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.

Quarantine improves air quality, prevents premature deaths in China

Soon after coronavirus appeared, an all-encompassing quarantine put into effect by the Chinese government slowed the spread of the disease and saved lives, but the quarantine also produced another unanticipated health benefit.

20 May 2020

Study: A quarter of the world's population without proper sanitation at high risk for COVID-19

Without access to soap and clean water, more than 2 billion people in low- and middle-income nations - a quarter of the world's population - have a greater likelihood of acquiring and transmitting the coronavirus than those in wealthy countries.

20 May 2020

Saliva testing allows quick, accurate and non-invasive SARS-CoV-2 detection

Saliva is one of the ways people can transmit the novel coronavirus to others, but it may also help combat coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Scientists are now looking into using saliva to test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent for COVID-19 disease.

20 May 2020

Pandemic likely to cause lasting physical and mental health consequences, study finds

The coronavirus pandemic's life-altering effects are likely to result in lasting physical and mental health consequences for many people--particularly those from vulnerable populations--a new study led by the Yale School of Public Health finds.

20 May 2020

Experts urge further improvements in COVID-19 testing to increase speed and availability

In an important, comprehensive, and timely review, an expert team from the University of California Berkeley details the methodologies used in nucleic acid-based tests for detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

20 May 2020

Universal testing of asymptomatic pregnant women may not be necessary, study suggests

A study conducted by investigators at Cedars-Sinai suggests that universal testing of asymptomatic pregnant women in labor may not be necessary at every hospital.

20 May 2020

Australia and South Korea: Research compares COVID-19 fatality rates

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 compares the fatality rates of two countries with reliable testing and reporting profiles, which had COVID-19 outbreaks at almost the same time, to arrive at a reliable estimate of fatality hazard rates.

20 May 2020

MIT researchers describe new methods for accelerating drug approvals during pandemics

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have published a pair of studies in a COVID-19 special issue of the Harvard Data Science Review, freely available via open access, describing new methods for accelerating drug approvals during pandemics and for providing more accurate measures of the probabilities of success for clinical trials of vaccines and other anti-infective therapies.

20 May 2020

Primary care physicians report burnout at twice the rate of other health care professionals

Clinician burnout is a growing public health concern, with the National Academy of Sciences reporting that 35-54% of U.S. nurses and physicians exhibit substantial symptoms of burnout.

20 May 2020

Fewer COVID-19 patients suffer from stroke than previously reported

Fewer people than previously reported suffer from stroke as a result of COVID-19, a new analysis finds. However, strokes that accompany the pandemic virus, SARS-CoV-2, appear to be more severe.

20 May 2020

FDA approves IND application by Octapharma USA for severe COVID-19 patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the investigational new drug (IND) application submitted by Octapharma USA for a phase three clinical trial on the efficacy and safety of Octagam 10% [Immune Globulin Intravenous (Human)] therapy in COVID-19 patients with severe disease progression.

20 May 2020

Complex analytical methods contribute to variability of research outcomes

A new Tel Aviv University-led study published on May 20 in Nature offers new evidence that the complexity of contemporary analytical methods in science contributes to the variability of research outcomes.

20 May 2020

Study focuses on COVID-19 patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused nearly five million cases and over 327,000 deaths worldwide. The signs and symptoms of this disease are varied, although there are typical features which assist diagnosis.

20 May 2020

Researchers highlight the need to revise the protocol for detecting ZIKV infection in placenta

Shortly after the explosion in microcephaly cases caused by Zika virus in Brazil in 2015-16, several scientific studies were published with evidence that the pathogen is capable of crossing the human placenta, the organ that keeps the fetus connected to the mother's body during pregnancy.

20 May 2020

Mitigating challenges encountered by individuals with ASD in COVID-19 era

The COVID-19 pandemic is stressful enough, but for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families, the crisis can be especially difficult.

20 May 2020

Children not likely to be main drivers of COVID-19 pandemic, review suggests

It is highly likely that children can transmit the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, but several factors suggest that children are unlikely to be the main drivers of the pandemic.

20 May 2020

Main receptors used by SARS-CoV-2 for cell entry are absent in the human placenta

Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is unlikely to infect human placenta through the canonical cell entry mediators, Wayne State University researchers showed that other interacting proteins may still play an important role during the viral infection. The study is currently available on the preprint server bioRxiv.

20 May 2020

Henry Ford Health System first to enroll a pediatric patient in HEROS study

Henry Ford Health System is first in the country to enroll a patient in the Human Epidemiology and Response to SARS-CoV-2 study, which aims to help determine the rate of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, among U.S. children and their family members, and what percentage of children infected with SARS-CoV-2 develop symptoms of the disease.

20 May 2020

Study shows engineered SARS-CoV-2 spike protein may be utilized for vaccine development

In a new study available on the preprint server bioRxiv, researchers demonstrate how the conformation of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein (S-protein) can be controlled with the rational construct design, providing a framework for S-protein structure engineering in vaccine/drug development.

20 May 2020

African American communities more burdened by COVID-19, say researchers

A new study conducted by researchers at Florida International University, Miami, has found that communities in the United States with a high density of African Americans are disproportionately burdened with the adverse outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

20 May 2020

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

Quarantine improves air quality, prevents premature deaths in China

Study: A quarter of the world's population without proper sanitation at high risk for COVID-19

Saliva testing allows quick, accurate and non-invasive SARS-CoV-2 detection

Pandemic likely to cause lasting physical and mental health consequences, study finds

Experts urge further improvements in COVID-19 testing to increase speed and availability

Universal testing of asymptomatic pregnant women may not be necessary, study suggests

Australia and South Korea: Research compares COVID-19 fatality rates

MIT researchers describe new methods for accelerating drug approvals during pandemics

Primary care physicians report burnout at twice the rate of other health care professionals

Fewer COVID-19 patients suffer from stroke than previously reported

FDA approves IND application by Octapharma USA for severe COVID-19 patients

Complex analytical methods contribute to variability of research outcomes

Study focuses on COVID-19 patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases

Researchers highlight the need to revise the protocol for detecting ZIKV infection in placenta

Mitigating challenges encountered by individuals with ASD in COVID-19 era

Children not likely to be main drivers of COVID-19 pandemic, review suggests

Main receptors used by SARS-CoV-2 for cell entry are absent in the human placenta

Henry Ford Health System first to enroll a pediatric patient in HEROS study

Study shows engineered SARS-CoV-2 spike protein may be utilized for vaccine development

African American communities more burdened by COVID-19, say researchers

Best practices - optimize qPCR processes for pathogen detection eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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