Author: josielcrooks

Belimumab (Benlysta) is a drug used to treat systemic lupus erythematosus. This drug uses monoclonal antibodies in order to fight the infection throughout the body. Monoclonal antibodies are used as a more effective way to diagnose an infection in the body, as well as provide an effective treatment. These antibodies are made from a fusion between animal B cells that produce antibodies against a certain antigen, and myeloma cells that continuously divide. The fused cell is called a hybridoma cell and it clonally expands and produces antibodies that are all identically the same and specific for the antigen that originally activated the B cell. Benlysta is a drug made from this type of antibody and acts to block the B cell stimulator protein to prevent B cells from activating. If the B cells don’t activate, they cannot produce the antibodies that attack the body and cause lupus.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that attacks the body’s own tissues with an immune response. This leads to flare ups of inflammatory responses and overall fatigue. Benlysta is designed to be used in addition to another drug that treats lupus. It is said to reduce flare ups, reduce the disease activity of the immune response, and decrease the steroid doses given to patients. Along with the benefits of this type of treatment, this medication can produce many side effects.

Those include:

• nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain
• fever
• cough, sore throat
• heart problems
• migraine
• leg or arm pain
• allergic reactions: difficulty breathing, swelling of areas around the face and neck, low blood pressure, dizziness, fainting, rash, redness
• mental health issues: suicide, insomnia, changes in mood or behavior
• painful urination
• sores on body
• progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy: life threatening brain infection
• increased risk of cancer

These symptoms discussed can worsen the overall effects that systemic lupus has on the body. Lupus produces pain in areas around the body, fatigue and some depressive swings, as well as rashes and swelling. These symptoms are similar to the side effects of the medication so this issues could be compounded rather than diminished. This is why its important to take precautions before trying new medications and treatments. The type of antibody produced in this medication can cross the placenta. The effects of this are not certain, but should be taken into consideration. Receiving live vaccines while on this medication is advised against. This is due to the fact that antibodies bind to proteins that activate B cells to attack an invader in the body. If a live vaccine is given, it would interact with the antibody protection this medication is providing and could cause it to become ineffective or cause serious side effects. Serious considerations of these side effects should be taken before trying this medication, even though the purposeful effects may seem promising.

Because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, this flu season seems to have fallen out of our minds, and the media’s. Doctors have said that this flu season has been bad, with around 30-40 million cases in the US. Just for reference, 525,000 people have been infected with coronavirus since January. The deaths from the flu have been around 30,000 people this year, while coronavirus has claimed around 20,000 lives. These numbers are just to give perspective of the impact that the flu has on our country EVERY SEASON. Its important to pay attention to these numbers and what is happening with the flu in our country.

Being educated is important, but even more importantly getting vaccinated! Although the vaccine is not perfect, doctors have said that it reduces the amount of infections by about 50%. If you ask me, that’s a chance I’m willing to take if it means staying healthy. Doctors prepare the flu vaccine before the season starts each year. This is due to the fact that the influenza virus can do antigenic variation, producing different strains each year. This year, children have been infected with the flu more than in past years. There has been 92 pediatric deaths this flu season. That number could be greatly reduced if people would get their children vaccinated. If you had a 50% chance of reducing risk of infection for your children wouldn’t you do it?

Influenza is a disease that threatens our health every single year. I think it is overlooked by the general public because of the commonality of it. The stigma around vaccinations plays a big role in the amount of children that receive them. The numbers are important to get the point across that even something as simple as a flu vaccine could decrease the risk of hospitalization and even death. 300,000-500,000 people have been hospitalized with the flu this season. That is almost half a million people. There is a vaccine that prevents the risk of infection, and could decrease the severity if infected. We should all do our part in receiving vaccines for the sake of those around us, and our own selves.

In regards to the current COVID-19 pandemic, there are discussions about testing for antibodies floating around. What does this mean? Basically, antibodies are produced in your body as a response to an infection. Antibodies help to tag infected cells in your body so your immune system can recognize and kill them. The production of antibodies and the certain types can determine if your body has been infected by a certain organism and if you have produced an immune response to it. If your body has been infected and formed an antibody response against the infection, IgM will be the first antibody produced. This happens during the primary infection but it does not create any memory against that certain infection. Once there are IgM and IgG antibodies in your plasma, it means that the antibody response has matured and gone through class switching in order to make antibodies that work better than just IgM alone. It also means that your body has now produced some memory cells on how to fight the infection if it were to reoccur. If your antibody titer has mainly IgG being produced, it means you have already encountered the organism, effectively fought it off, and now have immunity to it due to your memory cells.

This antibody testing is an attempt to gain knowledge on whether someone has been exposed to the virus and what kind of immunity their body has made against it. The testing for antibodies in the blood doesn’t test if you are in active infection with the coronavirus, only if you have been exposed. This would be very helpful to know especially for our healthcare workers that are continually exposed to patients suffering from the virus. Scientists are working to develop a rapid antibody test in order to more efficiently find out the status of antibody response in a patient to figure out a plan for their care. If a person’s blood tests positive for IgG antibodies, their plasma could be given to extremely sick patients as a way to help boost their immunity to the virus. The possibility of this treatment would be a huge step in our fight against this virus.

Determining whether or not a certain person has some immunity against COVID-19 could be vital in returning to a normal life. A lot of patients infected with the virus are asymptomatic, meaning they wouldn’t even know they have been infected. Their body created antibodies and fought off the infection on its own. These people then have a memory immune response against the virus if they contracted it again. This means that these people would be able to return to work without the fear of being infected by others, which would begin our slow movement back into a normal life. The length of immunity against COVID-19 is unknown but scientists believe there is some immunity built up after the first infection.

Personalized medicine may be the new wave of the future so to say. This type of medicine focuses on using a person’s own T cells to kill unwanted cells. A T cell is a type of white blood cell that is found in the blood. They are a part of the adaptive immune system and function to kill off cells that have been infected throughout the body. This type of treatment can be used to treat CANCER. Yes, CANCER. Cancer cells can be hard for the body’s immune system to kill because they aren’t always recognized by the immune system cells, more specifically T cells. The technology behind this treatment is vital in the progression towards a cure for cancer. If you ask me, that pretty cool.

So how does it work? Patients with large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma or advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia are able to be treated with the CAR T cell therapy. These patients have their blood drawn, and the T cells are removed. Scientists then take the T cell and modify them by placing a new type of receptor on the cells. A T cell normally recognizes an invader in the body when its T cell receptor binds to a MHC molecule on on the outside of a dendritic cell. These dendritic cells have pieces of an invader displayed on their MHC molecule for the T cell to recognize. By adding these new receptors on the T cells, it allows them to be able to better recognize cancer cells, that could otherwise slip through the immune response.

This specific type of treatment has an 80% success rate in leukemia patients and 80% of the lymphoma patients have a full or partial response to the treatment. The therapy can also produce some side effects, such as some neurological events or overproduction of cytokines, but have proven to be diminished by drug treatment. Although the success rate of this treatment looks promising, the cost to receive the therapy is disheartening. It can cost around $373,000 to receive the treatment. The percentage of patients able to fork up the cost proves that this may not be the most realistic form of therapy. Another downfall with this type of therapy is that it is not used as the first line of treatment. It is only used when the first and second line plans fail to put a patient into remission. Although the treatment has its downfalls, I think the continuing research and trials could make a big difference when it comes to the future of cancer treatment worldwide.

World tuberculosis day was on March 24th. This day is used in order to bring awareness to the disease and to discuss new ways at looking towards cures and treatments. The focus of this year’s world Tb day was the goal to look for more treatment options for those that have latent Tb infections in order to prevent those infection from becoming active. Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It can lead to latent TB infections or active infections. Those with latent infections have encountered the bacterium before but the body was able to fight it off. The bacteria stays within the body and continues to test positive for infection, even without causing signs/symptoms.

The issue with latent Tb infections is that if they are left untreated, they could eventually progress into active infections, which can be fatal. These latent infections pose a threat throughout one’s whole life. This is a real problem in the US and doesn’t receive enough attention from the public. Another issue with latent Tb infection is that they can become active and cause spread to others through respiratory droplets in the air. Those with weakened immune symptoms are more susceptible to the disease and also experience the biggest death rate. Like the recent coronavirus pandemic, the immunocompromised need to be protected from this disease.

The rates of Tb infections in the US have been decreasing over the past few years. Although this is promising information, eliminating the disease is going to take much more. Some strains of tuberculosis are multi drug resistant, meaning multiple antibiotics must be used to treat it. There are also some extensively drug resistant strains, that are less common, but untreatable. The threat that these strains pose can be alarming and steps should be taken in order to prevent the transmission.

We received the news during spring break that our break would be extended for another week and online classes would follow after. All of this due to growing concerns about the coronavirus in our country. At first I was relieved to be able to have a week at home with my family, because I had been traveling with friends over spring break. I planned on going back to my apartment after the extended break in order to do online classes. During the extended spring break, I went back to UNC with a friend to pack up her dorm when we learned that UNC residence halls were closing for the rest of the semester. I was totally bummed. My plans for the rest of the semester and living in my apartment with a great group of girls were completely changed.

Flash forward a week to online classes starting. I was not so happy about having to do my online classes at home but due to social distancing protocol, my apartment had urged us to stay at home if possible. Let me just tell you: this is NOT how I pictured my second semester of sophomore year going. Adjusting to online learning hasn’t been the easiest due to all of the schedule rearrangements and technology kinks that have to be worked out. I have a hard time staying motivated at home when my family isn’t having to do work. The environment at UNC is a big motivation for me, as well as my apartment roommates all doing work together. It has definitely been a different learning experience so far.

My biggest issue about this whole situation is I am having to do college without the fun parts of college. Doing work online at home means no friends, no clubs, no study groups, and no fun free time. I also enjoy going to workout classes at school that I’m no longer able to do at home due to gym closures. I don’t mind the work as much when I’m at school because we are all in it together but at home it feels much more isolating. I hate missing out on things planned for this semester and celebrating birthdays at school with my friends. I love spending extra time with my family but I am very ready to be at UNC again. Hopefully we will be able to have some normalcy in the next few months so that we can have a normal summer and look forward to school starting in the fall!

Sexually transmitted infections are not something to be taken lightly. They are spread by direct sexual contact and can harbor various symptoms depending on the type of infection. The cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia have reached an “all time high” in the United States in the recent years. One of the reasons for the recent increase in these infections is due to the lack of condom use among certain people groups. This in particular is alarming because condoms are one of the biggest sources of protection against these infections, besides abstinence. We should be more concerned with the threat that these diseases pose and should take steps in order to prevent infection and its spread.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that is characterized by sores. Contact with these sores spreads infection. One of the issues of concern with the rising number of cases is that syphilis can be spread by vertical transmission. This happens during birth when a mother is infected and passes the infection to their child through the birth canal. Congenital syphilis prevalence has increased around 40 percent within the past 3 years. This should be alarming to the public because there are steps that can be taken in order to prevent this from happening, but the steps are not being taken. Safe sex, STI testing, and early prenatal care can help to reduce these numbers in the near future.

Gonorrhea is another infection that is a concern to our public health safety. It is a bacterial infection but is often spread unknowingly because it tends to be asymptomatic in many of its cases. The bacterial infection, caused by N. gonorrhoea, is treated with antibiotics but has been showing signs of resistance. It has shown resistance to 3 of the most common antibiotics that are used to treat the infection: penicillin, tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin. The increasing resistance is an issue because the more resistant the bacteria become, we lose treatment options and the overall course of the infection could worsen. Scientists are currently working on new types of treatment for gonorrhea including the possibility of a vaccine.

The Center for Disease Control characterizes human papillomavirus as “the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States.” Many of its strains cause cervical cancers as well as genital warts. As common as the infection is, there is a vaccine that fully protects against it. The HPV vaccine is proven to be very effective in preventing the infection. It uses a noninfectious form of the virus that doesn’t contain DNA. This allows the body to form an immune response against the viral particles before it comes into contact with the real virus. Everyone should protect themselves against the infection, and possibility of cervical cancer, by receiving the HPV vaccine.

It is important to receive this vaccine in order to protect yourself but also to decrease the prevalence of the infection. This provides a type of herd immunity because those that receive the vaccine can’t get the infection and therefore prevent the spread of it. Her immunity protects the immunocompromised population in our country, including the elderly and young children. Another reason you should get the vaccine is it is the best protection against cervical cancer. The incidence of cervical cancer cases in the US have declined due to the vaccinations.

Is it Safe?

Yes!! Human clinical trials were conducted to determine the efficiency of the vaccines and determine their side effects. The clinical trial determined that the only adverse side effects with the HPV vaccine was that of injection site symptoms, headache, and fatigue, none of which affects overall health. The study encourages people receiving the vaccine and deems it safe and effective. The HPV vaccine was referred to as a “high value public health intervention.” Needless to say, the good of the vaccine outweighs the bad and everyone should take a stand and protect themselves against this disease and the cancer implications that could come with it.

The emergence of bacterial resistance to antibiotic treatment is proving to be a growing battle. The CDC reported around 2.8 million people suffering from infection by these resistant bacteria and around 35,000 deaths a year. These numbers are alarming and are going to continue to worsen if we don’t prescribe and use antibiotics correctly. One of the infections that is concerning to healthcare officials is extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae. This infection produces the highest mortality from antibiotic resistant bacteria in the US. This issue is projected to worsen due to the ability of the bacteria to share its resistance on an R plasmid to another bacteria.

The organisms that have encoded for resistance to multiple antibacterial medications are referred to as superbugs. Overuse of antibiotic treatments has led to the development of these resistant bacteria. A way to prevent this is only using antibiotic therapy for an infection that it can clear, and not viral infections. Prevention of these superbugs can be as simple as washing hands with normal soap in order to prevent spread and infection within the body. Superbugs are a threat to the country’s health and the future of the effectiveness of antibiotics.

If our society gets to the point where we can no longer use antibiotics, the illnesses that could once be treated, will cause longer infections requiring hospitalization. The symptoms of these diseases can also cause long term issues from the initial infection. The antibiotics that once would have easily cleared someone from a life threatening infection are increasingly losing their ability to combat the bacteria. They bacteria are outsmarting our clinical abilities and once they have learned to share their resistance to all other organisms, we are in big trouble. We must take steps to correctly use antibiotics or else we will lose their effectiveness altogether.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the upper respiratory tract that is particularly lethal to infants and young children. It is caused by a bacteria named Bordatella pertussis and it is preventable by a vaccination. Although this vaccine works in preventing the spread of the disease, it is considered an endemic in the US, meaning it is always present. There was around 15,000 cases reported in 2018. The lack of vaccination keeps the disease from being eradicated and does not provide herd immunity for the immunocompromised, specifically infants.

The pertussis vaccine is called a toxoid. This is an inactivated version of the toxins the bacteria produces. It allows for your body to produce an immune response against the toxin so that if it were to come in contact with it again, it can kill it off before any infection occurs. There has been an updated version of the vaccine since the original that does not insert the entire dead bacterial cell into your body. This new vaccine produces lower side effects than the old “whole cell” version but it has been found to be slightly less effective on infants. This requires more booster doses to be given in order to protect your children.

Certain countries have now considered requiring prenatal vaccinations against the disease because of the increasing spread in infants. This would provide a type of passive immunity from mother to infant to help protect them. It would provide immunity for the first few months of life. This is the period that is vital to protect because infants can be the most susceptible. The need for herd immunity to help protect the young population is very important because they are helpless against the disease. If everyone were to receive their vaccinations at a young age, the herd immunity could be enacted and we would be protecting the immunocompromised as a community.