Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Potential new immunotherapy for critical COVID-19

Researchers at the Chongqing Medical University in China have identified a cytokine that could serve as a potential candidate for treating patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

4 Jun 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Protests and the pandemic

Following the death of George Floyd while in custody in Minneapolis, protests have mushroomed around the U.S. to decry police violence, raising concerns among public health officials about the potential for further spread of the coronavirus.

4 Jun 2020

WHO's new data reveals high levels of antibiotic resistance worldwide

WHO's first release of surveillance data on antibiotic resistance reveals high levels of resistance to a number of serious bacterial infections in both high- and low-income countries.

4 Jun 2020

Immune responsive nanoparticles for COVID-19 vaccine delivery

Analytik reports how the renowned Quadram Institute has invested in a ZetaView Nanoparticle Tracking Analyser to help them develop a new approach for vaccine delivery based on engineering the natural ability of resident gut bacteria to generate nanoparticle sized Outer Membrane Vesicles.

From Analytik Ltd 4 Jun 2020

Pre-clinical data for Celltrion’s antiviral antibody treatment shows 100-fold reduction in viral load of SARS-CoV-2

Celltrion Group today announced positive pre-clinical results for its COVID-19 antiviral antibody treatment, with data demonstrating a 100-fold reduction in the viral load of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19.

4 Jun 2020

COVID‐19 epidemics could be seasonal, peaking during the cold season

Now, a new study shows the link between lower humidity and an increase in locally acquired positive cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which means that outbreaks may happen during the winter season.

4 Jun 2020

Health care providers urged to stop hydroxycholoroquine use for COVID-19

The sacred oath taken by physicians during graduation from medical school to "First do no harm," the first words of the Hippocratic Oath, provides a strong impetus for a commentary just published in The American Journal of Medicine.

4 Jun 2020

Drug Teixobactin shows promise against drug-resistant superbugs

Two well-known superbugs are the gram-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). A new drug Teixobactin has shown promise against these microbes. The study titled, “The Killing Mechanism of Teixobactin against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: an Untargeted Metabolomics Study,” was published in the latest issue of the journal Therapeutics and Prevention.

4 Jun 2020

How COVID-19 affects people with Down Syndrome

A new study published in June 2020 on the preprint online server medRxiv reports on the increased risk of COVID-19 in Down Syndrome (DS) and certain characteristic features that are found in this population segment.

3 Jun 2020

Discharge-ready patients still breathing out SARS-CoV-2 particles, finds study

In just five months, the COVID-19 paralyzed huge cities, confined billions to their homes, and brought economic activity to a standstill in much of the world. Tens of thousands of patients became critically ill, overwhelming healthcare facilities. Even as many recovered and were ready to go home, a new study published in May 2020 on the preprint server medRxiv reports that a significant number of patients ready to go home still have virus particles in their exhaled breath.

3 Jun 2020

Chapman University survey highlights effects of COVID-19 on physical and mental health

The Chapman University National COVID-19 and Mental Health Survey provides an in-depth look at the experiences of 4,149 adults living in the United States.

3 Jun 2020

Genetic variations linked to COVID-19 severity

A new report by researchers from Thailand's Mahidol University and published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 reports that the clinical severity of COVID-19 may be linked to the genetic makeup of the patient in addition to external factors.

3 Jun 2020

Tumors cause disruption of the immune system throughout the body, study finds

Cancer treatment has advanced with the advent of immunotherapies that, in some cancers, can overcome tumors' ability to evade the immune system by suppressing local immune responses.

3 Jun 2020

Study sheds new light on how respiratory virus breaks into cells to cause infection

New research from University of Alberta microbiologists has shed new light on how the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)--one of the most common viral infections--breaks into our cells to cause infection.

3 Jun 2020

A tailored public health approach could guide the next phase of COVID-19 pandemic

A tailored public health approach that accounts for variation in risks across populations, places and time could guide the next phase of Canada's coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response, argue authors in a commentary in CMAJ.

3 Jun 2020

Blood group type may affect susceptibility to COVID-19 respiratory failure

A group of over 120 researchers from various institutions across Europe has performed the first genome-wide association study to reveal host genetic factors that may contribute to respiratory failure in cases of coronavirus disease 209 (COVID-19).

3 Jun 2020

COVID-19 patients exhale millions of viral particles per hour

An international team of researchers reports that patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) release thousands of viral particles directly into the air simply though breathing.

3 Jun 2020

Teen vaping study identifies stomach issues and history of substance abuse

A study of teens diagnosed with the vaping-linked respiratory disease EVALI revealed that most also had gastrointestinal symptoms and a history of psychosocial factors, including substance abuse, UT Southwestern researchers found in one of the first clinical reviews of its kind.

3 Jun 2020

New COVID-19 test speeds up access to urgent care

The first analysis of a new point-of-care "nucleic acid test" for SARS-CoV-2 in a UK hospital setting shows these machines dramatically reduce time spent on COVID-19 'holding' wards - allowing patients to be treated or discharged far quicker than with current lab testing set-ups.

3 Jun 2020