Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #83

[CharlestonGal]

Covid-19 vaccine: Johnson & Johnson pauses trial after 'unexplained illness' - CNN

Such a pause is not immediately concerning, agreed Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health."This is completely expected, and it's just a reminder how ridiculous it is to try and meet a political timeline of having a vaccine before Nov. 3," Jha told CNN's Chris Cuomo.

This is the second Phase 3 coronavirus vaccine trial to be paused in the US. AstraZeneca's vaccine trial was paused last month because of a neurological complication in a volunteer in Britain. While the trial resumed there and in other countries, it remains paused in the United States while the US Food and Drug Administration investigates.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Dutch researchers report first death from COVID-19 reinfection

An elderly woman in the Netherlands has died after getting COVID-19 a second time, researchers reported on Monday. It’s the first time a death has been reported from reinfection with coronavirus.

Nearly 2 months later, just two days after starting a new round of chemotherapy, she developed a fever, cough, and dyspnea. When she was admitted to hospital, her oxygen saturation was 90 percent with a respiratory rate of 40 breaths per minute. She again tested positive for coronavirus while tests for antibodies were negative at days 4 and 6.

 

[10ofRods]

Ignorance is no legal excuse for breaking a law.

I've forgotten now where we were speaking of - but in many places, CV measures are policy, not law. But of course, some places it's law.

Where I live, such rules are not law - but Governor's policy and local policy (which can conflict). For it to be a law, the legislature has to pass on it...there is no local legislature, so it has to be state-mandated.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Scientists Confirm Nevada Man Was Infected Twice With Coronavirus

The two infections in the Nevada patient occurred about six weeks apart, according to a case study published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet. The patient originally tested positive for the virus in April and had symptoms including a cough and nausea. He recovered and tested negative for the virus in May.

But at the end of May, he went to an urgent care center with symptoms including fever, cough and dizziness. In early June, he tested positive again and ended up in the hospital.

"The second infection was symptomatically more severe than the first," the authors of the study write. The patient survived his second bout with COVID-19.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

No, not click bait. In the last decade, challenge trials have been done for H1N1, dengue, malaria, typhoid fever, hookworm, cholera. Zika was approved for challenge trial as well, but was never conducted for various reasons.

UK is looking at a SARS-CoV2 challenge early next year.

A Challenge Trial for COVID-19 Would Not Be the First of Its Kind

Just having time now to read and drill down on.

An interesting and eye-opening article, thanks @CharlestonGal. And indeed, WHO has an 18 page document for the ethics of COVID challenge trials Key criteria for the ethical acceptability of COVID-19 human challenge studies

Appreciate you enlightening me as I was totally ignorant to this information.

ETA:

There is a group called 1DaySooner, who have been around since at least April, who have been gathering a petition of people who would participate in a challenge trial.
A 22 year old girl and a Harvard Law School grad started the group, and then went around getting backing from whoever they could - which they got.
The 'big' vaccine developers - AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer - have refused to participate in such a thing.

It is said that a challenge trial would have limited value because just about everyone who signs up is young and healthy. The least likely demograph to fall seriously ill.

I would imagine that the 'UK Govt' might have to address the petition, but how serious they are about such a thing? Evidence of that I am unable to find. Just abstract references to the UK Govt considering it.

Controversial ‘human challenge’ trials for COVID-19 vaccines gain support
What is 1 Day Sooner? Scientists seek volunteers to become infected with coronavirus to speed up vaccine development
Hundreds of people volunteer to be infected with coronavirus
10 - 5 - 20: An Update from 1Day Sooner — 1Day Sooner

Appreciate the extra links @SouthAussie. So many folks here to help educate others.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Dutch researchers report first death from COVID-19 reinfection

An elderly woman in the Netherlands has died after getting COVID-19 a second time, researchers reported on Monday. It’s the first time a death has been reported from reinfection with coronavirus.

Nearly 2 months later, just two days after starting a new round of chemotherapy, she developed a fever, cough, and dyspnea. When she was admitted to hospital, her oxygen saturation was 90 percent with a respiratory rate of 40 breaths per minute. She again tested positive for coronavirus while tests for antibodies were negative at days 4 and 6.

Was concerned that the virus was perhaps "hiding" in her body and came back out due to chemo from your summary. Within the article it also said this... which put that thought to rest, thankfully.. Tragically, COVID with chemo would be a nightmare and if antibody cocktails work, they should be first in line.

"The team had access to test samples from both infections and confirmed that the genetic makeup of each virus was different to a degree which cannot be explained through in-vivo evolution. This supports the finding that the woman was suffering from a reinfection with coronavirus."

Scientists Confirm Nevada Man Was Infected Twice With Coronavirus

The two infections in the Nevada patient occurred about six weeks apart, according to a case study published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet. The patient originally tested positive for the virus in April and had symptoms including a cough and nausea. He recovered and tested negative for the virus in May.

But at the end of May, he went to an urgent care center with symptoms including fever, cough and dizziness. In early June, he tested positive again and ended up in the hospital.

"The second infection was symptomatically more severe than the first," the authors of the study write. The patient survived his second bout with COVID-19.

Ditto above as from your link to the original study at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30764-7/fulltext


Genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 showed genetically significant differences between each variant associated with each instance of infection.

 

[Legally Bland]

Peru has opened the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu for a single Japanese tourist who had waited almost seven months to visit the world heritage site.

Jesse Katayama was due to visit Machu Picchu in March but it closed because of coronavirus.

[...]

Mr Katayama planned to spend only a few days in Peru, but became stranded in the town of Aguas Calientes, near Machu Picchu, in mid-March because of coronavirus travel regulations.

Peru opens Machu Picchu for single tourist stranded by Covid

 

[GRT]

Ignorance is no legal excuse for breaking a law.

I'm not sure mask mandates and distancing measures are considered to be "laws." In my county, the mandate to wear masks was lifted but individual stores still require masks. Our governor early-on imposed strong mandates but our legislature voted to overrule her and pass the power of mandates to the county level.

I think the best way is to educate the people in keeping safe and then encourage them to wear masks, etc. Even though the mandate was lifted here, the vast majority of people are wearing masks.

 

[GRT]

Peru has opened the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu for a single Japanese tourist who had waited almost seven months to visit the world heritage site.

Jesse Katayama was due to visit Machu Picchu in March but it closed because of coronavirus.

[...]

Mr Katayama planned to spend only a few days in Peru, but became stranded in the town of Aguas Calientes, near Machu Picchu, in mid-March because of coronavirus travel regulations.

Peru opens Machu Picchu for single tourist stranded by Covid

Wow! I would love to be given the chance to explore Machu Picchu by myself.

The guy earned it--so to speak. I bet he enjoyed it!

 

[GRT]

Why some labs work on making viruses deadlier — and why they should stop

Rethinking Gain-of-Function Experiments in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

If there's one thing we've learned from this virus--it should be that no country can contain a virus with 100% certainty once it escapes.

I'm not saying Wuhan created this
virus--I'm just saying we don't need viruses that are even more dangerous than covid-19 in our world.

I used to think that if humanity was ever wiped out, it would be from nuclear weapons, but now I think it could be from biowarfare. I think GoF research should be banned everywhere. It's just too dangerous.

For this reason alone, I am not a Fauci fan. He knew how dangerous this research was and he pulled a fast one around the Obama Administration and arranged for funding GoF research in Wuhan after the funding was stopped here. To me, that's incredibly self-serving and borders on playing with the lives of others.

 

[SouthAussie]

If there's one thing we've learned from this virus--it should be that no country can contain a virus with 100% certainty once it escapes.

I'm not saying Wuhan created this
virus--I'm just saying we don't need viruses that are even more dangerous than covid-19 in our world.

I used to think that if humanity was ever wiped out, it would be from nuclear weapons, but now I think it could be from biowarfare. I think GoF research should be banned everywhere. It's just too dangerous.

For this reason alone, I am not a Fauci fan. He knew how dangerous this research was and he pulled a fast one around the Obama Administration and arranged for funding GoF research in Wuhan after the funding was stopped here. To me, that's incredibly self-serving and borders on playing with the lives of others.

To my way of thinking, better that you know what is going on than not know what is going on.

Other countries are not going to stop their investigations and experimentations. So you can either participate and be informed, or not participate and be ignorant. You can either try to keep things safe by participating, or just hope like all heck that others are going to keep things safe.

There is absolutely no evidence that this virus came from a lab. And this kind of research will continue, Dr Fauci/US participation or not. Of that I feel quite sure.

IMO

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Dr. Fauci backed controversial Wuhan Lab with millions of U.S. dollars for risky coronavirus research - COVID-19 World News

Dr. Fauci backed controversial Wuhan Lab with millions of U.S. dollars for risky coronavirus research

...just last year, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the organization led by Dr. Fauci, funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other institutions for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.

In 2019, with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included some gain-of-function work. The program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million.

Many scientists have criticized gain of function research, which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans, because it creates a risk of starting a pandemic from accidental release.

SARS-CoV-2 , the virus now causing a global pandemic, is believed to have originated in bats. U.S. intelligence, after originally asserting that the coronavirus had occurred naturally, conceded last month that the pandemic may have originated in a leak from the Wuhan lab. (At this point most scientists say it’s possible—but not likely—that the pandemic virus was engineered or manipulated.)

Yes, I believe we discussed this information at great length, back in May when this article was written. When we used to work together with countries to get answers, rather than just blame, we could trust more of the data.
Trump Spreads Distorted Claim on Wuhan Lab Funding - FactCheck.org


But the main point of this article revolves around the efficacy of doing this "gain of function" research

The work in question was a type of gain-of-function research that involved taking wild viruses and passing them through live animals until they mutate into a form that could pose a pandemic threat.


Many scientists have expressed problems with gain-of-function research over time.

Dr. Fauci defended the work. “[D]etermining the molecular Achilles’ heel of these viruses can allow scientists to identify novel antiviral drug targets that could be used to prevent infection in those at risk or to better treat those who become infected,” wrote Fauci and two co-authors in the Washington Post on December 30, 2011. “Decades of experience tells us that disseminating information gained through biomedical research to legitimate scientists and health officials provides a critical foundation for generating appropriate countermeasures and, ultimately, protecting the public health.”

Nevertheless, in 2014, under pressure from the Obama administration, the National of Institutes of Health instituted a moratorium on the work, suspending 21 studies.

I am hoping that more scientifically minded folks, like @10ofRods have more recent info than most of us. The US just has to work with other countries in the future, so maybe there is some "progress" brewing as we speak.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

If there's one thing we've learned from this virus--it should be that no country can contain a virus with 100% certainty once it escapes.

I'm not saying Wuhan created this
virus--I'm just saying we don't need viruses that are even more dangerous than covid-19 in our world.

I used to think that if humanity was ever wiped out, it would be from nuclear weapons, but now I think it could be from biowarfare. I think GoF research should be banned everywhere. It's just too dangerous.

For this reason alone, I am not a Fauci fan. He knew how dangerous this research was and he pulled a fast one around the Obama Administration and arranged for funding GoF research in Wuhan after the funding was stopped here. To me, that's incredibly self-serving and borders on playing with the lives of others.

As stated just up-thread... thanks to sharing minds here.... I am definitely learning more about the Gain of Function research, and feel I will now be much more alert on new findings.

 

[SouthAussie]

There is a good article here, published by National Geographic, that states:

In July, David Robertson, a viral genomics researcher at University of Glasgow, authored a peer-reviewed paper in Nature Medicine that showed the lineage behind SARS-CoV-2 and its closest known ancestor, a virus called RaTG13, have been circulating in bat populations for decades.
Virologists think this relative, which is 96-percent identical to the novel coronavirus, probably propagated and evolved in bats or human hosts and then went undetected for about 20 years before adapting its current form and causing the ongoing pandemic.


The article also points out the wrong information in the "Yan report".

Why misinformation about COVID-19’s origins keeps going viral
September 18, 2020

 

[astheworldfallsdown]

Coronavirus: Registered deaths involving COVID-19 rise for fourth week in a row

The number of registered deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales has risen for the fourth consecutive week, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said a total of 321 coronavirus-related deaths were registered in the week ending 2 October.

It is the highest figure since the week ending 10 July - and an increase from 215 deaths in the week to 25 September.

 

[SouthAussie]

I'm not sure mask mandates and distancing measures are considered to be "laws."

Interestingly, I just read that the UK is now enacting its new tiered covid restrictions in law. I wonder if they are the first country to do that. And I wonder if others will follow that lead, if non-compliance remains a big issue for other countries.

"Everything will be law now rather than simply advice."
What does three-tier Covid lockdown system mean for England?

 

[GRT]

To my way of thinking, better that you know what is going on than not know what is going on.

Other countries are not going to stop their investigations and experimentations. So you can either participate and be informed, or not participate and be ignorant. You can either try to keep things safe by participating, or just hope like all heck that others are going to keep things safe.

There is absolutely no evidence that this virus came from a lab. And this kind of research will continue, Dr Fauci/US participation or not. Of that I feel quite sure.

IMO

Just my opinion, but I think the dozens of researchers who implored Obama to stop funding GoF research knew what they were talking about. Fauci went out on a limb and ignored their warnings.

Sure, we can continue to go down that road, or we can curtail it as we did with the nuclear arms non-proliferation act that many believe has made the world a safer place.

I agree there is no evidence this current virus was made in a lab, I'm just thinking about the future of humanity.

JMOO

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Interestingly, I just read that the UK is now enacting its new tiered covid restrictions in law. I wonder if they are the first country to do that. And I wonder if others will follow that lead, if non-compliance remains a big issue for other countries.

"Everything will be law now rather than simply advice."
What does three-tier Covid lockdown system mean for England?

Sad, but really it has to be this way. People just bend the rules otherwise

 

[SouthAussie]

Just my opinion, but I think the dozens of researchers who implored Obama to stop funding GoF research knew what they were talking about. Fauci went out on a limb and ignored their warnings.

Sure, we can continue to go down that road, or we can curtail it as we did with the nuclear arms non-proliferation act that many believe has made the world a safer place.

I agree there is no evidence this current virus was made in a lab, I'm just thinking about the future of humanity.

JMOO

Yes, I agree that "germ warfare" is a very scary thought.

I did notice in an article I just read that the US restarted its gain-of-function experiments on Dec 19, 2017.
Once it felt that it had dealt with its internal safety breaches in this regard, and put in place a new policy.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(18)30006-9/fulltext

 

[HongKongPhooey]

I had a phone consult today with my GP re my suspected Long Covid, thought you guys might be interested to hear about it.

He asked what my symptoms are - exhaustion, brain fog, aches - and went through what happened in March when I believe I had it.

He said it is very likely I had it in March (the colleague's antibody test was the clincher) and now very possible I do have Long Covid.

He said there wasnt a lot they can offer yet (understandably) other than signing me off work. I thanked him but declined, as genuinely my work do need me right now (in my role I have to advise them on Covid protocols and safety etc) and I work from home three out of five days so it's not too bad.

The advice from him is:

Rest as much as possible
Reduce caffeine (I said I have two coffees per day max, he said cut down)
Reduce alcohol (I hardly have any)
Gradually increase exercise but only with a pulse oximeter to hand so I can monitor levels. I just bought one from Amazon and will start doing that.

He said (as we here know) it is v fortunate that I was taking Vit D for the year beforehand, to get my levels up.

Reading today about the re-infections, I told Mr HKP that we need to seriously start a lose weight campaign and he's on board with it. Reduce as many risk factors as we can.

Downside.. No coffee, no wine, no chocolate ....