In this article for New York Post, Christopher Carbone looks at the result of a Chinese study showing that the novel coronavirus has undergone at least 30 genetic variations. The study was carried out by professor Li Lanjuan and colleagues from the Zhejiang University found some aggressive strains that were able to generate 270 times the […]
Utilizing global data from 10 countries, researchers from the Northwestern University found that patients from countries with high COVID-19 mortality rates had lower levels of vitamin D compared to patients from countries that were not as severely affected. Vadim Backman, lead researcher for this study said that their team discovered the strong correlation between vitamin […]
In this article for Al Arabiya English, author Tamara Abueish reports on the ideas of Dr. Guiseppe Remuzzi, director of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan. Remuzzi says symptoms among newly infected individuals are becoming less severe, and there are lesser number of people who will require intensive care. Remuzzi theorizes that this […]
The following article published by The Lancet offers some explanations why children are less susceptible to the COVID-19 disease. According to the authors, pediatric immune systems are prepared and fit to react to viruses. This could be due to several factors, including the capacity of children to rapidly produce natural antibodies with broad reactivity, and the generally […]
The preliminary results of the University of Southern California and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health suggests that around 2.8% to 5.6% of adults in the county population (that’s roughly 221,000 to 442,000 adults) have already been infected by the coronavirus. This is the second antibody study to come out with the same conclusion […]
The following article is an interview between Neeraj Sood [Sood is lead investigator of the study discussed in the article USC-LA County Antibody Suggests True COVID-19 Infections Higher Than Official Count ] and Leigh Hopper. In it, Sood explains to us why it is important to conduct antibody studies vis-a-vis PCR tests. He also discusses about the selection […]
In this article for MIT Technology Review, Antonio Regalado surveys what we know about coronaviruses in general in order to answer these questions: Will those who recovered from COVID-19 have immunity over the coronavirus? How long will this immunity last? Because we are only a few months into the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, we will not be able to […]
In this interview published by Ratical, epidemiologist Dr. Knut Wittkowski talks about the nature of the novel coronavirus, how similar its characteristics and outcomes are from coronaviruses of the past, as well as the implications of its differences. Wittkowski also asserts that containment (lockdowns) of low risk individuals could lead to a second wave of infections. […]
Iceland has tested 5% of its entire population for SARS-COV-2, and though less than 1% have come back positive for the virus, authorities say that half of those infected are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. The data is currently being used to support the move towards widescale lockdowns. But there is one important question that […]
While it is horrifying to think of, it is important for us to understand why several governments are refusing to implement lockdowns. There is, in fact, sound science that backs up this move. In this article for the MIT Technology Review, Antonio Regalado explains what herd immunity is and why it is important in breaking an […]