“While we knew that the memories of people with primary progressive aphasia were not affected at first, we did not know if they maintained their memory functioning over years,” said study author Dr. M. Marsel Mesulam, director of the Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

From a public health perspective, “testing is necessary in the short-term to be able to react quickly when cases are increasing and prevent or interrupt outbreaks whereas vaccinations are a prophylactic solution to prevent cases and end the pandemic,” said Dr. Sadiya Khan, assistant professor of preventive medicine in epidemiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

“Our goal is to make COVID-19 mild instead of severe, making it comparable to a bad cold,” study co-author Dr. Scott Budinger said in the news release. He is chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Study co-author Dr. Richard Wunderink, professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Feinberg and medical director of Northwestern Medicine’s ICU, added that “this effort truly represents a ‘moonshot’ in COVID-19 research.”

Here’s an example I ran by Dr. Marc Sala, a critical care and pulmonary specialist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine: A vaccinated person could be exposed to someone infected with the coronavirus. The virus might hang out in their respiratory tract for a period of time as it tries — and, due to the vaccine, likely fails — to get a better foothold in their system. During that time, they could potentially transmit the virus to another person, who might go on to develop COVID-19.

“Through supporting pediatric clinicians in adhering to the guidelines, we have an achievable way to prevent peanut allergy and reduce incidence, which is exciting,” Dr. Ruchi Gupta, the study principal investigator, noted.

It’s a test that looks “promising” for helping doctors decide when a patient may not need a CT scan, said Dr. Cynthia LaBella, a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and medical director for the Institute for Sports Medicine at Lurie Children’s Hospital. “I think where this can be helpful is in that setting where you’re trying to decide, do I need to scan this person,” LaBella said.

Dr. Sadiya Khan, an epidemiologist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, agreed and added that the lack of a coherent vaccine distribution plan is clear evidence the federal government did not learn from its failure to ramp up testing as a means of slowing the spread of the virus.

“Yes, it will be hard and we will need to take iterative steps,” said Dr. Clyde W. Yancy, chief of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “But begin is exactly what we should do, and considering the link between poor health, poor education, poor housing and poverty, a case can be made to target economic development in the most vulnerable communities as an important first step.”