What was your COVID news for the day?

[Koolau]

Read my post above where I agree with you

Sorry if I missed it! Too much COVID stuff on the brain.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow, mind-blowing indeed.

I wonder if they tested their oxygen levels or done some CT scans... I know some of those asymptomatic folks on the Diamond Princess cruise ship already had signs of the virus although they had no symptoms at the time... Either way, some will definitely stay asymptomatic with no sign of the virus...

No, they simply did the swab test.

 

[Rustic23]

Texas A&M is starting trials on a tuberculosis drug that may have some success.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ne-to-fight-covid-19/articleshow/75518484.cms

"Researchers in the US' Texas A&M University are asking hundreds of frontline medical workers to participate in a late-stage, phase 4, clinical trial of a widely-used tuberculosis vaccine that could help boost the immune system and blunt the devastating effects of COVID-19 ."

"BCG is not meant to cure coronavirus but bridge the gap until a vaccine is developed, thus allowing us to buy time until something can be developed,"

 

[audreyh1]

Confused - they are starting a trial on a tuberculosis vaccine, not a malaria drug.

 

[ivinsfan]

Confused - they are starting a trial on a tuberculosis drug, not a malaria drug.

I thought it was a TB vaccine and not a drug..

 

[Aerides]

Confused - they are starting a trial on a tuberculosis drug, not a malaria drug.

Correct:

Texas A&M is starting trials on a Malaria drug that may have some success.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ne-to-fight-covid-19/articleshow/75518484.cms

The article and link do not mention Malaria, nor a drug-treatment per se, but use of the TB vaccine which may help boost the immune system to ward off the impacts should a recipient still contract Covid.

 

[Rustic23]

Fixed, My error, first one this year

 

[audreyh1]

I thought it was a TB vaccine and not a drug..

I meant to type vaccine (and thought I had), sorry.

 

[ivinsfan]

I meant to type vaccine (and thought I had), sorry.

No sorry necessary I didn't read the link so was confused if it was drug and vaccine or just vaccine..

Vaccine makes more sense as it would maybe activate the immune system.

I remember an experimental cancer study that used huge doses of measles vaccine to target cancer, I think it might have been leukemia. Some patients were NED after the treatment.

 

[audreyh1]

What is NED?

 

[Nemo2]

What is NED?

No Evidence.

 

[Montecfo]

Some good news

Just read Pfizer and BioNTech and giving their US test participants doses of their potential Covid19 vaccine. It uses mRNA approach.

If successful, it could be produced in the millions this year and hundreds of millions in 2021.

https://www.npr.org/sections/corona...fizer-begins-coronavirus-vaccine-trial-in-u-s

 

[ivinsfan]

What is NED?

No evidence of disease ...clean bill

 

[ivinsfan]

Just read Pfizer and BioNTech and giving their US test participants doses of their potential Covid19 vaccine. It uses mRNA approach.

If successful, it could be produced in the millions this year and hundreds of millions in 2021.

https://www.npr.org/sections/corona...fizer-begins-coronavirus-vaccine-trial-in-u-s

I want to thank these test participants as these vaccines are being rushed through trials and not a thoroughly vetted for side effects. I appreciate everyone willing to be a human guinea pig..

 

[REWahoo]

Your genes could determine whether the coronavirus puts you in the hospital

When some people become infected with the coronavirus, they only develop mild or undetectable cases of COVID-19. Others suffer severe symptoms, fighting to breathe on a ventilator for weeks, if they survive at all.

Despite a concerted global scientific effort, doctors still lack a clear picture of why this is.

Could genetic differences explain the differences we see in symptoms and severity of COVID-19?

The three scientists who did this study believe the answer is yes and think they have identified the variation in particular genes that are responsible.

 

[Freedom56]

From the LA Times today.

"Scientists say a now-dominant strain of the coronavirus appears to be more contagious than original"

The new strain appeared in February in Europe, migrated quickly to the East Coast of the United States and has been the dominant strain across the world since mid-March, the scientists wrote.

In addition to spreading faster, it may make people vulnerable to a second infection after a first bout with the disease, the report warned.



https://news.yahoo.com/mutant-coronavirus-emerged-even-more-110046843.html

 

[Gumby]

From the LA Times today.

"Scientists say a now-dominant strain of the coronavirus appears to be more contagious than original"

The new strain appeared in February in Europe, migrated quickly to the East Coast of the United States and has been the dominant strain across the world since mid-March, the scientists wrote.

In addition to spreading faster, it may make people vulnerable to a second infection after a first bout with the disease, the report warned.



https://news.yahoo.com/mutant-coronavirus-emerged-even-more-110046843.html

I clicked through to the study itself. It is a lot more limited in both scope and conclusion than is implied in the newspaper article in the LA Times. Specifically, the scientists who conducted the study don't yet know if the fact that one genetic mutation is more common means that it is either more infectious or causes greater harm to infected people. But you should read it for yourself. Also read the comments in BioRxiv, which highlight some of the areas of uncertainty.

 

[ls99]

Perhaps the Media headline writers should be done in first.

 

[Nemo2]

Perhaps the Media headline writers should be done in first.

OK, Dick the Butcher, then the lawyers?

 

[Freedom56]

Here are all the links including the lineage of COVID-19

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.29.069054v1.full


https://recombinomics.co/forum/479-sequences-covid/

This is a comment from one of the authors:

"I'm very sorry the analysis pipeline website was delayed in opening;
this is because of some additional approvals needed, that I was not
aware of when we submitted. Hopefully it will be approved within a few
days, but likely not until after the weekend. Also, figures 2 and 3 and
S3 show illustrate why we are concerned about site Spike 614; the
central point is that a dramatic shift in frequency is recurring
independently in many countries and regions across the globe. The Spike
614 mutations is linked to two others, to form the GISAID G clade. Such a
_recurrent_ shift over the month of March in so many places globally is
not readily explained by a founder virus effect, nor a sequencing
error."

 

[Boho]

Cuomo says it's 'shocking' most new coronavirus hospitalizations are people who had been staying home

Preliminary data from 100 New York hospitals involving about 1,000 patients "shows that 66% of new admissions were from people who had largely been sheltering at home...nearly 84% of the hospitalized cases were people who were not commuting to work through car services, personal cars, public transit or walking...a majority of those people were either retired or unemployed. Overall, some 73% of the admissions were people over age 51."

 

[Chuckanut]

This should be a surprise.

Emphasis added.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202005072102/cvs-warns-of-nonvirus-health-crisis-wsj

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (May 7, 2020).
CVS Health Corp. executives warned Wednesday of an impending surge in medical problems unrelated to coronavirus, as the pharmacy chain's data suggest Americans are delaying routine health care during the pandemic.
CVS, which owns insurance giant Aetna, says patients in April received fewer new prescriptions, as many have started fewer new treatments and seen doctors less frequently -- a concern especially for patients who have chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, which can lead to costly hospitalizations when not treated consistently.

 

[USGrant1962]

This should be a surprise.

Emphasis added.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202005072102/cvs-warns-of-nonvirus-health-crisis-wsj

You mean not a surprise, right?

 

[tmm99]

Cuomo says it's 'shocking' most new coronavirus hospitalizations are people who had been staying home

Preliminary data from 100 New York hospitals involving about 1,000 patients "shows that 66% of new admissions were from people who had largely been sheltering at home...nearly 84% of the hospitalized cases were people who were not commuting to work through car services, personal cars, public transit or walking...a majority of those people were either retired or unemployed. Overall, some 73% of the admissions were people over age 51."

Maybe Cuomo shouldn't be so shocked? A lot of people there are not following the gov guidelines from what I could see. The ones who are being more careful (masks, hand washing, disinfecting) are probably essential workers. I've seen a huge gathering (no social distancing) when the hospital ship Comfort was docking as well as a huge mass gathering for a Jewish funeral in NYC (no social distancing) and a park being packed with people over the weekend. I'm sure there were many more gatherings happening.

 

[FIREd]

It is official, 3 more days to go before the shutdown is lifted in France (except for bars and restaurants). I am in the country's "green zone", which will re-open faster. We'll still have to follow social distancing rules but, after 8 weeks of police-enforced confinement, we'll be free to come and go as we please once again. Borders will remain closed for at least another month though.