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.

Women receiving treatment for cancers are not at increased of being hospitalized for COVID-19

Women receiving standard treatment in New York City for ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers are not at increased risk of being hospitalized for or dying from COVID-19 due to their cancer, a new study shows.

30 Jul 2020

Study reports highly potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 compounds

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 reports that a series of potent enzyme inhibitors have been designed to suppress severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication by interfering with one of the primary viral proteases.

30 Jul 2020

Anti-inflammatory Tetracycline activity may modulate COVID-19 severity

The current COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), seems to attack the human airway epithelium primarily. In severely affected patients, the illness progresses to hypoxemic respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The latter is treatable mainly by supportive management.

30 Jul 2020

Study suggests stay-at-home-cooling strategies during COVID-19 pandemic in the US

A new study from Australian scientists at the forefront of climate and health modeling suggests electric fans and water dousing could be a viable stay-at-home cooling strategy as the United States (US) anticipates extreme heat.

30 Jul 2020

New model can help local entities to prevent COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations

With communities throughout the United States combating surges in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Northwestern University have created a framework that helps policymakers determine which data to track and when to take action to protect their communities.

30 Jul 2020

Antimalarial drug shows in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2 and flu viruses

Now, a new study published in the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 reports on the antiviral activity of two drugs found in an antimalarial drug currently in phase II trials in South Korea, called Pyramax.

30 Jul 2020

Researchers analyze travel history of first COVID-19 cases reported in countries outside China

Web-based surveillance of the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) during the first 11 weeks of the outbreak (Dec 31, 2019, to March 10, 2020), reveals that three-quarters (75/99) of affected countries outside mainland China reported their first COVID-19 case in people who had recently travelled to an affected country--with almost two-thirds of these first cases linked to travel to Italy (27%), China (22%), or Iran (11%), according to new research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.

30 Jul 2020

COVID-19 pandemic is "one big wave" says WHO

The COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world has to date infected over 16.95 million individuals and taken more than 665,000 lives. Now the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that this pandemic could cause a Tsunami of cases, and there is no scope for complacency in regions where numbers have declined.

30 Jul 2020

Relatives of SARS-CoV-2 may pose a health threat for years to come

Coronaviruses are zoonotic viruses that jump from animals to humans and cause infection. There are many types of common human coronaviruses, which usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold. Most people get infected with one or more of coronavirus types 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1 at some point in their lives.

29 Jul 2020

Social distancing in the United States varies strongly by income

Wealthier communities went from being the most mobile before the COVID-19 pandemic to the least mobile, while poorer areas have gone from the least mobile to the most mobile, according to a study by the University of California, Davis.

29 Jul 2020

The toll that COVID-19 takes on the heart

Now, two new studies describe the toll that COVID-19 takes in the heart, increasing the risk of long-term damage even after patients recover. These studies also show that heart damage can even occur in people who did not have severe illness that required hospitalization.

29 Jul 2020

Loss of smell in COVID-19 explained by scientists

Now, a team of researchers at Harvard Medical school says they have found the reason why some people who get COVID-19 experience loss of smell.

29 Jul 2020

COVID-19 could provide unintended glimpses into operation of complex Earth systems

Like the legendary falling apple that hit Isaac Newton and led to his groundbreaking insight on the nature of gravity, COVID-19 could provide unintended glimpses into how complex Earth systems operate, according to a new Stanford-led paper.

29 Jul 2020

Iota-carrageenan from red seaweed inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in laboratory conditions

In a recent bioRxiv paper, a research group from the Marinomed Biotech biopharmaceutical company in Austria showed that a sulfated polysaccharide iota-carrageenan has the propensity to inhibit cell entry of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by using an in vitro neutralization assay.

29 Jul 2020

Social media users more likely to have misperceptions about COVID-19

A new study led by researchers at McGill University finds that people who get their news from social media are more likely to have misperceptions about COVID-19.

29 Jul 2020

Review: Children are not a major source of COVID-19 transmission

As provinces across Canada are deciding how to restart schools during the pandemic, a research review has found children are not a major source of transmission of COVID-19.

29 Jul 2020

ONR helps develop low-cost ventilators to combat COVID-19

One of the most dangerous effects of coronavirus is the inability to breathe on your own--requiring the help of a ventilator to push air through your lungs.

29 Jul 2020

SARS-CoV-2 exposure five times more likely among Black and Hispanic pregnant women

Black and Hispanic pregnant women in Philadelphia are five times as likely as white and Asian women to have been exposed to the novel coronavirus, according to a new study led by Scott Hensley, PhD, an associate professor of Microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Karen Marie Puopolo, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Pediatrics and neonatologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The study was published today in Science Immunology.

29 Jul 2020

BMC joins Aspen Institute initiative to improve families’ health and economic prosperity

Boston Medical Center's StreetCred program has been named to the second cohort of the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community, an Aspen Institute initiative for breakthrough innovations and collaborations that position families to reach educational success, economic prosperity, and health and well-being.

29 Jul 2020

Non-White adults are more likely to worry about paying for COVID-19 treatment

People of color are far more likely to worry about their ability to pay for healthcare if diagnosed with COVID-19 than their White counterparts, according to a new survey from nonprofit West Health and Gallup.

29 Jul 2020