Category: Infectious Diseases
Mask Guidance Evolves Indoors and Outdoors as Delta Variant Keeps Spreading
Precautions are changing as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads. Now, experts say even in outdoor settings, a mask is still strongly encouraged in many instances. The Director of Infection Prevention at UNC Medical Center, Emily Sickbert-Bennett, PhD, MS, understands the frustration. She says we now know much more about COVID-19, which is why guidance keeps evolving. Sick … Read more
NC Now Using More COVID-19 Treatment in 1 Week Than Previously in 1 Month
Monoclonal antibodies are infusion-based therapies used to treat COVID-19 infections. They are being used under Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA. “We designed antibodies that we can infuse into someone’s blood, and instantaneously there are now antibodies,” said David Wohl, MD, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases, explaining to CBS17 what the treatm … Read more
Department of Medicine Grants & Funding: August 1 – August 31, 2021
Division of Infectious Diseases UNC HIV Cure Center led by David Margolis, MD, was awarded $26.2 million over the next five years. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Silvia Kreda, PhD, received a phase two NIH Small Business Innovation Research Grant to continue studies for a novel oligonucleotide therapeutic strategy for treating cystic fibrosis. Division of Rheuma … Read more
Novel CRISPR-Based Malaria Diagnostic Capable of Plasmodium Detection, Species Differentiation, and Drug-Resistance Genotyping
CRISPR-based diagnostics are a new class of highly sensitive and specific assays with multiple applications in infectious disease diagnosis. SHERLOCK, or Specific High-Sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter UnLOCKing, is one such CRISPR-based diagnostic that combines recombinase polymerase pre-amplification, CRISPR-RNA base-pairing, and LwCas13a activity for nucleic acid detection. Resea … Read more
Parr Interviewed By The Scientist About the Development of CRISPR Diagnostics
Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases, was interviewed for an article in The Scientist about the development of CRISPR diagnostics. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have been striving to develop low-cost tests to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in patient samples. Now, a team of researchers based at Harvard Unive … Read more
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Insight Into How Often COVID-19 Spreads Through Households
Jessica Lin, PhD, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases, discussed a new study published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal that demonstrates how quickly COVID-19 can spread through a household, and provides insight into how and why communities of color have suffered disproportionately from the pandemic. Read the article.
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Wohl Discusses Pfizer’s FDA Approval, the Strain On Area Hospitals, the New Covid Variant, and When To Expect a ‘Covid Normalcy’
Wohl Hopes FDA Approval Will Encourage Vaccinations David Wohl, MD, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases, talked with WRAL.com about the FDA giving fully approval to Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. “I think this helps for those people who are on the fence,” said Wohl. “Here’s another reason, another thing to think about in your decision-making and now it is ful … Read more
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‘Breakthrough’ Infections Increasing in NC, But Vaccinated People Much Less Likely to Be Hospitalized, Die
Nearly one-fifth of the coronavirus infections reported in North Carolina during the first half of August were in people already fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. A WRAL.com report recognizes that while there is stable and highly effective protection against hospitalizations and severe outcomes for people who are fully vaccinated, e … Read more
Antibody Treatments Can Slow Hospitalizations Due to COVID, But Vaccines Are Best
Myron Cohen, MD, professor of medicine in infectious diseases and director of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, said masks and vaccines remain the best line of defense against Covid in an NBC News story. “You want to prevent any disease you can, rather than treat it, because the consequences of the infection are grave,” he said. At the same time, Cohen … Read more
Five-Year $3 Million Grant Will Study Pay-It-Forward Approach to Gonorrhea Testing
Pay-it-forward programs, whereby someone receives a gift or free service and then gives a gift to another person in return, have expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide an opportunity for healthcare providers to reduce costs, increase uptake of interventions such as testing and vaccines, and promote sustainability. Weiming Tang, PhD, and Joseph Tucker, MD, PhD, explain … Read more
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Wohl Discusses New FDA Criteria For Identifying Patients at High-Risk For Covid-19
David Wohl, MD, commented on new FDA criteria by which patients should be considered high-risk for severe COVID-19, expanding the pool of patients who can receive antibody treatment. In a Wall Street Journal report, Wohl said as many as 75% of adults in the US could qualify for treatment under the new criteria. “With the criteria expanded, we have so many more people who are elig … Read more
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Vaccine Boosters to Roll Out Next Month, As NC Hospitalizations From Delta Variant Surge
The News & Observer reports on the Biden administration plans for COVID-19 vaccine boosters to combat waning immunity, as the delta variant causes cases to surge in North Carolina and the rest of the nation. Meanwhile, North Carolina reported the most hospitalizations in the state due to the virus since Jan. 29. David Wohl, MD, professor of medicine in the division of infecti … Read more