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.

Researchers discover molecular mechanism that helps HSV1 infect the brain

Herpes simplex virus (HSV1) infections are initiated at mucosal surfaces where the virus infects epithelial cells.

8 May 2020

Temperature and latitude not associated with COVID-19 spread, study finds

Temperature and latitude do not appear to be associated with the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to a study of many countries published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.200920, but school closures and other public health measures are having a positive effect.

8 May 2020

Genomics Medicine Ireland supports scientists participating in global COVID-19 research efforts

Genomics Medicine Ireland announced this week that it is supporting scientists in Ireland who are participating in global research efforts into COVID-19 coronavirus which has so far killed over 200,000 people across the world.

8 May 2020

New study to explore the health impacts of COVID-19 on people who use drugs

Understanding the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people who use drugs in Scotland is the focus of a new University of Stirling study.

8 May 2020

Reopening in the COVID era: How to adapt to a new normal

As many states begin to reopen — most without meeting the thresholds recommended by the White House — a new level of COVID-19 risk analysis begins for Americans.

8 May 2020

Looking for a path to reopen, employers weigh COVID testing of workers

Just a few miles from Disney World, Harris Rosen's hotel empire is mostly closed because of the COVID pandemic.

8 May 2020

Trying out LA’s new coronavirus testing regime

Last week, after Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that Los Angeles was offering COVID-19 tests to all city and county residents, I decided to get one myself — and test Garcetti's bold new promise in the bargain.

8 May 2020

Study: Middle age may be more stressful than it was in the 1990s

If life feels more stressful now than it did a few decades ago, you're not alone. Even before the novel coronavirus started sweeping the globe, a new study found that life may be more stressful now than it was in the 1990s.

8 May 2020

New guidelines needed to manage stroke patients during COVID-19, says neurologist

Broad modifications to current standards for treating acute stroke patients during the COVID-19 pandemic may be needed to preserve health care resources, limit disease spread and ensure optimal care, according to a Loyola Medicine neurologist.

8 May 2020

Intervention strategy based on shield immunity could reduce risk of expanding economic activity

While attention remains focused on the number of COVID-19 deaths and new cases, a separate statistic - the number of recovered patients - may be equally important to the goal of minimizing the pandemic's infection rate as shelter-in-place orders are lifted.

8 May 2020

Repurposing existing drugs is a more rapid alternative than developing COVID-19 vaccine

Repurposing existing medicines focused on known drug targets is likely to offer a more rapid hope of tackling COVID-19 than developing and manufacturing a vaccine, argue an international team of scientists in the British Journal of Pharmacology today.

8 May 2020

New guidance released for treating patients with osteoporosis during COVID-19 crisis

The Endocrine Society joined a coalition of leading bone health organizations to release guidance for healthcare professionals treating patients with osteoporosis in the era of COVID-19.

8 May 2020

Eerie emptiness of ERs worries doctors as heart attack and stroke patients delay care

The patient described it as the worst headache of her life. She didn’t go to the hospital, though. Instead, the Washington state resident waited almost a week.

8 May 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Blowing the whistle on Trump team’s COVID policies

Those working inside the Trump administration are getting so frustrated with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic that they are going public.

8 May 2020

Children are immune prepared for SARS-CoV-2

At least 30 new diseases have emerged in the last 20 years and now together threaten the health of hundreds of millions of people. For many of these diseases, there is no treatment, cure, or vaccine. While most of these diseases are dangerous to children, especially those younger than five years old, the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), seems to spare most of them.

8 May 2020

Antibodies from llamas may hold cure for novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

As scientists across the globe race to find an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus, a team of scientists believe that a four-year-old llama named Winter may hold the key to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

7 May 2020

New evidence suggests that schools should be kept closed to prevent COVID-19 spread

With most countries at a standstill, the circulating novel coronavirus has changed the way people live. Though some countries are starting to ease lockdown measures, with schools reopening, health experts worry that this may aggravate the situation. Two new studies provide evidence that children spread the coronavirus and transmit it, making them potential carriers of the infection.

7 May 2020

Predicting the dose for repurposing nitazoxanide in COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 reports a model that could help evolve appropriate dosage protocols for future clinical trials of the repurposed drug nitazoxanide in COVID-19 prevention and treatment. The researchers say, “It was possible to achieve plasma and lung tizoxanide concentrations, using proven safe doses of nitazoxanide, that exceed the EC90 for SARS-CoV-2.”

7 May 2020

Study predicts the spread of COVID-19 in India

Dr. Shinjini Ghosh and colleagues from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States, have come up with a predictive model that analyzes the spread of COVID-19 infection in India. Their study titled, "Predictive Model with Analysis of the Initial Spread of COVID-19 in India," was released prior to peer review on the preprint server Medrxiv.

7 May 2020

U.S. needs to boost the number of beds for COVID-19 patients

A new study published in JAMA Network Open sheds light on the increased demand for intensive care and inpatient beds amid the coronavirus outbreak, based on two cities in China to determine the level of hospital capacity needed to respond to outbreaks of severe coronavirus disease 2019 in U.S. cities.

7 May 2020