EurekAlert! COVID-19 Online Newsroom - Latest News Releases

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 18-Jun-2025 18:10 ET (18-Jun-2025 22:10 GMT/UTC)

Researchers in Brazil discover a gene that may afford protection against COVID-19

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists at the University of São Paulo analyzed blood samples donated by six serodiscordant couples where female partners were resistant to SARS-CoV-2 despite intense contact with their infected male partners. Overexpression of the gene IFIT3 in these asymptomatic women suggests it affords protection and could be a target for novel antiviral therapies.

Journal: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Researchers successfully deliver mRNA-based drugs to the intestine – without passing through the liver

Tel-Aviv University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have achieved a major breakthrough in drug delivery: they have successfully transported lipid nanoparticles encapsulating messenger RNA (mRNA) to the immune system of the small and large intestines — bypassing the liver upon systemic administration. By simply altering the composition of the nanoparticles, the researchers demonstrated that mRNA-based drugs can be directed straight to target cells, avoiding the liver.

Journal: Advanced Science

White blood cell count could predict severity of COVID-19 symptoms

The Menopause Society
Peer-Reviewed Publication

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Jan 29, 2025)—Thanks to advances in treatment options, a COVID-19 diagnosis is no longer as scary as it once was, at least for most people. A new study, however, suggests that it may now be easier to predict who is most likely to suffer with more serious disease symptoms based on leukocyte (white blood cell) count. Results of the study are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

Journal: Menopause

Japan’s “soft” but not ineffective approach to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic

The University of Osaka
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a study on public psychology with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers from Osaka University found no significant differences among regions of Japan regarding either risk perception or infection-prevention behaviors during the “state of emergency,” suggesting spillover effects between targeted and non-targeted regions. However, risk perception diminished after restrictions were lifted, and both risk perception and hygienic behaviors saw further reductions after the downgrading of the legal status of COVID-19 to that of a common seasonal flu.

Journal: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Funder: Human Science Project, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, The Nippon Foundation - Osaka University Project for Infectious Disease Prevention

The environmental and economic impact of COVID-19 on Japan’s tourism industry

Kyushu University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Kyushu University economists have published new data on the economic, social, and environmental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Japan's inbound tourism industry for the year 2020. The results showed a pandemic-induced loss of 33 million tourists, resulting in 3.44 trillion yen of value-added loses, and a decline in employment for 868,976 people. The data also revealed environmental benefits, with an emission reduction of 11.6 megatons of CO₂.

Journal: Journal of Industrial Ecology
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Most Americans favor school vaccination requirements, but support is rising for opt-out options

Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Reports and Proceedings

With President Trump having challenged school vaccine mandates for children during the campaign, a new survey finds that nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults support requiring that children be vaccinated against preventable diseases such as measles, mumps, and rubella. To protect children who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, over half of Americans also support states prohibiting other unvaccinated children from attending school, either private or public.

From Fox News to MSNBC: Diverse media diet linked to higher trust in vaccines

University of Colorado at Boulder
Peer-Reviewed Publication

People who get their news from an ideologically diverse array of sources are more likely to get vaccinated, regardless of thier political affiliation, a new survey of 1,700 people in the United States shows. The study also found that people who consume mostly right-leaning media trust science less and are less likely to be vaccinated and boosted.

Journal: Scientific Reports

Firearm-related hospitalizations had dropped before the pandemic, then shot up, study finds

Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Firearm injuries that sent victims to the hospital had gone down steadily over the five years before the COVID-19 pandemic began, but reversed course sharply over the next two years, a new University of Michigan study finds.

Journal: JAMA Network Open
Funder: Association for Academic Surgery Foundation

Severity and long-term mortality of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: This cohort study showed that, during the 2022 to 2023 season, infection with SARS-CoV-2 was associated with more severe disease outcomes than influenza or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), whereas differences were less pronounced during the 2023 to 2024 season. During both seasons, RSV remained a milder illness, whereas COVID-19 was associated with higher long-term mortality. Vaccination attenuated differences in disease severity and long-term mortality.

Journal: JAMA Internal Medicine

Firearm-related injury hospital admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: This cohort study evaluating hospitalizations for firearm-related injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic has 2 principal findings. From 2020 to 2021, there was a 34% increase in firearm-related hospitalizations, consistent with an additional 13,268 admissions. Second, the increase in firearm-related hospitalization disproportionately affected children, patients enrolled in Medicaid, and Black individuals. Taken together, these findings raise new concerns about the sustained increase in firearm-related injury that disproportionately affected younger and minoritized Americans.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Sudden unexpected infant death and disparities in infant mortality in the US

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: This study found that infant mortality from sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) has increased significantly. Previous data through 2020 showed that SUID increased among Black infants. The current analysis, which included 2021 and 2022 data, showed a more generalized increase. Possible explanations include COVID-19 or other respiratory illnesses, maternal opioid use, and social media’s influence on infant sleeping practices.

Journal: JAMA Pediatrics

Doctors test a new way to help people quit fentanyl 

University of California - San Francisco
Peer-Reviewed Publication

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when fentanyl overdoses surged, doctors were desperate to find ways of helping their patients. 

Journal: JAMA Network Open
Funder: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse

COVID-19 pandemic and racial and ethnic disparities in long-term nursing home stay or death following hospital discharge

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: Older adults hospitalized with sepsis experienced an approximately 50% reduction in long-term nursing home stay or death over a 5-year period before the pandemic in this cross-sectional study. These results suggest that during the pandemic, all individuals, regardless of race and ethnicity, experienced increased long-term nursing home stay or death compared with before the pandemic.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Long COVID, Italian scientists discovered the molecular ‘fingerprint’ of the condition in children's blood

Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study by the Università Cattolica, Rome campus - Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS and the Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù IRCCS, published in the Nature Group journal ‘Pediatric Research’, identifies the ‘protein signature’ of the condition in plasma, a group of pro-inflammatory molecules present at high concentrations in young patients with the condition. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool makes the diagnosis based on the results of the blood sample.

Journal: Pediatric Research

Mental well-being and physical activity can form a positive cycle

University of Jyväskylä - Jyväskylän yliopisto
Peer-Reviewed Publication

According to a recent study, the tendency to experience positive affectivity contributed to people being physically active or even increasing their activity during the COVID-19 restrictions. In contrast, depressive feelings were linked to lower physical activity. The results suggest that mental well-being can help maintain a physically active lifestyle. Mental well-being and physical activity may thus form a positive cycle.

Journal: BMC Public Health

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