Charles B. Stauft

This study shows that immunity from previous infection or vaccination does not always prevent brain infection by antigenically distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants in animal models.

The paper uses hamster sera to map antigenic differences among SARS-CoV-2 variants, showing JN.1 has significant antigenic divergence from XBB.1.5.

This paper demonstrates that the 5′-UTRs of Dengue and Zika viruses have IRES activity, enabling translation without a cap, and can initiate infection in mammalian and mosquito cells.