Tag Archives: Immune system

Our research could be important for developing more effective vaccines in the future. Arturs Budkevics/ Shutterstock Louisa James, Queen Mary University of London and Hamish King, Queen Mary University of London We understand much of how the immune system works but, as recent efforts to combat COVID-19 have shown, its sheer complexity means many mysteries still remain. For example, how …

Exercising indoors is beneficial for our immune system. SUPREEYA-ANON/ Shutterstock James Turner, University of Bath and John P Campbell, University of Bath People around the world are staying at home as part of social distancing measures to limit the transmission of the novel coronavirus. In some countries people are being encouraged to exercise once a day. However, there’s long been …

I am a physician, and I just got my first shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. William Petri, CC BY-SA William Petri, University of Virginia This week I was vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer mRNA vaccine, which brought to mind some frequently asked questions about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. I am a professor of infectious diseases at the …

Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock Bryan Paul Morgan, Cardiff University Although the vaccine cavalry is finally coming over the hill, the need for better drugs to treat those with COVID-19 remains. Many drugs are being tested in patients at different stages of the disease, but with a few notable exceptions, results so far have been disappointing. In patients with severe COVID-19, runaway inflammation …

Sheena Cruickshank, University of Manchester As President Trump claims that he is immune to COVID-19 and isolated reports emerge of reinfection, what is the truth about immunity to COVID-19? To date, there have been six published cases of COVID-19 reinfection, with various other unverified accounts from around the world. Although this is a comparably small fraction of the millions of …

A worker inspects vials of a SARS CoV-2 vaccine for COVID-19 produced by SinoVac at its factory in Beijing on Sept. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Byram W. Bridle, University of Guelph; Samira Mubareka, University of Toronto, and Shayan Sharif, University of Guelph Athletes understand that there are two very different approaches that can be taken when training their …

This antibody adopts a Y-shape. The arms of the Y make up the part of the antibody that binds to the target. ALFRED PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Dimiter Stanchev Dimitrov, University of Pittsburgh Although a vaccine could be the ultimate solution to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and stop future ones, it will not be 100% effective. If it is anything like …

Shutterstock Paul Gill, Monash University y Menno van Zelm, Monash University The Oxford vaccine trial at the centre of safety concerns this week highlights the idea that people’s immune systems respond to vaccines differently. We don’t yet know whether reports of immune complications in one or two trial participants have been linked to the COVID-19 vaccine itself, or if they …