Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #83

[Lilibet]

I’m very glad he is speaking his truth
JMO

BBM

I think it’s the truth, based on data, not just Dr Fauci’s truth. And I’m glad he’s speaking truth to power as usual too.
JMO

 

[Darling136]

Ready for a bit of light heartedness during this very serious covid time? Something to break up the worry and stress for just a moment? Provide a little temporary relief?
(Yes, this is a major MSM publication in Australia, and it is an article about one of the 'side effects' of covid.)

Scroll down to the 55sec video by Ash Williams - which is the 3rd twitter link in the article - for updated commentary on Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton during this pandemic. The article provides the context.

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has risen to cult status during the pandemic

Love this!

 

[tresir2012]

Is this link available to everyone?
https://twitter.com/i/events/1314563326869987329?s=21

My anecdotal evidence supports this.

I can see it TY. We know the first official case was 21 Jan on the West Coast, but if there were cases before that then it is not surprising IMO. The first WHO knew about it was end of December. MOO.

ETA I have posted this article before but it has been updated several times.

Could Covid-19 have reached the UK earlier than thought?

 

[tresir2012]

Trump has a tele-medicine call with Dr. Siegel.

Saying ‘I Feel Strong,’ Trump Plans Rallies at White House and in Florida

I didn’t feel strong,” he told Dr. Siegel, a Fox News contributor who joked that he was conducting a telemedicine appointment free of charge. “I didn’t have a problem with breathing, which a lot of people seemed to have. I had none of that. I didn’t feel very vital. I didn’t feel like the president of the United States should feel.”

Mr. Trump repeated his claim that he wanted to give all Americans for free an experimental antibody cocktail from Regeneron, which he credits with his quick recovery. He did not explain how he would do that when the drug does not yet have government approval.

“You would have sort of a sore throat, but I felt really very good after taking this for a period of time,” he said. “It’s a transfusion, not a shot. I’d like to send it to everybody.”

Regeneron’s treatment is a combination of two powerful antibodies that are believed to boost the immune response to the virus.

Of the steroid he had taken, dexamethasone, Mr. Trump said he had “tolerated it very well.”

More at above link.

Dr. Fauci comments below and further info.

Fauci weighs in on Regeneron's Trump-backed COVID-19 drug: 'Good chance' it helped him

 

[tresir2012]

So is this REGN-COV2 the same product that is used against Ebola?

Monoclonal antibodies directed against SARS-CoV-2: synthetic neutralizing antibodies, the REGN-COV2 antibody cocktail - CEBM

October 7, 2020

Robin E Ferner*†, Jeffrey K Aronson
On behalf of the Oxford COVID-19 Evidence Service Team
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
University of Oxford
*University of Birmingham
†University College London
Correspondence to r.e.ferner@bham.ac.uk

VERDICT
A monoclonal antibody “cocktail”, REGN-COV2, reduced mortality in Ebola virus infection from 51% to 34%, and the current carefully chosen pair of monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 reduced viral replication and lung damage in experimental animals. Only randomized controlled trials in humans with COVID-19 will show whether REGN-COV2 has clinically important benefits, with a favourable benefit to harm balance. Use outside clinical trials is currently generally unwarranted.

BACKGROUND
The development of monoclonal antibodies by Georges Köhler and César Milstein, in their attempt to understand the mechanisms by which cells of the human immune system are capable of producing so diverse a repertoire of antibodies, was recognized in the award of theNobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1984, shared with Niels Jerne. In the last two decades such antibodies have been used to treat a wide range of conditions, including malignancies and autoimmune disorders. New techniques for synthesizing monoclonal antibodies now make it possible to use transgenic mice to generate antibodies similar to human antibodies.

A virus infection, due to Ebola virus, has been treated in successful experiments using either humanized antibodies generated from mice or antibodies obtained from convalescent human patients. This suggests the possibility of treating COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies directed against structural elements of the virus.

Continued at link above.

Some more info and reading on those who have developed this.

He built a MERS treatment in 6 months and then the best Ebola drug. Now Christos Kyratsous turns his sights on Covid-19

List of patents applied for and issued to Mr. Kyratsous. Amazing.

Christos Kyratsous Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search

Below is latest research reading from Nature.

COVID research updates: Dense cities should brace for long coronavirus outbreaks

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Donald Trump raises fears in latest coronavirus test admission

Donald Trump’s has raised fears he’s still contagious with coronavirus ahead of a massive public rally he has planned.

The US President has revealed he was tested for the coronavirus on Friday and while he did not know the exact results, he was “either the bottom of the scale or free” of the infection.

He expected to be tested again on Saturday.

But critics have been quick to react, saying they weren’t aware there was a “scale” for the virus, and questioning whether he’s contagious.

 

[mickey2942]

Innate resistance to HIV - Wikipedia

We know that some people do not get HIV, even after repeated exposure.

There has been a lot of discussion about the "Super Spreader" event at the White House, and that many of the White House staff caught Covid. I am interested in the people who were in the same proximity to President Trump, and they did NOT catch the disease.

Are some people immune to Coronavirus? Has there been testing done to identify what is the reason?

 

[Lilibet]

But critics have been quick to react, saying they weren’t aware there was a “scale” for the virus, and questioning whether he’s contagious.

It caught my attention too that he said that about a “scale” on the test. I’m sure you’re either positive or negative. I doubt he’s talking about being checked for antibodies, is he? If he’s been tested and is negative, I’m sure his doctor would be letting everyone know. So in this case I would say “No news is bad news.”

 

[tresir2012]

It caught my attention too that he said that about a “scale” on the test. I’m sure you’re either positive or negative. I doubt he’s talking about being checked for antibodies, is he? If he’s been tested and is negative, I’m sure his doctor would be letting everyone know. So in this case I would say “No news is bad news.”

One of the articles in the Nature link I just posted looks at a case where someone caught it twice and they think it was because they did not get "enough" the first time so it looks like there could possibly be a scale based on viral load IMO.

 

[Lilibet]

One of the articles in the Nature link I just posted looks at a case where someone caught it twice and they think it was because they did not get "enough" the first time so it looks like there could possibly be a scale based on viral load IMO.

According to this article it looks like the PCR test could measure viral load, but as I read this (sleepily), I’m not sure that labs would give that information to the President’s doctors or if this is just theoretical. But either way, results should be available that say whether the President is negative or positive. If it’s a scale as this article seems to imply, it would be a good opportunity for his doctor to educate the public about this new way of measuring...

The PCR test amplifies genetic matter from the virus in cycles; the fewer cycles required, the greater the amount of virus, or viral load, in the sample. The greater the viral load, the more likely the patient is to be contagious. This number of amplification cycles needed to find the virus, called the cycle threshold, is never included in the results sent to doctors and coronavirus patients, although it could tell them how infectious the patients are.

Standard Covid-19 tests may not give actual scale of infection in patients

 

[tresir2012]

According to this article it looks like the PCR test could measure viral load, but as I read this (sleepily), I’m not sure that labs would give that information to the President’s doctors or if this is just theoretical. But either way, results should be available that say whether the President is negative or positive. If it’s a scale as this article seems to imply, it would be a good opportunity for his doctor to educate the public about this new way of measuring...

The PCR test amplifies genetic matter from the virus in cycles; the fewer cycles required, the greater the amount of virus, or viral load, in the sample. The greater the viral load, the more likely the patient is to be contagious. This number of amplification cycles needed to find the virus, called the cycle threshold, is never included in the results sent to doctors and coronavirus patients, although it could tell them how infectious the patients are.

Standard Covid-19 tests may not give actual scale of infection in patients

TY for this article. It would be useful to know but I will have to reread this several times as it hasn't gone in the first time.

Ok ETA this first bit seems mighty significant to me.

Some of the nation’s leading public health experts are raising a new concern in the endless debate over coronavirus testing in the United States: The standard tests are diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively insignificant am...

And this bit -

In three sets of testing data that include cycle thresholds, compiled by officials in Massachusetts, New York and Nevada, up to 90% of people testing positive carried barely any virus, a review by The New York Times found.

Read more at: Standard Covid-19 tests may not give actual scale of infection in patients

 

[Lilibet]

TY for this article. It would be useful to know but I will have to reread this several times as it hasn't gone in the first time.

Ok ETA this first bit seems mighty significant to me.

Some of the nation’s leading public health experts are raising a new concern in the endless debate over coronavirus testing in the United States: The standard tests are diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively insignificant am...

And this bit -

In three sets of testing data that include cycle thresholds, compiled by officials in Massachusetts, New York and Nevada, up to 90% of people testing positive carried barely any virus, a review by The New York Times found.

Read more at: Standard Covid-19 tests may not give actual scale of infection in patients

Yes, it’s definitely one of those “chewy” articles that takes a little time to digest. I noticed the part you mentioned too. There is still so much to learn about this virus. I’ll be interested to follow how this more refined testing develops. I’ll have to read it again, but I wonder how false negatives and false positives happen. Testing is definitely a work in progress. I guess I’d want to know if I carry even a little of the virus if I’m in a vulnerable group or around someone who is vulnerable, is that harmful? If scientists can prove that carrying a small amount of virus isn’t harmful, that would be helpful to know.

 

[tresir2012]

Yes, it’s definitely one of those “chewy” articles that takes a little time to digest. I noticed the part you mentioned too. There is still so much to learn about this virus. I’ll be interested to follow how this more refined testing develops. I’ll have to read it again, but I wonder how false negatives and false positives happen. Testing is definitely a work in progress. I guess I’d want to know if I carry even a little of the virus if I’m in a vulnerable group or around someone who is vulnerable, is that harmful? If scientists can prove that carrying a small amount of virus isn’t harmful, that would be helpful to know.

This may be something to have a look at. I am wondering if you come into contact with many people that have low viral load and pick up some from each, whether that can make you positive?

Transmission Dynamics of COVID-19 - CEBM

 

[Yvettea]

Is this link available to everyone?
https://twitter.com/i/events/1314563326869987329?s=21

My anecdotal evidence supports this.

Coronavirus Hit the U.S. Long Before We Knew
Months before travel bans and lockdowns, Americans were transmitting the virus across the country
By Rob Barry, Joel Eastwood and Paul Overberg
Published Oct. 8, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. ET


The Wall Street Journal interviewed disease detectives and reviewed hundreds of pages of new research to piece together how the coronavirus infiltrated the wealthiest nation on earth. The latest genetic, epidemiological and computational research suggests it was spreading inside the country before anyone started looking.

How did this happen?

Jan. 2, 2020
Retrospective testing in Ohio found that five women and a man who had developed Covid-like symptoms in early January had antibodies for the virus, qualifying as "probable" infections. They lived at opposite corners of the state, up to 200 miles apart. Though the findings aren't conclusive, modeling experts say they are consistent with the speed of the pandemic's later spread.

 

[Lilibet]

This may be something to have a look at. I am wondering if you come into contact with many people that have low viral load and pick up some from each, whether that can make you positive?

Transmission Dynamics of COVID-19 - CEBM

That would be a contact tracing nightmare! But on a positive note, would picking up the virus a little at a time cause immunity rather than symptoms? I’m interested in @10ofRods thoughts on this. It’s way above my pay grade.

 

[tresir2012]

A sensible decision here I think.

Covid: Children can leave Wales' lockdown areas for sport

 

[tresir2012]

That would be a contact tracing nightmare! But on a positive note, would picking up the virus a little at a time cause immunity rather than symptoms? I’m interested in @10ofRods thoughts on this. It’s way above my pay grade.

Maybe that is what happened to POTUS? Didn't he say he was immune?

 

[Lilibet]

Maybe that is what happened to POTUS? Didn't he say he was immune?

Well, he also said this, which I assume he said in jest, so I’ll wait for the doctors to say he’s immune...

“I’m back because I am a perfect physical specimen and I’m extremely young. And so I’m lucky in that way,” he said on Fox Business Thursday.

https://nypost.com/2020/10/08/trump-i-beat-covid-19-because-im-a-perfect-physical-specimen/

 

[ilovewings]

White House Blocked C.D.C. From Requiring Masks on Public Transportation

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drafted a sweeping order last month requiring all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public and commercial transportation in the United States, but it was blocked by the White House, according to two federal health officials.

The order would have been the toughest federal mandate to date aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, which continues to infect more than 40,000 Americans a day. The officials said that it was drafted under the agency’s “quarantine powers” and that it had the support of the secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II, but the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, declined to even discuss it.

More at link

This kind of interference from the white house will/has cost lives.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Innate resistance to HIV - Wikipedia

We know that some people do not get HIV, even after repeated exposure.

There has been a lot of discussion about the "Super Spreader" event at the White House, and that many of the White House staff caught Covid. I am interested in the people who were in the same proximity to President Trump, and they did NOT catch the disease.

Are some people immune to Coronavirus? Has there been testing done to identify what is the reason?

Scientists have been looking at such since the first quarter of this year due to polymorphism (think mutation MOO) of Ace2 receptors and it's association with some heart diseases, and they also have quoted mutational proteins associated with HIV resistance as they were led to investigate just what you are thinking. (Background Refresher on the disease --> ACE2 receptors are the target for entry/infection)

To date, there are quite a few papers and they haven't found such that certain polymorphisms of ACE2 receptors give resistance for COVID-19 that I have found. Here is one such link and has lots of references Angiotensin-converting enzymes (ACE, ACE2) gene variants and COVID-19 outcome and more at Search | COVID-19

What I have found while looking into your question is that they are also have investigated polymorphism (think mutation MOO) into proteins that are part of bio-available vitamin D's involvement in the immune system, The role of DBP gene polymorphisms in the prevalence of new coronavirus disease 2019 infection and mortality rate and have found indeed there does appear the severity of COVID might be associated with the genetic host factors. (Our Dr. Campbell and Dr. Seheult haven't reported on this?? but I have missed many of their educational videos recently).

Science has a long way to go. MOO