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.

CDC reports low mortality among children from COVID-19, but minorities are at risk

In the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 121 deaths among young people under the age of 21. Children from ethnic and racial minorities, those with underlying medical conditions, and in this age group, those between the ages of 18 and 20 are more likely to die from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19.

16 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 with D614G mutation is prevalent in central India

A team of scientists at the Defence Research and Development Establishment, India, reveals that there are multiple viral introduction events in central India, and SARS-CoV-2 with D614G mutation is the prevalently circulating strain.

16 Sep 2020

Self-assembling nanoparticles as a way towards next-generation COVID-19 vaccines

In a promising study by US researchers, the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and stabilized spike glycoprotein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were displayed on nanoparticles as vaccine antigens and elicited potent immune responses.

16 Sep 2020

Sub-Saharan Africa needs greater access to live-saving antibodies

Sub-Saharan Africa must increase access to live-saving, laboratory-produced antibodies, writes Yolanda Moyo.

16 Sep 2020

Lack of antigen test reporting leaves country ‘blind to the pandemic’

More than 20 states either don't release or have incomplete data on the rapid antigen tests now considered key to containing the coronavirus, which has sickened more than 6 million Americans.

16 Sep 2020

COVID vaccine trials move at warp speed, but recruiting Black volunteers takes time

Participation in clinical trials among Black people is low, according to Food and Drug Administration statistics.

16 Sep 2020

Pfizer's anti-viral 3CL protease inhibitor shows antiviral potential against SARS-CoV-2

Now, a new study by researchers from Pfizer, University of Arizona, Purdue University, The Scripps Research Institute, and UC San Diego School of Medicine and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in September 2020 reports that an enzyme inhibitor may act in synergism with the approved antiviral remdesivir to suppress viral replication in COVID-19.

16 Sep 2020

Critical insights into COVID-19 exposure for healthcare workers

A recent Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine study published in the preprint server medRxiv in September 2020 shows that the use of standard guidelines of infection control, including personal protective equipment (PPE), helps to prevent the undue risk of infection among HCWs as well.

16 Sep 2020

Heparan sulfate aids COVID-19 virus to penetrate human lung cells

A molecule known as ACE2 sits like a doorknob on the outer surfaces of the cells that line the lungs. Since January 2020, researchers have known that SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, primarily uses ACE2 to enter these cells and establish respiratory infections.

16 Sep 2020

Arizona COVID-19 Genomics Union tracks SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences

Initial findings reported by the Arizona COVID-19 Genomics Union (ACGU) suggest that following Arizona's first reported case of COVID-19 in late January, the state experienced no cases that went undetected and was COVID-free until at least 11 distinct incursions occurred between mid-February and early April.

16 Sep 2020

Johns Hopkins professor to study how climate and environmental elements influence the spread of COVID-19

Ben Zaitchik, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Johns Hopkins University, is available to speak with the media about the vigorous research still needed to definitively determine if and how climate, environmental and meteorological elements influence the spread of COVID-19.

16 Sep 2020

Researchers receive NIH grant to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on heart disease patients

A University of Illinois Chicago research study on how to improve care for heart disease patients struggling with hopelessness has been supplemented by the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, to determine whether the study intervention called "Heart Up!" limits the negative impact of COVID-19 shelter-in-place and physical distancing measures on health outcomes.

16 Sep 2020

AI and machine learning tools can help separate COVID-related claims

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, researchers have published hundreds of papers each week reporting their findings - many of which have not undergone a thorough peer review process to gauge their reliability.

16 Sep 2020

Study highlights role of specific protein in the mass production of antibodies

Antibodies play a fundamental role in medicine, and antibody-mediated immune response is the ultimate target in the quest for a vaccine to defeat the current pandemic.

16 Sep 2020

New images capture startlingly high SARS-CoV-2 viral loads

Now, a team of scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine produced striking images in respiratory tract cultures of the infectious form of the SARS-CoV-2 produced by infected epithelial cells.

16 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 infection severity linked to superior humoral immunity against the S-protein

In a recent bioRxiv* preprint paper, Jenna J. Guthmiller et al., focus on the acute infection of SARS-CoV-2 and observe that the humoral immunity is distinctive with the infection stage and viral antigens.

16 Sep 2020

Microfiber pillows could harbor SARS-CoV-2 particles

A new study by researchers at the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China and published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety suggests that respiratory pathogens can not only fall on the fabric covers but can also penetrate the outer cover and go into the microfiber stuffing.

16 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 N protein forms biomolecular condensates with viral RNA

Now, a study by researchers from the University of California has shown that the N protein forms biomolecular condensates with the viral RNA in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The research titled, ‘SARS CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein forms condensates with viral genomic RNA’, was published on the preprint server bioRxiv on September 14th, 2020.

15 Sep 2020

Different variants of SARS-CoV-2 identified in San Francisco Bay Area sewage

A team of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, Innovative Genomics Institute, Illumina, Inc., and Stanford University has performed a genomic sequencing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) collected from sewage in the San Francisco Bay Area.

15 Sep 2020

Can amodiaquine short circuit this pandemic?

A recent study by the US researchers highlights the value of the human organ chip technology as a more robust and physiologically relevant platform for rapid drug repurposing, and suggest that amodiaquine may be used to prevent the infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

15 Sep 2020