Category: Infectious Diseases
September Could Be Worst Month For COVID Hospitalizations Yet
David Wohl, MD WRAL reports that evidence is mounting to show the fight against COVID-19 in North Carolina could be about to enter uncharted waters. “We’re in the place we are now, a place of surge, a place of pain, a place of chaos, because, to be truthful, we have so many people unvaccinated,” said David Wohl, MD, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases. “I … Read more
Should We Focus on Getting Vaccines For Kids or Booster Shots for Adults?
Credit: WTVD-ABC 11 David Wohl, MD, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases, talked with ABC-11 about COVID-19 models and when cases might peak. He also answered questions about vaccines for kids and booster shots for adults. Watch the news story.
Which Type of Immunity Is Best Against Variants? More Symptoms, More Spread and Other COVID-19 News
Jessica Lin, MD MSCR An article in Infection Disease Special Edition reviews recent studies about COVID-19 transmission, including one led by Jessica Lin, MD, that showed COVID-19 spreads quickly through a household. The observational study, conducted between April and October 2020, followed 100 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 around the Raleigh, N.C., area and included … Read more
-
Cooper Promises Expanded Access to COVID Antibody Treatment
David Wohl, MD On the same day North Carolina hospitals reported a record number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units across the state, Gov. Roy Cooper signaled he will take action expanding access to a potentially lifesaving treatment designed to keep people out of the hospital in the first place. “We’ve been beating the drum for months now, since November of last year, … Read more
How Safe Are Outdoor Events? Is a Lockdown Coming?
David Weber, MD, MPH Eighteen months into the pandemic and there are still a lot of questions out there about everything related to COVID-19. CBS 17 took those questions to health experts to get answers using facts not fear. David Weber, MD, MPH, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases, contributed to the question and answer segment. Read or watch the report. … Read more
Experimental Monoclonal Antibody Combo Shows Significant Efficacy Against COVID-19
David Wohl, MD (Credit: TPAN) As part of the NIH-sponsored ACTIV-2 clinical trial for COVID-19 outpatients, preliminary data revealed that a new combination monoclonal antibody treatment reduced hospitalizations and death by 78 percent in high-risk patients. ACTIV-2 vice chair David Wohl, MD, leads monoclonal treatment for UNC Health. Read more from the UNC Health and UNC School … Read more
Hobbs and Duncan Win $3.9M NIAID Grant to Study a Meningitis Vaccine’s Effect on Gonorrhea
Marcia Hobbs, PhD, and Alex Duncan, MD, PhD The NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded Marcia Hobbs, PhD, and Alex Duncan, MD, PhD, a five-year, $3.9 million grant to study how a vaccine recently developed to prevent life-threatening infections caused by group B Neisseria meningitidis, the MenB vaccine, may also protect people from infection with … Read more
-
Transmission Rate of COVID-19 Within Households Can Be Over 30%, More than 50% from Minority Communities
Jessica Lin, MD MSCR With potent virulence and transmissibility, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is one of the deadliest pathogens to be encountered in recorded history. Scientists have reiterated that other than hygienic measures, distance between individuals is the best defense against its spread. However, the latter is difficult within a household and presents challenges in the event of … Read more
Mask Guidance Evolves Indoors and Outdoors as Delta Variant Keeps Spreading
Emily Sickbert-Bennett, PhD, MS 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 w … 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
Jessica Lin, MD MSCR 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 … Read more