One of those key limitations of PCR is its inability to determine whether a patient is infectious, or not. This is because the test is designed to detect the virus' RNA, which is generally present when a virus is causing an active infection. However, RNA can also be present, and therefore, detected by PCR after a virus has broken down (i.e., become non-infectious) and released its genome into host cells or body fluids.
Prescription fills of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine soared in March, after they were put in the political spotlight by President Trump, according to a new study in JAMA. Why it matters: The evidence suggests that the drug is not an effective treatment for the coronavirus, and is even dangerous for some patients.
New estimates of the number of asymptomatic people with the coronavirus suggest that "silent" COVID-19 is much more prevalent than once thought, according to two studies published Wednesday. The first study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that 42 percent of cases from a group of people in Wuhan, China, were asymptomatic. The second study, published in Thorax, found much higher rates of asymptomatic individuals: 81 percent of cases on a cruise to Antarctica.
Each person who has died of COVID-19 was somebody’s everything. Even as we mourn for those we knew, cry for those we loved and consider those who have died uncounted, the full tragedy of the pandemic hinges on one question: How do we stop the next 100,000?
Coronavirus testing in the U.S. has run into a number of snags, from a lack of nasal swabs to not enough chemicals needed to run the tests. Now there's a new bottleneck emerging: A shortage of the machines that process the tests and give results.
It was a local news report focusing on mental health during the pandemic, but the comments from a hospital's head of trauma quickly caught the attention of conservative media and commentators arguing for the economy to be reopened and stay-at-home orders to be lifted. "I mean, we've seen a year's worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks," Dr. Mike deBoisblanc, head of trauma at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California, told ABC7 on Thursday.