Coronavirus Tidbits #316, October 13, 2024
Announcements:
First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I'm getting.
Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don't be shy about that.
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To get rid of AI in Google searches:
If you add "udm=14" to the end of any Google search, you only get Web results in your search. It clears out all the clutter.
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Check your voter registration! People continue to be purged from the voter lists.
Please tell your friends about
Blue Voter Guide: https://bluevoterguide.org/
It displays your ballot for all national offices, all statewide offices and ballot measures, and your state legislators. In most locations, we show local races as well. It also shows all the groups endorsing a Democratic candidate. (So in the primary, it can help you decide based on specific issues.)
Our data is sourced from a neutral, non-partisan not-for-profit organization focused on politics and policy, which exclusively relies on official information.
It also shows the Dem position on ballot amendments.
News
Mike Hoerger Oct 7: 540,000 daily infections during the "lull" between the 9th & 10th U.S. Covid waves.
1.1% (1 in 88) actively infectious
19 million anticipated infections the next month
Higher transmission than half the pandemic
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JP Weiland Oct 11
Transmission has decreased substantially since early September. Estimates:
310,000 new infections/day
1 in every 108 people currently infected
Numbers at half the 12-month average
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History of COVID-19 found to double long-term risk of heart attack, stroke and death
by Cleveland Clinic October 9, 2024
A history of COVID-19 can double the risk of heart attack, stroke or death according to new research led by Cleveland Clinic and the University of Southern California.
The study found that people with any type of COVID-19 infection were twice as likely to have a major cardiac event, such as heart attack, stroke or even death, for up to three years after diagnosis. The risk was significantly higher for patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and more of a determinant than a previous history of heart disease.
Further genetic analysis also revealed individuals with a blood type other than an O (such as A, B or AB) were twice as likely to experience an adverse cardiovascular event after COVID-19 than those with an O-blood type.
Published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, the researchers used UK Biobank data from 10,005 people who had COVID-19 and 217,730 people who did not get infected between February to December 2020.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-history-covid-term-heart-death.html#google_vignette
see also https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/ATVBAHA.124.321001
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Study Finds Wegovy Reduces COVID-19 Death Risk by One-Third
Summary: A new trial reveals that weekly injections of the weight-loss drug Wegovy (semaglutide) lowered the risk of death from COVID-19 by about a third and reduced overall mortality by 19%.
The study followed more than 17,000 participants with heart disease and obesity, showing that Wegovy decreased the likelihood of death from cardiovascular disease by 15% and other causes by 23%.
The findings are surprising, as the drug also lessened COVID-19 severity despite equal infection rates in both the Wegovy and placebo groups. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms behind these benefits.
https://neurosciencenews.com/wegovy-covid-death-27795/
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Ultra-powered MRI scans show damage to brain's 'control center' is behind long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms
by University of Cambridge October 7, 2024
Damage to the brainstem—the brain's 'control center'—is behind long-lasting physical and psychiatric effects of severe COVID-19 infection, a study suggests.
Using ultra-high-resolution scanners that can see the living brain in fine detail, researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford were able to observe the damaging effects COVID-19 can have on the brain.
The study team scanned the brains of 30 people who had been admitted to hospital with severe COVID-19 early in the pandemic, before vaccines were available. The researchers found that COVID-19 infection damages the region of the brainstem associated with breathlessness, fatigue and anxiety.
The powerful MRI scanners used for the study, known as 7-Tesla or 7T scanners, can measure inflammation in the brain. Their results, published in the journal Brain, will help scientists and clinicians understand the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the brain and the rest of the body. Although the study was started before the long-term effects of COVID were recognized, it will help to better understand this condition.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-ultra-powered-mri-scans-brain.html
Original: https://academic.oup.com/brain/advance-article/doi/10.1093/brain/awae215/7811070?login=false
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Caffeine
An interesting study— caffeine protects blood vessel function (endothelial, increased endothelial progenitor cells) in people with lupus academic.oup.com/rheumatology/a
Might this help prevent clotting with Covid, too?
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Covid antigens and Long Covid
SARS-CoV-2 antigens can be detected in the blood of a substantial proportion of individuals up to 14 months after infection. While approximately one in five asymptomatic individuals was antigen-positive, roughly half of all ppl with long Covid were antigen-positive.
https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(24)00432-4/abstract
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Long Covid Review
Long COVID science, research and policy
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03173-6
by Zalaly, Hannah Davis, and others
Download now before it is paywalled.
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Genetics of Long Covid
genetics of #longCOVID in a new preprint by @23andMeResearch
- GWAS of #LongCOVID identified 3 loci pointing to immune and thrombo-inflammatory mechanisms @ninaadsc
1) HLA-DQA1–HLA-DQB
2) ABO
3) BPTF–KPAN2–C17orf58 (1/) medrxiv.org/content/10.110
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The top locus was in the HLA-DQA1–HLA-DQB intergenic region. Further analysis showed that HLA alleles HLA-DRB1*11:04, HLA-C*07:01, HLA-B*08:01, and HLA-DQA1*03:01 were significantly associated with #LongCOVID. In other words, crucial genes for T cell target detection! - Akiko Iwasaki
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The XEC variant
(now 11% of US cases) is on the rise and a JN.1 booster offers protection biorxiv.org/content/10.110
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Post-exertional Malaise and muscle changes
Researchers exposed skeletal muscle to serum from ppl w/ #MECFS or #LongCovid @48 hrs : contractile profile severely compromised, shift to glycolysis @ 96-144 hrs: high fatiguability, fragile tissue, fragmented mitochondria #MedTwitter, PEM is real. sciencedirect.com/science/articl
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Epstein–Barr virus as a potentiator of autoimmune diseases
A Stanford study links Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) to autoimmune diseases like lupus and multiple sclerosis, suggesting it triggers autoimmunity through molecular mimicry and B cell reprogramming.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41584-024-01167-9
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Avian flu:
Now 295 dairy herds in 14 states infected with the H5N1 bird flu. Bird flu has also hit commercial poultry hard, causing the loss of more than 100 million birds.
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/10/h5n1-bird-flu-continues-to-do-its-thing/
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California's total rose to 99 in just 6 weeks. That's 9% of the state's total herds, confirmed as infected over a period of only 6 weeks. Cumulative national total: 299 herds in 14 states. Cumulative national total: 296 in 14 states. aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poul
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Bird-flu infected cattle dumped at roadside
"There are so many cattle passing away from avian influenza that the rendering trucks are backed up...We are desperately overwhelmed at this point." Cows w/H5N1 left exposed with no warning signs or biosecurity precautions.
https://t.co/EGzB868ONH (Newsweek)
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Marburg Virus:
Rwanda’s health ministry announced the confirmation of 20 more cases and 1 more death, raising the outbreak total to 56 cases, which includes 12 people who have died from their infections.
Earlier reports said the majority of the cases involved healthcare workers, especially those in two hospitals in Kigali, the country’s capital.
Health officials are now administering the (experimental from Sabin Institute) vaccines though mobile clinics. ...two drugs are also being used to help Marburg patients in Rwanda, remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies.
Currently, there are no approved treatments or vaccines for Marburg virus infection, which has a case-fatality rate as high as 88%.
Craig Spencer, MD, MPH, an emergency medicine doctor who worked in West Africa during the region’s Ebola outbreak and is an Ebola survivor, on X yesterday said, “I can’t overemphasize how incredible it is that Rwanda went from announcing Marburg cases just over a week ago to getting frontline providers vaccinated today. The amount of work needed to make this happen is massive.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/
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More from Kai Kupferschmidt re MOH having shared few additional details, and no information on when the “index case”—the very first known patient in an outbreak—fell ill and died. Official reports only mentioned that the virus was first detected in blood samples from patients on 26 September.
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Oropouche virus
Causes a flu-like illness...but has potential to be a new STD.
OROV is primarily transmitted by biting midges (e.g., Culicoides paraensis) and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes. It's endemic in the Amazon, but has been found in Cuba and the Dominican Republic as well.
In contrast, the primary Oropouche vector, the biting midge, is low-abundance in North America and primarily resides in tree holes in the southeast and midwestern U.S., says the U.S. CDC Emerging Infectious Disease, Volume 30, Number 11—November 2024. . . Should the virus infect wild bird populations in North America, it is possible that the Oropouche virus could become endemic, similar to the progression of the West Nile virus, says the CDC.
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mpox update -- External situation report #39
14 countries in Africa have active outbreaks (past 6 weeks). Democratic Republic of the Congo (5610 confirmed cases, 25 deaths), followed by Burundi (853 confirmed cases, no deaths), and Nigeria (78 confirmed cases, no deaths).
a third (34%) of the reported confirmed cases are individuals living in camps for Internally Displaced People (IDP) and approximately 75% of mpox cases are among children 0 – 17; a third (34%) of the cases reporting sexual contact as the mode of transmission, and among these cases, over half are reported to be sex workers (52%)
265 000 doses of MVA-BN vaccines have been dispatched from Kinshasa to several “hubs” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Full report Multi-country outbreak of mpox, External situation report #39 - 6 October 2024 (who.int)
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HIV:
Lenacapavir poised to ‘transform’ HIV prevention
LIMA, Peru — Positive data continue to roll in for lenacapavir, the long-acting injectable that looks like a game-changer for HIV prevention.
Researchers presented findings at the HIV Research for Prevention conference that were originally publicized by Gilead Sciences in September, which showed that lenacapavir — administered just twice per year — reduced HIV infections by 96% in a gender-diverse population and outperformed oral daily PrEP in the phase 3 PURPOSE 2 trial.
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IV Fluids
Recent flooding in western North Carolina shut down a Baxter International facility, a major supplier of IV fluids to U.S. hospitals. This is expected to cause a nationwide shortage in IV and peritoneal dialysis fluids. This previously happened in Puerto Rico. Baxter makes 60% of IV fluids. ...There are only 3 sites in US for mfg.
Diagnostics:
New Flu/Covid combo test:
Healgen Rapid Check COVID-19/Flu A&B Antigen Test takes 15 minutes to detect proteins from both COVID-19 and influenza A and B in nasal swabs.
FDA review of data from people with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and flu showed that the test correctly identified 99% of negative and 92% of positive SARS-CoV-2 samples, 99.9% of negative flu A and B samples, and 92.5% and 90.5% of positive influenza A and B samples, respectively. The FDA and the National Institutes of Health's Independent Test Assessment Program collected the validation data.
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Rapid antigen test accuracy
An extensive prospective assessment of rapid antigen tests for Covid in ~80,000 paired samples w/ PCR tests throughout the pandemic: Sensitivity 34.5%; Specificity 99.6% (<-correctly identifies people without Covid) Main influencers: VIral load and symptoms; reduced performance for asymptomatic infections (more w/ Omicron lineages) and in those vaccinated
Drugs and Vaccines:
journalofinfection.com/article/S0163- -@EricTopol
CDC: 35% flu vaccine efficacy in South America may predict similar for US season
Devices:
Epidemiology/Infection control:
How long does COVID live on surfaces?
On “surfaces such as glass, or tabletops, or steel, the virus can last outside of the human body anywhere from one day to about four or five days, depending on how porous it is,” Dahdal says. The virus can survive on cardboard surfaces up to one day, and on wood surfaces up to four days, per Cleveland Clinic.
Tips, general reading for public:
Ventilate
Vaccinate
Mask
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To get rid of AI in Google searches:
If you add "udm=14" to the end of any Google search, you only get Web results in your search. It clears out all the clutter.
Politics:
Covid:
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirms to Bloomberg News that Trump sent COVID test machines to Vladimir Putin at the height of the pandemic, when local US hospitals were desperate for supplies.
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GOP/TFG:
Kamala:
A group of imams have endorsed Vice President Harris in an open letter — a critical boost as she steps up her efforts to win back disaffected Muslim voters The 25 Islamic religious leaders argue that Muslim voters have a duty to think logically about their voting decisions and that backing Harris "far outweighs the harms of the other options." nbcnews.com/politics/kamal
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Nobel misogeny:
This morning Victor Ambros celebrated the news of his prize with his colleague and wife Rosalind Lee, who was also the first author on the 1993 'Cell' paper cited by the Nobel Committee...
Rosalind was first author on his key paper - in fact she's on most of his key papers, yet she didn't get the Nobel Prize, in spite of the fact they could have given 3 awards, not just 2.
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Hurricanes:
Given the scale of tragedy and suffering #HurricaneHelene has brought to FL, GA, NC, TN it is astounding that @POTUS #Biden has to beg the #Republican House to do its job. "I write to you regarding the needs of the Nation." --Laurie Garrett
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(Pre Milton) A second life threatening storm in as many weeks is barreling towards Florida. The Speaker of the House won’t commit to vote on supplemental aid until after the election.
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Full List of Republicans Who Voted Against FEMA Funding Before Helene Hithttps://t.co/knEQFGnexE pic.twitter.com/tHZ2eXAqeY
— JC 🇺🇸 (@JC_4Harris) October 6, 2024
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Waffle House has a Storm Center with an entire operations team that is so good at their job they assist FEMA during hurricanes.
https://itsnotgov.org/emergency-services/disaster-relief/waffle-house-hurricane-response/
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Reproduction/SCOTUS:
The Supreme Court declined to review a decision from the Alabama Supreme Court that stated frozen embryos are people under state law. (ACLU)
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The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Texas hospitals cannot be forced to provide emergency abortion care to save the life of the mother.
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The Tennessee Attorney General asked the Supreme Court to expand its ruling overturning Roe v. Wade to allow states to deny transgender youth the health care they need.
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California:
"UC San Diego begins requiring climate-change course to graduate in 2028"
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Colorado:
Florida:
🧵Owner of Service Master directly across street from #Biolab warehouse shared these pictures they took today. County still not letting them open. Facility closed since disaster on Sept 29. Deadbolt won’t work. pic.twitter.com/TYIpraQEqx
— Cody Alcorn (@CodyAlcorn) October 9, 2024
Feel good du jour:
Researchers stunned to find puffins 'self-isolating' to survive Avian flu, and even making a rebound
https://www.thecooldown.com/
Comic relief:
No matter the species, kids will be kids..🦍😅 pic.twitter.com/U1Vtp1K3CN
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) October 5, 2024
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This is the best thing i've seen today!! pic.twitter.com/2p7atYuZUc
— why you should have an animal (@shouldhaveanima) October 8, 2024
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Squirrel tries to hide acorn in dog's fur. 😂😂
— Figen (@TheFigen_) October 11, 2024
pic.twitter.com/M50UFZ3pXZ
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When the back scratches are that good that they turn you into an Irish dancer... pic.twitter.com/lQeWS8LVmq
— B&S (@_B___S) October 5, 2024
Perspective/Poem:
...The lesson from 1918 is clear. Pandemics do not end when the death toll slows down. The biological and psychological aftereffects ripple through generations. They infect the future...
The 1918 Spanish Flu, which killed 50 to 100 million people, is often remembered as a historical moment of extraordinary loss. Its aftereffects are less widely discussed.
Survivors of the Spanish Flu carried the pandemic’s imprint for decades. Individuals born around or during the pandemic faced shorter life expectancies and significantly higher rates of chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular conditions, in later life.
People in utero during the pandemic had a 15% higher risk of heart disease later in life. Prenatal exposure to the virus, or perhaps to the inflammatory environment it created, left indelible scars.
Today, SARS-CoV-2 appears poised to leave a similar mark. Survivors, especially those suffering from long COVID, are experiencing systemic health issues typically associated with aging.
Persistent inflammation, immune system dysfunction, and organ damage suggest that SC2 may act as an accelerant. Aging survivors at a faster rate and pushing them toward conditions like heart disease, cognitive decline, and immune system failure much earlier than expected.
One of the least discussed but most pervasive legacies of the Spanish Flu was what survivors described as "flu lethargy" Many people reported feeling constantly exhausted, breathless, and prone to chronic illness...
--@outbreakupdates
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Happy National Poetry Day!
— Allie Esiri, 365 Poems for Life (@AllieEsiri) October 3, 2024
This is Helena Bonham Carter reading 'I Worried' by Mary Oliver, with its wonderful message at the end... pic.twitter.com/Z6C0p0ehDw
Bits of beauty:
