Coronavirus Tidbits #152 8/8/21

August 8, 2021 /

Quick links

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.

My latest posts:

Probable Marburg virus in W. Africa for first time

https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2021/08/06/probable-case-of-ebola-like-marburg-virus-in-guinea/?sh=6f6aed1f1373
 
interesting issues at play between economic development and #publichealth: Malaria Transmission in Africa Worsened by Small Dams https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/956114?src=soc_tw_share via Medscape

News 

Monoclonal Antibody Cocktail Authorized for Post-COVID Exposure

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Research shows many with mild COVID-19 infections still experience long-term symptoms

The majority of individuals who experience mild or moderate COVID-19 infection also experience long COVID, or persistent symptoms more than 30 days after they test positive, according to research data from the longitudinal CoVHORT study at the University of Arizona Health Sciences. Among participants who tested positive for COVID-19, 68.7% experienced at least one symptom after 30 days, marking the distinction for long COVID. This prevalence increased to 77% after 60 days of follow-up.

Diagnostics:

still an incredible, negligent lack of testing.

A test that detects COVID-19 variants in your spit

Drugs and Vaccines:

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One dose of Pfizer vaccine may be enough for folks who’ve had COVID: study

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COVID boosters for wealthy nations spark outrage

Nations short of vaccine should get first doses to curb the pandemic, researchers say.

Nature  Amy Maxmen 30 July 2021

Israel has announced plans to begin giving booster shots to older adults next week, in the hope of increasing their protection against COVID-19 – and a number of other wealthy countries are considering the same. But global-health researchers warn that this strategy could set back efforts to end the pandemic. Each booster, they say, represents a vaccine dose that could instead go to low- and middle-income countries, where most citizens have no protection at all, and where dangerous coronavirus variants could emerge as cases surge.

Data do not yet show that extra doses are needed to save lives, researchers say, except perhaps for people with compromised immune systems, who might fail to generate much of an antibody response to the initial COVID-19 shots.

An internal analysis from the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that if the 11 rich countries that are either rolling out boosters or considering it this year were to give the shots to everyone over 50 years old, they would use up roughly 440 million doses of the global supply. If all high-income and upper-middle-income nations were to do the same, the estimate doubles.

The WHO maintains that these shots would be more useful for curbing the pandemic if they were sent to low- and lower-middle-income countries, where more than 85% of people – some 3.5 billion – haven’t had a single jab.

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Influenza vaccine may provide additional protection from COVID-19

Influenza vaccination may reduce the risk for stroke, sepsis and deep vein thrombosis in patients with COVID-19, data presented at the ECCMID virtual meeting suggest.

Additionally, patients with COVID-19 who have received an influenza vaccine were less likely to go to the ED or be admitted to the ICU, Susan Taghioff, a research assistant at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues reported.

Taghioff and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of data from the TriNetX research database of more than 70 million patients and identified two groups of 37,377 people.

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Does COVID-19 vaccination affect rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease flares?

In a study of 1,377 patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases-such as inflammatory arthritis and lupus-flares of their conditions were uncommon following two-dose COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. In a study of 1,377 patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases-such as inflammatory arthritis and lupus-flares of their conditions were uncommon following two-dose COVID-19 mRNA vaccination.

In the Arthritis & Rheumatology study, 11% of patients reported flares after vaccination that required treatment, and there were no reports of severe flares. Flares were associated with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, flares in the six months preceding vaccination, and use of combination immunomodulatory therapy.

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Novavax will delay submitting its COVID-19 vaccine to the FDA for emergency use authorization, while the U.S. pauses funding for production of the company’s shot. (CNBC, New York Times)

Devices:

Epidemiology/Infection control:

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Hospitals Separating Patients And Families Due To Covid-19 Causes Needless Suffering

https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2021/07/12/hospitals-separating-patients-and-families-due-to-covid-19-causes-needless-suffering/?sh=5c9c662c4147

‘There is a real cost’: As Covid shows, barring bedside visitors from ICU deprives patients of the best care

https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=775279af11&e=f4c6ea30a0

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Not sure that I agree with this, but interesting opinion from ZDoggMD

The Delta Surge May Collapse Faster Than You Think

https://www.medpagetoday.com/popmedicine/zdoggmd/93934?

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Thinking impaired in 60% of COVID-19 survivors, study finds

Loss of smell also observed in Argentine sample

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Florida and Texas lead US COVID-19 surge

The outbreak is concentrated in areas with low vaccination coverage. Today Jeff Zients, the head of the White House COVID-19 response said 1 in 3 cases nationwide occurred in Florida or Texas this week.

The 7-day average of new daily cases is now higher than the peak of last summer.

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China’s Delta-driven COVID-19 clusters expand

Lisa Schnirring | News Editor | CIDRAP News|

A COVID-19 flare-up in the Chinese city of Nanjing has spread to more cities and provinces, including Wuhan, where officials ordered mass testing for nearly 12 million of the city’s residents.

China is among several Asian nations battling a virus resurgence, along with Japan, where one of the country’s top doctors called for government officials to impose a national state of emergency.

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Adolescent boys and young men infected were six times as likely to develop myocarditis from COVID-19 infection than following vaccination. (medRxiv)

Tips, general reading for public:

StayAtHome

Wash your hands.

Rinse and repeat.

Politics:

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Feel good du jour:

Comic relief:

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https://twitter.com/Jewyorican/status/1422262361017233421?s=20

Perspective/Poem

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Bits of beauty:

Coneflower and pollinator – Kenny Braitman
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