Viruses, Infections & Disease, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 29, 2020

Is there a cure for the new coronavirus?

Coronavirus science and news —Coronavirus in the US: Map & cases —What are the symptoms? —How deadly is the new coronavirus? —How long does virus last on surfaces? —How does it compare with seasonal flu? —How does the coronavirus spread? —Can people spread the coronavirus after they recover? Editor's note:...

Feb 29, 2020

Newborn tests positive for COVID-19 in London

A newborn in London has tested positive for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, just minutes after being born to a mother who was also infected with the virus, according to news reports. Days prior to giving birth, the woman was admitted to a hospital for symptoms of pneumonia, finding out she...

Feb 29, 2020

Coronavirus: What is 'flattening the curve,' and will it work?

Efforts to completely contain the new coronavirus — the pandemic responsible for infecting hundreds of thousands of people in 130 countries with the disease, called COVID-19 — have failed. In less than a month, the global number of confirmed COVID-19 cases doubled from about 75,000 cases on Feb. 20 to...

Feb 29, 2020

COVID-19 spread is fueled by 'stealth transmission'

Cases of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that fly under the radar — without being detected or diagnosed — may have fueled the rapid spread of the disease, according to a new study. The study found that people with COVID-19 who didn't get diagnosed, likely because they didn't feel very...

Feb 29, 2020

How does the COVID-19 pandemic compare to the last pandemic?

It's been a little over a decade since the world experienced its last pandemic, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu. Between the spring of 2009 and the spring of 2010, the virus infected as many as 1.4 billion people across the globe and killed between 151,700 and 575,400 people, according to...

Feb 29, 2020

US doctors being exposed to COVID-19 because they don't have protective gear

The doctors and nurses on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic are putting themselves at unnecessary risk due to the national shortages of protective gear. They also fear they are infecting their patients, according to an investigative report by ProPublica. One emergency room (ER) physician in Amite, Louisiana, John...

Feb 29, 2020

US scientists develop crucial blood test for coronavirus antibodies

Testing to diagnose the new coronavirus is starting to ramp up in the United States, but one crucial tool is still lacking: a test to detect antibodies against the virus in people's blood. But such a test may not be far off — in a new study, U.S. researchers not...

Feb 29, 2020

Rapid coronavirus test approved by the FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given emergency approval to a test that could diagnose COVID-19 in 45 minutes, CNN reported. The tests were developed by California-based company Cepheid and will be shipped to U.S. facilities by March 30, according to an FDA announcement. However, right now, the...

Feb 29, 2020

Doctors scramble for best practices on reusing medical masks during shortage

Very little is known about how to properly reuse medical masks to fight infectious diseases. No method is confirmed to work. Still, in a report to doctors, which has yet to be peer reviewed, some researchers are beginning to point to the best options for decontaminating used masks. Medical professionals...

Feb 29, 2020

Ending Wuhan's social distancing too soon may spur 'second wave' of COVID-19 in midsummer

Social distancing measures in Wuhan, China — where the outbreak of the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, began — likely reduced the number of COVID-19 cases and delayed the peak of the epidemic, according to a new study. What's more, the findings suggest that if these measures — including school and...

Feb 29, 2020

US is new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic

The coronavirus outbreak reached a somber milestone in the U.S. on Thursday (March 26) — the nation now has more coronavirus cases than any other country in the world. There are now at least 82,174 cases of the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, in the United States, according to worldometer, a...

Feb 29, 2020

COVID-19 might cause loss of smell. Here’s what that could mean.

While brewing your morning coffee, you suddenly realize that you can't smell the freshly ground beans — could you have COVID-19? In the past week, doctors around the world began sharing reports of smell and taste loss in patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel...

Feb 29, 2020

First US infant death linked to COVID-19 reported in Illinois

The first infant death related to COVID-19 in the United States has been reported in the Chicago area today (March 28). There has never before been a death associated with COVID-19 in an infant, said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). A full...

Feb 29, 2020

Cat infected with COVID-19 from owner in Belgium

A domestic cat in Belgium has been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus that's spreading across the globe, the government's FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment announced March 27, according to news reports. This is the first human-to-cat transmission of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)....

Feb 29, 2020

Study will test if hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19

The anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has made headlines in recent weeks for its potential to help with the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, though its benefits remain unproven. Now, a new study will test whether the drug can prevent COVID-19 transmission. For the study, researchers in New York and Washington state plan...