Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Community knowledge about antibiotics key to fighting against 'superbug' threat

With predictions that drug-resistant ‘superbugs’ could cause up to 10 million deaths a year by 2050, a new CSIRO survey has revealed a low level of community knowledge about antibiotics.

15 May 2020

Viral shedding among pre-symptomatic COVID-19 patients finds study

Researchers from Bangalore, India, have found that 68 percent of pre-symptomatic patients with COVID-19 may be shedding the virus and potentially infecting others. Their study titled, “Quantitative COVID-19 infectiousness estimate correlating with viral shedding and culturability suggests 68% pre-symptomatic transmissions,” was published on the open-access preprint server Medrxiv.

15 May 2020

CSHLP Press releases new book on heart development and disease

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHLP) announced the release of Heart Development and Disease, available on its website in hardcover and eBook formats.

15 May 2020

TUM researchers develop innovative x-ray method for lung diagnostics

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have developed an innovative x-ray method for lung diagnostics, which they now plan to test in one of its first applications for diagnosis of the respiratory ailment COVID-19 caused by Coronavirus.

15 May 2020

Does vitamin D deficiency increase COVID-19 risk?

A new paper published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 reports the first evidence that vitamin D deficiency and inadequate treatment could increase the chances of testing positive for COVID-19. This could shape the way for screening individuals at risk for vitamin D deficiency.

14 May 2020

Continuously active antiviral coating may reduce the spread of COVID-19

Surfaces coated with a quaternary ammonium polymer have remarkable antiviral properties. They may even be capable of reducing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in areas with high risk for contamination, such as indoor environments or public places. University of Arizona researchers explain the antiviral potential of these in a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv.

14 May 2020

NIH begins clinical study to evaluate hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for COVID-19

A clinical trial has begun to evaluate whether the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, given together with the antibiotic azithromycin, can prevent hospitalization and death from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

14 May 2020

MU Health Care neurologist publishes recommendations for stroke treatment in COVID-19 patients

A University of Missouri Health Care neurologist has published more than 40 new recommendations for evaluating and treating stroke patients based on international research examining the link between stroke and novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

14 May 2020

Two new devices could offer additional safety for health care workers during COVID-19

Treating patients with COVID-19 means health care workers are putting their own health and safety on the line each day.

14 May 2020

ACTG initiates clinical trial to evaluate treatment for COVID-19

The AIDS Clinical Trials Group, the world's largest and longest established HIV research network, today announced the initiation of ACTG 5395, a clinical trial to evaluate whether the drug combination hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin can prevent hospitalization and death from COVID-19 (which is caused by infection with the virus SARS-CoV-2).

14 May 2020

Anti-inflammatory drug may improve respiratory function in some severe COVID-19 cases

A small study in Greece found that the clinically approved anti-inflammatory drug anakinra, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, improved respiratory function in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

14 May 2020

Reversing history, Indian Health Service seeks traditional healers

Cheryl Morales started the medicinal garden at the Aaniiih Nakoda College demonstration farm with only four plants: yarrow, echinacea, plantain and licorice root.

14 May 2020

Under COVID cloud, prisons in rural America threaten to choke rural hospitals

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept into Montana, it spread into the Marias Heritage Center assisted living facility, then flowed into the nearby 21-bed hospital.

14 May 2020

Visual Science designs a scientific model of SARS-Cov-2 virus

The biomedical visualization studio Visual Science has created the most detailed and scientifically accurate 3D model of the full SARS-CoV-2 virus at atomic resolution.

14 May 2020

Scientists describe new mechanism of cellular locomotion

Whilst the whole world is in lockdown during the current Corona crisis, certain cells within our bodies are still travelling long-distance: while this happens when you develop pneumonia, any ordinary cut on your finger will also trigger white blood cells--aka leukocytes--to instantly move out of your blood vessels into the site of inflammation.

14 May 2020

Machine learning can be used to track public interest in COVID-19 topics on popular internet sites

Machine learning can be used to track surges in interest in health topics on popular online comment boards, like Reddit, according to a new study conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine).

14 May 2020

Comparison of flu deaths with COVID-19 deaths

A new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine in May 2020 reports that false comparisons between the count of COVID-19 deaths as reported by various hospitals in the US, and the estimated flu-related deaths, causes significant confusion and may impair the ability to design public health policies.

14 May 2020

Lessons for COVID-19 from 2009 H1N1

The world has experienced many outbreaks of viral diseases. Over the past two decades, we have also seen the emergence of zoonotic human respiratory coronaviruses with pandemic potential.

13 May 2020

Low albumin levels could predict poor outcome in COVID-19

A Spanish study has revealed that COVID-19 patients who have a low level of albumin have a poorer outcome compared to those with normal levels of blood albumin. The study titled, “Low albumin levels are associated with poorer outcomes in a case series of COVID-19 patients in Spain: a retrospective cohort study,” was released prior to peer-review on the open-access preprint server site Medrxiv*.

13 May 2020

Study shows 19 out of 25 COVID-19 patients improved with convalescent plasma treatment

The country's first convalescent plasma transfusion trial results have been published and show 19 out of 25 patients improved with the treatment, and 11 were discharged from the hospital.

13 May 2020