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.

One college’s pop-up COVID test: Stop and ‘smell the roses’ (or the coffee)

If all goes according to plan, Penn State University students who opt for an on-campus experience this fall will start in-person classes on Aug. 24 under the banner of a "Mask Up or Pack Up" campaign.

24 Aug 2020

Inside the race to build a better $500 emergency ventilator

As the coronavirus crisis lit up this spring, headlines about how the U.S. could innovate its way out of a pending ventilator shortage landed almost as hard and fast as the pandemic itself.

24 Aug 2020

Deep chest compressions improve survival and brain function during cardiac arrest

Deep chest compressions can crack ribs, but they reduce brain damage during cardiac arrest, reports a study presented today at ESC Congress 2020.

24 Aug 2020

Bioinsider presents ‘Therapeutic Pipeline for COVID-19’ virtual meeting on September 17, 2020

Bioinsider, has opened registration for its upcoming virtual meeting ‘Therapeutic Pipeline for COVID-19’ on September 17, 2020.

From Twist Bioscience 24 Aug 2020

Researchers study the impact of school environment on young people's mental health

Younger teenagers in the South West of England felt less anxious and more connected to school when they were away from it during the COVID-19 global pandemic public lockdown, a first-of-its-kind study has found.

24 Aug 2020

Study shows COVID-19 pandemic has profound, negative impact on people with eating disorders

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound, negative impact on nine out of ten people with experience of eating disorders, a new study from Northumbria University, Newcastle, reveals.

24 Aug 2020

Study: Fewer types of fungi in the lungs are associated with increased severity of disease in ARDS patients

Many COVID-19 patients develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a life-threatening condition where the lungs cannot provide the body's vital organs with enough oxygen.

24 Aug 2020

FDA issues emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma in COVID-19

The FDA said that based on the scientific evidence available, it had released a decision memorandum that convalescent plasma may be useful in treating COVID-19 in hospitalized patients, and the known potential benefits of use outweigh the risks.

24 Aug 2020

Electronic alert on general practitioners can reduce excessive prescribing of short-acting asthma reliever

An automatic, electronic alert on general practitioners' (GPs) computer screens can help to prevent excessive prescribing of short-acting asthma reliever medication, according to research presented at the 'virtual' European Respiratory Society International Congress.

24 Aug 2020

Antihypertensives improve COVID-19 survival rates

Previous studies have also linked hypertension to severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Now, a new study by researchers at the University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School has found that the risk of severe COVID-19 and death was reduced for patients with high blood pressure who were taking Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARB).

24 Aug 2020

CDC to resume collection of COVID-19 data in the U.S.

The United States government is calling all hospitals to report new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases and report key coronavirus statistics to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This comes after the move from the Trump administration in July, ordering hospitals to report data to a central database in Washington.

23 Aug 2020

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 transmission on an airplane

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, air travel restrictions are slowly being eased in some regions. Now, a new report published in the JAMA Network Open journal in August 2020 shows that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can spread among passengers on international flights unless proper precautions are taken.

23 Aug 2020

Loss of supporting cells in olfactory epithelium causes loss of smell in COVID-19

In the current pandemic of COVID-19, many patients have reported symptoms of loss of smell and taste. The cellular basis of this phenomenon has not been satisfactorily explained so far. However, a new study published in the Briefings in Bioinformatics in August 2020 shows how this symptom is related to viral pathogenesis.

23 Aug 2020

Equine antibody preparation shows greater capacity to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 isolate than human convalescent plasma

A recent Brazilian study demonstrates that hyperimmune globulin formulations generated against the recombinant spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) provide significantly high antibody titer with highly neutralizing capacity. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

23 Aug 2020

No evidence pregnancy increases the risk of COVID-19 morbidity or severity

Albeit pregnancy is generally considered a significant risk factor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and more severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outcomes, a recent study by a multinational team of researchers shows that symptoms are generally comparable between pregnant and non-pregnant cohorts of women – with the exception of gastrointestinal symptoms. This paper is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

23 Aug 2020

Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2 profiled for large scale clinical trials

Although two RNA-based severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine candidates elicited similar, dose-dependent neutralizing antibody titers in both younger and older adults, a recent study by researchers from the U.S. and Germany has shown that BNT162b2 is associated with less systemic reactogenicity in elderly individuals – supporting its selection for further phase 2/3 clinical trials. The study is currently available on medRxiv* preprint server.

23 Aug 2020

Scientific review on on link between air pollution and COVID-19

Researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have conducted a “state-of-the-science” review of the evidence available on potential associations between exposure to air pollution and health outcomes in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

23 Aug 2020

Raccoon dogs potential intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2

Researchers at the Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Germany have conducted a study demonstrating that raccoon dogs were a potential intermediate host in the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

23 Aug 2020

Self-collected saliva and deep nasal swabs are equally effective for detecting SARS-CoV-2

Self-collected saliva and deep nasal swabs collected by healthcare providers are equally effective for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study conducted by ARUP Laboratories and University of Utah Health.

21 Aug 2020

Genomic analysis reveals vulnerability of many animal species to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Humans are not the only species facing a potential threat from SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis.

21 Aug 2020

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

One college’s pop-up COVID test: Stop and ‘smell the roses’ (or the coffee)

Inside the race to build a better $500 emergency ventilator

Deep chest compressions improve survival and brain function during cardiac arrest

Bioinsider presents ‘Therapeutic Pipeline for COVID-19’ virtual meeting on September 17, 2020

Researchers study the impact of school environment on young people's mental health

Study shows COVID-19 pandemic has profound, negative impact on people with eating disorders

Study: Fewer types of fungi in the lungs are associated with increased severity of disease in ARDS patients

FDA issues emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma in COVID-19

Electronic alert on general practitioners can reduce excessive prescribing of short-acting asthma reliever

Antihypertensives improve COVID-19 survival rates

CDC to resume collection of COVID-19 data in the U.S.

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 transmission on an airplane

Loss of supporting cells in olfactory epithelium causes loss of smell in COVID-19

Equine antibody preparation shows greater capacity to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 isolate than human convalescent plasma

No evidence pregnancy increases the risk of COVID-19 morbidity or severity

Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2 profiled for large scale clinical trials

Scientific review on on link between air pollution and COVID-19

Raccoon dogs potential intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2

Self-collected saliva and deep nasal swabs are equally effective for detecting SARS-CoV-2

Genomic analysis reveals vulnerability of many animal species to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Best practices - optimize qPCR processes for pathogen detection eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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