based analytics have demonstrated their value in predicting the spread of infectious disease, and a new study from Mayo Clinic indicates the value of analyzing Google web searches for keywords related to COVID-19.

22 Oct 2020

Study may help develop effective therapeutic strategies against COVID-19

People have different susceptibilities to SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop varying degrees of fever, fatigue, and breathing problems -- common symptoms of the illness. What might explain this variation?

22 Oct 2020

UN aims to bring awareness and global attention to blindness and vision impairment

In recognition of World Sight Day 2020, the UN Friends of Vision, the Permanent Missions of Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh and Ireland to the United Nations, organized a high-Level event entitled '2020 and Beyond: Accelerating Vision for Everyone'.

22 Oct 2020

Studies examine impact of COVID-19 on neonatal intensive care units

Two studies examining the impact of COVID-19 on neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) found the prevalence of COVID-19 in NICU infants is low, yet many hospitals at the start of the pandemic put in place strict parental visitation policies and scaled back NICU services such as lactation support and therapy.

22 Oct 2020

Study sheds light on working principles of various advanced biosensing technologies

The COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly the most challenging global health burden since the 2nd World War. The pandemic has raised social awareness on the importance of effective and timely diagnosis that may help minimize the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.

22 Oct 2020