EurekAlert! COVID-19 Online Newsroom - Peer-reviewed Research

Peer-reviewed Research

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-May-2026 10:16 ET (8-May-2026 14:16 GMT/UTC)

Severe COVID-19, flu facilitate lung cancer months or years later, new research shows

University of Virginia Health System
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Severe COVID-19 and influenza infections prime the lungs for cancer and can accelerate the disease’s development, but vaccination heads off those harmful effects, new research indicates.

Journal: Cell
Funder: UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center

Poultry processing robotics advances with ChicGrasp

University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Peer-Reviewed Publication

What started out as a response to labor shortages in poultry processing plants during the COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a robotics system that can learn by imitating human movements to handle chickens. Using an advanced imitation learning algorithm and camera perceptions, researchers with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station have developed ChicGrasp, a dual-jaw robotic gripper with pinchers that can grasp a chicken carcass by the legs, lift and hang it on a shackle conveyor to be moved on for further processing. Results of the study behind the development of ChicGrasp were published in Advanced Robotics Research. All computer-aided design files, code and datasets from the project were released as open source, providing what the team describes as a reproducible benchmark for agricultural robotics and robot learning.

Journal: Advanced Robotics Research
Funder: National Institute of Food and Agriculture

New insights aided recovery from persistent fatigue

Linköping University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For people who have recovered from diagnoses characterised by persistent fatigue, a new understanding of symptoms seems to have been key to recovery. This is the conclusion of a study from Linköping University, Sweden. The researchers have identified common steps and turning points in patients’ stories, which can contribute to new ways of understanding and rehabilitating these conditions.

Journal: Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care
Funder: Region Östergötland

Telemedicine remains popular, but who uses it varies widely

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Telemedicine remains popular following its surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some disparities in use exist

Journal: Journal of General Internal Medicine

Study finds correlation between public health, tax policies

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study finds that the more a state’s budget relied on sales tax revenue, the more likely it was to shorten stay-at-home orders during the early stages of the COVID pandemic. The findings suggest that state public-health decisions may have been influenced by unexpected budgetary constraints imposed by public-health restrictions.

Journal: Contemporary Accounting Research

Recent pandemic viruses jumped to humans without prior adaptation, UC San Diego study finds

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

There is no evolutionary signal suggesting that these viruses were being “pre-adapted” for humans prior to their outbreaks. Instead, measurable changes in selection typically appeared only after sustained transmission began in people.

Journal: Cell

Doubling of new prescriptions for ADHD medications among adults since start of COVID-19 pandemic

Canadian Medical Association Journal
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New prescriptions for stimulants among adults, largely to treat ADHD, more than doubled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in younger adults, found new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.251065.

Journal: Canadian Medical Association Journal

How viruses mess with our brains

Université de Genève
Peer-Reviewed Publication

What impact does a viral infection have on our memory, attention, and concentration? The COVID-19 pandemic has reignited interest in this question, which has now been extended to other infections such as HIV, herpes, and hepatitis. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and Geneva University Hospital (HUG) reviewed over 900 scientific articles exploring the links between the immune system and cognitive functions. This analysis, published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, has identified several biological markers associated with cognitive decline in the context of infection. It also provides a solid foundation for future research.

Journal: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Machine-learning immune-system analysis study may hold clues to personalized medicine

York University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study led by York University found that not only could machine-learning models accurately pinpoint differences in healthy controls and those living with HIV, but also found outliers in both groups that provide fascinating glimpses into the complex nature of the immune system and what personalized medicine could look like in the future, accounting for variables such as age, comorbidities and genetics.

Journal: Patterns

Children’s development set back years by Covid lockdowns, study reveals

University of East Anglia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research reveals that Covid lockdowns set children's development back by years. The study shows how the pandemic hampered children’s ability to regulate their behaviour, stay focused and adapt to new situations. The greatest impact was seen among pupils who were in reception year (ages four-five) when the first lockdowns began - a crucial stage when youngsters normally learn to socialise, follow routines and navigate the busy world of the classroom.

The team say that children may still be feeling the effects years later.

Journal: Child Development

Study finds natural fungal supplement improves COVID-19 vaccine response

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A UC San Diego study shows that taking a mushroom-derived supplement during COVID-19 vaccination was safe, eased short-term side effects, and supported longer-lasting immune responses, particularly for people receiving their first vaccine.

Journal: BMC Immunology

A therapeutic target that would curb the spread of coronaviruses has been identified

Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Coronaviruses not only use the machinery of the human cells they infect: they modify it to achieve optimal conditions to produce viral proteins and thus spread more quickly. This is the main conclusion of a study by Pompeu Fabra University published in Nature Communications. The study identifies enzymes that modify transfer RNAs (tRNAs) –small cellular parts required to build proteins– as key elements for coronavirus infection. These enzymes are activated by the stress response of viral infection and could be a new therapeutic target for developing broad-spectrum antiviral drugs against coronaviruses.

Journal: Nature Communications

Study identifies molecular cause of taste loss after COVID

University of Colorado Anschutz
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have identified molecular and structural changes in taste buds that may explain why a small subset of people experience long-term taste loss after COVID-19 infection.

Journal: Chemical Senses

Long COVID and recovery among US adults

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In 2024, 8.3% of U.S. adults—an estimated 21.3 million—reported ever having long COVID (LC), among whom nearly 6 in 10 reported recovery, consistent with RECOVER initiative findings showing similar LC prevalence in 2023 and 2024 and longitudinal Veterans Affairs data demonstrating declining LC prevalence. Yet many adults, particularly those 35 years or older, continue to experience lasting symptoms. With no LC treatment demonstrating clear efficacy, greater investment in understanding biological mechanisms, including immunotypic differences between those who recover and those who do not, may provide insights into pathways of persistence and potential targets for intervention.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

NUS Medicine-Monash study: Intranasal vaccine booster shows stronger immune response and protection against sarbecoviruses

National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and Monash University have developed a vaccine booster candidate administered via the nasal route, which confers strong immunity in the respiratory tract. The study offers a promising strategy to enhance immunity and inform future booster approaches.

Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation

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