Tag: Virus
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Can the body remove HIV by itself?
Two patients have astonishingly cured themselves of HIV without any therapy. Kevin Boyle discusses these novel findings and their potential implications in the development of a vaccine against the HIV virus. A recent report in the Annals of Internal Medicine has shown that a female patient previously infected with HIV was able to remove the…
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Nanoparticle based vaccines: a potentially new addition to the “vaccine menu”?
A versatile and highly effective flu vaccine required in tiny amounts might be just around the corner: too good to be true? Kevin Boyle looks at recent advances. For around 70 years, flu vaccines have mostly been made the same way – using chicken eggs. The virus is injected into the eggs and incubated for…
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Africa has eradicated wild polio
There were massive challenges faced during the campaign to eradicate wild polio. To be truly effective, vaccination efforts had to reach far out and potentially dangerous regions, which led to deaths among front-line workers and volunteers. Patients who were hardest to reach were usually those most vulnerable, mostly displaced by conflict. Misinformation was combatted in…
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Sex differences in immune responses to COVID-19
There are a broad range of COVID-19 symptoms, which widely differ in severity between patients. Age quickly emerged as the most significant predictor of this. COVID-19 related deaths are extremely uncommon in those under 50, but for those over 75, the odds of surviving COVID-19 decreases dramatically. Sadly, over 10 percent of this age group…
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COVID-19 may trigger diabetes
There is emerging evidence that the relationship between COVID-19 and diabetes is bi-directional. Recent observations suggest that COVID-19 symptoms are not only exacerbated by diabetes but that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) also triggers the development of diabetes in non-diabetic COVID-19 patients. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that the risk of…
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Dexamethasone: a steroid superhero?
With the US buying up the world’s stock of Remdesivir, will dexamethasone emerge as the wonder cure to save lives amidst this pandemic? Researchers have made an exciting discovery in the race to find effective therapies against COVID-19. Dexamethasone, a cheap and widely prescribed steroid, has emerged triumphant in the RECOVERY trial conducted at the…
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Do viruses make your clock tick wrong?
With the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic happening, let’s delve into one of the many clever strategies that viruses use to successfully infect their host – disruption of the body (circadian) clock. What is a circadian rhythm? Circadian rhythm is a natural cycle that repeats roughly every 24 hours. The circadian rhythm controls the timing of various…