Immune Systems Advisor

Two new omicron subvariants have overtaken BA.5 as the prevailing versions of the coronavirus in the U.S. BA.5 became dominant in July , then consistently accounted for the majority of new Covid infections until last week. But data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Friday showed that the new subvariants — called BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 — have taken over. The two together make up around 44.2% of new Covid infections, whereas BA.5 makes up just 29.7%. "BA.5 is essentially declining quickly, probably soon to be gone," said Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 cases are also rising in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe. The two subvariants made up around 18% of new infections in the European Union from Oct. 17-30, and the European CDC expects that share to jump to more than 50% this month or next. Both of the subvariants are considered part of the BA.5 fam...

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, diagnostic tests of any kind were challenging to find, and their use was generally limited to people showing active signs of infection. The tests had to be administered in a medical facility, and the results could take a week to obtain. Later, a rapid form of the test using nasal cells or saliva could detect the presence of antibodies or antigens within 30 minutes, but the test still had to be administered in a lab or doctor’s office. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  (CDC) have approved several Covid tests for home use, although some still require analysis by an outside laboratory. One of the main selling points of these tests is privacy. If a person needs to know their current status, an at-home test eliminates the need to schedule a doctor’s appointment or stand in line at a busy testing center. At-home Covid tests are becoming more widely available, and it helps to know how...

Masks Not Required on Flights, Public Transit and in U.S. Airports On April 18, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle struck down the Biden administration’s mask mandate, citing agency overreach by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Biden administration has appealed the decision after the CDC determined the mandate is still necessary to protect the public from Covid-19. It’s unclear when a final decision will be made, but some worry that if the mask mandate is reinstated,  there could be backlash from the American public . Update (June 10, 2022): US will end Covid-19 testing requirement for air travelers entering the country Before Mizelle’s ruling, all travelers to the U.S. were required to wear a mask during air travel and in all U.S. airports. The mask mandate was set to expire on April 19, but was extended for two additional weeks through May 3. In response, most major U.S. airlines made masks optional for ...

More than 650 million   COVID-19 tests   have been done in the United States since early 2020, and nearly 50 million of those tests identified the COVID-19 virus responsible for a global pandemic ( R ). Testing rates decreased for a time once vaccines became available and the numbers of new cases started to decline. However, new variants and a desire to return to a semblance of normal life have increased the demand for tests again. There are more options for testing now than there were at the start of the pandemic. Lab testing is still available, but new types of  at-home tests  have made testing easier. Not every test is created equal, though, and there are pros and cons to each type of COVID-19 test ( R ). This article will review the different COVID-19 tests and the benefits and drawbacks of each. Types of COVID-19 tests Two types of COVID-19 tests are popular: the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and the antigen test , a.k.a. the rapid test. Both tests requi...