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.

FQHCs have played a key role in enabling COVID-19 vaccine equity among people of color

Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have persisted throughout the pandemic, and improving vaccine access and uptake among the populations that are disproportionately impacted remains one of the most critical ways to stop the spread of the virus.

10 Jan 2022

UIC experts awarded $7 million grant to improve the health of low-wage workers

Public health experts at the University of Illinois Chicago will continue efforts to improve the health of low-wage workers, thanks to a five-year, $7 million grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

10 Jan 2022

SARS-CoV-2 viral mutations shown to have a limited effect on T cell immunity

New research suggests that viral mutations have a minimal effect on T cell immunity, which could explain the protection provided by vaccination against severe COVID-19, despite the significant loss of neutralizing antibodies.

10 Jan 2022

Efficacy of surgical masks and N95 respirators in lowering SARS-CoV-2 transmission

In a new study, researchers determined the adherence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta variant to masks and respirators and the role of buccal protection in controlling SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

10 Jan 2022

Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants by three-dose mRNA vaccinated kidney transplant recipient sera

In a new study, researchers determined three-dose messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccinated kidney transplant recipients’ (KTRs) neutralizing responses against SARS-COV-2 variants, breakthrough coronavirus disease 2019 infection rate, and transplant rejection rate.

10 Jan 2022

Social distancing surveillance: how robots will keep you in line

Could a COVID-19 robot help in social distancing surveillance? We spoke to Professor Dinesh Manocha and Adarsh Jagan Sathyamoorthy about how their new robot may be able to do just that.

10 Jan 2022

Incidence rates of psychiatric diagnoses and drugs in Israeli adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers investigated the incidence of psychiatric diagnoses of Israeli adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 Jan 2022

Mathematical modeling the vaccination of children against SARS-CoV-2

Researchers evaluated the safety of mRNA vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in children using mathematical modeling.

10 Jan 2022

Rapid antigen tests exhibit high accuracy for COVID-19 screening in children

In a new study, researchers evaluated the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of the Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen test against the RT-PCR test in pediatric participants below 18 years in the US with high COVID-19 testing from May 7, 2021, to December 6, 2021.

10 Jan 2022

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant's infectivity, vaccine breakthrough, and antibody resistance

A recent study uses an artificial intelligence model to investigate Omicron's mutations and its infectivity, vaccine escape capability, and susceptibility to monoclonal antibodies.

10 Jan 2022

SARS-CoV-2 shown to spread through cell-to-cell transmission

A new study investigated SARS-CoV-2 cell-to-cell transmission in the context of cell-free infection and compared it to SARS-CoV.

10 Jan 2022

Declining effectiveness of the BNT162b2 vaccine in adolescents infected with COVID-19

Researchers have conducted a retrospective matched case-control study to determine the protection period conferred by the BNT162b2 vaccine on adolescents aged 12 to 16.

10 Jan 2022

SARS-CoV-2 spike engagement of ACE2 shown to prime S2′ site cleavage and fusion initiation

In a new study, researchers used a cell-cell fusion assay to extract potentially cleaved spike protein products from syncytia in order to explore the functional and biochemical characteristics of spike (S) protein when it engages its receptor ACE2 in living cells.

10 Jan 2022

Association of vaccination status with Long COVID symptoms

Scientists examined whether vaccination was associated with reporting long-term symptoms post-SARS-CoV-2 infection.

10 Jan 2022

Strategy for capturing SARS-CoV-2 through functionalized cellulose materials

Researchers from Northeastern University have developed a new, more cost-effective method for immobilizing SARS-CoV-2.

10 Jan 2022

SARS-CoV-2 Delta sublineage AY.4.2 shows no increase in cell entry or antibody evasion

Researchers from Germany, in their recent study published in the journal Cellular & Molecular Immunology, have evaluated the mutations in the S protein of one such SARS-CoV-2 strain, a Delta sublineage AY.4.2, which is currently expanding in the UK, and have found that it neither contains any potential for increased cell entry nor antibody escape.

10 Jan 2022

New lab-on-a-chip platform for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in resource-limited settings

A recent study shows how a novel and integrated lab-on-a-chip platform can represent a rapid, affordable, and exact molecular diagnostic tool for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The paper is currently available for free on the medRxiv* preprint server while it undergoes peer review.

9 Jan 2022

NYBC discovers novel small-molecule pancoronavirus fusion inhibitors

New York Blood Center has published a study that reports the discovery of highly potent small molecules with the ability to inhibit COVID-19 in infected individuals.

9 Jan 2022

History of SARS-CoV-2 infection affects longitudinal responses to BNT162b2 vaccine

In a recently published article in the journal Cell Reports, scientists have demonstrated that individuals with or without a history of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exhibit differential humoral and cellular immune responses 14 days after receiving mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech. However, at a later time point, the responses become comparable between the two groups.

9 Jan 2022

Engineered small extracellular vesicles for the neutralization of SARS-CoV-2

Characterizing these engineered sEVs, the researchers demonstrated that the soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (sACE-2) loaded sEV successfully binds and thus inhibits the entry of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 as well as its variants, protecting against SARS-CoV-2 infection. They also demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of these engineered sEVs in vivo.

9 Jan 2022

Pandemic News and Research

Further Reading

FQHCs have played a key role in enabling COVID-19 vaccine equity among people of color

UIC experts awarded $7 million grant to improve the health of low-wage workers

SARS-CoV-2 viral mutations shown to have a limited effect on T cell immunity

Efficacy of surgical masks and N95 respirators in lowering SARS-CoV-2 transmission

Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants by three-dose mRNA vaccinated kidney transplant recipient sera

Social distancing surveillance: how robots will keep you in line

Incidence rates of psychiatric diagnoses and drugs in Israeli adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mathematical modeling the vaccination of children against SARS-CoV-2

Rapid antigen tests exhibit high accuracy for COVID-19 screening in children

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant's infectivity, vaccine breakthrough, and antibody resistance

SARS-CoV-2 shown to spread through cell-to-cell transmission

Declining effectiveness of the BNT162b2 vaccine in adolescents infected with COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 spike engagement of ACE2 shown to prime S2′ site cleavage and fusion initiation

Association of vaccination status with Long COVID symptoms

Strategy for capturing SARS-CoV-2 through functionalized cellulose materials

SARS-CoV-2 Delta sublineage AY.4.2 shows no increase in cell entry or antibody evasion

New lab-on-a-chip platform for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in resource-limited settings

NYBC discovers novel small-molecule pancoronavirus fusion inhibitors

History of SARS-CoV-2 infection affects longitudinal responses to BNT162b2 vaccine

Engineered small extracellular vesicles for the neutralization of SARS-CoV-2

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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