As the tallies of COVID-19’s effects in the United States have mounted to a dizzying scale, a team of UW scientists has kept its focus on the tiniest shifts in the virus’s genetic material.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/viral-sequencing-catches-mutations-guides-effective-public-health-response/Research
Population density and virus strains will affect how regions can resume normal life
“Vaccination programs should consider potential spread rate in different areas. The main driver that will be important is density,” says researcher Tony Ives.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/population-density-and-virus-strains-will-affect-how-regions-can-resume-normal-life/Covering faces around kids won’t mask emotions
If children can do better than guessing at emotions even with a mask in place, they’re likely to do even better in real-life situations.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/covering-faces-around-kids-wont-mask-emotions/Banking on patient samples to advance COVID-19 research
In the spring of 2020, when UW–Madison instruction moved online and most research became remote, efforts picked up at the UW Carbone Cancer Center Translational Science Biocore BioBank.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/banking-on-patient-samples-to-advance-covid-19-research/Early mutation in SARS-CoV-2 virus in Europe led to its domination worldwide
A study shows that the mutant virus is more easily transmitted and grows better within hosts, likely aiding its dominance. The mutation, researchers say, should not interfere with the effectiveness of vaccines against the virus.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/early-mutation-in-sars-cov-2-virus-in-europe-led-to-its-domination-worldwide/Tracking virus mutations reveals success of stay-at-home orders
A family tree of more than 200 variations in the virus that causes COVID-19 helps explain why two Wisconsin counties had such different early experiences with the pandemic.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/tracking-virus-mutations-reveals-success-of-stay-at-home-orders/COVID-19 model quantifies impact of region-specific social distancing orders
A simulation using cellphone data shows social distancing measures had a major influence on case numbers, though the impact varied markedly in different areas, even within the same state.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/covid-19-model-quantifies-impact-of-region-specific-social-distancing-orders/UW researchers find more precise way to detect COVID-19 pneumonia
Using a custom artificial intelligence algorithm, the research team drew upon tens of thousands of chest X-rays to show its method could identify pneumonia caused by COVID-19 with 88 percent accuracy.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/uw-researchers-find-more-precise-way-to-detect-covid-19-pneumonia/New vaccine strategy harnesses ‘foot soldier’ T-cells to provide protection against influenza, other coronaviruses
Researchers believe the same approach can be applied to several other respiratory pathogens, including the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/new-vaccine-strategy-harnesses-foot-soldier-t-cells-to-provide-protection-against-influenza/UW–Madison partners with state and federal public health agencies on COVID-19
The UW, the CDC and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services are working together to better understand COVID-19 on college campuses, build upon knowledge about the virus that causes the disease, and contribute to improved local, state and national response to the pandemic.
Read the full article at: https://news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-partners-with-state-and-federal-public-health-agencies-on-covid-19/