Much of the study on the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, has focused on the production of antibodies. But, in fact, immune cells known as memory T cells also play an important role in the ability of our immune systems to protect us against many viral infections, including—it now appears—COVID-19. An […]
The pandemic virus SARS-CoV-2 can enter the body via cells in the nose to cause the illness COVID-19. But we know now that it doesn’t stop there. Clinicians and scientists have found that it can attack many different organ systems. Researchers now are starting to catalog the ways that it can affect the cardiovascular system. A report published […]
Studies signal that damage to the endothelium—cells that cover blood vessels like wallpaper—could underpin the thrombosis and inflammation induced by coronavirus infection. The endothelium as a common theme in COVID-19 The endothelium comprises a single layer of cells that forms the interior lining of blood vessels throughout the body. The tissue physically insulates blood elements […]
Since the end of 2019, COVID-19 has caused considerable mortality and morbidity worldwide, and become a priority of the global society. Better understanding the pathogenesis of COVID-19 will provide important insight into its management. The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly. Although the cause was quickly identified as a new coronavirus named […]
A recent study looks at the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins, showing that they can cause some of the harm of COVID-19 by themselves. This is an important advance in our understanding of the disease and hopefully will lead to new therapeutic interventions. The spike protein is what gives the coronavirus family of viruses their […]
The Multifaceted Covid-19 We see all imaginable symptoms with Covid-19, which is supposed to be a pneumonia disease. Yet Covid-19 can affect the brain, peripheral nerves, olfaction, taste, throat, thyroid, liver, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, spleen, semen, skin, blood vessels, toes, and probably more to come. It’s intriguing how one virus, SARS-CoV-2, could cause so many symptoms. Is there actually a unifying mechanism of disease progression that could explain most […]
More autopsy reports on COVID-19 patients, some from the United States, are helping researchers piece together a picture of a virus that damages endothelial cells, causing a clotting disorder that can lead to deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli. “These people are in a hypercoagulant state, and early anticoagulation is important,” said Louis Maximilian Buja, […]
Whether it’s strange rashes on the toes or blood clots in the brain, the widespread ravages of COVID-19 have increasingly led researchers to focus on how the novel coronavirus sabotages blood vessels. As scientists have come to know the disease better, they have homed in on the vascular system — the body’s network of arteries, […]
In a June 14, 2021 article by Christianity Daily, Dr. Marty Makary of John’s Hopkins School of Medicine is quoted as saying the the US has achieved herd immunity for the Covid virus. About 50% of the US population have had the corona virus and about 132 million Americans have been fully vaccinated. He estimates […]
Truly worth reading is a piece by Donald G. McNeil Jr., “The End IS Near. No, Seriously.” He has written for the NY Times since 1976 and Global health beat since 2002 and gives us a perspective on the covid pandemic based on the history of others like the Spanish Flu of 1918 and the […]
