Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss How Exercise Behaviors Changed During COVID-19 Pandemic

New Brunswick, N.J. (April 14, 2021) – Rutgers expert Brandon L. Alderman, who focuses on the science of exercise and its impact on mental health and cognitive function, is available for interviews on how exercise behaviors have changed during the…

Houston Methodist study reveals COVID-19 UK variant cases doubling weekly in Houston

Houston Methodist infectious disease pathologists have discovered new COVID-19 cases caused by the SARS-CoV-2 UK B.1.1.7 variant are doubling weekly. By mid-March the number increased sharply to 648 cases from 305 just a week earlier. The findings come from the latest batch of 8,857 virus genomes sequenced from patients with positive COVID-19 tests in the first two months of 2021, representing 94% of Houston Methodist cases.

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Announces Recipients of 2021 Circle of Excellence Awards

The 18 nurses who receive the Circle of Excellence award from AACN this year demonstrate an exceptional commitment to achieving excellent outcomes in the care of acutely and critically ill patients and their families, with solution-oriented approaches to challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Making the pieces fit: How WVU, Marshall and the state of West Virginia detect new COVID-19 variants

Picture viral RNA as a single component that you can break into one million pieces. Now imagine reassembling those pieces together, literally like a jigsaw puzzle. If there’s a chipped corner or if a piece won’t fit snugly as it should, consider that a virus mutation or variant. That’s genomic sequencing, in a nutshell, when it comes to identifying variants of COVID-19, according to Peter Stoilov, associate professor of biochemistry at the West Virginia University School of Medicine.

Flu shot associated with fewer, less severe COVID cases

People who received a flu shot last flu season were significantly less likely to test positive for a COVID-19 infection when the pandemic hit, according to a new study. And those who did test positive for COVID-19 had fewer complications if they received their flu shot.

Hormone Drugs May Disarm COVID-19 Spike Protein and Stop Disease Progression

Hormone drugs that reduce androgen levels may help disarm the coronavirus spike protein used to infect cells and stop the progression of severe COVID-19 disease, suggests a new preclinical study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania and published online in Cell Press’s iScience.

During pandemic, potentially avoidable hospitalizations for non-COVID conditions fell more among whites

New research suggests that the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated existing racial health care disparities and that during the pandemic, African Americans may have had worse access than whites to outpatient care that could have helped prevent deterioration of their non–COVID-19 health conditions

Rutgers University’s Resilient, Innovative Year Confronting COVID-19

The last year, which has been unlike any other in Rutgers’ 254-year history, has centered on keeping the Rutgers community safe, providing top-notch health care, developing the first saliva test for the coronavirus and helping society cope with the biggest global public health crisis since the 1918 influenza pandemic.

March SLAS Discovery Explores COVID-19 Drug Therapies Six Months Later

The March edition of SLAS Discovery features the cover article, “Therapeutic and Vaccine Options for COVID-19: Status After 6 Months of the Disease Outbreak” by Christian Ogaugwu (Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria ), Dawid Maciorowski, Subba Rao Durvasula, Ph.D., Ravi Durvasula, M.D., and Adinarayana Kunamneni, Ph.D. (Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, USA).

How SARS-CoV-2’s Sugar-Coated Shield Helps Activate the Virus

ROCKVILLE, MD – One thing that makes SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, elusive to the immune system is that it is covered in sugars called glycans.

University of Northern Colorado Associate Professor Nick Pullen Provides Expertise on COVID-19 Vaccinations

Nick Pullen, Ph.D., an associate professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), provides expertise regarding the topic of COVID-19 vaccinations and immunity.  Pullen’s research centers around the body’s immune response, specifically chronic inflammation, asthma and allergies.…

Valentine’s Day: Experts available to comment on COVID-19’s impact on the holiday for restaurants, tourism

For Valentine’s Day, couples traditionally plan a romantic getaway or spend their evening at a nice restaurant, but with cases of COVID-19 soaring, celebrations of love may look a bit different this year. The pandemic has hit restaurants, retail businesses…

Study: reparations for slavery could have reduced COVID-19 infections and deaths in U.S.

New study suggests monetary reparations for Black descendants of people enslaved in the United States could have cut SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 rates both among Black individuals and the population at large.

Researchers modeled the impact of structural racism on viral transmission and disease impact in the state of Louisiana.
The higher burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection among Black people also amplified the virus’s spread in the wider population.

Reparations could have reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the overall population by as much as 68 percent.

Compared with white people, Black individuals in the United States are more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2, more likely to end up in the hospital with COVID-19, and more likely to die from the disease.

Black dean of UAB School of Medicine able to discuss COVID health inequities, vaccine hesitancy in minority populations

Selwyn Vickers, M.D., dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine and leading expert in health disparities and inequities, is able to comment on: Why minority populations are experiencing vaccine hesitancy How minority populations have disproportionately been…

Sharing Elevators during COVID

With COVID-19 vaccines in reach, city officials, business administrators, and high-rise building managers are planning how to safely open offices as people come back to work. Columbia engineers have been exploring solutions to this problem, with real-world data and context provided by the Office of the Mayor of New York City. They used mathematical modeling and epidemiological principles to design interventions for queuing safely in elevators during a pandemic, without having to program any elevators.

Mount Sinai Study Finds Wearable Devices Can Detect COVID-19 Symptoms and Predict Diagnosis

Wearable devices can identify COVID-19 cases earlier than traditional diagnostic methods and can help track and improve management of the disease, according to a Mount Sinai study.

Peginterferon-lambda shows strong antiviral action to accelerate clearance of COVID-19

A clinical study led by Dr. Jordan Feld, a liver specialist at Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, University Health Network (UHN), showed an experimental antiviral drug can significantly speed up recovery for COVID-19 outpatients – patients who do not need to be hospitalized. This could become an important intervention to treat infected patients and help curb community spread, while COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out this year.

Health Disparities and COVID-19, Toxicity of E-cigarette Generated Aerosols, and More Featured in February 2021 Toxicological Sciences

Toxicological Sciences continues to feature leading toxicology research in the areas of developmental and reproductive toxicology; endocrine toxicology; neurotoxicology; molecular, biochemical, and systems toxicology; and more.

UCLA seeks volunteers for study of COVID-19’s impact on health to support “longhaul” survivors

UCLA researchers are seeking participants for an innovative study examining the impact of COVID-19 on survivors who continue battling health issues long after they were infected and thought to have recovered, known informally as “long COVID” and “longhaulers.”

Research finds people diagnosed with HIV in New York State were more than twice as likely to die from COVID-19

New research out of the University at Albany and the AIDS Institute at the New York State Department of Health found that through the middle of 2020, people diagnosed with HIV infection were significantly more likely to contract, be hospitalized with and die from COVID-19.

The Impact of the U.S. Re-engaging with the World Health Organization

The United States will begin participating in an international collaboration to distribute COVID-19 vaccines more equitably around the world after President Joe Biden reversed the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization on his first day in office.
Richard Marlink, the director of Rutgers Global Health Institute, discusses the impact COVAX, the global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines, will have on ending the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening global health.

New study finds reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 in healthy young adults is common

MEDIA ADVISORY Paper title: SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and subsequent infection risk in healthy young adults: a prospective cohort study Corresponding Author:  Stuart C. Sealfon, MD, Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience and Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Bottom Line: Although…

‘COVID Effect’ Leads to Fewer Heart Surgeries, More Patient Deaths

The most deadly global health crisis in a century has resulted in a substantial decline in overall heart surgery volume and an unexplained increase in deaths after coronary artery bypass grafting, according to late-breaking research presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Food export restrictions by a few countries could skyrocket global food crop prices

Recent events such as the Covid-19 pandemic, locust infestations, drought and labour shortages have disrupted food supply chains, endangering food security in the process. A study published in Nature Food shows that trade restrictions and stockpiling of supplies by a few key countries could create global food price spikes and severe local food shortages during times of threat.