Coronavirus Tidbits #285, March 10, 2024

https://twitter.com/JPWeiland/status/1766194632768077937?s=20

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Bad decisions recently:

     CDC ends covid isolation,

"Despite stating there would be a comment period, CDC suddenly dropped its 5-day covid isolation guidelines on Friday, March 1 (and hid Twitter responses again) – the first day of Long Covid Awareness Month....Some US workplaces were pre-prepared to implement removal of covid isolation sick pay saying they expected the CDC changes." - Violet Blue's summary.

Multiple groups have and will cont to object, including the World Health Network, People's CDC,  National Nurses United

“NOTE: We expect the CDC to rescind the 5 day isolation period in the very near future. Once the CDC guidance is updated, employees will no longer be eligible for Covid pay for any period of isolation.” Employers were ready for the CDC change so they could end sick pay. (Lucky Tran)

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The new CDC Covid "no isolation" guideline promotes people shedding virus to infect othershttps://t.co/yWrWXNZVVI pic.twitter.com/WbILsasgQX

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 2, 2024

Most people will still be infectious, as assessed from rapid antigen tests (and the new recommendation ignores the use of rapid tests). 1 in 3 people with a COVID infection will still be contagious at day 5. What is the CDC thinking?

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2797070?

     White House stopped daily testing and pre-test for Biden meetings

     NIH to end and delete covid guidance: 

The final update of the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines was on February 29, 2024. PDFs of the Guidelines can be downloaded until August 16, 2024, when the website will be shut down.

https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/

     US stops free test program

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CDC advisory panel says people 65 and older should get a Covid spring booster shot

[>4 months from your last vax. I recommend Novavax, rather than Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vax--it likely has longer lasting immunity]

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COVID vaccination in first half of menstrual cycle tied to temporarily longer cycles

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-vaccination-first-half-menstrual-cycle-tied-temporarily-longer-cycles

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Low iron may play key role in long COVID

Patients who went on to develop long COVID showed more problems with regulation of blood iron levels, including anemia, as soon as 2 weeks after acute infection, suggesting low iron levels may play a role in the chronic condition, according to a new study in Nature Immunology.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/low-iron-may-play-key-role-long-covid

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Patients with prior COVID-19 at higher risk for new-onset autoimmune inflammatory disease

Patients with a history of COVID-19 demonstrate a higher risk for new-onset autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases, with greater infection severity linked to greater risk, according to data published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

https://www.healio.com/news/rheumatology/20240304/patients-with-prior-covid19-at-higher-risk-for-newonset-autoimmune-inflammatory-disease

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Developmental delays in SARS-CoV-2-positive neonates 

in small new study (30 + babies, 60 controls) https://ijponline.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13052-024-01609-w

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Covid Spike Protein lingers in bloos and tissue

for 14 mo in blood in those who were more ill, 2 years in tissue in UCSF study.

Is this a clue to long Covid treatments?

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-covid-virus-stay-body-year.html?

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Other:

Psittacosis: 

In an outbreak notice today, the World Health Organization (WHO) detailed recent reports from Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands. In most instances, people had contact with wild or domestic birds.

Psittacosis is caused by Chlamydophila psittaci bacteria, which is known to affect birds. Transmission to humans typically occurs through inhaled particles from respiratory secretions, dried feces, or feather dust. Infections are often mild, but patients can develop a sometimes-fatal pneumonia. The disease is treatable with prompt, appropriate antibiotics.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/misc-emerging-topics/european-countries-report-unusual-rise-psittacosis-infections

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Insecticide paint controls mosquito population up to 1 year, experiment shows

An insecticide paint used on houses in Cabo Verde, Africa, was able to control local populations of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes for at least 1 year, according to a study today in Frontiers in Tropical Diseases.

Ninety-eight percent of residents with houses coated in transfluthrin-based insecticide paint reported a significant reduction in the mosquitoes that most commonly transmit yellow fever, malaria, Zika, and dengue during the year-long experiment in the small country off the coast of West Africa.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/misc-emerging-topics/insecticide-paint-controls-mosquito-population-1-year-experiment-shows

[Wonder how soon resistance will develop. I prefer the Wolbachia strategy]

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Measles:

Outbreaks now in multiple states. One of the Measles cases in Ontario was a *vaccinated* man in his 30s with no history of travel and no other known exposure.

"Measles among vaccinated healthcare workers has been central in many outbreaks declared in healthcare settings in the post elimination era" VACCINES ARE NOT PPE. Both are needed.  - @davidElfstrom (Source: https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8537497/… )

Yet Health Canada: "Immune healthcare workers do not need respirators when caring for patients with measles". Evidence level: Studies of low quality, or expert opinion (Source: https://canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/routine-practices-precautions-healthcare-associated-infections.html…)

But Health Canada, both WHO and CDC say (https://cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/measles/index.html…) HCW should use N95 regardless of presumptive evidence of immunity when caring for known or suspected measles.