Virology
More coronaviruses in rodents
By Vincent Racaniello
This week President Biden received the report he commissioned on the origin of SARS-CoV-2. As I predicted three months ago, nothing was learned, because to find the origin of the virus it is necessary to conduct extensive wildlife surveys. Consequently this week I would rather write about a new study ...
Are COVID-19 vaccine boosters needed?
By Vincent Racaniello
The US Centers for Disease Control have concluded that a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine will be needed for protection against disease, but the science says otherwise. A review of the immune responses to infection will help explain why vaccine boosters are not needed. The graph below shows the relative ...
Estimate of infectiousness during COVID-19
By Vincent Racaniello
Understanding the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is complicated by the large numbers of presymptomatic, asymptomatic, and mildly symptomatic (PAMS) patients. The reproductive number, R0, is a measure of population-level dynamics, but it cannot provide information on infectiousness of different groups such as PAMS subjects; when peak infectiousness occurs; and the effect ...
Heterologous Vaccine Regimens Might be Better
By Gertrud U. Rey
by Gertrud U. Rey Have you ever wondered if you can "mix and match" SARS-CoV-2 vaccines? For example, would it be ok to boost a first dose of the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca with a dose of the vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech? The latest science shows that such a vaccine ...
Paul and the Mosquitos
By Vincent Racaniello
From the authors of Paul Has Measles and Paul Stays Home comes Paul and the Mosquitos, an illustrated book for children about mosquito-borne diseases. In his camp, Paul and his friends discuss which is the most dangerous animal of all. They would never have imagined it would be the mosquito. ...