August 3, 2021 Epidemiology UK scientists’ early theoretical research forewarns of another coronavirus variant to come that will “lead to current vaccine failure.”
June 7, 2021 Epidemiology Wuhan lab leak hypothesis continues to percolate as non-experts claim SARS-CoV-2 has “a genetic footprint that has never been observed in a natural coronavirus.” Geneticists’/virologists’ expertise/comments needed to help many discern fact from fiction.
March 12, 2021 Epidemiology Does Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine increase risk of blood clots? To conclude this would require evidence that incidence exceeds what is normally expected in the general population. To date, this is not the case according to reports from health authorities.
March 9, 2021 Clinical Research Interesting laboratory study on how blood type A antigens on respiratory cells’ surface may provide another way for SARS-CoV-2 to enter the body increasing infection risk. However, no clinical outcome data as this looked only at in vitro effects.
January 5, 2021 Epidemiology South African coronavirus variant being studied to determine if it is more vaccine resistant.
December 11, 2020 Allergy/Immunology Male sex identified as a risk factor for death and ICU admission due to Covid-19 infection. There are identified differences within components of the immune system that show women have more robust responses.
November 16, 2020 Allergy/Immunology Study shows ten percent of people, mostly men, with severe COVID-19, develop an autoimmune response that attacks interferons (part of the immune system) thereby reducing the host’s ability to defend against the virus.
October 1, 2020 Epidemiology Study posits that severity of respiratory failure seen in people with COVID-19 is associated with a gene cluster inherited from Neanderthals. More evaluation required to understand the function of this cluster if shown to be causal.
September 3, 2020 Epidemiology Excellent application of science as supercomputer genetic analysis generates plausible hypothesis that unifies the disparate Covid-19 symptoms into a coherent whole. Clinical studies required to prove the claim.
May 6, 2020 Epidemiology Los Alamos Lab uses computational analysis of 6000 coronavirus sequences to conclude that a mutated strain is now dominant. Clinical implications remain unknown and study needs to be peer -reviewed and published.