General Discussion/Q&A on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[drron]

Though on masks here is a study from Denmark.The decrease in Covid cases in those wearing masks was not large and the results did not reach significance.

ACP Journals

But something funny is going on in South Africa.By December 2020 their variant had become ~ 90% of their Covid cases but look what has happened since January.
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.

.

So daily cases and active cases down by 90% and deaths by just under 90%.

 

[Must...Fly!]

South Africa is interesting. Testing has dropped off by about 50% though. Here is data on a relatively common scale;







But then you can look at the scale of testing relative the size of the outbreak and it seems that things have definitely improved.

 

[drron]

A study in Denmark found reinfection with Covid was uncommon but more likely in those over 65.

Assessment of protection against reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 among 4 million PCR-tested individuals in Denmark in 2020: a population-level observational study

Our findings could inform decisions on which groups should be vaccinated and advocate for vaccination of previously infected individuals because natural protection, especially among older people, cannot be relied on.

www.thelancet.com

In Saudi Arabia there are reports of coinfection with MERs and Covid.

Welcome to Precision Vaccinations News

Precision Vaccinations News publishes vaccine news patients can trust to make informed immunization decisions in partnership with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

www.coronavirustoday.com

The UK variant is likely to increase mortality.

Risk of mortality in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern 202012/1: matched cohort study

Objective To establish whether there is any change in mortality from infection with a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, designated a variant of concern (VOC-202012/1) in December 2020, compared with circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants. Design Matched cohort study. Setting Community based (pillar 2)...

www.bmj.com

And a novel way to reduce transmission in infected patients.

Welcome to Precision Vaccinations News

Precision Vaccinations News publishes vaccine news patients can trust to make informed immunization decisions in partnership with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

www.coronavirustoday.com

 

[Must...Fly!]

Without knowing the medical details about the nasal spray - imagine that quarantine free travel required to have a bottle and one dose prior to entering the aircraft as a preventative measure to reduce chance of transmission. On top of vaccinations that could be a pretty awesome way out of this mess in the coming year or two.

Presumably going on to phase 3 next - let's hope for good results.

 

[dajop]

Though on masks here is a study from Denmark.The decrease in Covid cases in those wearing masks was not large and the results did not reach significance.

ACP Journals

Thanks for posting, although what puzzles me about all these studies, is that they don't really add much to the body of knowledge. Maybe its the Asian experience with SARS that has informed things better in this part of the world (and it has been the case in Japan and Korea for years - masks for the sick) , but from February (2020) the experts here were all saying, masks really help the spread of the disease from those who are sick, and this you should wear one if sick. The impetus for everyone to wear them only built up once it clear that asymptomatic transmission was happening. The study you reference admits they didn't look at this:

It is important to emphasize that this trial did not address the effects of masks as source control or as protection in settings where social distancing and other public health measures are not in effect.

I think the biggest policy failure, in many places, was the promotion of masks to protect yourself. Behavioural science would suggest people have a tendency to underestimate personal risks to themselves (whilst simultaneously overestimating overall risk), so throw this "it doesn't apply to me" effect with the "I look weak if I wear a mask" effect, and well not surprising that people weren't interested. Should have always been "wear one to protect others, you might know if you have it", then it's not a matter of weakness, and it matters less whether you think its not a risk for oneself.

Any way, quite moot now, horse has bolted and becoming less relevant as vaccinations continue.

 

[drron]

Covid certainly has sped up medical research.Some very interesting stuff coming out.Here are two.

First a fellow who put in a bid for a research grant to study bat viruses late in 2019.talk about timing.The study is dealing in part with bat antibodies and how they differ to human antibodies and could they be the basis for new treatments.

Why bats? Veesler says bats are remarkable creatures. They are the only mammals capable of sustained flight. They rarely get cancer and live unusually long lives for such small creatures. More importantly for Veesler’s research, bats host a wide range of viruses—more than any other mammal species. Despite carrying all of these viruses, bats rarely show symptoms of being sick. Yet they are the source for many of the viruses that have spilled over into humans with devastating effect, including rabies, Ebola virus, Nipah and Hendra viruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), and, likely, SARS-CoV-2.


Beyond what is already known about bats’ intriguing qualities, Veesler says humans still have much to discover about these flying mammals, including how their immune systems cope with such an onslaught of viral invaders. For example, it turns out that a bat’s learned, or adaptive, immune system is, for the most part, uncharted territory. As such, it offers an untapped source of potentially promising viral inhibitors just waiting to be unearthed, fully characterized, and then used to guide the development of new kinds of anti-viral therapeutics.

Finding New Ways to Fight Coronavirus … From Studying Bats

David Veesler has spent nearly 20 years imaging in near-atomic detail the parts of various viruses, including coronaviruses, that enable them to infect cough sapiens. In fact, his lab at the Univers…

directorsblog.nih.gov

Second is using gene editing technigues to try out new methods of treatment for viral infections.

CRISPR gene-editing technology has tremendous potential for making non-heritable DNA changes that can treat or even cure a wide range of devastating disorders, from HIV to muscular dystrophy Now, a recent animal study shows that another CRISPR system—targeting viral RNA instead of human DNA—could work as an inhaled anti-viral therapeutic that can be preprogrammed to seek out and foil potentially almost any flu strain and many other respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

CRISPR-Based Anti-Viral Therapy Could One Day Foil the Flu—and COVID-19

CRISPR gene-editing technology has tremendous potential for making non-heritable DNA changes that can treat or even cure a wide range of devastating disorders, from HIV to muscular dystrophy Now, a…

directorsblog.nih.gov

 

[tgh]

A little monday speculation..
Is the overt nationalistic aggression emanating from China, ( a sharp change of political direction) evidence that they accept that the source of Covid will eventually be sheeted home to Wuhan ?

Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers working on coronaviruses were hospitalised with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 in early November 2019 in what US officials suspect could have been the first cluster.
The US is also examining whether the institute developed SARS-COV-2 while working on a coronavirus vaccine.

The US State Department’s former lead investigator into the origins of COVID-19, David Asher, said the possibility could not be ruled out that the vaccine was being developed as an “antidote” to a bioweapon.
Mr Asher, who has served under both Republican and Democrat administrations, has previously led US government investigations into biological, chemical and nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea.
(mods.. why won't the remove format button reformat the above … ??)

He said US intelligence that has now been declassified, along with information from public sources, has credibly confirmed that three workers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell sick in early to mid-November 2019, prior to the official start of the pandemic.

Their illness was consistent with both COVID-19 and influenza and, in his personal assessment, was the likely cause of the outbreak.

NoCookies | The Australian

www.theaustralian.com.au

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

A little monday speculation..
Is the overt nationalistic aggression emanating from China, ( a sharp change of political direction) evidence that they accept that the source of Covid will eventually be sheeted home to Wuhan ?

Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers working on coronaviruses were hospitalised with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 in early November 2019 in what US officials suspect could have been the first cluster.
The US is also examining whether the institute developed SARS-COV-2 while working on a coronavirus vaccine.

The US State Department’s former lead investigator into the origins of COVID-19, David Asher, said the possibility could not be ruled out that the vaccine was being developed as an “antidote” to a bioweapon.

Mr Asher, who has served under both Republican and Democrat administrations, has previously led US government investigations into biological, chemical and nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea.​

(mods.. why won't the remove format button reformat the above … ??)

He said US intelligence that has now been declassified, along with information from public sources, has credibly confirmed that three workers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell sick in early to mid-November 2019, prior to the official start of the pandemic.

Their illness was consistent with both COVID-19 and influenza and, in his personal assessment, was the likely cause of the outbreak.

NoCookies | The Australian

www.theaustralian.com.au

There has been no sharp change in direction by China - just more overt so its more obvious to ‘blind Freddy’.

 

[JessicaTam]

(mods.. why won't the remove format button reformat the above … ??)

Fixed formatting.

 

[ithongy]

For those wondering what the reality is like traveling during this Covid pandemic? Here are 2 videos I made of my travels in March 2021, it was SO shocking to see the devastating impact Covid has had on travel & seeing businesses shuttered was painful.

Flew SYD-SFO with UA

Wandering around SF & have never ever seen it this quiet ever...!!!

 

[drron]

Some more different articles on Covid.
Now an App to predict who might develope Long Covid syndrome.

Predicting ‘Long COVID Syndrome’ with Help of a Smartphone App

As devastating as this pandemic has been, it’s truly inspiring to see the many innovative ways in which researchers around the world have enlisted the help of everyday citizens to beat COVID-19. An…

directorsblog.nih.gov

Infliximab for Inflammatory Bowel disese reduces antibody response to Covid and so probably vaccines.The newer more bowel specific Mab is better.

Serological responses to SARS-CoV-2 attenuated in patients with IBD treated with infliximab: Study

Among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), infliximab was associated with attenuated serological responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that were further blunted by immunomodulators used as concomitant therapy, according to a study published in...

dgalerts.docguide.com

A new PCR test to pick up variants.

Welcome to Precision Vaccinations News

Precision Vaccinations News publishes vaccine news patients can trust to make informed immunization decisions in partnership with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

www.coronavirustoday.com

And low dose aspirin significantly reduces severity of Covid and hospitalisations.

Welcome to Precision Vaccinations News

Precision Vaccinations News publishes vaccine news patients can trust to make informed immunization decisions in partnership with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

www.coronavirustoday.com

 

[Pushka]

Some more different articles on Covid.
Now an App to predict who might develope Long Covid syndrome.

Predicting ‘Long COVID Syndrome’ with Help of a Smartphone App

As devastating as this pandemic has been, it’s truly inspiring to see the many innovative ways in which researchers around the world have enlisted the help of everyday citizens to beat COVID-19. An…

directorsblog.nih.gov

Infliximab for Inflammatory Bowel disese reduces antibody response to Covid and so probably vaccines.The newer more bowel specific Mab is better.

Serological responses to SARS-CoV-2 attenuated in patients with IBD treated with infliximab: Study

Among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), infliximab was associated with attenuated serological responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that were further blunted by immunomodulators used as concomitant therapy, according to a study published in...

dgalerts.docguide.com

A new PCR test to pick up variants.

Welcome to Precision Vaccinations News

Precision Vaccinations News publishes vaccine news patients can trust to make informed immunization decisions in partnership with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

www.coronavirustoday.com

And low dose aspirin significantly reduces severity of Covid and hospitalisations.

Welcome to Precision Vaccinations News

Precision Vaccinations News publishes vaccine news patients can trust to make informed immunization decisions in partnership with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

www.coronavirustoday.com

Anecdotal evidence that the vaccine helps with long Covid.

 

[TheRealTMA]

A sad reminder of what it’s like in other countries. Posted by a friend and Italian teacher I know.

”
My 83-year-old father was in the hospital a month when the first wave was over and already several public places were starting to reopen or the restraints were relaxed anyway. He didn't use a smartphone so the only way to communicate with him was with phone calls or texts. As he got weaker and weaker, at one point he couldn't talk on the phone anymore and even that contact, especially with us in Australia has failed. He didn't even respond to texts that I still sent him at least once a day to make him understand that we thought so. My mom showed up every day at Rho hospital with clean underwear or something, and almost every day she begged doctors or nurses to show her for at least a minute, for a very short greeting, even suggesting to wear a dresser or three masks, If necessary, if necessary. Nothing, ' but no, ma'am, but you can't! But we already told them. That's enough! '. They only allowed him for a few seconds, in a hallway, as they brought him to the operating table where he would die. They probably knew. The pain of not having been able to hold his hand or of not having seen him at least once for one last chat, the thought of how he lived that month in absolute loneliness and getting worse and weaker, we'll bring him, even if it's lightened by time, to the grave.
And ours is not a special story. Millions of Italians have lived it and continue to live it, most of it in silence and resignation. I recalled these personal details only because I wish that those who were lucky not to live what we experienced should at least make the effort to make their minds before ridiculing or criticizing those who reacted with pain or anger to this image.
Seeing the image of a so-called VIP cheerfully cared for by his wife, reopens the wound. At least if they really had to show him (and he's not even a serious sick person) they could do it in complete confidentiality and privacy. The fact that instead they and whoever took the photos must have thought it was a ' good story ' to share with the world also proves how morons they are or at least how little they can relate to who that ' privilege ' only dreamed of them. They didn't even have to have anticipated the kind of reactions they would have sparked. Sure, they are them and we aren't s**t, but until when will they abuse our patience?”

 

[Lynda2475]

GlaxoSmithKline hoping to deliver Australia’s next COVID treatment

The pharma giant has started the approvals process for a drug similar to the one Donald Trump received.

www.smh.com.au

 

[tgh]

We have just smashed the record for daily covid positives.. 890k..
If the rate of increase continues , we will soon top a million….

 

[OZDUCK]

And another report to show that Covid is not just dangerous to the elderly or already unhealthy.

Michigan’s Covid Wards Are Filling Up With Younger Patients (Published 2021)

Even as vaccines roll out, more younger people in Michigan are being hospitalized than at any other point in the pandemic. And they’re coming in sicker.

www.nytimes.com

 

[dajop]

I'm pretty sure I've read about this before, but I am surprised that the national recommendations for frontline workers remains surgical masks + protective eyewear rather than N95 + eyewear:

AMA, experts attack government failure to accept airborne spread

A controversial recommendation from the Australian government’s Infection Control Expert Group has raised the ire of other experts.

www.theage.com.au

 

[jakeseven7]

I'm pretty sure I've read about this before, but I am surprised that the national recommendations for frontline workers remains surgical masks + protective eyewear rather than N95 + eyewear:

AMA, experts attack government failure to accept airborne spread

A controversial recommendation from the Australian government’s Infection Control Expert Group has raised the ire of other experts.

www.theage.com.au

Im also sure national guidelines don’t recommend leisure tourists being put in same hotels as HQ guests but in Perth this is still happening.... eg Hyatt Regency.

 

[dajop]

Im also sure national guidelines don’t recommend leisure tourists being put in same hotels as HQ guests but in Perth this is still happening.... eg Hyatt Regency.

Not sure exactly the similarity between the two ...

In The Age article, some experts are suggesting following national guidelines is suboptimal. You're suggesting that not following national guidelines is suboptimal, which is not really surprising.

 

[jakeseven7]

Not sure exactly the similarity between the two ...

In The Age article, some experts are suggesting following national guidelines is suboptimal. You're suggesting that not following national guidelines is suboptimal, which is not really surprising.

Everything basically is sub-optimal right now it feels