SARS-CoV-2 not only infects humans but can also spread occasionally from humans to cats, dogs, and tigers. A recent addition to this menagerie is the farmed mink. In mid-April 2020 mink on two farms in the Netherlands developed signs of respiratory disease which included nasal discharge and respiratory distress. Examination of the lungs revealed interstitial …
by Gertrud U. Rey Does a first infection with SARS-CoV-2 make a person immune to a second infection? This question is one of the prevailing issues in the current pandemic. The relevant immune response is adaptive immunity, which initiates during a first exposure to a pathogen and protects from re-infection and disease upon a second …
Some evidence suggests that cigarette smokers are more likely to develop severe COVID-19 disease than non-smokers. Chronic smoke exposure appears to trigger the expansion of cell types in the respiratory tract that produce ACE2, the receptor for SARS-CoV-2. This observation provides a plausible hypothesis to explain why cigarette smokers might experience more severe COVID-19. A …
The spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 contains a cleavage site for host cell proteases called furins. Deciphering the role of this cleavage site during infection is important for understanding the origin of the pandemic virus and its disease pattern in humans. Back in February it was not known if the furin site in the SARS-CoV-2 was …
The moment a preprint emerges describing a new patient isolate of SARS-CoV-2, with a change in the genome sequence, the world seems to explode with concern about a new viral ‘strain’. I want to explain why such angst is misguided and in the process explain exactly what is a virus strain and a virus isolate. …
by Gertrud U. Rey A small subset of people are more vulnerable to severe complications and death resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection. What causes this vulnerability? An increasing body of evidence suggests that patients suffering from severe COVID-19 often have one or more pre-existing conditions (co-morbidities). In an effort to describe the co-morbidities of COVID-19 patients …
