Author: kgbell00

Rituximab (RITUXAN) is an example of a monoclonal antibody drug that has been used to help fight rheumatoid arthritis and other types of cancer like Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. From our latest discussion’s in class we know that antibodies are proteins that can bind to specific antigens and are essential in our immune responses. However, I had never heard of monoclonal antibodies and according to the book they are identical antibodies, with the same constant and variable regions. Having consistency between a large number of antibodies makes reliable and precise tests available. According to the Mayo clinic, monoclonal antibodies can be used to help target numerous types of cancer, Rituximab being a perfect example.

When specifically looking at how rituximab works against Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, I discovered that it targets a molecule on the surface of B cells called CD20. CD20 can effect the growth and differentiate of a B cell. The monoclonal antibodies associated with this drug were designed to bind to the receptor and cause the tumorous B cells to lyse. With lysing these cells, rituximab can help slow the growth of tumors, or even stop them from reoccurring. It is administered to patients through infusion therapy which can lead to serious side effects. These side effects include:

• Hives or rash
• itching
• swelling of your lips, tongue, throat or face
• sudden cough
• shortness of breath or wheezing
• weakness
• dizziness of fainting
• palpitations
• chest pain
• painful sores or ulcers on your skin, lips or in your mouth
• confusion
• vision problems
• difficulty walking or talking
• nausea
• diarrhea
• muscle spasms
• more frequent upper respiratory tract infections

Some of the more serious side effects include things like severe skin and mouth reactions, Hepatitis B virus reactivation, kidney problems, and tumor lysis syndrome. Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is probably the most prominent and patients who are receiving Rituxan for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma need to be most careful about. TLS happens when there are a lot of lysis of tumor cells ( which is the main function of Rituxan), which makes you susceptible to kidney failure and could end up having to go on dialysis. You will not be treated with Rituxan if you are pregnant of breastfeeding, and it will depend on a person to person bases if you have had hepatitis B or tuberculosis before if your doctor administers rituxan. This is due to the fact that it can cause a reactivation of the Hepatitis B and it also is a severe immunosuppressant drug so it can leaves your body open to various other infections. I couldn’t find a source that exactly laid out which part of the immune system is being affected here but from what I can guess it is mainly the adaptive immunity that is being suppressed. Whenever we have a large amount of cell lysing going on there is normally an adaptive immune response and with cell lysing being rituxan’s main function, i can imagine that it also suppresses some of the adaptive immune responses in order to fully do its job against cancerous cells.

Right now is truly a crazy time filled with so much uncertainty and its honestly scary. I hope that everyone and their friends and families are healthy and safe and following the social distancing guidelines. While I know everyone is doing their best right now to stay isolated and help slow the spread of the virus, there are raising questions about what is going to happen in the coming months. I am in no way an expert or scientist but I do have a little bit of knowledge about transmission of diseases and the human immune response to viruses, such as COVID-19, from my microbiology class. From this, I know how important it is to test individuals with these antibody screening tests because it can allow you to know if you’ve been infected with the virus, if your body has developed an effective immune response to the virus and if you are at risk for transmission or becoming infected. In the near future when society turns back to normal and there is a growing number of human interactions again these types of tests will help keep us from backtracking in our efforts to stop these infections.

For a lot of individuals who don’t have an extensive background in science or immunology, they might ask what exactly these antibody tests do. Antibodies are one of the most important molecules that our immune system can make. They are very specific to only one type of antigen, or foreign substance, and produced by a type of cell called B cells. When they come in contact with said antigen they mark it for destruction and allow for the adaptive immune system to really be effective in killing off the virus. The United States has just now started to test people to see if they have already produced these antibodies and if they are active in their bodies. They will analyze participants’ blood for two specific proteins, IgM and IgG. These are two types, of many, antibodies that the body can produce. From class, we have learned that IgM is the first type of antibody produced and will be at high levels during the beginning of an infection. IgG antibodies are much more specific antibodies, they can develop later on during infection and are the main protectors of our bodies from specific viruses. They allow us to track an individuals past or present immune response.

So, what do these tests tell us? If you were to get an antibody test done based on the results it could tell us if you have been infected with the virus, if you have recovered from the virus and if you are still infectious. It will be useful to help let people know when it is safe to go back out into society and go to work without fear. Since IgM antibodies are produced normally and the first responders to any infection, this normally indicated a recent infection. This could also mean your body has not yet produced specific antibodies that could attack the virus if you came in contact with it. If you have mainly IgG antibodies, this means your body has created specific antibodies that will remember the past pathogen and is ready to attack if it ever reenters your body. You most likely encountered the virus a while ago because your body needed time to produce these antibodies. If you get this result you are most likely okay to go out into public again and could have an effective adaptive immune response if you encounter COVIC-19 again. Also not likely to be passing around the virus still. This is exactly why these various antibody tests are so crucial for the COVID-19 pandemic because it allows humans to know where they stand in terms of infection with the virus. Those who are IgG positive could start to go back to normal life and to work again which is what we all what to do ASAP.

Our bodies are really unique and quite a piece of impressive machinery if you think about all the processes it carries out simultaneously. This has become even more present to me as we have dove into the immune system in class. Just for a little background, dendritic cells are one of the joining pieces between the innate immunity ( what you are born with) and the adaptive immunity ( what builds up over time with encounters with antigens). They have special antigen-presenting molecules on their cell surface, hence why they are called antigen-presenting cells or APCs. Dendritic cells play a very important roll in altering the rest of the immune system that there is an antigen present because they go on to activate T cells and start a cascade of events leading to an effective immune response. Now, that is about all I have learned from Dr. Cramer so far in Microbiology but wanted to investigate how doctors/immunologists were utilizing these cells to maybe help heal a patient.

In a lot of cases, I found out that they are utilized as a therapy to help fight cancer or slow the spread of cancerous tumors. Dendritic cell therapies are often referred to as immunotherapies which involve activating the immune system. There are numerous clinical trials going on around the world but I found this active one in Minnesota, that is targeting liver cancer. They take patients own white blood cells and grow them in a lab in hopes to create “autologous dendritic cells”. These dendritic cells are supposed to have better stimulatory effects, especially when they are administered with a special pneumonia vaccine. The doctors are using this clinical trial to see if the body’s own immune system can be kickstarted again after receiving intense radiotherapy to shrink the tumor. I think it is pretty fascinating to think about how science allows doctors now to take our own body cells and enhance them in a lab to helpful work better within our bodies.

Another way dendritic cell therapies are being used is to try to combat pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer has a very high mortality rate and there is currently no effective form of treatment. Many are looking at dendritic cell vaccines to see if they could be a potential tool. This article talks about how if a dendritic cell vaccine were to be intraperitoneal injected it would stimulate the anti-tumor immune response. Because dendritic cells promote the cytokine toxic T cells by secreting specific cytokines and are great antigen-presenting cells they can turn the immune response into a type 1 response. The hope is that these injections would prevent mastitis of pancreatic cancer. Further on in the article, it talks about how there are not many side effects to this vaccine and that it has been proven clinically safe to use. It also goes on to site-specific clinical trials that are going on right now to hopefully have effective results. That would be huge in the world of cancer if this type of immunotherapy worked for the majority of pancreatic cancer patients! I have been personally impacted by cancer from losing numerous loved ones so reading about all of these clinically trials and vaccines that could possibly work makes me so hopeful!

This sucks. That is what comes to mind whenever someone asks me how I am doing with staying home. I live in Greensboro, North Carolina and we haven’t been hit that hard with cases yet and because of this, it all feels like a big dream almost. I also am fortunate enough to not directly know anyone who has tested positive for the Coronavirus, which really makes it not feel real. My dad has been the only one in my family to leave the house in two weeks really and he has been going to the grocery stores, drug store and on any other errands we need. We figured it is best if only one family goes out into public but honestly he is still coming home and touching everything else that we all use. So, at this point, if one of us has it, we all do. But luckily no one living in my house has any symptoms and we have been taking extra caution with what we touch and with sanitizing communal spaces.

I traveled to Barcelona, Spain for spring break and I can only now start to talk about the experience and laugh because of our abrupt and traumatic departure. It was about 2 AM in Barcelona when we heard the news about Trump enacting the travel ban and it was absolute mayhem trying to get home. Immediately people were packing up everything and going to the airport without even having a flight yet. Thankfully, all 8 of the people I was with on spring break got back home safely and we are all doing just fine now, none of us are showing symptoms and even two have been tested and the results were negative which are all good signs. However, the majority of us are about to end our “self- quarantine” on Friday the 27th, only to be put under the “stay in place” acts by our counties. But it’s okay because I would be staying inside doing all of my school work anyway.

I have adjusted pretty easily to classes being all online. I have my workspace in my room with a desk which makes it easier because I can shut the door and ignore my family. I am also very thankful that I do have access to a constant internet connection so it is pretty easy to stay connected with my professors and attend online lectures. I am somewhat worried about the microbiology lab portion, mainly because I did enjoy it and it helped me see how the techniques worked and learn as I did the experiments. Hopefully, the other resources they have provided for us will be sufficient in helping me understand the major concepts. The main thing that is going to be hard for me is not having social interaction with my friends. Like real face to face time and going to miss being able to go out to eat with my friends and other activities like sports. But we are all doing our part and staying away from each other that way this can get under control and we aren’t prolonging the time we have to be away from one another.

This week’s subject I feel is one that is often overlooked or not talked about enough because it makes people uncomfortable to openly talk about their sex lives. However, I believe that it is something that should at least be discussing with your sexual partners. One sexually transmitted disease that I have been interested in learning more about is the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. From my past schooling and biology courses, I know that there has been research done to link HIV to the cause of some acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, cases. I also know that there was great fear and stigma around individuals, specifically around males that contracted the virus, but with our technology and medicine now available it is not as threatening as it was 30 years ago.

According to the CDC, there are more than 30,000 Americans that get diagnosed each year. To me this seemed staggeringly high because of all the news and research we now know about the disease and how it is transmitted. With just a simple google search anyone can find out more information than they want on the disease. However, I am aware that there are numerous people who do not know they are even transmitting the virus, which probably accounts for majority of the cases. Further reading on the CDC website explains just how the US is trying to get these numbers down by encouraging everyone to get tested, get the medications available and keep up with doctors appointments. The main point is trying to give people the opportunities to get tested that way the spread of it can be even more contained. They also discuss how there is a pill that healthy individuals can take as an extra precaution if they are in a position to be exposed to it or at risk which also helps the prevention. I think this initiative is a very good way to keep talking about HIV and to keep offering new resources to

I was interested to see how exactly HIV interacted within the body. From this article I found out that it is like any other virus and replicates within our cells to expel more virions, the difference is that HIV’s target cell are specific immune cells calls T-helper cells. From class we have learned that these cells are vital in helping our body fight off infections. With these cells now becoming dominated and at the control of the virus it allows our body’s immune system to drastically decrease. This is why many HIV patients have secondary infections from opportunistic pathogens that take advantage of the decrease in our body’s immune responses. Something new i learned from this website is that if you catch your infection soon enough you can drastically decrease its effect on you but if you let you linger and reproduce more within the your body it obviously becomes harder to contain and get rid of.

From our discussions in class, as well as the reading we have done thus far in class, we have learned that a superbug is an organism that has to ability to resist the effects certain antibiotics have. The organism could have somehow picked up extra genes within the environment that caused the production of a new protein. Or the organism could have experienced a mutation within its genome that caused so much change it is now resistant to the antibiotic. According to the CDC, the growing emergence of these superbugs is a huge public health issue in the world right now. They preach that one of the best ways to help prevent the emergence of more resistant organisms is to only take antibiotics when you absolutely need them. This didn’t surprise me because in class we have talked about how antibiotics will never work against a virus but countless people are seeking them out to help fight the flu or other viral infections. In line with what was explained in class, the CDC also advises individuals who are taking them to take them properly and to make sure you are finishing the full doses provided. If this is not done, there is the possibility that all of the organisms are not killed. Likely it is the strongest ones that make it that far and if those beginning to multiply again then it will be harder to kill the new colony of organisms.

When investigating what new antibiotic resistant organisms have been emerging I found that this dilemma is not only found in humans. Antibiotics are commonly used in farm animals to help aid in their growth and produce bigger, more meaty animals. But because of this there has been a rise in the antibiotic resistance within animals. From this article, I learned that they are beginning to follow and investigate the link between the high doses of antibiotics used in animals for food and the growing antibiotic resistance seen in humans. The case describes how the 4 major classes of antibiotics given to the animals appear to be the 4 drugs that bacteria have the most resistance too. Even though it was never clearly stated within the article, I feel like there could be a correlation between the fact that the animals we eat are getting injected with the drugs with the highest resistance and human antibiotic resistance increasing. Now it could just be a speculation I am making and I hope it is but it seems likely that if we are turning around and eating the food that is full of antibiotics, of course that is going to have an effect on our bodies ability to continue to fight off those bugs.

As I stated earlier it is so important to not abuse antibiotics because they wipe out your good gut bacteria and open up your body to be colonized by bacteria that might not have otherwise been able to. The resistant bacteria are able to grow and spread which makes infection from antibiotic resistant organism so hard to treat. This is also why it is important for people within the healthcare professions to understand and be able to identify the exact cause of infections. Administer broad-spectrum antibiotics before getting the results of a lab test could be more harmful to the person if it is in fact not a bacterial infection. Many things that can be done to help prevent the further resistance to drugs but ultimately these organisms have a high mutation rate and are somehow going to find ways to multiply and become not affected by our drugs.

In the world of vaccinations, there is a big debate on whether or not to get your kids vaccinated. Now I have my own opinions on the situation and from the title I think you can gather my stance on it, but from my first blog post I finally understood where the hysteria arose from. When it comes to trying to convince people that vaccines are good and actually beneficial to our society, I think it is useful to understand the topic of herd immunity, where a specific number of people in the population are vaccinated to prevent the transmission to those who are not vaccinated. I believe it is in our best interest to educate people about how we almost wiped out so many diseases from the face of the earth. But sadly because people decided to stop vaccinating their children we are now faced with these diseases coming back up in sporadic causes, as well as some populations having very little immunity to certain diseases.

From the readings we were assigned this week I learned about the complexity of vaccines and how there are various different types that act on different parts of the immune system to help prepare our bodies in case we come in contact with the real disease. One of them was the two different types of polio vaccines that were available. The IPV is the inactivated polio virus while the OPV is taken orally and contains attenuated strains. According to the CDC, the only form of the vaccine that has been used here in the United States in recent years is the IPV. This kind of surprised me because in the book it talks about how OPV targets the throat epithelial cells cells better and inactivates the poliovirus before it has time to infect the cells. This lead me to do some more research about why exactly we don’t use the OPV form anymore. From this article, I learned that there is a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPs) that stems from receiving a form of OPV. These strains of poliovirus can emerge and spread to a population of under-immunized people and sadly are resulting in paralysis. The data in the article also shows that between the two recording increments, over two years, the number of cVDPs about tripled. These outbreaks are occurring in countries mainly in Africa, where they have a low immunity and the CDC is expressing that in order to stop the emergence of these strains infected other countries, they must sustain a high population immunity by getting vaccinated.

When looking for what is being done right now to help vaccinate and prevent the further spread of the Poliovirus, I found out the United Nations Secretary General started along a journey to vaccinate children in Pakistan. According to the source, the Polio campaign estimates to vaccinate 39 million children across the country. Pakistan was hit hard with emergence of the polio virus in 2019 and already have 17 cases in 2020. Hopefully with this campaign and the growing support from, within in the country itself and other countries, they will meet their goal of eradicating the Poliovirus there. And hopefully other countries start enacting initiatives like this one not only for the poliovirus but other diseases that can simply be prevented with a vaccine.

Ever since the start of Microbiology, microbiomes is something that has perplexed me. Every animal has its microbiome which is an immense population of good bacteria and microorganisms living on or inside them. These organisms help to protect them from other pathogens, aid in digestion, produce useful by-products for our body to use and many more benefits. I feel like everyone has heard the term “good gut health”, and this refers to those good bacteria in your intestines that help you aid digestion. Obviously, the microbiome has a vast array of benefits for us but it also can determine a lot of things about our genetic composition and is a major part of our body’s defense systems.

I decided to do some research about how your gut health can help with your immune system and found this article. They wanted to study and prove that the disrupt in a microbiome from antibiotics was linked to a decrease in immune responses. From our learning in class of different diseases, we know that taking antibiotics greatly disrupts your gut biome because they clean out all of your bacteria, good or bad. So, it came to no surprise that when they treated healthy adults with antibiotics before receiving the flu vaccine they saw a decrease in the immune response. In comparison with a control group, they produced a significantly lower amount of antibodies in response to the flu. This study could help people understand that the gut microbiome is one that plays such a vital role in our overall health, not just our digestion. This study could also help you with the timing of when you receive your flu shot for optimal protection form contracting the flu.

The human gut microbiome is a crazy place and I remember Dr. Cramer had said something about how our gut bacteria could influence our body weight and fat content. When I first heard this I was a little skeptical because everyone grows up believing that the way to stay healthy is to exercise frequently and eat a balanced diet. However, I learned that it may be harder for some people to maintain a slim physique than others, especially in children. Child obesity is something that is a very serious and growing issue in America, but new studies like this one have revealed an interaction between gut health and the effects it has on metabolic organs. They seem to think that a disruption in your gut microbiome could lead to either over-stimulation of various organs resulting in obesity or the inability of your body to process and utilize certain things which also could lead to obesity.

These are just a few of the things that I have found through my research and it amazes me that there is so much going on inside our bodies and how everything is someone connected. There is still extensive research being done on the microbiome because it is such a complex thing and different for every person, which makes it even harder to understand. I am very excited to learn more about it as the class goes on and as new findings get published!

From being a college student, as well as living in a sorority house I have seen first-hand the effects of this year’s flu virus. With kids missing class and the long duration of the illness, it is hard to not notice, especially with the high frequencies of constant coughs and sniffling. And apparently, I am not wrong to assume that this year is a particularly bad one for the flu. According to this source, the flu that is the front runner of this year’s season is an odd one. There are two main types of influenza and this seasons virus is made up of influenza B, which is rare or typically does not cause as many cases as the other strain, Influenza A. The source also revealed that the B strain is more common in causing infections in children, which contributes to why we are seeing so many infections and even deaths in children this flu season. When the article was published back at the beginning of January there were already 26 deaths, and sadly, as there is still more time to get through before this flu season is over, I’m sure that number will continue to climb.

As we learned in class when making a vaccine for the flu they normally study the previous year’s virus and the patterns it followed to try and predict what the next year’s flu virus will look like. The vaccines are made up of a 3-in-one or 4-in-one system that incorporates the different strands, in the United States, it is typically the 4-in-one. While the vaccines are not always right, they do provide partial immunity which is a heck of a lot better than nothing. I received my flu shot very early in this flu season and have been lucky enough to not have any signs or cases of the flu so far (knock on wood), regardless of living in a house with 50 other girls. Many of which have come down with the flu, so proof that it can protect you. However, when hearing about how this year’s virus is so odd, I am curious how effective the flu vaccine was.

The CDC reported that the flu shot for this year’s flu virus is 58% effective in protecting you from the Influenza B strain. They also stated that it is typical to see some forms of the strains predicted in the spring, to make the vaccine, will have some sort of mismatch to the actual virus they see come October or the new flu season. Ultimately, as I stated earlier the best thing you can do to avoid getting the flu is getting the vaccine and washing your hands. The influenza virus no matter the strain is an enveloped virus, so just simply washing your hands or using hand sanitizer can also protect you from getting the flu. Another big thing to protect you is to not touch your face, this way the virus is not able to easily enter your respiratory tract which is where its target cells are. With all that said, I am hoping that everyone has flu shots and remembers to wash their hands because there is nothing worse than getting the flu as a college student and not having your mom around to take care of you!!

I have become fairly intrigued with vacations and the debate around them since being in this microbiology class. What I find most intriguing is the fact that we almost wiped them out completely but because someone decided to no vaccinated their children they are back in full force. And a lot closer in proximity than I would like. To talk about Mumps specifically, there have been multiple outbreaks at neighboring universities, Elon and High Point University. The outbreaks of the Mumps started last fall and the universities are still updating the number of cases by the week. The source says in response to the outbreaks the schools have been offering a booster shot that can help boost immunity to the virus, as well as moving infected students into different dorms to help control the spread. As we have learned from Prof. Cramer, Mumps spreads best and quite fast in a place where people are in close proximity such as boarding schools (colleges). We also just got our first case here at UNC and I am hoping it doesn’t spread as it did there. Good thing I have my MMR vaccines!!

The MMR vaccine is a vaccine that is used as a preventative step in protecting against the contraction of the diseases Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. Andrew Wakefield is the person who claimed that there was some sort of connection between the MMR vaccine to the causation of the onset of autism in children. As I was investigating the teams’ research, I learned that there were only 12 children in his study. This seemed quite small to me and the claim released also revealed that they were chosen because they had begun to show regressions in their development paired with gastrointestinal problems. However, through this source, I found that 10 of the 12 people originally on his team have since retracted their own work and suggest that he might have had other motives in releasing the data such as monetary gain. His team members along with many others like the Lancet, the place where he originally published his findings, have accused him of fraud and misrepresentation of the data.

I am fully aware of the debate on whether to vaccinate your children or not and I assume that many of the first hesitations stemmed from his research. From my understanding, Wakefield probably saw small similarities in all the children and wanted to give the parents answers as well as make a name for himself. He likely thought that this was his big break and did not take the time to investigate his hypothesis on other groups of children. Now because of him and the hysteria caused, the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella viruses have continued to cause sporadic outbreaks all over the world. We can only hope that going forward and with the multiple outbreaks on college campuses and in other closed quarters, parents, as well as individuals themselves, understand the importance of vaccinations. They not only protect yourself but the numerous people that you come in contact with every day.