Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Potential treatment approach to new COVID-19 variant

Researchers in the United States have demonstrated a potential new approach to treating infection with the new variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

7 Jan 2021

Facemasks significantly reduce simulated SARS-CoV-2 transmission in classroom setting

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have conducted a study showing that wearing facemasks in the classroom setting can be highly effective at reducing the aerosol transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

7 Jan 2021

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health of older adults? A UK case study

A team of researchers at University College London, UK, recently explored how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of older adults across Britain.

7 Jan 2021

SARS-CoV-2 viral load in saliva may be linked to COVID-19 disease severity

Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine found that SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in saliva are higher for patients with associated risk factors and underlying conditions that lead to severe COVID-19 and death. Thus, saliva viral loads could be used to predict disease severity.

7 Jan 2021

Males at higher risk of severe COVID-19 and mortality in Indian case study

A new US-based study by researchers at Dartmouth College, the Development Data Lab, IDFC Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Chicago shows that the infection fatality rate (IFR) could be twice as high for men compared to women and increases much less at older ages compared to high-income countries.

7 Jan 2021

Which strain should SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates target?

A researcher at Clemson University, USA, has recently explored how governments might effectively combat the pandemic through strategic vaccination as new variants and strains of the virus emerge. The study suggests that vaccine candidates should target the fast-spreading variant, even when the initial prevalence is much lower.

7 Jan 2021

San Francisco wrestles with drug approach as death and chaos engulf Tenderloin

In early 2019, Tom Wolf posted a thank-you on Twitter to the cop who had arrested him the previous spring, when he was homeless and strung out in a doorway with 103 tiny bindles of heroin and cocaine in a plastic baggie at his feet.

7 Jan 2021

Illinois is first in the nation to extend health coverage to undocumented seniors

As a nurse manager for one of Chicago's busiest safety-net hospitals, Raquel Prendkowski has witnessed covid-19's devastating toll on many of the city's most vulnerable residents — including people who lack health insurance because of their immigration status. Some come in so sick they go right to intensive care. Some don't survive.

7 Jan 2021

Researchers develop new sequencing-based approach for pathogen discovery

A sequencing-based solution can be utilized to determine infection clearance and microbiota recovery. Next, the researchers will apply the technique to investigate the coronavirus disease.

7 Jan 2021

Covid-19 project receives government funding to expand globally

Supercomputing facilities set up to track the spread and evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic have received £1.2M in government funding to expand globally.

7 Jan 2021

Severe COVID-19 recovered patients do not display long-lasting adaptive immune responses, finds study

A team of scientists from the University of Valencia and INCLIVA Health Research Institute, Spain, has recently investigated the durability of immune responses specifically developed against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

7 Jan 2021

Researchers use nanotechnology to develop new coronavirus mask model

A US-based research team designed and fabricated electrospun nanofibrous air filters that hold promise for applications in personal protective equipment and indoor environments. The team compared the filtration efficiency of coronavirus and NaCl aerosols to a broad spectrum of electrospun air filters and face masks.

7 Jan 2021

Patients with heart failure should take more precautions against COVID-19

Patients with acute heart failure nearly double their risk of dying if they get COVID-19, according to research published today in ESC Heart Failure, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

7 Jan 2021

Scientists to help nursing homes implement best practices to mitigate COVID-19 impact

Researchers in Georgia State University's School of Public Health and Emory University's School of Medicine have received a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to help nursing homes implement practices to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

7 Jan 2021

Danish study suggests local lockdown had no effect on SARS-CoV-2 infection rate

The onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to severe restrictions on public mobility and interaction, national or state-wide lockdowns, school and workplace closures, and curfews. The result was widespread economic hardship, in addition to the toll on health.

7 Jan 2021

Study: Durable immunity against secondary COVID-19 disease is possible in most individuals

Researchers who studied antibody and immune cell responses in more than 180 men and women who had recovered from COVID-19 report these patients' immune memory to the virus - across all immune cell types studied - was measurable for up to 8 months after symptoms appeared.

7 Jan 2021

ACE2 receptor is responsible for the wide host range of SARS-CoV-2

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is thought to have a zoonotic origin, perhaps originating in a bat coronavirus with an unknown intermediate host. It is not only very infectious but has been found to infect a wide range of mammals, including dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, and minks, besides non-human primates. This range may be still higher, claims a recent preprint that appeared in January 2021 on the bioRxiv server.

6 Jan 2021