Immune Systems Advisor

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China will no longer require a negative COVID-19 test result for incoming travelers starting Wednesday, a milestone in its reopening to the rest of the world after a three-year isolation that began with the country’s borders closing in March 2020. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the change at a briefing in Beijing on Monday. China in January  ended quarantine requirements  for its own citizens traveling from abroad, and over the past few months has gradually  expanded the list of countries  that Chinese people can travel to and increased the number of international flights. Beijing ended its tough domestic “zero COVID” policy only in December, after years of draconian curbs that at times included full-city lockdowns and lengthy quarantines for people who were infected. The restrictions slowed the world’s second-largest economy, leading to rising unemployment and occasional instances of unrest. As part of those measures, incom...

Since the COVID variant omicron emerged in late 2021, it has rapidly evolved into multiple subvariants . One subvariant, BF.7, has recently been identified as the main variant spreading in Beijing , and is contributing to a wider surge of COVID infections in China. But what is this new variant, and should we be worried? Although reports from China about this variant’s characteristics are concerning, it doesn’t appear to be growing too much elsewhere in the world. Here’s what we know. BF.7, short for BA.5.2.1.7, is a sub-lineage of the omicron variant BA.5. Reports from China indicate BF.7 has  the strongest infection ability  out of the omicron subvariants in the country, being quicker to transmit than other variants, having a shorter incubation period, and with greater capacity to infect people who have had a previous COVID infection, or been vaccinated, or both. To put this into context, BF.7 is believed to have an R0, or basic reproduction number,  of 10 to 18.6 . Thi...

SHANGHAI, Oct 28, 2022 (Reuters) - In what is believed to be a world first, China's commerical capital of Shanghai this week introduced a new type of COVID-19 vaccine that is inhaled rather than administered via injection. Chinese regulators approved the vaccine, produced by Chinese pharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics (6185.HK) , for use as a booster in September 2022. And now the first people are starting to receive the vaccine, which is inhaled via the mouth from a vessel that looks like a take-out coffee cup with a short mouthpiece. "Our body’s first line of defence is the mucus membrane of our respiratory system, we want that to be directly stimulated to improve immunity and using the inhaled vaccine does that," Dr Zhao Hui, chief medical officer at Shanghai United Family Hospital Pudong, told Reuters. His hospital is among those administering the new vaccine, which will be used as well as regular injected shots. Commenting on what he said was a first use of the tec...

After more than two years into the pandemic, the world is coming to terms with the notion that Covid-19 is here to stay. As new variants emerge, millions are still falling ill, increasing the risk of even harder-hitting strains. While coronavirus vaccines are among the greatest medical achievements of all time, reaching the market in less than a year and saving millions of lives, anyone who has received three doses and still got infected will understand that the virus is a resilient opponent. Marty Moore says he can beat it. “Covid isn’t just a sprint, it’s a marathon,” says Moore, the relentlessly upbeat founder of Meissa Vaccines. Today’s vaccines have largely won the sprint of preventing serious disease, “and thank goodness for that”, he says. “But now we need something else to gain control of the virus.” Marty Moore is the founder of Meissa Vaccines. Photo: Bloomberg BusinessWeek Moore is among a growing cohort of virologists proposing we spray vaccines up people’s noses rather th...

Azvudine is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) that acts against HIV, HBV (Hepatitis B virus), and HCV (Hepatitis C virus). NRTIs are one of six classes of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). Antiretroviral drugs interfere with the ability of a virus to multiply or reproduce. To treat HIV, NRTIs work by blocking an enzyme HIV needs to make copies of itself. Normally, HIV enters certain cells in the body that are part of the immune system. These cells are called CD4 cells, or T cells. After HIV enters the CD4 cells, the virus begins to copy itself. To do so, it needs to copy its RNA (RiboNucleic Acid) — the virus’s genetic makeup — into DNA (DeoxyRiboNucleic Acid). This process is called reverse transcription and requires an enzyme called reverse transcriptase. NRTIs prevent the virus’s reverse transcriptase from accurately copying its RNA into DNA. Without DNA, HIV can’t make copies of itself. China approves Genuine Biotech's HIV ...

Every year, tens of millions of Chinese urban dwellers escape to the tropical island of Hainan for its white-sand beaches, year-round warm weather, and all-inclusive resorts. But the beach getaway has turned into a literal tourist trap, with Chinese authorities stranding thousands of travelers in the tropical paradise due to a small COVID outbreak. On August 5, 2022, China’s Hainan island reported 127 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 48 in the capital Sanya. That number of cases may seem minuscule for an island of 9.2 million people, but Chinese authorities still adhere to a COVID-zero policy that does not tolerate any spread of the virus. China deploys harsh lockdowns, mass testing measures, and strict border controls to ensure that it stamps out all COVID cases, even as nearly every other country on earth has given up on fully eliminating the virus. Local authorities said the Hainan outbreak started at a fishing port, and likely emerged from locals who traded fish with fisherm...