⛰Quest for Immunity : Choose Your Own Adventure ⛰ 🎲I sat down to make a post that attempted to illustrate how immunity is a spectrum and ended up with an “adventure game”! I want to help you understand how vaccinated individuals can still get infected but that their immunity will play a role in minimizingContinue reading “Quest for Immunity”
Author Archives: annickae
2-5 Kids Trial – Good News
I’m guessing the news of Pfizer’s 2-5 year old trial data has reaching your corner of the earth and if you have children this age it’s probably left you feeling pretty discouraged and overwhelmed. I’m so sorry. I wanted to quickly break down what the announcement told us and then I wanted to leave youContinue reading “2-5 Kids Trial – Good News”
Medicating after Vaccination
The do’s and don’ts of medicating for vaccination! It is a privilege to be able to stay home from work or have the ability to stay home with kids after getting vaccinated. We know that the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have a pretty strong reactogenic profile and experiencing acute symptoms (fever, headache, fatigue, chills, pain atContinue reading “Medicating after Vaccination”
Principles of Vaccine Escape
Omicron headlines may sound scary. The number of spike protein mutations raise concerns it may be able to escape our vaccines more than other variants… but let’s not worry quite yet. @azzagadir@sciencewithanni and @niniandthebrain teamed up for this collaboration! While it is unclear at this time whether our existing vaccines will be protective enough against infection or whether weContinue reading “Principles of Vaccine Escape”
Vaccination Definition
Vaccination: a product that triggers the immune system to create pathogen-specific immunity. —— Thought I’d revisit this graphical representation of what a vaccine is! I’m so excited to share a really fun collaborative post tomorrow that touches on all the different pieces of this (antigens, antibodies, b-cells, & t-cells) and dives deeper into immune memory.Continue reading “Vaccination Definition”
Global Vaccine Equity: Call to Action
Global vaccine equity is crucial for ending the pandemic and saving lives. 54.2% of the world is vaccinated, but only 5.8% of low income countries. This shows how much work is left to do to ensure vaccine equity. We (@sciencewithanni and @sciencewhizliz ) have teamed up to provide you with a few ways that you can take actionContinue reading “Global Vaccine Equity: Call to Action”
Gene Therapy
Let’s talk about some of the most common ways gene therapy is used to treat disease! In the last post of the gene therapy series I introduced the central dogma of molecular biology. It is important to understand that DNA leads to RNA which encodes for protein. If you understand that fundamental concept then whenContinue reading “Gene Therapy”
Early info on Omicron
Keep doing what you’re doing! I know the news of Omicron has people worried. I debated putting this up but the news is out and I don’t think it helps anyone to have useful resources wait to come out until later. But let me reiterate – keep doing what you’re doing! Prioritize vaccination and takeContinue reading “Early info on Omicron”
Human Papillomavirus
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a small, non-enveloped, double-stranded DNA virus (8kb) from the papillomaviridae family. It’s capsid is made up of L1 and L2 proteins. HPV infection is incredibly common, with most people being exposed in their lifetime. There are over 100 different strains of HPV – some lead to warts while others are cancerous.Continue reading “Human Papillomavirus”
Choose Sources that Empower
Take note: Does the information you’re taking in leave you feeling empowered or does it leave you feeling reactive? A few weeks ago I got asked in my stories what I do to try and vet sources of information on social media. ▪️The most obvious is that they are able to provide sources or explanationsContinue reading “Choose Sources that Empower”