Coronavirus Tidbits #130 3/17/21

March 17, 2021 /

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Announcements:

First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting.

Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that.

News 

Small but very promising study of antiviral molnupiravir: data-5 days course of oral eliminated #SARS_CoV_2  from nasopharynx of 49

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Diagnostics:

still an incredible, negligent lack of testing.

Drugs and Vaccines:

Among the side effects reported to the agency, 79.1 percent came from women, even though only 61.2 percent of the vaccines had been administered to women.

In a 2013 study, scientists with the C.D.C. and other institutions found that four times as many women as men between the ages of 20 and 59 reported allergic reactions after receiving the 2009 pandemic flu vaccine, even though more men than women got those shots. Another study found that between 1990 and 2016, women accounted for 80 percent of all adult anaphylactic reactions to vaccines.

women and girls produce more — sometimes twice as many — infection-fighting antibodies in response to the vaccines for influenza, M.M.R., yellow fever, rabies, and hepatitis A and B. They often mount stronger responses from immune fighters called T cells, too,

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/08/health/vaccine-side-effects-women-men.html?

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Through June 2020, among those between age 45 and 54, the death rate for Latinos was six times higher than for whites. For those between 35 and 44, it was eight times higher. And the virus may be killing many more Latinos than these numbers indicate. In 2020, the overall death rate among Latinos was 53 percent higher than in previous years. By comparison, the number of excess deaths was 33 percent higher among Blacks, and 12 percent higher among whites.

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Thrombosis Association Reaffirms that all continue to receive COVID-19 Vaccination 

despite the recent decisions by Austria, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland to at least temporarily suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to reports of thrombosis.

‘At this time, the small number of reported thrombotic events relative to the millions of administered COVID-19 vaccinations does not suggest a direct link.’

Thrombotic events are common in the general population and have not previously been associated with vaccination. At present, we do not know whether the timing of the blood clots with vaccination is coincidental or whether vaccination may, in rare cases, increase the risk of thrombosis. Importantly, well-conducted clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccinations did not identify an increased risk of thrombosis.

https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/2021/03/14/thrombosis-association-issued-reaffirming-covid-19-vaccination-statement

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Useful thread:

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– Moderna and Pfizer vaccines coat mRNA in polyethylene glycol (PEG) so that it can better access cells in the body

– PEGs may have caused allergic reactions in six of 272,001 vaccine recipients as of December 19, 2020, according to Axios citing figures from the CDC.

– PEGs are used in everyday products as thickeners and moisture carriers, according to Science magazine.

– Polyethylene glycol is not the same as ethylene glycol, which is in antifreeze.

Devices:

Epidemiology/Infection control:

Community-based study links skin rashes to COVID-19

Previous studies conducted in hospitals reported that COVID-19 patients presented with unusual skin rashes. This study, which is published in the British Journal of Dermatology, analyzed information provided by 336,847 individuals in the community who used the COVID Symptom Study app.

Skin rashes were more common in adults with a positive COVID-19 test result than in those who tested negative. Strikingly, among respondents of an online survey, 17% of SARS-CoV-2-positive cases reported skin rashes as the first presentation, and 21% as the only COVID-19 clinical sign.

Together with the British Association of Dermatologists, the study’s investigators compiled a catalogue of images of the most common skin manifestations of COVID-19 from 400 individuals.

“Cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 are sometimes the first or even the only sign of SARS-CoV-2 infection,” said senior author Mario Falchi, PhD, of King’s College London. “Recognition of such early signs and symptoms of COVID-19 may enable identification of cases missed when relying only on the core symptoms, allowing preventive measures to be put in place to minimise further spreading of the infection.”

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/w-csl031521.php

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Important letter fr Dr. Linsey Marr, ventilation specialist:

Tips, general reading for public:

StayAtHome

Wash your hands.

Rinse and repeat.

Politics:

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Feel good du jour:

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Comic relief:

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https://twitter.com/CulturezVous/status/1368997379240787969?s=20

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Perspective/Poem

Bits of beauty:

 

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