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.

No evidence of active SARS-CoV-2 in breastmilk of infected women

A recent study published in the journal JAMA in August 2020 suggests that SARS-CoV-2 RNA does not represent replication-competent virus and that breast milk may not be a source of infection for infants.

20 Aug 2020

Geographers conduct first daily surveillance of emerging COVID-19 hotspots

Over the course of the coronavirus epidemic, COVID-19 outbreaks have hit communities across the United States. As clusters of infection shift over time, local officials are forced into a whack-a-mole approach to allocating resources and enacting public health policies.

20 Aug 2020

Lack of consistency in COVID-19-related data could harm prevention efforts

Since COVID-19 emerged late last year, there's been an enormous amount of research produced on this novel coronavirus disease.

20 Aug 2020

Study: More than 20% of nursing homes in the U.S. still report staff, PPE shortages

Nearly half of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States have occurred among nursing home residents, whose age, chronic medical conditions, and congregate living quarters place them and their caregivers at high risk of contracting the disease.

20 Aug 2020

Genetically engineered mosquitoes to be released in Florida Keys

Mosquitoes are known to be vectors or bearers of several viral and protozoal infections such as dengue, Zika, yellow fever, Chikungunya, and malaria. These infections are known to infect and even kill millions around the world each year. In order to tackle this vector-borne menace, researchers have genetically engineered mosquitoes that could replace the infection carrying species of the mosquitoes.

20 Aug 2020

Research finds link between COVID-19 mortality and morbid obesity

The prevalence of morbid obesity in a population is associated with negative outcomes from COVID-19, according to an analysis by researchers at The University of Alabama of morbid obesity data and reported COVID-19 deaths in the United States.

20 Aug 2020

Study evaluates the reliability of new serological assays for detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

Approximately four months after the initial description of cases of atypical pneumonia in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, COVID-19 had become a major pandemic threat.

20 Aug 2020

Websites selling home-based COVID-19 testing kits providing inadequate or misleading information

In the UK and US, many websites are selling direct to user self-sampling and testing kits to detect SARS-CoV-2. Recently, a cross-sectional observational study was carried out to check the completeness and accuracy of information provided by these websites.

20 Aug 2020

Fewer rhinovirus infections in Philadelphia after COVID-19 stay-at-home orders

Philadelphia and its surrounding counties issued a series of "stay-at-home" orders on March 17, 2020 in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

20 Aug 2020

New SARS-CoV-2 vaccine effective in macaques

Researchers from the biotechnology company Novavax in Gaithersburg, Maryland, have developed a vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that successfully induces immunogenicity and protection against the virus in macaques.

20 Aug 2020

COVID-19 could compromise key element of immune response

Researchers at the University of Melbourne have made the unsettling discovery that infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) might compromise the activation of the CD8+ T-cell responses that would usually ameliorate disease and drive recovery in cases of respiratory disease.

20 Aug 2020

Post-mortem study of dead COVID-19 patients finds lung damage and blood clots

A new post-mortem study of patients who have died from COVID-19 found severe damage to the lungs and signs of blood clotting in major organs.

20 Aug 2020

Whey protein from human breastmilk inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection

Many scientists have reported the effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on pregnancy and the virus has been detected in breastmilk. Now a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in August 2020 shows that whey protein in human breastmilk efficiently prevents infection with SARS-CoV-2 as well as post-entry viral replication.

20 Aug 2020

Low indoor air humidity increases spread of SARS-CoV-2

The airborne transmission of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 via aerosol particles in indoor environment seems to be strongly influenced by relative humidity.

20 Aug 2020

Study shows how increased resilience can reduce anxiety, depression during COVID-19 pandemic

When it comes to worrying about the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study demonstrates that people are more concerned about whether their family members could contract the virus or if they are unknowingly spreading the virus themselves than they are with contracting it.

20 Aug 2020