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.

Objective measures reveal a higher prevalence of smell loss in COVID-19 patients

Smell loss is a frequently reported symptom of COVID-19 but reports of prevalence vary from study-to-study and range from 5% to 98%. With such a wide range of estimates, it is difficult to prioritize its importance for testing and treatment.

16 Oct 2020

LGBTQ+ campus resource centers are essential to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ students

"Essential services" is a phrase that has become commonplace in the era of COVID-19. In a new commentary piece, scholars from Lehigh University and Ohio State University argue that LGBTQ+ college and university campus resource centers are essential to the health, well-being and academic achievement of LGBTQ+ students.

16 Oct 2020

New video campaign highlights how anesthetists are ‘always ready’ on the medical frontline

More than 50 anesthetists across Australia have participated in a new video campaign that highlights how they are ‘always ready’ on the medical frontline.

16 Oct 2020

Healthcare workers experience mental health problems during and after pandemics

Mental health problems such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and depression are common among healthcare staff during and immediately after pandemics – according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

16 Oct 2020

Antibody levels drop rapidly in recovering COVID-19 patients, shows study

In the absence of approved, effective treatments for COVID-19, some hospitals have been treating patients with severe COVID symptoms with blood plasma from recovering patients.

16 Oct 2020

New diagnostic test detects and identifies SARS-CoV-2 virus in less than five minutes

Scientists from Oxford University’s Department of Physics have developed an extremely rapid diagnostic test that detects and identifies viruses in less than five minutes.

16 Oct 2020

Governments must expand mental health and drug treatment services for young people

Governments must urgently expand mental health and drug treatment services before it’s too late, the Ted Noffs Foundation has said, warning that official data showing skyrocketing numbers of Victorians accessing crisis support signals the beginning of a national crisis.

16 Oct 2020

Control trial proves effectiveness of repurposed drugs for COVID-19 treatment

In just six months, the world's largest randomized control trial on COVID-19 therapeutics has generated conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of repurposed drugs for the treatment of COVID-19.

16 Oct 2020

New article explores the endemic potential of COVID-19 virus

A new article by Columbia Mailman School researchers Jeffrey Shaman and Marta Galanti explores the potential for the COVID-19 virus to become endemic, a regular feature producing recurring outbreaks in humans.

16 Oct 2020

Novel method can predict influenza epidemics

Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have developed a unique method to predict influenza epidemics by combining several sources of data.

16 Oct 2020

Impact of COVID-19 on Australians with hypertension

Ten months into the COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it is unclear how people with hypertension are coping, given their increased risk. A retrospective case-control study compared people with hypertension to matched healthy controls during COVID-19 lockdown to determine whether they have higher risk perceptions, anxiety, and prevention intentions. The study is published on the preprint server medRxiv* in October 2020.

16 Oct 2020

Rapid development of functionally diverse SARS-COV-2 mouse monoclonal antibodies

Now, a recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in October 2020 reports the development of a rapid process for generating high-affinity mouse mAbs, and their functional attributes.

16 Oct 2020

Exposure to ancient parasites may be linked to humans’ response to coronavirus

Why are some people more resilient to viruses than others? The answer has eluded scientists for centuries and, in the age of COVID-19, has come to represent one of the holy grails of biomedical research.

16 Oct 2020

NFID issues new report detailing risks of co-infection with flu and COVID-19 in vulnerable adults

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) issued a new Call to Action report detailing the risks of co-infection with influenza (flu) and COVID-19 in adults with chronic health conditions, and the importance of flu vaccination during the 2020-2021 season.

16 Oct 2020

High-titer convalescent plasma reduced COVID-19 symptom severity in green monkeys

As scientists scramble to find effective vaccines and antivirals for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in October 2020 reports that the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 disease early in the course of the illness may be among the best available strategies at present.

16 Oct 2020

Sexually active students more likely to use STI self-testing services

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are at record levels in the United States, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting recent "steep and sustained" increases.

16 Oct 2020

Sanofi Translate Bio MRT5500 COVID-19 vaccine shows promise in preclinical trials

The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening to come back in greater intensity during the winter and fall. Faced with this threat, vaccine development efforts are entering a phase of renewed focus, attempting to identify antigens capable of eliciting protective levels of neutralizing antibodies. A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in October 2020 reports on a novel mRNA vaccine candidate's performance in two animal models.

16 Oct 2020

Start-up receives NIH grant to accelerate development of contrast agent to detect liver fibrosis

Inlighta Biosciences, LLC, a start-up company led by Jenny Yang, Regents' Professor of Chemistry at Georgia State University, has been awarded a National Institute of Health grant to accelerate development of a magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent to detect liver fibrosis, formation of scar tissue in the liver caused by alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

15 Oct 2020

Study aims to understand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian veterans and their spouses

Lawson Health Research Institute and the Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are partnering with a population at high risk of mental illness - Canadian Veterans and spouses of Canadian Veterans - to study how they have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

15 Oct 2020

Should Australia re-open international borders?

Australian scientist Jessica Liebig from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), along with fellow researchers at the Queensland University of Technology and the University of New South Wales, studied the risks involved in re-opening the international borders for travelers to Australia.

15 Oct 2020

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Objective measures reveal a higher prevalence of smell loss in COVID-19 patients

LGBTQ+ campus resource centers are essential to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ students

New video campaign highlights how anesthetists are ‘always ready’ on the medical frontline

Healthcare workers experience mental health problems during and after pandemics

Antibody levels drop rapidly in recovering COVID-19 patients, shows study

New diagnostic test detects and identifies SARS-CoV-2 virus in less than five minutes

Governments must expand mental health and drug treatment services for young people

Control trial proves effectiveness of repurposed drugs for COVID-19 treatment

New article explores the endemic potential of COVID-19 virus

Novel method can predict influenza epidemics

Impact of COVID-19 on Australians with hypertension

Rapid development of functionally diverse SARS-COV-2 mouse monoclonal antibodies

Exposure to ancient parasites may be linked to humans’ response to coronavirus

NFID issues new report detailing risks of co-infection with flu and COVID-19 in vulnerable adults

High-titer convalescent plasma reduced COVID-19 symptom severity in green monkeys

Sexually active students more likely to use STI self-testing services

Sanofi Translate Bio MRT5500 COVID-19 vaccine shows promise in preclinical trials

Start-up receives NIH grant to accelerate development of contrast agent to detect liver fibrosis

Study aims to understand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian veterans and their spouses

Should Australia re-open international borders?

Best practices - optimize qPCR processes for pathogen detection eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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