Coronavirus Tidbits #311, September 8, 2024

September 8, 2024 /

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News     Diagnostics     Drugs    Devices    Epidemiology/Infection control     Tips     Politics    Feel good du jour     Comic relief     Perspective/Poem     Bits of beauty

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.

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My Interview on Outbreak News Today - re CDC:

Robert Herriman asked me to do a podcast about Parvovirus. With my usual tact, I asked him if we might also talk about something I'm passionate about -- the CDC.

MaskTogetherAmerica made this clip with ~3" highlights about my comments:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/To161FKDtry6wBb8/

If you can't access Facebook, the CDC comments section of the interview start at ~11:05 on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5WXrxc8KH4&t=666s

Enjoy!

Robert also asked me what my favorite article I've written for Forbes is. I will try to edit that and upload it.

The entire interview (Parvovirus => CDC => articles) are at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5WXrxc8KH4&t=666s

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A call to action--to defeat the GOP and protect democracy.

While Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts, we will have to work harder than ever to defeat him in November.

Given what is going on with the Supremes and in the world, it's clearly more important than ever that we work to do this. There are so many ways you can help, from GOTV, to supporting various grassroot efforts, to phone banking, etc.
There are 3 groups I work with and recommend:
Strongly suggest checking out NOPE Neighbors https://nopeneighbors.org/
VoPro Pros: vopropros.com

Field Team 6: MISSION:  Register Democrats.   Save the World.  https://www.fieldteam6.org/

Please share: Great explanation of BlueVoterGuide.org - How to build the blue wave in 2024! youtu.be/1l8R_jEuZyA?si  

also, Maryland is now important to get involved in. If Hogan wins the Senate race, he will work w the Right wing Republicans. He is not the "moderate" many believe him to be.

News 

Back to school effect:

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@michael_hoerger
About 1 in 32 people in Canada & 1 in 35 in the US are actively infectious with COVID.
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We're finally less than 1 million infections/day! @jpweiland: 870,000 new infections/day and est 1 in 38.
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There are still more than 1,000 new COVID deaths/week per BNO News.
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CDC's minimizing Covid again by changing the reporting:

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Smart approach from Vermont:

If you are disabled and living in Vermont, the Vermont Center for Independent Living will come to you and vaccinate your household with Novavax on request.

via  @Friesein

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Nosocomial Covid:

Up to 25% of Covid-19 cases in hospitals are acquired after admission. A new study finds simple measures like testing on admission and staff wearing N95 masks could save lives and reduce overall costs. (see Epidemiology section)

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Long Covid worsening reactions to insect bites:

A bunch of people having insane insect bite reactions = new LongCovid symptom.

Histamine causes insect bite itchiness.

LongCovid is thought to have histamine involvement. Bonus....histamines enhance SARS2 entry into endothelial cells.  -- via Lazarus Long

sciencedirect.com/science/articl

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Long Covid in Kids and Teens:

@EricTopol
Largest prospective study of #LongCovid in children and teens with 3-year follow-up by @LaCampo4 and colleagues —significant, long-lasting impact —increased risk of autoimmune diseases —reduction of risk with vaccination/boosters, especially among teens
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Pulmonary fibrosis from Covid:
New study finds that existing drugs such as baricitinib and anakinra can disrupt the malfunctioning immune response that causes fibrosis.
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Long Covid and vaccination:
While most studies using symptom surveys found an association between preinfection vaccination status and PASC symptoms,
(Recently, Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly’s study showed that vaccination reduces the risk of Long COVID by about 40 to 50%.)
This retrospective review found no difference in the development of diagnosed PASC was observed between unvaccinated patients, those vaccinated with 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine, and those with >2 doses.
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EECP and Long Covid:
Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP) is an FDA-approved, non-invasive treatment for the management of cardiovascular symptoms with a mechanism of action which stimulates pathways that induce endothelial homeostasis, improving microvascular function, inflammation, and immune regulation, thereby potentially targeting the underlying etiology of long COVID.  In 33 Long COVID patients vs 33 controls, the authors found that people with Long COVID who received EECP had a decrease in fatigue, an increase in their activity level, and an improvement in their breathing compared to Long COVID controls.
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SC27 Antibody
Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered and isolated a broadly neutralizing plasma antibody, known as SC27, which has been shown to neutralize ALL known variants of SARS-CoV-2.
SC27 was isolated from a single patient, but researchers were able to identify the molecular sequence of the antibody. This paves the way for it to be replicated. One goal of this research is to work toward a universal vaccine that can generate antibodies and create an immune response with broad protection to a rapidly mutating virus.  --@sailorrooscout
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Avian Flu:

First case of bird flu without known animal contact detected in Missouri

the individual, with “no immediate known animal exposure,” had underlying medical conditions. Treated w Tamiflu.

This is the 14th human case of H5 reported in the United States during 2024.

H5 outbreaks in cattle have not been reported in Missouri, but outbreaks of H5 have been reported in commercial and backyard poultry flocks in 2024. H5N1 bird flu has been detected in wild birds in that state in the past.

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s0906-birdflu-case-missouri.html

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Bats, Biodiversity, and Infant deaths

New research shows how vital biodiversity is to thriving humanity: In US counties where bats declined from white-nose syndrome, insect numbers surged, leading to a 31% rise in pesticide use and subsequently *an 8% increase in infant mortality*! County-level insecticide use and infant mortality due to internal causes both increased after the emergence of white-nose syndrome, whereas farms’ crop revenue decreased. #Biodiversity #Conservation

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg0344

Diagnostics:

still an incredible, negligent last of testing.

Drugs and Vaccines:

Future Nasal Mucosal Vaccine

Not ready for prime time, but this is where I think the best vaccines will come. [I studied mucosal immunity during my fellowship.]

New report of a nasal vaccine booster provides strong, durable #SARSCoV2 cross-variant protection—preventing infection— compared with shots in non-human primates nature.com/articles/s4159  ‘Immunity induced by mucosal adenoviral-vectored vaccines was durable over a period of 5 months, in contrast to the rapid peak and subsequent waning typical of i.m. vaccination with mRNA vaccines. - Eric Topol

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Explainer mRNA vs protein (Novavax) explainer: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1830076016917946549.html

Devices:

Epidemiology/Infection control:

Admission screening testing of patients and staff N95 respirators are cost-effective in reducing COVID-19 hospital-acquired infections

Compared with no admission screening testing and staff surgical masks, all scenarios were cost saving with health gains. Staff N95 respirators + RAT admission screening of patients was the cheapest scenario, saving A$78.4M [95% uncertainty interval (UI) 44.4M–135.3M] and preventing 1543 (95% UI 1070–2146) deaths state-wide per annum. Both interventions were individually beneficial: staff N95 respirators saved A$54.7M and 854 deaths state-wide per annum, while RAT admission screening of patients saved A$57.6M and 1176 deaths state-wide per annum.

In the state of Victoria, 15–25% of patients in hospital with COVID-19 between June 2022 and June 2023 acquired their infection after admission, with 90-day mortality of 18.9% compared with 12.3% among matched patients who did not acquire COVID-19 post admission...similar numbers globally, with 2021 estimates suggesting that 11.3% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the UK acquired COVID-19 whilst in hospital, 11.8% in Germany, and 9.2% in Brazil.

https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(24)00236-6/fulltext

Tips, general reading for public:

Ventilate

Vaccinate

Mask

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Please share with teachers:

Resource for teaching kids about air quality:

https://teachmeairquality.pory.app/

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Politics:

Covid:
A McDonalds in Portland, Oregon has posted a sign saying they will not serve anyone wearing a mask. It's on the corner of N Ida and N Lombard per Reddit.
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Abortion/Reproductive: 
Lifesaving medication for postpartum hemorrhaging is being pulled off emergency carts because of new Louisiana law reclassifying misoprostol as a controlled dangerous substance. A @pulitzercenter StoryReach article by Lorena O'Neil: https://lailluminator.com/2024/09/03/louisiana-women/
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Book bans:
The 6 largest publishers in the country, PRH, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks, are all suing the state of Florida for censorship. They’re claiming Ron DeSantis’ new law is unconstitutional and has unfairly pulled hundreds of books pulled from school libraries following right-wing challenges. @ArtCandee
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Election:
DOJ accused two employees of RT, the Kremlin’s media arm, of funneling nearly $10 million to Tenet Media, incl right-wing personalities Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin
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Eighty-eight corporate leaders signed a letter Friday endorsing Kamala Harris for president, including the CEOs of Costco, Ford, American Express, Merck, PayPal, Autodesk, Lyft, Yahoo, Docusign, Yelp, DuPont, Sony, Pepsi, Zillow, Twilio, and LinkedIn. ...
as do Dick and Liz Cheney
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Greed: 
The biggest welfare recipient in America is the richest family in America, the Walton family, who inherited Walmart, never have to work a day in their lives & are worth $354 billion by paying wages so low that many Walmart workers rely on food stamps, Medicaid & public housing.  -- @GunnelsWarren
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Guns:
When Republicans inevitably blame mental health and not the guns for yet another school shooting - kindly remind them that 205 of them voted AGAINST a bill to expand school-based mental health services.
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North Carolina:
GOP Governor candidate @markrobinsonnc  and his wife stole $3,000 in Girl Scout cookies from the Girl Scouts? Worst still, when confronted, the cookie monsters refused to pay back the money, got sued, and lost https://t.co/C68CxH5qeH
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Texas:
Texas disqualified 1 out of 10 mail- ballots...talk about election integrity ..."the number of mail-in ballots that were rejected by the state used to hover around 1%. During the 2022 congressional primaries, that number jumped to 12%," Ballot Box Bogeymen: Experts Warn of Confusion, Voter Suppression Ahead of Election dallasobserver.com/news/texas-gov
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened to sue two large, Democratic-leaning counties should they proceed with their plan to mail voter registration forms to eligible voters who are currently unregistered (and eligible to be registered).

Feel good du jour:

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Remarkable background on Dr. Jonny Kim

Last week, NASA announced that 40 year-old U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Jonathan “Jonny” Yong Kim will deploy to the International Space Station in March onboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky for eight months.

Dr. Kim, who previously served as an enlisted Navy SEAL early in the Global War on Terrorism before completing undergrad, whilst earning an officer commission, and subsequently graduating from Harvard Medical School. While finishing an internship in emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. Kim applied to the NASA Astronaut Corps... cont at https://charlotteclymer.substack.com/p/a-navy-seal-a-doctor-and-an-astronaut

Comic relief:

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https://twitter.com/Yoda4ever/status/1830948870135619804

https://twitter.com/Dalbodog/status/1831774327798210691

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https://twitter.com/Yoda4ever/status/1829861705159229879

 

Perspective/Poem

Word of the day is ‘kuchisabishii’, from Japanese: boredom eating, or the making of frequent visits to the fridge in the hope of finding something new to munch on. Its literal translation is ‘lonely mouth’.  @susie_dent

Bits of beauty:

 

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