Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Latest Coronavirus Disease COVID 19 News and Research

Telehealth plays an important role in preventing the spread of COVID-19

Rural hospitals are more likely than urban facilities to have access to telehealth, a once-underused service that now is playing a key role in treating coronavirus patients, according to research by two health administration professors in Florida Atlantic University's College of Business.

1 Jul 2020

Hollowed-out public health system faces more cuts amid virus

The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources to confront the worst health crisis in a century.

1 Jul 2020

Phosphorylation of SARS-CoV-2 N protein affects its function

Now, a new study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in June 2020 shows the effect of phosphorylation on the state and function of the N protein.

1 Jul 2020

Kansans depend on local authorities for reliable COVID-19 information, shows survey

New information emerges about the novel coronavirus on a daily basis, sometimes confirming, other times contradicting what we thought we knew the day before.

1 Jul 2020

BMI should be assessed in management of COVID-19 patients

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 reports that obesity is a risk factor of composite poor outcome of COVID-19 disease. On the other hand, COVID-19 patients with 'composite poor outcome' have higher BMI. Therefore, BMI should be assessed in the management of COVID-19 patients, and special attention should be given to patients with obesity.

1 Jul 2020

SARS-CoV-2 circulating in Brazil back in November 2019

The finding, published on the preprint server medRxiv in June 2020, shows that it has been causing infection in Brazil long before the first case was reported in the Americas, North and South, in January 2020, and certainly before the first case in this Brazilian region.

1 Jul 2020

Silk useful as face mask and PPE in COVID-19

As many people are resorting to face coverings improvised from common fabrics, researchers from the University of Cincinnati looked to determine what fabrics were the most effective. The team examined the hydrophobicity of fabrics (silk, cotton, polyester), as measured by their resistance to the penetration of small and aerosolized water droplets, an important transmission avenue for the virus causing COVID-19.

30 Jun 2020

Oral hygiene and severity of COVID-19 – the connection

Their study titled, “Could there be a link between oral hygiene and the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections?” was published in the latest issue of the journal British Dental Journal.

30 Jun 2020

Herd immunity in the U.S. unlikely

The race to develop an effective vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is on, with many vaccine candidates entering the human trial phase. When a vaccine is developed and introduced into the population at scale, it triggers herd immunity, with many people immune to the infectious disease.

30 Jun 2020

New swine flu strain with pandemic potential found in China

As the world grapples with a novel coronavirus pandemic, a new strain of swine flu that can trigger a pandemic has been reported.

30 Jun 2020

Striking CryoEM image of SARS-CoV-2

A new study by researchers from the UK and Germany and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the results of a detailed study of the S protein on the intact virus, using cryoelectron microscopy (cryoEM) and tomography. This could help understand the conformation of the S protein on the virion and how it interacts with neutralizing antibodies.

30 Jun 2020

New approach holds incredible potential for developing new therapeutics

Nearly every drug that is, or has ever been, used was derived from nature -- harnessing compounds created by organisms over eons to fight diseases. But decades ago, biochemists postulated that it might be possible to design a new drug from scratch by linking up amino acids in precise ways.

30 Jun 2020

Large-scale analysis of COVID-19 risk among different groups of UK hospital staff

Staff who shared a household with an infected person were at the greatest risk of infection, and those working in COVID-19-facing areas were also at an increased risk. Other groups that were identified as a high risk included Black and Asian individuals, porters, and cleaners.

30 Jun 2020

Specific SARS-CoV-2 genetic elements found in different insect species

In a recent bioRxiv paper, researchers from Norway and the US demonstrate the presence of a highly conserved, mobile genetic element (thus far with unknown function) in genomes of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and a large number of insects – opening the door for hitherto unexplored treatment opportunities.

30 Jun 2020

'Mini-brains' can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 virus

A multidisciplinary team from two Johns Hopkins University institutions, including neurotoxicologists and virologists from the Bloomberg School of Public Health and infectious disease specialists from the school of medicine, has found that organoids (tiny tissue cultures made from human cells that simulate whole organs) known as "mini-brains" can be infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

30 Jun 2020

Potential new biomarker could improve COVID-19 diagnosis

Researchers at Montpellier University Hospital have discovered that an interferon-inducible receptor expressed on monocytes could be a useful biomarker for the rapid triaging of patients suspected to have severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

30 Jun 2020

SARS-CoV-2 can infect heart cells in a lab dish, study shows

A new study shows that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus), can infect heart cells in a lab dish, indicating it may be possible for heart cells in COVID-19 patients to be directly infected by the virus.

30 Jun 2020

The biggest database for automated gait analysis

The database comprises information on the so-called "ground reaction force" which is the force between the foot and the ground that is generated during movement. It is an important standard parameter used in clinical practice and in research.

30 Jun 2020

COVID-19 patients' blood can help identify people at greatest risk of severe illness

Doctors can examine COVID-19 patients' blood to identify those at greatest risk of severe illness and to pinpoint those most likely to need a ventilator, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests.

30 Jun 2020

Foldable tent-like device shields healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore has invented a foldable tent-like device that serves as a physical shield to reduce the risk of exposure to pathogens for healthcare workers performing droplet and aerosol-generating procedures on COVID-19 patients.

30 Jun 2020