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.

Rice University looks to ‘trap and zap’ SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater

A team of researchers from Rice University has won a National Science Foundation (NSF) RAPID grant to adapt their wastewater nanotechnology project to help trap and inactivate the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), (which causes COVID-19 disease), in wastewater. This could help public health officials deal with the threat of disease transmission through wastewater.

27 Apr 2020

Recombinant protein produces neutralizing COVID-19 antibodies in primate model

A new study reports the induction of high levels of neutralizing antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus causing the current pandemic of COVID-19. This promising finding was reported on the preprint server bioRxiv on April 2020.

26 Apr 2020

Is the BCG vaccine really protective against COVID-19?

A new paper published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 challenges the hypothesis that BCG vaccination confers some degree of protection against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the pneumonic illness COVID-19.

26 Apr 2020

Oncologist and mum-to-be chronicles COVID-19 experiences

Writing in the latest issue of JAMA Oncology researcher Coral Olazagasti along with her Dr. Nagashree Seetharamu from Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra, Northwell Health, Hempstead, New York, spoke about her experience being pregnant during the present COVID-19 pandemic. Olazagasti’s chronicle is titled “Facing a pandemic while pregnant.”

26 Apr 2020

Women more concerned about COVID 19

Studies have revealed that men seem to be more at risk of getting severe effects of the COVID-19 infection compared to women. Studies also show that women seem to be worrying more about getting infected than men. Both these findings may be related to each other.

26 Apr 2020

Microclimate and turbulent wind can influence COVID-19 spread over long distances

Respiratory particles exhaled after a sneeze can be transported by the turbulent wind more than three times further than current social or physical distancing measures recommend, reports a new study from Chile available on the preprint server medRxiv.

26 Apr 2020

Mapping complex peripheral immune response to severe COVID-19

In a recent article publicly available at medRxiv, researchers from Stanford have presented a single-cell atlas of the peripheral immune response to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), highlighting pertinent immunological features associated with the severe forms of the disease.

26 Apr 2020

Early Heparin therapy improves hypoxia in COVID-19 patients

The systemic use of heparin for treating severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) showed significant improvements in oxygen exchange and overall clinical presentation of patients, as reported by a study from Brazil available on a preprint server medRxiv.

26 Apr 2020

A new test for rapid large-scale testing of COVID-19

OU Medicine, the OU Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation collaborated to create a new test for COVID-19 using technology and reagents from Fluidigm Corporation, an innovative biotechnology tools provider

25 Apr 2020

Annals of Internal Medicine: COVID-19 and other health system catastrophes

Below please find a summary and link(s) of new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine.

25 Apr 2020

Misinformation on COVID-19 is tied to media usage

People who relied on conservative media or social media in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak were more likely to be misinformed about how to prevent the virus and believe conspiracy theories about it, a study of media use and public knowledge has found.

25 Apr 2020

Magnamed and Brazil's Health Ministry sign agreement on supply of mechanical ventilators

On April 8, 2020, São Paulo-based Magnamed signed an agreement with Brazil's Health Ministry for the supply of 6,500 mechanical ventilators by August of this year.

25 Apr 2020

Shortage of coronavirus 'cure' puts pregnant lupus sufferers and their babies at risk

Pregnant lupus sufferers and their babies are at risk as global supplies of an anti-malarial medicine used to treat the disease run dry due to COVID-19 panic.

24 Apr 2020

Research Luxembourg launches Predi-COVID study

The Research Luxembourg COVID-19 task force announces the start of "Predi-COVID", a study that aims to identify important risk factors and biomarkers associated with COVID-19 severity and long-term health consequences of the disease in Luxembourg.

24 Apr 2020

Resurgence of measles or polio outbreaks likely to happen, experts warn

Interruptions to vaccination programmes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could result in new waves of measles or polio outbreaks, health experts warn.

24 Apr 2020

Improvements in air quality and health during COVID-19 lockdown

COVID-19 has devastated lives and communities and will have a horrendous impact on the economy, but it has also revealed some environmental truths that we as humans may not want to hear.

24 Apr 2020

Higher blood levels of NETs linked to more severe COVID-19 infection

New research finds a connection between destructive white blood cells and a more severe disease course in patients with COVID-19.

24 Apr 2020

USask's VIDO-Intervac receives $23 million to fast-track development of COVID-19 vaccine

The University of Saskatchewan's VIDO-InterVac (Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre) has been awarded $23 million to fast-track efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today.

24 Apr 2020

Study looks into COVID‐19 preparedness in Michigan nursing homes

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit some nursing homes especially hard - including in the hotspot state of Michigan. Hundreds of deaths of residents in homes from Seattle to Boston have raised concerns about how well facilities are protecting the 1.3 million older Americans who live in them.

24 Apr 2020

Indiana State Department of Health and IU collaborate to study COVID-19 spread

The Indiana State Department of Health is collaborating with the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI to conduct a scientific study to measure the spread of COVID-19 throughout the state.

24 Apr 2020