Prior immunity — especially from natural infection — may backfire instead when it comes to Omicron. — In the late 1900s, scientists discovered that antibodies generated against a particular influenza virus strain were deployed again even when the person got infected with a different influenza virus strain. Not only are such old antibodies ineffective, but they sometimes hinder the formation of newer, more effective antibodies. …

But they are the best we’ve got. — If there’s anything unusual about the current monkeypox outbreak — now over 1500 cases in more than 30 countries — it’s its diverse yet limited spread worldwide. This had never happened before, ever since monkeypox was discovered and known to be endemic in Africa only. This phenomenon is most likely…

That’s because African children and immunocompromised individuals bear nearly all of the monkeypox deaths historically. — One weird thing about monkeypox is that we don’t really know how severe it is. The monkeypox virus has recently caused an international outbreak, with over 1000 cases across about 25 countries to date, but no one has died. That means the case fatality rate is, or close to, 0%.

A newsletter providing a short account of articles published in the last month — Hi everyone! It’s time for me to send another monthly update on what articles were published in Microbial Instincts, an independent publication about infectious diseases and vaccines, last month. As usual, here is the list (friend-linked) that I hope will keep you more scientifically informed: Monkeypox and Ebola This Monkeypox Outbreak Is Different…

Why do some people think monkeypox originates from Covid chimpanzee-based vaccine, and why that’s false. — When something peculiar happens, a subset of people will attribute it to peculiar causes. For example, in the era before modern medicine, people attributed diseases to supernatural causes such as spells or demons. Even in the modern medicine era, some people still attribute Covid to non-virus causes like the 5G…

The precautionary principle is warranted. — The monkeypox outbreak is quickly becoming a hot topic across every news outlet now. Nearly 150 confirmed or suspected monkeypox cases have been reported across 14 countries —i.e., the U.K., Portugal, Spain, the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Italy, France, Belgium, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Israel, and Switzerland — as of today. …

And it’s not unique to mRNA vaccines. — Mixing in a bit of fact is a convincing way to tell a lie. Recently, a few studies on mRNA vaccine safety have been published, which anti-vaccine communities may easily exploit to push their narrative. But let’s first understand what those studies discovered and how they shape our understanding of…

If we get ill in the future, it may be reasonable to suspect that past Covid might have played a role. — Pandemic restrictions are subsiding all over the world. With a few exceptions, such as China’s authoritarian zero-Covid policy, most of us are starting to live with Covid. …

A newsletter providing a short note of each of the articles published in the past month — Hello all! It’s time for me to send another monthly update of published articles in Microbial Instincts, an independent publication on infectious diseases (including vaccines). As usual, here is the list (friend-linked): Your Chance of Full Recovery From Long-Covid is Not 100%: Many know that long-Covid can happen, but only…