News Focus Channel: Coronavirus Channel Featured Story TOP

Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines offer high protection against severe COVID-19, 6 months after second doses, finds study of over 7 million adults

University of Bristol — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 18:30:00 EST

Protection against severe COVID-19 by two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines remained high up to six months after second doses, finds new research which analysed NHS health record data on over seven million adults. Reassuringly, the University of Bristol-led study published in The BMJ today [July 20], found protection in older adults aged over 65 years, and in clinically vulnerable adults.

Mask Wearing Amplifies Harms of Smoking

European Society of Cardiology — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 15:05:30 EST

Smoking traditional or non-combustible cigarettes while wearing a surgical mask results in a two-fold rise in exhaled carbon monoxide and impaired blood vessel function compared to non-mask periods.

COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnancy Helps Protect Infants from Needing Hospital Care for COVID-19

Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 11:05:57 EST

In a new study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers provide additional evidence that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy helps protect babies younger than 6 months from being hospitalized due to COVID-19. The risk of COVID-19 hospitalization among babies was reduced by about 80 percent during the Delta wave (July 1-December 18, 2021) and 40 percent during the Omicron wave (December 19-March 8, 2022).

Exercise after flu shot, COVID-19 vaccine bumps up antibodies

Iowa State University — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 12:00:51 EST

Participants in the study who cycled on a stationary bike or took a brisk walk for an hour-and-a-half after getting a flu shot or COVID-19 jab produced more antibodies in the following four weeks compared to participants who sat or continued with their daily routine post-immunization.

Current vaccines teach T cells to fight Omicron

La Jolla Institute for Immunology — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 11:55:14 EST

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have found that four COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, J&J/Janssen, and Novavax) prompt the body to make effective, long-lasting T cells against SARS-CoV-2. These T cells can recognize SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern, including Delta and Omicron.

International Study Identifies Predictors of Severe Outcomes in Children with COVID-19

Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 15:05:33 EST

A new international study offers a clearer picture of the impact of COVID-19 infection and the risk of severe outcomes on young people around the world.

Weathering the Omicron Surge, Explaining "Flurona"

Cedars-Sinai — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 15:30:02 EST

First on the list: Get vaccinated and get a booster shot if you qualify.

A longer-lasting COVID vaccine? UCLA study points the way

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 12:10:28 EST

Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have identified rare, naturally occurring T cells that are capable of targeting a protein found in SARS-CoV-2 and a range of other coronaviruses.

Did the US COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy Work?

PLOS — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:00:00 EST

The CDC's vaccine prioritization strategy performed well compared to other approaches, though with some room for improvement

Cancer Patients With Poor Antibody Response to COVID-19 Vaccines Also Lack Secondary Immune Response, Study Shows

Mount Sinai Health System — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 16:15:57 EST

Patients with the blood cancer multiple myeloma often mount a poor antibody response to COVID-19 vaccines. Mount Sinai researchers have now discovered that these patients also have a weak response from a different part of the immune system, known as T cells. Their discovery was published in a research letter in Cancer Cell in October.

Eliminate COVID-19? It's Possible Based on New Mathematical Models

Florida Atlantic University — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 08:30:33 EST

Researchers are the first to introduce a novel mathematical framework to study the interplay between infectious diseases, human behavior - specifically social distancing - and economic growth. They introduced two models: a coupled disease-human behavior model to study the impact of full social distancing, and a coupled disease-human behavior model with an economic component to study the interplay between infectious diseases, human response to disease control measures, and the associated economic impact. Results show that disease elimination might be possible with various scenarios.

The Lancet: COVID-19 pandemic led to stark rise in depressive and anxiety disorders globally in 2020, with women and younger people most affected.

Lancet — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 15:45:00 EST

First global estimates of impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in 2020 suggests additional 53 million cases of major depressive disorder and 76 million cases of anxiety disorders were due to the pandemic.

VUMC research contributed to first COVID-19 pill now under review

Vanderbilt University Medical Center — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 16:45:53 EST

The drug, known as molnupiravir, was first shown to be efficacious against coronaviruses including the COVID-19 virus, SARS-CoV-2, by investigators in the lab of Mark Denison, MD, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and their colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

COVID-19 Hospitalizations Increase Among Unvaccinated Pregnant Women

UT Southwestern Medical Center — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 16:45:34 EST

Unvaccinated pregnant women are increasingly being hospitalized with COVID-19 during a nationwide surge of the Delta variant, according to research from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

ECMO life support offers sickest COVID-19 patients a chance to survive, but a slimmer one than once thought

Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 18:30:00 EST

The life-support system called ECMO can rescue COVID-19 patients from the brink of death, but not at the rates seen early in the pandemic, a new international study finds. Where once about 60% of such patients survived at least 90 days in spring 2020, by the end of the year it was just under half.

COVID-19 transmission risks rise during labor with patients' heavier breathing

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:25:10 EST

Some medical procedures can put health care workers at higher risk for contracting COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases. With these high-risk procedures, it's important that health care providers have access to personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 masks. However, not all procedures that may seem high risk have that designation.

Symptomatic COVID patients are more contagious

University of Georgia — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 12:55:31 EST

Individuals with COVID-19 are most likely to spread the virus to close contacts two days before the onset of symptoms to three days after symptoms appear, and the risk of transmission is highest when patients had mild or moderate disease severity, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia.

Immune Response to COVID-19 May Be Proportional to Illness Severity, Duration

Rutgers University-New Brunswick — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 08:55:24 EST

People with severe or prolonged COVID-19 achieve the highest antibody levels, Rutgers study finds

Should you get a third dose of COVID vaccine?

Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 14:45:42 EST

The FDA and CDC have just approved and recommended an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for moderately and severely immunocompromised people. Who should get it?

How Can Nursing Homes Protect Residents From Infection? Follow the Research

Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 14:55:28 EST

Researchers who have worked for nearly two decades on the previously unglamorous topic of nursing home infection prevention say the spotlight shone because of COVID-19 could accelerate efforts to reduce transmission of all types of microbes.