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Viruses & How to Beat Them: Cells, Immunity, Vaccines

IsraelX - Virus101x

There are 160+ COVID-19 vaccines and drugs in development ....

Before you wade into the dizzying numbers of therapies start here to review a primer on immunity. What's below is taken from the UK patient.portal website. There is active and passive immunity:

Active immunity - offer protection by injecting VIRUS  (live or inactive) right into the individual
This is the stimulation of the immune mechanism to produce antibodies by giving an antigen as a vaccine. Such vaccines may be:

• Live attenuated viruses (rubella, measles, oral polio, mumps) or bacteria - bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG).
• Inactivated viruses (parenteral polio, hepatitis A) or parts of the bacterium or virus (pneumococcal vaccine, influenza).
• Inactivated bacterial toxins (diphtheria and tetanus).
• Genetically engineered (hepatitis B vaccine).

Passive Immunity - backdoor method -- offer protection via injecting immunoblogins or antibodies into the individual.  Immunoglobulins are glycoprotein molecules produced by plasma cells (white blood cells). They act as a critical part of the immune response by specifically recognizing and binding to particular antigens, such as bacteria or viruses, and aiding in their destruction.

This is achieved by giving immunoglobulins and the protection is immediate but lasts only a few weeks.

There are two types of immunoglobulins:

• Human normal immunoglobulin (HNIG) from pooled plasma. This contains antibodies to infections prevalent in the donor population. Some of these, such as that for hepatitis A, may be falling, ultimately affording less protection.
• Specific immunoglobulin for tetanus, varicella-zoster virus, rabies and hepatitis B. These are derived from pooled serum of convalescent patients.

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CSL Executive VEEP: Leaders lead during uncertainty - there is no question that we are all experiencing the impact of COVID-19

CSL Behring and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited are leading a joint effort with Biotest, BPL Group, LFB, and Octapharm to develop a potential plasma-derived therapy for treating COVID-19. The alliance started immediately with the investigational development of one, unbranded anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal hyperimmune immunoglobulin medicine with the potential to treat individuals with serious complications from COVID-19.


“Leaders lead during uncertainty. There is no question that we are all experiencing the impact of COVID-19,” said Bill Mezzanotte, CSL Behring’s Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Development.Read more from B. Mezzanote.