COVID breathalyzer test | Safeguarding vaccines | New antibody 

OSU develops a COVID breathalyzer

COLUMBUS, OH—Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are exploring a unique breath test for COVID screening. Results from the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found the breath test to be highly accurate in identifying COVID-19 infections in critically ill patients.

A look at hospitalization rates for unvaccinated adults

INDIANAPOLIS, IN—The Regenstrief Institute, a key research partner to Indiana University, participated in a CDC study which found that overall, unvaccinated adults with a previous COVID-19 infection were about five times more likely to be hospitalized than those who were vaccinated. Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., vice president for data and analytics at Regenstrief Institute and professor of family medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine, says this is evidence that vaccines offer better protection against COVID-19 than natural immunity alone.

Protecting vaccine freezers from interference 

ANN ARBOR, MI—Kevin Fu, former associate professor at the University of Michigan and now acting director of medical device cybersecurity at the U.S., FDA, found that an attacker near equipment like vaccine freezers and coolers could use electromagnetic interference to fool temperature sensors into giving false readings. You can read about some of the ways health systems can prevent this here.

Scientists identify new COVID antibody 

NORTH CAROLINA—Scientists at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified a new antibody that could limit the severity of infections from COVID-19 as well as SARS. The team narrowed down 1,700 antibodies to find one that was especially potent and able to bind to a multitude of animal coronaviruses, in addition to human-infecting pathogens.