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Pandemic Journal

Dr Robert Hess: Long Covid After Vaccination

Dr Robert HEss

Dr Robert Hess – 03/23/2022

Dr Robert Hess: Long Covid After Vaccination

In rare cases, coronavirus vaccines may cause Long Covid–like symptoms.

As mentioned the symptomatology of this condition can be very similar to the side-effects and possible long-term consequences of vaccination. While preliminary data suggests that getting yourself vaccinated significantly reduces your risk of succumbing to Long Covid, there have also been cases where vaccination has caused Long Covid-like symptoms – and for a lengthy period of time.

 

We always take a balanced view, so that our clients are optimally informed and can weigh up the available information accordingly. There are no official figures, nor have there been any large-scale studies on this phenomenon as yet, but the symptoms, the link to vaccination and the accounts given by those affected are currently being investigated by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and other researchers around the world.

Previous studies have been too limited in scope and have not allowed 100% conclusions to be drawn about whether any of the vaccines have caused some rare form of long-term health problem and, if so, by what mechanism.

Long Covid-like symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, headaches, blood pressure fluctuations and various others are currently being investigated for a possible link to the administration of a COVID-19 vaccine. A number of scientists and research institutes are looking into this matter, among them neuroimmunologist Avindra Nath, clinical director of the Neurological Diseases Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). In the specialist journal Science, he posited “temporal associations” between vaccination and Long Covid symptoms, but he would not be drawn on whether there was an “etiological association” (i.e. a causative link). Studies conducted by Nath on around 30 case reports have so far remained unpublished, but publication is expected soon.

Much remains unclear about Long Covid, especially the cause of its non-specific symptoms. It is broadly assumed that there is an underlying persistent immune dysregulation, in other words a defective immune response. Some candidates for further research are beta-interferons, immunoglobulins, mini blood clots and autoantibodies.

The Science article also explores the role of autoantibodies – their importance is recognized not only in acute CoV infection, but also in Long Covid. According to recent studies, autoantibodies can be detected up to six months after infection, and as Harald Prüss, a neurologist at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, writes in an as yet unpublished paper, they are capable of damaging brain tissue.

Experiments on animals have suggested that antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein – the same protein that many vaccines use to trigger a protective immune response – could cause collateral damage. While searching for antibody therapies for COVID-19 in 2020, Harald Prüss and his colleagues discovered that, of the 18 antibodies they identified with strong efficacy against SARS-CoV-2, four also attacked healthy tissue in mice – an indication that they could trigger autoimmune problems.

Initial clinical data point in a similar direction. Last year, researchers testing people infected with SARS-CoV-2 found unusually high levels of autoantibodies, which can attack the body’s own cells and tissues. In the May 2021 issue of Nature magazine, immunologists Aaron Ring and Akiko Iwasaki and their colleagues at the Yale School of Medicine reported finding autoantibodies in acute COVID-19 patients that were targeting the immune system and brain. They are now investigating how long the autoantibodies persist and the extent to which they can damage tissues. In January of this year, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center cardiologist Susan Cheng and protein chemist Justyna Fert-Bober reported in the Journal of Translational Medicine that autoantibodies can still be present up to six months after infection, although the researchers did not link their persistence to long-term symptoms.

To find out whether such autoantibodies harm humans, scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) are testing cerebrospinal fluid from Long Covid patients for antibodies that react to brain tissue obtained from mice: if there is indeed a reaction, these antibodies could also attack human neural tissue. Prüss and his team have published a paper in which they describe finding autoantibodies in at least one third of these patients, which are capable of attacking mouse neurons and other brain cells.

In August 2021, a group at Northwestern University reported in an advance publication that, in patients with neurological complications after COVID-19, a subset of T cells is persistently activated, similar to how it would be in persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection, suggesting an aberrant immune response or a lingering virus.

Scientists investigating possible side-effects are faced with a dilemma: their work risks stoking opposition to vaccines that currently seem to be “safe and effective” (this statement cannot be made with 100% certainty. After all, we have only been vaccinating for about 2 years and we are therefore rather cautious with these statements). “You have to be very careful about associating COVID-19 vaccines with complications,” Nath cautions. “People can draw the wrong conclusions. The implications are enormous.” Complex and persistent symptoms like those experienced by most sufferers are even more difficult to study, because patients often don’t have a clear diagnosis.

At the same time, understanding these problems could help those who currently suffer from them and, if a link is found, help in the development of the next generation of vaccines, perhaps identifying the ones that pose a high risk of serious adverse events. “We shouldn’t be averse to adverse events,” is how William Murphy, an immunologist at the University of California, sums it up. In November 2021, he suggested in The New England Journal of Medicine that an autoimmune mechanism triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein could explain not only the Long Covid symptoms but also some rare vaccine side-effects, and he called for more basic research to investigate possible links. He also maintains that it is more important to reassure the public that everything is being done in research to understand vaccines than to just say everything is safe, an assertion that we also endorse.

In the meantime, many affected people feel they have been let down by the health care system. The issue is sadly neglected, poorly defined and also politically sensitive, so family doctors and hospitals have not yet taken any initiatives. Many would like to see a network of specialist outpatient clinics for people with Long Covid and Long Covid-like symptoms, sharing their knowledge and experience.

Long Covid symptomatology after vaccination seems to be rare so far. Nevertheless, this is a topic that needs to remain in focus and be subjected to greater in-depth investigation. Overall, there are still too many unknowns and therefore there are currently no approved and effective therapies on the market. Nevertheless, we are able to take preventive action. We have already adapted our prophylactic measures in this regard, and we will also revise our supplements. We are one step ahead in this regard and we have put together effective options exclusively for our clients.

If you have any questions about Long Covid or specific symptoms, please do not hesitate to contact your consultant. We will continue to monitor this issue closely and to update our knowledge.

 

Pandemic Journal

Dr Robert Hess: Long Covid risk factors

Dr Robert HEss

Dr Robert Hess – 02/15/2022

Dr Robert Hess: Long Covid risk factors now identified.

According to the latest figures, between 10 and 30 percent of all persons who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 go on to develop long-term symptoms that can last for weeks, months or potentially even years. These can vary greatly depending on the severity of the disease, the age of the patient and his or her medical history. When – or indeed whether – those who suffer so‑called “Long Covid” can expect their symptoms to clear up is unclear, and there is as is as yet no treatment for the condition that does more than just alleviate symptoms. A U.S.-based research group has now identified four factors that significantly increase the risk of Long Covid.

 

In order to derive a more complete picture of Long Covid and to better define the term, an international team of researchers has analyzed data from a large-scale survey of covid-specific symptoms, involving 16 studies conducted in different countries around the world. The researchers found that there were no fewer than 55 long-term effects associated with COVID-19. Most of these effects are classic clinical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, joint pain, anosmia (olfactory disturbance), ageusia (lost sense of taste), muscle weakness, depression and cognitive impairment (i.e. concentration and memory problems). However, long-term effects such as respiratory problems and hair loss, as well as diseases such as myocarditis, the onset of diabetes mellitus and thromboembolism, have also been observed.
In some cases, these long-term effects also overlap with vaccination side-effects. It is therefore is important to take into account the point in time when the symptoms first manifested themselves. Some patients infected with SARS CoV 2 are at greater risk of developing Long Covid than others. Triggers for the syndrome have previously included advanced age, severe obesity and underlying pulmonary/coronary conditions. Gender also appears to play a role: the research concludes that women are disproportionately affected by fatigue syndrome as a long-term consequence of infection.

Recent studies suggest that people who have been hospitalized for COVID-19 are significantly more likely to suffer from long-term sequelae. In this group, no fewer than 76 percent of patients were still suffering from Long Covid symptoms six months after discharge.

A team of researchers led by Yapeng Su at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle has now identified four additional risk factors for Long Covid. For the purposes of their research, the team followed almost 300 patients from their initial COVID-19 diagnosis through convalescence (two to three months after diagnosis) in an in-depth multimicroscopic longitudinal study. The subjects, whose age ranged from 18 to 89 years, had contracted COVID-19 in 2020 and early 2021. Consequently, the results cannot be extrapolated to the Omicron variant.

The patients were quizzed about more than 20 symptoms considered typical of Long Covid, such as persistent fatigue, shortness of breath or cognitive impairment (see above). Of those who reported three or more symptoms, 95 percent had one or more of the four risk factors identified in the study:

1) a high viral load in the blood at the onset of infection, as evidenced by high levels of viral RNA;

2) the presence of certain autoantibodies which are directed against the patient’s own immune system, have the capacity to aggravate an infection and also occur in rheumatoid arthritis or other autoimmune diseases (COVID-19 sufferers can form a large quantity of such antibodies, which are detectable up to six months after the acute illness and are evidently involved in the development of Long Covid syndrome);

3) reactivation of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) which is responsible for triggering glandular fever, a disease that many people become infected with at a young age (EBV can lie dormant in the body for very many years and become active again during systemic illness, in much the same way as the herpes virus);

4) the presence of diabetes mellitus (Type 2).


More than 60 percent of those examined in the study exhibited two or more of the typical symptoms. Autoantibodies were found in two-thirds of them, and no other factor played such a significant role. Diabetes, high viral load and EBV were each identified in one third of the sample. Typically, however, more than one factor was present at the same time, and the combined effect therefore proved decisive. These findings could now open up new approaches to the treatment of Long Covid.

Preliminary data from Israel indicates that vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 inhibits the development of Long Covid syndrome. In the specific case of Israel, the vaccine administered was exclusively of the mRNA variety. This was found to not only reduce the risk of severe disease but also to make long-term sequelae following vaccine breakthrough less likely. Data from individuals who contracted SARS-CoV-2 relatively early in the pandemic suggests that vaccination could also reduce the risk of Long Covid: persons who became infected after previously receiving the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine were significantly less likely to report typical long-term symptoms (e.g. fatigue and persistent exhaustion) than those who were unvaccinated at the time of infection. In fact, vaccinated people were no more likely to complain of certain symptoms than people who had never contracted SARS-CoV-2. The results of the study are preliminary, however, and the peer review process has yet to be carried out.


As mentioned in our last Keynote, we will now be incorporating these risk factors into our prophylactic program and updating it with regard to Long Covid symptomatology in addition to vaccination side-effects. Thanks to our C-19 saliva testing and antibody monitoring last year, we have already managed to collect all specific data in this regard for our Premium clients, which puts us one step ahead. We will be shortening the intervals between tests for clients with a higher risk profile and introducing even more targeted diagnostic methods.

Pandemic Journal

Dr Robert Hess: Updates and Revises

Dr Robert HEss

Dr Robert Hess – 02/04/2022

Dr Robert Hess: Updates and Revises Section 4 of its Prophylactic concept.

In the current circumstances, it is more important than ever to maintain a clear overview. The number of vaccinations and infections, the virus variants in circulation and the available vaccines, the course taken by an infection, possible side-effects and the administration of various drugs against severe COVID-19 – these are all factors that make our efforts to provide comprehensive protection more complex, requiring close attention and detailed documentation. Protection of the organism as a whole remains our priority, which is why we are now broadening the scope of our prophylactic concept and scheduled check-ups.


In the last two years, our immune system has been through a lot – it has had to adapt and evolve, to adjust and play a supportive role in meeting the new challenges of either infection with COVID-19 or injection with an mRNA vaccine. To complicate matters, a pandemic is a fast-moving and generally unpredictable state of affairs that may drag on over months and years. Right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I placed great emphasis on accurate documentation of the vaccination and infection status of my clients in order to ensure that data is systematically processed and that possible sequelae are spotted. The information we have gathered will now be evaluated and incorporated into our amended prophylactic program.

With this specific focus on prevention, we aim to identify and monitor potential long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Long covid and post-covid are both sequelae of the disease, but they describe a very broad and elusive picture of diverse symptoms. As the pandemic has progressed, it has become increasingly clear that infection with SARS-CoV-2 can have long-term health consequences, even if the course of the disease itself is mild or is asymptomatic and therefore goes unnoticed. For this reason, I pay special attention to the sequelae of COVID-19 with the aim of defining these terms more precisely for our clients in the future.


At the same time, we also have to consider the possibility that certain symptom manifestations might instead be associated with vaccine damage and the long-term consequences of repeated vaccinations. More and more studies are producing information about the effects of the spike protein and about endothelial damage. However, we are surprised that there are no large-scale studies on possible carcinogenic effects or immunomodulatory changes so far. We will continue to keep this on our radar.

This specific focus on prevention in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic also shifts attention to the internal organs, where we are primarily looking at the kidney, liver, coronary arteries and the bronchial and neurological systems. Likewise, our prophylactic recommendations will also cover the relevant techniques and diagnostic methods. For example, we consider echocardiography (ultrasound examination) in cardiac and coronary artery diagnostics as no longer sufficient for our requirements and would therefore favor diagnostics based on a cardiac MRI scan.

In conclusion, I would like to inform my clients that we now intend to shorten the intervals for preventive care planning. This has the advantage that continuous monitoring of our clients and the availability of individualized data allows us to intervene at an early stage and thereby prevent damage in the long term.

Pandemic Journal

As Dr Robert Hess expected, the pandemic is becoming more complex

Dr Robert HEss

Dr Robert Hess – 29/07/2021

As Dr Robert Hess expected, the pandemic is becoming more complex and problematic in nature, which makes it all the more difficult to make any firm predictions for the autumn.

In focus: Vaccine side-effects versus post-acute sequelae (“Long Covid”).

The forecast of Dr Robert Hess in the spring of 2021 that the pandemic would take off in a more complex and problematic direction ran contrary to general opinion. It is now being vindicated even earlier than we expected.

It is definitely not the case that the end of the pandemic is in sight, as claimed by various colleagues as well as some government leaders in May and June of this year. The reduced efficacy of the first-generation vaccines against the recently arrived and now prevalent Delta variant has introduced an element of considerable uncertainty that is also impacting on forecasts for the global economy.

As indicated in the previous Keynote, our current focus in the research we perform on behalf of our clients is on deciding whether their needs are best met by receiving a booster jab or by waiting for a next-generation vaccine to become available and, in either case, what the optimum timing might be.

We have already established reference values in our retesting procedures for antibody development and T-cell immunity, and we are confident that the WHO will adopt similar or even identical values by the end of the year. These are now the clear reference values for all our clients in deciding whether there is a need for action to ensure immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its mutants. This gives rise to a number of questions that we will clarify individually for each of our clients. The two key questions concern the timing and the choice of vaccine, specifically whether this should be a booster shot of the same vaccine. A third dose of the BioNTech vaccine can have the effect of increasing antibody counts by as much as fivefold. This is an attractive option for those clients who have antibody levels of less than 1,000 BAU/ml and thus far below our reference value.

The alternative is to wait for the next generation of vaccines to become available. As also reported in the previous Keynote, BioNTech has developed a proprietary vaccine to specifically target the Delta variant spike protein. This vaccine has already gone into production and is awaiting emergency approval from the FDA and EMA. Here, too, a fundamental decision must be made – booster or next-generation vaccine? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

The disadvantage of a next-generation vaccination could be that the next virus variant – and we have to assume that this already exists in the form of the Lambda or similar – could produce a change in the spike protein, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the newly developed vaccine, though not as much as that of its predecessors. This is the very race we wrote about several months ago and which is now well and truly underway. Unfortunately, the vaccine manufacturers are still in reaction mode at the moment, having to firefight the variants as and when they crop up. This consumes huge amounts of time and effort.

As to whether we are already on the home straight or only the opening lap of the race against new variants and whether the pace of mutation will pick up even further, Dr Robert Hess shares the general opinion that the odds are currently 50-50. In other words, there is a very real risk that the changes on the spike protein will become even more prominent. This issue carries over into the debate on super mutants.

On the assumption that the rate of mutation will continue to accelerate, this is a race that is going to be difficult to win. We still have the potential offered by artificial intelligence to make predictions about future mutations and thus stay one step ahead of the virus. But the probability of a super mutant has also increased significantly. The definition of a super mutant is that the virus has undergone a genetic change of such magnitude that the current vaccines become less than 20% effective.

The main argument against a third booster jab with the current generation of vaccines is that they are clearly less effective against Delta than against the Alpha variant, even if there are efficacy studies that seem to indicate the opposite. However, the number of people who are being hospitalized despite having been double-vaccinated is rising sharply in virtually all countries. In this matter, we have to disagree with our colleague Anthony Fauci in the USA, who attributes the problem of rising new infections to large numbers of non-vaccinated people becoming infected. This is certainly a major factor, but at the same time, the significantly reduced effectiveness of the vaccines currently in use is also a reason why the infection and hospitalization curves on the graph are heading upwards. In addition, there has been an increase in mortality in countries that have had the Delta variant for some time. The studies from Canada on the link between mortality and Delta as well as the latest data from the UK confirm that the new variant causes the death rate to rise. The scenarios differ slightly, in that the rise in number of cases in England is probably due to a relaxation of social distancing during the recent Euro 2021 Football Championship. But all in all, this is an indeterminate development that is very difficult to interpret.

The deliberations about the Delta variant, which have been going on in Europe for some time, have now also reached the USA. Delta was ignored there for too long, and in the meantime, there are districts in California where masks are once again being made compulsory in enclosed public spaces, even for vaccinated persons. The complexity of the situation is also global in the sense that political decision-makers are reluctant to issue any clear guidance on whether booster jabs or next-generation vaccines are the way ahead. For pandemic management and to achieve herd immunity, it is essential to have clarity on vaccination of children under 12 and teenagers. Because of the exaggerated immune response to vaccination, especially in younger age groups, the appropriate dosage should be based on the same categories that apply with any medicine, namely “Babies”, “Children”, “Adolescents” and “Adults”. These should be introduced as soon as possible as a crucial success factor in pandemic response. This is a move Dr Robert Hess was already calling for a year ago.

The politicians and licensing authorities are showing some reticence in regard to next-generation vaccines, for example the one from BioNTech which is already being developed and produced in Mainz (Germany), because of a fear that the prospect of their arrival in the near future might further reduce take-up of the current generation of vaccines. In almost all countries of the western world, vaccine hesitancy is already high, and the availability of an upgraded Delta vaccine would reduce vaccination acceptance even further. It is therefore a topic of discussion that is not wanted either politically or by the WHO, which is a rather unfortunate state of affairs.

The booster jab is also a politically sensitive topic because the majority of the world’s population does not yet have access to any vaccine at all. Meanwhile, first-world countries such as Israel have already embarked on their third round of vaccination. This imbalance is an added complication to the whole situation, with disturbing consequences such as were witnessed last weekend when vaccine poverty provoked anti-government demonstrations in the emerging countries of Tunisia and Brazil as well as in several Third World countries.

At the same time, the precise opposite phenomenon is manifesting itself in western countries where supplies of vaccines are more than adequate. In France and Italy, for example, there were also mass demonstrations at the weekend, albeit in opposition to mass vaccination. Against this background, it is wholly understandable that the WHO currently opposes booster jabs on principle.

All in all, the issue of booster vaccination has been taken up too late by the political decision-makers. We have been pursuing our retest strategy to continuously monitor the SARS-CoV-2 immunity of our clients since June, which has flagged up a disappointing decrease in antibodies and in T-cell immunity. This came as a surprise even for us, and so we were obliged to consider the issue of booster vaccination sooner than expected. We have therefore decided to make recommendations to our clients regarding booster jab or next-generation vaccine on an individual basis. We aim to be in a position where we can issue appropriate recommendations to our clients by mid-August.

Around the world, governments of all political complexions are steadily moving away from the imposition of mandatory social measures towards the individual taking responsibility for protecting his or her own health and safety and that of others. We intend to provide our clients with an even more focused basis for decision-making. The UK has adopted something of a pioneering role here. We have been very pleasantly surprised that the majority of the population there is behaving prudently and only using their restored freedoms in moderation. We think this is the right approach. Each individual must be allowed to map his or her own route through the pandemic.

It is not surprising that there are still people who do not want to be vaccinated. The main reason for reluctance is the side-effects of vaccination that have been observed so far. Of course, this is only a cautious analysis, because we have to assume that there will be a considerable increase in vaccine-induced autoimmune diseases in the coming years. The relevant data will begin to emerge only gradually. On the other hand, we already know for certain that Long Covid sequelae are more severe and more enduring than the side-effects of the vaccines. In this context, there are more and more warning signs, especially from the FDA and EMA, of capillary leak syndromes associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. This can lead to acute episodes of oedema, mainly in the body extremities and when blood pressure is low. Another alert issued in connection with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine concerns Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare inflammatory neural disease that may occur around the six-week mark after vaccination. There are also the myocarditis syndromes associated with mRNA vaccinations. Pericarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle or the pericardium, is more often triggered after the second dose of the vaccine. The first instances of autoimmune disease have now appeared with the Moderna vaccine, specifically immune thrombocytopenia. These cases are being closely studied by both the FDA and the EMA. We see a clear link here with the vaccine. Another side-effect of mRNA vaccination is the occurrence of dermatological problems, namely delayed reactions in the form of skin eczema and hives that are usually associated with urticaria. These are triggered by so-called lipid nanoparticles that serve as a sort of protective packaging for the mRNA. These nanoparticles have the ability to activate the immune defense cells directly, so that large amounts of histamines (i.e. inflammatory messengers) are released. Where urticaria-like reactions occur, this is generally after the second shot of vaccine, and they can lead to severe complications such as asthma.

The AstraZeneca vaccine also contains a substance known as polysorbate 80, which is used as an excipient in some cosmetic medicines and also has considerable allergic potential. For this reason, we recommend heterologous vaccination (i.e. cross-vaccination) as standard, with a first dose of AstraZeneca followed by an mRNA vaccine as the second. Here, too, the vaccine side-effects can be considerable, and much stronger than with a homogeneous vaccination regimen. That is why we only recommend cross-vaccination in older people where immunosenescence (i.e. the gradual deterioration of the immune system brought on by aging) has set in.

The harm caused by Long Covid is much more difficult to assess, and we will discuss it in more detail in the next Keynote. From the data that is now beginning to accumulate, it is apparent that 80% of those who had symptomatic infections continue to feel worse after three months than they did before the onset of the disease. This is an alarmingly high percentage. A variety of check-ups and monitoring activities show that around 20% have sustained clearly detectable organ damage. The age group most affected by organ damage is between 40 – 50 years old, individuals who were previously relatively healthy and had no pre-existing chronic illnesses. Organ damage can even be found among the youngest cohort of 20-year-olds. There is an above-average number of athletes, which is probably down to the fact that the body feels completely different and that the perception of performance loss is therefore naturally felt more keenly. There are also neurological consequences ranging from disorders such as loss of taste, nerve pain and deafness to aphasia, significantly reduced cognitive and cardiological performance, shortness of breath, etc.

Understandably, the main focus of the check-up recommendations we make to our clients is on heart disease. This is because the endothelium in individuals who have survived Covid-19 has undergone massive changes and has essentially aged by many years. This manifests itself in cardiac insufficiency, cardiac arrhythmias and changes in the pulmonary interstitium that inhibit gas exchange and lead to respiratory distress. We will give an update on the consequences of Long Covid in the next Keynote.

As inoculation is a highly complex area, other scientific avenues are being explored involving different techniques. We have looked at three of them in some detail. Two come from a single country, namely Israel. We suspect that, should there ever be a solution that avoids inoculation, for example by means of a virus static, then the Israeli manufacturers will be at the forefront.

First, we looked at the oral Covid-19 vaccines produced by Oravax Medical, a company that specializes in this field. Clinical trials are already underway in Israel. We will monitor this development in detail and report back at a later stage.

The second solution comes from SaNOtize, another Israeli company. It is a so-called “anti-corona nasal spray” containing antibodies obtained from bovine colostrum which has already successfully negotiated clinical phase 2. Here, too, there is hope for success.

The third solution we will be pursuing from a poll of almost 20 companies drawn up by our research team comes from Australia, where CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) “gene scissors” have been deployed to inactivate the coronavirus. Here, too, the success rate does not look at all bad – it proved relatively easy to stop the SARS-CoV-2 from replicating in an infected cell. The results of the project have been published in Nature Communications magazine. It is an exceptionally interesting project for us because it concerns our own field of expertise, namely genetic engineering. Once the virus is identified, the CRISPR enzyme is activated, which then proceeds to dissect the virus. We will, of course, keep you updated on this development.