Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Researchers are designing a system to control two main COVID-19 symptoms

Since the declaration of the state of emergency in Spain due to COVID-19, according to data provided by the regions, over 17,000 care home users have died from coronavirus or similar symptoms.

11 May 2020

Expanding sick leave protection is crucial during the COVID-19 crisis

At a time when the world's attention is focused on curbing the spread of infectious disease, new research by the UCLA WORLD Policy Analysis Center shows that strengthening guarantees of paid sick leave is crucial to protecting health and economic security around the globe.

11 May 2020

Southwest CEO’s boast about airplanes’ low COVID risk flies by key concerns

During a May 3 appearance on "Face the Nation," Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said that he believed it was safe for Americans to fly during the coronavirus epidemic and that a plane is as safe as any other space.

11 May 2020

Keeping the COVID plague at bay: How California is protecting older veterans

Dr. Vito Imbasciani has been at war with viruses since he was 5. Growing up near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, he contracted polio in 1952 and couldn't walk for two months. In medical school in Vermont 30 years later, he witnessed AIDS steal the lives of otherwise healthy gay men.

11 May 2020

Experts advise not to make COVID-19 crisis worse by rushing for cures

People have died from overdoses of unproven cures in past pandemics. In an editorial published today in Australian Prescriber, Associate Professor Darren Roberts from St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and Dr Alexandra Bennett from the NSW Therapeutic Advisory Group advise we should not make the current COVID-19 crisis worse by using medicines based on inadequate evidence.

11 May 2020

Innovative antibacterial solution enables professional-level dental hygiene at home

Elective dental procedures have been restricted globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Novel innovation enables professional-level oral hygiene at home.

11 May 2020

New initiative to deliver immune support saves lives of frontline NHS staff

The new Frontline Immune Support Team has been founded to provide quality, free immune support to frontline NHS staff risking their lives in the struggle to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

11 May 2020

Study could help inform strategies for coming out of COVID-19 lockdown

Relaxing stay-at-home orders and allowing some types of non-essential businesses such as shops to reopen are the lowest risk measures to get the UK and other European countries out of lockdown – according to research from the University of East Anglia.

11 May 2020

Italy develops vaccine candidate that neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 in mice

As the world grapples with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), scientists race to develop treatments and vaccines to combat the viral infection. Though many ongoing trials show promise in fighting the novel coronavirus, Italian researchers claim they have developed a vaccine that can neutralize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in animal cells.

10 May 2020

No evidence COVID-19 is spread by fecal-oral transmission

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 shows that in patients who test positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in pharyngeal and fecal samples, the virus persists longer in the fecal samples than in the pharyngeal samples. However, fecal-oral transmission does not appear to occur.

10 May 2020

COVID-19 could accelerate activation of dormant tuberculosis (TB)

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has thrown much of the world into disarray, with over 4 million people reported infected and well over 282,000 deaths. A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in May 2020 suggests that the long-term impact of the virus could include activation of dormant bacterial infections like tuberculosis (TB).

10 May 2020

Neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 via S protein

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in May 2020 reports on a method to block severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by destroying its main spike protein, which is responsible for attachment to the host cell membrane.

10 May 2020

Internet search patterns important in tracing and predicting COVID-19 spread

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 has identified a link between Internet search patterns and local disease progression for COVID-19. It recommends the use of search data to track and predict COVID-19 spread as a complementary method to established public health surveillance methods.

10 May 2020

Study demonstrates dynamic and broad-scale immune alterations in COVID-19 patient

A new case report released on the preprint server medRxiv* provides a detailed longitudinal analysis of the immune response associated with a fatal case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It highlights the need for addressing the source of hyper inflammation in the treatment approach.

10 May 2020

Research reinforces the idea of embracing nonantibiotic approaches to treat bacterial infections

As interest in the application of plasma medicine -- the use of low-temperature plasma created by an electrical discharge to address medical problems -- continues to grow, so does the need for research advancements proving its capabilities and potential impacts on the health care industry.

9 May 2020

Researchers discover new type of antigen-presenting immune cell

With a discovery that could rewrite the immunology textbooks, an international group of scientists, including the teams of Bart Lambrecht, Martin Guilliams, Hamida Hammad, and Charlotte Scott (all from the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research) identified a new type of antigen-presenting immune cell.

8 May 2020