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.

Home-based pediatric teleneuropsychology evaluations shown to be effective

Administering neuropsychology evaluations to children online in the comfort of their own homes is feasible and delivers results comparable to tests traditionally performed in a clinic, a new study led by UT Southwestern researchers and Children's Health indicates.

24 Sep 2020

Tokyo citizens may have developed COVID-19 herd immunity, say researchers

Researchers in Japan and the United States have conducted a study showing that herd immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may have developed among the citizens of Tokyo during the summer.

24 Sep 2020

California expands privacy protection to public health workers amid threats

California will allow public health officials to participate in a program to keep their home addresses confidential, a protection previously reserved for victims of violence, abuse and stalking and reproductive health care workers.

24 Sep 2020

These secret safety panels will pick the COVID vaccine winners

Most Americans have never heard of Dr. Richard Whitley, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

24 Sep 2020

As fires and floods wreak havoc on health, new climate center seeks solutions

For the past month, record-breaking wildfires have torched millions of acres from the Mexican border well into Canada, their smoke producing air so toxic that millions of people remained indoors for days on end while many visited hospitals because of respiratory distress.

24 Sep 2020

Molecular analysis of COVID-19's second wave shows mutant viruses linked to rapid spread

Molecular analysis of COVID-19's powerful second wave in Houston – from May 12 to July 7 – shows a mutated virus strain linked to higher transmission and infection rates than the coronavirus strains that caused Houston's first wave.

24 Sep 2020

AI used to define the cytokine storm implicated in fatal COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in September 2020 reports the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to identify an invariant or universal host immune response found in all viral pandemics so far. The association of this response with severe COVID-19 phenotypes indicates a new understanding of the human immune response in viral pandemics.

24 Sep 2020

New model counters the threat of recurring pandemic waves

How a second wave of COVID-19 infections may evolve across Europe over the next few months, using data on infection rates and travel within and between European countries, is modelled in a Scientific Reports paper.

24 Sep 2020

New initiative launched to combat the spread of disinformation on COVID-19

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the first pandemic in history in which technology and social media are being used on a massive scale to keep people safe, informed, productive and connected.

24 Sep 2020

Molecular insights may foster effective therapies for COVID-19 patients

Viral and bacterial pathogens wield pathogenic or virulent proteins that interact with high-value targets inside human cells, attacking what is known as the host interactome. The host interactome is the network map of all the protein-protein interactions inside cells.

24 Sep 2020

Aerosol-based study of COVID-19 risk indoors, and the impact of preventive measures

A recent study describes the estimated risk of COVID-19 transmission via aerosols in many different situations, as well as the expected reduction in risk associated with the use of various preventive measures.

24 Sep 2020

Men with COVID-19 have worse outcomes than women, confirms study

New research presented at this week's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID, online 23-25 September) confirms that men with COVID-19 have worse outcomes than women, possibly related to them experiencing higher levels of inflammation.

24 Sep 2020

Brazil becomes global hotspot for COVID-19 pandemic

Two nationwide COVID-19 antibody seroprevalence studies from Brazil show that many cities along the Amazon were hit hardest at the beginning of the epidemic in May and June, along with poorer and Indigenous communities.

24 Sep 2020

New method ranks contact-tracing apps according to their compliance with UN's Sustainable Development Goals

The UN's criteria for individual rights and fairness form the basis for a newly-published critique of COVID-19 contact-tracing app guidelines for Europe, and of apps already being used by millions in Austria and Singapore.

24 Sep 2020

FDA issues emergency use authorization for first serology point-of-care test for COVID-19

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first serology (antibody) point-of-care (POC) test for COVID-19.

24 Sep 2020

Siemens’ SARS-CoV-2 antibody immunoassays meet regulatory targets

New research being presented at the ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID, online 23-25 September) shows that, in a head-to-head comparison of five tests used to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (known as 'immunoassays'), an assay manufactured by Siemens and one developed by an academic partnership led by the University of Oxford had the most accurate results.

24 Sep 2020

Researchers uncover an active role of glycans in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, researchers are working overtime to develop vaccines and therapies to thwart SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease Many efforts focus on the coronavirus spike protein, which binds the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on human cells to allow viral entry.

24 Sep 2020