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SARS-CoV-2 is not picky about its host. Since the virus first started spreading among humans, it has jumped from our species to pets, livestock, and even wild animals. Cats appear to be particularly susceptible to contracting COVID, although they often don’t show symptoms, and it’s unlikely that they can pass the virus back to us. Even … Read more
The timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic has been marked by a series of catastrophic waves: surging crests of infection spreading around the world, often spearheaded by newly evolved variants of the pathogen, such as Delta and Omicron. This is simply how viral evolution can play out, of course. But SARS-CoV-2 is an unusually successful … Read more
Pfizer aims to have an Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine ready by March. Assuming it gains approval, it will mark the first revision of its messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine Comirnaty since the initial Emergency Use Authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Dec. 11, 2020. The variant-specific booster will also test the responsiveness of … Read more
The sudden and unexpected death of a child is a tragedy made all the worse when there’s absolutely no explanation. Each year in the United States, hundreds of children die for undetermined reasons, usually in their sleep or while resting. Due to the way deaths are investigated and certified, it’s hard to say how often this … Read more
Researchers have discovered a protective gene variant that seems to shield people from severe cases of COVID-19, and the finding could lead to new breakthroughs in fighting the coronavirus. Since much earlier in the pandemic, scientists have been busily investigating how patient genetics influence the severity of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, exposing the inherited factors … Read more
Experts said Monday that an alleged hybrid coronavirus mutation dubbed “Deltacron” reportedly discovered in a Cyprus lab is most likely the result of a lab contamination, and not a new worrying variant. Cypriot media reported the discovery Saturday, describing it as having “the genetic background of the Delta variant along with some of the … Read more
The omicron variant infects cells in a different way, is present in higher levels in saliva and seems more likely to cause asymptomatic infections – all findings that could help explain why omicron is spreading so rapidly but resulting in a lower proportion of hospitalisations and deaths Health 6 January 2022 By Michael Le Page … Read more
A year ago, many were hoping the pandemic would soon be over – but then came alpha, delta and omicron Health 24 December 2021 By Michael Le Page A sign in Hounslow, London, in June 2021 James Veysey/Shutterstock What a year it has been. In December 2020, the first vaccination campaigns were just getting under … Read more
Many people all over the world have now had one infection with covid-19 – how does that affect their future chance of a second round with the coronavirus? Health 8 December 2021 By Clare Wilson A healthcare worker does tests that detect antibodies to the coronavirus Peter Kovalev/TASS via Getty Images For the past year, … Read more
As the world sped towards a pandemic in early 2020, evolutionary biologist Jesse Bloom gazed into the future of SARS-CoV-2. Like many virus specialists at the time, he predicted that the new pathogen would not be eradicated. Rather, it would become endemic—the fifth coronavirus to permanently establish itself in humans, alongside four ‘seasonal’ coronaviruses that … Read more