Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Inhaled corticosteroids have no effect on COVID-19 mortality, say researchers

A study conducted by UK researchers has found no evidence to support the hypothesis that regular use of inhaled corticosteroids may have a beneficial effect on mortality outcomes among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

22 Jun 2020

Further confirmation Holder pasteurization inactivates SARS-CoV-2 in breast milk

Researchers in Australia have shown that a standard pasteurization method commonly used in human milk banks is effective at inactivating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

22 Jun 2020

Homeless patients with respiratory infections more likely to be treated with ventilators than non-homeless

Researchers from UCLA, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Tokyo found that during a recent six-year period, homeless people in New York state were more likely to hospitalized and treated with mechanical ventilators for respiratory infections than people who are not homeless.

22 Jun 2020

Researchers provide evidence-based review on COVID-19 respiratory transmission

In a new article, scientists provide an exhaustive, evidence-based review of how COVID-19 droplets from infected patients spread through the air and describe how health care professionals can protect themselves.

22 Jun 2020

Easy to say ‘get tested.’ Harder to do. Here’s how.

Will Bondurant decided to get tested for COVID-19 after attending three racial justice demonstrations over a five-day period in San Francisco, where he lives.

22 Jun 2020

As problems grow with Abbott’s fast COVID test, FDA standards are under fire

In mid-May, the Food and Drug Administration issued a rare public warning about an Abbott Laboratories COVID-19 test that for weeks had received high praise from the White House because of its speed: Test results could be wrong.

22 Jun 2020

How weather affects COVID-19 in India

With India now having endured six months of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, there are now over 410,000 official cases in and more than 13,000 deaths recorded. Almost all these deaths have occurred in the last three months, April to June, with 100 deaths on April 4, 2020, increasing almost 16-fold by May 4, and 63-fold by June 4, 2020.

21 Jun 2020

Infants tested positive for COVID-19 mostly have mild illness with fever

A report from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago shows that infants under 90 days of age who tested positive for COVID-19 tend to be well, with little or no respiratory involvement. Fever was often found to be the primary or only symptom.

21 Jun 2020

Direct structural link between SARS-CoV-2 and essential fatty acid

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the discovery of a novel free fatty acid (FFA) binding pocket on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that could explain in part the viral effects of hyperinflammation, immune modulation, and membrane structure.

21 Jun 2020

New adjuvant helps induce long-lasting immunity against HIV

Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Emory Vaccine Center (EVC) are first to show a new adjuvant, 3M-052, helps induce long-lasting immunity against HIV.

20 Jun 2020

Viruses can steal genetic signals from hosts to expand their own genomes

Like a scene out of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," a virus infects a host and converts it into a factory for making more copies of itself.

19 Jun 2020

How an ignored white blood cell may cause COVID-19 deaths

News-Medical speaks to Professor Lola Eniola-Adefeso about her research investigating how an ignored white blood cell may cause COVID-19 deaths.

19 Jun 2020

Discovery of biomarkers that can influence COVID-19 severity

The novel coronavirus, now called the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is the causative agent of the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It was first discovered in Wuhan City, China, back in late December 2019 and has since then spread throughout the globe.

19 Jun 2020

Nanosponges attract coronavirus away from lung cells, study shows

Imagine if scientists could stop the coronavirus infection in its tracks simply by diverting its attention away from living lung cells? A new therapeutic countermeasure, announced in a Nano Letters study by researchers from Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories and the University of California San Diego, appears to do just that in experiments that were carried out at the NEIDL in Boston.

18 Jun 2020

Conjunctivitis and keratoconjunctivitis can be possible primary symptoms of COVID-19

A case of pink eye is now reason to be tested for COVID-19, according to University of Alberta researchers.

18 Jun 2020

Widespread testing could help stop the spread of COVID-19

The world is now in the grips of a historic pandemic. The death toll from the novel coronavirus has climbed to more than 117,000 in the United States and 448,000 around the world.

18 Jun 2020

COVID-19 pandemic may have negative consequences for mental health

The global COVID-19 pandemic has affected the physical lives of most people. But now there are also indications that the pandemic has negative consequences for the mental health of the people being infected, the healthcare professionals and the population as a whole.

18 Jun 2020

Certain patients who receive hospital care for COVID-19 exhibit clear signs of brain injury

Certain patients who receive hospital care for coronavirus infection (COVID-19) exhibit clinical and neurochemical signs of brain injury, a University of Gothenburg study shows. In even moderate COVID-19 cases, finding and measuring a blood-based biomarker for brain damage proved to be possible.

18 Jun 2020

Staffing levels and quality linked to COVID-19 toll in nursing homes

A new study shows that residents of long-term care facilities with lower nurse staffing levels, poorer quality scores, and higher concentrations of disadvantaged residents suffer from higher rates of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths.

18 Jun 2020

Financial hardships are associated with more ER visits, shows ACS study

A new American Cancer Society study finds higher medical and nonmedical financial hardships are independently associated with more emergency department visits, lower receipt of some preventive services, and worse self-rated health in cancer survivors.

18 Jun 2020