The COVID-19 vaccines continue to be effective against severe illness leading to hospitalization and death in all age groups, including children ages 5 to 11.
A yet-to-be-verified study found health-care workers who’d had a flu shot were a third less likely to test positive for COVID – and 90% less likely to develop severe COVID symptoms.
Scientists are working on intranasal COVID vaccines. Not only are these vaccines delivered differently – but they also target a different part of our immune system.
Sales of vitamins are booming in pandemic times. But is there any evidence that vitamin and mineral supplements can protect you from COVID or help you recover from infection?
Are you due your third or fourth dose? What about your parents? What about your kids? It can be hard to keep track, so here’s the current advice.
Researchers can test blood samples taken for other reasons to see if patients have previously had COVID-19.
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Your blood can hold a record of past illnesses. That information can reveal how many people have had a certain infection – like 58% of Americans having had COVID-19 by the end of February 2022.
The stress of exercising while sick could potentially make our immune cells less effective.
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Fourth doses are now being offered to vulnerable groups. But if you’re young and healthy, will you need one?
Viewing immunity as a carpet that we weave together evokes labour and artistry, and suggests we have a role in crafting something rather than simply being acted upon by a virus.
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The metaphor of a collective “carpet of immunity” invites us to imagine immunity as a collaborative project, spreading out to protect those for whom the end of mandates means increased vulnerability.
It feels like everyone around you has or is recovering from COVID. Maybe you’re fatigued and wondering if it’s an after-effect? Antibody tests could confirm it one way or another.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught most people more than they ever expected to know about immunology.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has brought immunology terms that are typically relegated to textbooks into our everyday vernacular. These stories helped us make sense of the ever-evolving science.
Some of the omicron variant’s unique properties – such as its ability to spread rapidly while causing milder COVID-19 infections – could usher in a new phase of the pandemic.
Variant-specific vaccines would undoubtedly increase immunity. But waves of new variants would engulf the population faster than these vaccines could ever be deployed.