Disease/Infection News

RSS

Consistent use of face masks slows the spread of COVID-19

The use of face masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19 has been widely recommended by health professionals.

25 Nov 2020

Researchers develop lung-on-chip model to study the body’s response to early TB

Scientists have developed a lung-on-chip model to study how the body responds to early tuberculosis (TB) infection, according to findings published today in eLife.

25 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 versus Zika: Comparing and contrasting the flow of research

An interesting study published on the preprint server medRxiv in November 2020, dealing not with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the publications that have appeared as a consequence of the outbreak, comparing them with the similar trove of publications that followed the Zika virus outbreak in 2016.

25 Nov 2020

Bariatric surgery linked to lower risk of hospital and intensive care unit admission

A Cleveland Clinic study shows that among patients who have obesity and who tested positive for COVID-19, a past history of bariatric surgery was significantly associated with a lower risk of hospital and intensive care unit admission.

24 Nov 2020

Austrian study shows robust antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 for over 6 months

In the face of discouraging news about the resurgence of COVID-19, some reports offer hope of protection in the face of a robust and persistent immune response. In an encouraging report, an Austrian preprint appearing on the medRxiv server in November 2020 suggests a high level of durable immunity to SARS-CoV-2 over at least six months.

24 Nov 2020

Scientists use demographic data to estimate test-based case fatality rates across California

A team of UCLA Fielding School of Public Health researchers has developed analyses to identify those most at risk from the pandemic, using demographic data to estimate test-based infection and test-based case fatality rates across California.

24 Nov 2020

BCG vaccination appears to trigger cross-reactive SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response

Recently, researchers from the Monash University and Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, investigated whether peptide sensitization using BCG can produce cross-reactive T cells specific to SARS-CoV-2. Their study is published on the preprint server, medRxiv.

24 Nov 2020

A review of Traditional Chinese herbal medicine in management of COVID-19

Now researcher have summarized the experiences with the use of traditional Chinese herbal medicines for the management of COVID-19. Their study titled, “Traditional Chinese herbal medicine at the forefront battle against COVID-19: Clinical experience and scientific basis,” was published in the January 2021 issue of the journal Phytomedicine.

24 Nov 2020

New therapy for flu may prove effective against many other pathogenic virus infections

A new therapy for influenza virus infections that may also prove effective against many other pathogenic virus infections, including HIV and COVID-19, has been developed by Purdue University scientists.

24 Nov 2020

Tracking the effect of mitigation measures on COVID-19 spread in hard-hit states

Currently, there are over 10 million confirmed cases and more than 240,000 casualties attributed to COVID-19 in the U.S. Researchers at Louisiana State University have applied computational models to investigate infection rates in relation to social distancing measures.

24 Nov 2020

Widely used antibiotic shows promise for fighting against Zika infections

In 2015, hundreds of children were born with brain deformities resulting from a global outbreak of Zika virus infections.

24 Nov 2020

Mefloquine shows potential as anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug

A team of scientists from Japan has identified the approved anti-material drug, mefloquine, as a potential candidate to treat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Specifically, mefloquine has been shown to prevent the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into host cells and reduce the viral load in vitro.

24 Nov 2020

Researchers launch study to determine effects of increased access to rapid COVID-19 testing

Researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) are launching an investigational study to determine the effects of increased education and access to rapid, FDA-approved COVID-19 testing on community perceptions, access, and use of COVID-19 testing resources.

24 Nov 2020

Disproportionate COVID-19 mortality in England linked to non-white ethnicity and poverty

In a paper published on the preprint server medRxiv, researchers from various departments of Imperial College London, UK, discuss how they analyzed mortality data of individuals 40 years and above in local communities in England to determine local variations in increased mortality during the first wave of the pandemic – between 1 March and 31 May 2020 - and to identify the community factors associated with these mortality patterns.

24 Nov 2020

Protection of upper respiratory tract will require vaccines that mimic natural infection by SARS-CoV-2

Recently, a team of researchers studied the transmission modes of SARS-CoV-2 and the protection against re-infection in ferret models in work published on the preprint server, bioRxiv.

24 Nov 2020

Air quality could influence the virulence of COVID-19 disease

The correlation between the high concentration of fine particles and the severity of influenza waves is well known to epidemiologists.

24 Nov 2020

AI platform rapidly, accurately spots COVID-19 in X-ray images

Northwestern University researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (A.I.) platform that detects COVID-19 by analyzing X-ray images of the lungs.

24 Nov 2020

Mild COVID-19 disease may trigger long-term immunity

Researchers in the United States have conducted a study showing that individuals who have recovered from mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) developed sustained protective immune memory against the causative agent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

24 Nov 2020

Largest clinical trial launched to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients in Africa

Thirteen African countries and an international network of research institutions have joined forces to launch the largest COVID-19 clinical trial in mild-to-moderate outpatients in Africa.

24 Nov 2020

Vaping does not appear to pose any significant additional risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

Researchers in Mexico, New Zealand and Italy have conducted a modeling study suggesting that the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) being transmitted via indoor vaping is not significantly higher than the risk associated with other types of expiration.

24 Nov 2020

Disease/Infection News

Consistent use of face masks slows the spread of COVID-19

Researchers develop lung-on-chip model to study the body’s response to early TB

SARS-CoV-2 versus Zika: Comparing and contrasting the flow of research

Bariatric surgery linked to lower risk of hospital and intensive care unit admission

Austrian study shows robust antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 for over 6 months

Scientists use demographic data to estimate test-based case fatality rates across California

BCG vaccination appears to trigger cross-reactive SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response

A review of Traditional Chinese herbal medicine in management of COVID-19

New therapy for flu may prove effective against many other pathogenic virus infections

Tracking the effect of mitigation measures on COVID-19 spread in hard-hit states

Widely used antibiotic shows promise for fighting against Zika infections

Mefloquine shows potential as anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug

Researchers launch study to determine effects of increased access to rapid COVID-19 testing

Disproportionate COVID-19 mortality in England linked to non-white ethnicity and poverty

Protection of upper respiratory tract will require vaccines that mimic natural infection by SARS-CoV-2

Air quality could influence the virulence of COVID-19 disease

AI platform rapidly, accurately spots COVID-19 in X-ray images

Mild COVID-19 disease may trigger long-term immunity

Largest clinical trial launched to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients in Africa

Vaping does not appear to pose any significant additional risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

How cohesin mechanics and nanotracker tech are redefining DNA research

Todd Bauman and Chris Povich

Scaling organ‑chip technology for human‑relevant drug discovery

Latest News