Disease/Infection News

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Can novel coronavirus affect pregnant women and their babies?

As the new coronavirus (COVID-19) becomes more of a concern for people around the world, fact and myth are increasingly being confused, particularly due to misinformation and unofficial advice being casually shared.

10 Mar 2020

Study reports second ever case of a patient to be cured of HIV

A study of the second HIV patient to undergo successful stem cell transplantation from donors with a HIV-resistant gene, finds that there was no active viral infection in the patient's blood 30 months after they stopped anti-retroviral therapy, according to a case report published in The Lancet HIV journal and presented at CROI.

10 Mar 2020

Knowing more about new infectious disease threat may not satisfy people

People who rate themselves as highly knowledgeable about a new infectious disease threat could also be more likely to believe they don't know enough, a new study suggests.

10 Mar 2020

Study confirms coronavirus median incubation period at 5.1 days

Since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak in late December 2019, doctors and health officials have imposed a quarantine period of 14 days since the estimated incubation period of the virus was expected to be between three and 14 days. A new study affirms that it may take about five days after exposure before patients manifest the symptoms of the disease.

10 Mar 2020

CDC urges older people to stay at home amid coronavirus spread

The novel coronavirus is continuing to spread worldwide, with more than 113,000 cases and now more than 4,000 deaths. In the United States, health officials urge residents not to panic due to the viral infection’s low mortality rate. Still, they advise that older people are at the highest risk of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

10 Mar 2020

Simple method to prevent HIV greatly increases viral suppression in South Africa, Uganda

In parts of Africa, where the rate of HIV is high, researchers found that using mobile vans to dispense antiretroviral treatment and other care greatly increased viral suppression.

9 Mar 2020

Demand for coffee has a direct link to malaria risk

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications in March 2020 reports that a fifth of the malaria risk in deforestation hot spots is down to the export trade in coffee, timber, soybean, cocoa, wood products, palm oil tobacco, beef, and cotton.

9 Mar 2020

How does COVID-19 coronavirus compare to the 1918 Spanish flu?

The world has seen outbreaks, with some worst than others, but one thing is common, all these outbreaks result in loss of life and a global health crisis. One of the worst epidemics in the world was the 1918 Spanish flu. Now, the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak is being compared to the Spanish flu that ravaged the world more than a century ago.

9 Mar 2020

Rotavirus vaccination not linked to type 1 diabetes mellitus risk

Rotavirus infection is thought to be a risk factor for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The role played by live attenuated rotavirus vaccination in the risk of this condition in children is, therefore, an area of active research. A new study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in March 2020 debunks this concern.

9 Mar 2020

Surging health care worker quarantines raise concerns as coronavirus spreads

As the U.S. battles to limit the spread of the highly contagious new coronavirus, the number of health care workers ordered to self-quarantine because of potential exposure to an infected patient is rising at an exponential pace.

9 Mar 2020

Italy to isolate 16 million people as country grapples with COVID-19

Italy is grappling with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread in the country, which has so far taken 366 lives and infected 7,375 people. Now, the government plans to isolate and quarantine the northern part of Italy, including Milan and the epicenter of the virus spread, Lombardy, affecting about 16 million people.

9 Mar 2020

Coronavirus spreads even without symptoms and how Hangzhou province contained virus spread

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is rapidly spreading across the globe, and containment measures have been implemented at many of the hotspots for the disease. Though isolation and quarantine measures are considered the best way to contain the virus, one new study suggests it might not be as effective as hoped.

9 Mar 2020

Scientists may have found a way to prevent coronavirus spread

Just like any other virus, the coronavirus needs a host to survive. Viruses enter the cells of the human body to cause disease by attaching to a specific receptor site on the host cell membrane. To do this, they attach to proteins in the capsid through glycoproteins found in the envelope of the virus.

8 Mar 2020

Individual responsibility to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is equally vital as government action

How individuals respond to government advice on preventing the spread of COVID-19 will be at least as important, if not more important, than government action, according to a new commentary from researchers at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London in the UK, and Utrecht University and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands.

7 Mar 2020

TB bacteria produce fatty acid that triggers a pain-response cough to spread the disease

Tuberculosis is distinguished primarily by the persistent cough that serves to spread the disease. Stopping whatever triggers that cough could greatly reduce the transmission of the disease, which annually kills more than 1.3 million people worldwide.

7 Mar 2020

USask researchers receive almost $1 million to fight new coronavirus

A University of Saskatchewan research team and collaborating scientists from across the country have been awarded almost $1 million over two years to develop animal models and test vaccine candidates for effectiveness and safety against the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

7 Mar 2020

Liver fibrosis associated with one type of heart failure, regardless of HIV or hepatitis C status

While there is an association between liver fibrosis and heart failure, the mechanisms for this association are currently unclear but may be of particular importance for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and/or hepatitis C, both of which are chronic infections that affect the liver and heart.

7 Mar 2020

Pence leaves out key details about health coverage of coronavirus testing

Amid ongoing concern about the new coronavirus, Vice President Mike Pence sought to assure Americans that their health insurance will cover the tests needed for diagnosis.

6 Mar 2020

With coronavirus lurking, conferences wrestle with whether to cancel

Nearly 100,000 pop culture fans flocked to Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle last year, including many dressed as superheroes, aliens and robots. But something scarier than a comic book villain is roiling the conference this year — the spread of the coronavirus.

6 Mar 2020

On front lines, first responders brace for coronavirus ― and their own protection

When first responders answered roughly 10 calls from a long-term care center in Kirkland, Washington, over the course of a week, they did not expect to become patients themselves.

6 Mar 2020