The Renin-Angiotensin Aldosterone is an elegant cascade of vasoactive peptides that orchestrate key processes in human physiology. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) and SARS-CoV-2, which have been responsible for the SARS epidemic in 2002 to 2004 and for the more recent coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, respectively, interface with the RAAS through angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), an enzyme that physiologically counters RAAS activation but als...

Researchers, businesses, and innovators around the world are putting technology to work to alleviate the effects of the global health crisis. From applications that collect data to track the spread of the virus to 3D printed ventilators for hospitals: these are some of the various technology projects rising to the occasion in the fight against coronavirus.

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Gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering gastroenterology, especially in relation to endoscopy. This journal from ASGE (American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy) published a full article with instructions about how to safely perform an endoscopy during the coronavirus pandemic: different measures implemented in the hospital to prevent further dissemination of COVID-19 infection. The article was written by different Italian doctors who have al...

In Italy, the death rate from Covid-19 is more than 10 times greater than in Germany. Why does the death rate vary so much internationally?
In Italy, an epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak, the death rate at the end of March stood at a sobering 11%. Meanwhile in neighbouring Germany, the same virus led to fatality rates of just 1%. In China, it was 4%, while Israel had the lowest rate worldwide, at 0.35%.






At first it can seem surprising that the same vi...

Pollution and greenhouse gas emissions have fallen across continents as countries try to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. Is this just a fleeting change, or could it lead to longer-lasting falls in emissions?



In a matter of months, the world has been transformed. Thousands of people have already died, and hundreds of thousands more have fallen ill, from a coronavirus that was previously unknown before appearing in the city of Wuhan in December 2019. For millions o...

More than 1,002,000 people have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease worldwide, as the death toll surpassed 51,000 while about 208,000 patients recovered.

The coronavirus pandemic death toll in Spain passed 10,000 on Thursday, as the country reported its highest single-day number of deaths since the outbreak began, with the total rising by more than 1,000 to 10,096 among 110,238 infections.

The United States - the world's hardest-hit country - recorded mo...

Most coronavirus patients who end up on ventilators go on to die, according to several small studies from the U.S., China and Europe.

And many of the patients who continue to live can't be taken off the mechanical breathing machines.

"It's very concerning to see how many patients who require ventilation do not make it out of the hospital," says Dr. Tiffany Osborn, a critical care specialist at Washington University in St. Louis who has been caring for coronavirus patients at...

TODAY! Perspectives from the Frontline of Fighting COVID-19
Hospital and patient management and surgical approaches 

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The world is going through a difficult and challenging time.
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has reached over 175 countries and regions and infected over 735,000 people. 
Many hospitals and healthcare workers,...

Researchers in Europe have been converting low-cost snorkel masks into respirators to treat patients or protection for medical workers battling to contain the coronavirus outbreak that has stretched healthcare resources. The researchers said that tests had showed the retrofitted masks surpassed the protection of masks carrying FFP3, considered one of the highest grade filters. Some countries as Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy or Spain are already working on this initiative. 

A case fatality ratio of an infectious disease measures the proportion of all individuals diagnosed with a disease who will die from that disease. For an emerging infectious disease, this ratio is thus a very important indicator not only of disease severity but also of its significance as a public health problem. For instance, WHO estimated a case fatality ratio of approximately 14–15% for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003,1 and approximately 35% for Middle East resp...

Extreme rate due to demographics and reporting distortions, but experts say other nations may soon see their own spikes.
The numbers are dizzying. Four hundred and thirty-three. Six hundred and twenty-seven. Seven hundred and ninety-three.

For weeks now, the daily briefings by Italy's civil protection agency have been providing grim updates on the number of people killed by COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, deepening a sense of gloom ...

The COVID-19 outbreak has spurred considerable news coverage about the ways artificial intelligence (AI) can combat the pandemic’s spread. Unfortunately, much of it has failed to be appropriately skeptical about the claims of AI’s value. Like many tools, AI has a role to play, but its effect on the outbreak is probably small. While this may change in the future, technologies like data reporting, telemedicine, and conventional diagnostic tools are currently far more impactful than AI.Still, va...