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Coronavirus research highlights

A novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness that originated in Wuhan, China, and which has spread to several other countries around the world.  Recent content from BMC and SpringerOpen journals relevant to coronavirus research, as well as additional commentary on this topic, is included below. 

BMC, as part of Springer Nature, encourages early sharing of research submitted to all our journals through preprints, and our In Review preprint service is available for many journals. We strongly urge authors submitting articles related to this emergency to BMC journals to share underlying interim and final research datasets relating to the outbreak as rapidly and widely as possible, including with public health and research communities and the WHO.

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  1. “Immune boosting” is a trending topic during the COVID-19 pandemic. The concept of “immune boosting” is scientifically misleading and often used to market unproven products and therapies. This paper presents a...

    Authors: Darren N. Wagner, Alessandro R. Marcon and Timothy Caulfield
    Citation: Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology 2020 16:76
    Content type: Letter to the editor Published on:

  2. Severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China and has become a public health emergency of international concern. SARS-CoV-2 outbrea...

    Authors: Maria Pachetti, Bruna Marini, Fabiola Giudici, Francesca Benedetti, Silvia Angeletti, Massimo Ciccozzi, Claudio Masciovecchio, Rudy Ippodrino and Davide Zella
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:338
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Quarantine/confinement is an effective measure to face the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Consequently, in response to this stressful situation, people confined to their homes may change their everyday e...

    Authors: Chadia Haddad, Maha Zakhour, Maria Bou kheir, Rima Haddad, Myriam Al Hachach, Hala Sacre and Pascale Salameh
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2020 8:40
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  4. The new Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was first detected in Wuhan (China) in December of 2019 is responsible for the current global pandemic. Phylogenetic analysis reveale...

    Authors: Francesca Benedetti, Greg A. Snyder, Marta Giovanetti, Silvia Angeletti, Robert C. Gallo, Massimo Ciccozzi and Davide Zella
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:329
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. Patients with severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) will progress rapidly to acute respiratory failure or death. We aimed to develop a quantitative tool for early predicting mortality risk of patients wit...

    Authors: Zhihong Weng, Qiaosen Chen, Sumeng Li, Huadong Li, Qian Zhang, Sihong Lu, Li Wu, Leiqun Xiong, Bobin Mi, Di Liu, Mengji Lu, Dongliang Yang, Hongbo Jiang, Shaoping Zheng and Xin Zheng
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:328
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. In December 2019, pneumonia associated with the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China. The number of cases has increased rapidly. Patients with severe disease have a poor prognosis, and the...

    Authors: Shuaipan Zhang, Qingguang Zhu, Chao Zhan, Wei Cheng, Xiao Mingfang, Min Fang and Lei Fang
    Citation: Trials 2020 21:751
    Content type: Study protocol Published on:

  7. The first case of a coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection in a Sri Lankan was reported on March 11, 2020. The situation in Sri Lanka changed with the rapid increase of personnel contracting COVID-19 in a naval...

    Authors: Madunil A. Niriella, Dileepa S. Ediriweera, Arjuna P. De Silva, Ranjan Premarathne, Priyantha Balasooriya, Kaluthanthri D. Duminda, Neelika G. Malavige, Kamani Wanigasuriya, Sarath Lekamwasam, Senanayake A. Kularathne, Sisira Siribaddana, Hithanadura J. de Silva and Saroj Jayasinghe
    Citation: Trials 2020 21:748
    Content type: Study protocol Published on:

  8. Within two decades, there have emerged three highly pathogenic and deadly human coronaviruses, namely SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. The economic burden and health threats caused by these coronaviruses are...

    Authors: Zhixing Zhu, Xihua Lian, Xiaoshan Su, Weijing Wu, Giuseppe A. Marraro and Yiming Zeng
    Citation: Respiratory Research 2020 21:224
    Content type: Review Published on:

  9. COVID-19 is characterized by fast deterioration in the mechanism of cytokine storm. Therefore, treatment with immunomodulating agents should be initiated as soon as hyperinflammation is established. Evidence f...

    Authors: Regina B. Podlasin, Justyna D. Kowalska, Andrzej Pihowicz, Beata Wojtycha-Kwaśnica, Magdalena Thompson, Tomasz Dyda, Hanna Czeszko-Paprocka and Andrzej Horban
    Citation: European Journal of Medical Research 2020 25:37
    Content type: Case report Published on:

  10. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization. As of May 18, 2020, there have been more than 4...

    Authors: Yi Xu, David J. Baylink, Chien-Shing Chen, Mark E. Reeves, Jeffrey Xiao, Curtis Lacy, Eric Lau and Huynh Cao
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:322
    Content type: Review Published on:

  11. This study aims to determine the protection provided by Shenfu injection (a traditional Chinese medicine) against development of organ dysfunction in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVI...

    Authors: Zong-Yu Wang, Shou-Zhi Fu, Liang Xu, Shu-Sheng Li, Ke-Jian Qian, Xian-Di He, Guo-Chao Zhu, Liang-Hai Li, Jun Zhang, Wen-Fang Li, Bing-Yu Qin, Chen-Liang Zhou and Peng-Lin Ma
    Citation: Trials 2020 21:738
    Content type: Letter Published on:

  12. Novel coronavirus disease 2019 presents with fever, dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath in most cases; however, some rare manifestations in other organs have also been reported so far.

    Authors: Maryam Heidarpour, Mehrbod Vakhshoori, Saeed Abbasi, Davood Shafie and Nima Rezaei
    Citation: Journal of Medical Case Reports 2020 14:134
    Content type: Case report Published on:

  13. In December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease (later named as COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan, China and, later on, detected in other parts of China. Our aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the ev...

    Authors: Hui Wan, Jing-An Cui and Guo-Jing Yang
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2020 9:116
    Content type: Research Article Published on:

  14. Caledonian Stadium, the main mass temporary shelter for homeless people in the City of Tshwane, was created as a local response to the imperatives of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) National State of ...

    Authors: Tessa S. Marcus, Jan Heese, Andrew Scheibe, Shaun Shelly, Sasha X. Lalla and Jannie F. Hugo
    Citation: Harm Reduction Journal 2020 17:60
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may raise unique challenges for individuals with experience of eating disorders. Many factors have potential for detrimental impacts on psychological wellbeing ...

    Authors: Dawn Branley-Bell and Catherine V. Talbot
    Citation: Journal of Eating Disorders 2020 8:44
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  17. The emerging infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), poses a serious threat in China and worldwide. Challenged by this se...

    Authors: Tie-Long Xu, Mei-Ying Ao, Xu Zhou, Wei-Feng Zhu, He-Yun Nie, Jian-He Fang, Xin Sun, Bin Zheng and Xiao-Fan Chen
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2020 9:115
    Content type: Short Report Published on:

  18. The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been found in more than 200 countries worldwide since December, 2019. In China, a major reason for the rapid transmission of the COVID-19 in early stage of the...

    Authors: Zi-Han Liu, Yan-Jie Zhao, Yuan Feng, Qinge Zhang, Bao-Liang Zhong, Teris Cheung, Brian J. Hall and Yu-Tao Xiang
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:75
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  19. In less than 20 years, three deadly coronaviruses, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, have emerged in human population causing hundreds to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Other coronaviruses are causing epizo...

    Authors: Laure Perrin-Cocon, Olivier Diaz, Clémence Jacquemin, Valentine Barthel, Eva Ogire, Christophe Ramière, Patrice André, Vincent Lotteau and Pierre-Olivier Vidalain
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:319
    Content type: Review Published on:

  20. COVID 19-related quarantine led to a sudden and radical lifestyle changes, in particular in eating habits. Objectives of the study were to investigate the effect of quarantine on sleep quality (SQ) and body mass ...

    Authors: Luigi Barrea, Gabriella Pugliese, Lydia Framondi, Rossana Di Matteo, Daniela Laudisio, Silvia Savastano, Annamaria Colao and Giovanna Muscogiuri
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:318
    Content type: Research Published on:

  21. The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted considerable impact on public mental health globally. With the pandemic rapidly rising in sub-Saharan Africa including Kenya, there is need to provide evidence to guide the me...

    Authors: Florence Jaguga and Edith Kwobah
    Citation: International Journal of Mental Health Systems 2020 14:68
    Content type: Review Published on:

  22. Healthcare resources have been strained to previously unforeseeable limits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. This has prompted the emergence of critical just-in-time COVID-19 education, including r...

    Authors: Mirette Dubé, Alyshah Kaba, Theresa Cronin, Sue Barnes, Tara Fuselli and Vincent Grant
    Citation: Advances in Simulation 2020 5:22
    Content type: Innovation Published on:

    The Correction to this article has been published in Advances in Simulation 2021 6:13

  23. Azithromycin is an orally active synthetic macrolide antibiotic with a wide range of anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. It is a safe, inexpensive, generic licenced drug available world...

    Authors: Timothy S. C. Hinks, Vicki S. Barber, Joanna Black, Susan J. Dutton, Maisha Jabeen, James Melhorn, Najib M Rahman, Duncan Richards, Daniel Lasserson, Ian D. Pavord and Mona Bafadhel
    Citation: Trials 2020 21:718
    Content type: Study protocol Published on:

  24. There are no specific generally accepted therapies for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The full spectrum of COVID-19 ranges from asymptomatic disease to mild respiratory tract illness to severe pneumo...

    Authors: Jesús Villar, José M. Añón, Carlos Ferrando, Gerardo Aguilar, Tomás Muñoz, José Ferreres, Alfonso Ambrós, César Aldecoa, Fernando Suárez-Sipmann, Kevin E. Thorpe, Peter Jüni and Arthur S. Slutsky
    Citation: Trials 2020 21:717
    Content type: Study protocol Published on:

  25. In the rapidly evolving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, inherent literature has been increasing at an impressive rate. Such a dynamic scenario imposes the necessity to define a new framework for ...

    Authors: Maddalena Barba, Eriseld Krasniqi, Gennaro Ciliberto and Patrizia Vici
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:315
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  26. As of 13 July 2020, 12.9 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide. Prior studies have demonstrated that local socioeconomic and built environment characteristics may significantly contribute to vira...

    Authors: Christopher Scarpone, Sebastian T. Brinkmann, Tim Große, Daniel Sonnenwald, Martin Fuchs and Blake Byron Walker
    Citation: International Journal of Health Geographics 2020 19:32
    Content type: Research Published on:

  27. Available studies are lacking in analysis of baseline demographics and hospital presentation of patients at risk of expiring due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly Black American patients. We...

    Authors: James Andrew McCracken, Mohamed Nakeshbandi, Jeffrey Arace, Wayne J. Riley and Roopali Sharma
    Citation: Translational Medicine Communications 2020 5:12
    Content type: Research Published on:

  28. Medical care workers experienced unprecedented levels of workload and pressure since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Little is known about its exact impact on medical care workers and rela...

    Authors: Ming-Yu Si, Xiao-You Su, Yu Jiang, Wen-Jun Wang, Xiao-Fen Gu, Li Ma, Jing Li, Shao-Kai Zhang, Ze-Fang Ren, Ran Ren, Yuan-Li Liu and You-Lin Qiao
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2020 9:113
    Content type: Research Article Published on:

  29. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had spread worldwide. Although the world has intensively focused on the epidemic center during this period of time, it is imperative to emphasize that more a...

    Authors: Ru-Jun Liao, Chun-Nong Ji-Ke, Tao Zhang, Qiang Liao, Ling Li, Tian-Yu Zhu and Shao-Yong Bian
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2020 9:112
    Content type: Case Study Published on:

  30. Psychological distress is highly prevalent among migraineurs during public health emergencies. The coronavirus disease 2019 (nCOV-2019) has created mass panic in China due to its highly contagious by contact a...

    Authors: Mengmeng Ma, Jinghuan Fang, Changling Li, Jiajia Bao, Yang Zhang, Ning Chen, Jian Guo and Li He
    Citation: The Journal of Headache and Pain 2020 21:100
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  31. The German government has made it mandatory to wear respiratory masks covering mouth and nose (MNC) as an effective strategy to fight SARS-CoV-2 infections. In many countries, this directive has been extended ...

    Authors: Christiane Matuschek, Friedrich Moll, Heiner Fangerau, Johannes C. Fischer, Kurt Zänker, Martijn van Griensven, Marion Schneider, Detlef Kindgen-Milles, Wolfram Trudo Knoefel, Artur Lichtenberg, Balint Tamaskovics, Freddy Joel Djiepmo-Njanang, Wilfried Budach, Stefanie Corradini, Dieter Häussinger, Torsten Feldt…
    Citation: European Journal of Medical Research 2020 25:32
    Content type: Review Published on:

  32. Measures aiming at containing the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) include isolation, social distancing, and quarantine. Quarantine and other lockdown instruments show promise in reducing the number of COVI...

    Authors: Eszter Füzéki, David A. Groneberg and Winfried Banzer
    Citation: Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 2020 15:25
    Content type: Review Published on:

  34. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic met coincidentally with massive migration before Lunar New Year in China in early 2020. This study is to investigate the relationship between the massive migrat...

    Authors: Wen-Yu Song, Pan Zang, Zhong-Xing Ding, Xin-Yu Fang, Li-Guo Zhu, Ya Zhu, Chang-Jun Bao, Feng Chen, Ming Wu and Zhi-Hang Peng
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2020 9:109
    Content type: Research Article Published on:

  35. As the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has progressed, computed tomography has emerged as an integral part of the diagnosis alongside reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction assays. Fre...

    Authors: Mohsin Sheraz Mughal, Rameez Rehman, Ramy Osman, Nathan Kan, Hasan Mirza and Margaret H. Eng
    Citation: Journal of Medical Case Reports 2020 14:124
    Content type: Case report Published on:

  36. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at particular risk during pandemics and epidemics of highly virulent diseases with significant morbidity and case fatality rate. These diseases include severe acute respiratory sy...

    Authors: Ana Licina, Andrew Silvers and Rhonda L. Stuart
    Citation: Systematic Reviews 2020 9:173
    Content type: Systematic review update Published on:

  37. The first reports of the Chinese experience in the management of newborns of mothers with SARS-CoV 2 infection did not recommend mother-baby contact or breastfeeding. At present, the most important Internation...

    Authors: Augusto Pereira, Sara Cruz-Melguizo, Maria Adrien, Lucia Fuentes, Eugenia Marin, Azul Forti and Tirso Perez-Medina
    Citation: International Breastfeeding Journal 2020 15:69
    Content type: Research Published on:

  39. COVID-19 pandemia is affecting Countries worldwide with a gendered death excess as being a male represents, especially in the 50–69 years age group, an unfavourable factor. Females are constitutionally prone t...

    Authors: Lorenzo Salvati, Benedetta Biagioni, Emanuele Vivarelli and Paola Parronchi
    Citation: Clinical and Molecular Allergy 2020 18:14
    Content type: Review Published on:

  40. Obesity and steatosis are associated with COVID-19 severe pneumonia. Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and reduced immune response are typical of these patients. In particular, adipose tissue is th...

    Authors: Antonino De Lorenzo, Maria Grazia Tarsitano, Carmela Falcone, Laura Di Renzo, Lorenzo Romano, Sebastiano Macheda, Anna Ferrarelli, Demetrio Labate, Marco Tescione, Federico Bilotta and Paola Gualtieri
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:299
    Content type: Research Published on:

  41. The severe acute respiratory syndrome virus SARS-CoV-2, a close relative of the SARS-CoV virus, is the cause of the recent COVID-19 pandemic affecting, to date, over 14 million individuals across the globe and...

    Authors: Nophar Geifman and Anthony D. Whetton
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:297
    Content type: Research Published on:

  42. The World Health Organization declared on March 11, 2020, that the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) has escalated from epidemic into pandemic. As the initial outbreak ...

    Authors: Yuxi Li, Juan Li, Dongling Zhong, Yue Zhang, Yonggang Zhang, Yan Guo, Mike Clarke and Rongjiang Jin
    Citation: Systematic Reviews 2020 9:170
    Content type: Protocol Published on:

  43. Disabled people are particularly exposed to the risks of COVID-19, as well as to the measures taken to address it, and their impact. The aim of the study was to examine the disability-inclusiveness of governme...

    Authors: Dikaios Sakellariou, Ana Paula Serrata Malfitano and Elena S. Rotarou
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:131
    Content type: Research Published on:

  44. The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases has rapidly increased all over the world. Specific information about immunity in non-survivors with COVID-19 is scarce. This study aimed to analyse the c...

    Authors: Yang Zhao, Han-Xiang Nie, Ke Hu, Xiao-Jun Wu, Yun-Ting Zhang, Meng-Mei Wang, Tao Wang, Zhi-Shui Zheng, Xiao-Chen Li and Shao-Lin Zeng
    Citation: Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2020 9:108
    Content type: Research Article Published on:

  45. More severe cases of COVID- 19 are more likely to be hospitalized and around one-fifth, needing ICU admission. Understanding the common laboratory features of COVID-19 in more severe cases versus non-severe pa...

    Authors: Sulmaz Ghahramani, Reza Tabrizi, Kamran B. Lankarani, Seyyed Mohammad Amin Kashani, Shahla Rezaei, Nazanin Zeidi, Maryam Akbari, Seyed Taghi Heydari, Hamed Akbari, Peyman Nowrouzi-Sohrabi and Fariba Ahmadizar
    Citation: European Journal of Medical Research 2020 25:30
    Content type: Review Published on:

  46. Stage 1: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of candidate agents as add-on therapies to standard of care (SoC) in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in a screening stage.

    Authors: Tom Wilkinson, Rupert Dixon, Clive Page, Miles Carroll, Gareth Griffiths, Ling-Pei Ho, Anthony De Soyza, Timothy Felton, Keir E. Lewis, Karen Phekoo, James D. Chalmers, Anthony Gordon, Lorcan McGarvey, Jillian Doherty, Robert C. Read, Manu Shankar-Hari…
    Citation: Trials 2020 21:691
    Content type: Letter Published on:

  47. Covid-19 morbidity and mortality are associated with a dysregulated immune response. Tools are needed to enhance existing immune profiling capabilities in affected patients. Here we aimed to develop an approac...

    Authors: Darawan Rinchai, Basirudeen Syed Ahamed Kabeer, Mohammed Toufiq, Zohreh Tatari-Calderone, Sara Deola, Tobias Brummaier, Mathieu Garand, Ricardo Branco, Nicole Baldwin, Mohamed Alfaki, Matthew C. Altman, Alberto Ballestrero, Matteo Bassetti, Gabriele Zoppoli, Andrea De Maria, Benjamin Tang…
    Citation: Journal of Translational Medicine 2020 18:291
    Content type: Research Published on:

  48. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading fast all around the world with more than fourteen millions of detected infected cases and more than 600.000 deaths by 20th July 2020. While scientist are workin...

    Authors: Alberto Sainz-Cort and Joost H. Heeroma
    Citation: Journal of Cannabis Research 2020 2:23
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  49. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new global public health emergency. The therapeutic benefits of Cold‒Damp Plague Formula (CDPF) against COVID-19, which was used to treat “cold‒dampness stagnation in t...

    Authors: Lin Han, Xiu-Xiu Wei, Yu-Jiao Zheng, Li-Li Zhang, Xin-Miao Wang, Hao-Yu Yang, Xu Ma, Lin-Hua Zhao and Xiao-Lin Tong
    Citation: Chinese Medicine 2020 15:78
    Content type: Research Published on:

  50. The health crisis caused by COVID-19 has led many countries to opt for social quarantine of the population. During this quarantine, communication systems have been characterized by disintermediation, the accelera...

    Authors: Álex Escolà-Gascón, Francesc-Xavier Marín, Jordi Rusiñol and Josep Gallifa
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:72
    Content type: Research Published on: