- By: Joe Feist In the face of a pandemic, the only risk-free course of action is to never go outside your front door. But it’s summer, you’re stir crazy and outside your window a big, beautiful highway is calling. Even as the coronavirus speeds on, the road will beckon for many. Estimates of the number vary widely, but it’s clear that millions of Americans will travel this summer. The all-American road trip is back. But can you get behind the wheel in a relatively safe manner, reduce any risk and enjoy the country?
- With an alarm code, we can enter a building without bells going off. It turns out that the SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has the same advantage entering cells. It possesses the code to just walk right into our body On July 24 in Nature Communications, researchers reported how the coronavirus achieves this. The scientists resolved the structure of an enzyme, which the virus produces and then uses to modify its "code," messenger RNA, said Yogesh Gupta, PhD, the study lead author from the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine.
- The COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19), which includes the Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson, announced results July 22 of its second national observational study. The study compares the outcomes of cancer patients diagnosed with COVID-19 to the treatments they received.
- When Robert A. De Lorenzo, MD, was an Army doctor in the bloody Iraq war, he was disturbed by a gap in care due to antiquated airway devices.
- By: Caitlyn Mooney, M.D., Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
- As laboratories across the country rush to find answers for the novel coronavirus, UT Health San Antonio is bringing a unique combination of expertise to bear on the crisis. The goal is a precise and effective vaccine to prevent infection, said Robert Hromas, M.D., professor and dean of the university’s Long School of Medicine. UT Health San Antonio is supporting multiple research projects in vaccine development. “We are working very fast to attack this problem because until we have a vaccine and a therapy, this virus represents a huge threat to humanity,” Dr. Hromas said.
- UT Health San Antonio put out a call for essential medical supplies and the community answered. Community members generously donated personal protective equipment (PPE) during last week’s donation drive on campus. N95 respirator masks, face shields, surgical masks, unused medical disposable gloves and thermometers were dropped off. Northside Independent School District donated thousands of face masks, isolation gowns and thermometers. North East Independent School District donated hundreds of N95 respirator masks and gowns.
- Dr. Ruth Berggren from UT Health San Antonio has been named the Bexar County medical advisor. As an infectious disease specialist, Dr. Berggren has proven her expertise in emergency response situations in the past. She urges taking quick, decisive actions to limit the spread of COVID-19. Read up on how you can do your part to slow the spread of this disease on the CDC site.
- Dr. Rachel Pearson, a pediatrician and member of the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics, shares best practices for children’s exercise and playtime during this time of social distancing due to the coronavirus. Kids need to be outside, stay active and exercise to be healthy, even during times of social distancing. It is best to avoid shared play places with high touch areas such as the playground or playdates. The best choice is a place where they can run around on their own like open fields or backyards.
