Author's posts
New SARS-CoV-2 Variant Discovered In Japan Nearly Identical To Dangerous Brazilian Variant
Among the new variants discovered in recent weeks is the Japanese variant (B.1.1.248) identified both through spread in the community and in their Covid-19 isolation facility. This viral mutant is nearly identical to the Brazilian (P.1) variant.
What To Make Of Covid-19 Infections In French Daycare Centers
A recent study from France exploring how children contribute to SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Beware The Next Wave: What To Expect From Covid-19
After twelve months of rising Covid cases, new infections are finally on a steady decline. Many believe the encouraging trend is a sign that the end of the pandemic could finally be near, but it’s more complicated than that.
Variants Could Cause A Rapid Rise In Covid-19 Cases In The U.S. Unless We Implement These Public Health Measures
Two new CDC reports have been released warning that the new variants could lead to a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases in the U.S. In this piece, I outline the public health measures to prevent this.
What Are The 677 Mutations? New Covid-19 Variants Found In The US
Since December, lineages of SARS-CoV-2 containing mutations at the 677 amino acid site have been appearing in Louisiana and New Mexico with increasing frequency. How does this fit into the bigger picture of viral variation?
NBA Study Reveals The UK Variant May Last Longer In Human Hosts
A recent study from the Harvard University School of Public Health suggests that B.1.1.7 may even remain in human hosts nearly twice as long as non-B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2, extending the potential contagious period from about eight days to thirteen days.
UK Approves Human Challenge Trials For Covid-19, But At What Cost?
This week, the UK government approved vaccine challenge trials — a study set to deliberately infect healthy people with SARS-CoV-2. But the trial holds a real risk to the healthy volunteers who will be recruited for the trial.
How One Covid-19 Patient’s Infection Foreshadowed The Rise Of New Variants
In August, Italian researchers found that a persistently infected Covid-19 patient had a mutation in the 501 site. A month later, a variant with a key mutation in the same site—the UK variant—was reported for the first time.
Rapid Spread Of Variants Across Europe Is A Dire Warning For The U.S.
Declining case rates in some areas do not tell the full story as we are now witnessing the rapid spread of new variants. We need to swiftly implement vigilant public health protocols and expand genomic surveillance.
This Region Of The Covid-19 Virus Is One We Can’t Ignore
Most of the adverse outcomes we’ve attributed to the new SARS-CoV-2 variants, we trace back to point mutations located in the receptor binding domain. But they also have mutations in the N-terminal domain that we’d be remiss to neglect.
