New research presented this week at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, shows that people with chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), who take immunosuppressive therapy appear to have an impaired immunity response to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, vaccines. Patients currently on glucocorticoids or B-cell depleting therapy appear to have an even more severely impeded vaccine response.
In a newly published study, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have detected antibodies primarily made in response to infections in the mucous membranes — in such areas as the lungs, intestines, or vagina — in study participants with malaria.
New research presented this week at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, shows that in Alabama, one in 10 racial or ethnic minority patients with a rheumatic disease in a large rheumatology clinic said they were unlikely to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Morgridge Institute for Research will broadcast a free webinar on November 9, featuring a conversation with experts on the front lines of pediatric vaccine development and public health.
The University of Delaware's Aditya Kunjapur has been awarded the 2021 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Langer Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Excellence, a highly competitive award that comes with a stipend to pursue “blue sky” ideas.
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai found that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)─whose treatment can weaken the immune system─produced a strong antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination. The study findings have been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Following FDA authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds, Together by St. Jude releases a free coloring book that educates children on COVID-19 vaccines.
New research presented this week at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, shows patients using rituximab were able to produce antibodies against COVID-19 after receiving a third vaccine dose, even if there was no development of the antibody after the first two.
New research presented this week at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, shows that nearly 30% of patients with lupus in a multi-ethnic and multi-racial study had a low response to the new COVID-19 vaccines.
New research presented this week at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting, shows that the COVID-19 vaccine was not associated with severe disease flares in patients with rheumatic diseases.
In what is believed to be one of the largest studies of its kind, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have shown that antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 (the COVID-19 virus) stay more durable — that is, remain higher over an extended period of time — in people who were infected by the virus and then received protection from two doses of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine compared with those who only got immunized.
NYU Langone rheumatologists are presenting their discoveries at the annual American College of Rheumatology conference, November 1 to November 9. The conference will be held virtually.
As the Food and Drug Administration edges closer to emergency use approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11 – which could become available as soon as early November – Rutgers faculty and staff share reasons for why they'll vaccinate their children.
New UCLA research finds that misinformation and politicization, awareness of past injustices involving medical research, and fears about the inequitable distribution of vaccines all contributed to hesitancy to be vaccinated among Los Angeles' People of Color.
A year after launching one of the world’s largest COVID-19 antibody surveys, Texas CARES, public health experts at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) are estimating that over 75% of Texans have COVID-19 antibodies.
The contributors are Kazan Federal University, Kazan State Medical Academy, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, and the University of Liverpool.
New research addresses ongoing concerns regarding risks of allergic reactions after receiving mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, particularly for individuals with a history of severe allergic reactions.
Being vaccinated during childhood with the BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccine against tuberculosis is not a long-term protective factor against COVID-19, despite what was thought at the beginning of the pandemic.
Cleveland Clinic researchers have opened a novel study for a vaccine aimed at eventually preventing triple-negative breast cancer, the most aggressive and lethal form of the disease.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to meet on October 26 to discuss the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11. Ahead of this meeting, Loyola Medicine is taking steps to ensure the health system is prepared to administer Pfizer vaccines to children if approval is granted.
A new analysis by a researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) finds a link between large gatherings of unvaccinated county residents – both students and non-students – and an increase in COVID-19 infections in the university’s community.
Lithium is a common medication prescribed to patients with psychiatric disorders, namely bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression. It is used as a mood stabilizer and lessens the intensity of manic episodes, with particular benefit in reducing suicidality. While highly effective, the drug requires routine blood monitoring, which can be uncomfortable, expensive, and inconvenient for patients who must travel to clinical labs for frequent blood testing.
A booster dose of the mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine given to rhesus macaques about six months after their primary vaccine series significantly increased levels of neutralizing antibodies against all known SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, according to a new study from National Institutes of Health scientists and colleagues.
Using a novel technology, the lab of Michael Vahey at the McKelvey School of Engineering uncovered shape-shifting properties of a common respiratory virus.
Vaccination is over 90 per cent effective at preventing deaths from the Delta variant of Covid-19, according to the first country-level data on mortality.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded $17.5 million over three years to the Duke Human Vaccine Institute to develop a vaccine that protects against multiple types of coronaviruses and viral variants.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has joined the international Human Vaccines Project, bringing Lab expertise and computing resources to the consortium to aid development of a universal coronavirus vaccine and improve understanding of immune response.
In pregnant women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, male placentas demonstrated significantly higher levels of certain genes and proteins associated with increased immune activation compared with female placentas, according to a new study published in Science Translational Medicine.
Future vaccine delivery may rely on everyday items like BBQ lighters and microneedles, thanks to the ingenuity of a team of Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University researchers.
New research from the University of Notre Dame suggests that experts from varying fields need to work together to overcome the public health crisis and that science can benefit by using marketing strategies with vaccine holdouts, much like brands do with customers.
A team of research experts from the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), headquartered at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has demonstrated that through robust community engagement, equitable inclusion in vaccine clinical trials can make a powerful impact in the health of underrepresented communities.
While most of the COVID-19 vaccines are designed as a two-dose regimen, some countries have prioritized vaccinating as many people as possible with a single dose before giving out an additional dose. In the journal Chaos, researchers illustrate the conditions under which a "prime first" vaccine campaign is most effective at stopping the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The team found the vaccine waning rate to be a critically important factor in the decision.
Nonpharmaceutical interventions, such as isolation, quarantines, and lockdowns, have been implemented in an effort to contain the pandemic, but these are often disruptive and costly. In Chaos, researchers identify new and sustainable interventions to contain outbreaks while minimizing the economic and social costs. They built a data-driven mobility model to simulate COVID-19 spreading in Hong Kong, by combining synthetic population, human behavior patterns, and a viral transmission model, and found that by controlling a small percentage of grids, the virus could be largely contained.
The members of the Critical Care Societies Collaborative, which includes the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society, and Society of Critical Care Medicine, strongly urge individuals to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus and to receive their influenza (flu) immunizations for the upcoming flu season.
People who had received a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and received an mRNA vaccine for their second dose had a lower risk of infection compared to people who had received both doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Patients with the blood cancer multiple myeloma often mount a poor antibody response to COVID-19 vaccines. Mount Sinai researchers have now discovered that these patients also have a weak response from a different part of the immune system, known as T cells. Their discovery was published in a research letter in Cancer Cell in October.
An analytical study examined levels of vaccine efficacy and mitigation strategies. If 100 percent were vaccinated with 90 percent vaccine efficacy, testing and quarantine did not substantially reduce infections. At 75 percent efficacy, weekly testing substantially reduced the number of infections; at 50 percent, testing and quarantine markedly reduced infections. At 50 to 75 percent efficacy, testing reduced infections up to 93.6 percent. Quarantining for 10 days only modestly reduced infections until vaccine efficacy dropped to 50 percent. Findings suggest that testing and isolating positive cases may remain important mitigation strategies for universities even with 100 percent of students vaccinated.
In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a team of experts at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center compared immune responses induced by the three COVID-19 vaccines over an eight-month follow-up period.
Patients who have cardiovascular disease are at increased risk of serious complications from the flu, according to a new study by Houston Methodist physician researchers published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The study found that not only are traditional flu-related outcomes worse among some patients with CVD, but infection in those patients also is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events and both CV-related mortality and mortality from all causes.