Pneumonia News and Research

Latest Pneumonia News and Research

COVID-19 pandemic and nanotechnology

Writing in the International Journal of Nanomedicine, Professor Dongki Yang, from the Department of Physiology, Gachon University, South Korea, has reviewed the available knowledge on the coronaviruses, current approaches to tackle the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the innovative application of nanotechnology in the COVID-19 pandemic.

8 Feb 2021

Anticancer drug may reduce mortality and speed up recovery for severe COVID-19 patients

Treating severe COVID-19 patients with the anticancer drug bevacizumab may reduce mortality and speed up recovery, according to a small clinical study in Italy and China that was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden between February and April 2020.

6 Feb 2021

Researchers develop systems to detect an atypical fungus responsible for severe pneumonia

The group led by Dr. Enrique J. Calderón - "Clinical Epidemiology and Vascular Risk" at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville - IBiS/University Hospitals Virgen del Rocío and Macarena/CSIC/University of Seville, also a member of CIBERESP, participated in a project with researchers from CIBER-BBN, in which they developed systems to detect Pneumocystis jirovecii, an atypical fungus responsible for very severe pneumonia in immunosuppressed patients.

6 Feb 2021

Insight into role of aging in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine set out to determine the differences between young people and older adults regarding their host responses against SARS-CoV-2. The team revealed that independent of disease severity, COVID-19 was linked to a significant shift in plasma inflammatory factors. The research is posted to the pre-print server medRxiv*.

3 Feb 2021

One dose of VSV-vectored vaccine prevents SARS-CoV-2 replication in hamsters

A new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv server describes a viral vector vaccine candidate's efficacy to protect against SARS-CoV-2 replication in a hamster model.

3 Feb 2021

Immune profiling shows differences in COVID-19 and influenza pathologic pathways

A study conducted at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore has revealed distinct differences in the immune pathways that are activated by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and those that are activated by influenza.

2 Feb 2021

Study shows link between periodontitis and COVID-19 complications

COVID-19 patients are at least three times more likely to experience complications if they also have gum disease, according to research published today in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, the official publication of the European Federation of Periodontology.

2 Feb 2021

Could ultra-low dose radiotherapy treat COVID-19-related pneumonia?

Researchers at the Department of Radiation Oncology, La Milagrosa Hospital, GenesisCare, Madrid, Spain, showed the potential benefit of treating COVID-19 pneumonia with ultra-low doses of radiotherapy.

2 Feb 2021

Johnson & Johnson SARS-CoV-2 vaccine shows promise in clinical trials

A new study shows that a single immunization with a low dose of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine – also known as the ‘Johnson & Johnson vaccine’ – effectively protected against SARS-CoV-2 challenge in rhesus macaques.

2 Feb 2021

Can metformin reduce mortality in diabetic individuals with severe COVID-19?

A new study by researchers in China and the U.S. describes a round-up of the effects of commonly used hypoglycemic drugs on the outcomes of COVID-19 in diabetic patients.

1 Feb 2021

Colchicine may have therapeutic potential against COVID-19

A new study describes the results of colchicine in mitigating the inflammatory storm associated with COVID-19, and thus preventing a percentage of severe and critical cases.

1 Feb 2021

Inhaled single dose vaccine creates antibodies and prevents infection in rhesus macaques

Now, a new preprint research paper describes a chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored vaccine that, when administered intranasally in rhesus macaques, led to a robust immune response and demonstrated protection against infection by the virus that causes COVID-19, namely, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The preprint is published on the bioRxiv server.

1 Feb 2021

Complication of severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia results in persistent cortical blindness: Case report

A study recently published in the journal Cureus has described a case report of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient who presented with pneumonia, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES), and persistent cortical blindness. A detailed clinical presentation of the patient is provided in the report.

31 Jan 2021

DSMB recommends continuation of Phase 2/3 study of opaganib for severe COVID-19

RedHill Biopharma Ltd., a specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for the global Phase 2/3 study of opaganib in patients with severe COVID-19, unanimously recommended to continue the study following a pre-scheduled futility review of unblinded efficacy data from the first 135 patients treated in the study and safety data from the first 175 patients.

30 Jan 2021

New forecasts show possibility of spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the spring

The latest COVID-19 forecasts from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington now incorporate two new virus variants.

29 Jan 2021

Traditional performing arts help tackle diarrhea in rural Gambia

Teaching basic hygiene through songs and plays cut diarrhoea cases by 60 per cent in rural Gambia.

29 Jan 2021

Could spironolactone treat COVID-19-related pneumonia and pulmonary fibrosis?

Researchers have described the potential of the drug spironolactone, a potassium-sparing diuretic, and anti-androgen, in preventing or alleviating the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia, and in preventing pulmonary fibrosis.

27 Jan 2021

Remdesivir, given to half of hospitalized covid patients in U.S., is big win for Gilead — boosted by taxpayers

It was the end of April — just as the U.S. confirmed its millionth covid-19 case and 50,000 deaths — when White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci announced "highly significant" news about a drug called remdesivir.

27 Jan 2021

Flu vaccinations for hospital workers can substantially reduce influenza-related deaths

Pneumonia and the flu kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, racking up billions of dollars in medical costs and even more in lost productivity.

27 Jan 2021

Iron-carrying extracellular vesicles promote viral-bacterial co-infection

The mechanism by which acute viral respiratory infections promote secondary bacterial growth and infection in the airways depends on iron-carrying extracellular sacs secreted by the cells lining the host's airways, report researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in a paper published today in Cell Reports.

26 Jan 2021