Those Anti-Covid Plastic Barriers Probably Don’t Help and May Make Things Worse


Authors: August 19, 2021in News Covid precautions have turned many parts of our world into a giant salad bar, with plastic barriers separating sales clerks from shoppers, dividing customers at nail salons and shielding students from their classmates. Intuition tells us a plastic shield would be protective against germs. But scientists who study aerosols, air flow […]

CDC Data Shows ‘Worrying Drop’ in Vaccine Efficacy over Time


Authors: HANNAH BLEAU18 Aug 2021 Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has demonstrated what has been described as a “worrying drop” in coronavirus vaccine efficacy over time, leading to the Biden administration’s conclusion to push vaccine booster shots. “This is what moved the needle,” a senior Biden administration official said to Politico of the CDC’s […]

Biden to require nursing homes get staff vaccinated or lose federal funds


Authors: By Jeremy Diamond, CNN Updated 2:38 PM ET, Wed August 18, 2021 (CNN)The Biden administration will direct all nursing homes to require their staff be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding, administration officials told CNN. President Joe Biden will announce Wednesday afternoon that he is directing the Department of Health and Human Services […]

Blood molecular markers associated with COVID-19 immunopathology and multi-organ damage


Authors: Yan-Mei ChenYuanting ZhengYing YuYunzhi WangQingxia HuangFeng QianLei SunZhi-Gang SongZiyin ChenJinwen FengYanpeng AnJingcheng YangZhenqiang SuShanyue SunFahui DaiQinsheng ChenQinwei LuPengcheng LiYun LingZhong YangHuiru TangLeming ShiLi JinEdward C HolmesChen DingTong-Yu ZhuYong-Zhen Zhang Abstract COVID-19 is characterized by dysregulated immune responses, metabolic dysfunction and adverse effects on the function of multiple organs. To understand host responses to COVID-19 […]

Severe COVID-19: what have we learned with the immunopathogenesis?


Authors: Bruno Bordallo,  Mozart Bellas, Arthur Fernandes Cortez, Matheus Vieira & Marcelo Pinheiro  Advances in Rheumatology volume 60, Article number: 50 (2020) Cite this article Abstract The COVID-19 outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global major concern. In this review, we addressed a theoretical model on immunopathogenesis associated with severe COVID-19, based on the current literature of SARS-CoV-2 […]

Circulating mitochondrial DNA is an early indicator of severe illness and mortality from COVID-19


Authors: Davide Scozzi,1Marlene Cano,2Lina Ma,2Dequan Zhou,1Ji Hong Zhu,1Jane A. O’Halloran,3Charles Goss,4Adriana M. Rauseo,3Zhiyi Liu,1Sanjaya K. Sahu,2Valentina Peritore,5Monica Rocco,6Alberto Ricci,7Rachele Amodeo,8Laura Aimati,8Mohsen Ibrahim,1,5Ramsey Hachem,2Daniel Kreisel,1Philip A. Mudd,9Hrishikesh S. Kulkarni,2,10 and Andrew E. Gelman1,11 Abstract Background Mitochondrial DNA (MT-DNA) are intrinsically inflammatory nucleic acids released by damaged solid organs. Whether circulating cell-free MT-DNA quantitation could be used to predict […]

Pathophysiology of COVID-19:


Mechanisms Underlying Disease Severity and Progression Authors: Mary Kathryn Bohn,1,2, Alexandra Hall,1 Lusia Sepiashvili,1,2, Benjamin Jung,1,2 Shannon, Steele,1 and Khosrow Adeli1,2,3 The global epidemiology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) suggests a wide spectrum of clinical severity, ranging from asymptomatic to fatal. Although the clinical and laboratory characteristics of COVID-19 patients have been well characterized, the […]

COVID-19 and autoimmune diseases


Authors: Yu Liu,aAmr H. Sawalha,b and Qianjin Lua,cAuthor information Copyright and License information Disclaimer This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Purpose of review The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between infection with SARS-CoV-2 and autoimmunity. Recent findings Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory […]

Use of DAMPs and SAMPs as Therapeutic Targets or Therapeutics: A Note of Caution


2020 Jun;24(3):251-262. doi: 10.1007/s40291-020-00460-z. Walter Gottlieb Land 1 2 PMID: 32248387 PMCID: PMC7127836 DOI: 10.1007/s40291-020-00460-z Free PMC article Abstract This opinion article discusses the increasing attention paid to the role of activating damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in initiation of inflammatory diseases and suppressing/inhibiting DAMPs (SAMPs) in resolution of inflammatory diseases and, consequently, to the future roles of these novel biomarkers as […]

Role of DAMPs in respiratory virus-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome—with a preliminary reference to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia


Review Article; Published: 17 June 2021 Authors: Walter Gottlieb Land Genes & Immunity volume 22, pages141–160 (2021 )Cite this article Abstract When surveying the current literature on COVID-19, the “cytokine storm” is considered to be pathogenetically involved in its severe outcomes such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and eventually multiple organ failure. In this review, the […]