Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE have initiated a phase I study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of BNT-162b4, a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate that aims to enhance SARS-CoV-2 T-cell responses and potentially broaden protection against COVID-19.
An in-depth investigation of the underlying causes of pulmonary symptoms that in some cases persist for months following recovery from the acute stage of COVID-19 has found a distinctive proinflammatory signature in the plasma and airways of affected patients. The research could provide an explanation for the ongoing interstitial lung disease and fibrosis seen in patients who were hospitalized with severe COVID-19, and also point to neutrophils as a specific therapeutic target.
Low-dose administration of anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies could potentially reverse conditions associated with aging such as the accumulation of senescent cells and inflammation, according to a new study conducted at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo.
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) plays essential roles in immune system function, controlling tolerance and immunity. From the thymus, IL-2 prevents autoimmune disease by promoting the differentiation of immature T cells to regulatory T cells (Tregs).
Results from a study carried out by the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative show that rare deleterious variants in the immune-system gene TLR7 make carriers more than five times more likely to have a severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. The TLR7 gene encodes Toll-like receptor 7 protein, which plays a protective role in the immune system by identifying pathogens and activating innate immunity.
At the Saturday, Oct. 22 session, ‘Basic Science: Correlates of protection, immune response and the host-microbe interaction,’ of the IDWeek 2022 infectious disease conference, moderator Luiz Bermudez, professor at Oregon State University, introduced the latest advances to prevent infections with Treponema pallidum during neurosyphilis (NS), Staphylococcus aureus and osteomyelitis, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis during influenza.
Three years after WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic, some patients are still reporting symptoms from long-ago infections. And the scientific community is studying the reasons for the post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). Until now, the studies provided varied reasons related to persistent COVID or PASC, such as acute SARS-CoV-2 injury in different organs, or reservoirs of the virus in certain tissues, as it happens with other pathogens like HIV. At the IDWeek 2022 infectious disease conference held this week in Washington, D.C., Eric Daar, chief of the Division of HIV Medicine at the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, moderated the session, 'COVID-19: Post-acute sequelae', where talks offered new results on the symptoms of people who have suffered prolonged COVID during the pandemic.
At first blush, to say that depression occurs with other diseases may seem like belaboring the obvious. After all, to put it in the bluntest possible terms, it’s sad to be sick. But by looking more closely, it soon becomes clear that the association is stronger than that. The strongest association between depression and other diseases, Stefan Gold told the audience at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) annual conference in Vienna this week, is “not necessarily the most severe or most immediately life-threatening disorders… [it’s] across the spectrum."
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