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How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health of older adults? A UK case study

A team of researchers at University College London, UK, recently explored how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of older adults across Britain.

7 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2 viral load in saliva may be linked to COVID-19 disease severity

Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine found that SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in saliva are higher for patients with associated risk factors and underlying conditions that lead to severe COVID-19 and death. Thus, saliva viral loads could be used to predict disease severity.

7 Jan 2021

Males at higher risk of severe COVID-19 and mortality in Indian case study

A new US-based study by researchers at Dartmouth College, the Development Data Lab, IDFC Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Chicago shows that the infection fatality rate (IFR) could be twice as high for men compared to women and increases much less at older ages compared to high-income countries.

7 Jan 2021

Which strain should SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates target?

A researcher at Clemson University, USA, has recently explored how governments might effectively combat the pandemic through strategic vaccination as new variants and strains of the virus emerge. The study suggests that vaccine candidates should target the fast-spreading variant, even when the initial prevalence is much lower.

7 Jan 2021

In Los Angeles and beyond, oxygen is the latest covid bottleneck

As Los Angeles hospitals give record numbers of covid patients oxygen, the systems and equipment needed to deliver the life-sustaining gas are faltering.

7 Jan 2021

Covid-19 project receives government funding to expand globally

Supercomputing facilities set up to track the spread and evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic have received £1.2M in government funding to expand globally.

7 Jan 2021

Severe COVID-19 recovered patients do not display long-lasting adaptive immune responses, finds study

A team of scientists from the University of Valencia and INCLIVA Health Research Institute, Spain, has recently investigated the durability of immune responses specifically developed against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

7 Jan 2021

Researchers use nanotechnology to develop new coronavirus mask model

A US-based research team designed and fabricated electrospun nanofibrous air filters that hold promise for applications in personal protective equipment and indoor environments. The team compared the filtration efficiency of coronavirus and NaCl aerosols to a broad spectrum of electrospun air filters and face masks.

7 Jan 2021

Researchers receive $2.95 million grant to create improved diagnostics for worm infections

Global campaigns to eliminate two tropical parasitic worm infections have been hindered by a lack of good diagnostic tools.

7 Jan 2021

Despite reopening of schools, serious COVID-19 is rare among children

Sweden was one of only a few countries that kept preschools, primary and lower secondary schools open during the spring of the pandemic year of 2020.

7 Jan 2021

Scientific experts help fight the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines

A team of renowned scientific experts has joined forces from across the world to help fight the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines, which hold the key to beating the deadly pandemic and releasing countries from debilitating lockdown restrictions.

7 Jan 2021

New peptide can target specific pathogen without damaging the good bacteria

Drug-resistant bacteria could lead to more deaths than cancer by 2050, according to a report commissioned by the United Kingdom in 2014 and jointly supported by the U.K. government and the Wellcome Trust.

7 Jan 2021

Patients with heart failure should take more precautions against COVID-19

Patients with acute heart failure nearly double their risk of dying if they get COVID-19, according to research published today in ESC Heart Failure, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

7 Jan 2021

Scientists to help nursing homes implement best practices to mitigate COVID-19 impact

Researchers in Georgia State University's School of Public Health and Emory University's School of Medicine have received a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to help nursing homes implement practices to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

7 Jan 2021

Danish study suggests local lockdown had no effect on SARS-CoV-2 infection rate

The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to severe restrictions on public mobility and interaction, national or state-wide lockdowns, school and workplace closures, and curfews. The result was widespread economic hardship, in addition to the toll on health.

7 Jan 2021

Study: Durable immunity against secondary COVID-19 disease is possible in most individuals

Researchers who studied antibody and immune cell responses in more than 180 men and women who had recovered from COVID-19 report these patients' immune memory to the virus - across all immune cell types studied - was measurable for up to 8 months after symptoms appeared.

7 Jan 2021

ACE2 receptor is responsible for the wide host range of SARS-CoV-2

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is thought to have a zoonotic origin, perhaps originating in a bat coronavirus with an unknown intermediate host. It is not only very infectious but has been found to infect a wide range of mammals, including dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, and minks, besides non-human primates. This range may be still higher, claims a recent preprint that appeared in January 2021 on the bioRxiv server.

6 Jan 2021