Flu News and Research

RSS

USA riddled with SARS-CoV-2 - 80% undetected

The coronavirus pandemic is actively spreading across the globe, affecting 188 countries and territories. The United States remains the country with the highest number of infections. The official tally reveals that the U.S. has more than 2.347 million people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

24 Jun 2020

Study highlights the challenges involved in designing universal flu vaccine

Some common strains of influenza have the potential to mutate to evade broad-acting antibodies that could be elicited by a universal flu vaccine, according to a study led by scientists at Scripps Research.

23 Jun 2020

Male COVID-19 patients produce more SARS-CoV-2 antibodies than women

Health officials in the United Kingdom urge male coronavirus survivors to donate blood, particularly its convalescent plasma component. This comes after a new study has found that men produce more antibodies, which could make their plasma a valuable treatment against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

23 Jun 2020

Is a second wave of coronavirus coming?

As Americans continue to grapple with the novel coronavirus, one question is on a lot of people's minds: Are we already seeing, or will we eventually see, a second wave of the virus?

23 Jun 2020

As problems grow with Abbott’s fast COVID test, FDA standards are under fire

In mid-May, the Food and Drug Administration issued a rare public warning about an Abbott Laboratories COVID-19 test that for weeks had received high praise from the White House because of its speed: Test results could be wrong.

22 Jun 2020

Nanosponges attract coronavirus away from lung cells, study shows

Imagine if scientists could stop the coronavirus infection in its tracks simply by diverting its attention away from living lung cells? A new therapeutic countermeasure, announced in a Nano Letters study by researchers from Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories and the University of California San Diego, appears to do just that in experiments that were carried out at the NEIDL in Boston.

18 Jun 2020

Widespread testing could help stop the spread of COVID-19

The world is now in the grips of a historic pandemic. The death toll from the novel coronavirus has climbed to more than 117,000 in the United States and 448,000 around the world.

18 Jun 2020

COVID-19 pandemic may have negative consequences for mental health

The global COVID-19 pandemic has affected the physical lives of most people. But now there are also indications that the pandemic has negative consequences for the mental health of the people being infected, the healthcare professionals and the population as a whole.

18 Jun 2020

ACE2 and pattern recognition receptor genes increase with age

A recent study by researchers in California and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 shows that advancing age is associated with increased expression of pattern recognition receptor (PRR) genes and ACE2 receptors, possibly accounting in part for the increased severity of the disease in older adults.

17 Jun 2020

Benefits of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 patients still remain unclear

With vaccines and therapeutic drugs for COVID-19 still under development, doctors are wondering whether antibody-rich plasma infusions from the blood of recovered patients could be a more immediate way to keep hospitalized patients alive and off ventilators.

17 Jun 2020

New model predicts patients’ likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19

Cleveland Clinic researchers have developed the world's first risk prediction model for healthcare providers to forecast an individual patient's likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19 as well as their outcomes from the disease.

16 Jun 2020

Experts recommend tweezers to protect children from ticks

Not all bloodsuckers are created equal in parents' eyes. When it comes to bug bites, parents are twice as likely to be concerned about ticks as they are about mosquitoes transmitting disease, a new national poll finds.

15 Jun 2020

Tuberculosis and polio vaccines may offer temporary protection against SARS-CoV-2

As the world grapples with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, scientists race to develop an effective vaccine to protect against the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus. While potential vaccines are still being developed and tested, researchers propose that existing vaccines could give the immune system a temporary boost to ward off infection.

14 Jun 2020