Author: Claudinne Miller
COVID Update
Dr. James Lawler reviews studies reinforcing lessons learned throughout the pandemic including air travel surveillance, variant trends, excess mortality, the role of children in household transmission, and more.
Jun 27, 2023
Blood Group A Enhances SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Key Points Among risk factors for SARS-CoV-2, ABO(H) blood group antigens have been one of the most recognized predictors of infection. However, the mechanisms whereby ABO(H) antigens influence susceptibility to COVID-19 remain incompletely understood. The receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2, which facilitates host cell engagement, bears significant similarity to galectins, an ancient family of […]
Jun 27, 2023
Texas A&M Expert Testifies On Preparing For Future Public Health Threats And Disasters
Texas A&M Dr. Gerald Parker, Texas A&M University’s associate dean for Global One Health at the School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) and director of the Pandemic & Biosecurity Policy Program, recently testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on the importance of being prepared for emerging threats and […]
Jun 27, 2023
‘Ridiculous,’ says Chinese scientist accused of being pandemic’s patient zero
Science – A scientist at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) who has recently faced media allegations that he was the first person with COVID-19 and his research on coronaviruses sparked the pandemic strongly denies that he was ill in late 2019 or that his work had any link to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, […]
Jun 27, 2023
What Do We Know About the EU.1.1 COVID Variant?
MedPageToday It’s a descendant of XBB.1.5, but it “isn’t setting off any red flags for me,” expert says. The CDC is tracking a handful of new COVID variants, including the EU.1.1 variant, which now makes up an estimated 1.7% of U.S. COVID cases. EU.1.1 is an XBB sublineage related to the XBB.1.5 variant that currently accounts for […]
Jun 27, 2023
Patient with suspected bubonic plague admitted to hospital in Mongolia
Akai A patient in critical condition with suspected bubonic plague was admitted to the regional hospital of Gobi-Altai aimag province of Mongolia, located on the border with China, head of the public relations department of the National Center for Zoonotic Infectious DiseasesEnkhbayaryn Dulmaa announced. A 21-year-old young man was sent to the regional hospital from Bugat […]
Jun 27, 2023
Fauci, former face of U.S. covid response, to join Georgetown faculty
Washington Post Anthony S. Fauci, who retired from the National Institutes of Health in December after helping two presidents navigate the coronavirus pandemic, plans to join the faculty at Georgetown University on July 1, according to the university. Fauci, 82, will teachmedicine and public policy as a “distinguished university professor,” a title that recognizes “extraordinary achievement in scholarship, teaching […]
Jun 27, 2023
Household COVID Omicron spread lower among vaccinated, study finds
CIDRAP An analysis during the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant wave in Japan suggests a lower rate of in-home COVID-19 transmission when the index (primary) patient or contact were fully vaccinated against COVID—and no transmission when both parties were fully vaccinated. The study was published late last week in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Higher Omicron secondary attack risk […]
Jun 27, 2023
Intrinsic and effective severity of COVID-19 cases infected with the ancestral strain and Omicron BA.2 variant in Hong Kong
The Journal of Infectious Diseases Understanding severity of infections with SARS-CoV-2 and its variants is crucial to inform public health measures. Here we used COVID-19 patient data from Hong Kong to characterise the severity profile of COVID-19. Methods Time-varying and age-specific effective severity measured by case-hospitalization risk and hospitalization-fatality risk was estimated with all individual […]
Jun 27, 2023