Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Engineers visualize how speaking spreads a virus

A team of researchers and engineers at Princeton University has provided a visualization of how speaking produces and expels saliva droplets into the air. The smallest droplets can be inhaled by people, which is the primary mode of transmission of infections such as COVID-19.

19 Oct 2020

Study of patterns of social contacts early on in COVID-19 pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has compelled people worldwide to quarantine. To mitigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, countries and workplaces have been under varying stages of lockdown since the detection of the infection in December 2019 in Wuhan, China.

19 Oct 2020

Return to college classes tied to a 9 percent increase in COVID-19 cases, study finds

Since a vast majority of colleges and universities in the country are bringing students back for in-person instruction amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers from the University of Georgia wanted to determine the effect of this return to campus on the viral case growth in countries with a significant college student population, compared to non-college countries.

18 Oct 2020

New diagnostic test detects and identifies SARS-CoV-2 virus in less than five minutes

Scientists from Oxford University’s Department of Physics have developed an extremely rapid diagnostic test that detects and identifies viruses in less than five minutes.

16 Oct 2020

New article explores the endemic potential of COVID-19 virus

A new article by Columbia Mailman School researchers Jeffrey Shaman and Marta Galanti explores the potential for the COVID-19 virus to become endemic, a regular feature producing recurring outbreaks in humans.

16 Oct 2020

Novel method can predict influenza epidemics

Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have developed a unique method to predict influenza epidemics by combining several sources of data.

16 Oct 2020

Impact of COVID-19 on Australians with hypertension

Ten months into the COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it is unclear how people with hypertension are coping, given their increased risk. A retrospective case-control study compared people with hypertension to matched healthy controls during COVID-19 lockdown to determine whether they have higher risk perceptions, anxiety, and prevention intentions. The study is published on the preprint server medRxiv* in October 2020.

16 Oct 2020

Scientists discover a novel antiviral strategy for treating COVID-19

A research team led by Professor Hongzhe SUN, Norman & Cecilia Yip Professor in Bioinorganic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, and Professor Kwok Yung YUEN, Henry Fok Professor in Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), has discovered a novel antiviral strategy for treatment of COVID-19.

16 Oct 2020

NFID issues new report detailing risks of co-infection with flu and COVID-19 in vulnerable adults

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) issued a new Call to Action report detailing the risks of co-infection with influenza (flu) and COVID-19 in adults with chronic health conditions, and the importance of flu vaccination during the 2020-2021 season.

16 Oct 2020

High-titer convalescent plasma reduced COVID-19 symptom severity in green monkeys

As scientists scramble to find effective vaccines and antivirals for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in October 2020 reports that the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 disease early in the course of the illness may be among the best available strategies at present.

16 Oct 2020

COVID-19 can cause sudden permanent hearing loss in rare cases

Many complications have been reported, including heart disease and prolonged respiratory issues in a group of people called “long-haulers.” Now, a new worrying finding shows that COVID-19 can cause sudden and irreversible hearing loss in patients.

15 Oct 2020

Scientists engineer powerful novel anti-microbial molecules from wasp venom

Now, a team of scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has engineered potent novel anti-microbial molecules from toxic proteins found in wasp venom. The researchers believe that the discovery holds promise in fighting the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, that cause serious illness.

15 Oct 2020

UH researcher receives $1.6 million to reverse urinary incontinence

A University of Houston researcher is working to reverse pelvic floor dysfunction which can result in urinary incontinence, a condition affecting 30-60% of the female population and 5-15% of males.

15 Oct 2020

Previous infections with seasonal coronaviruses might protect against SARS-CoV-2

Seasonal coronaviruses, which generally cause mild respiratory illness and symptoms of the common cold, belong to the same viral family as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes COVID-19.

15 Oct 2020

New guidance for "Long COVID" patients

“Long Covid,” which affects around 10% of patients, refers to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that is still causing symptoms beyond 3 to 4 weeks.

15 Oct 2020

Blood purification outside the body in COVID-19 patients

Rodney Rosalia et al., in a recent medRxiv preprint research paper, study the longitudinal variation of parameters involved with systemic inflammation in critically ill COVID-19 patients upon EBP treatment.

15 Oct 2020

Study links SARS-CoV-2 seasonality to increased spread at lower temperatures

In a recent paper available on the bioRxiv preprint server, US researchers show that individual particles of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) undergo structural destabilization at relatively mild but elevated temperatures – strengthening the case for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resurgence in the winter.

15 Oct 2020

Researchers identify potential drugs that could be repurposed as pan-coronavirus treatments

A large international consortium of almost 200 researchers from 14 leading institutions in six countries has studied three different coronaviruses - SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV - with the aim of finding vulnerabilities shared by these three pathogens.

15 Oct 2020

Cloud-based tool can rapidly detect and track emerging pathogens

Published today in the journal GigaScience is a new open source, cloud-based tool called IDseq that makes it possible to rapidly detect, identify, and track emerging pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2.

15 Oct 2020

Electronic cigarettes better than nicotine replacement therapy to help people quit smoking

Electronic cigarettes could increase the number of people who stop smoking compared to nicotine replacement therapy – such as chewing gum and patches – according to research involving the University of East Anglia.

15 Oct 2020