COVID-19 News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

Coronavirus boosters targeting omicron get FDA blessing for fall push

Source: Washington Post

New omicron-targeting coronavirus booster shots are poised for rollout after being authorized Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration -- a move designed to improve protection against severe illness and death during a potential rise in covid-19 cases this fall and winter. The boosters, reformulated to take aim at the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants dominant in the United States, are scheduled to be reviewed by advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday.

If the outside experts recommend the shots, and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky agrees, some boosters may be available starting this weekend, with more showing up in pharmacies, doctors offices and clinics after Labor Day. The emergency authorizations of the boosters -- one by Moderna and the other by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech -- mark the start of a high-stakes effort by the Biden administration to deploy a more muscular defense against a virus that has evolved drastically over the last 2 years and is still killing an average of 400 to 500 people a day in the United States.

The changes are the first since the mRNA vaccines debuted in December 2020. Scientists and physicians wonder whether the American public, which has been slow to embrace boosters, will show more enthusiasm for the newest crop of shots, which will be free to the public. Some experts, including Paul A. Offit, one of the FDA's most prominent vaccine advisers, have criticized the agency for moving too quickly, saying it is not clear the new booster is better than the current one and warning the agency's heavy reliance on mouse studies could fuel skepticism.

"We already have a problem with booster acceptance," Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, said. If that is exacerbated by the paucity of human data for the new shots, "I think that would be unfortunate." Peter Marks, top vaccine official at the FDA, defended the agency's approach, saying the mRNA vaccines have a strong safety record. And while cases are decreasing now, he said, some experts worry there could be a sharp rise in infections by Thanksgiving, as people flock indoors and immunity continues to wane. Waiting for additional data could cause a substantial delay in releasing the boosters, he said. "We have constantly been behind this virus, and we had to think creatively about how to safely catch up," Marks said in an interview before the authorizations. "If we are going to intervene, the time is ripe to do it now."

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2 ... ter-shots/

[raklian]

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[andmar74]

Not death over a mask but a vaccine.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[Ken_J]

I do find myself wondering if there will be something like a follow along degenerative disorder like E.B. virus is linked to a massive increase in likelyhood of having MS.

with symptoms of olfactory disruption (a symptom seen often in some forms of dementia) and taste loss, as well as heart rate issues, fatigue, and brainfog... there is a form of dementia called vascular dementia that occurs with blood pressure issues. It also can result in micro strokes that do less noticed deterioration over time. I would not be at all surprised to learn that there is something like the link between EBV and MS but in this case being neurodegenerative disorders like dementia, alzhiemers and parkinsons percipitated by damaged circulatory systems of the brain.

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

New Antiviral Therapy May Block COVID-19 Transmission
September 9, 2022

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) SAN FRANCISCO, CA—By the time you test positive for COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has already taken up residence in your respiratory system. With each breath, you expel invisible viral particles into the air—a process known as viral shedding. Existing drugs aimed at treating COVID-19, even when they address symptoms of the virus, do little to quell viral shedding.

Researchers at Gladstone Institutes previously developed a novel approach for treating infectious diseases: a single-dose, intranasal treatment that protects against severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.

In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they show that this new treatment, called a therapeutic interfering particle (TIP), also decreases the amount of virus shed from infected animals and limits transmission of the virus.

“Historically, it has been exceptionally challenging for antivirals and vaccines to limit the transmission of respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2,” says Gladstone Senior Investigator Leor Weinberger, PhD, senior author of the new paper. “This study shows that a single, intranasal dose of TIPs reduces the amount of virus transmitted, and protects animals that came into contact with that treated animal.”

“To our knowledge, this is the only single-dose antiviral that reduces not only symptoms and severity of COVID-19, but also shedding of the virus,” says Sonali Chaturvedi, PhD, a research investigator at Gladstone and first author of the paper.
.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/964306

[caltrek]

COVID-19 Drugs Persist in Wastewater and May Pose Risk to Aquatic Organisms
September 9, 2022

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Certain drugs used to treat COVID-19 patients — including remdesivir, dexamethasone and antibiotics for associated bacterial infections — persist through wastewater treatment and may occur in waterways at levels high enough to negatively affect aquatic organisms, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State. The findings highlight the broad utility of wastewater surveillance as a tool for monitoring the effects of human health on water quality and ecosystem health.

According to Heather Preisendanz, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, Penn State, over-the counter and prescription-strength pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics and pain relievers, are excreted by humans, and many are known to persist through wastewater treatment plants and into nearby waterways, where they can negatively affect aquatic organisms.

“This knowledge spurred concerns that increased use of pharmaceuticals during the pandemic could also lead to increased concentrations of these drugs in wastewater treatment plant effluent and potentially harm aquatic life,” said Preisendanz.

The team — which included scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture — collected weekly influent (incoming) and effluent (outgoing) samples from two wastewater treatment plants in central Pennsylvania between May 2020 and May 2021. One of the sites includes a hospital in its service area.
The researchers analyzed the influent at both wastewater treatment plants for the virus SARS-CoV-2, as well as the influent and effluent for a variety of medications that may have been used to treat COVID-19. Their findings published in the Journal of Environmental Quality.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/964291

[weatheriscool]

New antiviral therapy may block COVID-19 transmission

by Gladstone Institutes
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-09- ... ssion.html

By the time you test positive for COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has already taken up residence in your respiratory system. With each breath, you expel invisible viral particles into the air—a process known as viral shedding. Existing drugs aimed at treating COVID-19, even when they address symptoms of the virus, do little to quell viral shedding.

Researchers at Gladstone Institutes previously developed a novel approach for treating infectious diseases: a single-dose, intranasal treatment that protects against severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.

In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they show that this new treatment, called a therapeutic interfering particle (TIP), also decreases the amount of virus shed from infected animals and limits transmission of the virus.

"Historically, it has been exceptionally challenging for antivirals and vaccines to limit the transmission of respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2," says Gladstone Senior Investigator Leor Weinberger, Ph.D., senior author of the new paper. "This study shows that a single, intranasal dose of TIPs reduces the amount of virus transmitted, and protects animals that came into contact with that treated animal."

"To our knowledge, this is the only single-dose antiviral that reduces not only symptoms and severity of COVID-19, but also shedding of the virus," says Sonali Chaturvedi, Ph.D., a research investigator at Gladstone and first author of the paper.

[wjfox]

[Xyls]

Mostly Q-Anon/Antivaxx types.
At this point I'm not sympathetic, the information is out there. A decrease of the conspiracist population should be considered a win on the whole. In fact, I wish they would stop admitting these idiots to hospital and using up our depleted health resources. There are people with other conditions like cancer that need to be prioritized now.

Whether they get vaxxed or not good for the non-delusional at this point.

Republican voter base continues to shrink.

[caltrek]

The New COVID Subvariant BA.4.6 Is Spreading. Here's What We Know
by Manal Mohammed
September 15, 2022

Introduction:

(Science Alert) BA.4.6, a subvariant of the Omicron COVID variant which has been quickly gaining traction in the US, is now confirmed to be spreading in the UK.

The latest briefing document on COVID variants from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) noted that during the week beginning August 14, BA.4.6 accounted for 3.3 percent of samples in the UK. It has since grown to make up around 9 percent of sequenced cases.

Similarly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BA.4.6 now accounts for more than 9 percent of recent cases across the US. The variant has also been identified in several other countries around the world.

So what do we know about BA.4.6, and should we be worried? Let's take a look at the information we have so far.

BA.4.6 is a descendant of the BA.4 variant of Omicron. BA.4 was first detected in January 2022 in South Africa and has since spread around the world alongside the BA.5 variant.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-new-c ... t-we-know

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

Report Reviews "Massive Societal Failure" Seen During World's COVID Response
by Tom hale
September 15, 2022

Introduction:

(IFL Science) The shockingly high death toll from COVID-19 is "both a profound tragedy and a massive global failure at multiple levels," says a new report by the Lancet COVID-19 Commission.

A huge interdisciplinary team of researchers reviewed evidence from the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic to see what could have been done better and how we can better prepare for the next global disease outbreak.

According to the report, there have been 6.9 million confirmed deaths and 17.2 million estimated deaths from COVID-19. They argue that this enormous death toll is the result of multiple failures at pretty much every level of society, from international authorities right down to the general public.

"The staggering human toll of the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic is a profound tragedy and a massive societal failure at multiple levels," said Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Chair of the Commission, in a statement sent to IFLScience.

“We must face hard truths—too many governments have failed to adhere to basic norms of institutional rationality and transparency; too many people have protested basic public health precautions, often influenced by misinformation; and too many nations have failed to promote global collaboration to control the pandemic."

Many individual types of failure are further reviewed in the article.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/-massive-so ... ort-65350

[weatheriscool]

Biden on '60 Minutes': 'The pandemic is over'
Source: Politico

President Joe Biden said “the pandemic is over” in discussing Covid during an interview that aired on Sunday evening on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

“The pandemic is over,” the president told Scott Pelley as they talked last week at the Detroit Auto Show. “We still have a problem with Covid. We’re still doing a lot of work on it ... but the pandemic is over. if you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing.”

Despite Biden’s statement, Covid has continued to exact a toll in the United States and around the world. The John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center lists more than 2 million Covid cases in the country in the last 28 days, with hundreds dying from the disease every day.

Biden’s insistence on Sunday night that the pandemic is over caught several of his own health officials by surprise. The declaration was not part of his planned remarks ahead of the “60 Minutes” interview, two administration officials familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/1 ... 7423?wdqwd

[wjfox]

[Ken_J]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 140850.htm

Older people who were infected with COVID-19 show a substantially higher risk -- as much as 50% to 80% higher than a control group -- of developing Alzheimer's disease within a year, according to a study of more than 6 million patients 65 and older.