SARS CoV 2 News and Research

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Physical-distancing slows spread of COVID-19 and reduces ICU admissions

The world is now at a standstill, as many countries have imposed restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Nations are in lockdowns indefinitely, until the situation improves. The vast spread of the novel coronavirus is now inevitable, as the number of confirmed cases topped 1.85 million, many scientists are determining health measures that could help mitigate the global pandemic.

12 Apr 2020

Cats, ferrets more vulnerable to COVID-19 than dogs

A recent Chinese study published on the preprint server BioRxiv finds that cats and ferrets appear to be extremely vulnerable to the virus, but dogs, pigs, and poultry do not seem to contract it. As preprints, papers are not yet peer-reviewed, undergoing only basic scientific screening.

12 Apr 2020

First detailed map of transcriptome and epitranscriptome for novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)

A team of researchers has come out with the first detailed map of the transcriptome and epitranscriptome of the virulent SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 disease, the illness that has become a pandemic ravaging both developed and less developed countries of the world. The study, published in the journal Cell in April 2020, may assist in the development of new vaccines and therapeutics.

12 Apr 2020

What are the side effects of social and physical distancing?

Researchers Sandro Galea from the Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Raina M. Merchant, from the Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, and Nicole Lurie, from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Oslo, Norway, published an opinion paper in the JAMA Internal Medicine titled, “The Mental Health Consequences of COVID-19 and Physical Distancing The Need for Prevention and Early Intervention”.

12 Apr 2020

Promising COVID-19 drug treatments identified with new screening strategies

As scientists across the world race to find a pharmacological cure for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an international research group has analyzed more than 10 thousand different compounds and identified six potential candidates, publishing their results in the leading scientific journal Nature.

12 Apr 2020

Recovered South Korean COVID-19 patients test positive again

Following the reports from different countries of patients recovered from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) but testing positive again during the control diagnostic appraisal, South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) documents a similar occurrence in 51 patients.

12 Apr 2020

AGA publishes new COVID-19 guidance for gastroenterologists treating patients with IBD

Today, the American Gastroenterological Association published new COVID-19 guidance for gastroenterologists treating patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): AGA Clinical Practice Update on Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Expert Commentary.

12 Apr 2020

Public transport system could jeopardize Africa’s efforts to curb COVID-19

Africa's crowded public transport system could jeopardize efforts to curb local transmission of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, a scientist says.

11 Apr 2020

Scientists make plant genome public to help combat COVID-19

Plant Nicotiana benthamiana is currently used as a bio-factory for several experimental vaccines against SARS-COV-2.

11 Apr 2020

A Colorado ski community planned to test everyone for COVID-19. Here’s what happened.

In late March, residents of the Colorado town of Telluride and surrounding San Miguel County stood in line, along marked spots spaced 6 feet apart, to have their blood drawn by medical technicians wearing Tyvek suits, face shields and gloves for a new COVID-19 test.

10 Apr 2020

UofL researchers use computers in schools across Kentucky to identify drugs for COVID-19

The novel coronavirus may have K-12 students in Kentucky's school districts learning at home, but researchers at the University of Louisville are using the computing power of thousands of computers in classrooms across the state to identify drugs to treat COVID-19.

10 Apr 2020

Researchers design simple, cost-effective oxygen concentrators

The new virus is conquering the world. The more people who become infected with Sars-CoV-2, the more cases there will be in which severe illness will occur.

10 Apr 2020

Arizona COVID-19 Genomics Union to study how the virus may be evolving

The Translational Genomics Research Institute, an affiliate of City of Hope, The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University, and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona have formed a union dedicated to tracking the COVID-19 coronavirus, it was announced today.

10 Apr 2020

Novel ventilator bed hoods keep coronavirus contained within ICU

Researchers from the University of Melbourne have come up with devices called ventilation hoods that could help decrease the spread of COVID-19 from ICU patients to health workers who treat them, and to other patients.

9 Apr 2020

Novel clinical trial fast tracks testing of COVID-19 therapies

A novel clinical trial developed by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine launched today at UPMC to address one of the most important debates during the COVID-19 pandemic:

9 Apr 2020

Microneedle patches for potential COVID-19 vaccines or therapeutics

The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading over the world, causing panic and illness on a scale unprecedented in one hundred years. Even while the death toll nears 100,000, with over 1.5 million confirmed cases worldwide, public health experts and medical professionals are battling it using all the weapons available. Unfortunately, these are all too few.

9 Apr 2020

Testing One, Two, Three - Over 75% of people with COVID-19 are asymptomatic

A new study published in the British Medical Journal in April 2020 suggests that the number of people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is astonishingly higher than the number of cases reported so far. This could help shape future social distancing measures.

9 Apr 2020

Weekly COVID-19 fatality predictions from leading epidemiologists

While many developed and developing countries are reeling under the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19 disease, preventive and therapeutic measures alike need more accurate forecasts of fatal and non-fatal events to achieve preparedness and ensure an optimal outcome. Now scientists at Imperial College, London, have come up with a new weekly forecast of the number of deaths due to coronavirus and the likely number of cases reported in countries where the virus is actively spreading.

9 Apr 2020

Hypertensive patients on ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers may have improved COVID-19 prognosis

Emerging concerns that common antihypertensive treatment approaches with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) – jointly known as renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors – may exert a negative effect in COVID-19 patients are not grounded in scientific evidence, as reported by researchers in a recent review article published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal.

9 Apr 2020

Quantifying the risk among health care providers who intubate COVID-19 patients

A team at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania launched the United States component of a global registry that aims to help protect health care providers who intubate patients with COVID-19 and better quantify their risk of developing the disease.

9 Apr 2020