Coronavirus Tidbits #230 1/29/23

In its weekly situation report, WHO said Covid cases have declined 25% over last 4 weeks. However, deaths rose 13%. #Covid deaths have been rising since early Dec, even without adding the more than 72,000 hospital deaths reported from China's recent surge

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/global-covid-deaths-rise-who-emergency-committee-weighs-covid-status

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A very important thread on #LongCovid from Hannah Davis:

Protein decoys for viruses may battle COVID-19 and more

Drugs designed to resemble pathogen’s cellular targets could prevent infection

Science 26 JAN 2023

As the fight against COVID-19 wears on and the virus continues to mutate, vaccines and several monoclonal antibody drugs are losing some of their punch. That’s added urgency to a strategy for preventing and treating the disease that, in theory, could stop all variants of SARS-CoV-2. The idea is to flood the body with proteins that mimic the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, the cell-surface protein that SARS-CoV-2 uses to gain entry into cells. These decoys would bind to the virus’ spike protein, disarming it. The molecules might both protect people from getting infected and help COVID-19 patients clear the virus from the body.

One ACE2 decoy recently completed initial safety trials in humans, and trials of other decoy designs are expected to launch soon. A new preprint also shows that giving mice a gene coding for a decoy can provide long-term protection, a strategy that might help millions of immune-compromised patients who are unable to mount a robust immune response to vaccines. Success against COVID-19 might also boost efforts to develop decoys against other infectious diseases ranging from influenza to Ebola.

https://www.science.org/content/article/protein-decoys-viruses-may-battle-covid-19-and-more

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Covid and Diabetes:

Acute and post-acute COVID-19 (i.e., long COVID) were associated with new DM only among hospitalized patients, with the highest risk among those hospitalized with severe disease. Those patients should be followed and monitored post-discharge for new DM. Patients who were not hospitalized did not have higher risk of new-onset DM.

https://drc.bmj.com/content/11/1/e003052

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What doctors wish patients knew about COVID-19 reinfection

While many people assumed that getting infected meant higher protection from future encounters with the virus, the latest wave of COVID-19 cases shows that reinfections are becoming more common with newer variants—such as the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron—contributing to second or even third infections...

“It can be problematic if you are reinfected,”   “We know from a pretty elegant study that was recently published in Nature Medicine that each subsequent COVID infection will increase your risk of developing chronic health issues like diabetes, kidney disease, organ failure and even mental health problems.”

Such evidence “dispels the myth that repeated brushes with the virus are mild and you don’t have to worry about it,” he added, noting that “it is akin to playing Russian roulette.”

“There are some studies that have suggested that the more times you get reinfected, the more likely you're going to develop long COVID,” said Dr. Crum, noting “there was a recent study out of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis that looked at this question. They studied over 5 million veterans and dependents through a VA system.

“The bottom line is, if you get vaccinated, you are less likely to get sick, less likely to wind up in the hospital.” Only ~11% have gotten the bivalent vax in the US.

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Monkeypox:

is not gone: see this case of a woman with no risk factors who contracted the disease, the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reports. That’s in contrast to last year’s global outbreak: About 95% of cases were attributed to close physical contact and more than 98% were among men.

The woman in question, in her 20s and living alone, had no sexual or close physical contact with anyone suspected of having mpox during the two months before a rash developed on her face and mpox was confirmed. She had two massages in the two weeks before the rash developed, each time lying face down on a massage table, on top of a circular pillow covered by thin linen or a towel. The researchers suspect she caught it from contaminated linen and urge doctors not to rule out mpox too quickly in cases like hers.

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Avian flu (aka Bird flu, H5N1)

Mink-farm outbreak shows bird flu can spread between mammals

A new variant of H5N1 influenza could pose an increased risk to people and wild animals.

Nature   Saima May Sidik  24 January 2023

An outbreak of avian influenza on a mink farm in Spain provides the strongest evidence so far that the H5N1 strain of flu can spread from one infected mammal to another.

The outbreak of H5N1 flu, described in a report in Eurosurveillance on 19 January¹, occurred on an American mink (Neovison vison) farm in Carral in October 2022. Genetic sequencing showed that the animals were infected with a new variant of H5N1, which includes genetic material from a strain found in gulls, as well as a genetic change known to increase the ability of some animal-flu viruses to reproduce in mammals.

In the United States, infections have been found in about a dozen species, including raccoons, foxes, seals and grizzly bears.

Until this particular outbreak, all mammalian infections could be attributed to direct contact with virus-contaminated material, says Hualan Chen, a virologist at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute in China. For example, animals that ingest wild-bird droppings, or that prey on infected animals, can develop the disease. But its spread between mammals “implies that this H5N1 virus may pose a higher risk to public health”, Chen says.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00201-2