Key science behind the success of the mRNA #SARSCoV2 vaccines
—A paper that was *rejected 5 times* finally published in 2017
"Full spike plus 2P" @PNASNews
pnas.org/content/114/35… w/ @scrippsresearch
—1990 @ScienceMagazine mRNA in vivo -> protein
science.sciencemag.org/content/247/49…
Important backstory of the basic science over many years that culminated in the 11 month "astonishing" success
washingtonpost.com/health/2020/12… by @Carolynyjohnson featuring @kkariko's work and @NIAIDNews Barney Graham @NIH
Meant to post the @PNAS paper (not the same one twice)
Best simple explanation for "spike plus 2P" (translation of the @PNAS paper), the key that enabled success of the mRNA vaccines
newyorker.com/magazine/2020/… @NewYorker by @carolynkor

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More from @EricTopol

5 Dec
10 countries, 1 outlier
That was 8; here's the 10
10 more in countries w/ >10 million population
Read 4 tweets
5 Dec
It's the 3rd hump—its apex and duration yet unknown—that is breaking the backs of America's health workforce along with the nightmarish number of new infections and fatalities recorded each day.
adapted from @COVID19Tracking data
At just over 100,000 hospitalizations, we have already past the breaking point @TheAtlantic
theatlantic.com/health/archive… @yayitsrob @alexismadrigal
We can't handle the patients now.
The ones that would be admitted.
They are getting sent home now.
New records today for cases 225,000
Hospitalizations 101, 276
and very high number of deaths 2,563
Read 5 tweets
3 Dec
Today we broke the US pandemic thresholds for both hospitalizations, over 100,000 and deaths, over 2,700 deaths.
@COVID19Tracking
It's horrifying and we should be pulling out all the stops to prevent further M & M. We can do this if there is the will.
The deaths lag the hospitalizations, the spurious dip related to the holiday data issue. Their close tracking is unequivocal in this 3rd surge.
The hospital and healthcare workforce capacity has been exceeded in many parts to the country, requiring urgent intervention
To do this we need to stop the spread of ~200,000 new confirmed cases again today. Universal mask mandates, enforced, distribute surgical mask supply and rapid home tests out to all households now, shut down hot spots, cluster bust, etc, whatever it takes
Read 4 tweets
30 Nov
Superhuman #SARSCoV2 immunity
Just published @NatureMedicine
nature.com/articles/s4159…
Our essay on vaccines that give humans immune responses superior to those generated in response to infection, now including #SARSCoV2
@scrippsresearch @ScrippsRTI w/ Dennis Burton Image
To elaborate on the concept of superhuman vaccine immunity:
Each of the 3 examples in our piece are for different reasons.
1. HPV—best, since the human response is weak
2. Tetanus—small amounts of toxin don't elicit strong response)
3. H Flu—the bacterium is sugar coated
2/
This is different from vaccine efficacy.
Take measles. The natural human response to infection provides durable efficacy but the vaccine requires multiple shots and is without lifelong protection. 3/ Image
Read 10 tweets
28 Nov
This will go down in history as one of science and medical research's greatest achievements. Perhaps the most impressive.
I put together a preliminary timeline of some key milestones to show how several years of work were compressed into months.
There are several points noteworthy related to this timeline:
1. Moderna had a head-start, so why didn't their Phase 3 trial finish first?
Part of #OperationWarpSpeed (OWS), they were requested to slow down enrollment to get better minority representation
nytimes.com/2020/11/21/us/…
2. 3 scientists led the way
Katalin Karikó, worked on a mRNA vaccine for ~30 years, was demoted from @PennMedicine d/t losing her grants, went to @moderna_tx
statnews.com/2020/11/10/the…
and the husband and wife team @BioNTech_Group
nytimes.com/2020/11/10/bus…
Read 5 tweets
24 Nov
Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of convalescent plasma(CP) for severe #COVID19: "no significant differences...in clinical status or overall mortality" @NEJM
"We believe the use of CP as a standard of care....should be reevaluated." nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
And also today yet another negative trial for hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic intervention.
The most over-studied, under-performing, repurposed drug in modern times.
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
Incredible. A faculty doctor @UCLAHealth @dgsomucla
says we are too cautious by demanding evidence for #COVID19 medications. And that hydroxychloroquine has strong data to support its use. That we're killing patients.
wsj.com/articles/too-m…
Read 4 tweets

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