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Retest 4-plus weeks after first symptoms to curb infection risk — large population study
People who've had COVID-19 should be swab tested again 4 or more weeks after symptoms first appear to minimise the risk of onward infection,...
Dutch study: Does the COVID-19 'cytokine storm' even exist?
Inflammatory proteins, also known as cytokines, play a crucial role in the immune response. If this immune response is too strong, a phenomenon known...
Russian COVID-19 vaccine’s immune response — First release of trials’ results
Russian scientists have published the first report on their coronavirus vaccine, saying early tests showed signs of an immune response. According to a BBC...
First randomised trial backs safety of common heart drugs in COVID-19 patients
Heart patients hospitalised with COVID-19 can safely continue taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), according to the BRACE CORONA trial...
Post-COVID syndrome severely damages children's hearts — systematic review
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), believed to be linked to COVID-19, damages the heart to such an extent that some children will need...
Vitamin D deficiency may raise risk of coronavirus infection — retrospective study
In a retrospective study of patients tested for COVID-19, researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine found an association between vitamin D deficiency and...
COVID-19's long-term lung and heart damage may improve – first prospective follow-up
COVID-19 patients can suffer long-term lung and heart damage but, for many, this tends to improve over time, according to the first, prospective follow-up...
Reduction of mechanical ventilation cut ICU deaths — UK Intensive Care Research Centre
Death rates among seriously ill COVID-19 patients dropped sharply when doctors reduced the use of mechanical ventilators, according to an analysis by the UK's Intensive Care...
Investigational COVID-19 vaccine prevents severe clinical disease in animals
Most people with COVID-19 have relatively mild disease, but a subset of people develop severe pneumonia and respiratory failure, potentially leading to death. Beth...
Airborne spread of COVID-19 and ventilations factors — 2 studies
Two recent studies highlight the role of airborne spread of COVID-19 and the importance of efficient ventilation systems. One study found that patients can...
Clinical trials for drug that successfully treats coronavirus in cats
Researchers at the University of Alberta are preparing to launch clinical trials of a drug used to cure a deadly disease caused by a...
Coronavirus is most deadly if you are older and male — Nature analysis
For every 1,000 people infected with the coronavirus who are under the age of 50, almost none will die. For people in their fifties...
COVID-19 less deadly and causes milder symptoms in children — UK study
Children and teenagers are less likely than adults to develop severe COVID-19 or die from the disease, according to the world’s largest study of...
ICU admission for COVID-19 children: Black ethnicity and under one month old
Children and teenagers are less likely than adults to develop severe COVID-19 or die from the disease, according to the world's largest study of...
Anticoagulants improve COVID-19 survival by 50% — Mount Sinai analysis
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Mount Sinai researchers were among the first to show that anti-coagulation therapy was associated with improved survival among hospitalised...
Hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin doubles cardiovascular mortality risk
The combination of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin (AZM) has been linked to significant cardiovascular risks, including mortality, in the largest safety study ever performed...
Metabolic syndrome linked to 3x worse outcomes for COVID-19 patients
Patients hospitalised with COVID-19 who had a combination of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes were over three times more likely to die from...
More data on efficacy of blood thinners for COVID-19
Medication for high blood pressure could improve COVID-19 survival rates and reduce the severity of infection - according to new research from the University...
20,000 COVID-19 infections linked to 'super-spreader' conference
A Boston hotel that was linked to a coronavirus outbreak after it hosted a local biotech company's conference earlier this year likely led to...
Detection efficacy of self-collected saliva and deep nasal swabs — large US study
Self-collected saliva and deep nasal swabs collected by healthcare providers are equally effective for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a...
Low humidity increases COVID-19 risk — peer- reviewed Australia study
A study focused on the Greater Sydney area during the early epidemic stage of COVID-19 found an association between lower humidity and an increase...
Blood clots and lung injuries in coronavirus deaths — Post-mortem study
A new post-mortem study of patients who have died from COVID-19 found severe damage to the lungs and signs of blood clotting in major...
Pulmonary vascular dilation link to low oxygen levels in severe COVID-19
A new pilot study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai suggests that COVID-19 is causing significant dilation of the blood vessels...
Relationship between COVID-19 deaths and morbid obesity — large US analysis
The prevalence of morbid obesity in a population is associated with negative outcomes from COVID-19, according to an analysis by researchers at The University...
Further evidence that hydroxychloroquine is ineffective as a preventive antiviral
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have added to the growing body of understanding about how hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is not a possible defence against...
Seeding of COVID-19 outbreaks by contaminated frozen food — Laboratory study
It is possible to get COVID-19 from contaminated imported chilled or frozen food, but the risk is very low, said experts. The coronavirus that...
Mortality risk exceeds 40% for COVID-19 patients with diabetes — Western Cape Health data
Roughly 42% of people with diabetes who tested positive for COVID-19 and had to be admitted to hospital in the Western Cape had died...
T-cell immunity likely higher than antibody tests show — Karolinska Institutet
A study from Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital shows that many people with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 demonstrate so-called T-cell-mediated immunity to the...
WHO contradicted by US discovery of live virus in aerosols
A US study has found "unambiguous" evidence of live COVID-19 virus in aerosols, contracting the World Health Organisation's position statements transmission, writes MedicalBrief.
Sceptics of...
44% of secondary COVID-19 infections may occur in pre-symptomatic window
Recent reports have shown COVID-19 transmission prior to disease onset, raising concerns that people who appear healthy may be major contributors to the COVID-19...
Saliva-based COVID-19 diagnostic test given FDA emergency use authorisation
A saliva-based laboratory diagnostic test developed by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health to determine whether someone is infected with the novel...
A new, 20-minute assay for COVID-19 diagnosis — Melbourne University
Researchers have developed a new test that can diagnose COVID-19 in just 20 minutes. The findings show the rapid molecular test called N1-STOP-LAMP, is...
Likely order of COVID-19's symptoms — Large analysis of China cases
University of Southern California (USC) researchers have found the likely order in which COVID-19 symptoms first appear: fever, cough, muscle pain, and then nausea,...
Preliminary US data suggests convalescent plasma therapy effective
A preliminary analysis of an ongoing study of more than 300 COVID-19 patients treated with convalescent plasma therapy at Houston Methodist suggests the treatment...
Severe multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection
Immunological profiling and detailed clinical characterisation of 25 children with multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is reported by researchers at Kings College London....
Possible link between COVID-19 and new-onset type 1 diabetes in children — small UK study
Thirty children in hospitals across north-west London presented with new-onset type 1 diabetes during the peak of the pandemic, approximately double the number of...
SA is over the COVID-19 hump; time for a new, provincial strategy — Prof Robin Wood
Data indicates that South Africa has passed the peak of the COVID-19 infections wave, says Professor Robin Wood of the University of Cape Town. Despite its limitations, pandemic modelling...
KZN Health: Big talk but COVID-19 patients opt for private care
Despite talk by KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu about how superior public facilities in the province are to private hospitals, most COVID-19 patients are opting...
SARS-CoV-2 RNA vaccine candidate induces immune response in phase 1/2 trial
An RNA vaccine candidate, BNT162b1, is shown to induce a robust immune response in healthy adults aged 18–55 years in an interim report of...
Yale: Strong link between abnormal liver tests and poor COVID-19 outcomes
Researchers at the Yale Liver Centre found that patients with COVID-19 presented with abnormal liver tests at much higher rates than suggested by earlier...