Researchers from Trinity College Dublin are calling on the government in Ireland to change recommendations for vitamin D supplements. A new publication from Dr Eamon Laird and Professor Rose Anne Kenny, School of Medicine, and the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), in collaboration with Professor Jon Rhodes at University of Liverpool, highlights the association […]
Certain pre-existing conditions may double, triple mortality risk for COVID-19
A large, international study of COVID-19 patients confirmed that cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, stroke and cancer can increase a patient’s risk of dying from the virus. Penn State College of Medicine researchers say their findings may help public health officials improve patient care and develop interventions that can target […]
DxTerity Announces a New At-Home COVID-19 Testing Solution
DxTerity Diagnostics announced the FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA 202120) for their SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test, SafeWorkDx™. The updated version of the saliva-based COVID-19 test can be taken unsupervised from home, as well as in the workplace. Self-collected saliva samples are shipped for analysis and results are delivered within a short turnaround time. SafeWorkDx provides a […]
Adequate Levels of Vitamin D Reduces Complications, Death Among COVID-19 Patients
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who were vitamin D sufficient, with a blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D of at least 30 ng/mL (a measure of vitamin D status), had a significant decreased risk for adverse clinical outcomes including becoming unconscious, hypoxia (body starved for oxygen) and death. In addition, they had lower blood levels of an inflammatory […]
Over 80 percent of COVID-19 patients have vitamin D deficiency
Over 80 percent of 200 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Spain have vitamin D deficiency, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Vitamin D is a hormone the kidneys produce that controls blood calcium concentration and impacts the immune system. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked […]
COVID-19 virus enters the brain, research strongly suggests
More and more evidence is coming out that people with COVID-19 are suffering from cognitive effects, such as brain fog and fatigue. And researchers are discovering why. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, like many viruses before it, is bad news for the brain. In a study published Dec.16 in Nature Neuroscience, researchers found that the spike protein, often […]
Pandemic Movies To Watch In Quarantine
Disease-themed movies are at an all-time high amidst this coronavirus outbreak. But can it get any scarier in scary times. Since COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic, doesn’t it feel like you’ve seen this scenario before. Our very existence has been threatened by epidemics, war, famine, climate change, and dwindling resources. It seems like […]
SARS-CoV-2 mutations do not appear to increase transmissibility
None of the mutations currently documented in the SARS-CoV-2 virus appear to increase its transmissibility in humans, according to a study led by UCL researchers. The analysis of virus genomes from over 46,000 people with COVID-19 from 99 countries is published today in Nature Communications. First and corresponding author Dr Lucy van Dorp (UCL Genetics Institute) […]
Temperature checks not very effective in detecting COVID-19 infection in symptom screenings
Temperature and COVID-19 symptom checks like the ones used at schools and doctor’s offices have again proved inadequate for spotting coronavirus infections and preventing outbreaks. A study of Marine recruits found that despite these measures and strict quarantines before they started training, the recruits spread the virus to others even though hardly any of them […]
Study measures effectiveness of different face mask materials when coughing
A team of researchers have tested everything from t-shirts and socks to jeans and vacuum bags to determine what type of mask material is most effective at trapping the ultrafine particles which may contain viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Northwestern University, tested the […]