Public Health News and Research

RSS

Previous infections with seasonal coronaviruses might protect against SARS-CoV-2

Seasonal coronaviruses, which generally cause mild respiratory illness and symptoms of the common cold, belong to the same viral family as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes COVID-19.

15 Oct 2020

Cloud-based tool can rapidly detect and track emerging pathogens

Published today in the journal GigaScience is a new open source, cloud-based tool called IDseq that makes it possible to rapidly detect, identify, and track emerging pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2.

15 Oct 2020

Researchers engineer cow muscle cells to produce plant nutrients

A group of researchers at Tufts University have genetically engineered cow muscle cells to produce plant nutrients not natively found in beef cells.

15 Oct 2020

Common kidney tests can help estimate risk of cardiovascular disease

Taking into account two common kidney disease tests may greatly enhance doctors' abilities to estimate patients' cardiovascular disease risks, enabling millions of patients to have better preventive cardiovascular care, according to a large international study co-led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

15 Oct 2020

Despite expansion of food assistance programs, levels of food insecurity remain high

In the last several months, the proportion of New Yorkers reached by the public food programs initiated by New York City to address rising rates of food insecurity has doubled, indicating progress in reaching those in need.

15 Oct 2020

Digital environmental tools can help track and predict effects of COVID-19

A digital sprint, featuring a series of hackathons, led by Cranfield University and the Natural Environment Research Council has seen multiple projects awarded prizes for innovation and use of digital technology.

15 Oct 2020

Obese persons have greater risk of developing severe COVID-19

The probability that an obese person will develop severe COVID-19 is high regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, and the presence of co-morbidities such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart or lung disease, according to a study by Brazilian researchers published in Obesity Research & Clinical Practice.

15 Oct 2020

Capillary blood microsampling could prove a breakthrough in SARS-CoV-2 serosurveillance

As COVID-19 seems to be making a comeback in many areas of the world, including Japan, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in October 2020 shows the relevance of microsamples of blood in serosurveillance of this disease.

15 Oct 2020

Higher levels of lymphocytes reduce risk of long-term complications in asymptomatic COVID-19 patients

COVID-19 remains stubbornly inconsistent. More than a million people have died and 35 million have been diagnosed, but a large fraction of people infected with the coronavirus--about 45%, according to recent estimates--show no symptoms at all.

15 Oct 2020

New, improved tools can identify children at greatest risk of preventable deaths

Health care leaders have new, improved tools to identify children at the greatest risk of preventable deaths, based on surveys of more than 67 countries around the world by researchers at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

15 Oct 2020

SARS-CoV-2 may become endemic if reinfection proves commonplace, say researchers

To date, a few verified repeat SARS-CoV-2 infections have been documented around the world. "Should reinfection [with SARS-CoV-2] prove commonplace, and barring a highly effective vaccine delivered to most of the world's population, SARS-CoV-2 will likely become endemic," write Jeffrey Shaman and Marta Galanti in this Perspective.

15 Oct 2020

Certain live-attenuated vaccines can prevent severe complications of COVID-19

COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc globally, with over one million deaths to date. Yet what if an existing vaccine could make COVID-19 less deadly? A study just published put the theory to test, with promising results.

15 Oct 2020

Researchers call for transparency and reproducibility in artificial intelligence research

International scientists are challenging their colleagues to make Artificial Intelligence (AI) research more transparent and reproducible to accelerate the impact of their findings for cancer patients.

15 Oct 2020

Pharmacist-led digital intervention associated with reduced rates of hazardous prescribing

A pharmacist-led, new digital intervention that improves patient safety when prescribing medication in general practice reduced rates of hazardous prescribing by more than 40 per cent, 12 months after it had been introduced to 43 GP practices in Salford, finds a new study.

14 Oct 2020

Ct values can be used to estimate epidemic dynamics

Researchers recently showed that the varying population distribution of Cycle threshold (Ct) values from positive SARS-CoV-2 samples could help infer epidemic dynamics.

14 Oct 2020

Researchers receive $1.35 million grant to reduce impact of substance abuse in Appalachia

McDowell County--in the southern coalfields of West Virginia--is the second-most at-risk in the nation for an HIV outbreak related to drug injection. Neighboring Wyoming and Mercer Counties follow close behind. All three have some of the highest rates of acute hepatitis B and hepatitis C in the United States.

14 Oct 2020

Leadership, communication and compliance key to New Zealand's COVID-19 success

Researchers from New Zealand have studied the epidemiological curve of the COVID-19 pandemic in their country. Their study titled "COVID-19 in New Zealand and the impact of the national response: a descriptive epidemiological study" was published on October 13, 2020, in The Lancet Public Health.

14 Oct 2020

New position statement clarifies WHO's stance on the use of genetically modified mosquitoes

Each year, more than 700 000 people die from vector-borne diseases (VBDs) such as malaria, dengue, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis, among others.

14 Oct 2020

Maltreatment at early age affects girls more than boys

New research by a University of Georgia scientist reveals that girls who are maltreated show higher levels of inflammation at an early age than boys who are maltreated or children who have not experienced abuse. This finding may forecast chronic mental and physical health problems in midlife.

14 Oct 2020

WVU joins with CDC to conduct a seven-week mask observation study

The rate of COVID-19 positivity among young adults has been higher than other age groups during July and August. And, while the West Virginia University community is no stranger to doing its part to help suppress the positivity rate and keep others safe, there are significant factors that may result in WVU students letting down their guard when it comes to mitigation strategies - in particular, wearing a mask.

14 Oct 2020

Public Health News and Research

Previous infections with seasonal coronaviruses might protect against SARS-CoV-2

Cloud-based tool can rapidly detect and track emerging pathogens

Researchers engineer cow muscle cells to produce plant nutrients

Common kidney tests can help estimate risk of cardiovascular disease

Despite expansion of food assistance programs, levels of food insecurity remain high

Digital environmental tools can help track and predict effects of COVID-19

Obese persons have greater risk of developing severe COVID-19

Capillary blood microsampling could prove a breakthrough in SARS-CoV-2 serosurveillance

Higher levels of lymphocytes reduce risk of long-term complications in asymptomatic COVID-19 patients

New, improved tools can identify children at greatest risk of preventable deaths

SARS-CoV-2 may become endemic if reinfection proves commonplace, say researchers

Certain live-attenuated vaccines can prevent severe complications of COVID-19

Researchers call for transparency and reproducibility in artificial intelligence research

Pharmacist-led digital intervention associated with reduced rates of hazardous prescribing

Ct values can be used to estimate epidemic dynamics

Researchers receive $1.35 million grant to reduce impact of substance abuse in Appalachia

Leadership, communication and compliance key to New Zealand's COVID-19 success

New position statement clarifies WHO's stance on the use of genetically modified mosquitoes

Maltreatment at early age affects girls more than boys

WVU joins with CDC to conduct a seven-week mask observation study

News Medical 2025: Healthcare Shifts That Mattered Most eBook

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

Applications Engineer

Latest News