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UofSC researchers win NIH grant to develop data-driven system to track COVID-19

University of South Carolina researchers from its Big Data Health Science Center initiative have received $1.25 million in grant funding from the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to develop a data-driven system to track COVID-19 in South Carolina.

8 Jul 2020

Study aims to more accurately define methods for measuring delirium severity

In a study published in the journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorder, researchers reported on their effort to improve and validate tools used to assess the severity of a condition called delirium, an acute confusional state often experienced by older hospitalized patients.

8 Jul 2020

High Court allows employers to opt out of ACA’s mandate on birth control coverage

The Supreme Court Wednesday settled — at least for now — a decade's worth of litigation over the women's health provisions of the Affordable Care Act, ruling 7-2 that employers with a "religious or moral objection" to providing contraceptive coverage to their employees may opt out without penalty.

8 Jul 2020

COVID cuts a lethal path through San Quentin’s death row

The old men live in cramped spaces and breathe the same ventilated air. Many are frail, laboring with heart disease, liver and prostate cancer, tuberculosis, dementia. And now, with the coronavirus advancing through their ranks, they are falling one after the next.

8 Jul 2020

ACS publishes updated guideline for HPV vaccination

The American Cancer Society has updated its guideline for HPV vaccination, adapting a 2019 update from the Federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

8 Jul 2020

Analysis: How a COVID-19 vaccine could cost Americans dearly

Yes, of course, Americans' health is priceless, and reining in a deadly virus that has trashed the economy would be invaluable.

8 Jul 2020

In Texas, individual freedoms clash with efforts to slow the surge of COVID cases

The Fourth of July was a little different this year here in Texas' biggest city. Parades were canceled and some of the region's beaches were closed. At the city's biggest fireworks show, "Freedom Over Texas," fireworks were shot higher in the air to make it easier to watch from a distance. Other fireworks displays encouraged people to stay in their cars.

8 Jul 2020

Half of coronavirus disease cases could be caused by ‘silent spreaders’

A team of researchers at York University and the Yale School of Public Health evaluated the contribution of pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission to the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19.

8 Jul 2020

Analysis across 170 countries of Government responses to COVID-19

An exciting new study by researchers at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in July 2020 reports that early and stringent government measures in the form of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against the spread of COVID-19 results in a significant reduction in the mortality due to this disease. The finding could help shape public health policies in the absence of effective vaccines or therapeutic drugs.

8 Jul 2020

Many in the UK would refuse a coronavirus vaccine, survey finds

The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has left many scientists and pharmaceutical companies racing to develop an effective vaccine to combat the viral infection. With 21 candidate vaccines in clinical evaluation, 139 candidate vaccines in preclinical evaluation across the world, most countries are hoping to be first to the post.

7 Jul 2020

Study finds staggering inaccuracy in Medicare beneficiaries' race and ethnicity data

The information critical to a nationwide priority of reducing health care disparities among minorities is incomplete and inaccurate, according to a new Rutgers study.

7 Jul 2020

BUSPH study outlines how remdesivir could save lives in countries with less hospital capacity

Amid news that the United States has bought up virtually the entire global supply of remdesivir, a new Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study outlines how the drug could save lives in countries with less hospital capacity, such as South Africa, where COVID-19 is beginning to overwhelm intensive care units (ICUs).

7 Jul 2020

New standardized codes for healthcare systems released to track coronavirus

LOINC®, created and maintained by the Regenstrief Institute, is amplifying its global work to help track the coronavirus by releasing new standardized codes for healthcare systems' laboratory tests, clinical observations and other data.

7 Jul 2020

Manchester expert backs new multidisciplinary task force to combat pandemics

A world-leading materials expert from The University of Manchester is helping to launch a new global task force to drive innovation in digital health to combat pandemics like COVID-19 - and ambitious outputs could eventually include building 'smart cities' that feature anti-virus defenses.

7 Jul 2020

Pitt researchers receive $330,000 to examine the effect of silver-coated fixtures on water disinfection

As workplaces prepare to reopen, precautionary measures like plexiglass barriers and sanitizer stations have been put in place to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

7 Jul 2020

Coronavirus study shows herd immunity is infeasible

Herd immunity has been one of the key topics amid the coronavirus pandemic. Previous reports show that when a large proportion of the population gets immune to the novel coronavirus, through vaccination, herd immunity can be achieved.

7 Jul 2020

Evolutionary snapshot reveals genetic stability of SARS-CoV-2

A multinational study currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server shows that in the early large genome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) only a handful of amino acids are exchanged, implying a relatively low mutation rate and selection pressure.

7 Jul 2020

Desk-based jobs associated with lower risk of poor cognition

People who work in jobs that require less physical activity - typically office and desk-based jobs - are at a lower risk of subsequent poor cognition than those whose work is more physically active, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge.

7 Jul 2020

Early life BMI linked to cardiovascular disease signs at 11-12 years

Toddlers who were obese or overweight show concerning signs of cardiovascular disease at 11-12 years of age, according to a new study led by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI).

7 Jul 2020

Boosting manganese levels during pregnancy could potentially reduce preeclampsia risk

An analysis of data from more than 1,300 women followed prospectively through pregnancy found that women with lower levels of the essential mineral manganese in early pregnancy were more likely to develop the serious high blood pressure syndrome called preeclampsia in late pregnancy, according to a new study led by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

7 Jul 2020