COVID-19 News and Discussions

[wjfox]

Long-COVID study reveals immunological improvement two years after infection

Yesterday

Immune abnormalities have largely resolved at 24 months in a cohort of patients with long COVID, providing optimism that long COVID can resolve over time.

Biomarkers for long COVID that were present in patients at eight months have largely resolved by 24 months among a cohort of people who contracted COVID-19 during Australia’s first wave.

Jointly led by the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney and St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and published today in Nature Communications, the research provides optimistic insights to suggest that long-COVID abnormalities can resolve over time.

The ADAPT study followed people who contracted COVID-19 during Australia’s first wave, as well as a matched control group, for up to two years. It combines systematic self-reported health information collected from patients with detailed analysis of blood specimens in the laboratory.

In January 2022, the Kirby Institute research team were the first globally to show that long COVID clinical symptoms were consistent with biomarkers showing a sustained inflammatory response at eight months following infection, providing a clear biological basis for the syndrome of long COVID.

https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2 ... -infection

[firestar464]

Significant global variation in COVID-19 guidelines: Most countries recommend at least one treatment that doesn't work

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04- ... lines.html

[Time_Traveller]

Scientists report longest known ‘extreme’ Covid infection in 72-year-old man

6 hours ago

Doctors reported the case of a 72-year-old patient in the Netherlands who suffered from the novel coronavirus infection for 613 days, marking the longest SARS-CoV-2 infection duration to date.

They discovered extended evolution of the virus in the patient with compromised immunity in whom a highly mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2 evolved.

While healthy patients infected with the coronavirus tend to clear it within a period of days to weeks, immunocompromised individuals may develop a persistent infection with prolonged viral replication and evolution.

The latest findings highlight the importance of close genomic surveillance of the virus in this subpopulation of patients.

“The duration of SARS-CoV-2 infection in this described case is extreme, but prolonged infections in immunocompromised patients are much more common compared to the general community,” doctors wrote.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/scie ... 33826.html

[Time_Traveller]

AstraZeneca withdraws Covid-19 vaccine worldwide, citing surplus of newer vaccines

Wed 8 May 2024 03.18 BST

AstraZeneca has begun the worldwide withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine due to a “surplus of available updated vaccines” that target new variants of the virus.

The announcement follows the pharmaceutical company in March voluntarily withdrawing its European Union marketing authorisation, which is the approval to market a medicine in member states.

On 7 May, the European Medicines Agency issued a notice that the vaccine is no longer authorised for use.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said the decision was made because there is now a variety of newer vaccines available that have been adapted to target Covid-19 variants. This had led to a decline in demand for the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied.

“According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone and over 3bn doses were supplied globally,” the statement said.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/ar ... r-vaccines

[wjfox]

N95 Masks Nearly Perfect at Blocking COVID, UMD Study Shows

By Fid Thompson
May 31, 2024

Any common face mask provides significant protection against the virus that causes COVID-19, but N95 masks are most effective at slashing the amount emitted by infected people, according to a University of Maryland-led study released Wednesday.

So-called “duckbill” N95 masks scored highest in the study, which measured the exhaled breath of participants who were tested both masked and unmasked to measure comparative outputs of SARS-CoV-2. The inexpensive masks, which have two head straps and a horizontal seam, captured 98% of exhaled virus, according to the study published in eBioMedicine.

https://today.umd.edu/n95-masks-nearly- ... tudy-shows

[Time_Traveller]

N95 Masks Nearly Perfect at Blocking COVID, UMD Study Shows

By Fid Thompson
May 31, 2024

Any common face mask provides significant protection against the virus that causes COVID-19, but N95 masks are most effective at slashing the amount emitted by infected people, according to a University of Maryland-led study released Wednesday.

So-called “duckbill” N95 masks scored highest in the study, which measured the exhaled breath of participants who were tested both masked and unmasked to measure comparative outputs of SARS-CoV-2. The inexpensive masks, which have two head straps and a horizontal seam, captured 98% of exhaled virus, according to the study published in eBioMedicine.

https://today.umd.edu/n95-masks-nearly- ... tudy-shows

I was wearing them close to just over 2 years between the start of the pandemic until around January/February 2022, until my work started giving them out to staff prior to when I started in late 21' and I was wearing the Tesco version for 2/3 months after I was starting to run out of them.

[firestar464]

Study: High excess death rates in the West for 3 years running since start of pandemic despite containment and vaccines

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06- ... years.html

[wjfox]

I was wearing them close to just over 2 years between the start of the pandemic until around January/February 2022, until my work started giving them out to staff prior to when I started in late 21' and I was wearing the Tesco version for 2/3 months after I was starting to run out of them.

I still mask, but only occasionally now, e.g. when getting a crowded train to visit my elderly parents (I don't have a car).

I was masking in Jan-Feb this year, when the UK had a winter spike in flu/Covid. But case numbers have been very low since then.

[Time_Traveller]

I was wearing them close to just over 2 years between the start of the pandemic until around January/February 2022, until my work started giving them out to staff prior to when I started in late 21' and I was wearing the Tesco version for 2/3 months after I was starting to run out of them.

I still mask, but only occasionally now, e.g. when getting a crowded train to visit my elderly parents (I don't have a car).

I was masking in Jan-Feb this year, when the UK had a winter spike in flu/Covid. But case numbers have been very low since then.

However, I will be keeping my current masks on hand (currently in my wardrobe) if needed until the next pandemic.

[weatheriscool]

Two shots in one? Moderna's COVID-19 and flu vaccine reports favorable results

Source: USA Today

Published 6:30 a.m. ET June 10, 2024 | Updated Published 6:30 a.m. ET June 10, 2024

Moderna said Monday that its combination vaccine against flu and COVID-19 drew a greater immune response in late-stage study results than two comparable vaccines on the market.

The company's investigational vaccine, mRNA-1083, combines a vaccine candidate for seasonal influenza and an updated COVID-19 vaccine. Both vaccines have been independently tested and yielded positive results in late-stage clinical trials, according to Moderna, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The randomized study evaluated the safety, reactions and immune response in people who'd received the two-in-one combination vaccine, testing it in two groups of about 4,000 adults each. The combination vaccine elicited greater immune response than existing vaccines designed to protect against COVID-19 and three strains of flu: H1N1, H3N2 and B/Victoria, Moderna said in a news release.

Moderna expects to present the phase three study data at an upcoming medical conference and plans to submit the information to a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/hea ... 014872007/

[caltrek]

Investigation Reveals Pentagon Ran a Secret Anti-vax Campaign to Undermine China During Pandemic
June 15, 2024

Introduction:

(ABC) At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US military launched a secret campaign to counter what it perceived as China's growing influence in the Philippines, a nation hit especially hard by the deadly virus.

The clandestine operation has not been previously reported.

It aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China, a Reuters investigation found.

Additional Extract:

The military program started under former president Donald Trump and continued months into Joe Biden's presidency, Reuters found — even after alarmed social media executives warned the new administration that the Pentagon had been trafficking in COVID misinformation.

The Biden White House issued an edict in spring 2021 banning the anti-vax effort, which also disparaged vaccines produced by other rivals, and the Pentagon initiated an internal review, Reuters found.

Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-15 ... 103982430

[caltrek]

There’s a New COVID Variant, KP.3
by Holly Large
June 15, 2024

Introduction:

(IFL Science) It’s been over four years since COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic, and despite best efforts, the virus that causes it is still very much kicking about. That’s in large part thanks to it evolving into multiple different variants, the latest of which has been dubbed KP.3.

KP.3 is one of the FLiRT variants of SARS-CoV-2. These variants are rather less saucy than they sound; the name comes from the amino acid mutations they’ve picked up in the spike protein, the part of the virus that latches onto the cells in our bodies and allows it to infect them.

The immune system can learn to recognize spike proteins – either naturally or through vaccination – and get rid of the virus, but by evolving into slightly different forms, the virus can evade destruction.

That’s why it seems like there’s a new variant every other week – KP.3 is the latest in a long line. In fact, FLiRT variants are all descended from another variant, JN.1, that popped up at the beginning of this year.

Until now the FLiRT variant KP.2 had taken over JN.1’s top spot as the most dominant variant of the virus circulating in the US. However, according to predictions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – which has a SARS-CoV-2 surveillance program tracking variants – KP.3 has now taken over.

Read more here (including a list of symptoms associated with the KP.3 variant): https://www.iflscience.com/theres-a-ne ... oms-74675

[caltrek]

Investigation Reveals Pentagon Ran a Secret Anti-vax Campaign to Undermine China During Pandemic
June 15, 2024

Introduction:

...

Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-15 ... 103982430

More on that from Jake Johnson:

Extract:

(Common Dreams) World Health Organization (WHO) guidance released in June 2022 stated that China's Sinovac vaccine is "safe and effective for all individuals aged 18 and above."

"A large phase 3 trial in Brazil showed that two doses, administered at an interval of 14 days, had an efficacy of 51% against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, 100% against severe COVID-19, and 100% against hospitalization starting 14 days after receiving the second dose," the WHO said.

Reuters reported that some within the U.S. State Department objected to the Pentagon's effort to promote skepticism about China's vaccine, arguing that a "health crisis was the wrong time to instill fear or anger through a psychological operation."

"But in 2019, before Covid surfaced in full force, then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper signed a secret order that later paved the way for the launch of the U.S. military propaganda campaign," Reuters observed. "The order elevated the Pentagon's competition with China and Russia to the priority of active combat, enabling commanders to sidestep the State Department when conducting psyops against those adversaries."

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/penta ... x-campaign

[wjfox]

After 4.5 years... it finally got me.

I'm one of the Infected now.

[wjfox]

CDC Recommends Multi-layered Protection Against COVID-19 as it recognises SARS-CoV-2 is a Year-round Threat

04 July 2024

The US Center for Disease Control now recommends immunization, hand hygiene, clean air, isolation, treatment, face masks, social distancing and testing to prevent and protect against COVID-19 and tells the public there is no sign of SARS-CoV-2 becoming a winter virus.

In this update published on 3 July, the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases warns the public that COVID-19 is likely to remain a year-round threat. This new official advice is at odds with the recommendations of some vocal scientists, who, without evidence, still push the line that COVID-19 will simply attenuate or weaken over time to join the many causes of the common cold, only really affects the vulnerable, or that it will become a winter bug.

The CDC’s new position is a welcome recognition of reality and an acknowledgement that those who expected SARS-CoV-2 to settle into a winter virus pattern were wrong. The advice to adopt multi-layered protection is perhaps a tacit admission that COVID-19 is taking more of a toll on public health than many people expected.

In a study recently published in Science, Peluso et al. provide compelling evidence for two potential contributors to Long Covid: persistent SARS-CoV-2 and aberrant T cell activation, both of which can be found for up to two years after acute infection.

https://johnsnowproject.org/primers/cdc ... s-reality/

[Time_Traveller]

New FLiRT Covid variant spreading across the UK as doctors issue summer warning

Monday 08 July 2024 19:01 BST

New variants of Covid have started to spread across the UK. If you have been suffering with a stubborn cough or sore throat recently that just won’t go away, you may have caught one of these new strains of Covid named N FLiRT and LB.1.

Many of us know a friend or family member who has come down with nasty cold-like symptoms over the last few weeks, and talk about the resurgence of Covid has started circulating.

“Increased travel and big events such as festivals often result in crowded settings where the virus can spread more easily, and there are no longer any legal restrictions like wearing masks or social distancing,” says Dr Mariyam Malik, an NHS and private GP at Pall Mall Medical.

Some health experts have also suggested that FLiRT and LB.1 might be able evade immunity, which is why people who have been vaccinated are still getting ill.

“The FLiRT variant has specific changes in its spike protein that might make it spread more easily and dodge immunity from past infections or vaccines,” says Dr Malik. “Similarly, the LB.1 variant has mutations that help it spread and possibly weaken the protection we get from previous immunity, making these variants different from earlier versions of the virus.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 76109.html

[wjfox]

^ Pretty sure that's the one that got me. Loads of my colleagues have had it too. I am 95% recovered now. Just a slight, lingering cough.

[Time_Traveller]

^ Pretty sure that's the one that got me. Loads of my colleagues have had it too. I am 95% recovered now. Just a slight, lingering cough.

Glad you are getting better Will.

[caltrek]

Signs of COVID Virus In the Body Years After Original Infection
by Katie Spalding
July 13, 2024

Introduction:

(IFL Science) Once upon a time, COVID-19 was two weeks of coughing and an inability to smell your new candle. Then we discovered the existence of Long COVID – a vague conglomeration of more than 200 symptoms that can be debilitating months or even years after the original disease seems to have cleared up.

Now, four years into the pandemic, we’re still not totally sure what’s behind the extended condition – but a new study that followed 24 Covid patients over a period of up to 900 days has revealed a potential factor that has previously gone unnoticed: your T cells.

It’s not the first study to link COVID-19 with these particular immune cells – only last month, a study from Imperial College London hinted at the potential for targeted T cell therapies to fight the condition. But it is one of the longest-running: it was set up in 2020, long before the idea that COVID-19 might hang around in the body was widely accepted.

That’s not all that sets it apart, however. The team behind the study was inspired by their experience researching HIV – a disease practically defined by its ability to kill T cells. Unable to monitor antibodies so early into the pandemic, they instead used PET scans to study the behavior of T cells inside the body after infection.

“[It] is a novel approach […] that allows them to map activated T cells in the body,” explained Danny Altmann, Professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, co-author of the Penguin Handbook of Long Covid and lead investigator of the NIHR WILCO LONG COVID Study, who was not involved in the study.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/signs-of-co ... ion-75084

[caltrek]

I am getting too lazy to cite and then link articles, so I will just link this article that discusses the question: How worried should Biden be about his Covid infection?

https://www.iflscience.com/president-b ... -be-75184