What is contact tracing, and how does it work with COVID-19? The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, and prevent them from spreading it to others. Health experts say contact tracing is key to containing the virus and allowing places to reopen more […]
COVID-19 pandemic has created flood of potentially substandard research
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a flood of potentially substandard research amid the rush to publish, with a string of papers retracted or under a cloud and a surge in submissions to pre-print servers where fewer quality checks are made, a leading ethicist has warned in the Journal of Medical Ethics. This has implications for […]
Expert opinion: COVID-19 vaccine rollout unlikely before fall 2021
Experts working in the field of vaccine development tend to believe that an effective vaccine is not likely to be available for the general public before the fall of 2021. In a paper published this week in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, a McGill-led team published the results of a recent survey of 28 […]
Researchers advance COVID-19 antibody knowledge
Researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center working with colleagues at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston have found that some antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are more protective than others, when it comes to reinfection. This information, discovered from the joint study and published online in the Journal of […]
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine won’t be ready by US election: report
US biotech firm Moderna won’t seek an emergency use authorization for its coronavirus vaccine before November 25, its CEO told the Financial Times on Wednesday. The news deals a blow to President Donald Trump’s hopes of having an injection ready before the election to give his campaign a much-needed boost. Stephane Bancel told the newspaper: […]
Investigational COVID-19 vaccine well-tolerated, generates immune response in older adults
A Phase 1 trial of an investigational mRNA vaccine to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection has shown that the vaccine is well-tolerated and generates a strong immune response in older adults. A report published today in the New England Journal of Medicine describes the findings from the study, which was supported by the National Institute of Allergy […]
U.S. Government to Ship Millions of Rapid COVID-19 Tests This Week
TUESDAY, Sept. 29, 2020 — The U.S. government will start distributing millions of rapid COVID-19 tests to states this week with the goal of reopening schools. About 6.5 million tests will be shipped this week, and a total of 100 million tests will be sent out during the next several weeks, a senior official told […]
Diabetes drug boosts survival in patients with type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 pneumonia
Sitagliptin, a drug to lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetes, also improves survival in diabetic patients hospitalized with COVID-19, suggests a multicenter observational study in Italy. Patients given sitagliptin in addition to insulin had a mortality rate of 18 percent as compared with 37 percent in matched patients receiving only insulin. Led by Paolo […]
Many ventilation systems may increase risk of COVID-19 exposure, study suggests
Ventilation systems in many modern office buildings, which are designed to keep temperatures comfortable and increase energy efficiency, may increase the risk of exposure to the coronavirus, particularly during the coming winter, according to research published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics. A team from the University of Cambridge found that widely-used ‘mixing ventilation’ systems, […]
Trump administration plans to distribute 100 million rapid COVID-19 tests to states
The Trump administration has announced a plan to distribute millions of rapid COVID-19 tests to states, with a focus on using the tests to reopen schools. On Monday (Sept. 28), President Donald Trump said in a news conference that the federal government would soon begin deploying 150 million rapid COVID-19 tests across the country. Of […]