
Coronavirus Tidbits #233 2/19/22
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.
New posts:
Very happy to have had this OpEd with Dr. Gregg Gonsalves, a long-time AIDS activist, published in the Baltimore Sun:
You can’t mandate the end of a pandemic
OpEd here
(Rumor has it that you can bypass the log-in by ctrl-Rt and opening in incognito; I have not tried; if you want, you can send me a request for a pdf. I agreed not to post the OpEd for a month).
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New Marburg Virus Outbreak Confirmed In Equatorial Guinea
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News
Natural immunity protection by COVID-19 variant
For someone previously infected with COVID-19, their risk of hospitalization or death is 88% lower for at least 10 months compared to those who had not been previously infected,
The analysis also suggests that the level and duration of protection against reinfection, symptomatic disease and severe illness is at least on a par with that provided by two doses of the mRNA vaccines (Moderna, Pfizer-BioNtech) for ancestral, alpha, delta and omicron BA.1 variants. The study did not include data on infection from omicron XBB and its sublineages.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-comprehensive-evidence-natural-immunity-covid-.html
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02465-5/fulltext
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COVID's aftermath: Persistent organ damage at 1 year, lung abnormalities at 2
59% had organ impairment at 1 year In a study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine,
Among all patients, 29% had multi-organ impairment, with lingering symptoms and impaired function at 6 and 12 months, while 59% of long-COVID patients had single-organ damage at 1 year—even those with non-severe infections
2 years in, 39% had impaired lung function
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New MERS-Like #Coronavirus Found in #Pangolins Can Infect Human Cells
the new virus is a MERS-like coronavirus related to bat HKU4-CoV
the new virus was able to infect human cells, using the human dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (hDPP4) receptor
the spike protein of the new virus has a furin cleavage site, enhancing its ability to infect human cells via human protease cleavage. The virus was able to enter and replicate in human respiratory and intestinal organoids,
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Single interferon injection halves severe COVID outcomes, trial shows
A phase 3 randomized, controlled trial finds that a single injection of an experimental antiviral treatment slashed hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits among high-risk COVID-19 patients when given soon after symptom onset.
Led by Stanford and McMaster university researchers, the study was published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The team said that one subcutaneous (under-the-skin) dose of pegylated interferon lambda, which marshals the immune system against SARS-CoV-2, is more effective than any other COVID-19 treatment and doesn't rely on patient adherence to a drug regimen.
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Chest CTs Reveal Abnormalities 2 Years After Severe COVID
Two years after hospitalization for severe COVID-19 illness, more than a third of patients from the pandemic's early days had lingering pulmonary abnormalities on chest CT scans, according to a prospective study from Wuhan, China.
The incidence of persistent interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs) fell over follow-up after hospital discharge from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, dropping from 54% at 6 months and 42% at 1 year to 39% at 2 years
Notably, the proportion of non-fibrotic ILAs decreased from 31% to 19% to 16% over the course of the study, while the incidence of fibrotic ILA stayed at a consistent 23%, the authors showed in a study published in Radiology.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/103128?
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The haunting brain science of long Covid - by Wes Ely
https://www.statnews.com/2023/02/16/the-haunting-brain-science-of-long-covid/
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The dark side of treating COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies
approximately 8% of mAb-treated patients developed evasive SARS-CoV-2 spike mutations with remarkable speed and high specificity for the targeted mAb binding sites." Moreover, while most patients gradually cleared the virus, patients with weakened immune systems "had significantly higher viral loads for prolonged periods and had 3-fold higher chance to develop SARS-CoV-2 escape mutations."
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-dark-side-covid-monoclonal-antibodies.html
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COVID-19 & Airborne Transmission: Science Rejected, Lives Lost
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent last of testing.
Drugs and Vaccines:
Mixed results for Moderna mRNA flu vaccine trial
from a large-scale trial of its mRNA flu shot, based on the same technology used in its successful Covid-19 vaccine.
Moderna's experimental mRNA-1010 flu shot is "quadrivalent," meaning it targets four strains of flu: A/H1N1, A/H3N2, B/Yamagata and B/Victoria—selected based on recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Massachusetts-based company said that its flu shot generated an immune response against influenza A strains that was equal or superior to that of already licensed vaccines.
However, it fell short of the already approved vaccines against strains of the less-common influenza B, Moderna said in a statement.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-results-moderna-mrna-flu-vaccine.html
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Rebound and antivirals
Rates of COVID-19 rebound were similar among hospitalized patients infected with the Omicron BA.2.2 variant who did and didn't receive oral antiviral drugs, and relapse wasn't tied to worse clinical outcomes, suggests a study published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/
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U.S. Orders 1.5 Million Protein-based COVID-19 Vaccines
This contract will support the U.S. government's continued efforts to make Novavax's vaccine available for free to states, jurisdictions, federal pharmacy partners, and federally qualified health centers.
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Devices and Masks:
.
Epidemiology/Infection control:
COVID: While the world sanitized surfaces, a group tried to warn early on about airborne spread
A large group of experts from around the world say they warned the World Health Organization (WHO) at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that SARS-CoV-2 spreads through airborne particles, but their concerns weren't acknowledged until 3 months later, according to an account published late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases...
In addition, it wasn't until May 2021 that the WHO changed its web page on COVID-19 transmission to acknowledge airborne spread. The CDC followed suit in changing its guidance shortly thereafter
CID: https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciad068/7034152
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COVID-19 survivors may have higher risk of developing diabetes
COVID-19 survivors have a 66% higher risk of developing type 1 or type 2 diabetes following their diagnosis compared to those not diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a study by Penn State College of Medicine researchers. Their findings are among the latest evidence suggesting that people diagnosed with COVID-19 may experience a range of health issues in the time period following their illness.
https://medicalxpress.com/
Tips, general reading for public:
Ventilate.
Mask.
Vax.
Politics:
Covid:
Moderna has said it will likely charge $130 for its Covid vaccine. Taxpayers, through the US government, gave $2.5 billion to develop the Moderna vaccine. It was nearly entirely funded by taxpayers. And it costs only around $3 to produce.
(Moderna says it will keep its Covid vaccine free for all people in the U.S.—reversing course on its planned 400% price increase—one day after Bernie Sanders said he would force the CEO to testify.)
(Now they are saying there will be no charge in US--but patients will have to go through a "patient assistance" program, which is cumbersome and discourages completion.)
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Uncollected racial and ethnic pandemic data will drive inequities for decades to come
more than half of race or ethnicity data for confirmed Covid-19 infections were missing nationally — even months into the pandemic
"The pervasive missing-ness of racial and ethnic data amounts to nothing short of data genocide. This categorical erasure of viral transmission networks, lives lost, and missed vaccination opportunities in data collected from Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Indigenous communities represents a dismissal that may reverberate inequities for generations to come."
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Abortion/Reproduction:
Following the U.S. Department of Defense’s trio of policies announced Thursday that will provide assistance for service members seeking abortions, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) announced a hold on any new DoD nominees coming before the U.S. Senate.
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Antisemitism:
“HITLER WAS RIGHT:” CATHOLIC SOCCER TEAM ASSAULTS, HOSPITALIZES JEWISH TEENAGER: Members of a catholic high-school soccer team savagely assaulted a Jewish teenager in Miami, Florida, hospitalizing him with potentially serious injuries.
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Banned Books:
- From July 2021 to June 2022, PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, affecting 1,648 unique book titles.
- The 1,648 titles are by 1,261 different authors, 290 illustrators, and 18 translators, impacting the literary, scholarly, and creative work of 1,553 people altogether.
- Texas was highest, then Florida, then TN and PA
- Full report for 2021-22 school year at
- https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/
Piper for Missouri Feb 9
Missouri Republicans write legislation to say that my child isn’t mature enough to read about Rosa Parks, but as a fifth grader, she is mature enough to carry a loaded rifle in public…
There is no age requirement to carry a loaded gun in Missouri.
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Environment:
Greed/Business:
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Medicare:
In 2022, seniors paid up to $200 to get shots like the shingles vaccines. As of January 1, common preventive vaccines now cost $0 for seniors with Medicare prescription drug coverage.
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Arkansas:
Colorado:
Idaho House passes ban on gender-affirming medical care
A bill criminalizing gender-affirming healthcare for minors overwhelmingly passed the Idaho House Thursday, despite warnings from opponents who said it would likely increase suicide rates among teens.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-idaho-house-gender-affirming-medical.html?
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Youngkin opposes effort to shield menstrual data from law enforcement
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/02/14/youngkin-menstrual-data-abortion-virginia/
Feel good du jour:
32% Decrease in Malaria Hospital Admissions in Western #Kenya With the rollout of the malaria vaccine in Western Kenya, bit.ly/3S9hs52
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A digital museum dedicated to the idea of lost memories is the result of one man’s extraordinary efforts to return neglected or misplaced family mementos to their owners. @cgbooker has this report. to.pbs.org/3MzB3rB
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A cat was saved from under the rubble in Turkey. It now refuses to leave its rescuer's side. pic.twitter.com/Nveaxu3QrG
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 16, 2023
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On the isolated glacial lagoons of remote Patagonia lives a freshwater diving bird called the hooded Grebe,
— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 14, 2023
This is its courtship dance caught on film for the first time
📹 BirdLife International pic.twitter.com/C6Gjo3p0fv
Comic relief:
"Excuse me, I'll tell you when you've finished" pic.twitter.com/OLr28CFxPw
— Paul Bronks (@SlenderSherbet) February 10, 2023
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https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnbJptFpBih/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
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Choreo by Birds, ft. me and Malia Baker 👌 pic.twitter.com/GmBSdgVOwZ
— Smac McCreanor (@smacmccreanor) April 19, 2022
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Perspective/Poem
Bits of beauty:

