The emergence and explosive spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019 highlighted the need to rapidly develop curated biobanks to inform the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment options for global outbreaks of communicable diseases. Recently, we undertook efforts to develop a repository of biospecimens from individuals aged 12 and older who were to be vaccinated against coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with vaccines developed with support from the United States Government. We planned to establish 40 or more clinical study sites in at least six countries to collect biospecimens from 1,000 individuals, 75% of whom were to be SARS-CoV-2 naive at the time of enrollment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis contribution examines the responses of five health systems in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: Denmark, Germany, Israel, Spain and Sweden. The aim is to understand to what extent this crisis response of these countries was resilient. The study focuses on hospital care structures, considering both existing capacity before the pandemic and the management and expansion of capacity during the crisis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMonocytes develop in the bone marrow from the hematopoietic stem cells and represent heterogeneous phagocyte cells in the circulation. In homeostatic and inflammatory conditions, after recruitment into tissues, monocytes differentiate into macrophages and dendritic cells. Alcohol use causes about 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Immunopharmacol
January 2021
Alcoholic liver disease includes a spectrum of clinical and histological entities. They result from the combined direct effect of alcohol and its metabolites on immune cells and resident tissue cells. In humans and mice, females are more susceptible to alcoholic liver injury than males.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBasing on routine laboratory diagnosis of serum antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) in the years 1985 and 1986, the monthly detection rate of infection amounts to 50 persons on an average in the region of Frankfurt/FRG. The relation of female to male persons changed from 1:7 to 1:3 during one year. This might be influenced by a screening programme performed with female prostitutes who are found seropositive in about 2.
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