Publications by authors named "M Yeang"
Article Synopsis
- Ongoing research is essential for tracking and understanding the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, particularly as diagnostic testing declines in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In 2023, collaborations with pathology and genomics teams allowed for the monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants in New South Wales through various methods, including viral culture and analysis of immune responses from a large pool of blood donations.
- Findings indicated that while existing antibodies generally neutralized many variants, specific mutations in emerging strains, particularly JN.1, suggested future challenges in controlling their spread due to enhanced transmissibility.
Article Synopsis
- The Omicron variant of COVID-19, which began in 2022, evolved from several lineages (BA.1, BA.2, BA.5) and developed mutations that help it evade neutralizing antibodies.
- Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of antibody responses by tracking over 420,000 U.S. plasma donors and studying blood samples from vaccinated and recovered individuals, along with testing clinically approved therapies.
- Findings indicated that antibody responses improved over time, but emerging variants like BQ.1.1 and XBF were increasingly resistant to treatments like Evusheld and Sotrovimab, suggesting that even dominant variants can evade antibodies while maintaining a persistent advantage in spreading.
Background: Genetically distinct viral variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been recorded since January 2020. The introduction of global vaccine programs has contributed to lower COVID-19 hospitalisation and mortality rates, particularly in developed countries. In late 2021, Omicron BA.
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