Category: Infectious diseases

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Antibodies are proteins that circulate in the blood and act as first responders to viruses, hopefully warding off infection. Antibodies are produced either in response to immunization or natural infection, but whether they provide a useful measure of protection is …

Are antibody tests useful in determining immunity to Covid-19? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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The EU and many other high income countries are turning increasingly toward booster shots for Covid-19, at least for some groups of people. Mark Sulkowski, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins, explains some of the data. Sulkowski: Israel was …

What is the data supporting use of booster shots for Covid-19? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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Shedding virus is the term used to describe the state of being infectious to others, and with Covid-19 there’s a lot about this state we still don’t know. Anna Durbin, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins, says the picture …

Does measuring how much virus there is in a nasal swab help determine how infectious to others they may be? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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Alpha, Beta, Delta, and most recently Mu. Variants of Sars-CoV2 are constantly arising but only some of them reach the level where they are monitored. Stuart Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins, explains. Ray: We see variants arising …

What’s important about Covid-19 variants? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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The spread of the delta variant of Covid-19 may have reached a plateau in the United States, the most recent data suggest. Many have pointed to unvaccinated people as the primary driver of this latest surge. Mark Sulkowski, an infectious …

What factors helped propel the latest wave of Covid-19? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »