Just curious, anyone have a plan, or preps for global pandemic?

[Saul]

13 hours ago, BrianA said:

Reinfections, even with vaccination, result in increasing health risks:

 

"Compared to non-infected controls, assessment of the cumulative risks of repeated infection showed that the risk and burden increased in a graded fashion according to the number of infections"

Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1749502/v1

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/getting-covid-again-reinfection-omicron

[corybroo]

The surprising link between SARS-CoV-2 infection and new-onset diabetes

It has become abundantly clear that coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), despite being transmitted by breathing in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, can have harmful effects far beyond the lungs. 

In a study published in June in Metabolism, researchers from Osaka University reveal that COVID-19 can cause metabolism problems, and sometimes even diabetes, by interfering with insulin signaling.

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 affected the expression of insulin/IGF signaling pathway components in the lung, liver, adipose tissue, and pancreatic cells. Moreover, these changes were attributed in part to activation of interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1).

Further investigation showed that IRF1 expression is elevated in older patients, men, obese individuals, and patients with diabetes. … may explain why these patients are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection impairs insulin/IGF signaling by increasing IRF1 expression, thereby disrupting blood sugar metabolism. Decreasing IRF1 expression by treatment with factors such as dihydrotestosterone and dexamethasone could help mitigate the effects of COVID-19

[BrianA]

China declares they will continue their dynamic lockdown policy after success in containing Omicron so far. It's almost like they know something they don't like about this virus...

 

"Beijing said the city would persist with its zero-COVID policies "over the next five years", although it quickly removed reference to a time period in the announcement."

https://news.sky.com/story/beijing-chief-says-city-to-maintain-zero-covid-policy-for-next-five-years-before-time-reference-removed-12640995

 

Nearly One in Five American Adults Who Have Had COVID-19 Still Have “Long COVID”

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2022/20220622.htm

 

In wave after deadly wave, COVID has claimed 1 million lives in the U.S.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/17/1093651037/us-one-million-deaths

[corybroo]

9 minutes ago, BrianA said:

China declares they will continue their dynamic lockdown policy after success in containing Omicron so far. It's almost like they know something they don't like about this virus...

I think it's also possible that an authoritarian regime is reluctant to say, "I was wrong."

[BrianA]

So the West is "winning" ?

 

"The last time the United States saw an infectious disease as a top-three cause of death was 1937, before the availability of penicillin."

Biden’s “new normal” on COVID is neither normal nor new

The administration is trying to normalize COVID deaths as they shift the goalposts on what it means to “beat” COVID

https://www.salon.com/2022/06/26/biden-new-normal/

[BrianA]

Monkeypox outbreak continuing to grow, if cases were to continue along this model curve, cases would reach 100k in August and 1 million in September.

 

 

[BrianA]

Researchers find the spike protein circulating in the blood of around 60% of long covid patients, up to 12 months after initial infection, and now believe the gut and possibly other locations in the body are acting a viral reservoirs.

 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/long-covid-viral-reservoir-of-spike-protein-may-explain-long-term-symptoms

[Todd Allen]

Perhaps it is time for an updated vaccination survey?  There previously was a strong majority fully vaccinated.  But now it is clear covid vaccine effectiveness wanes rapidly and one needs boosters to stay "protected".  So how many boosters have you had?  How often and for how long do you plan to continue?  Who is excitedly looking forward to the new jabs planned for this fall with additional mrna for some Omicron spike along with the original spike we have all come to know and love?

Edited July 10, 2022 by Todd Allen

[BrianA]

Definitely no link between these 2 stories:

 

Long COVID has a significant impact on UK workforce, study finds

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220713114652.htm

 

Heathrow asks airlines to stop selling summer tickets as it limits daily passengers to 100,000

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/12/business/heathrow-airline-passengers/index.html

[BrianA]

Infections anywhere in the body, not just the brain, signal microglia in the brain to enter a more inflammatory state, similar in some ways to that of an aged brain.

 

Infection Drives Microglia Into Inflammatory Behavior that Contributes to Neurodegeneration

https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/07/infection-drives-microglia-into-inflammatory-behavior-that-contributes-to-neurodegeneration/

[Saul]

12 hours ago, BrianA said:

Infections anywhere in the body, not just the brain, signal microglia in the brain to enter a more inflammatory state, similar in some ways to that of an aged brain.

 

Infection Drives Microglia Into Inflammatory Behavior that Contributes to Neurodegeneration

https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/07/infection-drives-microglia-into-inflammatory-behavior-that-contributes-to-neurodegeneration/

Interesting.

  --  Saul

[mccoy]

On 7/10/2022 at 2:59 PM, Todd Allen said:

Perhaps it is time for an updated vaccination survey?  There previously was a strong majority fully vaccinated.  But now it is clear covid vaccine effectiveness wanes rapidly and one needs boosters to stay "protected".  So how many boosters have you had?  How often and for how long do you plan to continue?  Who is excitedly looking forward to the new jabs planned for this fall with additional mrna for some Omicron spike along with the original spike we have all come to know and love?

I realized that some people are finding a new purpose in life, having engaged in a personal war against the global enemy, SARSCOV2. In their zeal, they are putting aside most scientific reasoning.

[BrianA]

On 7/14/2022 at 7:41 PM, BrianA said:

Infection Drives Microglia Into Inflammatory Behavior that Contributes to Neurodegeneration

https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/07/infection-drives-microglia-into-inflammatory-behavior-that-contributes-to-neurodegeneration/

 

related:

 

Mild COVID Can Cause Protracted Neurological Problems

Lasting neuroinflammation can be caused by other viral infections as well.

https://www.lifespan.io/news/mild-covid-can-cause-protracted-neurological-problems/

[Saul]

Also interesting.

  --  Saul

[Gordo]

Medcram has done some interesting vids lately related to both covid, immune boosting strategies, hot and cold exposure, vitamin D (supplement doesn't help against covid, but sun exposure does, interesting).

https://www.youtube.com/c/Medcram/videos

 

It seems like we're having a new wave of covid, and Omicron BA.5 is leading the charge.  Anecdotally, my wife, both kids, mother-in-law, and 2 family friends all got it during the last 2 weeks.  I was certainly exposed, but never tested positive despite having mild symptoms (very mild sore throat, headaches, eye aches, and loose stool).  They say the vaccines aren't very effective against BA.5.  I guess my immunity from prior illness protected me pretty well.  My mother-in-law got hit very hard, throat was so bad she could barely whisper and would/could not eat, mostly just slept around the clock, but we got her the new Merck treatment drug (molnupiravir) which apparently stops the viral replication, and she had a dramatic recovery within 24 hours, it might have even saved her life (she is elderly, morbidly obese, and takes about 15 different medications).  The Pfizer antiviral covid drug had even better results in clinical trials, but she could not take that one due to contraindicated meds she takes.

As for vaccines - I do not see myself getting any mRNA vaccine at this point, but I wouldn't rule out another  adenovirus vaccine if the data supports it.  Right now I don't see covid as a serious threat to me and the more exposure we have to it, the less it affects us, plus the new antiviral treatment options seem to be very effective.  My wife and kids just had the typical sore throat and fatigue for several days.   Mother-in-law is showing signs of cognitive impairment which concerns me, but things were heading in that direction before covid too so its hard to say what role covid has played.  She is forgetting to do things, forgetting where things are, forgetting when important things happened in the past, things have definitely gotten a lot worse since covid (she was triple vaccinated by the way).  Everyone in the fam has tested covid negative at this point and are back to normal activities.

[Saul]

11 hours ago, Gordo said:

Medcram has done some interesting vids lately related to both covid, immune boosting strategies, hot and cold exposure, vitamin D (supplement doesn't help against covid, but sun exposure does, interesting).

https://www.youtube.com/c/Medcram/videos

 

It seems like we're having a new wave of covid, and Omicron BA.5 is leading the charge.  Anecdotally, my wife, both kids, mother-in-law, and 2 family friends all got it during the last 2 weeks.  I was certainly exposed, but never tested positive despite having mild symptoms (very mild sore throat, headaches, eye aches, and loose stool).  They say the vaccines aren't very effective against BA.5.  I guess my immunity from prior illness protected me pretty well.  My mother-in-law got hit very hard, throat was so bad she could barely whisper and would/could not eat, mostly just slept around the clock, but we got her the new Merck treatment drug (molnupiravir) which apparently stops the viral replication, and she had a dramatic recovery within 24 hours, it might have even saved her life (she is elderly, morbidly obese, and takes about 15 different medications).  The Pfizer antiviral covid drug had even better results in clinical trials, but she could not take that one due to contraindicated meds she takes.

As for vaccines - I do not see myself getting any mRNA vaccine at this point, but I wouldn't rule out another  adenovirus vaccine if the data supports it.  Right now I don't see covid as a serious threat to me and the more exposure we have to it, the less it affects us, plus the new antiviral treatment options seem to be very effective.  My wife and kids just had the typical sore throat and fatigue for several days.   Mother-in-law is showing signs of cognitive impairment which concerns me, but things were heading in that direction before covid too so its hard to say what role covid has played.  She is forgetting to do things, forgetting where things are, forgetting when important things happened in the past, things have definitely gotten a lot worse since covid (she was triple vaccinated by the way).  Everyone in the fam has tested covid negative at this point and are back to normal activities.

Hi Gordo!

I tested positive for Covid on June 4.  Definitely Omicron, probably AB5.  I was fully vaccinated and double boosted with the authorized Pfizer mrna vaccine -- and had even gotten an experimental low dose of Pfizer's Phase 3 omicron mrna vaccine -- which is designed to protect against the original omicron variant.

I had typical omicron symptoms -- sore throat, nose drip.  No other symptoms -- no change in taste, smell, digestion, etc.  I took Paxlovid, starting June 5, and nose and throat were back to normal pretty quickly.

My wife had the same set of vaccinations that I did -- but she also got the high dose of Pfizers Phasae 3 omicron mrna vaccine.  She had only very mild symptoms, and didn't test positive.

  --  Saul

 

[BrianA]

Here is a good site for tracking covid waves, using sewage water virus concentration data. It has shown the current wave trending up since around April, now it's the overall 2nd biggest wave of the pandemic and still heading upwards. Below the first chart is a 2nd chart that breaks down the data by region.

 

https://biobot.io/data/

 

In other news the FDA is just about done approving the Novavax vaccine, which isn't based on mRNA tech. It won't be approved yet for use as a mix-n-match booster, but Novavax has said they will be pushing for allowing that eventually.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/covid-cdc-panel-recommends-novavax-vaccine-for-adults.html

[Saul]

I'm in Monroe County, New York State.  Happily, the likelihood of contracting Covid-19 is rated "Low".  It's "High" in NYC, where the omicron epidemic is at it's height in The US.

(Nevertheless, on June 4 I caught omicron, probably BA5.)

  --  Saul

 

[Todd Allen]

On 7/15/2022 at 8:37 AM, mccoy said:

I realized that some people are finding a new purpose in life, having engaged in a personal war against the global enemy, SARSCOV2. In their zeal, they are putting aside most scientific reasoning.

Lack of reasoning both scientific and especially basic logic was annoying but I was more angered by those infringing on the right to make personal health decisions, such as the many forms of coercion to take these poorly tested novel vaccines with fraudulently obtained emergency use authorizations and manufacturer liability waivers.

After my wife became severely ill for a few days after her 2nd dose of Moderna I made the carefully considered decision to delay vaccination.  After hearing of bad vaccination reactions among the small network of people with my disease and learning of so many alarming issues with the trials and approvals my decision firmed to never get it no matter the consequences.  The deaths by covid of vaccinated people with my disease and absurdities such as the notion that the unvaccinated put the vaccinated at risk strengthened my resolve.

My wife chose not to risk another severe reaction with a booster which nearly got her fired but her employer faced with losing too many employees relented and allowed the insufficiently vaccinated to keep working with weekly covid testing and rigorous use of employee supplied masks.  In April covid ripped through her workplace and most of her colleagues got sick and after a week she did too despite her always N95 masking.  When she was quite sick and it was confirmed covid by two positive test results I gave her a long kiss on the lips just to be sure I was maximally exposed since I had many previous minor exposures and never managed to catch it.  A couple days later I developed freakish muscle and joint pain but hardly any cold symptoms at all, maybe blew my nose a time or two and sipped some water when I had hints of throat scratchiness.  The muscle pain caused me to shorten my daily excercise regime of walks and weight lifting but only for 2 days.  I feel 100% vindicated in my belief that covid was never an emergency for myself.  And two of my unvaccinated friends came over to visit with us upon learning we had covid and neither managed to develop any symptoms at all despite having never been sick with covid.

I have zero personal fear of covid but I am still concerned about the possibility of over reaction to a future wave of sickness or death among the vulnerable with their misplaced faith in masks and these vaccines resulting in further discrimination against the healthy unvaccinated and possibly pushing us further toward economic and perhaps societal disaster.

[Gordo]

 

[BrianA]

NYC/Manhattan may become one of the first cities to add air quality/antiviral air technologies like UV to building codes on new construction and remodels.

Hope more cities follow along. Although this will have the side effect of raising building costs, which hurts poor people the most. On the upside there would be a lot less people getting sick.

 

In Response to Covid, Manhattan Borough President Seeks to Mandate Improved Indoor Air Quality Standards

https://www.gothamgazette.com/city/11325-covid-indoor-building-air-quality-standards-manhattan-levine

[Matt]

Prior Omicron infection protects against BA.4 and BA.5 variants

Catching an earlier version of SARS-CoV-2 — particularly Omicron — provides some immunity against the two fast-spreading lineages.

The researchers found that infection with a pre-Omicron variant prevented reinfection with BA.4 or BA.5 with an effectiveness of 28.3%, and prevented symptomatic reinfection with either subvariant with an effectiveness of 15.1%.

Prior infection with Omicron granted stronger protection: it was 79.7% effective at preventing BA.4 and BA.5 reinfection and 76.1% effective at preventing symptomatic reinfection.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01950-2

[Gordo]

https://news.sky.com/story/scientists-identify-how-the-coronavirus-spike-protein-causes-heart-damage-12658815

Scientists Identify How the coronavirus spike protein causes heart damage 

New research has uncovered "direct evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is toxic to heart muscle cells," according to its lead author.

Monday 25 July 2022 14:41, UK

[corybroo]

CRISPR technology demonstrates success in preventing and treating COVID

The mention of CRISPR made me wonder if this preventive treatment actually modifies the genome.  Given the short duration of it effect, I don’t think so.  Even if it is a “perfect” treatment, there is still the work of converting it to an inhalant rather than an IV.                     CB

The proof-of-concept experiments, conducted in mice, modified a currently available lipid nanoparticle to deliver a specific CRISPR/Cas13 mRNA that generates an inhospitable environment in the lungs for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

could lead to a prevention strategy that is not dependent on the ability of antibodies to recognize specific viral structures, so it would be effective regardless of how the virus mutates. The approach also has a treatment benefit, lowering the virus burden and forestalling an immune overreaction that can become deadly during infections.

Applying CRISPR technology—basically turning down genes to knock out certain misfunctions or, in this case, the function of CTSL (an enzyme that breaks down protein—called cathepsin L, )—Wang's team created a way to safely initiate CTSL inhibition.

The CRISPR/Cas13, delivered intravenously through a lipid nanoparticle, diminished CTSL in the animals' lungs, which effectively and safely blocked the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering cells and infecting the host.

The benefits of the approach as a COVID prevention were time-limited, lasting several days rather than the months or years that vaccines offer.

Not only did the approach prevent infection, it also showed potential as a treatment. Further experiments in COVID-infected animals showed that the CRISPR-loaded nanoparticle decreased the viral load in the lungs of animals with COVID infections and inhibited the immune storm that triggers lethal cases

[Gordo]

Study suggests SARS-CoV-2 virus enters the brain by using cells in the nose to make nanotube tunnels

Just an in vitro observation but pretty interesting nonetheless...