COVID-19 Research News

A curious feature of the new coronavirus is that it rarely causes severe symptoms in children. Some other respiratory viruses, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), are especially dangerous for both the very old and the very young. But this new virus, which can be lethal in the elderly, spares the vast majority of young children.

At first it seemed that few children were getting infected with the new virus, but that view has changed as more is learned about the pathogen.

Researchers and staff at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Duke Regional Biocontainment Laboratory are working around the clock to develop therapies and a vaccine to combat COVID-19.

COVID-19 researchers are critical personnel in the fight against this virus. Safe, urgent and collaborative work in the Duke Human Vaccine Institute with collaborators in and outside Duke to develop a countermeasure and vaccine. Thank you!  - Mary E. Klotman, MD, Dean, Duke University School of Medicine

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute has funded up to $50 million to evaluate hydroxychloroquine as a preventive drug for the novel coronavirus.

A new rapid-response study designed and led by the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) seeks to engage healthcare workers across the nation to understand the impact of COVID-19 on their health and to evaluate whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19 infections in healthcare workers at high risk of contracting this novel coronavirus.

The process uses vaporized hydrogen peroxide to kill germs without degrading the masks

Facing a critical shortage of N95 face masks that block the coronavirus, Duke Health research and clinical teams have confirmed a way to use existing vaporized hydrogen peroxide methods to decontaminate the masks so they can be reused.

Although most research laboratories at Duke University are shuttered to prevent future transmission of the Covid-19 coronavirus, one of the few to remain open houses a powerful machine that Duke researchers think will be instrumental in developing a vaccine for the virus.

Adults with severe symptoms of the novel illness will have the opportunity to participate
 
Duke University Hospital has joined the first national study to test a potential therapy for COVID-19, giving hospitalized adult patients with significant symptoms an option to participate.
 
The investigational treatment, known as remdesivir, is an antiviral agent that was previously tested in humans with Ebola virus disease and has shown promise in animal studies against MERS and SARS, diseases that emerged from different strains of the coronavirus.
 

When you finish reading this story, go take a walk. Clear your head. Log off of Twitter. Step away from pandemic news. It’ll be good for you.
That’s one tip from three Duke experts who spoke to media Tuesday about various ways panic affects our lives -- and what we can do to mitigate it.
Here are more highlights:

Like many of us, Dr.  Cathleen Colón-Emeric, chief of the Division of Geriatrics at the Duke School of Medicine, has older parents who live nearby. Here are some of her suggestions for navigating the new and urgent conversations and decisions facing many families, including her own.

Q: What conversations should we be having with our older relatives?

Watch a recorded webinar featuring Duke University School of Medicine experts discussing the public health impact of the corona virus and Duke’s research related to COVID-19 and infectious diseases.

Three Duke infectious disease experts talked with the media Tuesday to discuss the origins and spread of COVID-19 and the global and U.S. response. Duke plans a series of briefings on the way the novel coronavirus is affecting the world.

Below are highlights from the briefing:

On the Wuhan Meat Market at the Epicenter of the Outbreak