I ’ve Seen Wars and Epidemics Unfold. But Now That I Have an Immunocompromised Partner, the Coronavirus Makes Me Truly Scared
At midnight on Thursday March 26, all of South Africa went into lockdown. For the next 21 days, no one is to leave their homes unless they are going to the grocery store, the pharmacy or to seek medical help. No dog walking, no jogging, no food delivery services. Only essential workers are exempt, and that list is small. When President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement on March 23, a week after shutting the nation’s schools, there were only 402 confirmed COVID-19 cases. But it was essential, he said, to “flatten the curve” before widespread outbreaks overwhelmed the country’s fragile medical sys...
Source: TIME: Health - March 27, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Aryn Baker Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Londontime Source Type: news
Abbott Brings Home EUA for COVID-19 Test
Abbott Laboratories, one of the biggest players in the medical device space, has obtained Emergency Use Authorization for a test to detect the coronavirus [COVID-19]. The Abbott Park, IL-based company joins the rapidly expanding list of companies that have received EUA designation in the past few days.
The firm’s RealTime SARS-CoV-2 EUA test can be used on its molecular instrument, the m2000 RealTime System, by authorized laboratories in the U.S.
"Our scientists, many of whom worked on Abbott's first HIV test and the Zika tests, worked around the clock to develop these molecular tests," Daman Kowalski, vi...
Source: MDDI - March 19, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Omar Ford Tags: IVD Source Type: news
Rapid Diagnostics Firm Secures Financing Amid Covid-19 Crisis
It might seem like the world has slowed down to a crawl amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but there are still some companies out there raising money. E25Bio is one of those companies – bringing in $2 million in funding from Khosla Ventures.
The Cambridge, MA-based company develops technology for rapid diagnosis of dangerous infectious diseases such as dengue, zika, and now COVID-19. Financing will go toward research and development, clinical studies, and scaling the company’s launch for diagnostic tests upon receiving Emergency Use Authorization approval.
E25Bio’...
Source: MDDI - March 19, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Omar Ford Tags: Business Source Type: news
Like Zika, The Public Is Heading To Wikipedia During The COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic
A new study shows that public attention during the Zika virus epidemic was largely driven by media coverage, rather than the epidemic ’s magnitude or extent. Now, during COVID-19, the main 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic Wikipedia page has over ten million page views. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News - March 18, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Farah Qaiser, Contributor Source Type: news
Gender “ Could be Coronavirus Key ”
By External SourceMar 17 2020 (IPS) Analysing how coronavirus impacts genders differently could be key in fighting the disease, say public health experts.
Women are on the coronavirus frontlines as healthcare workers, primary caregivers and migrant workers, but policy responses often fail to consider how gender and epidemics interact.
The Ebola and Zika outbreaks underline the urgent need for gendered analyses, says Clare Wenham, assistant professor in global health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Globally, women make up about 70 per cent of the health workforce and are primarily responsible...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - March 17, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: External Source Tags: Gender Global Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Coronavirus Source Type: news
Trump ’s State of Emergency Is an Admission of Failure by the U.S. Government
President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency is designed to speed federal support to parts of America that are struggling to prepare for a coming surge of COVID-19 cases, unlocking $50 billion in aid, giving hospitals and doctors more freedom to handle a potential tsunami of sick patients and scrambling to make tests available. In a Rose Garden press conference Friday, Trump presented the emergency measures as proof that, “No nation is more prepared or more equipped to face down this crisis.”
But for epidemiologists, medical experts and current and former U.S. public health officials, the ...
Source: TIME: Health - March 13, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: W.J. Hennigan Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news
Johnson & Johnson Announces Collaboration with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to Accelerate COVID-19 Vaccine Development
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., March 13, 2020 – Johnson & Johnson today announced that its Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies have entered a collaboration with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) to support the development of a preventive vaccine candidate for COVID-19. The parties have commenced preclinical testing of multiple vaccine prospects, with the aim to identify by the end of the month a COVID-19 vaccine candidate for clinical trials.Janssen is optimistic that, in collaboration with multiple global strategic partners, it can initiate a Phase 1 clinical study of a potential vaccine candidate by the end of th...
Source: Johnson and Johnson - March 13, 2020 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: Our Company Source Type: news
Wikipedia visits to disease outbreak pages show impact of news media on public attention
(PLOS) During the 2016 Zika outbreak, news exposure appears to have had a far bigger impact than local disease risk on the number of times people visited Zika-related Wikipedia pages in the U.S. Michele Tizzoni and colleagues at the ISI Foundation in Turin, Italy, present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - March 12, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Zika combats advanced-stage central nervous system tumors in dogs
(Funda ç ã o de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de S ã o Paulo) The viral therapy was tested in three elderly animals with spontaneous brain tumors by a group affiliated with the FAPESP-funded Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - March 11, 2020 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
The Tokyo Olympics Are on for Now — But the Clock Is Ticking
(TOKYO) — The tentacles of canceling the Tokyo Olympics — or postponing or staging it in empty venues — would reach into every corner of the globe, much like the spreading virus that now imperils the opening ceremony on July 24.
The International Olympic Committee and local organizers say the games are on, but the clock is ticking.
The fate of the Tokyo Games touches 11,000 Olympic and 4,400 Paralympic athletes, coaches and sports officials, local organizers, the Japanese government and national morale, international broadcasters, fans and world sponsors. Add to this hotels, airlines and taxi drivers &mda...
Source: TIME: Health - March 10, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Stephen Wade and Graham Wade / AP Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 News Desk wire Source Type: news
Knowing more about a virus threat may not satisfy you
(Ohio State University) People who rate themselves as highly knowledgeable about a new infectious disease threat could also be more likely to believe they don't know enough, a new study suggests. In the case of this study, the infectious disease threat was the Zika virus. But the authors of the new study, published recently in the journal Risk Analysis, say the results could apply to the recent novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - March 10, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Coronaviruses: Understanding the Spread of Infectious Diseases and Mobilizing Innovative Solutions
Source: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Published: 3/5/2020.
This two-hour Congressional hearing discusses how science can help control and mitigate the effects of emerging infectious diseases, especially in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak; how recent disease outbreaks like SARS, MERS, Ebola, and Zika have highlighted the need to use social science to fight deadly disease outbreaks and epidemics; and how additional investments in social science research on combatting misinformation during outbreaks could improve prevention and control efforts and strengthen global p...
Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health - March 5, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Lessons learned from addressing myths about Zika and yellow fever outbreaks in Brazil
(Dartmouth College) When disease epidemics and outbreaks occur, conspiracy theories often emerge that compete with the information provided by public health officials. A Dartmouth-led study in Science Advances finds that information used to counter myths about Zika in Brazil not only failed to reduce misperceptions but also reduced the accuracy of people's other beliefs about the disease. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - February 27, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
La FDA investiga para acelerar la creaci ón de vacunas y terapias contra el virus del Zika
Un nuevo modelo a base de ratones dise ñado por científicos de la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de los Estados Unidos (FDA, por sus siglas en inglés) podría ayudar a explorar la posible actividad de las vacunas y terapias contra el virus del Zika. Publicado hoy en PLoS Pathogens, es la descripción de un modelo a base d e ratones neonatos que proporciona una plataforma para, posiblemente, mejorar y agilizar los estudios que permitan entender las causas y los efectos (la patología) del virus del Zika. (Source: FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research - What's New)
Source: FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research - What's New - February 21, 2020 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: FDA Source Type: news
Why Zika virus caused most harmful brain damage to Brazilian newborns
(Washington University School of Medicine) Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the strain of Zika that circulated in Brazil during the microcephaly epidemic that began in 2015 was particularly damaging to the developing brain. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - February 18, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
