covid 19 News and Research

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Study quantifies how many children in the U.S. have lost a parent during Covid-19 pandemic

A letter published in JAMA Pediatrics, co-authored by Rachel Kidman, PhD, of the Program in Public Health at Stony Brook University, presents a statistical model showing that around 40,000 children (est. between 37,000 and 43,000) had lost a parent due to the Covid-19 pandemic by February 2021. This amounts to an average of one child losing a parent for every 13 Covid-19 deaths.

6 Apr 2021

Research points to 'digital shifts' in cardiovascular care amid COVID-19 pandemic

New research from the Smidt Heart Institute shows that more patients - specifically those with medical risk factors or from underserved communities - opted into telehealth appointments for their cardiovascular care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

6 Apr 2021

Canadians more likely to consume COVID-19 misinformation from American sources

Misinformation about COVID-19 is spreading from the United States into Canada, undermining efforts to mitigate the pandemic.

6 Apr 2021

Natural selection and adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 in mammals

Researchers of the Hubei University of Medicine, China, have analyzed several mutations in different variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from mammal species that suggest natural selection and host adaptation are occurring in the virus.

6 Apr 2021

World's first human tracheal transplant performed by Mount Sinai surgeons

A team of Mount Sinai surgeons has performed the world's first human tracheal transplant--an achievement that has the potential to save the lives of thousands of patients around the world who have tracheal birth defects, untreatable airway diseases, burns, tumors, or severe tracheal damage from intubation, including those who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 and placed on a ventilator.

6 Apr 2021

FDA authorizes use of Symbiotica COVID-19 Self-Collected Antibody Test System

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it has issued an emergency use authorization for the Symbiotica COVID-19 Self-Collected Antibody Test System, the first antibody test authorized for use with home collected dried blood spot samples.

6 Apr 2021

Researchers identify a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant (A.VOI.V2) in southern Africa

Scientists recently explored the transmission dynamics of currently circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2 in a southern African country. By analyzing the genomic sequences of these variants, they have identified a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant with multiple spike mutations. They have temporarily designated the variant A.VOI.V2.

6 Apr 2021

Can limiting the priming dose of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine improve immunity?

Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Rochester in the U.S. addressed this question in their study. The researchers also explored whether the vaccines administered across the world could confer sterilizing immunity while preventing severe disease and death.

6 Apr 2021

Is non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infection characterized by early T cell proliferation?

To date, little evidence has been documented regarding the immune responses after the onset of the symptoms or virus detection. Further, no cross-sectional studies have been conducted that define the time of infection. Thereby, no report is available that explains the relationship between the earliest immune responses to COVID-19 and temporal kinetics. New research deals with this research gap using blood transcriptomics, multiparameter flow cytometry, and T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing methods.

6 Apr 2021

What Covid means for the athlete’s heart

For sports fans across the country, the resumption of the regular sports calendar has signaled another step toward post-pandemic normality. But for the athletes participating in professional, collegiate, high school or even recreational sports, significant unanswered questions remain about the aftereffects of a Covid infection.

6 Apr 2021

For this hospice nurse, the Covid shot came too late

Antonio Espinoza loved the Los Angeles Dodgers. He loved them so much that he was laid to rest in his favorite Dodgers jersey. His family and friends, including his 3-year-old son, donned a sea of blue-and-white baseball shirts and caps in his honor.

6 Apr 2021

Colleges and universities plan for normal-ish campus life in the fall

Dr. Sarah Van Orman treads carefully around the word "normal" when she describes what the fall 2021 term will look like at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and other colleges nationwide.

6 Apr 2021

Study suggests T-cells don't determine survival in severe COVID-19

In the study, which appeared on the pre-print server medRxiv, the team found that when the monkeys were reinfected, the T cell-depleted animals showed anamnestic immune responses, the enhanced reaction of the body's immune system to an antigen that is related to an antigen previously encountered.

6 Apr 2021

Research shows efficacy of early warning signals for disease emergence amid COVID-19

The study, published on the pre-print server medRxiv, shows that early warning signals (EWS) provide expected trends, predicting future epidemics and disease emergence.

6 Apr 2021

Researchers take key step toward new drugs and vaccines to combat COVID-19

Researchers in the Oregon State University College of Science have taken a key step toward new drugs and vaccines for combating COVID-19 with a deep dive into one protein's interactions with SARS-CoV-2 genetic material.

6 Apr 2021

Novel hydrogel-based vaccine formulation shows high efficacy against SARS-CoV-2

A fascinating new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server discusses impressively high neutralizing responses elicited with a single dose of a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine formulation, which could help turn the tide of the current pandemic if validated.

6 Apr 2021

Research explores sex differences in placental defenses against SARS-CoV-2 infection

A plethora of earlier studies has reported on the differences between the sexes in susceptibility to the currently circulating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as well as its severity. A new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server extends this to the placenta in pregnancy.

6 Apr 2021