New insights into how patient factors and COVID-19 infection affect antibody responses in people with HIV

People with HIV have impaired immune responses to some pathogens and immunizations, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, they often experienced severe symptoms if infected with SARS‐CoV‐2. New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has examined how patient characteristics and COVID-19 infection may affect the antibody responses of people with HIV—including antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 proteins as well as proteins from other viruses such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV).

Researchers develop a new ‘scorecard’ for progress in sexual health

Moving away from a focus on risk of disease to a more positive, holistic, and health-promoting approach to sexual health is key to improving health outcomes, according to a new study led by a researcher from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study, which proposes indicators to assess broad progress in sexual health outcomes, appears in the open-access journal Frontiers in Public Health.

How do cells spread the word during a viral infection?

Why do some people experience few symptoms, while others become seriously ill, when infected with a virus such as the flu or COVID-19? Ph.D. researcher Laura Van Eyndhoven sought to answer this question by looking at cells one cell at a time. Her research provides valuable insights on how individual immune cells influence systemic immunity, which could lead to personalized therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases in the future.