Conspiracies beliefs about COVID-19 increased among users of conservative and social media

Belief in conspiracies about the COVID-19 pandemic increased through the early months of the U.S. outbreak among people who reported being heavy users of conservative and social media, a study by Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) researchers has found. Prior APPC research found that people who regularly used conservative or social media during the early […]

Computer modeling quantifies the importance of COVID-19 vaccination to control the pandemic

The Mayo Clinic data scientists who developed highly accurate computer modeling to predict trends for COVID-19 cases nationwide have new research that shows how important a high rate of vaccination is to reducing case numbers and controlling the pandemic. Vaccination is making a striking difference in Minnesota and keeping the current level of positive cases […]

Weighing pandemic risks complicated by lack of timely information

The decision to pause and then restart the Johnson & Johnson vaccine underscores how hard it is even for experts to gauge health risks. It’s been still harder for everyday people, most of whom have no medical background and little experience analyzing risks and benefits. People have experienced confusion about mask-wearing, physical distancing, travel, remote […]

Matters of the Mind: An urgent offering of confidence, clarity and courage

In these difficult times, a simple QnA to provide practical solutions to your problems Part I In the last few months, I have had people book a different kind of session — a QnA hour, in which the client states they need urgent and practical answers. While there are so many subjectivities involved when it […]

Characterization of lab-produced neutralizing antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2

A new study led by Hans-Martin Jäck of the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany engineered clusters of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies using a transgenic mouse model. A unique characteristic for the antibodies was the different ways it bound to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the overall reduction in the viral spread for […]

CureVac Starts Review Process in Switzerland for COVID Vaccine

ZURICH (Reuters) – Germany’s CureVac filed in Switzerland for a rolling review of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the Swiss drugs regulator Swissmedic said on Monday, as yet another maker of shots races toward the approval finish line. Switzerland, which to date has approved COVID-19 shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, has placed orders […]

Can an immunosuppressive cancer drug promote SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells?

A new study, released on the bioRxiv* preprint server, shows that rapamycin, an immunosuppressive drug used in some cancers, and its analogs, may have an undesirable effect on viral entry into the host cells. This finding could inform their use to treat symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). There is a serious lack of effective antivirals […]

Plant-derived compound isorhamnetin may have antiviral potential against SARS-CoV-2

The lack of new or repurposed drugs to treat patients with severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been one of the biggest hurdles to reducing mortality rates in the ongoing pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A new study, published online in the journal Drug Development Research, describes […]