Dr S S Rawat's Blog

The world waits with bated breath as scientists across the globe race against time to find a vaccine against SARS-COV2. The good news is that its not a matter of whether, but when. Unlike some other viral infections, there are positive signs that a vaccine will certainly be possible. The virus itself stimulates an immune response which does result in neutralizing antibodies and viral clearance in vast majority of cases. The goal of a vaccine is to copy this, with much reduced risk. Vaccination is the only way we can reach herd immunity without loosing several thousands of excess lives in the process. However vaccines are made with different techniques and the companies making them have varying degrees of expertise in the field. I will try to explain the differences between these, assist in getting an understanding of the field and what factors to consider if a day eventually comes when we have an opportunity to choose which vaccine to take. It is clear that we need not one, but several...

It's been half a year since we have been grappling with this new Zoonotic infection. Our knowledge of how this virus affects the human body has increased significantly. What is not so clear however is what factors lead to one person developing complicated disease while another person with similar baseline risk factors escapes unscathed. Surely there are factors in play in addition to pure luck, but are there any actions which could be taken to boost the immune system ? One observation which has been replicated in various countries is that children fare better than adults. Risk of complicated disease appears to increase linearly with age, unlike influenza which has a U shaped curve ( peaking in the very young and very old). One theory which has been postulated and is currently being tested is whether innoculation with live attenuated ( weakened ) vaccines such as BCG and MMR boosts the innate immune system and effects response to SARS-COV2 exposure. Studies are ongoing in UK, USA, A...