LMtV Podcast: Let’s ‘meet’ the clinical epidemiologist Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly examining the acute and long-term burden of COVID19 disease.

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What are the potential long-term effects of COVID-19? ‘Let’s Meet the Virologists’, hosted by Larissa Thackray, PhD, associate professor of Infectious Diseases, talks in Episode 29 withZiyad Al-Aly, MD, FASN, assistant professor in the Division of General Medical Services, Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center, and Chief of Research and Education Service at the VA […]

Gayaythri Krishnan, MD chosen as Chief ID Fellow for FY 2022

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Dr. Krishnan was selected by her ID fellow peers to serve as the second Chief ID Fellow. She follow Nathan Nolan, MD and recent graduate of the ID Fellowhip program . Honored, humbled and ecstatic about this new responsibility, Gayathry hopes to promote Fellow wellness and trainee education. “Thank you @WashUID for entrusting me with […]

Mild COVID-19 induces lasting antibody protection (Links to an external site)

The Source •

Months after recovering from mild cases of COVID-19, people still have immune cells in their body pumping out antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Such cells could persist for a lifetime, churning out antibodies all the while.

Podcast: What to make of CDC’s new masking guidelines

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The latest episode of the “Show Me the Science” podcast focuses on the CDC’s new masking guidelines. Guest William G. Powderly, MD, the Larry J. Shapiro Director of the Institute for Public Health and co-director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at WashU Med, says the new guidelines provide evidence that, for many fully vaccinated […]

Washington University Clinical Trials Unit to participate in the first polyclonal antibody for treatment of COVID-19

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ACTG Adds First Polyclonal Antibody to ACTIV-2 Outpatient Treatment Study for COVID-19 The AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), the largest global HIV research   network, today announced the addition SAB-185, a polyclonal antibody therapy, to the COVID-19 outpatient treatment study, ACTIV-2 Outpatient Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Therapies Trial. ACTIV-2 includes both phase 2 and phase 3 […]

Zika virus helps destroy deadly brain cancer in mice – senior author, Mike Diamond, MD, PhD, co-first author Sharmila Nair, PhD (Links to an external site)

The Source •

The Zika virus that ravaged the Americas, leaving many babies with permanent brain damage, may have a silver lining. The virus can activate immune cells to destroy an aggressive brain cancer in mice, giving a powerful boost to an immunotherapy drug and sparking long-lasting immunological memory that can ward off tumor recurrence for at least […]

LMtV Podcast: Let’s ‘meet’ the virologist Dr. Sebastien Felt who is studying defective viral genomes or DVGs and how they modulate the clinical outcome of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a significant cause of pediatric respiratory disease.

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RSV infects most children before the age of two and leads to a wide range of disease outcomes from asymptomatic to severe. While host genetic factors for severe outcome are known, viral determinants are not as well defined. ‘Let’s Meet the Virologists’, hosted by Larissa Thackray, PhD, associate professor of Infectious Diseases, talks in Episode […]

DOLF project shares several recent publications from clinical trials and community studies of alternative treatments for lymphatic filariasis. All with open access.

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The DOLF project is pleased to share several recent publications from clinical trials and community studies of alternative treatments for lymphatic filariasis. All of these have been published with open access. The first two articles (by Campillo et al and Ouattara et al) provide further strong evidence in support of the WHO recommendation to use […]

Kwon named committee vice chair of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Research Committee.

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Robert J. Boston photograph Jennie Kwon named National Academy of Medicine fellow. HORIZONTAL environmental portrait. IF IN LAB, with PPE. BUT WE DEFINITELY ALSO NEED PHOTOS OF HER WITHOUT GOGGLES (so you will need to take some photos out of lab). We will need headshots of her to announce the honor — but we also would like other options as well.

SHEA is the foremost professional organization promoting health-care epidemiology and infection prevention. As vice chair, Jennie Kwon, DO, MSCI, assistant professor of medicine, will help identify research priorities in health-care epidemiology, encourage new research initiatives in the field, foster research on the prevention and control of health care-associated infections and antibiotic resistance, promote communication and […]

LMtV Podcast: Let’s ‘meet’ the clinician Dr. Jeannie Kelly examining the risk of COVID-19 during pregnancy and the benefit of vaccination for both pregnant women and their babies in utero and after birth through breast milk.

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Clinical research is essential for developing optimal intervention and treatments for COVID-19 patients. ‘Let’s Meet the Virologists’, hosted by Larissa Thackray, PhD, associate professor of Infectious Diseases, talks in Episode 25 with Jeannie Kelly, MD, MS, an assistant professor of OB-GYN and Medical Director of Maternal-Fetal Transport and Labor and Delivery, about her work examining […]

Rachel Presti, MD, PhD, urges public to take first vaccine available.

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Rachel Presti, MD, PhD, an infectious disease physician who led WashU Med’s participation in the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine trial, encourages the public to take the first vaccine available to them. Presti’s team conducted their clinical trial for several months — as the St. Louis area saw massive spikes in COVID-19 cases — and […]

Gayathri Krishnan, MD, first year fellow, submitted a recently published paper

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Gayathri Krishnan, MD

Comparison of Blood (1->3)-β-D-Glucan Levels in AIDS-Related Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia and AIDS-Related Progressive Disseminated Histoplasmosis. Michael Saccente, Gayathri Krishnan. Clinical Infectious Diseases, ciab277, https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab277. Relevance: Beta D glucan is a noninvasive test used for diagnosis of fungal infections and is helpful in patients with immunosuppressed conditions.  Dr. Krishnan et al also published a case report in the Arkansas […]

Miguel Chavez Concha, MD, MSc, receives Jonathon Freeman Award

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Miguel Chavez Concha, MD, MSc, first year fellow, is a 2021 recipient of the Jonathan Freeman Scholarship. The award is was established by SHEA to promote the training of outstanding infectious disease fellows who demonstrate interest in the field of healthcare epidemiology. The award is intended to support infection control professionals’ scholarly activities in hospital […]

A Crisis Unfolds: COVID-19 surge gives way to unprecedented collaboration, innovation (Links to an external site)

Outlook Magazine •

The virus had not yet left Wuhan, China, when the School of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and BJC HealthCare started bracing for a medical disaster of greater magnitude than any they had ever experienced. Six weeks before COVID-19 reached St. Louis, incident command centers were set up at every BJC hospital, with a joint incident command […]

Findings in the lab of Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, show new evidence COVID-19 antibodies, vaccines less effective against variants (Links to an external site)

The Source •

New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that three new, fast-spreading variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 can evade antibodies that work against the original form of the virus that sparked the pandemic. With few exceptions, whether such antibodies were produced in response to vaccination or natural infection, or […]

FDA review confirms safety, efficacy of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine; under leadership of Rachel Presti, MD, PhD WashU IDCRU was a trial site

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The FDA has confirmed a third vaccine is effective and safe in protecting against COVID-19. The vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, is overall 67% effective beginning 14 days after vaccination, 77% effective against severe illness and completely effective against death from COVID-19. Efficacy increased over time and was demonstrated against more infectious variants seen in […]