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.

Game-Changer: A SARS-CoV-2 serological test for 50-cents per sample!

A recent study published in the preprint server medRxiv in July 2020 shows that this is indeed possible. The development of this inexpensive but reliable and sensitive test could change the face of preventive measures for COVID-19 in low-resource settings.

17 Jul 2020

Report calls for customized evidence on optimal implementation of COVID-19 measures

Today a report was released that calls for the use of research evidence on the optimal implementation of public health interventions for COVID-19 in varied global settings.

17 Jul 2020

Common antioxidant enzyme catalase as COVID-19 treatment

A new paper by researchers from the USA and China and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 discusses a new drug based on the catalase enzyme, which could play a vital part in reducing the inflammation associated with progressive and severe COVID-19 disease.

17 Jul 2020

COVID-19 outcomes better in countries with female leaders

A thought-provoking new study published on the preprint server medRxiv on Thursday suggests that countries headed by female leaders showed better outcomes over a variety of indicators.

17 Jul 2020

Rapid genomic surveillance of healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2

The researchers from the University of Cambridge, Cambridge United Kingdom have published their findings in a study titled, “Rapid implementation of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing to investigate cases of healthcare-associated COVID-19: a prospective genomic surveillance study,” in the latest issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

16 Jul 2020

Singapore study finds virus-specific T cell immunity in recovered COVID-19 and SARS patients

The T cells, along with antibodies, are an integral part of the human immune response against viral infections due to their ability to directly target and kill infected cells.

16 Jul 2020

New insight into the SARS-CoV-2 infection process

Canadian researchers from the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, have found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be using a unique method to gain entry into the cells.

16 Jul 2020

Durable coating for hard surfaces could help avoid food contamination

In the future, a durable coating could help keep food-contact surfaces clean in the food processing industry, including in meat processing plants.

16 Jul 2020

Experts highlight the vulnerabilities and interdependencies exposed by COVID-19

Is the global response to the pandemic effective? Is it inclusive? Three professors from the University of Ottawa, along with a leading global health ethicist and former Health Minister Jane Philpott, today published a book of essays analyzing the COVID-19 pandemic from the standpoint of law, ethics, and public policy.

16 Jul 2020

Advances in Alzheimer's drug development offer hope for patients

Dr. Jeffrey L. Cummings, UNLV research professor and a leading expert on Alzheimer's disease clinical trials, led a five-year review of all Alzheimer's drugs in the development pipeline. He says today there is more hope than ever that we'll one day solve Alzheimer's.

16 Jul 2020

NCI funds research surrounding sustainability of telemedicine for rural cancer patients

Telemedicine has been growing as a key mode of providing care to patients in rural areas. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an exponential increase in need to deliver care to patients with cancer and other chronic conditions remotely.

16 Jul 2020

Compelling study shows heparin may protect against COVID-19

A compelling new study conducted by an international team of researchers has demonstrated that the widely used blood-thinning medication - heparin - can block infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

16 Jul 2020

Experts develop recommendations for avoiding triage of COVID-19 patients

An international expert group led by Mathias Wirth, Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics at the University of Bern, has developed recommendations for avoiding triage of COVID-19 patients in extreme situations.

16 Jul 2020

COVID-19 associated with serious blood clots in leg arteries

COVID-19 is associated with life-threatening blood clots in the arteries of the legs, according to a study published in Radiology.

16 Jul 2020

British Columbia’s successful response to COVID-19 - policy anchored by science

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the BC Center for Disease Control in Vancouver have reported the first estimates of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seroprevalence for Canada before and after mitigation measures were relaxed in May.

16 Jul 2020

Certain decontamination methods damage N95 face masks' protective function

Certain methods of decontaminating medical face masks for repeated use during the COVID-19 pandemic appear to damage the masks' integrity and protective function, according to research by a University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental health scientist.

16 Jul 2020

Disease-carrying mosquitoes fly free as health departments focus on coronavirus

The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources necessary to confront the worst health crisis in a century. Read the investigation from KHN and The Associated Press.

16 Jul 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Trump administration’s war on Fauci

Not only does the Trump administration lack a comprehensive plan for addressing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it spent much of the past week working to undercut one of the nation’s most trusted scientists, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

16 Jul 2020

UIC receives $22 million NIH funding for translational research

The Center for Clinical and Translational Science, or CCTS, at the University of Illinois at Chicago will receive $22 million in new funding from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, to continue its work supporting critical clinical and translational health research programs.

16 Jul 2020

A coronavirus vaccine: Where does it stand?

More than four months into the coronavirus pandemic, how close are the U.S. and the world to a safe and effective vaccine? Scientists say they see steady progress and are expressing cautious optimism that a vaccine could be ready by spring.

16 Jul 2020