GVN SARS-CoV-2 Perspectives

Impact of the Delta Variant on Transmission, Vaccine, and Treatment Efficacy June 21, 2021 One of the consequences of unchecked SARS-CoV-2 infections is the generation of mutations that have the potential to increase infectivity and transmissibility, confer a degree of resistance to vaccines, neutralizing antibodies, and monoclonal antibody therapy, and in some cases generate false…

Vaccine Priorities: Children or Underserved Populations? May 24, 2021 In the setting of still somewhat limited vaccine supplies and deliveries, a current question is what the most effective priority is among those who are still not vaccinated. What will have the most effective dampening effect on the pandemic? There are several considerations. To what extent…

SARS-CoV-2 Transmission To, From, and Among Children: What’s New? April 30, 2021 The dynamics of infection of children has been of great interest, particularly as it pertains to the issue of whether or not to open schools and to vaccinate children. The discussions have at times been contentious. There are multiple aspects to the issue.…

Understanding Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children with COVID-19 April 16, 2021 Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare but is severe hyperinflammatory condition in children and adolescents. It is also known as pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2.  This typically occurs 2–6 weeks after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Symptoms include persistent fever,…

COVID-19 Vaccine for Long-Haulers: A Surprising Benefit? April 9, 2021 We are in the COVID-19 pandemic over one year now and still learning something new about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. One of the serious and mysterious aspects of COVID-19 is long-term symptoms that persist for a significant period after SARS-CoV-2 infection as previously discussed. Many patients…

Role of Correlates of Protection, or Immune Measurements, in Predicting Protective Immunity of COVID-19 Vaccines March 29, 2021 Broadly speaking, correlates of protection are measurements of immune parameters that allow prediction of the degree of protection against infection or disease induced by a pathogen. A prime point of interest in consideration of protection against SARS-CoV-2…

Should the Global Community Be Concerned About the South African Variant? February 23, 2021 Currently, the downward trend of SARS-CoV-2 infections per day in the U.S. is continuing, and the case numbers of COVID-19 are less than half of what it was at the peak of the pandemic (Worldometers).The mortality rate of COVID-19 is also…

COVID-19 and Autoimmunity Are Severe Cases of COVID-19 Related to an Autoimmune Disease? February 15, 2021 COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, involves at least two distinct phases. The first phase is attributed to typical progress of respiratory disease by causing fever, cough, loss of taste/smell, and other symptoms typical of respiratory infections. The second…

Update on SARS-CoV-2 Variants Efficient Vaccine Distribution is Critical to Mitigate the Continuing Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 February 5, 2021 We’ve recently reported on SARS-CoV-2 variants, and described some of the reasons for concern. These include increased transmissibility, the possibility of false negative tests for viral RNA, resistance to immune protection from vaccine or prior infection,…