COVID-19 News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

U.S. sees biggest rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations since December
Source: CBS News

Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by more than 10% across the country, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking the largest percent increase in this key indicator of the virus since December.

At least 7,109 admissions of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were reported for the week of July 15 nationwide, the CDC said late Monday, up from 6,444 during the week before.

Another important hospital metric has also been trending up in recent weeks: an average of 0.73% of the past week's emergency room visits had COVID-19 as of July 21, up from 0.49% through June 21. The new figures come after months of largely slowing COVID-19 trends nationwide since the last wave of infections over the winter.

"U.S. COVID-19 rates are still near historic lows after 7 months of steady declines.  Early indicators of COVID-19 activity (emergency department visits, test positivity and wastewater levels) preceded an increase in hospitalizations seen this past week," CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said in a statement.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-hosp ... -december/

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[weatheriscool]

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine safest, most effective for older adults, study says
Source: UPI

Aug. 2 (UPI) -- In examining real-world data on the long-term health of elderly patients who received the COVID-19 vaccine, researchers at Brown University and Boston-based Hebrew SeniorLife determined that the Moderna variety was the safest and most effective for older adults.

The study, in which scientists examined data from some 6 million patients who were administered coronavirus vaccines, was published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed online journal JAMA Network Open.

The study's investigators conducted the research as part of the IMPACT Collaboratory project that allowed massive monitoring of the long-term safety and effectiveness of the vaccines for Medicare beneficiaries in collaboration with CVS and Walgreens. The researchers probed data from millions of adults with an average age of 76, who were vaccinated using either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.

The researchers found that while the risk of serious adverse events with both vaccines was "very low," the Moderna vaccine saw a 4% lower risk for pulmonary embolism or a sudden blockage of blood vessels. The Moderna vaccine was also tied to a 15% lower risk of being diagnosed with COVID-19 compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. "Immunization with either mRNA vaccine is substantially better and safer than not being vaccinated at all," study lead author Daniel Harris said.

Read more: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2023/08 ... 690986746/

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

New Covid EG.5 variant: How worried should we be and what are the symptoms?

Friday 11 August 2023 18:01

A new sub-lineage of the Omicron COVID variant now makes up one in seven cases in the UK.

EG.5 and EG.5.1 are descendants of Omicron, which was first detected in South Africa in late-2021 before becoming widespread in the UK.

This week the World Health Organisation (WHO) designated EG.5 as a 'variant of interest' after it was reported in 51 countries.

https://news.sky.com/story/new-covid-va ... s-12937285

[wjfox]

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) stopped tracking Covid in March, but we can still get a rough estimate of cases from the ZOE app.

There's been a recent uptick in cases, although still pretty low compared to previous waves. Will be interesting to see how we cope around Christmas/winter.

https://health-study.joinzoe.com/data

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

Surprise COVID Discovery Helps Explain How Coronaviruses Jump Species
August 14, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) Unexpected new insights into how COVID-19 infects cells may help explain why coronaviruses are so good at jumping from species to species and will help scientists better predict how COVID-19 will evolve.

Throughout the pandemic, there has been much discussion of how COVID-19 infiltrates cells by hijacking a protein called ACE2 found on human cells. But the new research from the School of Medicine reveals that ACE2 isn’t required for infection. Instead, the virus has other means it can use to infect cells.

That versatility suggests that coronaviruses can use multiple “doors” to enter cells, potentially explaining how they are so good at infecting different species.

“The virus that causes COVID-19 uses ACE2 as the front door to infect cells, but we’ve found that if the front door is blocked, it can also use the back door or the windows,” said researcher Peter Kasson, MD, PhD, of UVA’s Departments of Molecular Physiology and Biomedical Engineering. “This means the virus can keep spreading as it infects a new species until it adapts to use a particular species’ front door. So we have to watch out for new viruses doing the same thing to infect us.”

Read more of the Eurekalert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/998423

For a technical explanation of the discovery: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articl ... 2SC06967A

[wjfox]

Long COVID is devastating and far from rare. As infections rise again, why are we still ignoring it?

Published August 13, 2023 10:00AM (EDT)

On May 11, 2023, the federal public health emergency declaration for COVID-19 came to an end. Only a few months later, and cases are already starting to surge across the country again . This decision was made despite emerging science surrounding long COVID – a condition in which symptoms of the disease linger for months or even years. While the general public ignores and downplays the risk of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, long COVID may well prove to be one of the biggest health problems of the 21st Century, presenting a real risk that a secondary pandemic of chronic illness will be overlooked.

While things seem to be getting back to normal for most people, those with long COVID are still suffering – and this suffering will likely continue on indefinitely if nothing is done to change course.

As previously reported by Salon, an alarming scientific pattern is revealing itself across intersecting areas of research, which suggests that long COVID could be linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's – having to do with the misfolding of alpha-synuclein proteins in the human nervous system. This misfolding is possibly triggered by an initial COVID infection and can lead to unwanted accumulation of alpha-synuclein and the formation of Lewy bodies, resulting in neurological disorders.

It's imperative that we follow this trail of science all the way through to the end. We can hope it's disproved, but ignoring it will leave us headed in the direction of disaster: debilitating, chronic, irreversible health conditions — or what some are calling a "mass-disabling event."

However, as a result of the Public Health Emergency Act expiring, COVID research and tracking has become more difficult. Coverage for tests, contact tracing, research funding, data reporting – it's all been thrown out the window, along with what little COVID precaution was left. Yet every COVID infection still puts an individual at risk of developing long COVID – which, according to the data, is increasingly likely among the less vaccinated and the more times you've contracted the virus.

https://www.salon.com/2023/08/13/long-i ... noring-it/

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

American study estimates 1.87 million excess deaths occurred in China two months after its zero COVID policy ended
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08- ... china.html
by Bob Yirka , Medical Xpress

A pair of public health researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Public Health Sciences Division, in Seattle, Washington, working with two independent colleagues, has found that in the two months after China halted its zero COVID policy at the end of 2022, 1.87 million excess deaths occurred in that country.

In their study, reported in JAMA Network Open, the group used obituary data from three Chinese universities along with other data obtained using the Baidu search engine regarding deaths in China likely due to COVID-19.

During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, deaths from the disease were remarkably lower in China than in other countries. This was due, it is believed, to officials in China enacting a program called the zero COVID policy that placed tight restrictions: People were ordered to quarantine, and authorities enacted a program of regular testing, closed many workplaces and sc

hools and instituted mandatory mask policies.

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Lockdowns, Masks, And Social Distancing "Unequivocally" Help Stop The Spread Of COVID
Dr. Russell Moul
August 25, 2023

Introduction:

The Royal Society has issued a report examining the effects of various non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) – not vaccines or medications – in reducing the spread of COVID-19, and their results are conclusive: wearing face masks, social distancing, and lockdowns “unequivocally” lowered the spread of the disease.

The aim of the report was to “assess what has been learnt about the effectiveness of the application of non-pharmaceutical interventions” during the pandemic “by assembling and examining evidence from researchers around the world”.

In particular, it looked at six groups of non-pharmaceutical interventions and examined their effectiveness. These included masks and face coverings; social distancing and lockdowns; test and trace initiatives with isolation; international travel restrictions; environmental controls (ventilation and screens); and communications (explaining how these other approaches work).

Although individual interventions showed positive but limited evidence of success when deployed alone, the report found that the positive effects became much more apparent when governments combined them. In addition, the researchers found that these interventions worked best when transmission levels were low, adding to the argument that it is best to try to limit infections during the early phases of a pandemic or as cases start to resurge.

Ultimately, the Royal Society’s report is a valuable assessment of the existing evidence on pandemic responses and contains important lessons for not only dealing with future resurgences of COVID-19, but also in our preparations for the next unknown disease. Forewarned is hopefully forearmed.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/lockdowns-m ... vid-70408


caltrek's comment: I think a part of any such analysis should include an assessment of the economic costs of the measures taken. This is especially true of lockdowns. Of course, part of the conclusions reached about whether the benefits justified the costs depend upon certain subjective philosophical conclusions. How much does one value the saving of a human life?

Ironically, the so-called "pro-life" people seem to place the lowest value on saving lives.

[raklian]

[Time_Traveller]

Flu jab and Covid booster programme brought forward in England due to new Covid variant

Wednesday 30 August 2023

This year's autumn flu and Covid-19 vaccine programme has been pulled forward by a month in England after a new Covid variant was identified.

The programmes will start in September as a precautionary measure as scientists from UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) examine the variant BA.2.86, or Pirola.

The new variant was first detected in the UK on Friday 18 August.

While the variant is not classified as a “variant of concern” scientists have said that it carries a high number of mutations.

The Department of Health and Social Care said that vaccinations in England will start on September 11 following advice from the UKHSA.

https://www.itv.com/news/2023-08-30/flu ... in-england

[wjfox]

COVID infection risk rises the longer you are exposed — even for vaccinated people

Rigorous evidence shows that significant contact with a person with SARS-CoV-2 is more likely to lead to transmission than a short encounter.

30 August 2023

Prolonged exposure in close proximity to someone with COVID-19 puts people at high risk of catching the disease, even if they’ve had both the disease and vaccinations against it, a study1 shows.

The work, published this month in Nature Communications, reveals that the greater a person’s exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the more vulnerable they are to infection, regardless of their vaccination status. This relationship has long been suspected, but the study is one of the first to document it.

The findings point to the importance of masking, improved ventilation and other measures that reduce exposure to the virus, says Akiko Iwasaki, an immunobiologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, who was not part of the study.

The finding “just makes intuitive sense”, she says. “But now there’s evidence that these [measures] are probably going to be important to help the vaccine-mediated immunity work for you.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586- ... wtab-en-gb

[weatheriscool]

New COVID variant BA.2.86 is now in 5 states. Here's what to know
Source: abc

It has been detected in Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.

By Mary Kekatos September 1, 2023, 1:57 PM

More health officials across the U.S. are reporting new cases of the COVID variant BA.2.86.

On Thursday, a genome sequencing team at Houston Methodist Hospital said it had identified the first case in Texas, a member of team wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. On the same day, Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff confirmed that one case has been detected in his state.

........................

There have been hundreds of variants of the original SARS-CoV-2 virus that led to the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, but most eventually disappear.

Public health experts around the world are keeping track of BA.2.86 because of its high number of mutations.



"It is starting to spread here in the United States, as well as in other parts of the world. It's clearly contagious, as are all of these subvariants of omicron," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told ABC News. "As we all know, these COVID viruses are not localized just to one country or another. They don't need a passport. They're capable of spreading ... and can spread rapidly around the world."....................

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/new-covid ... =102858143