Pathology Why do kids and old people have such different reactions to COVID-19? This paper from UK (2024-04-15) says that kid and adult epithelial cells (which line mucous membranes) are different. In particular, cells in elderly people had more of the receptors which SARS-CoV-2 uses to get into the cells, and kids’ cells generated more… Continue reading 2024-04-19 General
Category: Live attenuated virus
week ending 2022-08-18 General
Live Attenuated Virus Vaccines This paper from Massachusetts found that vaccination with the tuberculosis BCG vaccine gave a 92% efficacy against COVID-19. (Also see this mass media article, which talks about other studies too.) BCG is a live attenuated virus vaccine (LAV); I’ve talked about LAVs before and how they appear to boost the innate… Continue reading week ending 2022-08-18 General
2022-03-20/21 General
Vaccines This study found that countries which use the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) have a higher rate of COVID-19 than those which use the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), which uses a live attenuated virus. OPV is easier/cheaper to administer, but there is a (small) risk of getting polio from the vaccine. Yes, countries which use… Continue reading 2022-03-20/21 General
2021-10-23/24/25 General
Transmission In this small study of Italian health-care workers who were tested regularly, all of the people who tested positive but were asymptomatic tested negative the very next day. The mean time for the symptomatic patients to test negative was 11 days. Pathology This preprint says they found SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid of… Continue reading 2021-10-23/24/25 General
2021-10-02/03/04/05/06 General
It is going to take me time to catch up, be patient. I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to understand how various non-coronavirus vaccines could provide some protection against COVID-19. I failed yesterday, but I will keep working on it (and posting other news). Vaccines This preprint says that people over 50 (i.e.… Continue reading 2021-10-02/03/04/05/06 General
2021-09-23 General
Vaccines This long and highly technical preprint also says that the MMR vaccine gives some protection against and that the Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) vaccine does. The authors did two things: They took T cells from blood which had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (either from infection or vaccination) and added either MMR or Tdap vaccines, and… Continue reading 2021-09-23 General
2021-09-22 General
Vaccines In this study, the authors made pseudoviruses — things which have SARS-CoV-2 spikes on them but which can’t infect people, and “mutated” the spikes. They were able to find a mutant spike that were almost completely resistant to antibodies from either people who had had COVID-19 and had not been vaccinated or who had… Continue reading 2021-09-22 General
2021-09-21 General
Mitigation Measures The land border into the USA from Canada will remain closed to non-essential non-Americans until at least 21 October. Vaccines This preprint says that the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine has a vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 infection of 48% and 76% effectiveness against severe disease. I think this is huge news,… Continue reading 2021-09-21 General
2021-06-12 General
Vaccines This paper says that women have a more robust response to vaccination than men do. On 18 May, I talked about how live attenuated virus vaccines seem to rev up the innate immune system. I mentioned in that post that a smallpox vaccination reduced all-cause mortality more than attributable to smallpox deaths; I had… Continue reading 2021-06-12 General
2021-05-24 General
Diagnostics Dear Readers, go get yourself a pulse oximeter. A study showed that frequently people with COVID wait until they are short of breath to go to hospital. Unfortunately, with COVID, frequently you feel like you can breathe fine, but your blood oxygen actually is quite low. If your pulse oximeter is reading low and… Continue reading 2021-05-24 General