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How do vaccines work? Vaccines, which are made from killed, weakened, or partial version of specific pathogens, prime the body’s immune system against future attacks by those pathogens. So, following vaccination, in case of an attack by a particular pathogen, the immune system will recognize it and fight it off. …

A vaccine is a preparation used to prevent a particular disease by triggering an immune response to the disease without actually suffering from the disease. Step-by-step protection against childhood infection is vital for a healthy life. Side effects of vaccination, in general, are fever, pain, and swelling at the site …

As far as similarities between influenza and COVID-19 are concerned, both have similar presentation, in that they both cause respiratory disease presenting as a wide range of illness, from asymptomatic or mild to severe disease and death. Because both are transmitted by contact, droplets, and fomites, they require the same …

Maurice Ralph Hilleman, microbiologist Philadelphia, United States (b Miles City, Montana, August 30, 1919), died from cancer on April 11, 2005. Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of HIV (the virus causing AIDS) has described him as “the most successful vaccinologist in history”, and he is credited with saving more lives than any …

  In 1879, renowned French scientist Louis Pasteur created the first vaccine (for chicken cholera) in his laboratory, and his experiments later led to the development of live attenuated cholera vaccine (in 1897) and inactivated anthrax vaccine (in 1904). Pasteur, along with Emile Roux also developed the first rabies vaccination …

  The development of the COVID-19 vaccine is a worldwide effort involving some of the best biological and pharmaceutical companies. Not only is it an effort involving massive amounts of money, but also, a race among nations for prestige and achievement. As of date, the leading companies with their COVID-19 …

Results of a World Health Organization coordinated study show that remdesivir has “little or no effect on mortality” for patients hospitalized with coronavirus, and that it doesn’t seem to help patients recover any faster. Till date, this antiviral drug was the only drug that the US FDA had granted COVID-19 …

After government approval of Sputnik V, Russia’s first COVID-19 vaccine, on August 11, 2020, health authorities have, on October 14, 2020, approved its second vaccine, EpiVacCorona, developed by Novosibirsk’s Vektor [State Virology and Biotechnology Center], as it starts large-scale trials. According to President Putin, his deputy prime minister and the …

In May 2020, the US Environmental Agency approved production of the genetically engineered, male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, known as OX5034, by British-based, US-operated company Oxitec. This species of mosquitoes are known to spread deadly diseases like dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. On August 18, 2020, Florida Keys Mosquito Control …

On June 11, 2020, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals initiated the first of its randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of REGN-COV2, its experimental dual antibody cocktail for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Th e trials were conducted at multiple sites and consisted of four study populations—hospitalized COVID-19 patients, non- hospitalized symptomatic COVID-19 patients, …