Here in the US, as around the world, we’re beginning to come out of COVID-19 hiding, whether mandated or voluntary. We are slowly starting to leave the confines of home and “safer at home” orders. Many of us are donning masks and venturing out as needed, still under social distancing considerations. We’re looking forward to […]
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease caused by a SARS-associated coronavirus. The most recent version, SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in China in the winter of 2019 and is responsible for the current COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) global pandemic. This virus and its variants have resulted in over 200 million infections and […]
B cells are the immune cells that produce antibodies (immunoglobulins or Ig) to detect intruding pathogens. B cells produce a variety of classes of antibodies. Generally during an immune response to a pathogen, whether viral or bacterial, B cells produce immunoglobulins (Ig) IgM and IgD, and later in the response, IgG and IgA, that are […]
Before the COVID-19 global pandemic began, Dr. Xuping Xie, Assistant Professor of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, TX has been studying viruses, such as Dengue and Zika, for more than 10 years. Once the pandemic hit in early 2020, he was prepared to join the fight against the virus. “There was an […]
SARS-CoV-2 affects many areas of the body including the central nervous system. A recent study investigated the virus’ neurotropic characteristics, including the mechanism of neuroinvasion and its effect on the brain.
In the nine months since the first cases of COVID-19 were noticed in Wuhan, China, the virus has spread around the globe and infected over 22 million people. As with all emerging infectious diseases, we often find ourselves with more questions than answers. However, through the tireless work of researchers, doctors and public health officials […]
Developing a vaccine that is safe, effective, easily manufactured and distributed is a daunting task. Yet, that is exactly what is needed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine development, safety and efficacy testing take time. The mumps vaccine is thought to be the quickest infectious disease vaccine ever produced, and its development required four […]
Our skin, respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract are continually bombarded by environmental challenges from potential pathogens like SARS-CoV-2. Yet, these exposures do not often cause illness because our immune system protects us. The human immune system is complex. It has both rapid, non-specific responses to injury and disease as well as long-term, pathogen-specific responses. Understanding […]
Loss of smell (olfaction) is a commonly reported symptom of COVID-19 infection. Recently, Bilinska, et al. set out to better understand the underlying mechanisms for loss of smell resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection. In their research, they used in situ hybridization to investigate the expression of TMPRSS2, a SARS-CoV-2 viral entry protein in olfactory epithelium tissues of mice.
As the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world, the race is on to produce antivirals and vaccines to treat and prevent COVID-19. One potential treatment is the use of human monoclonal antibodies, which are antibodies engineered to target and block specific antigens. A recent study by Wang, C. and colleagues published in Nature […]
