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.

FDA reaffirms commitment to protect laboratory safety and security

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's mission to protect and promote public health by ensuring the safety of the nation's food supply, as well as the safety and efficacy of medical products, has always relied on a rigorous analysis of the scientific data available and a strong commitment to safety.

8 Oct 2020

In debate, Pence and Harris offer conflicting views of nation’s reality

The Trump administration's pandemic response: decisive action that saved lives, or the greatest failure of any presidential administration? During Wednesday's vice presidential debate, Vice President Mike Pence and the Democratic challenger, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, offered drastically different takes — from behind plexiglass screens — on how the president has handled the COVID-19 crisis.

8 Oct 2020

Face masks far more protective against COVID-19 than face shields, CDC experts

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have conducted a study showing that face masks and neck gaiters appear to be much more effective than face shields at reducing the expulsion of respiratory aerosols that could potentially transmit severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

8 Oct 2020

Job-based health insurance costs are up 4% this year, 55% in past decade

Health insurance costs for Americans who get their coverage through work continued a relentless march upward with average family premiums rising 4% to $21,342 this year, according to a study published Thursday.

8 Oct 2020

Leopoldina appeals to governments to take protective measures on COVID-19 pandemic

Since the end of July, the number of new infections with the coronavirus has been on the rise again in Germany.

8 Oct 2020

Warwick researcher to explore the use of robots and artificial intelligence in hospital settings

Hospitals all over the world must increase their efficiency and productivity and boost quality and safety, while containing and reducing costs.

8 Oct 2020

Hard lives made harder by COVID: Homeless endure a ‘slow-moving train wreck’

The message wasn't lost on Daniel Gonzalez. Early in the pandemic, one of the first things Imperial County did to ward off the virus was close the public bathrooms and, later, public cooling centers. In this sprawling Southern California desert, where summer brings blistering triple-digit heat, that lack of access could amount to a death sentence for people without shelter.

8 Oct 2020

Researchers identify a promising method to stop COVID-19 infection

While the world waits eagerly for a safe and effective vaccine to prevent infections from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers also are focusing on better understanding how SARS-CoV-2 attacks the body in the search for other means of stopping its devastating impact.

8 Oct 2020

Study: New viral mutations would not impact the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccine candidates

Vaccines currently being developed for Covid-19 should not be affected by recent mutations in the virus, according to a new study involving a University of York virologist.

8 Oct 2020

Study shows women are more concerned about COVID-19 than men

A Dartmouth-Gallup study finds that women are more concerned about COVID-19 than men, a difference that transcends party lines.

8 Oct 2020

Researchers launch innovative app for tracking COVID-19 around the world

Contact-tracing and exposure-notification apps are a new technology rapidly developed and launched to respond to the COVID-19 global health crisis.

8 Oct 2020

Researchers track down two new relatives of rubella virus

At night in a Ugandan forest, a team of American and African scientists take oral swabs from insect-eating cyclops leaf-nosed bats.

8 Oct 2020

Pre-existing conditions can increase patient's risk of dying from COVID-19

A large, international study of COVID-19 patients confirmed that cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, stroke and cancer can increase a patient's risk of dying from the virus.

8 Oct 2020

Study estimates lower herd immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in the U.S.

A new study shows that recognizing the differences in the population composition, connectedness and distribution, as well as inter-individual differences in immunity, susceptibility and infectivity, are crucial to estimating the herd immunity attained as a result of natural severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) more accurately.

8 Oct 2020

Vitamin D deficiency may predict COVID-19 seroconversion

A recent study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in October 2020 reports the potential contribution of vitamin D deficiency to an increased risk of COVID-19 in a subset of health care workers in the UK.

8 Oct 2020

Experimental Chinese SARS-CoV-2 vaccine appears safe in early trials

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in October 2020 reports the findings of a phase I trial of an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, demonstrating that it can elicit a potent immune response without significant adverse reactions.

7 Oct 2020

Plasma ABO protein is a causal risk factor for severe COVID-19

Researchers used an integrative genomics approach to find the genes responsible for COVID-19 and its severity.

7 Oct 2020

Anosmia and ageusia may be useful as COVID-19 surveillance case definitions

A recent study published on the preprint server medRxiv in October 2020 reports the utility of alterations in taste and smell to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 among contacts and in a community that lacks unlimited testing resources.

7 Oct 2020

Transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in two Indian states

Indian and American researchers collaborated to study the trends of transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in two Indian states – Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Their study titled, “Epidemiology and transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in two Indian states,” was published in the latest issue of the journal Science last week.

7 Oct 2020

DARPA selects Purdue-affiliated company to develop continuous manufacturing technology

The COVID-19 pandemic has created supply chain gaps in critical drug products, especially those needed for the most critical patients in intensive care units across the country.

7 Oct 2020