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Antiretroviral drug therapy (ART) effectively suppresses replication of both the immunodeficiency viruses, human (HIV) and simian (SIV); however, virus rebounds soon after ART is withdrawn. SIV-infected monkeys were treated with a 90-day course of ART initiated at 5 weeks post infection followed at 9 weeks post infection by infusions of a primatized monoclonal antibody against the α4β7 integrin administered every 3 weeks until week 32. These animals subsequently maintained low to undetectable viral loads and normal CD4+ T cell counts in plasma and gastrointestinal tissues for more than 9 months, even after all treatment was withdrawn. This combination therapy allows macaques to effectively control viremia and reconstitute their immune systems without a need for further therapy.

A novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) caused a global pandemic in the months following the first four cases reported in Wuhan, China, on December 29, 2019. The elderly, immunocompromised, and those with preexisting conditions-such as asthma, cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, chronic kidney disease (CKD), or obesity-experience higher risk of becoming severely ill if infected with the virus. Systemic social inequality and discrepancies in socioeconomic status (SES) contribute to higher incidence of asthma, CVD, hypertension, CKD, and obesity in segments of the general population. Such preexisting conditions bring heightened risk of complications for individuals who contract the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from the virus (2019-nCoV)-also known as "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2" (SARS-CoV-2). In order to help vulnerable groups during times of a health emergency, focus must be placed at the root of the problem. Studying the social determinants of health (SDOH), and how they impact disadvantaged populations during times of crisis, will help governments to better manage health emergencies so that every individual has equal opportunity to staying healthy. This review summarizes the impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been emerging in the form of different variants since its first emergence in early December 2019. A new Variant of Concern (VOC) named the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) was reported recently. This variant has a large number of mutations in the S protein. To date, there exists a limited information on the Omicron variant. Here we present the analyses of mutation distribution, the evolutionary relationship of Omicron with previous variants, and probable structural impact of mutations on antibody binding. Our analyses show the presence of 46 high prevalence mutations specific to Omicron. Twenty-three of these are localized within the spike (S) protein and the rest localized to the other 3 structural proteins of the virus, the envelope (E), membrane (M), and nucleocapsid (N). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Omicron is closely related to the Gamma (P.1) variant. The structural analyses showed that several mutations are localized to the region of the S protein that is the major target of antibodies, suggesting that the mutations in the Omicron variant may affect the binding affinities of antibodies to the S protein.