Travel for Life

While many successful vaccines act primarily by generating antibodies , there is also a clear need for vaccines that generate populations of highly-specific T cells , especially against infectious agents that successfully escape antibody responses. [1] Latest Developments Based on a latest research, it stated that: [16] These results provide further evidence that a three-dose vaccine regimen benefits the induction of optimal functional T cell immune memory. Table 1.  Vaccines do  generate populations of highly-specific T cells (Source @erictopol ) Innate Immune System vs Adaptive Immune System The  innate immune system  is a conserved defense strategy critical for the initial detection and restriction of pathogens and later activation of the adaptive immune response . Effective activation of innate immunity relies on the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and RIG...

Updated 02/09/2021 Common asthma treatment reduces need for hospitalization in COVID-19 patients, study suggests Without much ado, I'll refer you to read [1] to understand Asthma (see also the infographic provided in this article). Figure 1.   Endothelial dysregulation by SARS-CoV-2.  [5] What's ACE2 Receptor? The  SARS-CoV-2 virus  that causes COVID-19 enters lung cells by engaging with a type of protein on their surface called an  ACE2 receptor .  Normally, this cell-surface receptor functions to regulate blood pressure , but SARS-CoV-2 has co-opted it as a means to gain entry into cells in the lungs and other organs.  Patients in conditions like diabetes or hypertension , this receptor (i.e., ACE2) expression is increased . That's a possible reason why those comorbid diseases are at especially high risk for this infection . [4] Allergy-driven asthma vs non-allergic asthma Allergy-driven asthma "In the setting of an allergic type of infla...

Video 1.   Akiko Iwasaki—Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 (11/17/2020; YouTube link ) The eleventh lecture in the COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 and the Pandemic Series, presented by the MIT Department of Biology. Akiko Iwasaki of Yale Medical School gave a talk titled "Immunology: antibodies."  For more information on the class, visit “COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 and the Pandemic” (7.00) .  Slides from the Lecture See Also Roles of Antibodies vs. T Cells in Protecting against COVID-19  

COVID-19 typically causes fever and a dry cough. One may have aches in the body—the muscles—and if it's severe enough, there would be shortness of breath. Gastrointestinal symptoms can occur and are an indication of more severe disease. It's not very common to have a runny nose or the  sniffles , and a sore throat is not common either. What's the Difference? In comparison to other respiratory viruses, SARS-CoV-2 infection drives a lower antiviral transcriptional response that is marked by: Low IFN-I and IFN-III levels and  Elevated chemokine expression which could explain the proinflammatory disease state associated with COVID-19. Risk Factors “ Most people coronavirus affects in a mild way, so they can spread the infection, but there is a subset of the population that gets seriously ill. It is both highly contagious and highly lethal.”  — Kári Stefánsson  comments on " The Bad Combination " How the COVID-19 affects each individual could be  different...

(Updated 06/14/2021) The Covid-19 vaccine from American biotech company Novavax reported over 90% efficacy in its phase 3 study —whose results have yet to be peer-reviewed—that prioritized patients typically underrepresented in clinical trials, considered to be at high-risk from coronavirus. A vaccine is seen as the world’s best bet for taming a virus that has infected more than 48 million people, led to more than 1.2 million deaths, roiled economies and disrupted billions of lives since it was first identified in China in December. IN EARLY AUGUST, a tiny company won an initial vindication when  Novavax  announced its strong results from the Australian trial. [3] Later Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison had announced that: [1]   Australia government would buy 40 million vaccine doses from Novavax and 10 million from Pfizer and BioNTech. In this article, we will learn more about Novavax’ vaccine ( NVX-CoV2373 ) which is  made of nanoparticle studded with the t...