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.

Children are active transmitters of COVID-19, shows study

A team of investigators from CDDEP, the Government of Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh studied disease transmission patterns in 575,071 individuals exposed to 84,965 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

1 Oct 2020

Long-term care system in British Columbia minimizes SARS-CoV-2 transmission

British Columbia found that BC was better prepared for the pandemic and responded in a more coordinated and decisive manner, leading to far fewer deaths than in Ontario.

1 Oct 2020

Interactive tool can help people determine risk tolerance and risk factors of COVID-19

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) -- the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging -- has developed a COVID-19 decision aid to help people make an informed decision when they consider interacting with other people or taking part in activities outside their home.

1 Oct 2020

23 SARS-CoV-2 strains circulating in the Philippines

In a new study published on the medRxiv* preprint server, scientists reported coding of complete genome sequences of 23 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains in the Philippines.

1 Oct 2020

Researchers explore the effect of screen time on vision

The coronavirus pandemic has shifted many of our interactions online, with Zoom video calls replacing in-person classes, work meetings, conferences and other events. Will all that screen time damage our vision?

1 Oct 2020

New data sheds light on COVID-19's trajectory in low- and middle-income country

In two states in India, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, COVID-19 cases and deaths have been more heavily concentrated in younger cohorts than is seen in high-income countries, among other trends.

1 Oct 2020

Study shows effects of COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer screening

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries paused their breast cancer screening programmes. A new study,presented at the 12thEuropean Breast Cancer Conference, suggests that the disruption to screeningcould result in an increase in the proportion of women who die of breast cancer.

1 Oct 2020

Genetic heritage from Neanderthals linked to severe COVID-19

Since first appearing in late 2019, the novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, has had a range of impacts on those it infects. Some people become severely ill with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and require hospitalization, whereas others have mild symptoms or are even asymptomatic.

30 Sep 2020

Tufts University to lead $100 million program to address threats posed by zoonotic viral diseases

Tufts University will lead a $100 million, five-year program to understand and address threats posed by zoonotic viral diseases that can "spill over" from animals to humans, such as SARS-CoV-2, in an effort to reduce risk of infection, amplification, and spread, the United States Agency for International Development announced today.

30 Sep 2020

Researchers identify the target structures for T-cell response against SARS-CoV-2

Our immune system can efficiently fend off viral diseases. Two types of immune cells play an important role in this process: The T-cells, which firstly can directly destroy virus-infected cells and secondly enable the formation of efficient, virus-neutralizing antibodies by B-cells.

30 Sep 2020

Maternal immune cells could bring SARS-CoV-2 to the placenta

Researchers from Canada and Brazil collaborated to explore the possibility of perinatal transmission of the virus from pregnant mothers to their babies and the risk of preterm birth.

30 Sep 2020

Singaporean study looks at WhatsApp behaviours during COVID-19 pandemic

A team of scientists from Singapore has recently studied the pattern of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) related WhatsApp usage in a group of people.

30 Sep 2020

VA Boston and BU researchers use machine learning to streamline the diagnostic tool for PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects eight million adults in the US, including hundreds of thousands of veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

30 Sep 2020

NIH awards $5 million grant to reduce COVID-19-related health disparities

To help reduce COVID-19-related health disparities in vulnerable populations in Texas, a multi-institutional team of researchers led by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston will identify disease hotspots and testing deserts in three racially diverse areas, and then develop and evaluate intervention strategies to increase COVID-19 testing.

30 Sep 2020

New trial to evaluate anti-TNF drug as a treatment for COVID-19 patients begins

Researchers at the University of Oxford are starting a new study to explore the effectiveness of the anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drug adalimumab as a treatment for patients with COVID-19 in the community, especially care homes.

30 Sep 2020

Discovery of high affinity binders for SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

An exciting, 'tour-de-force' paper by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology describes de novo discovery of high-affinity peptide binders for SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein, which opens the door for the development of rapid viral identification or conjugates for virus-directed delivery of therapeutics.

30 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 D614G variant enhances infectivity, replication and transmission

Researchers in the United States and Japan have conducted a study showing a common mutation in the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) - the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVD-19) - enhances the infectivity, replication, and early transmission of the virus.

30 Sep 2020

Newly developed fusion protein could improve COVID-19 research

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland have developed a high-quality recombinant virus protein that could be applied in the development of vaccines against the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and in the detection of novel viruses or antibodies.

30 Sep 2020

Researchers create drug-like compounds to destroy coronavirus' frameshifting element

Scripps Research chemist Matthew Disney, PhD, and colleagues have created drug-like compounds that, in human cell studies, bind and destroy the pandemic coronavirus' so-called "frameshifting element" to stop the virus from replicating.

30 Sep 2020

Neanderthal gene variant linked to higher risk of developing severe COVID-19

A study published in Nature shows that a segment of DNA that causes their carriers to have an up to three times higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neandertals. The study was conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

30 Sep 2020