Voice for Science and Solidarity by Geert Vanden Bossche

Voice for Science and Solidarity by Geert Vanden Bossche

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Voice for Science and Solidarity by Geert Vanden Bossche
Voice for Science and Solidarity by Geert Vanden Bossche
Think about the evolutionary logic and you will comprehend the outcome of this immune escape pandemic…

Think about the evolutionary logic and you will comprehend the outcome of this immune escape pandemic…

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Geert Vanden Bossche
Jul 25, 2024
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Voice for Science and Solidarity by Geert Vanden Bossche
Voice for Science and Solidarity by Geert Vanden Bossche
Think about the evolutionary logic and you will comprehend the outcome of this immune escape pandemic…
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The virus currently relies on the mobility of asymptomatically or mildly infected Covid-19 vaccinees for inter-host transmission. However, as circulating variants become more infectious, their progeny is increasingly ‘neutralized’ by upper respiratory tract (URT)-patrolling migratory dendritic cells (DCs; see Figure below). This can drive the natural selection of highly virulent immune escape lineages because high virulence implies rapid spread from the many virus-loaded migratory DCs to susceptible organ cells (a phenomenon called ‘trans infection’), which is associated with more aggressive replication. In this case, the virus can bypass the need for host mobility (i.e., inter-host transmission) and instead rely on the virus’s ‘mobility’ for inter-organ (i.e., intra-host) transmission.  

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