Disease/Infection News

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New emergency program provides mental health care across Colorado

The COVID-19 pandemic's effects run deep - far beyond the virus's immediate infections. From loss of livelihoods to drastic decreases in social connection, people across the country are suffering ongoing emotional strain.

2 Sep 2020

Scientists identify potential blood-clotting mechanism in COVID-19

Why so many COVID-19 patients get blood clots (thrombosis) remains uncertain. But scientists at Uppsala University and the University Hospital have now identified a mechanism they believe to be implicated.

2 Sep 2020

Blood test can identify patients at high risk of severe COVID-19

A blood test on hospital admission showing the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 can identify patients at a high risk of severe COVID-19.

2 Sep 2020

Health officials worry nation is not ready for COVID-19 vaccine

Millions of Americans are counting on a COVID-19 vaccine to curb the global pandemic and return life to normal.

2 Sep 2020

Novel technique to detect the fungus responsible for causing severe pneumonia

Research staff of the University of Valencia and the Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of the Valencian Community, among other institutions, have developed a very sensitive and fast in-vitro method for the diagnosis of infection by Pneumocystis jirovecii, a fungus that causes severe pneumonia.

2 Sep 2020

Durable IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 from the Iceland experience

Now, a team of scientists at the Reykjavik-based deCODe Genetics, a subsidiary of the U.S. biotech company Amgen, and several universities and hospitals in Iceland, says that the antibodies developed to fight SARS-CoV-2 last for at least four months and do not fade quickly as previously thought.

2 Sep 2020

Exponential rise in COVID-19 hospitalization risk with age due to waning T cell immunity

The age-related increase in the risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19 mirrors earlier patterns seen with infections. Such trends may help understand the mechanisms underlying the clinical feature. A recent study published in the preprint server medRxiv* in August 2020 shows the effect of age and sex on COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the USA and helps understand how immune function is involved in this pandemic.

2 Sep 2020

A global vaccine is sufficient to combat COVID-19 infection, indicates study

Genetic analysis of sequences from more than 27,000 individuals infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 reveals that the virus has mutated minimally since December 2019, suggesting one vaccine would be sufficient to combat global infections.

2 Sep 2020

ACE2/TMPRSS2 not expressed in pancreatic islet endocrine cells

A new study by researchers at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in August 2020 reports that both key enzymes that are required for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) entry into the human host cell are lacking in the beta cells of the pancreatic islet. This rules out the direct injury hypothesis for impaired glucose control in patients with COVID-19 disease.

1 Sep 2020

High-pressure preconcentration devices for detecting small amounts of virus in early infections

Diagnostic devices that are used at home or in doctors' offices are often not sensitive enough to detect small amounts of a virus that might be present in samples from asymptomatic patients, which can occur in early stage COVID-19.

1 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2-RNA viremia is a robust marker of critical illness in COVID-19

A new study by a large team of Spanish researchers and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in August 2020 reports that the presence of viral RNA in the blood is a useful marker of impending acute disease and can help triage COVID-19 disease patients who will require hospital care.

1 Sep 2020

Negligible ACE2 expression in human beta-cells

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv reports that even though the fatality rate is significantly higher in diabetics, there is no evidence that this is due to direct viral infection of pancreatic beta cells, which produce the key hormone in glucose homeostasis, namely insulin.

1 Sep 2020

New research sheds light on the risks of COVID-19 for pregnant women and their babies

New research findings published today in the BMJ helps to shed light on the risks of COVID-19 for pregnant women and their babies.

1 Sep 2020

Excessive immune response plays an important role in severe Covid-19

The team from Marien Hospital and the department of Virology of Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) as well as the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, the Clinic of Anesthesiology and the Institute for Virology of University Medicine Essen studied specific antibodies and T cells occurring in recovered, seriously ill and deceased Covid-19 patients.

1 Sep 2020

Health expert warns of the increasing threat of animal-to-human coronaviruses

The coronavirus outbreaks, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the currently spreading coronavirus disease (COVID-19), all came via animal-to-human transmission or zoonosis.

1 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 is more resistant on surfaces in spring and autumn than in summer

In a recent bioRxiv* preprint paper, researchers from Kansas State University demonstrate astonishing persistence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on various types of surfaces – especially under spring/fall climate conditions.

1 Sep 2020

COVID-19 testing and reporting needs improving in United States prisons

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Cornell University have conducted a study showing that many states across the US are not reporting fully on the number of people being tested for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in prisons, with some also not reporting on cases of fatalities.

1 Sep 2020