COVID-19 Online Newsroom

Compared to patients who don't have Parkinson's disease, patients with Parkinson's disease who were hospitalised for Covid-19 were more likely to develop a more severe course of the disease. The mortality rate of patients hospitalised with Parkinson's was also higher. This emerged following an evaluation of the data from the first wave of the pandemic by a team from the Department of Neurology at the St. Josef Hospital of Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB, Director: Professor Ralf Gold).

An antigen-based detection technique developed by University of Helsinki researchers could be used to analyse as many as 500 samples per hour. In a recently completed study, the rapid test was able to diagnose a viral infection almost as accurately as PCR tests, which are known for their sensitivity. The new rapid test format can also be used to rapidly diagnose other respiratory infections.

Employer COVID-19 safety measures influenced worker precautions even when they were not on the clock. Researchers found that workplaces that adopted measures, such as daily health checks and encouraging sick workers to stay home, resulted in less "sickness presenteeism" or going places when feeling ill. The effect was found both inside and outside of work - meaning fewer employees with COVID-19 symptoms showed up to work and other public places like grocery stores, gyms and restaurants.

A new pan-European survey funded by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) exploring the impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns and associated restrictions (in those countries where there has been no Lockdown), has found that nearly two thirds of adults (61%) expressed concern about their worsening mood; two times higher than those concerned about physical inactivity (24%).

One in 7 (14%) adults with coronavirus infection developed at least one new condition that required medical care during the post-acute phase of illness, which is 5% higher than adults with no coronavirus infection in 2020, finds a US study published by The BMJ today.

Ashish Sarangi, M.D., from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center recently conducted research into the mental health consequences of COVID-19 geriatric care in a nursing home setting. His research, "A Descriptive Study Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 on Delivery of Care and Mental Health of Geriatric Nursing Home Staff," was published in the April issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. The study also was presented in March during the journal's annual meeting.

Research indicates that strict COVID-19 lockdowns might be responsible for delaying normal cardiorespiratory development in children. The study found that a group of 12-14-year-olds in Spain - who were tested pre-pandemic in November 2019 and then again in November 2020 - displayed lower levels of fitness than would be expected with maximal oxygen intake (VO2 max) development, which increases with age.

By the end of the first year of the pandemic in metropolitan Stockholm, investigators estimate that one-fifth of adults in the region previously had COVID-19. The findings, which are published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, come from analyses of anti-viral antibody responses in healthy blood donors and pregnant women.

Story Tip from Johns Hopkins Experts on COVID-19

The development of antibodies to the COVID-19 virus has been the great long-term hope of ending the pandemic. However, immune system turncoats are also major culprits in severe cases of COVID-19, Yale scientists report in the journal Nature.

In an article published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, experts stress that the COVID-19 pandemic presents the "perfect storm" for family violence, where a set of rare circumstances have combined to aggravate intimate partner violence, domestic abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse.

New expert statement confirms strong links between our hormones and COVID-19: The endocrine system is strongly involved in SARS-Cov-2 infection - so much so that evidence of an "endocrine phenotype" of COVID-19 has emerged, according to a statement by the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) published in the journal Endocrine in April 2021.

Early real-world evidence has shown COVID-19 vaccines to be safe in pregnant people, but as the initial clinical trials did not include pregnant individuals, more data is required. The Government of Canada, through its COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) and Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG), is investing approximately $1.3 million for two Canadian research teams - including one from the CHEO Research Institute and the University of Ottawa - to further evaluate vaccine safety and effectiveness in pregnant people.

José A. Bauermeister, PhD, and Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, are leading one of 10 new research teams from across the country that received National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants totaling $14 million to extend the reach of the NIH's Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities. The Philly CEAL team was awarded $1.4 million from the NIH with additional support from Penn Nursing and The University of Pennsylvania, bringing the total for the alliance to $1.53 million.