Coronavirus Disease Portal|Home|PHGKB

Coronavirus Disease Portal|Home|PHGKB

 Spotlight on COVID-19

How does SARS-CoV-2 cause COVID-19?
NJ Matheson, et al, Science, July 31, 2020

As with all coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 cell entry is dependent on its 180-kDa spike (S) protein, which mediates two essential events: binding to ACE2 by the amino-terminal region, and fusion of viral and cellular membranes through the carboxyl-terminal region.

Swabs Collected by Patients or Health Care Workers for SARS-CoV-2 Testing.
Tu Yuan-Po et al. The New England journal of medicine 2020 383(5) 494-496

Our study shows the clinical usefulness of tongue, nasal, or mid-turbinate samples collected by patients as compared with nasopharyngeal samples collected by health care workers for the diagnosis of Covid-19.

Drug treatments for covid-19: living systematic review and network meta-analysis
RAC Siemieniuk et al, BMJ, July 30, 2020

Glucocorticoids probably reduce mortality and mechanical ventilation in patients with covid-19 compared with standard care. The effectiveness of most interventions is uncertain because most of the randomised controlled trials so far have been small and have important study limitations.

Using influenza surveillance networks to estimate state-specific prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States.
Silverman Justin D et al. Science translational medicine 2020 Jun

The authors estimated the proportion of observed influenza-like illness during the early pandemic that was in excess of the seasonal variation seen in prior years, then adjusted this estimate to take into account subclinical infections. Their model estimated that more than 80% of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infections in the US went undetected in March 2020.