COVID-19 News and Discussions

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

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[caltrek]

The Cellular Powerhouse that Might be Behind Long Covid
by Miriam Fauzia
January 4, 2024

Introduction:

(Inverse) We’ve all experienced the overwhelming fatigue following a strenuous hike or an intense exercise class. But for the millions of people worldwide living with long Covid, this exhaustion doesn’t fade once you catch your breath or take a rest. The why behind this post-exertional malaise is a puzzle scientists are still trying to crack.

In a study published Thursday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers in the Netherlands point to the mitochondria, the cell’s energy powerhouse.

They found among individuals experiencing long Covid post-exertional malaise after exercise, their mitochondria appeared to function poorly compared to their healthy counterparts who were fully recovered from only a mild Covid-19 infection. This was based on blood samples and muscle biopsies taken before and after exercise, which also showed signs of tissue damage and misfolded proteins, called amyloid plaques, within the skeletal muscles of individuals with long Covid.

While the researchers caution in the paper that their findings are only “observational in nature, and therefore… cannot establish causality,” the new study provides a direction for further research and a glimmer of hope that we might one day uncover effective therapies and treatments.

Conclusion:

It’s important to note that while the evidence pointing to dysfunctional mitochondria is promising, this is a small study and still requires further validation. However, it could lend insight into other conditions where post-exertional malaise is an issue, like myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which affects between five to nine million Americans.

Read more of the Inverse article here: https://www.inverse.com/health/cell-mi ... -fatigue

Read a presentation of the results of the study as published in Nature Communications here: [url] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44432-3

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Hospitals Revive Mask Mandates as Respiratory Viruses Surge
by Adriel Bettelheim and Jason Millman
January 5, 2024

Introduction:

(Axios) Hospitals are beginning to revive mask mandates as the highly contagious COVID-19 variant known as JN.1 overspreads the United States and health systems grapple with a spike in other seasonal respiratory viruses.

Driving the news: There were almost 35,000 COVID hospitalizations across the country for the week ending Dec. 30, a 20.4% increase over the prior week, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures updated Friday.

• Confirmed flu cases are surging, up 17.5% over the previous week as of Dec. 30 as 38 states report high levels of respiratory illnesses.

• Health care facilities in New York, California, Illinois and Massachusetts have made masks mandatory among patients and providers, Reuters reported.

• Mass General Brigham, the biggest health system in Massachusetts, this week began requiring staff to mask during direct interactions with patients and "strongly encouraged" patients and visitors to do the same.

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2024/01/05/mask- ... ovid-jn1

[wjfox]

New, highly mutated COVID variants ‘Pirola’ BA.2.86 and JN.1 may cause more severe disease, new studies suggest

January 08, 2024 5:43 PM EST

Highly mutated COVID variant BA.2.86—close ancestor of globally dominant “Pirola” JN.1—may lead to more severe disease than other Omicron variants, according to two new studies published Monday in the journal Cell.

In one study, researchers from Ohio State University performed a variety of experiments using a BA.2.86 pseudovirus—a lab-created version that isn’t infectious. They found that BA.2.86 can fuse to human cells more efficiently and infect cells that line the lower lung—traits that may make it more similar to initial, pre-Omicron strains that were more deadly.

In the other study, researchers in Germany and France came to the same conclusion. “BA.2.86 has regained a trait characteristic of early SARS-CoV-2 lineages: robust lung cell entry,” the authors wrote. The variant “might constitute an elevated health threat as compared to previous Omicron sublineages,” they added.

[...]

“We cannot ignore the evidence” that Omicron may be evolving into a more severe form of itself, Dr. Shan-Lu Liu—professor and co-director of the Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program at Ohio State University, and lead author on the first study—told Fortune.

Increasing COVID hospitalizations in the U.S. and around the globe potentially bolster the argument, he added.

https://fortune.com/well/2024/01/08/cov ... -symptoms/

[caltrek]

Predominantly Plant-based or Vegetarian Diet Linked to 39% Lower Odds of COVID-19
January 9, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) A predominantly plant-based or vegetarian diet is linked to 39% lower odds of COVID-19 infection, finds research published in the open access journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health.

The findings prompt the researchers to suggest that a diet high in vegetables, legumes, and nuts, and low in dairy products and meat may help to ward off the infection.

Conclusion:

Nevertheless, they conclude: “In light of these findings and the findings of other studies, and because of the importance of identifying factors that can influence the incidence of COVID-19, we recommend the practice of following plant-based diets or vegetarian dietary patterns.”

"This research adds to the existing evidence, suggesting that diet may have a role in susceptibility to COVID-19 infection," comments Shane McAuliffe, Senior Visiting Academic Associate, NNEdPro Global Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, which co-owns BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health with BMJ.

"But this remains an area of research that warrants more rigorous and high quality investigation before any firm conclusions can be drawn about whether particular dietary patterns increase the risk of COVID-19 infection," he adds.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1030410

caltrek’s comment: One of the factors I think needs to be addressed: are followers of a plant based diet also more likely to follow other protocols such as wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding events where they are likely to be part of a large crowd, etc.?

[weatheriscool]

Nearly 10,000 died from COVID-19 last month, fueled by holiday gatherings and new variant, WHO says

Source: AP

Updated 8:58 PM EST, January 10, 2024

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the U.N. health agency said Wednesday holiday gatherings and the spread of the most prominent variant globally led to increased transmission of COVID-19 last month.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December, while hospital admissions during the month jumped 42% in nearly 50 countries — mostly in Europe and the Americas — that shared such trend information.

“Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable,” the World Health Organization director-general told reporters from its headquarters in Geneva.

He said it was “certain” that cases were on the rise in other places that haven’t been reporting, calling on governments to keep up surveillance and provide continued access to treatments and vaccines.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/covid-flu-re ... aba294d18c

[weatheriscool]

Novel nasal COVID-19 vaccine offers longer, better immunity than jabs
By Paul McClure
January 10, 2024
https://newatlas.com/medical/intranasal ... -immunity/

Researchers have developed an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine that enhances the immune system’s response to the virus, providing longer-lasting, greater protection than vaccine injections, even against new and emerging variants. The novel vaccine candidate could mean fewer boosters in future.

While the immediate threat of the COVID-19 pandemic has dissipated somewhat, with most returning to their pre-COVID lives, the continued rise of new virus variants means that vaccination is still necessary to protect the vulnerable in the community, such as the elderly and frail and those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Although many vaccines are available now that show protection in terms of significantly reducing infections, hospitalizations, deaths and virus transmission, breakthrough infections still occur, suggesting there are limitations to the duration of protection afforded by current vaccine regimes. So, in a study led by Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, researchers set about developing and testing a COVID-19 vaccine that’s delivered intranasally with the hope that it’s more effective.

“Our data show that, compared to subcutaneous vaccination, the intranasal route improved the response of certain immune cells, known as T cells, which reduced disease severity,” said Ashley St. John, corresponding author of the study. “Not only that, but it also resulted in a greater number of T central memory cells compared to subcutaneous vaccination, which could lead to longer-lasting protection.”

Given that SARS-CoV-2 infection is initiated at the mucosal surface of the nasal passages and lung airways, you’d expect that a vaccine delivered into the nose – right at the point where the virus enters the body – would be more effective than one injected into the skin or muscle.

As expected, the researchers found that after testing their vaccine candidate on hamsters, nasal administration boosted the antibody response in the mucosa. However, compared to subcutaneous vaccination, mucosal vaccination produced distinct effects on T cells and antibody responses.

Importantly, it produced longer-lasting mucosal and systemic immune protection against SARS-CoV-2 through the preferential induction of airway-resident T cells and central memory T (TCM) cells, which play a vital role in safeguarding the body when it's re-exposed to a virus. While antigen-specific TCMs were also present in the animals that received the subcutaneously administered vaccine and could be reactivated as expected, both their numbers and the magnitude of their cytokine production responses were heightened following mucosal vaccination. Cytokines are small proteins that are crucial in controlling the growth and activity of other immune and inflammatory cells.

The researchers’ use of adjuvants – substances that help create a stronger immune response – in the vaccine influenced the T cells’ characteristics, as well as their activation and cytokine production, with different adjuvants producing different T cell responses.

[wjfox]