The COVID-19 Pandemic – News and Features

Developing new drugs and vaccines to treat the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can take years. Existing drugs may offer a possible quick response to the potential pandemic.

A team of clinicians and researchers for the first time has described the pathology of the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19).

The coronavirus outbreak looks set-in for the long haul, with new strong holds and cases cropping in a constant stream. A question mark has also been raised over the possibility of re-infection. Officials and health authorities are doing their best to try and limit the spread but it requires the cooperation of the public.

A team has have designed compounds that block the replication of coronaviruses, as well as other disease-causing viruses, in the lab. The compounds have not yet been tested in people.

Vaccine acceptance is a crucial public health issue, which has been exacerbated by the use of social media to spread content expressing vaccine hesitancy. Studies have shown that social media can provide new information regarding the dynamics of vaccine communication online, potentially affecting real-world vaccine behaviors.

A randomized, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the investigational antiviral remdesivir in hospitalized adults diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha.

Throughout human history, we have always been at war with infectious agents. In the past, there used to be less sophisticated tools to identify epidemics. Nowadays, more advanced technologies, such as genomic sequencing, are being harnessed to gain information about infectious agents.

In a new study published in the journal Science, researchers outline their work that could be considered a major step towards the development of a viable vaccine for the 2019 novel coronavirus. The work was deemed so pertinent that Science expedited its review process for the study manuscript.

Researchers are using mathematical models to better understand and predict the spread of COVID-19 and to quantify the effectiveness of various efforts to stop it.

The short answer is, in terms of deaths at least, the current coronavirus outbreak is not as bad as it was initially predicted. However, researchers are working tirelessly as new data becomes available to refine models vital for disease management.