Commentary

SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 is not more virulent

When the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in the UK in December 2020 it was accompanied by unsubstantiated claims of increased transmissibility and virulence. The results of a hospital-based study in London reveals no association of the variant with severe disease in this cohort. In a note published by NERVTAG on 21 January …

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SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

In recent months variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been detected that are unusual in that they have many more genome mutations than previously found. These have been called ‘variants of concern’ (VOC) as it has been suggested that the genome mutations might impact transmission, immune control, and virulence. Below I cover each of these issues separately. …

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Musings of an anonymous, pissed off virologist

by Paul Bieniasz Dr. Bieniasz is Professor and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Rockefeller University. As viruses go, SARS-CoV-2, is quite easy to neutralize with antibodies and, it turns out, straightforward to generate effective vaccines based on the spike protein. Perhaps, even probably, those two properties are causally related. Moreover, it appears …

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TWiV 675: Forget what you’ve herd about immunity

Daniel Griffin provides a clinical report on COVID-19, then we discuss Bill Foege’s letter to CDC director Robert Redfield, the false promise of herd immunity for COVID-19, secret blueprints for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials released, and neuropilin-1 as a possible entry protein for the virus. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 675 (105 MB .mp3, 174 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google …

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