Sars

The duration of immunity from COVID-19 infections is still not well understood. But a recent longitudinal study indicates that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies could range from about 40 days to decades, depending on the severity of infection. The study followed 164 patients infected with the novel coronavirus for...Read Full StorySarsPublic HealthPopulation GrowthDuke-NUSAntibody ResponsesT-cell ImmunityDetectable LevelsCOVID-19 InfectionsInfect HumansCytokinesImmunity LongevityGrowth FactorsStudy ParticipantsSubstantial LevelsVaccinationDavid Lye

Credit: Freestocks on Unsplash. A study published in Viruses documents a case of vertical SARS-CoV-2 transmission from a mother to a fetus in the second trimester of pregnancy. The diagnosis was confirmed using a mass spectrometry-based method developed by researchers at the Skoltech Institute of Science and Technology. It marks...Read Full StorySarsFetusPublic HealthBiological CellsData TransmissionHuman CellsHuman TissueHuman Brain ResearchHPLC-MS/MSPCRTransplacentalThe N And SJ Proteome ResBrzhozovskiy AGSARS-CoV-2 Proteins

In a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine, published online March 23, 2021, a group of investigators from University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA report COVID-19 infection rates for a cohort of health care workers previously vaccinated for the novel coronavirus.Read Full StoryVaccinesPfizerSarsClinical MedicineVaccination RatesVaccine DosesDisease PreventionUCLA HealthStudy Co-AuthorMPHMDJournalVaccination CampaignsCOVID-19 InfectionsVaccine Roll-out

In a letter to New England Journal of MedicinePublished online March 23, 2021, a group of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine and UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine found COVID-19, a cohort of health workers previously vaccinated with the new coronavirus. We are reporting the infection rate.Read Full StoryPfizerVaccinesSarsVaccination RatesInfectious DiseasesDisease PreventionClinical MedicineUC San Diego HealthUCLA HealthResearch Co-authorMDGlobal Public HealthVaccination CampaignsIncreased Infection RatesVaccine Clinical Trials

By analyzing blood samples from individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, researchers in Singapore have begun to unpack the different responses by the body's T cells that determine whether or not an individual develops COVID-19. The study, published today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), suggests that clearing the virus without developing symptoms requires T cells to mount an efficient immune response that produces a careful balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory molecules.Read Full StoryImmune SystemImmune ResponseCovid-19Immune CellsT CellBlood CellsIndianBangladeshiSymptomsCOVID-19 PatientsBalanceExcessive InflammationPathological ProcessesAsymptomatic IndividualsSARS-CoV-2 Infections

Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School, the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Infectious Diseases Labs found that antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 wane at different rates, lasting for mere days in some individuals, while remaining present in others for decades. The study, published in The Lancet Microbe, shows that the severity of the infection could be a deciding factor in having longer-lasting antibodies. Individuals with low levels of neutralizing antibodies may still be protected from COVID-19 if they have a robust T-cell immunity.Read Full StoryImmune SystemSarsPublic HealthImmune CellsBlood CellsEffective StrategiesData ScientistsDuke-NUS Medical SchoolNCIDThe Lancet MicrobeDuke-NUS 'Neutralizing AntibodyT-cell ImmunityImmunity LongevityLonger-lasting AntibodiesDavid Lye

image captionProtests about the Sars police unit have been going on for two weeks. Protests began earlier this month in Nigeria calling on the authorities to abolish a controversial police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars). The story has started trending globally, with thousands of posts on social media,...MisinformationSocial MediaNigeriansSARSTwitterSouth AfricaState MediaOnline MediaVideo CallingUK AuthoritiesCBCNBBC MonitoringFacebookChannels TVUgochukwuMuhammadu BuhariRead Full Story

“For 60 years nothing has really been solved in this country,” Seun Kuti says. “Healthcare, education, electricity, transportation, welfare – nothing has been accomplished.”. Galvanised by the brutality meted out by Nigerian police against protesters in October last year, the 37-year-old Grammy-nominated musician and youngest son of the Afrobeat legend...Read Full StoryPolice BrutalityCelebritiesPolitical PartyCountry MusicHealthcareMOPNigeriansFela 's Old ClubOctober KutiNigerian PeopleNigerian AuthoritiesLagosElitesLekkiSarsSeun KutiFela KutiMuhammadu Buhari

Many cases have been reported in which immunocompromised individuals infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have continued to shed the virus for far longer than the typical duration. A new preprint published on the medRxiv* server describes an immunosuppressed patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who continued to shed the virus for an astounding 154 days. During this period, the virus underwent numerous mutations.Read Full StorySarsGenetic DiversityRespiratory TractSteroidsPublic HealthGenetic MutationsChronic InfectionChronic DiseaseRespiratory InfectionChemotherapyBritishARDSD614GDetectable MutationsDiagnosis

Credit: Kris Hanning/University of Arizona.SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) antibodies persist for months after infection, a new study shows.One of the most significant questions about the novel coronavirus is whether people who are infected are immune from reinfection and, if so, for how long.To determine the answer, researchers studied the production of antibodies from a sample of nearly 6,000 people and found immunity persists for at least several months after being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. “We clearly see high-quality antibodies still being produced five to seven months after SARS-CoV-2 infection,” says Deepta Bhattacharya, associate professor in the immunology department at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson and coauthor of the new study in Immunity.“Many concerns have been expressed about immunity against COVID-19 not lasting.We used this study to investigate that question and found immunity is stable for at least five months.”Sars-cov-2 antibodies protectionWhen a virus first infects cells, the immune system deploys short-lived plasma cells that produce antibodies to immediately fight the virus. Those antibodies appear in blood tests within 14 days of infection.The second stage of the immune response is the creation of long-lived plasma cells, which produce high-quality antibodies that provide lasting immunity.Bhattacharya and coauthor Janko Nikolich-Žugich, professor and head of the immunobiology department, tracked antibody levels over several months in people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.They found SARS-CoV-2 antibodies are present in blood tests at viable levels for at least five to seven months, although they believe immunity lasts much longer.“Whether antibodies provide lasting protection against SARS-CoV-2 has been one of the most difficult questions to answer,” says coauthor Michael D. Dake, senior vice president of University of Arizona Health Sciences.“This research not only has given us the ability to accurately test for antibodies against COVID-19, but also has armed us with the knowledge that lasting immunity is a reality.”Earlier studies extrapolated antibody production from initial infections and suggested antibody levels drop quickly after infection, providing only short-term immunity.Bhattacharya believes those conclusions focused on short-lived plasma cells and failed to take into account long-lived plasma cells and the high-affinity antibodies they produce.“The latest time-points we tracked in infected individuals were past seven months, so that is the longest period of time we can confirm immunity lasts,” Bhattacharya says.“That said, we know that people who were infected with the first SARS coronavirus, which is the most similar virus to SARS-CoV-2, are still seeing immunity 17 years after infection. If SARS-CoV-2 is anything like the first one, we expect antibodies to last at least two years, and it would be unlikely for anything much shorter.”Antibody test has high level of accuracyThe study began when Nikolich-Žugich and Bhattacharya, both members of the University of Arizona BIO5 Institute, led a team that developed a blood test to check for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.A partnership with the state led to 5,882 volunteers undergoing antibody testing in Pima County, starting April 30. The testing efforts later were expanded statewide.Since antibodies attach to viruses at more than one location, researchers developed the test using two different parts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus—S1 and S2.Most tests look for antibodies at S1, which includes the receptor-binding domain wherein the spike protein binds to a protein receptor to infect cells. The test also analyzes the S2 region of the spike protein. Antibodies must be present in both locations for the test to come back as positive.“When we began, the first test we developed was 99% accurate for measuring antibodies in one part of the virus,” Nikolich-Žugich says. “We decided to confirm, and hopefully improve, that accuracy level by looking at another part of the virus that makes antibodies independent of the first location.“We then validated that test, knowing some people will make antibodies more consistently for one part of the virus than the other. We put the two tests together, and only people who show antibody production for both parts of the test are determined to be positive.”The scientific verification of the high level of accuracy of the new antibody test is the other finding in the new paper. Of 5,882 tests completed, only one returned a false positive, a rate of less than .02%. The test received US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization in August.Nikolich-Žugich says the team now has tested almost 30,000 people. Antibody tests still are available for anyone in Arizona age 18 and older at multiple locations throughout the state. For more information or to sign up for testing, click here.Coronavirus Disease 2019ImmunologyCOVID-19 VirusImmune CellsBlood CellsBlood TestsDrug TestsDeepta BhattacharyaMichael D. DakeJanko Nikolich-ŽugichLasting ImmunitySARS-CoV-2 InfectionInfected IndividualsVirusesInitial Infections