Share on PinterestA commuter wears a face mask while riding the subway train in New York City.Image credit: Scott Heins/Getty Images.The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Known as SARS-CoV-2, the virus has resulted in more than 27.5 million infections and 897,000 deaths.SARS-CoV-2 infection causes a respiratory illness called COVID-19.COVID-19 has now been reported on every continent except Antarctica.Keep up to date with the latest research and information about COVID-19 here.
09/09/2020 15:45 GMT — Video update: Living with ‘long COVID’
09/09/2020 08:34 GMT — US: Number of cases and deaths fall for third week in a row
A total of 17 states, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast of the United States, have registered increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases for 2 weeks in a row. Nationally, however, the numbers of new cases and deaths have fallen each week for 3 weeks.
Read more here.
09/09/2020 08:32 GMT — AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trials halted
According to AstraZeneca Plc., they halted a large-scale clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine because one participant developed an unexplained illness. The World Health Organization (WHO) had described this vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, as a leading candidate.
AstraZeneca has paused trials while an independent committee reviews the safety data. In a statement, the company explain: “This is a routine action, which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of our trials.”
Although the company has not disclosed the nature of the illness, doctors expect the individual to recover. At this stage, it is not clear whether the vaccine was directly responsible for the illness.
Read more here.
09/08/2020 09:28 GMT — Addressing COVID-19 and incarceration
In a recent Medical News Today article, Wizdom Powell, Ph.D., discusses the relationship between COVID-19 and incarceration. Powell is an associate professor of psychiatry and the director of the Health Disparities Institute at UConn Health, part of the University of Connecticut in Farmington.
Find the article here.
09/08/2020 09:16 GMT — Living with long COVID
Medical News Today recently published a Special Feature on “long COVID.” Affected people experience symptoms months after the initial illness is supposed to have worn off. The feature includes first-hand accounts and insights from Prof. Tim Spector, an epidemiologist at King’s College London.
Read the full article here.
09/07/2020 10:25 GMT — Portable smartphone COVID-19 test delivers results in under 40 minutes
Scientists have designed a rapid, portable COVID-19 test that can provide results on a smartphone. Its developers claim that it could broaden access to affordable testing in regions that lack expertise, infrastructure, and specialized equipment for laboratory-based testing.
Read more about the experimental test here.
09/07/2020 09:51 GMT — Antibody-based arthritis drug could treat severe COVID-19
A new study demonstrates that an antibody-based blockade could effectively treat cytokine release syndrome, or CRS, and alleviate severe cases of COVID-19. The findings appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read our coverage of the research here.
09/04/2020 12:00 GMT — Alleged US case of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection raises questions
According to research that has yet to be peer reviewed or published in a journal, a 25-year-old male in the United States may have developed a second SARS-CoV-2 infection after recovering from the first. However, questions remain.
Read our full coverage of the study here.
09/04/2020 11:09 GMT — COVID-19-associated health worker deaths
According to a new Amnesty International report, globally, more than 7,000 health workers have died after contracting COVID-19. Mexico has registered the highest number of health worker fatalities, with a total of 1,320 deaths. The report states that in Mexico, hospital cleaners are particularly at risk.
The analysis also reports high numbers of health worker fatalities in the United States (1,077), United Kingdom (649), Brazil (634), Russia (631), India (573), and South Africa (240).
According to Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s head of economic and social justice, “For over 7,000 people to die while trying to save others is a crisis on a staggering scale. Every health worker has the right to be safe at work, and it is a scandal that so many are paying the ultimate price.”
“Many months into the pandemic, health workers are still dying at horrific rates in countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and the [U.S.]“, he continues, “while the rapid spread of infections in South Africa and India show the need for all states to take action.”
Speaking about the way forward, Cockburn explains, “There must be global cooperation to ensure all health workers are provided with adequate protective equipment so they can continue their vital work without risking their own lives.”
Although the figures in the analysis are stark, the authors of the report remind us that “These figures are likely to be a significant underestimate, due to underreporting by many of the countries included in the analysis.”
Read Amnesty International’s report here.
09/04/2020 10:43 GMT — People with eating disorders negatively affected by lockdown
A recent study concludes that people with a history of eating disorders experienced significant negative effects during the COVID-19 lockdown. The research appears in the Journal of Eating Disorders.
Read our full report on the study here.
09/03/2020 10:03 GMT — COVID-19: Breathing problems are the most common reason for returning to the hospital
According to a new study, it is relatively rare for COVID-19 patients to return to the hospital within 2 weeks of discharge. Individuals with hypertension or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are the most likely to return.
Using electronic health records, the authors of the latest study followed 2,864 discharged patients. Of these, 103 (3.6%) returned for emergency care, and, in total, the hospitals readmitted 56 patients.
People with breathing difficulties were the most likely group to return to the hospital, accounting for half of all return visits. The authors published their results in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Read MNT’s coverage of the study here.
09/03/2020 09:05 GMT — Winter flu-like illnesses could have been COVID-19
The results of a recent analysis suggest that thousands of people who had flu-like symptoms during the winter of 2019 may actually have had COVID-19. The findings are based on retested throat swabs from people in Wuhan, China, and Seattle, WA.
The results, which appear in the journal EClinicalMedicine, suggest that the early spread of COVID-19 could have been far greater than experts initially thought.
As senior author Prof. Lauren Ancel Meyers explains, “Even before we realized that COVID-19 was spreading, the data imply that there was at least one case of COVID-19 for every two cases of flu.”
Read our coverage of the research here.
09/02/2020 13:45 GMT — US confirms it will not take part in WHO-led coronavirus vaccine initiative
In communication with The Washington Post yesterday, Judd Deere, a spokesperson for the White House, confirmed that the United States will not be joining COVAX, the international initiative for the development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This initiative is co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), and it currently involves 172 countries.
“The [U.S.] will continue to engage our international partners to ensure we defeat this virus, but we will not be constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt [WHO] and China,” Deere told The Washington Post.
This news follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to formally initiate the States’ withdrawal from the WHO in July after he claimed that China heavily influences the United Nations (UN) agency in their decision-making.
Read more here.
09/02/2020 09:59 GMT — Third US vaccine reaches final stages
On Monday, AstraZeneca announced that their experimental vaccine had entered the final stage of testing. The upcoming study will involve up to 30,000 people in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa. The University of Oxford in the United Kingdom developed the vaccine.
Read more here.
09/02/2020 09:36 GMT — Link found between metabolic syndrome and worse COVID-19 outcomes
A recent study concludes that people with metabolic syndrome are more likely to have worse COVID-19 outcomes — including requiring ventilation and death. The results appear in the journal Diabetes Care.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions, which include obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. People with metabolic syndrome have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
After accounting for a range of variables — including age, sex, race, and the hospital location — the researchers found that people with metabolic syndrome were 3.4 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people without metabolic syndrome.
Read our full coverage of the study here.
09/01/2020 16:06 GMT — The global number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has reached 25.5 million
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09/01/2020 12:00 GMT — Treating COVID-19 may increase antibiotic resistance
A recent study, which appears in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, concludes theincreased use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic may be placing an added burden on wastewater treatment works. This might lead to raised levels of antibiotics in rivers.
Although antibiotics cannot treat viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, doctors commonly prescribe them to people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 to prevent secondary bacterial infections.
“From our previous research, we know that significant quantities of commonly prescribed drugs pass through treatment works and into our watercourses,” explains lead author Prof. Sean Comber.
Co-author Prof. Mathew Upton adds, “It is clear that mass prescribing of antibiotics will lead to increased levels in the environment, and we know that this can select for resistant bacteria. Studies like this are essential so that we can plan how to guide antibiotic prescription in future pandemics.”
Read more about the study here.
09/01/2020 11:23 GMT — Blood pressure drugs may improve COVID-19 survival
A recent review, which appears in the journal Current Atherosclerosis Reports, concludes that people taking certain drugs for high blood pressure had a lower risk of severe COVID-19 and death than thosewho were not taking these medications.
Doctors commonly prescribe angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) to treat high blood pressure.
Both drugs interact with ACE2 receptors. These receptors are also the entry point in the cell for SARS-CoV-2. Some researchers speculated that taking ACE inhibitors or ARBs might increase the number of ACE2 receptors and, therefore, exacerbate the infection.
“[What we] showed was that there is no evidence that these medications might increase the severity of COVID-19 or risk of death,” explains lead researcher Dr. Vassilios Vassiliou. “On the contrary, we found that there was a significantly lower risk of death and critical outcomes, so they might, in fact, have a protective role — particularly in patients with hypertension.”
Read our full coverage of the study here.
08/28/2020 15:00 GMT — Scientists reveal specific order of COVID-19 symptomsMNT reported on new research that found that individuals with a SARS-CoV-2 infection will likely experience symptoms in the following order:
fevercoughing and muscle painnausea, vomiting, or bothdiarrhea
The new study — which appears in the journal Frontiers in Public Health — reached the above conclusion after analyzing the rates of symptom incidence of 55,924 confirmed COVID-19 cases in China.
The scientists supplemented their data with another 1,099 cases collected by the National Health Commission of China and compared COVID-19 with influenza and two other diseases caused by coronaviruses: SARS and MERS.
“This order is especially important to know when we have overlapping cycles of illnesses like the flu that coincide with infections of COVID-19,” says the study’s senior author, Prof. Peter Kuhn, from the University of Southern California.
“Doctors can determine what steps to take to care for the patient, and they may prevent the patient’s condition from worsening.”
Read our full coverage here.
08/28/2020 14:00 GMT — 20% of nursing homes in the US lack PPE
A new study that appears ahead of print in the journal Health Affairs, finds that over 20% of US nursing homes lack sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE).
This is despite the fact that nursing home residents make up almost 50% of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. “Twenty percent is a lot, given where we are in the course of this pandemic. I would have hoped by month six we would be close to 0%,” says lead author Brian E. McGarry, assistant professor of geriatrics/aging and public health sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.
For their study, McGarry and colleagues used data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID-19 Nursing Home Database, which amassed responses from 15,035 nursing homes. According to the researchers, this is about 98% of the total number of nursing care facilities in the U.S. The nursing homes also reported severe shortages of staff.
Read the full story here.
08/27/2020 14:00 GMT — CDC changes testing guidance, scientists express concern
Previously, the testing guidelines on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website read: “Testing is recommended for all close contacts of persons with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Because of the potential for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, it is important that contacts of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection be quickly identified and tested.”
On August 24, the CDC updated their testing guidelines. According to their website, “Diagnostic testing categories have been edited to focus on testing considerations and actions to be taken by individuals undergoing testing.”
Now, the guidelines read: “If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) of a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes but do not have symptoms, you do not necessarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or State or local public health officials recommend you take one.”
Scientists and other health experts have expressed concern over these changes. Prof. Leana Wen from George Washington University and former health commissioner in Baltimore, MD, tweeted: “I still can’t make sense of @CDCgov change in guidance.”
“An estimated 40-50% of people with #covid19 are asymptomatic. Those exposed to the virus need to know to protect their family members & the public. One has to wonder: is this change because we don’t have enough tests?”
For more expert reactions, read the full story here.
08/27/2020 13:00 GMT — ‘We now have clear data’ that the immune response is ‘considerably different between the sexes’Since the beginning of the pandemic, scientists have been intrigued by sex differences in COVID-19 — specifically, that female patients tend to have better overall outcomes than their male counterparts. Scientists have not known whether this is due to immunological differences or environmental factors.New research helps settle the matter by exploring differences between the sexes’ immunological responses to SARS-CoV-2.Prof. Akiko Iwasaki, of the Department of Immunobiology at Yale University, in New Haven, CT, and colleagues took nasal, saliva, and blood samples from COVID-19 patients and healthy participants. The authors performed analyses of viral loads, plasma cytokines, tests for SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies, and blood cell phenotyping in the COVID-19 patients.
The team followed the evolution of immune markers over time, as the disease progressed. Ultimately, they found key differences between the sexes, including:
Male patients had higher levels of specific cytokines. These inflammatory proteins are a natural part of the immune response, but they can lead to the potentially fatal “cytokine storm” phenomenon in severe cases of COVID-19.Female patients had a “significantly more robust T cell activation than male patients.” T cells are white blood cells that play an important role in the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Over time, the team found, poor T-cell activation in male patients led to worsening of COVID-19.
“We now have clear data suggesting that the immune landscape in COVID-19 patients is considerably different between the sexes and that these differences may underlie heightened disease susceptibility in men,” says Prof. Iwasaki.Read more here.
08/26/2020 09:54 GMT — Hydroxychloroquine: The research continues
This week, scientists have published two new studies that investigate hydroxychloroquine. One study looks at the long-term safety of thedrug when used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The second study examines itsimpact in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
The rheumatoid arthritis study appears in Lancet Rheumatology. Although the research is not directly related to COVID-19, the findings are relevant. The authors conclude:
“Hydroxychloroquine treatment appears to have no increased risk in the short term among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but in the long term it appears to be associated with excess cardiovascular mortality.”
The authors of the second study, which appears in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, asked whether hydroxychloroquine reduced in-hospital mortality in patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Although the study was observational, the authors conclude hydroxychloroquine “was associated with a 30% lower risk of death in COVID-19 hospitalized patients.”
These results, which contradict similar, recent studies, are likely to spark fresh debate.
Read MNT’s article that explains how hydroxychloroquine has ignited a fire between medicine and politics.
08/26/2020 09:40 GMT — US colleges experience spike in cases
As many colleges begin their fall semester, some are struggling with high numbers of students testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. For instance, since August 19, officials from the University of Alabama have registered more than 550 positive tests.
Most of these cases were recorded at the university’s main campus in Tuscaloosa. In response, the mayor of Tuscaloosa has ordered bars to shut for 2 weeks and restricted the activity of other establishments.
At the University of Southern California’s University Park Campus in Los Angeles, 100 students are currently in a 14-day quarantine following exposure to the virus.
Last week, after a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled all in-class teaching.
Read more here.
08/25/2020 14:08 GMT — Scientists report first case of reinfection
A new study paper documents the case of a 33-year-old man in China who appears to have contracted SARS-CoV-2 twice. He was treated for a mild case of COVID-19 in a hospital in March and tested positive again almost 5 months later.
Scientists have determined that the virus of the second infection was genetically different from the virus of the first.
The paper has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. However, the authors, researchers from The University of Hong Kong, say that that their manuscript has been accepted by the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
One of the authors, Dr. Kelvin To, writes, “This case proves that at least some patients do not have lifelong immunity.”
The researchers have only released parts of the paper online. In the text that has been made public, the authors argue that this case demonstrates that herd immunity is an impossibility and that a vaccine will not work.
However, other experts take a different view. For instance, Prof. Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School, in the United Kingdom, explains:
“The implications of this finding should not be overstated. It is quite likely that subsequent infections do not cause as severe an illness as the first episode because of some degree of residual immunity, which may not be sufficient to stop the infection but [may] be enough to reduce the risk of severe illness.”
He also explains that the viral load might not be as high in a second infection. Rather than conclude that immunization will never work, Prof. Hunter writes, “We need more information about this case and other cases of reinfection before we can really understand the implications.”
Prof. Brendan Wren, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, calls for similar restraint: “With over 3 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide, the first reported case of a potential reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 needs to be taken into context. […] This is a very rare example of reinfection, and it should not negate the global drive to develop COVID-19 vaccines.”
Dr. Julian Tang, from the University of Leicester, in the U.K., also believes that we should wait for further details before deciding that a future vaccine will be useless.
For instance, he outlines a theoretical alternative, in which there is “an initial coinfection with two different SARS-CoV-2 viral clades — with one initial predominant clade, then with the other minority clade just persisting longer than the predominant one.”
In other words, both strains could, potentially, have been present in the man from the start, with one strain simply surviving longer. Although theoretical, this possibility underlines the need for more detail before making wide-ranging conclusions.
It is also worth noting that, in this individual, the second case was asymptomatic. The man had undergone a routine test as he passed through a Hong Kong airport.
Read more here.
08/25/2020 10:36 GMT — Pandemic slows throughout much of the world
On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) published their weekly epidemiological report. In the update, they explain that, although the pandemic continues, it is slowing in most regions. However, some areas are still experiencing increasing numbers of cases.
As the report explains, “With the exception of the South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean regions, a decrease in the weekly case incidence was reported across WHO regions in the last 7 days.”
Last week, the Americas remained the most affected region, accounting for 50% of new cases and 62% of deaths. However, the report explains that this region also experienced the largest decrease compared with the previous week.
Find the WHO’s report here.
08/25/2020 09:45 GMT — COVID-19: Children may have a higher viral load than adults
A recent study of pediatric COVID-19 patients finds that children have a higher viral load than hospitalized adults. The research, which appears in the Journal of Pediatrics, suggests children may contribute to the spread of COVID-19 more than previously thought.
Read MNT’s full coverage of the study here.
08/24/2020 10:32 GMT — Is COVID-19 more dangerous because SARS-CoV-2 reduces specific microRNAs?
The authors of a new study ask whether microRNAs (miRNAs) might help explain why the novel coronavirus is particularly deadly. They conclude that SARS-CoV-2 might reduce miRNA levels in a way that assists viral replication and blocks the host immune response.
miRNAs are short, noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression. They also help fight viruses by latching onto viral RNA and cutting it. This means that if miRNAs are inhibited, viruses are more likely to replicate.
The authors of the new study found that SARS-CoV-2 may serve as a miRNA sponge, reducing levels of miRNA in the cell and making the virus more hazardous.
Read more about the new study here.
08/24/2020 09:50 GMT — Even mild COVID-19 may produce long lasting immunity
The results of a new study, which appear in the journal Cell, suggest that T cells could provide lasting immunity against future infection. This is even the case for individuals who had a mild or asymptomatic case of COVID-19.
Read more about the research here.
08/21/2020 09:43 GMT — Video update: Dreams during COVID-19
08/21/2020 09:41 GMT — Tool to help manage COVID-19 in patients with diabetes
People with diabetes have an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Recently, a group of researchers developed an algorithm that they hope will reduce the risk of complications in these patients, such as respiratory distress and kidney failure.
In their study, which appears in the journal Diabetes, the authors describe the management strategies used with almost 200 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with high blood sugar levels.
Using these observations, they developed an algorithm to help doctors manage levels of blood sugar in people who have diabetes and COVID-19.
Read MNT’s coverage of the recent study here.
08/21/2020 09:30 GMT — Electric cooker can effectively sanitize N95 masks
N95 respirators are a vital part of healthcare workers’ personal protective equipment. However, people can only use them once, and they are now in short supply. A recent study demonstrates that dry heat from an electric cooker can effectively sanitize these masks without compromising their effectiveness.
The authors published their findings in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters. They found that 50 minutes of dry heat at 212ºF (100ºC) successfully decontaminated N95 respirators.
Co-author of the study Prof. Vishal Verma explains, “The respirators maintained their filtration capacity of more than 95% and kept their fit, still properly seated on the wearer’s face, even after 20 cycles of decontamination in the electric cooker.”
Read our full coverage of the study here.
08/20/2020 10:11 GMT — New York teachers threaten strike
Yesterday, New York City’s United Federation of Teachers (UFT), which represents 133,000 public school teachers, voiced concerns about the city’s return-to-school plan. They promised to strike or bring legal action unless the district implements tighter safety measures and an improved COVID-19 testing plan.
At a briefing, UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, “The minute we feel that the mayor is trying to force people into a situation that is unsafe […] we go to court, we take a job action.”
However, local laws state that public employees are barred from striking. During a school tour in Brooklyn, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “any union leader who talks about doing something illegal should really think twice about what he’s saying.”
Read more here.
08/20/2020 09:36 GMT — Will the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement change science and society?
Medical News Today recently published an opinion piece by Winston Morgan, Ph.D., from the University of East London in the United Kingdom. In the article, he discusses a recent review into why COVID-19 disproportionately affects people from marginalized racial and ethnic groups.
He explains how the review’s “overwhelming message was that the cumulative effects of structural racism on BAME [Black, Asian, and minority ethnic] groups was the major contributing factor.”
Morgan also highlights why large-scale societal changes need more than sentiment to become reality. He writes:
“Major changes require the transfer of privilege from those who have always benefited from it to those who have never had privilege, a step that many, even those who advocate equality, are reluctant to make when faced with real choices.”
Read the full article here.
08/20/2020 09:13 GMT — Dr. Fauci quizzed at Healthline Town Hall meeting
This week, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci spoke about COVID-19 at a Town Hall meetingthat Healthline organized. During the discussion, he spoke about children returning to schools, his hopes for a vaccine, and experimental treatments that scientists are currently exploring.
Talking about reopening schools, Dr. Fauci said, “The general default position to reopen schools should be to try as best as you can to open up schools for the psychological health of the children and the secondary downstream ripple effects of the family that might have to interrupt work to take care of kids.”
However, he also makes it clear that “you have to pay attention to the safety and health and welfare of the children and teachers as well as the parents and relatives. With that as a background, we live in a big country that has different levels of infections.”
Read our coverage of the meeting here.
08/19/2020 07:20 GMT — How a new blood test could help speed up vaccine development and population screening
In a recent interview, Medical News Today spoke with James Hindley, Ph.D., from Indoor Biotechnologies. We discussed a new T cell test that will help scientists as they design new vaccines and study how the immune system responds to the virus.
Read the full interview here.
08/19/2020 07:15 GMT — What can we learn from South Korea’s response?
In comparison with other countries, South Korea responded to the pandemic well, registering fewer deaths than some similarly sized nations. A recent article, published in The American Review of Public Administration, discusses South Korea’s response and the lessons that other countries can learn from it.
Read our full coverage of the study here.
08/182020 15:41 GMT — MNT video update: T cells and COVID-19
08/18/2020 10:45 GMT — According to WHO, people aged 20–49 are driving the pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) state people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s are currently driving transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Many of these individuals are asymptomatic and unaware they have contracted the virus. This presents a risk to vulnerable populations.
Takeshi Takai, WHO Western Pacific regional director, explains: “What we are observing is not simply a resurgence. We believe it’s a signal that we have entered a new phase of pandemic in the Asia-Pacific.”
Read more here.
08/18/2020 10:24 GMT — Researchers call out lack of diversity in COVID-19 clinical trials
Marginalized people experience disproportionality higher rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death. Despite this fact, according to a new perspective article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), they are significantly underrepresented in COVID-19 clinical trials.
The authors explain that clinical trials, in general, tend to lack diversity, and COVID-19 studies are no different. This fact makes it difficult to know whether interventions designed for COVID-19 will benefit those who are at most risk of the disease.
As an example, the authors explain that “[t]he modest benefit seen in time to clinical improvement with remdesivir may not be generalizable to minority populations, given the differences in disease severity and outcomes.”
Read our full coverage of the article here.
08/17/2020 10:42 GMT — Scientists revise COVID-19 incubation period to 7.7 days
In a new study, scientists analyzed data from more than 1,000 people who had contracted SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China. The team concludes that the average incubation period for COVID-19 may be longer than scientists had previously thought. They have published their findings in the journal Science Advances.
The incubation period of a disease is the time between the infection and the emergence of symptoms. Current estimates of the incubation period for COVID-19 are 4–5 days.
However, the new study concludes that the median period is 7.76 days. The researchers also found that in 10% of cases, the incubation period was over 14 days, and in 1% of cases, it was more than 20 days.
Read our full coverage of the study here.
08/17/2020 09:52 GMT — How does weather affect COVID-19?
In a recent Special Feature, Medical News Today investigate which weather conditions are most associated with COVID-19 cases. We also investigate why studies into this matter appear to be contradictory and look at the factors that underpin this confusion.
Find the feature here.
08/14/2020 15:33 GMT — Video update: Possible mechanism for blood clotting identified
Read our full coverage of the study here.
08/13/2020 13:25 GMT — Almost 6% of UK adults have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2
In a recent study, 100,000 adults in the United Kingdom completed a home-based antibody test. The researchers found that almost 6% of the population has antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.
A team at Imperial College London conducted the study, called the Real Time Assessment of Community Transmission. The results are available on a preprint server and are awaiting peer review.
The authors show that, among other findings, the proportion of people with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies varies by region. For instance, 13% of adults in London tested positive for the antibodies, compared with only 3% of people in the Southwest.
Also, certain groups were more likely to test positive, such as healthcare staff and people who work in care homes.
The team also found that people who are Black, Asian, or of other marginalized ethnic and racial groups are more likely than white people to test positive for the antibodies.
Overall, 17% of Black people,12% of Asian people, and 12% of people of other marginalized ethnic and racial populations tested positive, compared with 5% of white people.
When the researchers accounted for age and key worker status, this gap was reduced. But, as the authors explain, race and ethnicity “remained important predictors, and reflect [a] starkly uneven experience of the COVID-19 epidemic across society.”
The scientists also noted differences across age groups. For instance, 8% of people aged 18–24 tested positive, compared with 3% of people aged 65–74.
From the data, the scientists calculate that the overall infection fatality ratio is 0.9%. This means that almost 1 in 100 people with a SARS-CoV-2 infection died.
“There are still many unknowns with this new virus, including the extent to which the presence of antibodies offers protection against future infections,” explains Prof. Graham Cooke, who led the study.
He continues: “Using the finger prick tests suitable for large-scale home testing has given us [the] clearest insight yet into the spread of the virus in the country and who has been at greatest risk. These data will have important implications for decisions around ongoing control measures in England.”
Read more about the study here.
08/13/2020 10:33 GMT — COVID-19 and liver damage
Scientists recently analyzed liver tests from 1,827 hospital patients with COVID-19. They found that higher levels of liver enzymes appear to be associated with an increased risk of admission to intensive care and death. The results appear in the journal Hepatology.
Read MNT’s coverage of the study here.
08/12/2020 09:05 GMT — Russia first to approve COVID-19 vaccine
Russia has granted regulatory approval to the first COVID-19 vaccine, which they have named Sputnik V. The news comes after less than 2 months of human tests and before scientists have even begun phase III clinical trials.
According to Putin, “it works quite effectively, forms strong immunity, and, I repeat, it has passed all the necessary checks.” He also told the Russian media that one of his daughters took the vaccine as a volunteer.
The Gamaleya Institute in Moscow developed the vaccine, which will enter mass production by the end of 2020. According to Russian officials, medical personnel will be first to receive the vaccine, which is administered in two doses.
A few weeks later, teachers will be offered the vaccine on a voluntary basis. Officials plan to roll out the vaccine to the wider population in October.
Many officials are concerned that the vaccine has received approval before scientists have conducted enough research. This week, the Association of Clinical Trials Organizations, a trade body who represent the world’s top drug manufacturers in Russia, sent a letter to the health ministry.
In the letter, they urge the government to wait until the end of the phase III trial before approving Sputnik V. In it, they write:
“It is during this phase that the main evidence of a vaccine’s efficacy is collected, as well as information on adverse reactions that could appear in certain groups of patients: people with weakened immunity, people with concomitant diseases, and so forth.”
In an interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci said: “I hope that the Russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective. I seriously doubt that they’ve done that.”
Read more about the Russian vaccine here.
08/12/2020 09:01 GMT — New Zealand reports new cluster of cases
Today, after 102 days without local transmission, New Zealand reports a cluster of cases. Auckland, the country’s largest city, has returned to lockdown. Officials have registered four new cases of COVID-19 and suspect that another four people may have the disease.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says, “Our plan of mass testing, rapid contact tracing and, of course, our restrictions to stop the chain of transmission has been in full swing in Auckland today.”
According to Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield, one person with the disease works at a cold storage facility. Officials are working to find out if this could be the source of the outbreak.
Bloomfield explains that “we do know from studies overseas that actually, the virus can survive in some refrigerated environments for quite some time.”
Learn more about the situation in New Zealand here.
08/11/2020 16:22 GMT — Video update: Interleukin-6 inhibitors may be most effective for severe COVID-19
08/11/2020 09:43 GMT — Could mouthwash reduce transmission?
A recent study investigated the possibility that certain mouthwashes could reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The team tested eight formulations in the laboratory and found that “oral rinsing might reduce the viral load of saliva and could thus lower the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.”
The results appear in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. The authors are quick to note that researchers will need to carry out further tests to understand whether or not the beneficial effect translates to the clinic.
The researchers are also keen to explain that mouthwash cannot fully protect against COVID-19.
As study co-author Toni Meister says, “Gargling with a mouthwash cannot inhibit the production of viruses in the cells, but could reduce the viral load in the short term where the greatest potential for infection comes from, namely in the oral cavity and throat — and this could be useful in certain situations, such as at the dentist or during the medical care of COVID-19 patients.”
Read more about mouthwash and COVID-19 here.
08/11/2020 09:09 GMT — New Zealand records no transmission for 100 days
This week, New Zealand’s Ministry of Health published a media release stating that “[i]t has been 100 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source.” Currently, there are just 23 active cases of the disease.
In total, New Zealand has recorded 1,570 cases of COVID-19 and 22 deaths. Although their figures are low, Director-General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield explains that “we can’t afford to be complacent.”
He continues, “We have seen overseas how quickly the virus can re-emerge and spread in places where it was previously under control, and we need to be prepared to quickly stamp out any future cases in New Zealand.”
Read the full media release here.
08/10/2020 11:27 GMT — US passes 5 million cases
The United States has now registered more than 5 million cases of COVID-19 and 162,000 related deaths. Brazil recently passed 3 million cases, India has registered over 2.2 million, Russia is approaching 900,000, while South Africa now has over 500,000 cases.
Find more statistics here.
08/10/2020 10:52 GMT — Dreams in the time of the coronavirus
Over recent months, many people have noted differences in their nightly dreams. In a Special Feature, Medical News Today discuss the nature of these changes. The feature includes interviews with dream experts, who explain why some people might experience this phenomena.
Read the full feature here.
08/07/2020 14:37 GMT — MNT Video update: Hope behind the headlines
Read the full “Hope behind the headlines” feature here.
08/07/2020 10:00 GMT — New antivirals kill SARS-CoV-2
A recent study demonstrates that newly engineered antiviral compounds can neutralize SARS-CoV-2 in human airway cells. The compounds also improved survival rates in mice infected with MERS. The scientists published their findings in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Read more about the research here.
08/07/2020 09:51 GMT — Mental health effects of COVID-19 revealed in new study
A recent study concludes that the pandemic has led to a significant increase in the prevalence of mental health issues in the United Kingdom. The paper, which appears in the journal American Psychologist, highlights some factors that have influenced people’s ability to cope with the pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused global uncertainty, which has had a direct, detrimental effect on so many people across the U.K. and around the world,” explains lead author Dr. Hannah Rettie, from the University of Bath.
She continues, “People have been unsure when they would see relatives again, job security has been rocked, there is an increased threat to many people’s health, and government guidance is continuously changing, leading to much uncertainty and anxiety.”
Read MNT’s coverage of the study here.
08/06/2020 09:25 GMT — Mandatory BCG vaccination may slow spread of COVID-19
A recent study looked for a relationship between COVID-19 rates and bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination. The scientists conclude that countries that had compulsory BCG vaccination until at least 2000 seem to have built up a degree of “herd immunity” against COVID-19.
The study, which appears in the journal Science Advances, reports how having mandatory BCG vaccination significantly “flattened the curve” of the initial spread of COVID-19.
However, the authors note that researchers will need to continue investigating this effect. Theywrite: “BCG is by no means a magic bullet that assures safety against COVID-19. In all likelihood, there are some societal variables that moderate this effect. This variation must be addressed in future work.”
Read more about the study here.
08/06/2020 09:07 GMT — COVID-19 vaccine successfully protects macaques against virus
A recent study, which appears in the journal Nature, shows that a vaccine candidate effectively protects rhesus macaque monkeys from developing COVID-19. The vaccine uses a common cold virus to transport SARS-CoV-2 proteins into host cells, where they stimulate an immune response.
Read MNT’s full coverage of the study here.
08/05/2020 09:16 GMT — Latin America now pandemic epicenter
On Tuesday, Latin America passed Europe to become the region with the highest death toll. With more than 206,000 deaths, the region accounts for about 30% of the world’s total deaths. The worst affected countries are Brazil and Mexico, with more than 95,000 and 48,000 deaths, respectively.
The virus took longer to affect Latin America than other regions, but countries including Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia are now experiencing sharp increases in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Find more about the situation in Latin America here.
08/05/2020 09:07 GMT — COVID-19 deaths exceed 700,000
Today, the global number of COVID-19-related deaths passed 700,000. The United States has registered the highest number of cases (more than 4.7 million), followed by Brazil (more than 2.8 million), India (almost 2 million), and Russia (over 850,000).
Read more here.
08/04/2020 14:36 GMT — MNT video update: COVID-19 and children
08/04/2020 11:08 GMT — What role do young children play in COVID-19?
Many studies have concluded that children are less susceptible to COVID-19, and the latest review agrees with this assessment. However, the recent closure of a children’s summer camp in the state of Georgia due to an outbreak raises questions about children’s role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
Read about the review here and the summer camp closure here.
08/04/2020 09:39 GMT — Germany already experiencing ‘second, shallow upswing’
In a recent German newspaper article, Dr. Susanne Johna, president of Marburger Bund, a professional association and trade union for doctors, explained that Germany is already in “a second, shallow upswing” of COVID-19.
Although Germany has been relatively successful at reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, Dr. Johna believes that a slow reduction in physical distancing and hygiene regulations could set the country back. She calls for a renewed effort.
Read more here.
08/03/2020 11:33 GMT — Preventing a pandemic is 500 times cheaper than responding to one
According to a recent analysis, responding to a pandemic is 500 times more expensive than taking preventive measures. The new policy brief appears in the journal Science. The authors call for a worldwide shift toward preventive action.
They also identify factors associated with the risk of future pandemics, such as deforestation, so-called wet markets, and the global trade in wild animals.
Co-author Prof. Les Kaufman, from Boston University in Massachusetts, explains:
“There are many people who might object to the United States fronting money, but it’s in our own best interest. Nothing seems more prudent than to give ourselves time to deal with this pandemic before the next one comes.”
Read MNT’s coverage of the research here.
08/03/2020 11:29 GMT — Victoria, Australia declares state of disaster
Yesterday, the Australian state of Victoria declared a state of disaster as COVID-19 cases rise. Although certain measures were already in place, officials are now introducing stricter rules. AsPremier Daniel Andrews explained: “We must go harder. It’s the only way we’ll get to the other side of this.”
The new measures include a curfew between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. People can only leave their house during those hours for medical treatment, work, or care-giving.
Residents of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, are only allowed to exercise within 3 miles of their home for no longer than 1 hour at a time. Only one person per household is allowed to shop for essentials.
Students are resuming remote learning, and childcare centers are closed. As of Thursday, restaurants, cafes, bars, and gyms will also close.
“We have got to limit the amount of movement, therefore limiting the amount of transmission of this virus. We have to clamp down on this,” said Andrews.
Read more about the situation in Victoria here.
31/07/2020 15:10 GMT — MNT video update
31/07/2020 11:33 GMT — Seasonal flu cases plummet
The global lockdown has caused an unprecedented dip in the number of cases of seasonal flu. The prevalence of other communicable diseases, such as mumps and measles, has also declined. In China, for instance, influenza infections have dropped by 90% since lockdown began.
Similarly, the United Kingdom and Australia have noted significant dips in cases of influenza, and officials in Canada have reported “exceptionally low levels.” South Korea reported an 83% decrease in influenza cases, compared with the same period last year.
Although the decline in influenza prevalence has eased pressure on hospitals, some experts worry that lower numbers of cases might reduce populations’ immunity.
Prof. Ben Marais, an infectious disease expert at the University of Sydney, explains, “It may be that if we don’t have infections this season, there will be more vulnerable people next season, [and] that is definitely something that we will have to carefully monitor. This season passed us by, it seems.”
Read more here.
31/07/2020 10:01 GMT — List of promising drugs against COVID-19 leads to new treatment trial
In a recent study, scientists analyzed a database of around 12,000 existing drugs that have been screened and approved for effectiveness, safety, and availability. From this list, they identified a number of promising compounds — and one, called LAM-002A, is now heading into a phase II clinical trial.
The authors published their list of potential treatments in the journal Nature. A company called AI Therapeutics owns the rights to LAM-002A and, in partnership with researchers at Yale University, they plan to continue studying the drug.
Prof. Murat Gunel, based at Yale and the chief scientific adviser to AI Therapeutics, explains: “LAM-002A holds promise to be a powerful new therapy for COVID-19 patients to prevent progression of the disease, hopefully avoiding the need for hospitalization.”
Find our full coverage of the research here.
07/30/2020 10:08 GMT — Promising early results from inhaled drug study
The preliminary results of a recent study show that an inhaled version of interferon-beta reduced breathlessness and increased the chances of recovery in people with COVID-19. The study included data from 101 patients at nine hospitals in the United Kingdom.
According to chief investigator Prof. Tom Wilkinson, “The results confirm our belief that interferon-beta, a widely known drug that, by injection, has been approved for use in a number of other indications, has huge potential as an inhaled drug to be able to restore the lung’s immune response, enhancing protection, accelerating recovery, and countering the impact of SARS-CoV-2.”
Richard Marsden, CEO of Synairgen, the company that developed the new version of interferon-beta, explains that the drug “greatly reduced the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients who progressed from ‘requiring oxygen’ to ‘requiring ventilation.’”
He also reports that people who received the drug “were at least twice as likely to recover to the point where their everyday activities were not compromised through having been infected by SARS-CoV-2.”
Read more about the trial here.
07/30/2020 10:03 GMT — Seaweed extract may be more effective than remdesivir
The authors of a recent study conclude that extracts from seaweed might be more effective at treating COVID-19 than remdesivir, the current leading antiviral drug for SARS-CoV-2. The results of their study appear in the journal Cell Discovery.
Heparin, a common blood-thinning agent, is extractable from seaweed. In the current study, the researchers focused on three variants of heparin and two related fucoidans, which naturally occur in seaweed.
The scientists researched the possibility of using seaweed extract as a SARS-CoV-2 antiviral after studying the shape of the virus particles and how they function to deter a person’s normal antiviral defenses.
“It’s a very complicated mechanism that we quite frankly don’t know all the details about, but we’re getting more information,” explains corresponding author Prof. Jonathan Dordick. “One thing that’s become clear with this study is that the larger the molecule, the better the fit. The more successful compounds are the larger sulfated polysaccharides that offer a greater number of sites on the molecules to trap the virus.”
Read our full coverage of the research here.
07/29/2020 09:07 GMT — COVID-19 disruptions could lead to surge in infectious disease deaths
A recent study, which appears in Lancet Global Health, concludes that disruptions to health services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to significant increases in HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria deaths over the coming years.
Using data modeling, the authors found that over the next 5 years, the number of HIV deaths could increase by 10%, tuberculosis deaths by 20%, and malaria deaths by 36%. Co-lead researcher Prof. Timothy Hallett explains:
“In countries with a high malaria burden and large HIV and TB epidemics, even short-term disruptions could have devastating consequences for the millions of people who depend on programs to control and treat these diseases. However, the knock-on impact of the pandemic could be largely avoided by maintaining core services and continuing preventive measures.”
Read our full coverage of the research here.
07/29/2020 09:00 GMT — Modified protein may help ‘speed up vaccine production’
Scientists have created a modified version of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. This innovation, they believe, could help speed up vaccine production. They hope that this could make the vaccine available to more people sooner. The researchers have published their findings in the journal Science.
As senior author Jason McLellan explains: “Depending on the type of vaccine, this improved version of the protein could reduce the size of each dose or speed up vaccine production. Either way, it could mean more patients have access to vaccines faster.”
Find our coverage of the recent study here.
07/28/2020 15:52 GMT — MNT Video update: How has COVID-19 affected suicidality in the US?
07/28/2020 10:59 GMT — Head of China CDC injected with experimental COVID-19 vaccine
Dr. Gao Fu, the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, recently announced that he had received an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. He hopes that this will help persuade Chinese citizens to get a vaccine once one has been approved.
At a webinar on Sunday, Dr. Gao said: “I’m going to reveal something undercover: I am injected with one of the vaccines. […] I hope it will work.”
“Everybody has suspicions about the new coronavirus vaccine,” he continued. “As a scientist, you’ve got to be brave. […] If even we didn’t do it, how can we persuade the whole world — all the people, the public — to be vaccinated?”
Read more here.
07/28/2020 09:31 GMT — Stroke risk higher for COVID-19 patients who smoke or vape
A recent review concludes that both smoking and vaping could increase the risk of stroke in COVID-19 due to damage to the blood-brain barrier and a higher risk of blood clots. The paper appears in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
One of the authors of the review, Luca Cucullo, Ph.D., explains: “COVID-19 seems to have this ability to increase the risk for blood coagulation, as does smoke. This may ultimately translate in higher risk for stroke.”
Read more about the review here.
07/27/2020 14:35 GMT — The first phase III candidate vaccine trial begins in the US amid rising numbers of cases
Today saw the start of a phase III clinical trial to test whether the experimental COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273, which many know as the Moderna vaccine, can prevent COVID-19 in adults.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States continue to rise.
The vaccine, which the biotech company Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases codeveloped, will be given to half of the 30,000 volunteers in the study in two doses. The other half will receive a placebo.
According to the Washington Post, the U.S. had 59,737 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday. South Carolina reported the greatest number of daily deaths and a 41% increase in deaths over the past 7 days.
Read more about the mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate here.
07/27/2020 12:01 GMT — How has COVID-19 affected suicide ideation in the US?
A new study by researchers from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, highlights how many people are harboring thoughts of suicide during the pandemic.
The team used questionnaire data from 10,368 adults in the United States and published their work in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.
About 10% and 15% of respondents fell into the categories of moderate and high risk, respectively, as per the Suicide Behavior Questionnaire that the researchers used.
Some groups of people were disproportionately more likely to fall into the high risk category. These individuals included Black people, Indigenous Americans, Hispanic people, those who were born outside the U.S., and younger people.
In their discussion, the authors report, “food insecurity appears to be an overwhelming circumstance that, for many, is becoming increasingly difficult to bear.”
Read our coverage of the results here.
07/24/2020 17:00 GMT — MNT video update: Hopeful findings from the last couple of weeks
07/24/2020 16:10 GMT — Protein innovation could greatly speed up vaccine production
In the context of promising clinical trial results of new vaccines for COVID-19, researchers from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin have come up with an innovation that may speed up the production of vaccines across the world.
Most vaccines rely on training the immune system to recognize the key element that makes SARS-CoV-2 so harmful to humans: the spike protein. UT scientists successfully recreated a version of this protein and dubbed it HexaPro.
HexaPro is more stable and resistant to heat, making it easier to transport and store, as well as freeze and thaw several times. Furthermore, when expressed in cells, HexaPro produces almost 10 times more protein than other synthetic spike proteins in use in current vaccines.
“Depending on the type of vaccine, this improved version of the protein could reduce the size of each dose or speed up vaccine production,” says Jason McLellan, senior author of the paper that details the findings. “Either way, it could mean more patients have access to vaccines faster.”
Read more about the study here.
07/24/2020 14:20 GMT — Vaccine candidates show promising results
In the latest feature in our Hope Behind the Headlines series, we look at two much anticipated COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. One of these candidates is what many people call the Oxford vaccine, while the other comes from a team in China.
Both vaccines use weakened adenoviruses. Many of the trial volunteers experienced side effects, but these were mostly mild.
In both studies, the majority of volunteers also developed neutralizing antibodies and showed T cell responses. It is not clear how effective these candidates will be in protecting people from COVID-19, but larger studies are ongoing.
Read our full feature here.
07/23/2020 14:35 GMT — US continues to see rising cases and deaths from COVID-19
Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 1,047 people had died from COVID-19 in the United States in the past 24 hours. This is the highest daily death toll since early June, according to The Washington Post.
California overtook New York State and now has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the U.S., while Texas had the highest number of new deaths.
Read more about the situation in California here.
07/23/2020 10:24 GMT — Can a combination of antibodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2?
In a study in Nature, a team led by scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, investigated antibodies from a couple who had recovered from COVID-19. Two of these antibodies protected mice and macaques from severe COVID-19.
The antibodies interfered with the viral spike protein binding to the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor.
The scientists note that other research groups have found that SARS-CoV-2 is able to evolve “escape mutations” to evade a single antibody, but not two antibodies in combination.
It is important to note that scientists have not tested these antibodies in humans yet. But there are planned clinical trials in collaboration with two pharmaceutical companies.
Read our full coverage of the research here.
07/22/2020 09:12 GMT — Trump changes stance to promote masks
At a press briefing, President Trump urged people to avoid crowded bars and wear masks when social distancing is not possible. He said, “It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better — something I don’t like saying about things, but that’s the way it is.”
In a break from his earlier rhetoric, he advised people that “Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. They’ll have an effect. And we need everything we can get.” He said that he would wear his “gladly.”
Find more live updates here.
07/22/2020 09:09 GMT — Hydroxychloroquine fails to reduce COVID-19 symptoms
In a recent study, researchers conclude that taking the antimalaria drug hydroxychloroquine shortly after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms does not significantly reduce symptoms or rates of hospitalization. The results appear in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The authors conclude that “Finding effective therapies against COVID-19 remains critical. Effective treatment of early, outpatient COVID-19 could decrease hospitalizations and, ultimately, morbidity and mortality. Hydroxychloroquine
