Respiratory Illness News and Research

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SARS-CoV-2 does not pose a food safety risk, health agency says

Now, a new report by the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) highlights the link between SARS-CoV-2 infection and food safety. ICMSF is a global non-government organization that aims to provide information on food safety and human health.

8 Sep 2020

New biocontainment unit could help healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients

The U.S. Army partnered with the University of Pittsburg Medical Center to create a biocontainment unit that could help healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients.

3 Sep 2020

Protocols for minimizing risk in COVID-19 bronchoscopy

One area, discussed in a recent paper by Northwestern University researchers and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in August 2020, is the viral exposure suffered by healthcare workers during bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL).

3 Sep 2020

14 existing drugs identified as SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in August 2020 reports on the identification of 14 compounds that can inhibit the key viral enzyme called the Main Protease (MPro) at micromolar concentrations.

1 Sep 2020

COVID-19 patients may experience long-term cardiovascular complications

Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle have conducted a study suggesting that infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can directly infect heart tissue and contribute to whole-organ cardiac dysfunction.

31 Aug 2020

Blood thinners help reduce the risk of COVID-19 deaths, study finds

Now, a new study by a team of researchers at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York has shown that blood thinners may reduce the risk of death by up to 50 percent among severely ill hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

27 Aug 2020

Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus particles in heart tissue

Researchers in Milan, Italy, have identified the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the heart tissue of deceased coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who had died from respiratory failure, without showing any signs of cardiac involvement.

27 Aug 2020

Study: SARS-CoV-2 can infect human neural progenitor cells and brain organoids

SARS-CoV-2 can infect human neural progenitor cells and brain organoids, as shown by researchers from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborators from The University of Hong Kong (HKU).

25 Aug 2020

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 transmission on an airplane

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, air travel restrictions are slowly being eased in some regions. Now, a new report published in the JAMA Network Open journal in August 2020 shows that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can spread among passengers on international flights unless proper precautions are taken.

23 Aug 2020

Researchers use heparin to block co-receptor for SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have conducted a study showing that heparan sulfate proteoglycans are important co-receptors that severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) requires to infect host cells.

19 Aug 2020

Study provides clues to why age is a major risk factor for COVID-19 patients

Genes that play an important role in allowing SARS-CoV-2 to invade heart cells become more active with age, according to research published today in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.

18 Aug 2020

SARS-CoV-2 poses significant threat to many marine mammal species

A new study conducted by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, has found that many species of marine mammal are highly vulnerable to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

17 Aug 2020

Cardiovascular disease in COVID-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic is a primarily respiratory illness, manifesting with severe hypoxia and often progressing to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. However, it is also known to be linked to a wide range of cardiovascular (CV) manifestations that are associated with a very poor prognosis.

13 Aug 2020

New research on COVID-19 and aging

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in August 2020 shows that genetic factors, chronic disease, and biological aging define the relationship between aging and the severity of COVID-19.

11 Aug 2020

CDC warns acute flaccid myelitis is poised for a comeback in kids this fall

As if the novel coronavirus pandemic was not enough! Now the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns parents and pediatricians to be on the watch for a rare condition called Acute Flaccid Myelitis or AFM for short, which could affect young children and cause unexplained muscle paralysis similar to poliomyelitis. Their report is published today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

5 Aug 2020

Researcher uses in silico analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to fast-track passive immunity

With millions of COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, people are turning to antibody tests to find out whether they have been exposed to the coronavirus that causes the disease. But what are antibodies? Why are they important? If we have them, are we immune to COVID-19? And if not, why not?

30 Jul 2020

Smoking worsens COVID-19 severity, warn researchers

A study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, suggests that smoking increases the risk of more severe lung disease in cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

30 Jul 2020

COVID-19 pandemic is "one big wave" says WHO

The COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world has to date infected over 16.95 million individuals and taken more than 665,000 lives. Now the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that this pandemic could cause a Tsunami of cases, and there is no scope for complacency in regions where numbers have declined.

30 Jul 2020

Pitt collaborative receives $7 million to evaluate convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19

A team of University of Pittsburgh, Michigan Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina and Stanford Medicine. researchers recently were awarded funds from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, totaling more than $7 million to collaboratively study the role of convalescent plasma in mitigating symptoms of COVID-19 in patients with mild illness and preventing the progression of the disease from mild to severe.

28 Jul 2020

MU School Of Nursing programs provide assistance to more than 500 nursing homes during COVID-19

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to put a strain on health care systems, nursing homes have become overburdened with the challenge of keeping both patients and staff safe and healthy.

27 Jul 2020