Can H. pylori colonization offer some protection against disease?

Helicobacter pylori is an organism typically known as the culprit of painful stomach ulcers and severe abdominal pain, although there is now growing evidence which suggesting...

Some patients have become infected with TB from contaminated graft material. How are they screened for infectious disease?

In June of this year, it was discovered over 100 patients may have been exposed to tuberculosis originating from cadaver-derived material used in their bone graft procedures.

Second only...

Medieval doctors didn’t always prescribe what was best for an ailing patient (leeches were a popular therapy). However, a medical manuscript from the 10th Century called Bald’s Leechbook recently found in the British Library details a concoction of wine, oxbile, and two species of Allium (garlic, onion, or leek) used to treat styes, now known as an infection caused by Staphylococcus aur...

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 hav...

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...

Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of molecules for large-scale manufacturing purposes. It is a broad field of science, which combines chemistry, physics, energy storage, microfabrication, and molecular engineering.

Recently, it has been popularized by its role in nanomedicine for the COVID-19 vaccine. (1) Currently...

Could this explain why some are more susceptible to COVID-19?

The SARS-CoV-2 virus gains entry to the epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract by way of the ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) receptor. This is the protein to which the viral spike proteins attach in order to gain entry into the cell.

...

Information on messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines is frequently in the news due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, since mRNA technology is used in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Long before the start of the pandemic, however, researchers have been trying to use this technology to treat cancer.

Colorectal cancer is...

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?...

Can they assist with COVID-19 immunity?

The idea of probiotics is for centuries something well known in other cultures. Many old cultures count with them in yogurts, kefirs and even something thought to be new but made recently popular by savvy Hollywood stars, called: Kombucha. A group of researchers looked at Malaysian...

The Gut Microbiome Composition and COVID-19 Related Disease Severity

The gut microbiome refers to a group of commensal or symbiotic bacteria that make up the composition of microorganisms in the human intestines. At any given period in time, most healthy adults may have up to 1,000 different species of bacteria that inhabit...

New Study shows that assays for T Cells against COVID-19 can be good predictor of disease susceptibility.

Ensuring that essential workers are healthy and can receive a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic is extremely important. However, a major question must be considered: How can we identify which individuals...

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...