Archives: 2021-10-19

COVID-19 Vaccines guarantee protection to non immune family members too

Risk of COVID-19 in families with two to five members. An interesting new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine examines the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to a susceptible individual who is part of a family with COVID-19 immunity. Study: Association Between Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Nonimmune Individuals and COVID-19 Immunity in Their Family

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Unvaccinated Americans are at higher risk from COVID-19 but express less concern than vaccinated adults

Americans who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 are far more likely than vaccinated people to contract the coronavirus and to be hospitalized and die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even so, a recent Pew Research Center survey finds they are less likely to be concerned about the health effects of the virus and to

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Covid conspiracy theories are driving people to antisemitism online

Old and overtly anti-Semitic fantasies are gaining new adherents, and far-right activists have been working to convert anti-lockdown beliefs to anti-Semitism too. Conspiracy theories about Covid are helping disseminate anti-Semitic beliefs to a wider audience, warns a new report by the antiracist advocacy group Hope not Hate. The report says that not only has the pandemic revived

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How many people get ‘long COVID?’ More than half, researchers find.

Half of COVID survivors experience lingering symptoms six months after recovery More than half of the 236 million people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 worldwide since December 2019 will experience post-COVID symptoms — more commonly known as “long COVID” — up to six months after recovering, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. The research

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Cell-based therapies for retinal diseases: review of clinical trials and direct to consumer “cell therapy” clinics

This review aims to outline the particular approaches in the different published clinical trials for cell-based therapies for retinal diseases. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is implicated in the pathophysiology of many retinal degenerative diseases. This cell layer is also an ideal target for cell-based therapies. Several early phase clinical trials evaluatingcell therapy approaches for

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CRISPR CAR-T cells can Revolutionize Cancer Treatment

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, taking half a million lives each year. CAR T technology has successfully harnessed the human immune system to produce awe-inspiring cancer remission rates. CRISPR-mediated genome engineering has enabled new developments in CAR T cells to bypass logistical, technical, and immunological roadblocks, making the

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Anti-Platelet Factor 4 Antibodies Causing VITT do not Cross-React with SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein

In Blood, Greinacher and colleagues examine humoral responses in vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) and COVID-19 to determine whether these illnesses are immunologically distinct or represent a disease continuum. At a surface level, vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), a recently described complication of adenoviral-based COVID-19 vaccines, and COVID-19 have much in common. Both illnesses owe their origins to severe

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