Disease/Infection News

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COVID-19 mouse model could accelerate the search for treatments, vaccines

The global effort to quickly develop drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 has been hampered by limited numbers of laboratory mice that are susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

10 Jun 2020

Blood type plays role in SARS-CoV-2 infection

A new meta-analysis from Iran, available on the medRxiv preprint server, showed that the blood group A could be considered a partial risk factor for infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), whereas the blood group O may act as a protective factor; conversely, no significant associations were observed between specific blood groups and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) mortality.

10 Jun 2020

Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on sleep quality

Stay-at-home orders and "lockdowns" related to the COVID-19 pandemic have had a major impact on the daily lives of people around the world and that includes the way that people sleep, two studies report June 10 in the journal Current Biology.

10 Jun 2020

Tocilizumab in Critical COVID-19 Patients

A new study by scientists at Metro Infectious Disease Consultants and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 reports that the cytokine blocker tocilizumab is a useful adjunct to supportive medical care in severe COVID-19, with increased survival and a lower requirement for mechanical ventilation.

10 Jun 2020

Seroprevalence of IgM and IgG against SARS-CoV-2 in China

A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine in June 2020 reports the seroprevalence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) across China. This may help to understand the actual prevalence of the virus in the current pandemic.

10 Jun 2020

Specific immune signature identified in COVID-19 patients

Researchers at King’s College London and collaborators have identified an “immune signature” that could help researchers better understand coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and serve as a valuable resource for predicting patient prognosis and informing clinical risk-based stratification.

10 Jun 2020

Expanding flu vaccine coverage could reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing

Up to 76 percent of all outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in the United States may be inappropriate, with peak prescribing associated with the flu season.

10 Jun 2020

Mitigating "second wave" COVID-19 risk to health frontliners and patients

Researchers at University College London have made important discoveries about the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among frontline healthcare workers that could help to inform new policies for protecting staff and patients in the future.

10 Jun 2020

NIH-funded researchers to assess drugs prescribed to treat COVID-19 in children

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have launched an effort to evaluate drugs prescribed to treat COVID-19 in infants, children and adolescents across the country. The study leverages an existing clinical trial that examines drugs that are prescribed off-label to children for a variety of medical conditions.

10 Jun 2020

Reopening UK bars and pubs on June 22 is a risky move, says GlobalData

Following today’s news (8 June) that UK beer gardens in pubs could reopen on 22 June as part of the Save Summer Six drive

10 Jun 2020

GlobalData: Use of hydroxychloroquine as COVID19 treatment continues to be debated

There is no clinical evidence that hydroxychloroquine is effective against COVID19. Some studies using hydroxychloroquine have shown no benefits or even an increase in risk of death, but the number of clinical trials investigating hydroxychloroquine as a primary or secondary intervention continues to expand to determine whether the drug candidate is a key contender as a therapeutic or not, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

10 Jun 2020

G42 and Oxford Nanopore co-develop population-scale technology to detect SARS-CoV-2

Group 42 (G42), a leading AI and Cloud Computing company based in the United Arab Emirates, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies, an advanced sequencing technology company based in the United Kingdom, announced today they have developed an unprecedented population-scale technology that rapidly and accurately detects SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

10 Jun 2020

Internet searches can help track the spread of COVID-19, says UofL researcher

When they're feeling sick, many people turn to the Internet. They Google their symptoms - headache, chest pain, shortness of breath - hoping to learn more about what's happening in their bodies.

10 Jun 2020

Immuno-oncology may accelerate the development of treatments for COVID-19

Researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center have been actively engaged in the effort to develop treatments or other control strategies that can help communities worldwide to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 Jun 2020

Role of nuclear cardiology in COVID-19

"We know that without a vaccine we're going to be dealing with this virus for a while," said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health, in an interview with Johannes Czernin.

10 Jun 2020

Registered COVID-19 clinical trials lack key features to optimize their scientific value

Most of the registered clinical trials of potential treatments for COVID-19 underway as of late March were designed in ways that will greatly limit their value in understanding potential treatments, according to a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

10 Jun 2020

The 1918 flu pandemic can help mitigate the spread of COVID-19

What can the 1918 flu pandemic teach people about the current COVID-19 pandemic? That's what a group of researchers at the University of Missouri hope to uncover with the help of a recent COVID-19 RAPID grant from the National Science Foundation.

10 Jun 2020

Research reveals 7 different SARS-CoV-2 strains arrived in California

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) first emerged in Wuhan City in China in December 2019. From there, it has actively spread across the globe. The United States has been the hardest-hit country in the pandemic, with more than 1.97 million people infected.

10 Jun 2020

COVID-19 lockdowns estimated to have prevented 3 million deaths across 11 European countries

Now, a new study by researchers at Imperial College London estimates that lockdowns prevented around 3.1 million deaths in 11 European countries. The modeling study, published in the journal Nature, highlights that social distancing measures worked in reducing the spread of the virus.

10 Jun 2020

Researchers examine the drying time of virus' droplets on various surfaces

One of the many questions researchers have about COVID-19 is how long the coronavirus causing the disease remains alive after someone infected with it coughs or sneezes.

10 Jun 2020