COVID-19 News and Discussions

[caltrek]

Vaccine Monitoring Crucial as SARS-CoV-2 Variants Continue to Evolve
March 11, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre at UCLH have highlighted the importance of continued surveillance of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and vaccine performance as the virus continues to evolve.

Published today as a research letter in The Lancet, their study compared the newer monovalent COVID vaccine, which specifically targets the XBB variant of Omicron (as recommended by the World Health Organisation), with older bivalent vaccines containing a mix of an Omicron variant and the original strain of COVID-19, which the UK deployed in Autumn 2023 before turning to monovalent vaccines1.

The researchers found that both vaccines generated neutralising antibodies against the most recent strain of Omicron, BA.2.86. However, the new monovalent vaccine generated higher levels of antibodies against a range of other Omicron variants.

The team collected blood and nasal mucosal samples both before and after a fifth dose vaccination from 71 participants of the Legacy study, a research collaboration between the Crick and the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre. They compared the antibody levels before and after vaccination.

All 36 participants who received the bivalent vaccine and 17 who received the monovalent vaccine had boosted levels of antibodies against all variants tested, including the newest strain BA.2.86, which caused a wave of infection this winter. But those with the newer monovalent vaccine had 3.5x higher levels of antibodies against the XBB and BQ.1.1 strains after their booster vaccination.

Read more of the Eurkealert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1037202

Read the research letter as published in The Lancet here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lan ... /fulltext

[caltrek]

The Pandemic Dramatically Reshaped Life Expectancy, Now We Know How Much
by Daniel Lawler
March , 2024

Introduction:

(Science Alert) Covid-19 caused the average life expectancy of people worldwide to fall by 1.6 years during the first two years of the pandemic, a more dramatic decline than previously thought, a major study said Tuesday.

This marked a sharp reversal during a decades-long rise in global life expectancy, according to hundreds of researchers sifting through data for the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

"For adults worldwide, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a more profound impact than any event seen in half a century, including conflicts and natural disasters," said Austin Schumacher, an IHME researcher and lead author of the study published in The Lancet journal.

During 2020-2021, life expectancy declined in 84 percent of the 204 countries and territories analysed, "demonstrating the devastating potential impacts" of new viruses, he said in a statement.

The rate of death for people over 15 rose by 22 percent for men and 17 percent for women during this time, the researchers estimated

Read more of the Science Alert article here: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-pande ... how-much

For a presentation of the results of the study as printed in The Lancet: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanc ... /fulltext

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

No such thing as long Covid, say doctors as new study finds lab leak ‘most likely’ cause of the global pandemic

15 March 2024, 15:49

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/long-covid-d ... st-likely/

[firestar464]

wtf did I just see

[caltrek]

Simple Blood Test Could Predict Risk of Long-term COVID-19 Lung Problems
March 15, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) UVA (University of Virginia) Health researchers have discovered a potential way to predict which patients with severe COVID-19 are likely to recover well and which are likely to suffer “long-haul” lung problems. That finding could help doctors better personalize treatments for individual patients.

UVA’s new research also alleviates concerns that severe COVID-19 could trigger relentless, ongoing lung scarring akin to the chronic lung disease known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the researchers report. That type of continuing lung damage would mean that patients’ ability to breathe would continue to worsen over time.

“We are excited to find that people with long-haul COVID have an immune system that is totally different from people who have lung scarring that doesn’t stop,” said researcher Catherine A. Bonham, MD, a pulmonary and critical care expert who serves as scientific director of UVA Health’s Interstitial Lung Disease Program. “This offers hope that even patients with the worst COVID do not have progressive scarring of the lung that leads to death.”

Long-Haul COVID-19

Up to 30% of patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 continue to suffer persistent symptoms months after recovering from the virus. Many of these patients develop lung scarring – some early on in their hospitalization, and others within six months of their initial illness, prior research has found. Bonham and her collaborators wanted to better understand why this scarring occurs, to determine if it is similar to progressive pulmonary fibrosis and to see if there is a way to identify patients at risk.

To do this, the researchers followed 16 UVA Health patients who had survived severe COVID-19. Fourteen had been hospitalized and placed on a ventilator. All continued to have trouble breathing and suffered fatigue and abnormal lung function at their first outpatient checkup.

Read more of the Eurkealert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1037786

For a presentation of study results as published in Frontiers in Immunology : https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/i ... 8594/full

[caltrek]

New Study Reveals COVID-19 May Have Originated in a Lab
March 15, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) The origin of COVID-19 is highly debated – most studies have focused on a zoonotic origin, but research from the journal Risk Analysis, examined the likelihood of an unnatural origin (i.e. from a laboratory.)

The results indicate a greater likelihood of an unnatural than natural origin of the virus. The researchers used an established risk analysis tool for differentiating natural and unnatural epidemics, the modified Grunow-Finke assessment tool (mGFT) to study the origin of COVID-19. This risk assessment cannot prove the specific origin of COVID-19 but shows that the possibility of a laboratory origin cannot be easily dismissed.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1036164

[firestar464]

Severe lung infection during COVID-19 can cause damage to the heart

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03- ... heart.html

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

COVID-19 Antibody Discovery Could Explain Long COVID
March 28, 2024

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) UVA Health researchers have discovered a potential explanation for some of the most perplexing mysteries of COVID-19 and long COVID. The surprising findings could lead to new treatments for the difficult acute effects of COVID-19, long COVID and possibly other viruses.

Researchers led by UVA’s Steven L. Zeichner, MD, PhD, found that COVID-19 may prompt some people’s bodies to make antibodies that act like enzymes that the body naturally uses to regulate important functions – blood pressure, for example. Related enzymes also regulate other important body functions, such as blood clotting and inflammation.

Doctors may be able to target these “abzymes” to stop their unwanted effects. If abzymes with rogue activities are also responsible for some of the features of long COVID, doctors could target the abzymes to treat the difficult and sometimes mysterious symptoms of COVID-19 and long COVID at the source, instead of merely treating the downstream symptoms.

“Some patients with COVID-19 have serious symptoms and we have trouble understanding their cause. We also have a poor understanding of the causes of long COVID,” said Zeichner, a pediatric infectious disease expert at UVA Children’s. “Antibodies that act like enzymes are called ‘abzymes.’

Abzymes are not exact copies of enzymes and so they work differently, sometimes in ways that the original enzyme does not. If COVID-19 patients are making abzymes, it is possible that these rogue abzymes could harm many different aspects of physiology. If this turns out to be true, then developing treatments to deplete or block the rogue abzymes could be the most effective way to treat the complications of COVID-1

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1039350

[firestar464]

Study finds many younger people from high income neighborhoods jumped the eligibility queue for COVID-19 vaccines in NYC

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

[firestar464]

Using machine learning to track the evolution of COVID-19

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

Also:

Researchers unveil faster and more accurate COVID test

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

[Tadasuke]

January, February and March of 2020 were probably relatively good for me, as I found a new source of optimism, I left some toxic groups and "friends", I started playing a video game I had been planning to play for a while (although I soon gave up) and I was listening to Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler's optimistic book The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives, which I pre-ordered back in 2019 and was fascinated by it at the time, it was mostly about the year 2030 (it says on Amazon the book released in April, but I had access to it earlier).

Then in April the situation rapidly changed. I couldn't even go to the cinema with other people, despite having a reservation made a month earlier, I had to wear a very uncomfortable mask, do many things remotely and disinfect many things. Many events and meetings were cancelled. My mood took a dip in April, even though it was far from good enough in February and March. Turned out, that life tends to be horrible after all and we are not really in charge of our lives. The 2020s back in Q1 2020 seemed like a new, better era. Now I know it's not really much better than the 2010s, which largely sucked for me. Perhaps the 2030s, there is still hope.

Fast forward to vaccines. I had high hopes for them, partially because of what Diamandis and Kurzweil were saying about them. Unfortunately, lots of people had side-effects, including me. Quickly after vaccination my back started hurting, then my stomach and then my fingers. It's still the case, though slightly less so. One of my friends died because of vaccines and lots of peoples health worsened. My father started having knee problems very shortly after vaccines. I also just found out that my father's mother started seeing a yellow spot in her eyes suddenly after vaccinations, but he told her to not tell me about it to not worry me. She still sees the yellow spot.

I went to a massagist because of back pain. I told him I don't know why it started hurting. He asked me if I took anti-Covid-19 vaccine. I told him I did. He told me that after vaccinations he noticed a sharp rise in people having various pains like back pain. He says it's because of the vaccines and we are not being told the whole truth. I don't claim to know the truth, but there are many evidences pointing to vaccines being similarly harmful as Covid-19 itself. Lots of things are overrated to be honest. Including all AI, "smart"-things, Covid vaccines, eco-anything, green-anything, non-GMO-anything, GMO-anything, nano-anything and many, many more.

[wjfox]

He says it's because of the vaccines and we are not being told the whole truth. I don't claim to know the truth, but there are many evidences pointing to vaccines being similarly harmful as Covid-19 itself.

This is 100% bullshit and disinformation.

Lots of things are overrated to be honest. Including all AI, "smart"-things, Covid vaccines, eco-anything, green-anything, non-GMO-anything, GMO-anything, nano-anything and many, many more.

Do you have anything positive to say about anything?

[firestar464]

Tadasuke, I'm sorry to hear that your family members continue to suffer from side effects. Have they gone to the doctor for these? They honestly should.

Regardless though, as unfortunate as this is, many more people have taken the vaccine and gone on to live just fine. If they weren't safe enough they likely wouldn't have been approved. Of course, some people are just going to claim that it is """the conspiracy"""" at work.

[Tadasuke]

Do you have anything positive to say about anything?

I've written plenty positive things on the web, including this forum!

I have more negative things to write: I trusted my medical doctor psychiatrist (because I was gullible), he said a drug he prescribes will cure my depression .... it did not (although it slightly reduced anxiety when I was taking it), instead, it caused akathisia, which for some reason persists to this day (in a lesser form), even though I haven't taken that drug for a long time, so I need to take another drug for akathisia, which unfortunately costs money and causes chest pain.

What's the lesson and the moral? I think the lesson is, to don't blindly, naively and gullibly trust futurists, people on the Internet, even real-life medical doctors or quacks. Mostly and usually try to count on yourself, not on vaccines, drugs, AI or weird gadgets, which are being produced to make money (not for you).

[firestar464]

Edward Jenner sure as hell wasn't trying to get rich.

IDK maybe you got unlucky with the psychiatrist. From most experiences I've read about online, I haven't heard of anyone promising a cure. But honestly IDK

I do find it absurd that you still think you know better than oftentimes established medical consensus. There was a psychologist who wrote that a cause of the current decline in society was not because of "low intelligence" per se the result of people overestimating their ability at various tasks of understanding and doing.

[firestar464]

Do you have anything positive to say about anything?

Well from what I've understood the only thing you've (addressed to tadasuke) really commented on positively is FDVR (and something about agriculture I remember). The rest has been:

• Elon bad (can agree)

• Trump bad (can agree)

• Social media bad (can agree)

• Sexual minorities bad (jeez they're just people living their lives)

• AI bad (you constantly dodge questions about what you want to use it for, or whether you've used GPT-4 Turbo, for reasons I can only guess about)

• Climate change not a big deal (please, just read the climate change thread)

• OH DEAR NO WOMEN WEARING PANTS. HOW UNLADYLIKE AND PREPOSTEROUS. PRAY TELL, WHY MUST I BEAR WITNESS TO SUCH AN AFFRONT TO SENSE AND CHARACTER???

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

US COVID-origins hearing puts scientific journals in the hot seat

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01129-x