epidemiology, disease & medicine, microbiology

A review of hundreds of cases finds that only a minority of patients noted being sick with a coronavirus infection prior to developing the severe inflammatory condition.

The so-called 614G mutation in the viral spike protein does not appear to cause more severe cases of COVID-19, but multiple studies indicate that it could be more contagious.

The four factors that drive contagion

Animals that can host pathogens dangerous to humans, such as rodents, birds, and bats, are proportionately more common in human-occupied spaces than in remote areas.

Not all masks are created equal, and how they are worn makes a difference too.

Social distancing measures prevented millions of COVID-19–related deaths around the world, according to a handful of studies, but it’s hard to quantify the effects with certainty.

The company behind a now-discredited study on hydroxychloroquine also posted a report that has been cited by Latin American governments recommending ivermectin as a possible coronavirus treatment. Clinicians there say the effects have been extremely damaging.

Milder, cold-causing members of this pathogenic viral family long remained under the radar, although they aren’t entirely harmless.

Scientists have raised questions about the dataset published in The Lancet last week that triggered the suspension of clinical trials around the world—and about Surgisphere Corporation, the company behind the study.

Bluetooth-enabled technology will attempt to track people’s interactions on the British island—and potentially elsewhere in the UK—as lockdowns are lifted.

Preprints from the first round of seroprevalence studies indicate that many more people have been infected with the virus than previously reported. Some of these studies also have serious design flaws.

Autopsies recently carried out in California show that one person died of the disease on February 6—three weeks before the nation recorded its first fatality.

Disease experts have largely focused on how we got to where we are now with coronavirus infections. Improved data collection and sharing can enhance projections of what’s to come.

It takes a median of five days after infection to get sick, and patients shed the most coronavirus particles early in the illness, according to two new reports.

Our maps and charts, updated regularly, offer a striking view of the global move of the novel coronavirus.

Combining the medications improved conditions in patients with severe 2019-nCoV infections, say doctors in Thailand.

What is a publication to do when readers misuse its content?

Researchers identify a possible driver of acute flaccid myelitis, a polio-like disease diagnosed in more than 500 children over the last few years.