A Tale of Two Epidemics: HIV and SARS

Physiological Reviews Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sadis Matalon speaks with Michael Saag, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) about his editorial “Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles: the unprecedented speed of COVID-19 science.”

Dr. Saag is Associate Dean for Global Health in the School of Medicine, Director of the UAB Center for AIDS Research and a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. He also is the principal investigator of the CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS), a network of centers sharing electronic health record data to integrate clinical information from persons infected with HIV. In addition, Dr. Saag is the founding director of the UAB 1917 HIV Clinic, one of the leading HIV clinics in the United States.

• Dr. Saag's experience in treating patients with HIV, and advances in HIV treatment [2:50]


• Why is there no vaccine for HIV? [4:50]


• Is there an animal vector for SARS-CoV-2 as was the case for SARS-CoV-1? [8:17]


• What exactly is “long COVID,” and what are its implications for public health? [12:06]


• Why do vaccinated individuals still contract SARS-CoV-2? [17:08]


• Final thoughts [22:04]

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