A recent study by Emory University researchers provides new insights into why the mRNA vaccines developed to fight COVID-19 in 2021 are less effective in patients with autoimmune diseases. By providing insights into the cellular processes behind that lessened protection, the new study published in Nature Immunology, highlights that lupus patients may require tailored vaccination strategies to enhance protection against COVID-19. The findings could also offer insights into the potential and limits of alternative ways to create immunity to COVID-19 through vaccines.

Diagnosing simultaneous infections of multiple respiratory viruses is challenging. Researchers from Korea have now addressed this issue by developing a TwinDemic Detection (TDD) system, a point-of-care diagnostic tool that leverages a novel, non-enzymatic signal amplification method. By testing its performance using human nasopharyngeal samples, TDD was shown to detect SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus simultaneously, highlighting its potential application in rapid on-site testing for a wider range of viruses.

In a recent essay, pediatrician-scientist Peter Hotez proposes a focus on local data, improved benefit-risk communications, actively countering health disinformation, and state-level action to address antivaccine sentiment in the U.S.

Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine are serving as the central data hub for the CHARM Network, a new five-year pandemic preparedness initiative funded by the CDC. This includes ensuring real-time public access to results on the incidence of the most common respiratory infections.

The first ever investigation into the impact of the Covid pandemic on children and young people with brain tumours has revealed how investigations or treatments were frequently postponed as key people or resources were not available.The “heartbreaking” impact is revealed in a study in the British Medical Journal Open led by Lancaster University and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. One caregiver said: ”When [daughter] came out of theatre, I wasn't allowed to go and see her, because I wasn't the designated parent. And it is heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking, to not be able to go and see that your child is okay.”