What is the hierarchy of evidence and how should you use it? The hierarchy of evidence is a tool that allows you to understand the quality of the information you are viewing. Importantly, a hierarchy assumes that each level builds on the previous. This means that all levels are important, even if they should beContinue reading “Hierarchy of Evidence”
Author Archives: annickae
Trust your Immune System
Vaccines are nothing without the body’s natural immune system. They only work if your immune system works. The vaccine doesn’t immediately provide you immunity but rather it’s contingent on your immune system putting in weeks of incredibly complex and intricate work. Whether you are infected with SARS-CoV-2 in your community or inoculated with the COVID-19Continue reading “Trust your Immune System”
Prison Vaccination Rates
Vaccine acceptance among prison inmates. Why is this important? Prison systems are very high-risk communities that would benefit from herd immunity. Take a minute to absorb this data to understand overall acceptance and group trends. Data from the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (CDCR) was analyzed to evaluate vaccine acceptance trends among inmates. AlmostContinue reading “Prison Vaccination Rates”
Dengue Virus
Meet Dengue virus! Dengue virus (flaviviridae family) is a small (50nm), spherical, enveloped virus carrying an RNA genome (11kb). While the particle is spherical (because it is enveloped), the placement of the E proteins throughout the membrane give it an icosahedral-like symmetry. Each surface face is made up of a trio of E-protein dimers. TheseContinue reading “Dengue Virus”
Infection Graphic Dictionary
Anyone still confused about some of the words being used to describe Covid-19 or the vaccinations? I recently had a friend suggest I put something together to help explain, in an illustrative way, how exactly the vaccine antibodies reduce transmission and how breakthrough cases can still occur. So I put together this little graphic dictionaryContinue reading “Infection Graphic Dictionary”
Hepatovirus
Today we are talking about hepatoviruses! Hepatoviruses are small (30nm diameter), non-enveloped, icosahedral viruses carrying an RNA genome (7.5kb). The capsid is made of 60 multimers made up of 3 viral proteins (VP1, VP2, and VP3). VP4, a fourth viral protein, is not incorporated into the outer surface multimeter. A viral infection with a hepatovirusContinue reading “Hepatovirus”
Vaccine Equity
Vaccine equity in the United States. While speed of vaccine rollout is important, the equitable distribution of vaccines to communities hit hardest by the pandemic is fundamental to reducing nationwide suffering. The New York Times has gathered and processed data that evaluates how county vulnerability correlates with vaccination percentage. Unfortunately, the data shows that moreContinue reading “Vaccine Equity”
India COVID Crisis
Today I wanted to dedicate a post to the public health crisis in India. It’s particularly disturbing (and all too familiar) when I hear people deny the experience of our global neighbors and claim it is media sensationalism. It is not. You can do your part by getting yourself vaccinated, donating (link to a listContinue reading “India COVID Crisis”
Herd Immunity
@my_np_jenna and I worked together on this post that goes over the basic concepts of herd immunity and how it relates to COVID-19! 🙌🏼 In a nutshell, herd immunity thresholds are based on the contagiousness of the pathogen in question. This is captured by the reproduction number (R0) of a disease, which estimates the average numberContinue reading “Herd Immunity”
VITT
So much talk about blood clots this week! I teamed up with @deplatformdisease to try and give a detailed look at what we know about the clinical presentation seen in a very small population of adenovirus-based vaccine recipients and what we know about the molecular biology. It is important to recognize that because this is so incrediblyContinue reading “VITT”