Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

COVID-19 patients at risk of fatal co-infection during ICU stays

Researchers in the UK have conducted a study showing that a high proportion of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) acquire a secondary bacterial co-infection during their hospital stay.

29 Oct 2020

UH and CWRU announce Phase 3 trial of Astrazeneca's investigational COVID-19 vaccine

University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University announced today that UH Cleveland Medical Center has been selected as a clinical trial site for the Phase 3 global study of an investigational vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, sponsored by AstraZeneca.

29 Oct 2020

Mental health challenges associated with COVID-19 lockdown in spring 2020

This brief is a summary of the policy brief prepared in the context of the Swiss national COVID-19 science task force (https://ncs-tf.ch/en/).

29 Oct 2020

Antiviral inhibitor DDX42 shows broad activity against Chikungunya, HIV and SARS-CoV-2

By exploiting type 1 interferon's ability to foster an antagonistic cellular environment for viral replication, a research group from France pinpointed DEAD-box RNA helicase DDX42 as an intrinsic inhibitor of HIV, but also other pathogenic viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Chikungunya virus.

29 Oct 2020

CTA scans may offer rapid, early detection of COVID-19 in stroke patients

Computed tomography angiogram (CTA) scans may offer fast and early detection of COVID-19 in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients, according to new research published today in Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

29 Oct 2020

Researchers test effectiveness of different fabric masks at filtering particles

A team of researchers have tested everything from t-shirts and socks to jeans and vacuum bags to determine what type of mask material is most effective at trapping the ultrafine particles which may contain viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.

29 Oct 2020

Research shows why certain people infected with COVID-19 show no symptoms

Researchers worldwide have been surprised to see that individuals can be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus - the virus that produces COVID-19 - without showing symptoms. Since these individuals expose others to infection without knowing it, it is important to find an explanation and hopefully a solution to this.

29 Oct 2020

Majority of people infected with mild-to-moderate COVID 19 mount robust antibody response

The vast majority of individuals infected with mild-to-moderate COVID 19 mount a robust antibody response that is relatively stable for at least five months, according to research conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published October 28, in the journal Science.

29 Oct 2020

Researchers develop infectious disease model for forecasting elections

Forecasting elections is a high-stakes problem. Politicians and voters alike are often desperate to know the outcome of a close race, but providing them with incomplete or inaccurate predictions can be misleading.

29 Oct 2020

Researchers estimate prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among adults in orange county

Testing a representative sample of Orange County residents for a wide range of coronavirus antibodies, University of California, Irvine researchers found that 11.5 percent of them have antibodies for COVID-19, in contrast to previous estimates of less than 2 percent.

29 Oct 2020

Mouth may be primary route of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in October 2020 shows that the virus also multiplies robustly in the oral cavity, indicating that saliva plays a role in viral transmission.

29 Oct 2020

Studies suggest the need for a new home-time metric to judge hospital readmissions

Two new studies suggest Medicare's system of penalizing hospitals if too many patients are readmitted within 30 days should also look at whether the patients were well enough to remain in their home during that time.

28 Oct 2020

Study: Nearly 17% of recovered COVID-19 patients could still carry the virus

A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, presents new data that address important questions pertaining to the containment of the coronavirus pandemic: When should COVID-19 quarantine really end and which continuing symptoms may be more indicative of a positive test in recovered patients?

28 Oct 2020

Genomic analysis of early SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the UK

By analyzing 50,887 SARS-CoV-2 genomes, the team has provided insights into the micro-epidemiological patterns underlying the features of one of the world's largest national COVID-19 epidemics.

28 Oct 2020

A systematic review and meta-analysis of stroke in COVID-19 patients

Fourteen out of every 1,000 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital experience a stroke, a rate that is even higher in older patients and those with severe infection and pre-existing vascular conditions, according to a report published this week.

28 Oct 2020

Readers and tweeters shed light on vaccine trials and bias in health care

In the piece about the AstraZeneca vaccine trial subject who suffered severe spinal cord inflammation, that person was repeatedly referred to as a "patient" ("NIH 'Very Concerned' About Serious Side Effect in Coronavirus Vaccine Trial," Sept. 14).

28 Oct 2020

Study shows COVID-19 can be detected through non-invasive breath test

Initial findings from a new study led by Loughborough University - published by The Lancet - has shown how Covid-19 can be detected via a non-invasive breath test, providing almost instant results.

28 Oct 2020

Scientists warn Americans are expecting too much from a vaccine

The White House and many Americans have pinned their hopes for defeating the COVID-19 pandemic on a vaccine being developed at "warp speed." But some scientific experts warn they're all expecting too much, too soon.

28 Oct 2020

Research finds a problem with concept of herd immunity in COVID-19

A recent study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in October 2020 suggests that arguments in favor of herd immunity are weakened by the fact that the steep increase in the number of COVID-19 deaths as a result of being exposed to the virus many times instead of once or a few times is not taken.

28 Oct 2020

Scientists compare ACE2 interaction with SARS-CoV-2 across species

Like other pathogenic coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 crossed the species barrier to cause human disease. This fact motivated the current study, published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in October 2020, which explores the way coronaviruses engage their host cell receptors in a range of animals.

28 Oct 2020