Coronavirus [NEW TOPIC PAGE]

Hot Topics of the Day|PHGKB

 Coronavirus

COVID-19 and the Need for a National Health Information Technology Infrastructure
DF Sittig et al, JAMA, May 18, 2020

The need for timely, accurate, and reliable data about the health of the US population has never been greater. Critical questions include: (1) how many individuals test positive and how many are affected by the disease in a given geographic area; (2) what are the age and race of these individuals; (3) how many people sought care, and many more.

Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV)- An Unprecedented Partnership for Unprecedented Times
FS Collins et al, JAMA< May 18, 2020

Critical discussions culminated in a decision to form a public-private partnership to focus on speeding the development and deployment of therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19. The group assembled 4 working groups to focus on preclinical therapeutics, clinical therapeutics, clinical trial capacity, and vaccines.

CRISPR tool scales up to interrogate a huge line-up of viral suspects
GA Storch, Nature News, May 18, 2020

Rapid, reliable identification of an unknown viral infection is challenging. Use of CRISPR technology can simultaneously detect nucleic acids of many viruses and pinpoint specific ones, such as the virus that causes COVID-19.

The sprint to solve coronavirus protein structures — and disarm them with drugs- Stopping the pandemic could rely on breakneck efforts to visualize SARS-CoV-2 proteins and use them to design drugs and vaccines.
M Scudellari, Nature News, May 15,2020

Saliva is less sensitive than nasopharyngeal swabs for COVID-19 detection in the community setting
D Becker et al, MEDRXIV, May 17,2020

A non-competing pair of human neutralizing antibodies block COVID-19 virus binding to its receptor ACE2
Y Wu et al, MEDRXIV, May 17,2020

Why the Coronavirus Hits Kids and Adults So Differently- COVID-19 is much less severe in children, and it could have to do with a child’s still-developing immune system.
S Zhang, the Atlantic, May 15, 2020