Pneumonia News and Research

Latest Pneumonia News and Research

Study reveals variable sites in novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

Understanding the varying aggressiveness of SARS-CoV-2 may provide valuable data to trace its spread across populations. In the study, published on the preprint server BioRxiv, the researchers traced amino acid variants that possess high frequency in Europe, particularly in Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries.

4 May 2020

FDA approves SFU professor's invention to wean COVID-19 patients from ventilators

Simon Fraser University professor Andy Hoffer hopes the SFU spinoff company he founded, Lungpacer Medical Inc., will help save the lives of COVID-19 patients using mechanical ventilators--and get them off more quickly, so that more ventilators can be available for all critically ill patients.

4 May 2020

Hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin and abnormal heart rhythms in COVID-19 patients

A new study shows that the initially lauded combination of drugs against COVID-19 - Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine combined with azithromycin, could lead to abnormal and life-threatening heart rhythms. In patients hospitalized with the novel coronavirus infection or SARS CoV-2, this combination can lead to prolonged QT interval as can be detected on ECG.

3 May 2020

Anti-malarial drug use for COVID-19 associated with increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias

Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a Public Health Concern of Global Interest on January 30, more than one million have tested positive for the illness in the United States, and more than 62,000 have died.

3 May 2020

Pharmacy experts urge caution against use of antimalarial drugs to cure COVID-19

PHARMACY experts at the University of Huddersfield are urging caution over claims that widely-available antimalarial drugs could be a "magic bullet" to prevent and cure COVID-19. And the medicines can - if used rashly - have serious side effects.

30 Apr 2020

Study finds new infection route for bacterium that spreads from horses to humans

The researchers' work has made it possible to detail for the first time the spreading of the bacterium through lymph vessels and not just blood vessels, thus being able to invade the digestive system of infected animals through this new route.

30 Apr 2020

Abnormal blood clotting is a major cause of death in COVID-19 patients

A study led by clinician scientists at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has found that Irish patients admitted to hospital with severe COVID-19 infection are experiencing abnormal blood clotting that contributes to death in some patients.

30 Apr 2020

Universal childhood vaccination could prevent antimicrobial resistance

A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, published in the journal Nature in April 2020, reports that extending vaccination to all children could help resolve antimicrobial resistance - one of the biggest obstacles to effective healthcare in low-income countries. This is the first study to look at how vaccination is related to the use of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries.

29 Apr 2020

Arthritis drug assessed as potential treatment for COVID-19-related pneumonia

UC San Diego Health has launched a Phase III clinical trial, part of a global effort, to assess whether a medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory disorders might also have therapeutic value for COVID-19 patients who have developed or at high risk of developing serious lung damage from SARS-CoV-2 infections.

29 Apr 2020

Coronaviruses represent a source of pandemic viruses

In a new paper published on the preprint journal bioRxiv in April 2020, researcher T. Konishi argues that the coronavirus family is a constellation of pandemic pathogens, that includes the currently spreading severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

29 Apr 2020

How toxic are chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to cells?

The spread of the pandemic disease COVID-19 caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has now reached almost every country of the world, with over 3.11 million cases and over 217,000 deaths as of April 29, 2020.

29 Apr 2020

UTHealth experts successfully treat 3-week-old infant with severe COVID-19

In one of the first reported cases of its kind, a 3-week-old infant in critical condition recovered from COVID-19 due to rapid recognition and treatment by physicians from McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston/

28 Apr 2020

New device combined with mechanical ventilation can help improve treatment outcomes for COVID-19

A device designed at the University of Pittsburgh could help improve outcomes as a treatment for COVID-19 when used in conjunction with non-invasive or mechanical ventilation, and it recently received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

28 Apr 2020

India's Serum Institute gears up to make millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccine

The Serum Institute of India plans to start manufacturing Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine in 3 weeks to get a head start on production, the company announced. This comes even as experts warn that any successful vaccine will take two or more years to come on the market.

28 Apr 2020

COVID-19 can trigger serious inflammatory-related cardiovascular problems

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is potentially fatal for vulnerable populations like seniors who over 60 years old, and those with underlying medical conditions, like heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease. Reports show that patients are suffering from heart impairment caused by COVID-19. A new study sheds light on the effect of the novel coronavirus on the heart, causing cardiovascular problems, even in those without underlying heart conditions.

27 Apr 2020

Intensivists caution against the use of premature novel therapies for COVID-19

Intensivists caution against the use of premature novel therapies in lieu of traditional critical care principles in patients with COVID-19 in a recent correspondence letter in the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology.

27 Apr 2020

Scientists decode herpes simplex virus 1

Until now, scientists had assumed that there are about 80 so-called open reading frames (ORFs) in the genome of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1).

27 Apr 2020

Artificial intelligence: A backup and excellent benefit for radiologists

Diagnosing emphysema and classifying its severity have long been more art than science.

27 Apr 2020

Oncologist and mum-to-be chronicles COVID-19 experiences

Writing in the latest issue of JAMA Oncology researcher Coral Olazagasti along with her Dr. Nagashree Seetharamu from Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra, Northwell Health, Hempstead, New York, spoke about her experience being pregnant during the present COVID-19 pandemic. Olazagasti’s chronicle is titled “Facing a pandemic while pregnant.”

26 Apr 2020

Preliminary findings on obesity and COVID-19 severity

In a Nature Reviews Endocrinology "Comment" authors from the German Center for Diabetes Research, the Boston Children's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health call for more research about the relationships of obesity, disproportionate fat distribution and impaired metabolic health with the severity of COVID-19.

24 Apr 2020