Although of great concern, vaccination will help

When will the pandemic end? How many more COVID-19 waves will the U.S. go through? Will we go back to “normal” in the fall? All these questions depend largely on one factor: the epidemiology of the variants.

As the virus spreads around the world, variant strains...

How far do we have to go to reach herd immunity?

First of all we must know that herd immunity is defined as a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that can occur with some diseases when a sufficient...

As COVID-19 presses forward, it is easy to look back at the past year and see nothing but the ruin left behind by the pandemic.

However, as 2021 advances, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Unlike previous years, the 2020-2021 flu season has diminished immensely. Healthcare workers are reporting extraordinarily...

Many states are relaxing restrictions amid both vaccination efforts and slowly decreasing case numbers, however, scientists warn that this pandemic is far from over. Researchers are working to gather more information about the SARS CoV-2 and its variants while the virus continues to mutate.

So, what are variants?...

A novel test for T cells show great promise in detecting immune status

Antibodies often steal the spotlight when talking about immunity, but they are not the only protagonist in the immune system.

T cells are specialized defenders activated in the adaptive...

What are the differences and will they work?

COVID-19 has dominated our lives for the better part of a year and yet we are left with more questions than we are answers. One of these questions most frequently brought up is how long will the antibodies be effective after a vaccination is given?
IgG is a specific type...

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a pandemic on March 11, 2020. ¹ Since then—at the time of writing—63,098,003 cases and 1,465,111 deaths have been reported from 191 afflicted countries/regions across the globe. ² Along with its high transmissibility...

Saving Patient Lives with Rapid Pneumonia Testing

Streptococcus...

Is this why President Trump Recovered so Quickly?

In 1900, Nobel Laureate Emil von Behring demonstrated antibodies in blood plasma, or serum, could be transferred from one person or animal to another person, conferring immunity against an infectious agent-as illustrated in his work with horses to cure and prevent diphtheria...

As the number of global coronavirus cases continues to increase beyond 20 million, there is an urgent need for treatment for those infected with SARS CoV2. Internationally, biotech companies are working feverishly towards developing a vaccine to reduce infection rates. However, it is still unclear when a final product will be released and to what degree of immunity will be achieved. Until a permanent...

The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike any public health emergency we have seen in many decades. Nations have shut down borders, businesses, and life as people knew it. Aside from the obvious economic side effects of shutting down businesses, offices, schools, and other buildings, another potentially deadly disease may be on the rise as a consequence of the COVID-19 lockdowns and a sudden reopening of previously...

One of the deadliest species known to man is Aedes aegypti, also known as the Yellow Fever mosquito. This species of mosquito is capable of carrying and spreading diseases such as chikungunya, zika, yellow fever, and dengue fever to more than half of the world's population. These diseases are the cause for millions of deaths every year and have increased substantially in the last 30 years.(1)...

This is the question that many are asking, but unfortunately, there is no easy answer. 
First of all, we have to take a look at why the cold and flu viruses seem to dissipate in the summer months. There are four possible reasons why respiratory viruses are more common in the winter and tend to become less of a problem in the summer.

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