Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Eating before saliva collection may interfere with detection of SARS-CoV-2

A new study, published on the medRxiv* preprint server, has aimed to determine if children's diet impacts the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus in saliva. Scientists performed diagnostic tests to detect this virus using real-time self-collected specimens provided by five healthy children. The samples were collected before and after eating selected foods. The specific time of collection of samples after eating were 0 minutes, 20 minutes, and 60 minutes after eating.

15 Dec 2021

How fast has the Omicron strain been spreading in South Africa?

Scientists have shown the exponential growth of the Omicron strain found in Gauteng. They reported the doubling time of this strain to be equal to 3.38 days by analyzing its growth from November 8 to December 5, 2021. Based on the mutation accumulation profile, researchers revealed that this strain began to diverge between October 28 and November 5, 2021.

15 Dec 2021

Climate change will affect bats hosting future coronaviruses, scientists predict

A new study led by David T. S. Hayman of Massey University in New Zealand details the creation of an ecological modeling pipeline to identify bat biodiversity data and patterns on bat distribution based on climate and landscape relationships.

14 Dec 2021

Frequent cognitive impairments after 4-month follow-up in ICU COVID-19 patients

Results from a recent observational study published in the Journal Of The Neurological Sciences found that after a 4-month follow-up, ICU patients with severe COVID-19 illness were more likely to have mild cognitive impairment with features related to a diffuse encephalopathy than patients with mild infection who do not need a ventilator. Additionally, ICU patients experienced more significant impairment in executive function. All neurological deficits involve the peripheral nervous system.

14 Dec 2021

Thrombosis may increase mortality risk in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

A team of US-based scientists has recently explored various risk factors associated with the poor prognosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). They have identified thrombosis-related risk factors as a major predictor of in-hospital COVID-19 related mortality. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server while awaiting peer review.

14 Dec 2021