COVID-19 News and Discussions

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

Great thread:

[wjfox]

Heart-disease risk soars after COVID — even with a mild case

Massive study shows a long-term, substantial rise in risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke, after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

10 February 2022

Even a mild case of COVID-19 can increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular problems for at least a year after diagnosis, a new study1 shows. Researchers found that rates of many conditions, such as heart failure and stroke, were substantially higher in people who had recovered from COVID-19 than in similar people who hadn’t had the disease.

What’s more, the risk was elevated even for those who were under 65 years of age and lacked risk factors, such as obesity or diabetes.

“It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, it doesn’t matter if you smoked, or you didn’t,” says study co-author Ziyad Al-Aly at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and the chief of research and development for the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System. “The risk was there.”

Al-Aly and his colleagues based their research on an extensive health-record database curated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The researchers compared more than 150,000 veterans who survived for at least 30 days after contracting COVID-19 with two groups of uninfected people: a group of more than five million people who used the VA medical system during the pandemic, and a similarly sized group that used the system in 2017, before SARS-CoV-2 was circulating.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00403-0

[Xyls]

I believe this study included mostly people who contract covid before the vaccination was made available. So a little caution with it should be noted.

[caltrek]

Dr. Anthony Fauci Says “Full-Blown” Pandemic Is Almost Over
Inae OH
February 9, 2022

https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2 ... most-over/

Introduction:

(Mother Jones) As the number of new Covid cases continues to plunge across the country, Dr. Anthony Fauci has offered his most hopeful assessment of the pandemic yet, telling the Financial Times this week that the United States was “certainly” exiting the most dangerous phase. He also expressed optimism that Covid restrictions, including mask mandates, could soon be lifted.

“As we get out of the full-blown pandemic phase of Covid-19, which we are certainly heading out of, these decisions will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated,” Fauci said in a new interview. “There will also be more people making their own decisions on how they want to deal with the virus.”

The remarks come as more states, and notably, Democratic-leaning ones, lift Covid restrictions—with some like New Jersey easing mandates in schools and others loosening mandates on businesses. For now, the White House has stood by the CDC’s recommendations on mask-wearing in schools. But the Biden administration is increasingly under pressure to deliver a road map for what the end of the pandemic could look like.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

New C.D.C. data adds to evidence that boosters’ protection against severe Covid plunges after four months

Feb. 12, 2022

Covid booster shots lose much of their potency after about four months, raising the possibility that some Americans — specifically those at high risk of complications or death — may need a fourth dose, data published on Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest.

Preliminary research from Israel and Britain has hinted that protection from booster doses declines within a few months. The data released on Friday offer the first real-world evidence of the mRNA shots’ waning power against moderate to severe illness in the United States.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/11 ... our-months

[wjfox]

[Xyls]

Some interesting news out of India, regarding universal coronavirus vaccines.

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronav ... onaviruses

The fact that our governments are not making a universal vaccine their top political priority is VERY mystifying to me...

[wjfox]

The fact that our governments are not making a universal vaccine their top political priority is VERY mystifying to me...

Well apparently the pandemic is "over" and we must now "live with" the virus.

I'm frequently told that "we're all gonna get it" and it's "just a cold" anyway.

[caltrek]

Prioritizing Supports to Specific Neighborhoods is Key to Curbing COVID-19 Transmission

February 14, 2022

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/943380

Introduction:

(EurekAlert) The COVID-19 pandemic has uneven impacts across cities and provinces, with some regions struggling more than others. A new study shows hotspots of COVID-19 infections across Canadian cities are linked to occupation, income, housing, and markers for structural racism.

To better understand the factors contributing to the concentration of infections in specific regions, a team of researchers across Canada, including Yiqing Xia, David Buckeridge, and Mathieu Maheu-Giroux of McGill University, analyzed provincial surveillance data from January 2020 to February 2021. The study, which looked at infections in 16 urban centres in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba, is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.*

Patterns of COVID-19 transmission within cities

“In each of the cities we examined, 50% of cases were concentrated in areas that accounted for less than 21% to 35% of the population. In these regions the factors associated with case concentration varied slightly depending on local contexts,” says McGill University Professor Mathieu Maheu-Giroux, a Canada Research Chair in Population Health Modeling.

“Across all provinces, cases were geographically concentrated along social determinants of health. These include neighborhoods with high-density housing, more essential workers, residents with lower income or educational attainment, and a higher proportion of visible minorities or recent immigrants,” says lead author Yiqing Xia, a McGill PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health.
The researchers found that the most common social determinant of health across all cities was visible minority status. These findings are consistent with other studies from Canada as well as Sweden, the United States, and other countries showing higher rates of COVID-19 in vulnerable communities or diverse neighbourhoods.

*https://www.cmaj.ca/content/194/6/E195

[raklian]

Some interesting news out of India, regarding universal coronavirus vaccines.

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronav ... onaviruses

The fact that our governments are not making a universal vaccine their top political priority is VERY mystifying to me...

It's not that mystifying when we know our governments are being led by incompetent people who know next to nothing about diseases. It doesn't help they picked expert advisors who aren't really specialists. And besides, they got into politics for completely different reasons and it's not difficult to imagine those issues are their top priorities even in a pandemic such as this.

[raklian]

Nanotraps may be a future weapon against viruses.

New “Nanotraps” Could Capture and Destroy Coronavirus Within the Body

At the University of Chicago, scientists have developed an absolutely innovative, promising treatment for COVID-19 in the form of nanoparticles with the ability to trap SARS-CoV-2 viruses inside the body and use the body’s own immune system to kill them.

The “nanotraps” lure the virus by imitating the target cells infected by the virus. When the virus gets trapped by the nanotraps, it is then sequestered from other cells and targeted for destruction by the immune system.

Theoretically, these nanotraps could be used on different variants of the virus, resulting in a promising new way to suppress the virus in the future. The therapy is still in the early stages of testing, but the researchers believe that it could be administered through a nasal spray as a treatment for COVID-19.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Matter on April 19th, 2021. https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2 ... all%3Dtrue

https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=37931

[wjfox]

New research points to vagus nerve damage as reason for long COVID - study

FEBRUARY 15, 2022 08:32

Many symptoms of Post-COVID-19 syndrome could be caused by lasting damage sustained to one of the most important nerves in the human body during initial infection with coronavirus, new research has suggested.

The vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve and is the longest and most complex of all of them. It runs from the brain throughout the entirety of the face and chest, reaching the abdomen. The vagus nerve serves as the main connection between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract, sending back information about the state of the inner organs.

As well as being crucial to the gastrointestinal system as it controls the transfer of food from the mouth to the stomach and moves food through the intestines, the vagus nerve is also responsible for multiple other processes such as controlling the heart rate, sweat production and the gag reflex, as well as certain muscle movements in the mouth, including those necessary for speech.

New research set to be presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) investigates the connection between Post-COVID-19 syndrome, also known as long COVID, and the vagus nerve.

The pilot study was authored by Dr. Gemma Lladós and Dr. Lourdes Mateu of the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital Badalona, Spain, and its findings will be presented at the congress, taking place between April 23-26 in Lisbon, Portugal.

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellne ... cle-696452

[andmar74]

Danish authorities have taken the offensive, explaining the Danish Covid numbers, because some international experts are using the numbers for political reasons, one expects.
Now, Eric Feigl-Ding seems to think there's a conspiracy going on in Denmark:

Others agree that the Danish “health authorities and the Danish press is misleading the public” about the “with COVID” vs “because of COVID” hospitalization issue. They are a state of seeming denial! There is an odd internal patriotic defensiveness — as if the virus cares.

That's not how it works in my country, but obviously I'm also in on it since I'm Danish..

[erowind]

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[caltrek]

EU Set to Trash More Vaccine Doses Than It Has Donated to Africa
by Jake Johnson
February 16, 2022

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/ ... ted-africa

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) A new analysis released Wednesday by the People's Vaccine Alliance shows that by the end of February, the European Union will have to throw away almost twice as many coronavirus vaccine doses as it has donated to Africa so far this year.

Citing data from Airfinity, the alliance notes that 55 million of the E.U.'s coronavirus vaccine doses are set to expire by month's end. So far this year, the E.U.—the world's largest exporter of Covid-19 shots—has donated around 30 million doses to Africa, where just 11% of the adult population is fully vaccinated two years into the deadly global pandemic.

The People's Vaccine Alliance also highlights figures showing that 204 million people living in E.U. countries have received booster shots while just 151 million people in Africa have been fully vaccinated.

"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the beginning of the pandemic that the vaccine should be a global public good," Joab Okanda, Pan Africa senior advocacy adviser for Christian Aid, pointed out in a statement Wednesday. "Yet instead, she has ensured it is a private profit opportunity, raking in billions for Big Pharma and the E.U. while almost nine out of 10 people in Africa aren't fully vaccinated."

[weatheriscool]

Disney says face masks now optional for vaccinated at theme parks
Source: CBS News

Walt Disney Co. is ditching its mask requirement for fully vaccinated visitors at its Florida and California theme parks, starting Thursday. The shift comes as COVID-19 cases decline in many parts of the country and as major employers including Amazon, Tyson Foods and Walmart drop face-covering mandates for vaccinated workers.

Disney cited "recent trends and regulatory guidance" in easing its pandemic-related rules. Disney does not require proof of vaccination to get into its parks.

"We expect guests who are not fully vaccinated to continue wearing face coverings in all indoor locations, including indoor attractions and theaters," the company stated on its Disney World website. Disneyland in California announced similar steps, in line with new California guidance that had the state lifting its mask requirement for the fully vaccinated inside businesses as of Wednesday.

People will still need to wear masks on shuttles, buses and other forms of "enclosed" transportation at the parks, Disney's update stated.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/d ... li=BBnb7Kz

[caltrek]

COVID Cases Plummet all Across the U.S.
by Sam Baker and Kavya Beheraj
February 17, 2022

https://www.axios.com/covid-cases-death ... dd22d.html

Introduction:

(Axios) COVID cases are plummeting across the U.S., in some places even falling to relatively manageable levels. But deaths remain stubbornly high.

The big picture: States and cities of all political stripes are removing mask and vaccine mandates as the Omicron variant loses steam, though in some regions there's still a ways to go before the virus is truly under control.

By the numbers: Nationwide, the U.S. is now averaging roughly 140,000 new COVID cases per day — a 64% drop over the past two weeks. The pace of new infections is declining in every state.

But there's a difference between a declining number of cases and a small number of cases.

• Some regions of the U.S. have achieved both: COVID cases have fallen all the way down to levels that experts consider at least relatively safe.

• New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are all averaging fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 people per day. So is Washington, D.C., and Maryland is doing even better, at just 12 cases per day for every 100,000 residents.

• Much of the U.S., however, isn't quite there yet. In Alaska, for example, new cases are dropping significantly, but the state is still averaging 100 cases per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the country.

[erowind]

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