Allen Rodrigo, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
There are several earlier examples of people studying infectious pathogens being infected in the laboratory, even while working under strict biosafety conditions.
We recently heard reports of a new and dangerous ‘hybrid’ variant circulating in Vietnam. There is such as a thing as a hybrid viral variant — but this doesn’t appear to be it.
The level of immunity needed — either through vaccination or infection — for practical herd immunity is uncertain, but may be quite high.
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It is unlikely that we will reach full herd immunity for COVID-19. However, we are likely to reach a practical kind of herd immunity through vaccination.
Both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines still work relatively well against it — though only after the second dose.
A security guard leads reporters away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology after a WHO team arrived for a field visit in Wuhan, Hubei province of China, Feb. 3, 2021. The team came to no conclusions about the origins of the pandemic.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Gain-of-function studies make a natural virus more dangerous or transmissible to humans. Could the Wuhan Institute of Virology be the source of SARS-CoV-2?
We can learn from how the Howard Springs quarantine facility in the Northern Territory works when planning Victoria’s new hub.
Glenn Campbell/AAP Image
The lab accident theory of the origins of Covid-19 has gained traction in recent months. We need a proper investigation to find out what really happened.
Sustained surveillance for disease outbreaks at global hot spots may be the key to preventing the next pandemic.
MR.Cole_Photographer/Getty Images
A more coordinated effort by scientists, stakeholders and community members will be required to stop the next deadly virus that’s already circulating in our midst.
This treatment would work by targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself and stopping it in its tracks. The evidence we have so far is promising, but it’s still very early days.
It’s an absolute priority we find and use ways to support kids to continue face-to-face learning in times of low community transmission, especially primary schools.
To stop the spread of COVID-19 across the globe, it’s important to understand the evolutionary imperative that viruses have to spread their genetic material.
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Viruses want to pass on their genetic material. Recognizing this about SARS-CoV-2 provides insight into how the world is still vulnerable to COVID-19.
Vaccinated people are well protected from getting sick, but could they inadvertently transmit the coronavirus?
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Deficient leptin levels caused by malnutrition might protect against severe COVID-19 and related death. This could be another reason for the lower than expected COVID-19 deaths in Africa.
You only have to prevent one case, which could have otherwise led to community spread and lockdown, for such a scheme to pay for itself many times over.
Muslim worshippers perform the evening Tarawih prayer during the fasting month of Ramadan around the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque complex in the holy city of Mecca, on April 13, 2021.
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Jennifer Juno, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and Adam Wheatley, The University of Melbourne
Vaccination is likely to substantially reduce virus transmission by reducing the pool of people who become infected, and reducing virus levels in people who do get infected.
Sequencing the whole genome of patient virus samples lets scientists watch for new variants.
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It’s quite likely this virus will never be eliminated from the world. But even so, getting vaccinated enormously reduces your risk of severe outcomes like hospitalisation and death.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand