It’s been just over 3 years since the start of the pandemic and SARS-COV-2 has established itself as a member of our line-up of respiratory viruses. While the WHO declared that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency and the US is set to end it’s emergency declaration this week, SARS-COV-2 will remain aContinue reading “Pandemic Emergency Status Ending”
Category Archives: COVID-19
COVID Rebound: What do we know?
So what is rebound C19 and how often does it happen? Definition: The recurrence of C19 symptoms (or a new positive test) 2 to 8 days after testing negative from the first round of C19 infection. How often does it happen? Well the answer is not as clear as we’d like for right now! AfterContinue reading “COVID Rebound: What do we know?”
XBB in a Nutshell
There have been SO many sub-variants of Omicron, but one in particular is making a rise in the US – it’s known as XBB! To avoid variant fatigue remember that every one we encounter is temporary. It’s sometimes helpful or interesting to know what’s going around, but a lot of the times the variants don’tContinue reading “XBB in a Nutshell”
Moderna’s Bivalent C19 Vaccines
Let’s talk about Moderna’s two bivalent C19 vaccine booster candidates! Vaccine names: – mRNA1273 or Spikevax (original) – mRNA1273.211 (bivalent with original + beta) – mRNA1273.214 (bivalent with original + omicron) mRNA1273.211 data was announced earlier this year, includes 6 months of follow-up data, and is published as a preprint. mRNA1273.214 data was announced byContinue reading “Moderna’s Bivalent C19 Vaccines”
US Army COVID-19 Vaccine
You may have heard talk of pan-coronavirus vaccines in the works! One such vaccine is being developed by the US Army. Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) have developed a vaccine against coronavirus with pre-clinical data suggesting that it has the ability to neutralize several SARS-CoV-2 variants (COVID-19) along with SARS-CoV-1Continue reading “US Army COVID-19 Vaccine”
COVID-19 Breathalyzer
A breathalyzer was just FDA approved for the detection of organic compounds associated with an active SARS-CoV-2 infection! This is not only a fun new diagnostic method but also provides a test with very non-invasive sample collection. The breathalyzer was created by InspectIR using a portable (suitcase size) GC-MS technology. What is GC-MS? In aContinue reading “COVID-19 Breathalyzer”
“I heard it’s not that deadly!”
From a global perspective Omicron has been objectively very deadly. 🗣The message of Omicron being “less deadly” is speaking entirely on an individual level (and entirely relative). While it’s very fortunate that we aren’t dealing with a virus with a higher mortality rate, it is also important to acknowledge that the absolute burden of theContinue reading ““I heard it’s not that deadly!””
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”
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”
Paxlovid Treatment
Collaborative post with @sciencewithanni and @sciencewhizliz. This week Pfizer released via press release some really fantastic news. They have been running clinical trials with Paxlovid and have had such amazing results that they are pausing trial early to seek FDA approval! First let’s briefly talk about what Paxlovid is. It is a new combination oral therapyContinue reading “Paxlovid Treatment”