Herewith three items of pandemic news you may have missed recently: cyber attacks against vaccine developers worldwide; a comprehensive clinical trials dashboard; and the elusive allure of SARS-CoV-2 sterilizing immunity. Plus the usual frippery. The promise of sterilizing immunity We … Continue reading →
Herewith three items of pandemic news you may have missed recently: a list of 50 voices you can trust; doubts that an EUA might be issued anytime soon; and more questions on how long immunity lasts. Plus the accustomed frippery. … Continue reading →
The Update has gone semi-weekly. Herewith three more items of pandemic news you may have missed recently: the next pandemic; the duration of immunity; and two new metrics that may portend severe Covid-19. Plus a frippery. Two New Metrics That … Continue reading →
Repeat infections with Covid-19 are back in the news: a Nevada man’s case was published in The Lancet, and an elderly, immune-compromised woman in the Netherlands died after a second infection. Still, there is little cause to worry. We touched … Continue reading →
We’re going to be stringing together Covid-19 and the immune system’s response to it with genes we inherited from Neanderthals. Bear with us. First, let’s look at a paper outlining a genetic defect that results in sub-par production of one … Continue reading →
Those of us who have been hoping that life can go back to some kind of normal after a vaccine is available may need to reset our expectations. The vaccines under development will protect against disease, not against infection. What … Continue reading →
We still don’t know for sure whether you can catch Covid-19 twice. Four recent accounts of what might be cases of reinfection suggest that our future with the virus could be very different than what we have been hoping. Scattered … Continue reading →
Mystery surrounds those who get infected by SARS-CoV-2 but never develop any symptoms. How common are they in the population? Can they infect others? For how long? Do they develop immunity? Answers are starting to emerge. Early in February, Chinese … Continue reading →
This open question has huge bearing on how soon we can reopen the economy, what the course of this disease could be beyond the first wave, how successful an eventual vaccine might be, and how we should treat those who … Continue reading →
This one took me completely by surprise. People who have not had the SARS-CoV-2 virus are rejecting, ostracizing, stigmatizing, and shunning those who have recovered from it. Read any of the press accounts listed below and you will appreciate the … Continue reading →
