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.

A subunit SARS-CoV-2 vaccine may offer broader protection against virus

A new study published in the preprint server bioRxiv in September 2020 reports on the structure of this protein, as revealed by cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM).

23 Sep 2020

Molecular dynamic simulations reveal detailed spike-ACE2 interactions

The current COVID-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world. Caused by a single-stranded RNA betacoronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is closely related to but much more infectious than the earlier highly pathogenic betacoronaviruses SARS and MERS-CoV, has impacted social, economic, and physical health to an unimaginable extent.

23 Sep 2020

Baseline T cell signatures predict clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV infection

In a recent bioRxiv preprint paper, researchers from the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, and Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, discuss their study in mice that undergo detailed immunophenotyping before getting infected with SARS-CoV.

22 Sep 2020

Expert warns that COVID-19 cases in the UK could reach 50,000 per day

In the United Kingdom, health experts said that the country could face an exponentially growing death rate from COVID-19 within weeks unless urgent action is taken to control the spread of the virus. At present, the country has the highest official COVID-19 death toll in Europe and the fifth-largest across the globe.

22 Sep 2020

New 'prediction model' can help hospitals care for COVID-19 patients

Using a combination of demographic and clinical data gathered from seven weeks of COVID-19 patient care early in the coronavirus pandemic, Johns Hopkins researchers today published a "prediction model" they say can help other hospitals care for COVID-19 patients - and make important decisions about planning and resource allocations.

22 Sep 2020

CDC withdraws guideline on SARS-CoV-2 airborne spread

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published a new guideline, recognizing that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can spread via aerosols. Now, the health agency takes back its statement by deleting the updates published on Sept. 18.

22 Sep 2020

UIC awarded over $4 million to establish research center for mental health issues

A University of Illinois Chicago team has been awarded over $4 million to establish a research center focusing on the health and function of people with serious mental illness.

22 Sep 2020

Acquisition of a natural mutation primes SARS-CoV-2 for neutralization by a cross-reactive antibody

A team of scientists from the United States reveals that the acquisition of a natural mutation makes severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) susceptible to neutralization by a cross-reactive SARS-CoV antibody. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

22 Sep 2020

Confirmed early re-infection with SARS-CoV-2

As scientists strive to develop commercially viable and effective antivirals and vaccines to counter the growing COVID-19 pandemic, there is considerable uncertainty about how long and how durable the immunity induced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is. A new paper recently published in the journal Clinical Infectious Disease in September 2020 reports a confirmed case of re-infection with this virus following recovery.

22 Sep 2020

Parkinson's disease diagnosed after SARS-CoV-2

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, new and unusual chronic sequelae of the disease are cropping up in many medical practices. Now, a new case paper published in The Lancet in September 2020 describes a case of new-onset Parkinson's disease following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

22 Sep 2020

Study provides evidence of stark social inequities in COVID-19 outcomes

A geocoding approach - linking routinely collected public health data to neighborhood socioeconomic factors - shows consistently higher rates of COVID-19 illness and death among people living in more-disadvantaged communities, reports a study in the November/December Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.

22 Sep 2020

How COVID-19 flew to Greece

A recent study published in the journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease in September 2020 reports a series of cases following travel on a commercial airliner that heralded the earliest imported COVID-19 infections in Greece.

22 Sep 2020

Exercise hormone could have a therapeutic effect on COVID-19 patients

A study conducted by researchers at São Paulo State University suggests that irisin, a hormone secreted from muscles in response to exercise, could have a therapeutic effect on COVID-19 patients.

22 Sep 2020

Study shows effectiveness of UV-C light for killing COVID-19 on N95 respirators

Dermatology researchers at Henry Ford Health System, in collaboration with a team at the University of Michigan, have demonstrated that certain N95 respirators tainted with COVID-19 can be effectively and safely decontaminated for reuse using ultraviolet-C light (UV-C), a method commonly utilized for treating rare skin diseases.

22 Sep 2020

Men are dying from COVID-19 at a higher rate than women

A new review article from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center shows people who are biologically male are dying from COVID-19 at a higher rate than people who are biologically female.

22 Sep 2020

Researchers examine the impact of human movement on disease spread

Due to continual improvements in transportation technology, people travel more extensively than ever before. Although this strengthened connection between faraway countries comes with many benefits, it also poses a serious threat to disease control and prevention.

22 Sep 2020

Wastewater analysis predicts COVID-19 spread

The researchers from Yale University provided an outline of the spread of the infection in the community. Their study titled, “Measurement of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater tracks community infection dynamics,” is published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

22 Sep 2020

Michigan Tech develops three new open-source tools in response to COVID-19

Michigan Tech's Open Sustainability Technology Lab developed three new open-source tools in response to COVID-19: a high-temperature 3D printer, a firefighter PAPR mask and a printable, emergency-use ventilator.

22 Sep 2020

Tobacco responsible for one in five of all deaths from heart disease

Every year, 1.9 million people die from tobacco-induced heart disease, according to a new brief released today by the World Health Organization, World Heart Federation and the University of Newcastle Australia ahead of World Heart Day, marked on 29 September.

22 Sep 2020

COVID-19 can affect the retina

Now, a new study published in the journal EClinicalMedicine shows that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), targets the retina.

22 Sep 2020