Coronavirus and Avian Flu Tidbits #306, August 4, 2024

JP Weiland: August 2nd update: Estimated daily infections rise to 900,000 as KP.3.1.1 nears dominance with some speed.

1 in every 37 people currently infected

59% higher than 12 month avg.

“WALGREENS COVID UPDATE:  As of July 28, COVID testing positivity is 39.4%. The last 3 week period have seen the largest increase in testing since January, and hit a new HIGH this week on July 24. The current wave began 13 weeks ago.” https://www.walgreens.com/healthcare-solutions/covid-19-index

Test positivity is at 14.3% nationally, the highest since August 2023, according to CDC data. Levels are much higher—averaging 23.4%--in Texas and surrounding states, Emergency department visits for COVID—at the highest level since the middle of February— rose 13.5% compared to the previous week and make up nearly 2% of all ED visits.  https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-activity-continues-brisk-pace-across-much-us

There are a number of Covid cases (?~20 among Olympic athletes. No surprise, as I wrote here that Covid might well become a superspreader event at the Olympics.

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The number of Covid cases have doubled in Greece, Cyprus, Belgium and Ireland in the past week.

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Healthy pre-COVID lifestyle may protect against severe infection

A University of Oxford-led study links a healthy pre-infection lifestyle to a 36% lower risk of long COVID, a 41% lower odds of death, and 22% lower chance of hospitalization.

The researchers assessed the association of modifiable lifestyle factors (eg, smoking, alcohol use, body mass index, physical activity, time spent in sedentary activities, sleep duration, diet) with long COVID, death, and hospitalization among 68,896 adults in the UK Biobank cohort who tested positive for COVID-19 from March 2020 to March 2022.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/healthy-pre-covid-lifestyle-may-protect-against-severe-infection

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SARS-CoV-2 RAPIDLY infects the NERVOUS SYSTEM long BEFORE it even enters the bloodstream. 

neurological symptoms are actually VERY common when it comes to COVID, with several different types of neurological issues being notable features of Long COVID.

The ability of SARS-CoV-2 to invade the nervous system is not news on its own! (For example, see https://pandemicpatients.org/home/covid-19-resources/lc-pcc/#nervous-system…) This study, instead, looks at all the other possible routes of neuroinvasion that have been somewhat neglected UNTIL now!

Their goal was to "determine if infection of the PNS [peripheral nervous system] preceded and contributed to CNS [central nervois system] infection," by examining the mucosal tissues with lots of PNS connections. [Spoiler: Turns out, it super-duper does.]...

"By 18 [hours post-infection], although no viral RNA was detected in blood..., viral RNA was detected in all PNS ganglia and the majority of functionally connected CNS tissues"

. . . SARS-CoV-2 rapidly invades the PNS prior to viremia, establishes a productive infection in peripheral neurons, and results in sensory symptoms often reported by COVID-19 patients.

open access: https://mdpi.com/1422-0067/25/15/8245…

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COVID-19 can cause osteonecrosis,

Pets

Nasal COVID-19 vaccine halts transmission

“Vaccinated hamsters that developed infections did not pass the virus on to others, breaking the cycle of transmission”

https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/nasal-covid-19-vaccine-halts-transmission/

[Note: My fellowship research in 1981-83 was on trying to develop mucosal vaccines vs influenza; it isn't easy...]

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"Tetanus-diphtheria vaccine can prime SARS-CoV-2 CROSS-REACTIVE T CELLS"

These findings suggest the Td vaccine can prime T cells that can cross-react with SARS-CoV-2, potentially contributing to existing immunity against the virus. This has implications for how prior Td vaccination may shape the T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

https://frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1425374/full

Avian Influenza:

"I am very confident there are more people being infected than we know about," senior author Gregory Gray, MD, MPH, a UTMB infectious disease researcher, told NPR. "Largely, that's because our surveillance has been so poor."

USDA raised the national total to 175 outbreaks in 13 states.

APHIS yesterday added three new species—deer mouse, prairie vole, and desert cottontail to its list of US mammals in which H5N1 avian flu has been confirmed. 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influenza-bird-flu/previously-undetected-h5n1-avian-flu-cases-farmworkers-revealed-new-report

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Undiagnosed bird flu infections 

New study lends weight to suspicions of undiagnosed bird flu infections in people. Nearly 15% of farmworkers had antibodies agst H5N1 in a small study. A lack of surveillance is a problem for all of us.

Amy Maxman: I asked dairy workers why they’re not getting tested. No one had heard of bird flu, never mind gotten PPE or offers of tests. One said they don’t get much from their employers, not even water. If they call in sick, they worry about getting fired.

CDC still considers the bird flu a low risk to public health bc its surveillance system hasn’t been triggered. But @svscarpino said the system may miss emerging health threats that start small. <.1% of the country are livestock workers.

~20 farm cats died during one dairy farm outbreak. H5N1 mainly seems to spread on farms thru milk, but a few studies show potential for spread thru air. Although rare, cows were infected by inhaling virus & ferrets infected one another from inches apart.

“There’s a lot of genomic studies and laboratory work, but farms are where the real action is -- and we’re not watching.”

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/bird-flu-undetected-farmworkers-testing-contagious-mammals/

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Notably a cafeteria worker was found to be infected w bird flu.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.07.27.24310982v1.full.pdf

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Other:

Pertussis:

in the first half of this year, the U.S. saw a 300% higher incidence of pertussis compared with the same period in 2023, and a 15% higher incidence compared with the same period in 2019. Pennsylvania reported 1,035 cases and California reported 702.

https://www.healio.com/news/pediatrics/20240801/paho-issues-alert-over-spike-in-pertussis-cases

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Listeria:

7,200,000 pounds of Boar’s Head Meats Recalled

Epidemiologic and laboratory data now show that meats sliced at delis, including Boar’s Head brand liverwurst, are contaminated with Listeria and are making people sick. Testing identified Listeria in an unopened package of Boar’s Head liverwurst collected as part of this investigation, which resulted in a recall. Whole genome sequencing shows this is the same strain making people sick in this outbreak.

Products sold at the deli, especially those sliced or prepared at the deli, can be contaminated with Listeria. Listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands, and food. Refrigeration does not kill Listeria, but reheating to a high enough temperature before eating will kill any germs that may be on these meats.