December 10, 2020 A group of six (6) third-year undergraduate students at Johns Hopkins University (JHU; Baltimore, MD, USA) has designed the leak-proof mask that could be used with common CPAP machines to support the treatment of COVID-19 patients. In order to combat the shortage of ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients, the students began researching … Read more
December 08, 2020 According to the researchers, the results can be obtained in hours from small samples of saliva. The saliva-based test serves as a potential substitute to blood-sample antibody tests for research and clinical use. Based on antigens from SARS-CoV-2, mostly from its outer spike and nucleocapsid proteins, the test analyses saliva sample collected … Read more
December 03, 2020 As record numbers of coronavirus cases overwhelm hospitals across the United States (US), there is something strikingly different from the surge that inundated cities in the spring of 2020: No one is clamoring for ventilators. The sophisticated breathing machines, used to sustain the most critically ill patients, are far more plentiful than … Read more
December 02, 2020 Based on CT and MRI images, investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania determined that these chronic conditions could play a role in which patients are impacted by more than just the hallmark lung inflammation that comes with viral infection. “COVID-19’s effects extend far beyond the chest,” … Read more
The Agency added a new item to its questions and answers (Q&As) for laboratories and manufacturers of tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The new Q&A cites “the overlap in signs and symptoms between SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viral infections, including influenza.” Multi-analyte panels for respiratory infections, noted the Agency, “are useful when … Read more
November 20, 2020 On 4 FEB 2020, just weeks after the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the US, FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, after issues with the CDC’s rollout of the test and the need for additional … Read more
November 17, 2020 The CEOs, who head vaccine front-runners AstraZeneca, Moderna and partners Pfizer and BioNTech, as well as GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Merck, Novavax and Sanofi, also say they will put patient safety first and will “adhere to high scientific and ethical standards regarding the conduct of clinical trials and the rigor of … Read more
November 13, 2020 “The pandemic is getting significantly more worrisome all across the country,” Biden said on Friday. “I want everyone to know on day one, we’re going to put our plan to control this virus into action.” There were dauntingly high new case numbers last week, and by the time Biden takes office January … Read more
November 10, 2020 In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released new data from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), which show 1.8 million fewer U.S. youth are currently using e-cigarettes compared to 2019. After two (2) years of disturbing increases in youth … Read more
November 05, 2020 Could wearables be used to detect potential COVID-19 cases? A group of researchers at the Scripps Research Translational Institute found that changes in sleep, activity levels and heart rate, paired with symptom data, could be used to identify COVID-19 cases. Their results were published in Nature on Thursday. The idea behind the … Read more