Suchergebnisse

It has been posited SARS-CoV-2 contains at least one unique superantigen-like motif not found in any other SARS or endemic coronaviruses. Superantigens are potent antigens that can send the immune system into overdrive. SARS-CoV-2 causes many of the biological and clinical consequences of a superantigen, and, in the context of reinfection and waning immunity, it is important to better understand the impact of a widely circulating, airborne pathogen that may be a superantigen, superantigen-like or trigger a superantigenic host response. Urgent research is needed to better understand the long-term risks being taken by governments whose policies enable widespread transmission of a potential superantigenic pathogen, and to more clearly define the vaccination and public health policies needed to protect against the consequences of repeat exposure to the pathogen.

The 21st century brought unprecedented challenges for academic medicine. Then, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) arrived—and has attributed to more than 600,000 deaths in the United States (US) alone. Two, readily available, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are more than 90% effective in preventing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) infection. Yet, only 55% of all Americans have been partially vaccinated and 45% are fully vaccinated. Most new COVID-19 cases occur in unvaccinated people. In select regions across the US, intensive care units are, once again, overfilled. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has spread far beyond healthcare causing global socioeconomic disruptions and affecting overall human well-being. In my classroom, getting it less than 60% right earns a student an F grade. America has failed to convince its people of the vaccine benefit. How? Was it the government? It is no secret that most Americans don't trust the government. Did science leadership fail to communicate with the public? Should our educators have taught us more science? Did physicians fail to be open and transparent with their patients? Should we be a more trusting nation? Perhaps all –perhaps none—of these are contributing factors. Is human response behavior taking a toll on human life? One thing is for sure. It is a great injustice that American lives continue to be lost and that others continue to live in fear. More than two millennia ago, the philosopher Socrates argued that humility is the greatest of all virtues. In this report, I elaborate on humble leadership by scientists to improve the imperfect art of communication as a solution to heal our beloved nation.

As the covid-19 pandemic has unfolded, interest has grown in antibody testing as a way to measure how far the infection has spread and to identify individuals who may be immune.1 Testing also has a clinical role, given the varying symptoms of covid-19 and false negative results of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, particularly when swabs are taken more than five days after symptom onset and sensitivity of RT-PCR tests starts to decrease.23 In May, the UK government announced that antibody testing should be offered to anyone having their blood taken who wants to know whether they have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, even if there is "not a specific clinical indication,"4 yet currently there is no clear guidance for clinicians on how to interpret these results or how they fit into clinical pathways. In this article we offer an approach to antibody testing in individuals with and without symptoms suggestive of current or past SARS-CoV-2 infection.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Am 21.12.2020 hat die EMA mit der mRNA-Vakzine BNT162b2 der Firmen BioNTech/Pfizer (Comirnaty®, BioNTech, Mainz, Deutschland; Pfizer, New York City, NY, USA) den ersten Impfstoff gegen SARS-CoV‑2 in der Europäischen Union zugelassen, am 06.01.2021 folgte bereits der zweite (Moderna®, Moderna, Cambridge, MA, USA). Viele weitere Zulassungen werden in Kürze folgen. Mit der Verfügbarkeit der Impfung sind bei Patienten/-innen genau wie bei Ärzten/-innen viele Fragen aufgekommen, die in diesem Hot-Topic-Artikel so aktuell wie möglich adressiert werden sollen. ABSTRACT: On 21 December 2020 the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (Comirnaty®, BioNTech, Mainz, Germany; Pfizer, New York City, NY, USA) as the first vaccine against SARS-CoV‑2 in the European Union and the second vaccine (Moderna®, Moderna, Cambridge, MA, USA) followed on 6 January 2021. Many more approvals will follow within a short period of time. With the availability of the vaccination many questions have arisen for patients as well as for physicians, which are addressed as up to date as possible in this hot topic article.

El objetivo de este artículo es presentar un breve recuento histórico de cómo los seres humanos han ido descubriendo el camino para enfrentar a los microorganismos. Mostrar como el naci-miento de la demografía está ligado a las pandemias y a las muertes que ocurrían en Inglaterra en el siglo XVII con los trabajos de John Graunt. Además, intenta mostrar la dificultad que tenemos las personas para entender el crecimiento exponencial. Asimismo, se presenta un análisis gráfico de la evolución de los contagios de las defunciones por Covid-19 y del Índice básico de repro-ducción para el caso de México, desde que inicio la pandemia hasta finales del 2020, para luego terminar con un conjunto de conclusiones.