Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

The 'true' infection fatality rate of the earliest Italian COVID-19 outbreak

In the chaotic healthcare situation caused by the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19, it has been challenging to estimate the actual severity of the disease. However, it is a crucial bit of information for those who form healthcare and economic policies.

26 Apr 2020

Is the BCG vaccine really protective against COVID-19?

A new paper published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 challenges the hypothesis that BCG vaccination confers some degree of protection against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the pneumonic illness COVID-19.

26 Apr 2020

New Nightingale hospital uses the G210 to help set up its 500 beds

The new Nightingale hospital, opened in Harrogate, used the G210, supplied by Bedfont, to validate the piped gas needed for its additional 500 beds

From Bedfont® Scientific Ltd 25 Apr 2020

A new test for rapid large-scale testing of COVID-19

OU Medicine, the OU Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation collaborated to create a new test for COVID-19 using technology and reagents from Fluidigm Corporation, an innovative biotechnology tools provider

25 Apr 2020

Moving from document-based FP and STI guidelines to computerized clinical decision support

Regenstrief Institute has propelled the translation of existing human readable clinical guidelines into computerized clinical decision support for family planning and for sexually transmitted infections (STI).

25 Apr 2020

New computer model predicts suicide risk

Suicide is now the second most common cause of death among American youth. Fatal suicides rose 30 percent between 2000 and 2016, and 2016 alone saw 1.3 million nonfatal suicide attempts.

25 Apr 2020

New antibody test to identify individuals infected with COVID-19 virus

Several tests have been developed for detecting the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19, but these generally only allow detection of the virus during acute infection.

25 Apr 2020

Shortage of coronavirus 'cure' puts pregnant lupus sufferers and their babies at risk

Pregnant lupus sufferers and their babies are at risk as global supplies of an anti-malarial medicine used to treat the disease run dry due to COVID-19 panic.

24 Apr 2020

Study looks into COVID‐19 preparedness in Michigan nursing homes

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit some nursing homes especially hard - including in the hotspot state of Michigan. Hundreds of deaths of residents in homes from Seattle to Boston have raised concerns about how well facilities are protecting the 1.3 million older Americans who live in them.

24 Apr 2020

Physical activity makes heart attack patients feel better

Heart attack patients who take part in a lifestyle improvement programme feel better - especially when they do additional physical activity. That's the finding of a large study presented today on ACVC Essentials 4 You, a scientific platform of the European Society of Cardiology.

24 Apr 2020

Born into a pandemic: Virus complicates births for moms and babies

Mallory Pease's contractions grew stronger as her husband, Mitchell, drove her to Oaklawn Hospital in Marshall, Michigan, to give birth to their second child. It had been a routine pregnancy, but she told her doctor she'd recently developed a sore throat, aches, coughing and shortness of breath — symptoms her provider knew could indicate COVID-19.

24 Apr 2020

Microfluidic Systems for Sweat Analysis and Neonatal Care

This interview provides insight into microfluidic systems and devices and the role they are playing in sweat analysis and neonatal care.

From Pittcon 24 Apr 2020

American Lung Association calls for urgent universal COVID-19 antibody testing

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented rates of lung infections and deaths in modern history.

24 Apr 2020

Unprecedented effects of COVID-19 on digital health sector and future considerations

Dr Janak Gunatilleke, CEO at Mindwave Ventures, reflects on the effect COVID-19 is having on the UK NHS and what that means for digital health.

24 Apr 2020

COVID-19 triggers adoption of telemedicine approaches to delivering neurology care

As COVID-19-related social isolation and distancing make it increasingly difficult for people with neurological conditions to access routine medical care, the crisis is transforming the way care is being delivered to these vulnerable individuals, according to neurology service providers.

24 Apr 2020

UK engineers develop low-cost Field Ventilator to treat COVID-19 patients in poorer countries

A UK team of academic and industrial engineers, manufacturers and clinicians have developed a potentially life-saving ventilator to treat coronavirus patients in poor and remote parts of the world.

24 Apr 2020

Minimizing COVID-19 infection through controlled exposure

A new study published in the preprint journal medRxiv in April 2020 explores the possibilities of launching smaller waves of voluntary social exposure in a controlled way, to avoid the occurrence of a single large and probably unmanageable second wave of infection.

23 Apr 2020

Poor quality testing could increase number of COVID-19 infections

A new study published in the preprint open-access journal medRxiv in April 2020 assesses the value of untargeted testing for infection or immunity in COVID-19 vs. high-quality targeted testing in keeping down the number of infections while slowly relaxing lockdown measures.

23 Apr 2020

1.7 billion people at higher risk from COVID-19, study says

The COVID-19 pandemic affecting 185 countries and territories the world over has already claimed over 190,000 lives and sickened well over 2.7 million as of April 24, 2020. Research shows that most of these fatalities are in older people or those who have underlying medical conditions.

23 Apr 2020

Is the confidence in hydroxychloroquine for the management of COVID-19 justified?

A new review paper published in the preprint open-access journal medRxiv in April 2020 reports that there is not enough evidence to justify the widespread use of the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment or prophylaxis of the current COVID-19 illness.

23 Apr 2020