Covid-19 News

Japan supercomputer shows doubling masks offers little help preventing viral spread

The findings in part contradict recent recommendations from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that two masks were better than one

https://news.google.com/articl…=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

Japanese supercomputer simulations showed that wearing two masks gave limited benefit in blocking viral spread compared with one properly fitted mask.

The findings in part contradict recent recommendations from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that two masks were better than one at reducing a person's exposure to the coronavirus.

Researchers used the Fugaku supercomputer to model the flow of virus particles from people wearing different types and combinations of masks, according to a study released on Thursday by research giant Riken and Kobe University.

Using a single surgical-type mask, made of non-woven material, had 85% effectiveness in blocking particles when worn tightly around the nose and face. Adding a polyurethane mask on top boosted the effectiveness to just 89%.

Wearing two non-woven masks isn't useful because air resistance builds up and causes leakage around the edges.

Recombinant turkey coronavirus: are some S gene structures of gammacoronaviruses especially prone to exchange?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33662661/

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to characterize the atypical turkey coronavirus strain detected in a commercial meat turkey farm in Poland. Using the viral metagenomics approach, we obtained a complete genome sequence of coronavirus, isolated from duodenum samples of animals suffering from acute enteritis. The nearly full-length genome consisted of 27,614 nucleotides and presented a typical genetic organization similar to that of Polish infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) or French turkey coronavirus/guinea fowl coronavirus strains. Phylogenetic analysis based on both the full-length genome and the whole S gene suggested that gCoV/Tk/Poland/G160/2016 is related to turkey and guinea fowl coronavirus and not IBV strains. Sequence analysis of the genome revealed unique genetic characteristics of the present strain, demonstrating that the virus emerged as a result of the exchange of the S gene of IBV GI-19 lineage with the S gene related to the North American turkey coronaviruses and French guinea fowl coronaviruses. Analysis of earlier, similar recombinations suggests that both the S gene structures may be particularly mobile, willingly switching between different gammacoronavirus genomic backbones. The identified recombinant caused a severe course of the disease, which may imply that it is in the first phase of breaking the barriers between different bird species.

COVID-19’s death toll in northern Italy was staggering. Did air pollution play a role?

https://www.latimes.com/world-…n-possible-role?_amp=true

BERGAMO, Italy — When Chiara Geroldi takes off her makeup at night, she can see the pollution that comes off with it. Her terrace is full of dust that needs to be swept constantly, and her hair gets dirty faster outside.

“Bergamo is a highly polluted area,” said Geroldi, 50, who works as an archivist. “It’s a very industrial city. The air isn’t good here, especially in winter.”

For decades, Bergamo and other picturesque cities in the Po River Valley in northern Italy have suffered some of the worst air quality in Europe. Pollution has long been considered a leading cause of cancer in the area, which is full of factories and highways crowded with trucks hauling commercial goods. Many of the homes are off the main gas grid, meaning that, in winter, wood-burning and pellet stoves release particulate matter into the stagnant air.

Now, scientists are investigating whether one longstanding health crisis has played a role in making a new one worse. Early research suggests that long-term exposure to microscopic particles abundant in Bergamo’s dirty air — and that are also in Los Angeles’ — is associated with greater risk of death from COVID-19, which is, after all, a respiratory disease.

Indian scientists reveal new mutations, proteins of novel coronavirus

https://www.deccanherald.com/a…l-coronavirus-958069.html

A studyfrom the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has identified multiple mutations and unique proteins in isolates of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

The recent study, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, has also shown that the host produces several proteins of their own as their body launches an immunological defence in response to the viral attack, the Bengaluru-based IISc said in a statement on Thursday.

To better understand how the virus is mutating and its protein biology (proteins are made using genetic information), an IISc team led by Utpal Tatu, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, has carried out a comprehensive proteo-genomic investigation a series of analyses of SARS-CoV-2 isolates. The isolates or viral samples were recovered from nasal secretions of consenting Covid-19 positive individuals here. The genomic analysis was done using what molecular biologists like Tatu call next generation sequencing (NGS), a technology that allows for rapid sequencing of the entire genome

Delayed Large Local Reactions to mRNA-1273 Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2

https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2102131

Baden et al.1 report on a phase 3 clinical trial of the mRNA-1273 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, and they provide information on immediate injection-site reactions, which were observed in 84.2% of the participants after the first dose. The trial also showed that delayed injection-site reactions (defined in that trial as those with an onset on or after day occurred in 244 of the 30,420 participants (0.8%) after the first dose and in 68 participants (0.2%) after the second dose. These reactions included erythema, induration, and tenderness. The reactions typically resolved over the following 4 to 5 days. However, these reactions were not further characterized, and links between reactions after the first dose and those after the second dose were not provided to inform clinical care.

We have also observed delayed large local reactions to the mRNA-1273 vaccine, with a median onset on day 8 (range, 4 to 11) after the first dose. These reactions had a variable appearance (Figure 1). Here, we report on a series of 12 patients with these reactions, all of which appeared near the injection site after complete resolution of the initial local and systemic symptoms associated with vaccination. Five of the reactions were grade 3 plaques (≥10 cm in diameter) (Table 1). Some patients had concurrent systemic adverse effects, and among these patients, 2 had additional skin findings. Most patients received treatment for their symptoms (e.g., with ice and antihistamines). Some patients received glucocorticoids (topical, oral, or both), and 1 patient received antibiotic therapy for presumptive cellulitis. The symptoms resolved a median of 6 days after onset (range, 2 to 11).

Our suspicion of delayed-type or T-cell–mediated hypersensitivity was supported by skin-biopsy specimens obtained from a patient with a delayed large local reaction who was not among the 12 patients described here. Those specimens showed superficial perivascular and perifollicular lymphocytic infiltrates with rare eosinophils and scattered mast cells (see Fig. S1 in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this letter at NEJM.org).

Is ivermectin ready to be part of a public health policy for COVID-19 prophylaxis?

https://www.thelancet.com/jour…-5370(21)00024-9/fulltext

Ivermectin has been extensively used as antiparasitic, approved by the FDA and other agencies to be administered in a single dose of 200 mcg/kg to treat onchocerciasis, strongyloidiasis, and lymphatic filaria, among other parasitoses. A study by Caly et al. reported that ivermectin inhibited the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and suggested to develop further investigation in vivo. [4] Some argue that the existing clinical series support safety and effectiveness, but doses and posology vary between studies and controversies remain, making it necessary to develop more research with improved methodology, controlling for confounding variables.

The most recent study on ivermectin is a pilot clinical trial by Chaccour et al., [5] who found no significant differences in detection of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA from nasopharyngeal swabs at days four and seven after treating with a single oral dose of 400 mcg/Kg of ivermectin (n = 12) or placebo (n = 12). All patients were young adults with non-severe COVID-19, no risk factors and no more than 72 h from symptom onsets. Despite this negative result, there seemed to be a tendency to reduce viral load and an early recovery from hyposmia/anosmia in the treated group. Adverse events were not statistically significant, and authors suggest evaluating ivermectin for early COVID-19 treatment and as pre-exposure prophylaxis in high-risk groups.

Ivermectin has proven to be a safe drug in periodical mass doses, [6] even at higher doses than recommended. [7] However, there are rare reports of severe adverse effects. Veit et al. reported in 2006 the case of a 20-year-old patient with microfilaria symptoms, treated with a single dose of ivermectin of 300 ug/kg, who developed severe hepatitis, probably induced by that single dose. [8] The most serious adverse reactions have been reported in persons infected with microfilariae of Loa loa, who developed several grades of encephalopathy after ivermectin. [9]

The chronic use of ivermectin has not been studied enough. There is concern that the recommendation of a weekly dose as a means of prevention combines with the excess of confidence among the population, and that would lead to neglect in biosecurity measures. Ivermectin has been used empirically for the treatment of outpatients and hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Honduras, as in other regions of the world. Now, the country is facing an indiscriminate use for prophylactic purposes in healthy population. Most of the time, it is administered without medical prescription and with no pharmacovigilance.

For Honduras, a low middle-income country, the proposal of a low-cost prophylactic agent for COVID-19 is appealing. In the face of a virus with a high mutation rate that could lead to loss of effectiveness of vaccines, worldwide research of therapies for COVID-19 such as ivermectin should not be idled. Although ivermectin seems promising, it should not be used massively and for long periods without medical prescription until results of well-designed clinical trials are completed, and in the case of positive results, it must be administered in the recommended posology.

Meanwhile, the knowledge available about the pathophysiology of the disease and its main risk factors, support the strengthening of public health policies regarding prevention, biosafety measures, large-scale testing, and adequate epidemiological surveillance. [10] There is still no drug to replace that

This is the study refered to in previous post. Remember when reading the times article lancet points out decreased viral load, while the times headline gives the impression that ivermectin fails.

Popular Drug Does Not Alleviate Mild Covid-19 Symptoms, Study Finds

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/0…ivermectin-treatment.html

In the new study, Dr. López-Medina and his colleagues randomly assigned more than 400 people who had recently developed mild Covid-19 symptoms to receive a five-day course of either ivermectin or a placebo. They found that Covid-19 symptoms lasted about 10 days, on average, among people who received the drug, compared with 12 days among those who received the placebo, a statistically insignificant difference.

The new trial adds much-needed clinical data to the debate over using the drug to treat Covid-19, said Dr. Regina Rabinovich, a global health researcher at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who was not involved in the study.

Notice the article never mentions the decreased viral load in the ivermectin group vs control

I'm not sure the so called tweaking of the vaccine will make a major difference without targeting the n protein. That would mean a whole new vaccine, without trials?

Identification and characterization of a silent mutation in RNA binding domain of N protein coding gene from SARS-CoV-2

https://bmcresnotes.biomedcent…0.1186/s13104-020-05439-x

Discussion

The comparison of both CDS and protein sequences for subject from Iran and query from Wuhan, China by the MSA method revealed that the subject sequence from Iran is the partial RNA binding domain of N protein from SARS-CoV-2. The studies revealed that N protein is phosphorylated, which triggers the binding affinity of N protein to the RNA genome of SARS-CoV-2 [5, 20]. In addition, both TRS and GPS are considered as the main factors of binding of N protein to the viral RNA. The further analysis revealed that the CDS subject sequence from Iran contains a silent mutation, which changed “TTG” in the CDS query sequence to “CTG”. Although both “TTG” and “CTG” encode for leucine, the occurrence of mutation in the middle T in “CTG” with the equal probability will change the encoded leucine (Leu139) to proline (Pro139).

Quote from JedRothwell

People here have the story exactly backwards. They think the government is stopping the use of this drug, when in fact it is ordering the use of the drug.

Jed! only you twist the story. There is no FDA recommendation for teh use of Ivermectin!

Quote from Fm1

Delayed Large Local Reactions to mRNA-1273 Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2

This is the moderna vaccine....Looks scary!

Quote from Fm1

Ivermectin has proven to be a safe drug in periodical mass doses, [6] even at higher doses than recommended. [7] However, there are rare reports of severe adverse effects. Veit et al. reported in 2006 the case of a 20-year-old patient with microfilaria symptoms, treated with a single dose of ivermectin of 300 ug/kg, who developed severe hepatitis, probably induced by that single dose. [8] The most serious adverse reactions have been reported in persons infected with microfilariae of Loa loa, who developed several grades of encephalopathy after ivermectin. [9]

Again Lancet tries to help the mafia. I think Lancet is no longer serious journal. These people intentionally mix up drug effects with side effects. The very rare reactions Lancet cites happen with all antihelmic drugs if a patient is carrying to many damaging worm precursors. E.g. Praziquantel can lead to short time schizophrenia due to local nerve excitation from decaying worm precursors. In the western world I would expect "0" cases with Ivermectin but thousands with Praziquantel.

Lancet also does not show a good study just picks a no brainer one.

Out of curiosity - what would be your personal ranking of these leading journals? Which is not really serious or sponsored by big pharma mafia? Just to get an idea, since you seem to have great and deep knowledge. Thanks!

Quote from Wyttenbach

Jed! only you twist the story. There is no FDA recommendation for teh use of Ivermectin!

This is the moderna vaccine....Looks scary!

Again Lancet tries to help the mafia. I think Lancet is no longer serious journal. These people intentionally mix up drug effects with side effects. The very rare reactions Lancet cites happen with all antihelmic drugs if a patient is carrying to many damaging worm precursors. E.g. Praziquantel can lead to short time schizophrenia due to local nerve excitation from decaying worm precursors. In the western world I would expect "0" cases with Ivermectin but thousands with Praziquantel.

Lancet also does not show a good study just picks a no brainer one.

Lancet is not the point, it's the difference in reporting. New York times headline reports failure while lancet acknowledged decreased viral load. As well as questionable trial methods. The public reads the times, I wonder how many the lancet? It's all about deceiving the public with half truths.

Quote from zorud

Out of curiosity -

I do not feed trolls! Lancet has noe repeatedly published fraud for helping its equity holders and managers friends.

But seem you like Bild where this behavior is quite natural...

In Oregon, Scientists Find a Virus Variant With a Worrying Mutation

https://news.google.com/articl…=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

Scientists in Oregon have spotted a homegrown version of a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus that first surfaced in Britain — but now combined with a mutation that may make the variant less susceptible to vaccines.

The researchers have so far found just a single case of this formidable combination, but genetic analysis suggested that the variant had been acquired in the community and did not arise in the patient.

“We didn’t import this from elsewhere in the world — it occurred spontaneously,” said Brian O’Roak, a geneticist at Oregon Health and Science University who led the work. He and his colleagues participate in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s effort to track variants, and they have deposited their results in databases shared by scientists.

The variant originally identified in Britain, called B.1.1.7, has been spreading rapidly across the United States, and accounts for at least 2,500 cases in 46 states. This form of the virus is both more contagious, and more deadly, than the original version, and is expected to account for most infections in America in a few weeks.

The new version that surfaced in Oregon has the same backbone, but also a mutation — E484K, or “Eek” — seen in variants of the virus circulating in South Africa, Brazil and New York City.

Lab studies and clinical trials in South Africa indicate that the Eek mutation renders the current vaccines less effective by blunting the body’s immune response. (The vaccines still work, but the findings are worrying enough that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have begun testing new versions of their vaccines designed to defeat the variant found in South Africa.)

The B.1.1.7 variant with Eek also has emerged in Britain, designated as a “variant of concern” by scientists. But the virus identified in Oregon seems to have evolved independently, Dr. O’Roak said.

Dr. O’Roak and his colleagues found the variant among coronavirus samples collected by the Oregon State Public Health Lab across the state, including some from an outbreak in a health care setting. Of the 13 test results they analyzed, 10 turned out to be B.1.1.7 alone, and one the combination.

A future COVID-19 vaccine could be squirted up the nose. The nasal spray could stop transmission, especially in kids.

https://news.google.com/articl…=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

It's an intuitive idea: Wouldn't it be best to administer a COVID-19 vaccine in the place it first invades the body?

Altimmune, a biotech startup based in Maryland, is trying to develop a COVID-19 vaccine that gets squirted into your nose, not jabbed in your arm.

"Delivering vaccines to the sight of first exposure is an advantage," Dr. Buddy Creech, who directs the Vanderbilt University vaccine-research program and has worked with Altimmune, told Insider. "Typically, you don't get COVID-19 in the deltoid muscle of your arm — you get it in your nose, eyes, and throat. So it makes sense we'd want to at least consider a vaccine that can generate some immunity in mucosal orifices."

The three COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the US are, of course, all shots. Though they appear to curb transmission, it's unlikely that they stop it. An intranasal vaccine could create an extra line of defense, since it would prompt the immune system to produce antibodies that block infection locally in the mucous membranes of your nose and throat. That would prevent transmission by stopping viral shedding from those orifices.

Altimmune last month launched a 180-person trial of its intranasal vaccine, called AdCOVID, to test how safe the vaccine is, what side effects it prompts, and what levels of antibodies and T-cells it produces. Participants range in age from 18 to 55. The company expects to have data in the second quarter of this year.

Quote from Fm1

In Oregon, Scientists Find a Virus Variant With a Worrying Mutation

Ivermectin

seems likely to be effective against most viral variants..so far

of course the human variants are the main problem...WHO FDA NIH.

so far IVM is not effective with these..

Quote from RobertBryant

Ivermectin

seems likely to be effective against most viral variants..so far

of course the human variants are the main problem...WHO FDA NIH.

so far IVM is not effective with these..

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Dr been is a test study in progress. He is treating his own covid symptoms and relaying real time data, following the I MASK+ Protocol. He has continually provided valuable information thru the pandemic while still seeing patients . The cartoons are cool too

Brazil variant can reinfect virus survivors; COVID-19 vaccine antibodies pass into breast milk

https://news.yahoo.com/amphtml…-survivors-210105030.html

A coronavirus variant circulating in Brazil is likely able to reinfect people who survived infections with earlier versions of the coronavirus, new data suggest. The variant that emerged in Brazil, called P.1, carries a mutation that is already known to make a variant prevalent in South Africa harder to treat with antibodies and harder to prevent with available vaccines. New data suggest that in many recovered patients, immunity to earlier versions of the virus will not afford immunity to P.1. Researchers tested the neutralizing ability of antibodies in plasma samples taken from survivors of COVID-19 caused by earlier versions of the virus. The plasma "had 6-fold less neutralizing capacity" against the P.1 variant than against earlier virus versions, the researchers reported on Monday ahead of peer-review on a preprint server belonging to The Lancet journal. "Lower neutralization capacity of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and partial immunity against new variants suggests that reinfection could occur in convalescent or even vaccinated individuals," the authors said. In a separate paper posted on Wednesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review, some of the same researchers estimated that among every 100 survivors of COVID-19 due to earlier virus versions, 25-to-60 could become reinfected if exposed to the P.1 variant because their antibodies could not protect them. As of Thursday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control of Prevention, there have been 13 cases of COVID-19 due to P.1 in the United States. (https://bit.ly/2PyNFGt; https://bit.ly/3qeqq1a)

COVID-19 vaccine antibodies pass into breast milk

COVID-19 antibodies induced by vaccines from Pfizer Inc/BioNTech and Moderna Inc can pass into breast milk, a small study suggests, although it is not clear yet how long the antibodies will be present. Six breastfeeding mothers who planned to receive both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines provided researchers with milk samples before and after vaccination, with the last sample collected two weeks after the second shot. None of the women had been infected with the coronavirus. A week after the first shot, all of the women had COVID-19 antibodies in their breast milk. Antibody levels fell slightly afterward and then sharply increased after the second shot. The two vaccines were similarly effective in inducing the antibodies, although antibody levels varied from woman to woman, the research team reported on Tuesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. "Further research is needed on the longevity of the antibody response in breast milk, as well as the magnitude and duration of effect on infant immunity to the virus," the researchers said. (https://bit.ly/3kNOPJP)

Neurologic issues common in hospitalized children with COVID-19

Most children and adolescents are spared from severe COVID-19, but among those who do require hospitalization, temporary neurologic effects are common, researchers found. In their study of 1,695 patients age 21 or younger hospitalized for COVID-19 or a COVID-19-related illness known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome, 365 – or 22% - had neurologic complications, including 43 (12%) with life-threatening neurologic disorders such as strokes and central nervous system infections. Other neurologic effects included seizures, headache, weakness, loss of smell and taste, and altered awareness or confusion. Neurologic involvement in most patients was transient and resolved by the time they left the hospital, according to a report published on Friday in JAMA Neurology. Because they only studied hospitalized children, the range and rate of neurologic complications may be an underestimate of the actual issue, the authors said. They said more research is needed both to determine the true incidence and to track these children over the long term.

Exclusive: Oxford study indicates AstraZeneca effective against Brazil variant, source says

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2AX1NS

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Preliminary data from a study conducted at the University of Oxford indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC is effective against the P1, or Brazilian, variant, a source with knowledge of the study told Reuters on Friday.

The data indicates that the vaccine will not need to be modified in order to protect against the variant, which is believed to have originated in the Amazonian city of Manaus, said the source, who requested anonymity as the results have not yet been made public.

The source did not provide the exact efficacy of the vaccine against the variant. They said the full results of the study should be released soon, possibly in March.

Ok my band of brothers is this still just a coincidence. I posted a chart of solar flares coinciding with each wave we have experienced and again on Feb. 20 the sun sent another. On the 26th the CDC reported the steep decline was leveling off and a slight rise in case. Coincidence? Not according to hope simpson!!!!

Sunspots, Solar Flares, Auroras: Space Weather Getting Spicy

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2AX1NS

Our local star is entering the more active phase of its solar cycle, boosting the potential for both possible disruptions and awesome displays of the aurora borealis and aurora australis.

The sun unleashed a significant coronal mass ejection (CME) on Feb. 20, which delivered earth a glancing blow of charged particles a few days later. While no strong geomagnetic storms or communications disruptions occurred as a result, some lucky observers in high latitudes still got a decent light show.

CDC director warns recent decline in U.S. Covid cases may have stalled as variants spread

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/2…d-as-variants-spread.html

KEY POINTS

The decline in Covid-19 cases reported in the U.S. since early January may be flattening, the head of the CDC said Friday.

The recent shift may be a sign that new, highly transmissible variants of the coronavirus are beginning to take hold, Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.

Walensky said states shouldn’t begin to lift restrictions on businesses and gatherings given the recent leveling-off in cases.