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 cost-effective scalable production of SARS-CoV-2 RBD in yeast

A new study by the Argentinian AntiCovid Consortium and published in the preprint server bioRxiv* in September 2020 reports on the successful characterization of the conformation and stability of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) in two different cell systems. This may help to accelerate the development of vaccines and neutralizing antibodies.

21 Sep 2020

Three solutions to address the backlog of non-urgent surgeries during COVID-19

A new paper suggests three solutions to addressing the backlog of non-urgent surgeries delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

21 Sep 2020

CABI scientists highlight COVID-19 implications on food security in Kenya and Uganda

CABI scientists have conducted new research highlighting the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food security in Kenya and Uganda with more than two-thirds of those surveyed having experienced economic hardship due to the pandemic.

21 Sep 2020

Oncology nurses should be routinely tested for SARS-CoV-2, warn researchers

Researchers from the NHS Foundation Trust, University of Cambridge and Cambridge Clinical Laboratories have warned that until a vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) becomes available, antigen and antibody testing should be carried out among oncology nurses as part of routine patient care.

21 Sep 2020

BU researchers find how SARS-CoV-2 infection may drive deadly lung inflammation

Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, requires models that can duplicate disease development in humans, identify potential targets and enable drug testing.

21 Sep 2020

Without Ginsburg, judicial threats to the ACA, reproductive rights heighten

On Feb. 27, 2018, I got an email from the Heritage Foundation, alerting me to a news conference that afternoon held by Republican attorneys general of Texas and other states. It was referred to only as a "discussion about the Affordable Care Act lawsuit."

21 Sep 2020

Trump-Biden race could hinge on how Florida’s Pinellas County swings

Betty Jones voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, but the lifelong Republican has her doubts she will do it again this year.

21 Sep 2020

California’s deadliest spring in 20 years suggests COVID undercount

The first five months of the COVID-19 pandemic in California rank among the deadliest in state history, deadlier than any other consecutive five-month period in at least 20 years.

21 Sep 2020

Immunization is critical to protect current and future generations from preventable diseases

COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world that vaccines should be prioritised, writes Githinji Gitahi. Imagine a world in which everyone is at risk of contracting a contagious disease with no prevention or cure.

21 Sep 2020

Older racial and ethnic minority nursing home residents suffer the most from COVID-19

Older racial and ethnic minority residents and their caregivers bear the severest brunt from COVID-19 across the entire spectrum of US nursing homes and assisted living communities, University of Rochester Medical Center researchers report in two groundbreaking studies in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

21 Sep 2020

CDC updates coronavirus guidelines to recognize airborne spread

Early on in the pandemic, it was thought that the virus was only spread via respiratory droplets. However, scientific research soon showed it also to be an airborne virus. Now, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its guideline, acknowledging that the virus can hang in the air, fueling its spread.

21 Sep 2020

Researchers analyze kits to detect and inactivate COVID-19

The nation's ability to test for COVID-19 has expanded, thanks to work at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in collaboration with the University of Washington.

21 Sep 2020

Soluble ACE2 microbody blocks SARS-CoV-2 entry into lung cells

A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in September 2020 reports the potential of an angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-antibody Fc complex in a new format that seems to offer more significant inhibition of SARS-CoV-2.

21 Sep 2020

COVAM assay may help select convalescent plasma units for treatment of acute COVID-19

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* seeks to establish the pattern of antibody reactivity in COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP), which is widely being used as a therapy for seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

21 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 infects monocytes and macrophages, without cytopathic effect

A team of researchers from Aix-Marseille Univ, IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Institut Paoli Calmettes and Laboratoire d’Immunologie, Marseille, France, conducted experiments to determine if SARS-CoV-2 can affect the myeloid compartment or infect monocytes and macrophages.

20 Sep 2020

Scientists investigate active plasma metabolite of remdesivir in SARS-CoV-2 mouse model

Using mouse models, scientists have investigated the active plasma metabolite of remdesivir, GS-441 524, and hydroxychloroquine as possible drug candidates in COVID-19. The research shows GS-441 524 could be an effective therapeutic drug against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), while at the same time discounting hydroxychloroquine as a reliable anti-viral.

20 Sep 2020

Lopinavir-ritonavir does not suppress SARS-CoV-2 activity in vitro

Among them is the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, which have been in use in an attempt to reduce the severity of the disease. However, a new South Korean study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in September 2020 shows that this combination is ineffective against the virus.

20 Sep 2020

Study identifies new regions of positive selection in SARS-CoV-2

Based on structural modeling of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and proteins, the researchers from Duke University argue that newly identified regions of positive selection in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) likely affect species-specific RNA instead of protein function – improving our understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for highly unique biological properties of this virus.

20 Sep 2020

Large mother-child paired study promises more answers on COVID-19 in pregnancy

A new paper published in the preprint server medRxiv* in August 2020 reports the design and preliminary findings of an ongoing study on pregnant mothers and their children born during the pandemic.

20 Sep 2020

Novel sequencing method could be useful for COVID-19 research

Researchers at the University of Chicago and the Cleveland Clinic have presented a novel single-cell RNA sequencing method that could be a useful application for research into the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

20 Sep 2020