Cleveland Clinic virology researchers have found that a specific protein modification to the immune protein MDA5 is key to how our bodies detect and respond to viruses and viral replication. 

The PNAS publication explains how two protein modifications activate MDA5, an essential immune protein, to sense invaders, limit viral replication and fight infections. This process is key to preventing outcomes like virus-induced heart inflammation. 

This most recent publication builds on a body of work from the lab of Michaela Gack, PhD, scientific director of Cleveland Clinic’s Florida Research & Innovation Center, that seeks to improve our understanding of how our bodies detect viruses.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, tuberculosis (TB) mortality surged for the first time in two decades. While these increases were widely attributed to disruptions to TB services, such as diagnostic delays and treatment interruptions, a new study suggests that we may have overlooked the impact of food insecurity during pandemic lockdowns.

Using individual interviews and focus group discussions, researchers from Boston University, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, found that 78% of households had no income, 67% resorted to distress financing to afford food, and 44% changed their diets—often by eating less or substituting less nutritious foods during the COVID-19 lockdowns in Southern India. Given the well-established link between undernutrition and TB progression, these findings raise important concerns about how food insecurity during crises may fuel TB-related deaths.

The money spent to develop, test, buy and administer the first COVID-19 vaccine was more than made up for by prevented medical care and lost productivity.

Three doses of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination induce long-lasting antibody and memory B-cell responses, according to a study of 113 healthcare workers in Catalonia who were followed during three years. The study, led by ISGlobal and published in Cell Reports, also shows that exposure to the virus prior to vaccination differentially imprints the immune systems without compromising the quality of the antibody response.

Invasive species cause environmental mayhem when they establish themselves in a new ecosystem. But these interlopers can also impact human health directly. Deadly diseases can jump from animals to humans, as the COVID-19 pandemic vividly illustrated.

A novel decentralized clinical trial found that Paxlovid was ineffective in alleviating long COVID symptoms but underscored the importance of a patient-centered approach.

A new study suggests that people in their 50s and older have embraced the ability to send and receive secure medical messages with their doctors and other providers, through the digital patient portals that most health systems and medical offices now offer. The study also suggests that some older adults – including those with very low incomes – find themselves getting billed for these digital interactions.