I remember being isolated for chicken pox when I was a kid. My parents wheeled in this old-ass B&W TV that only got UHF. Didn't get to hang out with my cousins who got to watch Z channel.
General COVID-19 Talk #4 MOD Warning
- Thread starter kingsboy11
- Start date
Raccoon Jesus
Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Same for my teen.
Got Covid...behaved exactly the same
just added pedialyte.
KINGS17
Smartest in the Room
- Apr 6, 2006
- 32,390
- 11,316
Remember my Mom taking me over to my cousins house the instant she found out he had chicken pox.
Bandit
Registered User
Papa Mocha 15
I love the smell of ice in the morning.
I will say, I'm glad I'm not working right now. Would rather hang out with my kid. Besides, I decided to teach him to play darts. Gotta get him ready for college so he can hustle and pay bills.
RonM11
Registered User
BA.5 becoming a problem
news.yahoo.com
'The worst version' of COVID is spreading. Can we update our vaccines in time?
Viruses evolve, and vaccines should too. That was the big-picture takeaway from a pivotal meeting this week of the FDA’s expert advisory panel. The question before them was simple: Ahead of an expected winter surge, should vaccine manufacturers tweak their forthcoming booster shots to target...
Papa Mocha 15
I love the smell of ice in the morning.
Clarity for fall: We're getting an Omicron booster
 | Katelyn Jetelina
|
Here are your Cliff notes.
The problem
We’ve been using the same vaccine formula throughout the pandemic—one created in early 2020 to fight against the original Wuhan variant. This may be okay for the future, or it may not. Coronaviruses thrive in winter, vaccine protection is waning, and the virus is changing very quickly. We don’t have a crystal ball, but all signs are pointing to a fall resurgence.If we do need a fall booster, the FDA needs to decide ASAP to get the vaccine in arms by October, as it takes three months to manufacture and distribute. We basically have four options:
- No boosters at all
- Boosters with the original formula
- Boosters with the BA.1/2 formula (with or without the original formula included)
- Boosters with the BA.4/5 formula without testing among humans
Resurgence this fall
Waning protection. The first presentation yesterday was from the CDC and highlighted what we know about vaccine effectiveness in the U.S. Our (piecemeal) data is showing that vaccines work against severe disease, but steady erosion is occurring. And this is happening more quickly as Omicron mutates. We don’t have data on BA.4/5 yet. The CDC slide below shows effectiveness against hospitalization is 90-93% immediately after the third dose, but drops to about 73-79% 180 days later among older age groups. This isn’t a very large drop in effectiveness, but the pattern is notable. And with a highly transmissible variant, this can turn into a lot of people (as we’ve seen before). |
The CDC also shared that the second booster is already making meaningful impact on death among those aged 50+. People vaccinated with one booster dose had 4 times the risk of dying compared to people with 2 booster doses. (Unvaccinated people had 42 times the risk of dying from COVID19 compared to those with 2 boosters). This is consistent with data coming out of Israel.
 |
Disease modeling. We have 20 disease modeling groups across the U.S. that are estimating different fall scenarios. Dr. Justin Lessler, a professor of epidemiology, presented the latest data, which included optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for hospitalizations based on immunity waning and the possibly of another Omicron-like event (new variant with 30% immune escape). These models do not take into account future vaccine decisions. They found:
- As of now, we are trending more towards the pessimistic scenario for waning (scenario C at bottom, left below). The faster the waning, the more hospitalizations.
- If we see a significant new variant, our future will look more like scenario D below. (No one really knows the probability of this happening. Some have estimated a ~30% chance.)
- Regardless the model, we should stay under 100,000 hospitalizations per week, with the most likely scenario of 15,000-32,000 hospitalizations per week. Under the pessimistic scenario, we should expect 211,000 deaths between March 2022-March 2023.
 |
Manufacturers’ answer and surprises
Vaccine manufacturers’ answer for this fall is to roll out a new booster, though their approaches slightly differ. This was their time to convince the VRBPAC committee. From previous press releases, we know that Pfizer and Moderna tested monovalent vaccines (only Omicron formula) and bivalent vaccines (Omicron + original variant formula) and that they worked well. However, the vaccine manufacturers sprinkled in a few surprises during their presentations yesterday:- Clinical trials originally tested the effectiveness of a BA.1 booster formula against the BA.1/2 virus and it worked great. But since then, a new Omicron variant has come on scene (BA.4/5). Pfizer and Moderna presented new data showing that the BA.1 booster formula is also effective against BA.4/5, but the impact was less. This was regardless of age or previous infection. (This is what we expected, given that we are seeing Omicron mutate more to escape neutralizing antibodies, but overall good news.)
 |
- Interestingly, Pfizer and Moderna came to different conclusions about needing a bivalent or monovalent vaccine. Moderna found that their bivalent vaccine was imperative for durability. The slide below shows waning was more dramatic for the monvalent Beta formula vaccine compared to the bivalent. Pfizer found the opposite: The monovalent vaccine was more effective than the bivalent. (The FDA can’t just let the manufacturers pick their favorite approach, as implementation for the public would be a nightmare in fall. The manufacturers need direction.)
(Moderna)
- Pfizer surprised everyone and presented fresh off the press data. They already started testing a BA.4/5 vaccine formula among mice. Results below show that this vaccine worked very well against all Omicron variants. This hasn’t been tested among humans yet.
 |
Different approach from WHO
The WHO TAG team (Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition) was then invited to present. With the flu, the WHO makes an annual recommendation before the flu season arrives. This attempts to get everyone on the same page. And everyone has always agreed on the approach: attempt to match a vaccine formula to circulating variants. However, during their presentation yesterday, it was clear the WHO is not trying to force a flu framework for SARS-CoV-2. This virus is mutating too fast. Their goal of a fall booster is to broaden protection. This is different from FDA’s approach to chase SARS-CoV-2 variants—get a vaccine to match circulating viruses. Because of this, the WHO is recommending a fall monovalent or bivalent booster with the BA.1 formula instead of using a BA.4/5 formula. (I must say, I agree with WHO’s approach. We aren’t going to “win” a rat race with this virus.)Discussion
So what do we do for fall? After the presentations, a ton of questions and comments ensued among the committee. This simply reflected the complexity and difficulty of the situation. The discussion had a few themes:- No clinical data. Some voiced concern that we only have data on neutralizing antibodies. We don’t know, for example, if a 1.75x improvement provides clinical improvement. (Note these uncertainties were similarly voiced for booster 1 and booster 2. But we see that the boosters continue to have a meaningful impact on preventing death. Mounting scientific evidence shows neutralizing antibody levels predict severe disease. We can’t wait for ideal data; we need to make decisions based on imperfect data.)
- Broader data. There was also discussion around how we don’t have data on T-cell or B-cell response. The FDA continues to say this is too difficult to measure and standardize, and even more difficult to map to effectiveness in the real world. We really need FDA’s leadership to change this. We need a more comprehensive picture to make better decisions moving forward.
- Making the jump. Some members said they weren’t comfortable recommending the BA.4/5 formula without clinical data. This is done each year with the flu vaccine (we don’t need clinical trials), but members said this is still a new vaccine and we need the data. It seemed, though, that the majority were in favor of a BA.4 or BA.5 formula vaccine. (I agree. These vaccines are so similar to previous ones that we can skip clinical trials. Obviously we need a definition of when a vaccine is not “new” anymore.)
- Kids. There was some discussion on how to get everyone on the same page with boosters. The age de-escalation phases were necessary for the first vaccine series, but kids can’t continue to be 1.5 years behind. There was a mix of opinions whether we can confidently use adult data for rolling out pediatric vaccines. The vast majority agreed that the vaccine manufacturers need to collect pediatric data more quickly. (We need to start enrolling kids in trials with adults from here on out.)
- Age. Some voiced support for an Omicron vaccine only for older age groups. Who gets a vaccine will be determined down the line (probably by ACIP).
Yes: 19
No: 2 (Drs. Offit and Bernstein)
Abstain: 0
The FDA will make the final decision. Looks like we are getting an Omicron vaccine in the fall. It will likely be a bivalent vaccine and probably with BA.4/5 formula. Who will be eligible is yet to be determined. Could we wait for a booster? Maybe. Should we wait is a different question. I think this is the right call.
Love, YLE
“Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE)” is written by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, biostatistician, wife, and mom of two little girls. During the day she works at a nonpartisan health policy think tank, and at night she writes this newsletter. Her main goal is to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, please subscribe here:
Subscribe now
RonM11
Registered User
Hi Papa...in reading the above, and Dr. Topol's article I posted, it is pretty depressing that we are "chasing the virus variants." BA.1 is extinct, so I don't see the practicality of continuing the development of a vaccine for it. The only thing that makes sense right now is to develop a vaccine for BA.5 (given that a pan-coronavirus vaccine is likely years away), but even then by the time the vaccine is developed, BA.5 can be extinct as well with another Omicron subvariant taking its place or a whole new variant to contend with.Clarity for fall: We're getting an Omicron booster
A critical meeting took place yesterday at the FDA. The VRBPAC (external scientific committee to the FDA) discussed one central question: What is our vaccination plan for fall? There were a number of presentations from external agencies (CDC, WHO, disease modelers) and vaccine manufacturers. Here are the meeting presentations and recording. Ultimately, the committee voted to recommend an Omicron-specific booster for fall.
Katelyn Jetelina
Jun 29
Here are your Cliff notes.
The problem
We’ve been using the same vaccine formula throughout the pandemic—one created in early 2020 to fight against the original Wuhan variant. This may be okay for the future, or it may not. Coronaviruses thrive in winter, vaccine protection is waning, and the virus is changing very quickly. We don’t have a crystal ball, but all signs are pointing to a fall resurgence.
If we do need a fall booster, the FDA needs to decide ASAP to get the vaccine in arms by October, as it takes three months to manufacture and distribute. We basically have four options:
- No boosters at all
- Boosters with the original formula
- Boosters with the BA.1/2 formula (with or without the original formula included)
- Boosters with the BA.4/5 formula without testing among humans
Resurgence this fall
Waning protection. The first presentation yesterday was from the CDC and highlighted what we know about vaccine effectiveness in the U.S. Our (piecemeal) data is showing that vaccines work against severe disease, but steady erosion is occurring. And this is happening more quickly as Omicron mutates. We don’t have data on BA.4/5 yet. The CDC slide below shows effectiveness against hospitalization is 90-93% immediately after the third dose, but drops to about 73-79% 180 days later among older age groups. This isn’t a very large drop in effectiveness, but the pattern is notable. And with a highly transmissible variant, this can turn into a lot of people (as we’ve seen before).
(CDC)
The CDC also shared that the second booster is already making meaningful impact on death among those aged 50+. People vaccinated with one booster dose had 4 times the risk of dying compared to people with 2 booster doses. (Unvaccinated people had 42 times the risk of dying from COVID19 compared to those with 2 boosters). This is consistent with data coming out of Israel.
(CDC)
Disease modeling. We have 20 disease modeling groups across the U.S. that are estimating different fall scenarios. Dr. Justin Lessler, a professor of epidemiology, presented the latest data, which included optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for hospitalizations based on immunity waning and the possibly of another Omicron-like event (new variant with 30% immune escape). These models do not take into account future vaccine decisions. They found:
- As of now, we are trending more towards the pessimistic scenario for waning (scenario C at bottom, left below). The faster the waning, the more hospitalizations.
- If we see a significant new variant, our future will look more like scenario D below. (No one really knows the probability of this happening. Some have estimated a ~30% chance.)
- Regardless the model, we should stay under 100,000 hospitalizations per week, with the most likely scenario of 15,000-32,000 hospitalizations per week. Under the pessimistic scenario, we should expect 211,000 deaths between March 2022-March 2023.
Manufacturers’ answer and surprises
Vaccine manufacturers’ answer for this fall is to roll out a new booster, though their approaches slightly differ. This was their time to convince the VRBPAC committee. From previous press releases, we know that Pfizer and Moderna tested monovalent vaccines (only Omicron formula) and bivalent vaccines (Omicron + original variant formula) and that they worked well. However, the vaccine manufacturers sprinkled in a few surprises during their presentations yesterday:
- Clinical trials originally tested the effectiveness of a BA.1 booster formula against the BA.1/2 virus and it worked great. But since then, a new Omicron variant has come on scene (BA.4/5). Pfizer and Moderna presented new data showing that the BA.1 booster formula is also effective against BA.4/5, but the impact was less. This was regardless of age or previous infection. (This is what we expected, given that we are seeing Omicron mutate more to escape neutralizing antibodies, but overall good news.)
(Pfizer)
- Interestingly, Pfizer and Moderna came to different conclusions about needing a bivalent or monovalent vaccine. Moderna found that their bivalent vaccine was imperative for durability. The slide below shows waning was more dramatic for the monvalent Beta formula vaccine compared to the bivalent. Pfizer found the opposite: The monovalent vaccine was more effective than the bivalent. (The FDA can’t just let the manufacturers pick their favorite approach, as implementation for the public would be a nightmare in fall. The manufacturers need direction.)
(Moderna)
- Pfizer surprised everyone and presented fresh off the press data. They already started testing a BA.4/5 vaccine formula among mice. Results below show that this vaccine worked very well against all Omicron variants. This hasn’t been tested among humans yet.
(Pfizer)
Different approach from WHO
The WHO TAG team (Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition) was then invited to present. With the flu, the WHO makes an annual recommendation before the flu season arrives. This attempts to get everyone on the same page. And everyone has always agreed on the approach: attempt to match a vaccine formula to circulating variants. However, during their presentation yesterday, it was clear the WHO is not trying to force a flu framework for SARS-CoV-2. This virus is mutating too fast. Their goal of a fall booster is to broaden protection. This is different from FDA’s approach to chase SARS-CoV-2 variants—get a vaccine to match circulating viruses. Because of this, the WHO is recommending a fall monovalent or bivalent booster with the BA.1 formula instead of using a BA.4/5 formula. (I must say, I agree with WHO’s approach. We aren’t going to “win” a rat race with this virus.)
Discussion
So what do we do for fall? After the presentations, a ton of questions and comments ensued among the committee. This simply reflected the complexity and difficulty of the situation. The discussion had a few themes:
After discussion, they voted on the question: Does the committee recommend inclusion of a SARS-CoV-2 Omicron component for COVID-19 booster vaccines in the United States?
- No clinical data. Some voiced concern that we only have data on neutralizing antibodies. We don’t know, for example, if a 1.75x improvement provides clinical improvement. (Note these uncertainties were similarly voiced for booster 1 and booster 2. But we see that the boosters continue to have a meaningful impact on preventing death. Mounting scientific evidence shows neutralizing antibody levels predict severe disease. We can’t wait for ideal data; we need to make decisions based on imperfect data.)
- Broader data. There was also discussion around how we don’t have data on T-cell or B-cell response. The FDA continues to say this is too difficult to measure and standardize, and even more difficult to map to effectiveness in the real world. We really need FDA’s leadership to change this. We need a more comprehensive picture to make better decisions moving forward.
- Making the jump. Some members said they weren’t comfortable recommending the BA.4/5 formula without clinical data. This is done each year with the flu vaccine (we don’t need clinical trials), but members said this is still a new vaccine and we need the data. It seemed, though, that the majority were in favor of a BA.4 or BA.5 formula vaccine. (I agree. These vaccines are so similar to previous ones that we can skip clinical trials. Obviously we need a definition of when a vaccine is not “new” anymore.)
- Kids. There was some discussion on how to get everyone on the same page with boosters. The age de-escalation phases were necessary for the first vaccine series, but kids can’t continue to be 1.5 years behind. There was a mix of opinions whether we can confidently use adult data for rolling out pediatric vaccines. The vast majority agreed that the vaccine manufacturers need to collect pediatric data more quickly. (We need to start enrolling kids in trials with adults from here on out.)
- Age. Some voiced support for an Omicron vaccine only for older age groups. Who gets a vaccine will be determined down the line (probably by ACIP).
Yes: 19
No: 2 (Drs. Offit and Bernstein)
Abstain: 0
The FDA will make the final decision. Looks like we are getting an Omicron vaccine in the fall. It will likely be a bivalent vaccine and probably with BA.4/5 formula. Who will be eligible is yet to be determined. Could we wait for a booster? Maybe. Should we wait is a different question. I think this is the right call.
Love, YLE
“Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE)” is written by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, biostatistician, wife, and mom of two little girls. During the day she works at a nonpartisan health policy think tank, and at night she writes this newsletter. Her main goal is to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, please subscribe here:
Subscribe now
We ran through the gamut of variants in 2021 and we have not had a major new class of variant since November. I'm not sure that the estimate (30%) is realistic. If we haven't seen a new class of variants for 8 months, I'm thinking it isn't going to happen. This is the only thing that gives me hope that this virus can and will eventually burn out in a timely manner...if we can somehow get ahead of these Omicron sub-variants and extinguish them as well.
Papa Mocha 15
I love the smell of ice in the morning.
I understand where you are coming from and it follows prior corona viruses which later became the common cold. The virus simply continues to morph but is stable enough in a corona shell which does make it harder on the virus to mutate. It's protective barrier prevents it form mutating quickly. I follow the theory, while controversial, that viruses mutate to increase transmissibility and become less lethal over time as they want to prolong their own survivability with the host in lieu of killing it. Some may firmly disagree with me, but that is where my head lies. But others believe otherwise and that's ok too. No hard feelings there.
But I think we will be behind as it relates to this because not enough people got vaccinated in the short window we had, compared to Small Pox, where everyone was all in. Polio and measles lasted decades longer than necessary due to the same hesitancy but through the school system requiring vaccines, we were able to stamp it out. As it relates to Covid, we created a vaccine but did not have the means to vaccinate the whole world in a short period of time to grab it before it mutated again and politics got in the way of distributing it to poorer countries where ironically the mutations started. We just didn't have the resources and the supply in the US went to waste on many who didn't want it so they expired. It's easy for me to throw rocks at it from a distance because everyone deserves equal access to healthcare, but many chose not to have it so many doses needlessly expired. Double edged sword.
However, in my opinion, the further we get from the original strain and Delta the better. Mutations can be good things. The four common colds we experience as children, which are pretty gnarly, started out hundreds of years ago as something horrible killing up to a million, until it mutated enough to be somewhat more stable and also our genetics caught up to it as well so they are more manageable. There is a lot of research out there on the common cold today and it's origins. I believe this will follow that path.
In a nutshell, I think these vaccines are going to serve as bandaids until a few generations catch up to it and also we stay on top of vaccines. It's going to be up to the individual really. Many have paid the price for not getting vaccinated and that's their right to choose to risk it with the information out there.
Reminds of a lyric from a song from Bad Religion, "with such a wealth of information why are you so poor". It confounds me how people get to where they are but I'm sure they would say the same for some of my own bone head decisions in life. But that's the fight I think our society is in as a group.
RonM11
Registered User
I believe I have posted an article earlier in this thread (have to try to find it) that the flu pandemic of the late 1880s / early 1890s is believed now to have actually been a coronavirus pandemic, and specifically (they believe, but doubtful can prove) that the coronavirus labeled as OC43 is at the root cause. This coronavirus generally causes a common cold these days, with some people experiencing more severe respiratory illness reaction.
One of the reasons researchers now believe it was a coronavirus is because of the low kill rate (which in those days, flu killed far many more persons), and that children were not nearly as affected as older adults (which is the same footprint as we see today in SARS-CoV-2). I did find an abstract and it is linked here. There are other research papers out there, and it also has been written in the mainstream press as well over the past 18 months or so.
The enigma of the 1889 Russian flu pandemic: A coronavirus? - PubMed
The "Russian flu", which raged from 1889 to 1894, is considered as the first pandemic of the industrial era for which statistics have been collected. This planetary event started in Turkestan and hit the Russian Empire, before reaching all European countries, the United States of America, and...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Papa Mocha 15
I love the smell of ice in the morning.
Raccoon Jesus
Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Hang in there bud!
Papa Mocha 15
I love the smell of ice in the morning.
Ok, so I'm not bitching, just listing the symptoms and how I'm managing it for kicks. Fever yesterday to 101.9. Very achy and couldn't move too much. Took Tylenol right before bed and the fever broke and aches bounce the F off, so I could sleep. Woke up at 4 am in a pool of sweat. Put myself in prone position which really does help with breathing, who knew? And I'm not short of breath.
Lots of White Tea, Hot Totty's to thin secretions and keep a constant flow of vitamin C running in the system. Became a veg head for a few days here now to kick through this faster (who knows if it will help) but I"m pounding fruit and veggies. Changing linens and towels daily. Lot of time in the sun. Took more Tylenol this am at 0600 and my dose is only the 650 mg dose, nothing nuts and that seems to help.
This cough is f***ing awful though. It's like I just want stick a tube down my throat and suck it all out (lung butter). Mucus is white, thick but green in the am so the green means my body is fighting something and that's basically pus from dead cells. Kind of gnarly, but I'm ok as long as it gets less and less over time.
Getting through it. Kiddo finished 3rd in Mario Kart so he's getting better at the controls which means we can start getting ready for more games. Excuse to go buy some more. I'm gonna add Metroid to the list and Fifa.
Anywho, all for now
.
Lots of White Tea, Hot Totty's to thin secretions and keep a constant flow of vitamin C running in the system. Became a veg head for a few days here now to kick through this faster (who knows if it will help) but I"m pounding fruit and veggies. Changing linens and towels daily. Lot of time in the sun. Took more Tylenol this am at 0600 and my dose is only the 650 mg dose, nothing nuts and that seems to help.
This cough is f***ing awful though. It's like I just want stick a tube down my throat and suck it all out (lung butter). Mucus is white, thick but green in the am so the green means my body is fighting something and that's basically pus from dead cells. Kind of gnarly, but I'm ok as long as it gets less and less over time.
Getting through it. Kiddo finished 3rd in Mario Kart so he's getting better at the controls which means we can start getting ready for more games. Excuse to go buy some more. I'm gonna add Metroid to the list and Fifa.
Anywho, all for now
.
Papa Mocha 15
I love the smell of ice in the morning.
Yea it's interesting and not at all surprising. That's the beauty of science, examining what we think we know. I fall in that category that some of the mysterious flu's from the past were likely more of a corona virus in nature. Someday, technology will catch up and they'll get more links to prove it.I believe I have posted an article earlier in this thread (have to try to find it) that the flu pandemic of the late 1880s / early 1890s is believed now to have actually been a coronavirus pandemic, and specifically (they believe, but doubtful can prove) that the coronavirus labeled as OC43 is at the root cause. This coronavirus generally causes a common cold these days, with some people experiencing more severe respiratory illness reaction.
One of the reasons researchers now believe it was a coronavirus is because of the low kill rate (which in those days, flu killed far many more persons), and that children were not nearly as affected as older adults (which is the same footprint as we see today in SARS-CoV-2). I did find an abstract and it is linked here. There are other research papers out there, and it also has been written in the mainstream press as well over the past 18 months or so.
The enigma of the 1889 Russian flu pandemic: A coronavirus? - PubMed
The "Russian flu", which raged from 1889 to 1894, is considered as the first pandemic of the industrial era for which statistics have been collected. This planetary event started in Turkestan and hit the Russian Empire, before reaching all European countries, the United States of America, and...
Raccoon Jesus
Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Ok, so I'm not bitching, just listing the symptoms and how I'm managing it for kicks. Fever yesterday to 101.9. Very achy and couldn't move too much. Took Tylenol right before bed and the fever broke and aches bounce the F off, so I could sleep. Woke up at 4 am in a pool of sweat. Put myself in prone position which really does help with breathing, who knew? And I'm not short of breath.
Lots of White Tea, Hot Totty's to thin secretions and keep a constant flow of vitamin C running in the system. Became a veg head for a few days here now to kick through this faster (who knows if it will help) but I"m pounding fruit and veggies. Changing linens and towels daily. Lot of time in the sun. Took more Tylenol this am at 0600 and my dose is only the 650 mg dose, nothing nuts and that seems to help.
This cough is f***ing awful though. It's like I just want stick a tube down my throat and suck it all out (lung butter). Mucus is white, thick but green in the am so the green means my body is fighting something and that's basically pus from dead cells. Kind of gnarly, but I'm ok as long as it gets less and less over time.
Getting through it. Kiddo finished 3rd in Mario Kart so he's getting better at the controls which means we can start getting ready for more games. Excuse to go buy some more. I'm gonna add Metroid to the list and Fifa.
Anywho, all for now
I must have gone through a pack of Emergen-C a week when I was there.
If you can sleep prone/facedown somehow, that helps with the overnight mucus settling. I'm 'fortunate' I had to sleep that way for another issue anyway and it really helped with the respiratory/cough stuff.
Anything pre-WWII could have been a corona, that's about the time that Salk was doing his thing and we finally started identifying viral illnesses that were attributed to bacteria.
If it's heavy on the respiratory side, it's a distinct possibility. I would give that far more weight than lethality, as some CV's are deadlier than influenza by double-digit factors. The original SARS-COV had close to a 10% death rate, MERS was far higher than that. As for the Russian Flu, it could be, I'd go 50/50. It seems to mimic SARS-COV-2, but Khazakstan is not a warm place and it's very dry. Most CV's thrive in warmer, humid conditions. One argument for it being a CV might be that acquired immunity was so strong that it never came back to the USA again. CV's differ from influenza in that they have proofreading mechanisms, which is why they don't mutate nearly as much.
Papa Mocha 15
I love the smell of ice in the morning.
True. I appreciate how many types of respiratory viruses are out there. Everything from adenovirus, coronavirus, metahumanpneumo, influenza, corona virus blah blah blah They all behave differently, are structured differently etc. It's really a miracle that we have things like Tami flu to interfere with reproduction in the flu virus and we can't crack a corona virus because of the stupid structure (shell). But we've cracked some of the viruses and that's reassuring. I like to go back to the basics of biology as structure determines function and it's nuts to see that's how the game is played and we're reaffirming that just figuring that out by finding out about these prior plagues. It's a specialized field and those that do it really are under appreciated because we never hear about them unless your name is Salk.
These little viral f***ers are respiratory in nature and they're all nasty in there own way but it's fascinating to see how they can knock one person down to the point of hospitalization and another it bounces off like Theo Fleury trying to check Marty McSorely.
Papa Mocha 15
I love the smell of ice in the morning.
Yeah, I noticed that. The breathing made a huge difference. I'm better and bouncing up. Energy is better, no aches today, enduring is better but I"m not working out yet and probably won't for another week or so. Temp Max to 100 yesterday but felt ok and afebrile today. Just coughing now.
Wife is worse, her sense of taste is warped and achy so I'm taking care of her. Those Medicine balls from Starbucks are awesome.
As for my kid, would hardly know my kiddo has had anything at this time. He's happy Dad gets to use emerency leave to stay at home for a few weeks. That's one thing the state did right was give us Emergency Leave to take care of the family and doesn't count against me.
RonM11
Registered User
Omicron sub-variant BA.2.75
The way variants relay dominance to one another in time reminds me of the baton in relay racing. Maybe a better analogy is chain smoking. In any event, I can't see an end to this. Maybe there isn't any. "Hope" isn't cutting it anymore.
www.business-standard.com
www.jpost.com
The way variants relay dominance to one another in time reminds me of the baton in relay racing. Maybe a better analogy is chain smoking. In any event, I can't see an end to this. Maybe there isn't any. "Hope" isn't cutting it anymore.
India has new Covid sub-variant of Omicron, may be alarming: Israeli expert
However, the Indian Health Ministry is yet to officially confirm the detection of the sub-variant in the country
Scientists keeping an eye on new COVID variant BA.2.75
The new variant has nine mutations on its spike protein and has spread to at least eight countries.
www.jpost.com
Papa Mocha 15
I love the smell of ice in the morning.
What we don't know is how it stands up to BA 4/5. If BA 4/5 wipe this out, then it's just another variant that got eaten up by a more domintant strain. Viruses and bacteria both constantly try to outcompete each other for dominance.Omicron sub-variant BA.2.75
The way variants relay dominance to one another in time reminds me of the baton in relay racing. Maybe a better analogy is chain smoking. In any event, I can't see an end to this. Maybe there isn't any. "Hope" isn't cutting it anymore.
India has new Covid sub-variant of Omicron, may be alarming: Israeli expert
However, the Indian Health Ministry is yet to officially confirm the detection of the sub-variant in the country
Scientists keeping an eye on new COVID variant BA.2.75
The new variant has nine mutations on its spike protein and has spread to at least eight countries.
Also, this is to early to tell thus far, but I would also be interested to know the severity of it. We really won't until we get a larger number of cases and can map it along with how it functions against vaccines plus prior infection or vaccines alone or prior infection alone.
I don't think this will be ending anytime soon. Just glad it's not Delta cause that one was terrible.
RonM11
Registered User
Since BA.5 is further along, I think BA.2.75 will eventually supplant it. That's been the pattern so far, unless BA.2.75 burns itself out along the way like BA.3 did. As you said, we'll just have to wait and see. BA.5 isn't done with us yet...it will be taking center stage for the next few weeks.
Chazz Reinhold
Registered User
RonM11
Registered User
RonM11
Registered User
Omicron sub-variants BA.2.75 and BA.5 competing in India for dominance.
fortune.com
New Omicron subvariant Centaurus could be the most immune-evasive yet, expert warns
BA.2.75 is not currently a variant of concern, according to the World Health Organization. But experts are already raising potential red flags.
RonM11
Registered User
Over a 3rd of Covid samples in West Bengal have 'unassigned' strain
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/92814383.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/92814383.cms
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