5,000,000 lives. That is the number of lives saved globally every year because of vaccines. Vaccines played a tremendously important role in the elimination of infectious diseases such as polio, diphtheria, neonatal tetanus, etc. Polio — a disease that causes paralysis and death — wreaked havoc...
Tracing the origin of a new virus. . . Epidemics made their appearance around 12,000 years ago during the Neolithic period. Starting from this period onwards humans developed gradually densely populated agricultural communities, allowing microbials to spread easier and faster through several means of transmission (water,...
How was the trial designed by Pfizer & BioNTech? What does a 90% efficacy rate mean? Is it safe? In July 2020, Pfizer and BioNTech initiated a late-stage (Phase 3) clinical trial...
FOR HOW LONG ARE WE PROTECTED AFTER AN INFECTION OR A VACCINE? One new vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 is out and while this is already considered a big breakthrough for the novel coronavirus pandemic, scientists around the globe remain conservatively optimistic about it. There are three key points...
THE EMERGENCY-APPROVED ANTIVIRAL THERAPY SARS-Cov-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease, is a virus keeping all its genetic info in a single strand of RNA. RNA - the ‘cousin’ of DNA - is a polymeric molecule essential in many biological procedures with regards to the regulation...
The immune system is our body’s defense and attack system against any form of infection and is comprised of an interconnected network of proteins, cells, and organs. When our body is confronted with a pathogen...
IS COVID-19 A RESPIRATORY DISEASE OR RATHER A DISEASE OF THE ENDOTHELIUM? When a virus enters the body, it looks for human cells with its favorite ‘doorways’ ...
STEP BY STEP: FROM INHALATION TO PATHOGENESIS. Viruses are microbes lying on the grey zone between a living and a non-living microorganism. ...
Most tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2 are based on one of the most -if not the most- used technique in molecular biology; namely PCR. PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) can amplify (make many copies of) a short region (e.g. a gene) of a DNA molecule. Why do...
Coronaviren sind bereits seit den 1960er-Jahren entdeckt. Die zuerst-entdeckten Coronaviren waren das Human Coronavirus 229E und Human Coronavirus OC43, die für die gewöhnliche Erkältung verantwortlich sind. Der Name ‘Coronavirus’ leitet sich von dem lateinischen Wort ‘Corona’ für Krone ab. Dieses bezieht sich auf das charakteristische Erscheinungsbild...
