Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Cell 'membrane on a chip' could help test potential drug candidates for COVID-19

Researchers have developed a human cell 'membrane on a chip' that allows continuous monitoring of how drugs and infectious agents interact with our cells, and may soon be used to test potential drug candidates for COVID-19.

6 Jul 2020

WHO urged to recognize airborne transmission of COVID-19

Now, a team of international scientists, including 239 health experts from 32 countries, has written an open letter to the WHO urging the organization to revise its recommendations for the spread of SARS-CoV-2, due to mounting evidence that the disease is airborne for more extended periods than the WHO advisory.

6 Jul 2020

Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trials move to stage 3 human trials

The technical name of the vaccine is ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222), as it is made from a virus called ChAdOx1, which is a weakened and non-replicating version of a common cold virus (adenovirus). The vaccine has been engineered to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

5 Jul 2020

Research suggests protective effect of influenza vaccine against COVID-19 severity and mortality

A new study involving over 92,000 patients with COVID-19 in Brazil shows that the odds of severe disease, ventilatory support requirement, and death are reduced with a recent trivalent flu vaccine. This seems to indicate that these vaccines should be used as widely as possible to reduce the risk of severe COVID-19, especially among high-risk groups. The study is published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020.

5 Jul 2020

High population density in India associated with spread of COVID-19

Indian health experts say the findings of a US study — which suggest that population density is unrelated to COVID-19 infection rates — to be completely contradictory to their experience of dealing with the pandemic in India, a country with 1.3 billion people.

3 Jul 2020

Study: One-third of Parkinson's patients experienced increased symptoms during lockdown

A third of people with Parkinson's have experienced increased symptoms during lockdown, according to a survey by Lancaster University and the charity Parkinson's UK.

3 Jul 2020

Survey: 6 out of 10 Swedes feel media provides the information they need on coronavirus pandemic

A decreasing proportion of Swedes think that the media's reporting on the coronavirus provides them with the information they need. Politicians who comment on the virus are perceived to be less in agreement than previously.

3 Jul 2020

Latest findings put Benson Viscometers at the forefront of Covid-19 fight

A clinical viscosity diagnostic instrument is proving to be valuable in the research and treatment of coronavirus after laboratory scientists have identified its ability to provide meaningful data for medical teams treating Covid-19 patients.

3 Jul 2020

Official U.S.tallies likely undercount COVID-19 deaths

The United States is the hardest-hit nation amid the coronavirus pandemic, with its case toll has topping 2.73 million. The death toll in the official tally has reached 128,742. Now, a new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) deaths between March and May in the country were likely 28 percent higher than the official tally reported.

3 Jul 2020

Human immune response could neutralize new G virus, shows study

Flashback to mid-March: the novel coronavirus had reached San Diego, California. Few people could get tested, and even less was known about how the virus mutated as it spread from person to person.

3 Jul 2020

Study: Variation in COVID-19 viral genome improves its ability to infect human cells

Researchers have shown that a variation in the viral genome of Covid-19 improved its ability to infect human cells and helped it become the dominant strain circulating around the world today.

3 Jul 2020

Diagnosis of COVID-19 by RT-LAMP assay in 25 minutes

Even as COVID-19 continues its inexorable march, taking hundreds of thousands of lives and causing nearly 11 million cases, the diagnosis of the infection is still not sensitive or specific enough. Now, a new study by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute and published on the preprint server medRxiv...

3 Jul 2020

Mutated European strain of coronavirus more contagious but less potent

The coronavirus pandemic is far from over as it actively spreads across the globe. The infection toll has reached a staggering 10.84 million people since it emerged in late December 2019 in Wuhan City, China. The virus that has left the city has now spread to 188 countries and territories and has mutated, becoming more infectious.

3 Jul 2020

Markers of vascular damage in COVID-19

A new study by researchers at Yale University and published on the preprint server medRxiv reports on the plasma levels of biomolecules that reflect vascular damage in COVID-19.

2 Jul 2020

Effectiveness of NPI's in COVID-19 - conclusions are predictable, NPI's work

Now, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* looks at how the effects of these NPIs can be quantified in order to keep the public health response to COVID-19 at an adequate level. While NPIs are known to reduce the peak of the infections, in general, the researchers wanted to quantify different components separately.

2 Jul 2020

Researchers find possible cause for SARS-CoV-2 reactive T cells in uninfected individuals

The current pandemic of COVID-19 is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) -2, leading to severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and death in a sizable minority of cases. However, the most significant number are asymptomatic or have only mild infection from which they rapidly recover.

2 Jul 2020

More evidence on vitamin D deficiency and death rates from COVID-19

Physicians at the Complete Med Care clinic in Dallas, Texas, have conducted a study showing that the prevalence of severe vitamin D deficiency is strongly correlated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality rate in European countries.

2 Jul 2020

Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shows promise - virus neutralizing antibodies achieved

In a recent medRxiv* paper, a research group from the U.S. and Germany showed a robust immunogenic response and a promising safety profile of the novel BNT162b1 RNA-based vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) – actively encouraging its accelerated clinical development and potential rapid production.

2 Jul 2020

Study shows connection between timing of SNAP benefits and childhood injuries

A new study published recently in "BMC Pediatrics" shows a connection between the time of the month when low-income families receive their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and the number of emergency room visits due to injuries to children from those families.

2 Jul 2020

New platform prioritizes synergistic drug combinations against SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in the U.S. have used a new web-based platform to help identify synergistic and antagonistic drug combinations and their underlying mechanisms of action in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

2 Jul 2020