Disease/Infection News

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Genomics study shows multiple and diverse SARS-CoV-2 introductions in the US capital region

A recent study led by the researchers from Johns Hopkins University reveals multiple and diverse introductions of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the United States National Capital Region during the initial phase of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

19 Aug 2020

Researchers use heparin to block co-receptor for SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have conducted a study showing that heparan sulfate proteoglycans are important co-receptors that severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) requires to infect host cells.

19 Aug 2020

Human microbiome trims mucosal glycans, influencing SARS-CoV-2 infection

An international team of researchers has conducted a study showing that differences in the human microbiome may influence the ability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to infect host cells.

19 Aug 2020

Researchers identify drug that improves survival in critically ill COVID-19 patients

Researchers at Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey's largest and most comprehensive health network, have utilized its statewide observational database of more than 5,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients to show that a drug normally used in rheumatoid arthritis and cancer treatments, tocilizumab, improves hospital survival in critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit.

19 Aug 2020

New 3D digital segmented models for COVID-19 diagnosis

An LSU Health New Orleans radiologist and evolutionary anatomist have teamed up to show the same techniques used for research on reptile and bird lungs can be used to help confirm the diagnosis of COVID-19 in patients.

19 Aug 2020

COVID-19 patients with hypoxia respond positively to a treatment, study shows

Covid-19 patients with hypoxia respond positively to icatibant treatment, Radboud university medical center researchers wrote in JAMA Network Open.

19 Aug 2020

Centralized medical records repository can perform data analysis and visualization

More than a decade ago, electronic medical records were all the rage, promising to transform health care and help guide clinical decisions and public health response.

19 Aug 2020

Mathematical modeling helps researchers track and tackle COVID-19 pandemic

The Editor-in-Chief Vitaly Volpert of the Institut Camille Jordan, University ofLyon, France, reviews how the public's new favourite scientific discipline, mathematical modelling, is being used to track and tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

19 Aug 2020

Study: Frailty can better predict COVID-19 survival than patient's age

New research from Karolinska Institutet shows that the degree of frailty, a measure of a person's functional level before contracting the disease, can better predict COVID-19 survival than the patient's age

19 Aug 2020

Single-dose adenovirus-vectored vaccine protects mice against SARS-CoV-2

The researchers selected the human adenovirus type 5 on which to base their vaccine because this replication-defective vector had already been used in their Ebola vaccine, with an excellent safety and immunogenicity profile in a phase 1 trial. The current study aimed to produce a vaccine that could offer mucosal vaccination and enhanced protection against this respiratory virus.

19 Aug 2020

Winter is not the time to become complacent about COVID-19

We are delighted to see the reduction in the number of cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection occurring in the United Kingdom in recent weeks, with currently 1 in 1900 people in the UK having coronavirus infection.

19 Aug 2020

Gut microbiome may play a part in severe COVID-19

A recent study published on the preprint medRxiv* in August 2020 reports on the evidence that the gut microbiome may play a part in severe COVID-19 infection.

19 Aug 2020

Study shows how bats survive the Ebola virus

A new study by researchers from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston uncovered new information on why the Ebola virus can live within bats without causing them harm, while the same virus wreaks deadly havoc to people. This study is now available in Cell Reports.

19 Aug 2020

Structural analysis of SARS-CoV-2 can help develop COVID-19 vaccines

At the start of a COVID-19 infection, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 docks onto human cells using the spike-like proteins on its surface.

19 Aug 2020

Large SARS-CoV-2 outbreak on a fishing boat - neutralizing antibodies prevent infection

Now, a team of researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine has found evidence that SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies can prevent infection in people, as they conducted a study before and after a COVID-19 outbreak on a fishing vessel.

19 Aug 2020

Public restrooms are dangerous places during COVID-19 pandemic

Think you don't need to worry about COVID-19 while using a public restroom? A group of researchers from Yangzhou University in China recently reported that flushing public restroom toilets can release clouds of virus-laden aerosols for you to potentially inhale.

19 Aug 2020

The world is 'nowhere near herd immunity,' WHO says

Now, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that the world is nowhere near the amount of coronavirus immunity needed to induce herd immunity, where enough people would develop the antibodies to stop the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

19 Aug 2020

Older adults with pre-existing depressive disorder exhibited resilience during COVID-19 pandemic

A study involving older adults with pre-existing major depressive disorder living in Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, and St Louis found no increase in depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

19 Aug 2020

Routine BCG immunization in infancy and COVID-19 containment in Japan

. A new study explores whether and how the practice of routine BCG vaccination of infants may have curbed the initial spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in Japan. The research is published in the Journal of Infection.

19 Aug 2020

COVID-19 information fails to meet existing guidelines for clear communication

Information about COVID-19 offered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the White House, and state health departments failed to meet recommendations for communicating with the public, according to a Dartmouth study.

19 Aug 2020