Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Antibiotics used for treating COVID-19 patients may result in increased resistance to drugs' benefits

The use of antibiotics in people with COVID-19 could result in increased resistance to the drugs' benefits among the wider population, a new study suggests.

25 Aug 2020

Online searches for 'heart attack' drop during COVID-19, but rise for 'chest pain'

A study of search engine queries addressed the question of whether online searches for chest pain symptoms correlated to reports of fewer people going to the emergency department with acute heart problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

25 Aug 2020

New approach involves "antivitamins" to develop new classes of antibiotics

Antibiotics are among the most important discoveries of modern medicine and have saved millions of lives since the discovery of penicillin almost 100 years ago.

25 Aug 2020

Health experts provide guidelines on scientific investigation of synbiotics

Chances are you've heard of or even taken probiotics: supplements delivering "good microbes" to the gut, providing a wide range of health benefits. If you're really up on your gut health, you may also be aware of prebiotics: supplements designed to fuel the good microbes already living in our guts.

25 Aug 2020

World's first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 re-infection

A team of researchers at the University of Hong Kong said that they have proven that a 33-year-old man was infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus for a second time. The man was discharged from a hospital in April but contracted the infection again after returning from Spain via the United Kingdom in August.

24 Aug 2020

Relative humidity could play a role in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 indoors

A new study has explored the role of relative humidity in the transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from person to person indoors. The study titled, “An Overview on the Role of Relative Humidity in Airborne Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Indoor Environments,” is published in the latest issue of the journal Aerosol and Air Quality Research.

24 Aug 2020

Single dose nasal vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 shows promise in animal studies

Now researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have worked on developing a candidate vaccine against the infection that could be administered in a single dose via a nasal spray rather than an injection. In their preliminary studies using lab mice, this single dose of the nasal vaccine successfully prevented the infection with the novel coronavirus.

24 Aug 2020

Genomic analysis reveals many animal species vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2

Now, a new genomics study by University of California, Davis, California researchers identifies a large number of mammals that can potentially be infected by SARS-CoV-2 via their ACE2 proteins.

24 Aug 2020

New criteria to differentiate between frontotemporal dementia and LATE disease

Working with their colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, researchers at the University of Kentucky have found that they can differentiate between subtypes of dementia inducing brain disease.

24 Aug 2020

Surgical patients with low health literacy more likely to experience postoperative infection

Surgical patients are more likely to experience a postoperative infection if they have low health literacy, which is a limited capacity to understand and act on health information, according to results of a new study presented at the American College of Surgeons 2020 Quality and Safety Conference VIRTUAL.

24 Aug 2020

Research suggests seaweed extract and xylitol may help protect against COVID-19

Researchers in the United States have demonstrated the antiviral effect of three candidate nasal spray formulations against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

24 Aug 2020

A better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 in children

Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, have conducted a study showing that Hispanic ethnicity is associated with an increased risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among children.

24 Aug 2020

Drug resistance may be reversed using hydrogen sulphide

Antibiotic resistance in some kinds of bacteria may be reversed using hydrogen sulphide (H2S), according to a new study.

24 Aug 2020

New cancer vaccine is predicted to be more effective in human trials

Jefferson researchers developing a cancer vaccine to prevent recurrences of gastric, pancreatic, esophageal and colon cancers have added a component that would make the vaccine more effective.

24 Aug 2020

Florida’s cautionary tale: How gutting and muzzling public health fueled COVID fire

On a sweltering July morning, Rose Wilson struggled to breathe as she sat in her bed, the light from her computer illuminating her face and the oxygen tubes in her nose.

24 Aug 2020

One college’s pop-up COVID test: Stop and ‘smell the roses’ (or the coffee)

If all goes according to plan, Penn State University students who opt for an on-campus experience this fall will start in-person classes on Aug. 24 under the banner of a "Mask Up or Pack Up" campaign.

24 Aug 2020

Accidental discovery of new antibiotic proven effective after several experiments

It all happened by chance. It was a hot summer day nine years ago. Inside the laboratory, the team was working on cancer research. On the lab bench, various medications were being tested on cancer cells.

24 Aug 2020

Study: Frequent use of antimicrobial drugs impairs bacterial diversity in saliva

The strongest associations were presented with azithromycin that is used for example to middle ear infections, strep throat and pneumonia.

24 Aug 2020

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 transmission on an airplane

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world, air travel restrictions are slowly being eased in some regions. Now, a new report published in the JAMA Network Open journal in August 2020 shows that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can spread among passengers on international flights unless proper precautions are taken.

23 Aug 2020

No evidence pregnancy increases the risk of COVID-19 morbidity or severity

Albeit pregnancy is generally considered a significant risk factor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and more severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outcomes, a recent study by a multinational team of researchers shows that symptoms are generally comparable between pregnant and non-pregnant cohorts of women – with the exception of gastrointestinal symptoms. This paper is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

23 Aug 2020