Disease/Infection News

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COVID-19 has magnified health disparities among vulnerable population

The impact of COVID-19 on underserved and vulnerable populations, including persons of color, is addressed in a new roundtable discussion in Health Equity, a peer-reviewed open access journal.

12 May 2020

SARS-CoV-2 cell entry affinity varies across different host species

A new study from India, currently available on the preprint server bioRxiv*, estimated the probability and readiness of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to infect cells of different animal species – and revealed many of them that could act as disease carriers.

12 May 2020

Clinical trial to test the efficacy of defibrotide medicine for reducing COVID-19 death rate

The Neurosciences Institute, mixed centre of the Spanish National Research Council and the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, have collaborated on the first clinical trial conducted in the world to test whether the defibrotide medicine, which has already been authorized to treat a severe obstruction of the hepatic sinusoidal veins of people who have undergone a bone marrow transplant, can be used as therapy against COVID-19.

12 May 2020

Neovii and Tel Aviv University partner to develop novel COVID-19 vaccine

Ramot, Tel Aviv University's technology transfer company, and Neovii, a Swiss-based biopharmaceutical company and a member of Israel-based Neopharm Group, announced today that they have signed a research and license agreement to develop a novel and potentially life-saving COVID-19 vaccine.

12 May 2020

As deaths mount, coronavirus testing remains wildly inconsistent in long-term care

Mary Lanham's assisted living complex in Florida tested all residents for COVID-19 — once in March and again in April — even though no one showed symptoms.

12 May 2020

Study illuminates the impact of COVID-19 on hospitals and health systems

In the third week of March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, large hospitals in the Northeast experienced a 26 percent decline in average per-facility revenues based on estimated in-network amounts as compared to the same period in 2019.

12 May 2020

A comprehensive analysis of evidence-based information to help manage myopia

A new literature analysis published in Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics, the peer-reviewed journal of The College of Optometrists, gives eye care practitioners (ECPs) a comprehensive analysis of evidence-based information needed to help manage myopia.

12 May 2020

Sanford director receives major grant to advance broad-spectrum antivirals for respiratory diseases

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute is pleased to announce that Sumit Chanda, Ph.D., has received a $10.2 million, four-year grant from the Department of Defense to develop and advance broad-spectrum antivirals for respiratory diseases.

12 May 2020

New molecular analysis system warns the presence of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Valencia University (UV) have developed a molecular analysis system that can warn of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 (which causes the Covid-19 disease) in a community based on the study of its waste water.

12 May 2020

Researchers propose COVID-19 app that protects the privacy of users

Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and of the FZI Research Center for Information Technology, an innovation partner of KIT, have now proposed an app that combines the advantages of a central and a decentralized approach and, thus, enhances privacy.

12 May 2020

Incineration is not needed to dispose COVID-19 biowaste, says environmental scientist

An environmental scientist, who led medical waste treatment during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, says that COVID-19 is one of the "easiest pathogens to destroy" and hospitals need not resort to environmentally unfriendly incineration to dispose of biomedical waste piling up from treating those infected with the virus.

12 May 2020

Celebrities support poetry anthology for NHS Covid-19 Emergency Fund

Actor Simon Callow and author Stephen Fry are backing a poetry anthology for the NHS Covid-19 Emergency Fund which includes a poem by Dr Emma Halliday of Lancaster University.

12 May 2020

Novel telemedicine platform protects health professionals caring for patients with infectious diseases

Physician-scientists have developed a communication management system built on a telemedicine platform that can help minimize the exposure of health care professionals to highly infectious diseases while still providing personalized patient care, according to a new report published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

12 May 2020

COVID-19 patients improve after experimental heart cell therapy

Four of six critically ill COVID-19 (coronavirus) patients significantly improved after receiving an experimental therapeutic designed to reduce inflammation, a major cause of death from this disease, according to a case series published by Cedars-Sinai and Capricor Therapeutics.

12 May 2020

‘No intubation’: Seniors fearful of COVID-19 are changing their living wills

Last month, Minna Buck revised a document specifying her wishes should she become critically ill.

12 May 2020

Millions stuck at home with no plumbing, kitchen or space to stay safe

In nearly half a million American homes, washing hands to prevent COVID-19 isn't as simple as soaping up and singing "Happy Birthday" twice while scrubbing.

12 May 2020

Deciding who can return to work after COVID-19 outbreak recedes

A new paper describes a strategy that could help decide which workers can safely go back to work once a lockdown is easing off. The study, published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020, could help to apply required measures for serological testing and income replacement among affected workers with accuracy and completeness.

12 May 2020

Potential for COVID-19 transmission from human eye

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in May 2020 reports the presence of ACE2 receptors in the eye at high concentrations. These molecules are the entry points for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is causing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

12 May 2020

Does cholesterol play a role in COVID-19?

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in May 2020 suggests that the strikingly increased mortality in COVID-19 patients who are either old or also have high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease is due to high tissue cholesterol levels. It also indicates the role of a healthy diet, by showing that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in blood oppose the effects of cholesterol and thus the risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms.

12 May 2020

Symptomatic COVID-19 patients less likely to be smokers

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages in many parts of the world, a new study shows that smoking may not play a significant role in increasing the severity of illness in these patients. The study is published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020.

12 May 2020