Category Archives: Uncategorized

Technical Briefing from the CDC Let’s examine the last technical briefing from the CDC (Ref. 2) before these latest developments. It was updated on December 29, 2023. It reported, “A small number of sporadic human cases of A(H5N1) have been identified since 2022, despite the panzootic of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) viruses inContinue reading “Breaking News (continued)”

NEW DEVELOPMENT WITH REGARDS TO HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA (HPAI) I am interrupting my blog series on a comprehensive update of COVID-19, due to a concerning development relating to a virus that is one of a number on my watch list of potential pandemic threats – the HPAI A(H5N1) influenza virus. Why was this virusContinue reading “BREAKING NEWS”

Part III (continued) Has SARS-CoV-2 become a seasonal virus and has COVID-19 become a seasonal disease? In my last blog piece (Part III) in this blog series entitled: “A Comprehensive Update on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19,” we began addressing whether the evidence supported some claims, explicit or implicit, that SARS-CoV-2 is now a seasonal virus. WeContinue reading “A Comprehensive Update on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19”

For Immunocompromised Patients and their Physicians In January of 2023, the FDA revoked the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for tixagevimab-cilgavimab (Evusheld), the only prophylactic measure to prevent severe COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients, particularly those that don’t make adequate antibody responses to vaccines due to primary immunodeficiencies or due to immune suppression caused by underlying diseasesContinue reading “BREAKING NEWS”

Part III Has SARS-CoV-2 become a seasonal virus and has COVID-19 become a seasonal disease? Just a quick reminder of what we have covered so far in this blog series entitled: A Comprehensive Update on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. We are taking this opportunity to look back over the first four years of the pandemic andContinue reading “A Comprehensive Update on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19”

Part II (continued) Transmission Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and the CDC’s New Respiratory Virus Guidance To refresh ourselves on this blog series, in Part I, we reviewed what we have learned about the biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In Part II, we began the discussion of the many things we have learned about the transmission characteristicsContinue reading “A Comprehensive Update on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19”

Part II (continued) Transmission Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 This is part of a long blog series to update readers with a complete overview of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes – COVID-19. In Part I, we reviewed in quite some detail the updated understanding of the biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In Part IIContinue reading “A Comprehensive Update on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19”

Part II Transmission Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted through aerosols. This is a fine mist that is like spraying hair spray or deodorant, but is not visible. These aerosols are generated by the breathing, talking, yelling, singing, coughing or sneezing of a person who is infected by the virus. Initially, it was thought thatContinue reading “A Comprehensive Update on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19”

Part I The Biological Properties of SARS-CoV-2 Although, for the sake of illustration, I will sometimes refer to viruses as “live” or “dead,” these are not technically correct descriptors. Viruses are not living beings. Basically, they can be infectious or non-infectious and they can be replicating (producing virus offspring) or dormant [we often refer toContinue reading “A Comprehensive Update on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19”

Throughout the pandemic, I have tried to inform and educate my readers of what we were learning in real time about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease that it causes – COVID-19. We have covered a broad range of topics from virology to immunology to epidemiology. I have also tried to dispel some of theContinue reading “A Comprehensive Update on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19”