⛰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”
Category Archives: Immunology
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”
Natural vs Vaccine Immunity
Does it matter how you acquire immunity against SARS-CoV-2? I teamed up with @sciencewhizliz to dive deep into the many studies we have evaluating natural immunity (immunity acquired from primary infection), vaccine immunity, and hybrid immunity (immunity from both primary infection and vaccination)! It’s very comprehensive and I hope it helps you better understand thisContinue reading “Natural vs Vaccine Immunity”
Active vs. Passive Immunity
Active immunity vs. Passive immunity! What’s the difference? Active immunity is a result of exposure to a pathogen. Your body builds up an arsenal of neutralizing antibodies as well as b-cells and t-cells that allow for memory immunity. Exposure can occur either through true natural infection or through vaccination – both allow your body toContinue reading “Active vs. Passive Immunity”
Immunity Graphic Dictionary
In collaboration with @sciencwhizliz! Posted in 3 parts on Instagram on June 6th, 9th, and 12th, 2021.
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”
Classes of Antibodies
Ever wondered what the difference is between IgG, IgA, IgM, and IgE? I break it down in this post! IgM are 5 antibody molecules clipped together in a star formation and are the first class to be produced after exposure to an antigen. They are great at activating the complement system and neutralizing antigens becauseContinue reading “Classes of Antibodies”
Immune System X Vaccines
Which immune cells are important when considering immunity? *The slides today are an oversimplification of an intricate and nuanced system. Your body is built to defend against invaders. After the physical barrier of your skin/mucosal lining, your innate system is the first to kick in. This system is fast and ready to go before anythingContinue reading “Immune System X Vaccines”
Ab Tests X Vaccines
Discussing antibody tests and when to expect a positive result! When infected naturally with SARS-CoV-2, your body is exposed to all the viral proteins and will generally make antibodies against the two most immunogenic proteins – the Spike (S) protein and the Nucleocapsid (N) protein. In this case, any serology (antibody) test designed toContinue reading “Ab Tests X Vaccines”
Reactogenicity
The inflammatory effects that a vaccine has on the body, shortly after injection, and the physical manifestation of that inflammation, is called it’s reactogenicity. A vaccine that makes a larger proportion of recipients feel acutely under the weather (for no more than 24-48 hours), or more intensely under the weather than another, is more reactogenic.Continue reading “Reactogenicity”