Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Researchers identify a promising model for testing COVID-19 therapeutics

After comparing how infections from SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19) and two other human coronaviruses develop in cynomolgus macaques, researchers report that SARS-CoV-2 gives the animals a mild COVID-19-like disease.

18 Apr 2020

Projecting the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a major unanswered question is how SARS-CoV-2 will persist in the human population after its initial pandemic stage.

18 Apr 2020

COVID-19 forecast hub developed for more accurate disease projections

The Influenza Forecasting Center of Excellence team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is developing a COVID-19 forecast hub by unifying multiple models in an effort to produce a more accurate picture of the potential impacts of the novel coronavirus.

18 Apr 2020

Delayed clearance of SARS-CoV2 may explain why men fare worse than women

Researchers at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine may have solved a mystery surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic: Why men infected by the virus generally show more severe symptoms and are more likely than women to die from COVID-19.

17 Apr 2020

Greater occurrence of infections correlates with future cancer diagnosis

Patients experienced a greater occurrence of infections in the years preceding a cancer diagnosis.

17 Apr 2020

NYC nurse says he’s not scared: ‘I am only doing my job’ for COVID-19 patients

Before the deadly coronavirus hit New York, Francisco Díaz's job as a gerontological nurse practitioner was educating seniors on managing their diabetes. Now, he's at the heart of the pandemic, working in a New York City emergency room.

17 Apr 2020

Sense accelerates launch of new SARS-CoV-2 disposable test

Sense Biodetection Limited has today announced an accelerated programme to launch the world’s first instrument-free, point-of-care molecular diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

17 Apr 2020

Researchers develop COVID-19 guide for primary care health workers

Primary care health workers now have a guide for conducting remote consultation of suspected COVID-19 patients, developed by a team of researchers from Singapore and the UK.

17 Apr 2020

‘It’s not over until it’s over’: 5 things to know about hitting the COVID-19 peak

As New York, California and other states begin to see their numbers of new COVID-19 cases level off or even slip, it might appear as if we're nearing the end of the pandemic.

17 Apr 2020

URMC launches new coronavirus study to examine immune response

The University of Rochester Medical Center is launching a new study to understand how the body's immune system responds to COVID-19, including if and when a person could be re-infected with the virus and whether some people have pre-existing immunity.

17 Apr 2020

Elderly patients underestimate the danger of pneumonia

Elderly patients who are hospitalised with pneumonia are twice as likely to die as those hospitalised with hip fractures.

17 Apr 2020

Scientists predict how the novel coronavirus spreads in a typical household

A team of scientists recently carried out a study on the transmissibility of the virus in households. Simply put, they’re trying to predict how the virus spreads in a typical family: if one person gets sick, how many others get sick? How sick? How long would it take the family to recover? These are the practical questions this study tries to answer.

17 Apr 2020

On and off social distancing may be needed until 2022

Lockdown and social distancing measures are in place in many countries across the world, intended to stem the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic. These measures work by reducing the risk of viral transmission in communities, reducing the burden of the healthcare system in dealing with the surge of patients, overwhelming its resources and workforce. Now, experts warn that these social distancing measures may still be needed until 2022.

16 Apr 2020

Research shows speed of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Boston homeless shelter

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is straining healthcare resources across the globe, prompting countries to impose social distancing measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. The problem is, the virus can spread even if the infected person has no symptoms, making contact tracing and isolation measures more difficult. Now, a new study reveals the rapidity of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 transmission that occurred in a Boston homeless shelter.

16 Apr 2020

Are overactive immune cells causing COVID-19-related deaths?

While the COVID-19 pandemic is devastating many regions, the world over, a new paper published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine in April 2020 describes the possibility that the critical or very severe cases of COVID-19 are due to the production of neutrophil extracellular traps (NET) due to hyperactivated immune cells.

16 Apr 2020

Pregnancy and fetal outcomes with COVID-19

A new study published preprint in the non-peer-reviewed journal medRxiv in April 2020 provides a systematic review of maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnancy affected by COVID-19, as well as the risk of vertical transmission of the virus.

16 Apr 2020

New antiviral drug reduces transmission of influenza, study shows

The antiviral drug, baloxavir (tradename Xofluza), is the first treatment for influenza with a new mode of "action" to be licensed in nearly 20 years.

16 Apr 2020

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: How will we reopen the economy?

President Donald Trump wants to reopen the country soon. But public health experts from across the ideological spectrum insist that won't be safe until the country can dramatically ramp up testing and contact tracing stemming from those infected.

16 Apr 2020

COPD lungs inundated by abnormal stem cells, research finds

Two internationally renowned stem cell experts have found an abundance of abnormal stem cells in the lungs of patients who suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, a leading cause of death worldwide.

16 Apr 2020

Dynata launches free, interactive Global COVID-19 Symptom Map

Dynata, the world's largest first-party data and insights platform, today introduced a free, interactive Global COVID-19 Symptom Map that helps identify potential "hot spots" for COVID-19 cases using self-reported data of common symptom combinations associated with COVID-19.

16 Apr 2020