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.

New treatment regimens show early efficacy for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

New treatment regimens for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) have shown early effectiveness in 85 percent of patients in a cohort that included many people with serious comorbidities that would have excluded them from clinical trials, according to the results of a new international study.

13 Aug 2020

Researchers explore social behavior of animals toward emerging infectious diseases

Humans are not the only social animal struggling with new infectious diseases. When Hamilton College Associate Professor of Biology Andrea Townsend began studying the social behavior of American crows, her work was complicated by West Nile virus, an emerging disease with devastating effects on crow populations.

13 Aug 2020

Early cases of COVID-19 are far more widespread than initially reported

Patients with undiagnosed flu symptoms who actually had COVID-19 last winter were among thousands of undetected early cases of the disease at the beginning of this year.

13 Aug 2020

Cardiovascular disease in COVID-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic is a primarily respiratory illness, manifesting with severe hypoxia and often progressing to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. However, it is also known to be linked to a wide range of cardiovascular (CV) manifestations that are associated with a very poor prognosis.

13 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 viral load predicts risk of death

As the coronavirus pandemic evolved, there have been many developments in testing for the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in patients. Now, a team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, has found that the SARS-CoV-2 viral load can predict mortality in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

13 Aug 2020

Why you should get your flu shots amid the coronavirus pandemic

Health experts from the National Public Health Organization, the Andreas Sygros Hospital, and the Kapodistrian University in Greece say that influenza shots to reduce the risk of flu are crucial, particularly this coming fall or winter when the flu season usually kick starts. Their work is published in the journal Vaccine.

12 Aug 2020

New robotic system can remotely operate ventilators in COVID-19 patient rooms

A new robotic system allows medical staff to remotely operate ventilators and other bedside machines from outside intensive care rooms of patients suffering from infectious diseases.

12 Aug 2020

Researchers recommend inclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women in COVID-19 vaccine trials

Researchers from the United Kingdom have published their views on the inclusion of pregnant women in clinical trials for vaccines against the novel coronavirus and the related challenges this presents. Their article titled, “Inclusion of pregnant women in COVID-19 vaccine development”, was published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

12 Aug 2020

Mental stress and anger may worsen heart failure

Mental stress and anger may have clinical implications for patients with heart failure according to a new report published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure.

12 Aug 2020

Study reveals the link between air pollution and COVID-19 death rate in England

A study by researchers from the Imperial College London provides specific evidence of an association between averaged exposure during 2014-2018 to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and COVID-19 mortality, while the role of atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5) remains much more controversial. The paper is currently available on the medRxiv preprint server.

12 Aug 2020

Higher BCG vaccination coverage associated with improved COVID-19 outcomes

A tuberculosis vaccine administered during the past 15 years is associated with significantly improved COVID-19 outcomes, according to a new study published in Vaccines.

12 Aug 2020

A triplex SARS-CoV-2 assay based on nanopore sequencing is accurate, rapid and scalable

A novel breakthrough by a research group from Oxford Nanopore Technologies is a rapid way of testing and screening large numbers of samples for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

12 Aug 2020

Mount Sinai's Arnhold Institute for Global Health and NYC Health + Hospitals launch CURE-19

The Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and NYC Health + Hospitals have launched the COVID-19 Unit for Research at Elmhurst (CURE-19).

12 Aug 2020

A trustful relationship critical for successful treatment of mental illness

A trusting therapeutic relationship and outcome-oriented collaboration between therapist and patient are critical for the successful treatment of mental illness.

12 Aug 2020

A fast, economical method to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus in untreated wastewater

A group of researchers have demonstrated that, from seven methods commonly used to test for viruses in untreated wastewater, an adsorption-extraction technique can most efficiently detect SARS-CoV-2. This gives us another tool to detect the presence and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

12 Aug 2020

Machine learning helps detect new potential drugs to treat COVID-19

Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have used machine learning to identify hundreds of new potential drugs that could help treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2.

12 Aug 2020

Experimental vaccine effective at preventing pneumonia in COVID-19-infected mice

An experimental vaccine is effective at preventing pneumonia in mice infected with the COVID-19 virus, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

12 Aug 2020

Social media use is not a risk factor for depression among adolescents, study suggests

Contrary to popular wisdom, daily social media use is not a strong or consistent risk factor for depressive symptoms among adolescents, according to a new study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health researchers. The results are published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

12 Aug 2020

Novel strategy provides new hope to fight COVID-19

A novel strategy has been developed by Novateur Ventures, which provides new hope in battle against COVID-19. The study titled 'A Novel Strategy to Mitigate the Hyperinflammatory Response to COVID-19 by Targeting Leukotrienes' was published in Frontiers in Pharmacology, a leading peer-reviewed journal.

12 Aug 2020