by Gertrud U. Rey You are fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 and have presumably never been infected with the virus. But how can you know for sure? One way to find out is by testing your blood for the presence of antibodies against the viral nucleocapsid protein, which can only be encountered during natural infection. This …
Rhesus macaques that are vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 are protected from severe disease and probably transmit very little virus when infected with SARS-CoV-2 one year later.
Vaccines work by educating the host’s immune system to recall the identity of a virus years after the initial encounter, a phenomenon called immune memory. Viral vaccines establish immunity and memory without the pathogenic consequences typical of a natural infection. The success of immunization in stimulating long-lived immune memory is among humanity’s greatest scientific and …
On this mid-week edition, does it matter that SARS-CoV-2 is mutating, seasonal coronavirus immunity is short-lived, another bogus claim that the virus was produced in a laboratory (it came from Nature), and answers to listener questions. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 664 (73 MB .mp3, 122 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
Christian Drosten returns to TWiV to provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in Germany, and general thoughts on testing, immunity, vaccines, therapeutics, epidemiology, reopening schools, and what will happen this fall. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 659 (72 MB .mp3, 120 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
Not only the popular press but even some of my distinguished science colleagues are claiming that the recent report of reinfection of a COVID-19 patient is the end of the world. Nothing could be farther from the truth. First, the facts. The patient is a healthy Hong Kong male who was diagnosed by PCR with …
