Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons^™

A Comparison Of The Evolution, Structure, And Function Of Sars-Cov And Sars-Cov-2 Spike Proteins, Tai Michaels

The Yale Undergraduate Research Journal

As the COVID-19 pandemic has developed into the largest pandemic of the twenty-first century, it has become apparent that this disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is unlike anything the modern world has faced before. Not only has the disease infected more than 16 million people worldwide, but its rapid spread has drawn global attention to the gaps in our understanding of its pathogenesis and the development of vaccines and treatments. One of the most important topics of research in the disease is the viral spike (S) protein which facilitates binding and entering host cells and plays a key role …

A Comparative Analysis Of Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution Efforts In India And Mongolia Through Data Visualization, Paridh Latawa, Sadhana Kumar, Udeshna Srimal, Rachana Tanksali, Edward Ning '23, Ajay Macherla, Haily Nguyen, Kristina Lian, Joy Jiang, Daniel Stewart

External Student Research Opportunities

COVID-19 vaccine allocation efforts have posed challenges and offered opportunities to alleviate the ongoing pandemic. Nations have employed varying approaches for COVID-19 vaccine distribution; in particular, Mongolia and India have differed in approaches to vaccine allocation efforts. As of June 2021, Mongolia has vaccinated more than 60% of its population, whereas India has only vaccinated about 7.5%. This disparity highlights the need for the present study, which utilizes a mixed-method approach to examine the two countries' vaccine distribution strategies and COVID-19 containment policies from January to July 2021. The study has three major components: 1) policy analysis to highlight core …

Full Issue: The International Undergraduate Journal Of Health Sciences, Volume 1, Issue 1, June 2021

International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

The full June 2021 issue (Volume 1, Issue 1) of the International Undergraduate Journal of Health Sciences

Rebuilding Trust On Routine Immunization In Era Of Covid-19 Fear-Role That Civil Society Organizations Can Play Hands-In-Hand With Immunization Program, Ameer Muhammad, Daniyaal Ahmad, Eleze Tariq, Yasir Shafiq

Medical College Documents

No abstract provided.

Spring 2021

Scientia

From the Dean: A Decade of Purpose and Progress; Lab Notes: Alumna Wins Gordon Bell Special Prize, New Scholarships, Vaccination Site Volunteers; Women in Science Lecture, National Institutes of Health Grants, "Unequal Cities" Research; All Hands on Deck: Inspired pandemic approaches showcase interdisciplinary acumen in action; Unlocking Potential: Christopher Beasley thinks psychology is key to academic transformation for the formerly incarcerated; Puzzle Master: Bridget Tenner goes to pieces solving problems in cutting-edge mathematics

Perspectives On Covid, Glenn Bass

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

The purpose of this paper is to delve further into the topic of Culture & Crisis: Reconciling Constitutionalism & Federalism in a Time of Crisis through Liberty University’s Helms School of Government & Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy. The United States of America is currently under siege by the COVID-19 virus. This virus has steadily killed hundreds of individuals and consequently nearly shutdown the American socio-economic system. Through a constitutional government and federal principles, the executive functions have been able to address this time of crisis. However, there are different views referencing exactly how to address the needs of …

Medical Populism And Covid-19 Testing, Kristin Hedges, Gideon Lasco

Development Studies Faculty Publications

This paper uses the lens of medical populism to analyze the impact of biocommunicability on COVID-19 testing through a case study approach. The political efficacy of testing is traced through two mini-case studies: the Philippines and the United States. The case studies follow the approach of populism scholars in drawing from various sources that ‘render the populist style visible’ from the tweets and press releases of government officials to media reportage. Using the framework of medical populism, the case studies pay attention to the ways in which coronavirus testing figured in (1) simplification of the pandemic; (2) spectacularization of the …

Simulated Contact Tracing Of Covid-19 Propagation At Kutztown University For Fall 2020, Dale E. Parson

Computer Science and Information Technology Faculty

From mid-May through August 2020 the author designed, built, revised, and analyzed resulting data from two simulation programs for virtual contact tracing of COVID-19 infection propagation at Kutztown University in the fall 2020 semester. The first was command-line driven and non-graphical, with results distributed to faculty and administrators on May 28. The second was a three-dimensional interactive graphical simulation, distributed to faculty, administrators, and the public as a narrated video via YouTube on July 16. The algorithm is an adaptation of spreading activation as used in theoretical psychology and artificial intelligence research since the 1970s. It propagates discrete, probable infections …

Flattening The Curve: The Effects Of Intervention Strategies During Covid-19, Kelly A. Reagan, Rachel J. Pryor, Gonzalo M. Bearman, David M. Chan

Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics

COVID-19 has plagued countries worldwide due to its infectious nature. Social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) are two main strategies employed to prevent its spread. A SIR model with a time-dependent transmission rate is implemented to examine the effect of social distancing and PPE use in hospitals. These strategies’ effect on the size and timing of the peak number of infectious individuals are examined as well as the total number of individuals infected by the epidemic. The effect on the epidemic of when social distancing is relaxed is also examined. Overall, social distancing was shown to …

Disparities In Sars-Cov-2 Positivity Rates: Associations With Race And Ethnicity, Harvey W Kaufman, Justin K Niles, David B. Nash

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Numerous reports indicate that African Americans and Latinos are being affected disproportionately by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Positivity rates have not been analyzed on scale because only 4 states report race/ethnicity as part of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing. Previous studies also have had little ability to control for many known risk factors to better identify the effects of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic communities. Using test results from a large national reference laboratory database that included patients from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, this study compared positivity rates for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification …

Epigenetic Evolution Of Ace2 And Il-6 Genes: Non-Canonical Interferon-Stimulated Genes Correlate To Covid-19 Susceptibility In Vertebrates, Eric R. Sang, Yun Tian, Laura C. Miller, Yongming Sang

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The current novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread globally within a matter of months. The virus establishes a success in balancing its deadliness and contagiousness, and causes substantial differences in susceptibility and disease progression in people of different ages, genders and pre-existing comorbidities. These host factors are subjected to epigenetic regulation; therefore, relevant analyses on some key genes underlying COVID-19 pathogenesis were performed to longitudinally decipher their epigenetic correlation to COVID-19 susceptibility. The genes of host angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2, as the major virus receptor) and interleukin (IL)-6 (a key immuno-pathological factor triggering cytokine storm) were shown to evince active …

Data For "Arch_Covid_Crowding_Vc", Wayne Freimund, Zachary D. Miller

Browse all Datasets

Monitoring of visitor use in Arches National Park to assess social distancing behaviors of visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Computing For Numeracy: How Safe Is Your Covid-19 Social Bubble?, Charles Connor

Numeracy

The COVID-19 pandemic has led many people to form social bubbles. These social bubbles are small groups of people who interact with one another but restrict interactions with the outside world. The assumption in forming social bubbles is that risk of infection and severe outcomes, like hospitalization, are reduced. How effective are social bubbles? A Bayesian event tree is developed to calculate the probabilities of specific outcomes, like hospitalization, using example rates of infection in the greater community and example prior functions describing the effectiveness of isolation by members of the social bubble. The probabilities are solved for two contrasting …

Heeding The Call Of Covid-19, David Wiebers, Valery Feigin

Animal Sentience

We are grateful to all of our commentators. They have provided a wide range of valuable perspectives and insights from many fields, revealing a broad interest in the subject matter. Nearly all the commentaries have helped to affirm, refine, expand, amplify, deepen, interpret, elaborate, or apply the messages in the target article. Some have offered critiques and suggestions that help us address certain issues in greater detail, including several points concerning industrialized farming and the wildlife trade. Overall, there is great awareness and strong consensus among commentators that any solution for preventing future pandemics and other related health crises must …

Developing A Self-Sanitizing Mask To Combat The Spread Of Infectious Disease, Matthew Crawford

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Masks have become an important part of everyday life, protecting both the wearer and individuals nearby from the spread of infectious diseases, most notably severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, these masks are easily contaminated, whether through continued use or by the wearer touching the mask fabric with contaminated hands, therefore reducing the efficacy and exposing the user to these contagions. When the mask becomes contaminated, it can be discarded, which produces large amounts of waste that will end up in a landfill, or it can be washed, which is …

Kynurenic Acid May Underlie Sex-Specific Immune Responses To Covid-19, Yuping Cai, Daniel J. Kim, Takehiro Takahashi, David I. Broadhurst, Hong Yan, Shuangge Ma, Nicholas J. W. Rattray, Arnau Casanovas-Massana, Benjamin Israelow, Jon Klein, Carolina Lucas, Tianyang Mao, Adam J. Moore, M. Catherine Muenker, Ji Eun Oh, Julio Silva, Patrick Wong, Albert I. Ko, Sajid A. Khan, Akiko Iwasaki, Caroline H. Johnson, Yale Impact Research Team

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has poorer clinical outcomes in males than in females, and immune responses underlie these sex-related differences. Because immune responses are, in part, regulated by metabolites, we examined the serum metabolomes of COVID-19 patients. In male patients, kynurenic acid (KA) and a high KA–to–kynurenine (K) ratio (KA:K) positively correlated with age and with inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and negatively correlated with T cell responses. Males that clinically deteriorated had a higher KA:K than those that stabilized. KA inhibits glutamate release, and glutamate abundance was lower in patients that clinically deteriorated and correlated with immune responses. Analysis of …

Are Covid-19 Vaccine Boosters Needed? The Science Behind Boosters, Rachel M. Burckhardt, John J. Dennehy, Leo L. M. Poon, Linda J. Saif, Lynn W. Enquist

Publications and Research

Waning vaccine-induced immunity coupled with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has led to increases in breakthrough infections, prompting consideration for vaccine booster doses. Boosters have been reported to be safe and increase SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibody levels, but how these doses impact the trajectory of the global pandemic and herd immunity is unknown. Information on immunology, epidemiology and equitable vaccine distribution should be considered when deciding the timing and eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine boosters.

Pushing The Limits: Increasing The Speed And Specificity Of Sars-Cov-2 Testing, Grayson Way

Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence and spread of the current COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance of continual improvements upon current microbiological testing methods. Rapid and accurate testing can help mitigate spread by improving on the time to quarantine and quarantine duration required. As of the writing of this thesis, COVID-19 has been responsible for more than 500,000 deaths in the United States of America, and greater than 2 million deaths globally. The work done in this thesis has shown improvements in the current SARS-CoV-2 testing methodology by reducing the time it takes for patient testing while maintaining accuracy and the sensitivity required …

Covid-19 Employee Health Checks, Remote Work, And Disability Law, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, about 61 million individuals in the U.S. The law’s protections in the workplace are especially important during COVID-19, which has worsened pre-existing disparities experienced by people with disabilities. The ADA also applies to new strategies to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in the workplace. This Chapter will focus on two strategies that impact individuals with and without disabilities – employee health screening, testing and vaccination policies, and new or expanded remote work programs.

Impact Of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Outbreak Quarantine, Isolation, And Lockdown Policies On Mental Health And Suicide, Balasankar Ganesan, Adel Al-Jumaily, Kenneth N. K. Fong, Palak Prasad, Surendra Kumar Meena, Raymond Kai-Yu Tong

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has made a huge impact on people's physical and mental health, and it remains a cause of death for many all over the world. To prevent the spread of coronavirus infection, different types of public health measures (social isolation, quarantine, lockdowns, and curfews) have been imposed by governments. However, mental health experts warn that the prolonged lockdown, quarantine, or isolation will create a “second pandemic” with severe mental health issues and suicides. The quarantined or isolated people may suffer from various issues such as physical inactivity, mental health, economic and social problems. As with …

Nutritional Aspects Related To Covid-19: A Bibliometric Analysis Using Scopus Database, Arti Muley Dr, Srujana Medithi Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Nutrition therapy has lately gained attention as an effective way of combating the novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), especially to address the immunity in an individual and their overall health. The present study is a bibliometric assessment of research conducted to understand the role of nutrition in treating COVID-19 which was carried out since the pandemic's sudden outburst during 2020 and 2021 and published in the Scopus database. A total of 93 publications were found, and the results were studied by evaluating these documents. The present analysis identifies the active countries where the research was conducted, various types of documents wherein …

Dysregulated Interferon Response Underlying Severe Covid-19, Leann Lopez, Peter C. Sang, Yun Tian, Yongming Sang

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Innate immune interferons (IFNs), including type I and III IFNs, constitute critical antiviral mechanisms. Recent studies reveal that IFN dysregulation is key to determine COVID-19 pathogenesis. Effective IFN stimulation or prophylactic administration of IFNs at the early stage prior to severe COVID-19 may elicit an autonomous antiviral state, restrict the virus infection, and prevent COVID-19 progression. Inborn genetic flaws and autoreactive antibodies that block IFN response have been significantly associated with about 14% of patients with life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia. In most severe COVID-19 patients without genetic errors in IFN-relevant gene loci, IFN dysregulation is progressively worsened and associated with the …

Immunogenetic Association Underlying Severe Covid-19, Kendall Mccoy, Autumn Peterson, Yun Tian, Yongming Sang

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

SARS-CoV2 has caused the current pandemic of new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide. Clinical outcomes of COVID-19 illness range broadly from asymptotic and mild to a life-threatening situation. This casts uncertainties for defining host determinants underlying the disease severity. Recent genetic analyses based on extensive clinical sample cohorts using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and high throughput sequencing curation revealed genetic errors and gene loci associated with about 20% of life-threatening COVID-19 cases. Significantly, most of these critical genetic loci are enriched in two immune signaling pathways, i.e., interferon-mediated antiviral signaling and chemokine-mediated/inflammatory signaling. In line with these genetic profiling studies, …

Covid-19 And The Unseen Benefits Of Dexamethasone, Muhammad Arif Khan, Ikram Ullah, Dawood Ahmed

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

According to current World Health Organization (WHO) updates, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the globe, affecting 216 countries, and has caused 8,860,331 confirmed cases and 465,740 deaths as of June 24, 2020. Many countries cannot afford nucleic acid tests to confirm COVID-19 infection; as a result, people cannot know the COVID-19 status of the people living around them. The use of dexamethasone in COVID-19 hospitalized patients for up to 10 days lowered 28-day mortality compared to patients receiving standard of care plus mechanical ventilation at randomization (by 12.3 age-adjusted percentage points, approximately one-third of proportional reduction) and patients …

Endothelial Cell Contributions To Covid-19, Alexandra E. Oxford, Fabio Halla, Evan B. Robertson, Brad E. Morrison

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding of the clinical, histological and molecular features of the novel coronavirus 2019 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) has remained elusive. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by this virus has unusual clinical presentation with regard to other related coronaviruses. Recent reports suggest that SARS-CoV-2, unlike other related viruses, infects and replicates within endothelial cells, which may explain a significant portion of the observed clinical pathology. Likewise, mounting evidence associates vascular and endothelial cell dysfunction with increased mortality. This review focuses on understanding how endothelial cell pathology is caused by SARS-CoV-2 at the molecular and cellular levels and how …

‘Coronated’ Consumption In The Viral Market, Soonkwan Hong

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The universal exposure to the virus has disrupted institutions, redefined values, and reshaped systems, including the market. Idling, uncertainty, and liquidity encapsulate the ever-precarious individual lives and the reflexive socio-politico-cultural changes. These conditions and consequences nonetheless create paradoxical opportunities in the viral market. The new meaning of connectivity that promotes high-viscosity relationships and high-visibility identities will transform the market to better acknowledge and support humans and the new sociality.

Mesenchymal Stem Cells And Their Extracellular Vesicles: A Potential Game Changer For The Covid-19 Crisis, Dina H. Kassem, Mohamed M. Kamal

Pharmacy

Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health crisis. The high infectivity of the disease even from non-symptomatic infected patients, together with the lack of a definitive cure or preventive measures are all responsible for disease outbreak. The severity of COVID-19 seems to be mostly dependent on the patients’ own immune response. The over-activation of the immune system in an attempt to kill the virus, can cause a “cytokine storm” which in turn can induce acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), as well as multi-organ damage, and ultimately may lead to death. Thus, harnessing the immunomodulatory properties of mesenchymal …

Integrate Structural Analysis, Isoform Diversity, And Interferon-Inductive Propensity Of Ace2 To Predict Sars-Cov2 Susceptibility In Vertebrates, Eric R. Sang, Yun Tian, Yuanying Gong, Laura C. Miller, Yongming Sang

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The current new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused globally over 0.4/6 million confirmed deaths/infected cases across more than 200 countries. As the etiological coronavirus (a.k.a. SARS-CoV2) may putatively have a bat origin, our understanding about its intermediate reservoir between bats and humans, especially its tropism in wild and domestic animals are mostly unknown. This constitutes major concerns in public health for the current pandemics and potential zoonosis. Previous reports using structural analysis of the viral spike protein (S) binding its cell receptor of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), indicate a broad potential of SARS-CoV2 susceptibility in wild and particularly domestic animals. …

Convalescent Plasma Therapy In Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Patients: A Brief Review, Muhammad Arif Khan, Ikram Ullah

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a re-evaluation of the effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy (CPT). This review was carried out to assess the usefulness of CPT in critically ill COVID-19 patients based on the published data to date. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second review of the usefulness of CPT in COVID-19 patients. PubMed, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, and Embase databases were searched for relevant reports up to June 21, 2020. Records of published data were analyzed according to eligibility criteria. Five different studies on CPT for critically ill COVID-19 patients were included …

Workshop #2: Health And Infection Control Measures During The 2020 Hurricane Season: After-Action Report (Aar), Converge Nsf Working Group, Joshua G, Behr, Wie Yusuf, Jennifer Marshall, Elizabeth Dunn

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

Participants in the CONVERGE NSF Working Group Workshop 2 (Health) breakout sessions identified that along with populations traditionally considered vulnerable during hurricane season (e.g., special-needs evacuees and the elderly), there will be new vulnerable populations based on their heightened risks from exposure to COVID-19. There is also overlap between these groups of vulnerable evacuees, including individuals with physical, intellectual or developmental disabilities; those with immunodeficiency, chronic, acute, or infectious illnesses; pregnant women and infants; and immigrants, non-English speakers, and other socially vulnerable groups.

This indicates a potentially greater number of special-needs evacuees at shelters. Simultaneously, fear of contracting COVID-19, particularly …