SUMMARY: This article review looks at what is already known about SARS and MERS and uses the data and clinical studies to discuss potential vaccines and treatments for the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Compared to SARS-CoV and MERS, SARS-CoV-2 has a much lower fatality rate (2.8%). It’s highly contagious and has an R0 of 2.2-2.6, meaning… Continue reading Immune responses in COVID-19
Tag: virus
The Antibiotic Neomycin Enhances Coxsackievirus Plaque Formation
The Antibiotic Neomycin Enhances Coxsackievirus Plaque Formation SUMMARY: This article talks about how antibiotics (specifically neomycin) and other positively charged substances can help viruses spread (the virus studied in this case has a negatively charged exterior). Most of the experiments looked at the reasons why the virus was able to form more plaques with the… Continue reading The Antibiotic Neomycin Enhances Coxsackievirus Plaque Formation
Phage Therapy on Infected Graft
Phage treatment of an aortic graft infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa SUMMARY: The first part of this article talks about using phage and antibiotics (separately and together) in vitro to reduce bacteria biofilm. Researchers found that phage alone was enough to reduce biofilm to almost zero; however, there is the concern (noted in other papers) that… Continue reading Phage Therapy on Infected Graft
Understanding the Spanish Flu Virus
Characterization of the Reconstructed 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic Virus (NOT OPEN ACCESS) SUMMARY: Influenza viruses require a proteolytic enzyme (an enzyme that can cut or cleave proteins), like trypsin, in order to activate a surface protein that allows them to attach/infect our cells. Since viruses can only replicate inside cells, having this proteolytic enzyme is… Continue reading Understanding the Spanish Flu Virus
