Money Is Not Wealth: Health - By A.R. Miller

MONEY IS NOT WEALTH

Health Issues - Recent Pandemics (Cancer, Coronavirus, Polio) And More
Subsection 6 of Money Is Not Wealth.

NEW: The GIST/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: AI, Monkey Brains, And The Virtue Of Small Thinking Illuminate How The Brain Processes Sight. (Medical Xpress, February 25, 2026)
What does it take to make AI that can pass as human? Try massive clusters of supercomputers. To build human-like intelligence, computer scientists think big.
However, for neuroscientists who want to understand how real brains work, today's AI only goes so far, as it replaces one deeply-complicated system (the brain) with another (AI).
How, then, do we figure out the inner workings of the biological brain? To answer this question, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Assistant Professor Benjamin Cowley is thinking small. In collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University Professor Matthew Smith and Princeton University Professor Jonathan Pillow, Cowley has helped develop a new AI model much smaller and simpler than today's "state-of-the-art" systems, yet far better at illustrating how the brain makes sense of visual stimuli. In previous work, Cowley had trained AI to anticipate neural responses in fruit flies. This time, he's set his sights on macaque, a species of monkey whose brains are much closer to humans'.

In a new study published in Nature, Cowley and colleagues present macaques with sets of carefully-curated natural images and track which neurons in the animals' visual cortex fire in response to each picture. From there, they first train large AI models to predict neural responses to specific images until they outperform competing models by more than 30%. Then, they use compression technology to shrink the large AI model to about 1/1,000 the size.
The result is a vision model small enough for an email attachment.
Finding that AI models of the brain could be this tiny is huge in itself. But Cowley goes further, pin-pointing the inner workings of these models. This analysis reveals something extraordinary: The compact-model neurons all break down images into low-level features like edges and colors, then form unique preferences by consolidating this information in different ways.
What does this mean for primates like us? Cowley offers one example: "In the monkey's brain - and in our brains, too, most likely - there's a group of V4 neurons that love dots." In other words, there are neurons in your brain that specialize in dot detection. That might seem random, but think about the key features of the face. What are eyes, but dots loaded with information? Consider how important eye contact is in daily life.
Looking ahead, the findings have Cowley thinking about building AI models of mental health conditions. "For example, in Alzheimer's dementia, we know synapses are lost", he explains. "If we know the images that drive neurons to talk to each other, we can potentially rebuild synapses once thought lost to disease."
Who knows? Thanks to work like this, one day you might be able to stave off - or even treat - neuro-degenerative disease by looking at special pictures. Just wait and see.
Miles Martin: Researchers Discover Intensive Meditation Retreat Rewires the Brain and Blood in Just 7 Days. (University of California San Diego; SciTech Daily, January 26, 2026)
A new UC San Diego study suggests that an intensive meditation-based retreat can rapidly alter brain activity and blood biology, engaging systems linked to neuroplasticity, metabolism, immunity, and pain regulation.
A one-week mind-body retreat led to consistent changes in the brain and at the molecular level that were associated with greater resilience, reduced pain, and improved recovery from stress.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego report that a short, intensive retreat combining several mind-body practices, including meditation and healing exercises, led to fast and widespread changes in brain activity and blood biology.
The team found that the program activated natural physiological systems linked to brain plasticity, metabolism, immune function, and pain regulation. Published in Communications Biology, the study offers new evidence that mental and psychological practices can produce measurable effects on physical health.
A long history, little biology
Meditation and other mind-body approaches have been used across cultures for thousands of years to support health and well-being, yet the biological mechanisms behind these practices have remained largely unclear.
This new research, part of a multi-million-dollar initiative funded by the InnerScience Research Fund, is the first to systematically measure the biological impact of combining multiple mind-body techniques over a brief, concentrated period.
The GIST/University of St. Andrews: Discovery Turns Household-Plastic Recycling Into Anti-Cancer Medication. (Phys.org, December 19, 2025)
A discovery led by the University of St. Andrews has found a way to turn ordinary household plastic waste into the building block for anti-cancer drugs.
How PET waste is recycled and transformed:
Household PET (polyethylene terephthalate) waste, such as plastic bottles and textiles, can be recycled in two main ways, mechanically or chemically. Chemical recycling breaks down PET's long polymer chains into individual units called monomers or into other valuable chemicals. Published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, researchers discovered that by using a ruthenium-catalyzed semi-hydrogenation process, PET waste could be depolymerized into a valuable chemical, ethyl-4-hydroxymethyl benzoate (EHMB).
Potential applications and environmental benefits:
Remarkably, EHMB serves as a key intermediate for synthesizing several important compounds, including:
- the blockbuster anti-cancer drug Imatinib,
- Tranexamic acid, the base for medication that helps the blood to clot, and
- the insecticide Fenpyroximate.
Currently, these types of medication are created using fossil-derived feed-stock, often using hazardous reagents producing significant waste. This ground-breaking research offers substantial environmental benefits compared to conventional industrial methods for producing EHMB, as confirmed by a comparative hot-spot analysis in a streamlined life-cycle assessment approach. This means quickly pin-pointing the parts of a product's life cycle that cause the most environmental impact, so it's known where improvements will matter most.
Additionally, researchers discovered that EHMB can be converted into a new and recyclable polyester.
The GIST/La Trobe University: Cancer's Hidden "Safety Switch": Silencing TAK1 Gene Could Boost Immuno-Therapy Performance. (link to paper; MedicalXpress.com, December 19, 2025)
Australian researchers have discovered that the TAK1 gene helps cancer cells survive attack from the immune system, revealing a mechanism that may limit the effectiveness of immuno-therapy treatments. Cancer immuno-therapies can work very well, but under-perform in some cases due to tumors' in-built survival processes that help them resist attack by the immune system.
Researchers at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI) and WEHI discovered that the TAK1 gene acts like a safety switch that protects cancer cells from the powerful signals generated by CD8⁺ T cells. Their paper was published in Cell Reports.
How TAK1 Helps Cancer Cells Survive:
TAK1 was identified by conducting a large genetic screen to search for genes that help cancer cells survive attacks by CD8⁺ T cells, key killer cells of our immune system.
Dr. Anne Huber, Postdoctoral Researcher at ONJCRI, affiliated with La Trobe University as the School of Cancer Medicine, says, "It is known that TAK1 promotes cancer cell survival and blocks cell death. However, we didn't know that cancer cells use this tactic to avoid killing by the immune system."
The researchers tested the importance of the TAK1 gene to cancer-cell survival, by silencing it using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. In pre-clinical models with typical immune function, they found that tumors lacking TAK1 grow poorly, demonstrating that the immune system is able to control cancer cells better.
Dr. Huber says, "When TAK1 was blocked, immune signals generated by CD8⁺ T cells triggered the cancer cell's self-destruct pathways. Without TAK1, the cancer cells lose a key protein, cFLIP, that normally prevents cell death, and they become far more sensitive to immune attack."
Implications For Future Cancer Treatments:
Turning off TAK1 makes cancer cells much easier for the immune system to eliminate, offering hope for more powerful treatment options in the future.
Looking forward, the team will undertake further research into blocking TAK1 using innovative liquid nanoparticle technology and testing the efficacy of existing immunotherapies on cancer cells.
The research was conducted across a variety of cancer types, predominantly melanoma, which is often treated with immuno-therapy and is diagnosed in 330,000 people worldwide and causes 60,000 deaths annually (2022 data).
Beth Mole: Threat To The FDA: 12 Former FDA Chiefs Unite To Say Agency Memo On Vaccines Is Deeply Stupid. Prasad's Arguments "Misrepresent Both The Science And The Regulatory Record". (Ars Technica, December 3, 2025)
On Friday, Vinay Prasad - the Food and Drug Administration's chief medical and scientific officer and its top vaccine regulator - emailed a stunning memo to staff that quickly leaked to the press. Without evidence, Prasad claimed COVID-19 vaccines have killed 10 children in the US, and, as such, he announced unilateral, sweeping changes to the way the agency regulates and approves vaccines, including seasonal flu shots.
This evening, a dozen former FDA commissioners, who collectively oversaw the agency for more than 35 years, responded to the memo with a scathing rebuke. Uniting to publish their response in the New England Journal of Medicine, the former commissioners said they were "deeply concerned" by Prasad's memo, which they framed as a "threat" to the FDA's work and a danger to Americans' health.
[TrumPutin continues to cripple the U.S. government, to steal from us, to sicken and kill "his citizens". His master must be pleased.]
Joseph Hosey: New Flu Mutation Causes Severe Illness: See Latest MA Data. Massachusetts Emergency Rooms Typically See An Increase In COVID-19, Influenza And RSV Rates During The Holidays. (The Patch, November 21, 2025)
Close gatherings over the Thanksgiving holiday could cause an uptick in emergency room visits in Massachusetts due to a trio of respiratory illnesses that typically rise this time of year, as well as a new mutation of the common flu that does NOT respond to this year's flu shot. It's a new Influenza H3N2 mutation known as “subclade K", and it is spreading in North America including the United States.
Although the current flu vaccine offers protection against the H3N2 strain, it doesn't cover subclade K, which hadn't been identified when the vaccine was developed. The variant has mutated seven times, making H3N2 an even-more-serious threat, according to experts.
"Knowing that H3N2 generally causes more-severe disease, and that there's a new mutated strain of it out there, is concerning", Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr., medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told the NBC Today Show.
The symptoms of the new strain are similar to those caused by common influenza, including fever, chills, body aches, headaches, extreme fatigue, congestion or runny nose, and coughing. The symptoms come on suddenly. "It's that hit-by-a-truck feeling", Hopkins told Today.
This particular mutation is now dominant in many countries, including Japan, the United Kingdom and Canada, Forbes reported.
Travis Alexander: Power And Flesh - As Struggles Over The Human Body Escalate, We Should Return To The Work Of Cinema's Greatest Anatomist: David Cronenberg. (20-min. audio; Aeon, October 31, 2025)
What does government govern? What, in other words, is government the government of?
The answer – at least in the West – has shifted over time:
- In the Age Of Religion, kings and queens ruled over Souls, preparing them for the divine beyond.
- After the Enlightenment, the Soul gave way to the Mind as the focus of governance.
- By the late 18th-Century, the target had shifted again. In the first volume of "The History of Sexuality" (1976), the philosopher Michel Foucault observed that, as the 19th-Century approached, government was turning its gaze to the Body itself. Biological life was no longer incidental to politics: life and death, sickness and health became objects of management, control and regulation. Foucault called this new regime "biopolitics" or "biopower".
Across the centuries since, the government of bodies has grown only more visible – and more contested. So much of our politics now revolves around managing them. We see it in:
- battles over trans participation in sports and access to abortion,
- the furore over Elon Musk's Neuralink brain implants,
- and the push to regulate red dye in food.
- Even an issue as seemingly-distant as school funding is, at bottom, a struggle over the body. That makes sense, since research shows how profoundly the environment impacts brain development and neuroplasticity from childhood all the way through early adulthood. When we talk about school budgets, we’re talking about the kinds of brains (and bodies) we want to produce. When we worry about AI in classrooms, we’re worrying that students may never form the pathways of critical thought and focus that they need.
The reigning biopolitical disputes hinge on deceptively simple questions:
- What is the body for?
- What should we do with it?
- Are there levels of biology where a difference of degree becomes a difference of kind?
- If a human body changes (or is changed) beyond a certain point, does it stop being an altered human body and become, instead, something else?
There's no shortage of modern artists and thinkers wrestling with these questions.
[Tht's just the opening, of a fascinating analysis on many levels.]
THE LEFT HOOK with Wajahat Ali and guest MarkAlain Déry: The Viral Collapse Is Upon Us: RFK And MAGA's Dismantling Of Our Healthcare System. (66-min. YouTube video; Substack, September 6, 2025)
With MAGA dismantling America's healthcare system and replacing doctors and scientists with cranks, it will be up to local communities to step up to save lives and protect families.
Dr. Déry believes Americans must hear the tough truth about MAGA's deliberate dismantling of our public health infrastructure. Denial is no longer an option, and even though anger and depression are acceptable, they can't lead to apathy and inaction.
Instead, Dr. Déry joined me to explain how Americans can keep themselves and their families safe, as RFK Jr. continues purging the CDC and National Institute of Health of qualified scientists and doctors, and replacing them with dangerous, reckless cranks who spout debunked anti-vaxx conspiracies. RFK's forthcoming "autism report" is going to suggest that pregnant women using Tylenol causes autism.
That's where we are now, folks. This is beyond Idiocracy.
Bar-Ilan University: Scientists Discover Nature's Secret To Healthy Longevity. (with fine links and, uh, interesting Comments; SciTech Daily, May 1, 2025)
Researchers at Bar-Ilan University reveal protein changes linked to longevity throughout mammalian evolution.
Over the past several decades, human lifespan has steadily increased. However, this progress has also led to a growing proportion of the population suffering from age-related diseases such as cancer, neuro-degenerative disorders, and diabetes. Extending both lifespan and healthspan (the period of life spent in good health) requires a deeper understanding of the biological mechanisms that promote healthy aging.
In the natural world, mammalian lifespans vary enormously, ranging from just 1 to 2 years in some rodents to more than a century in species like whales and humans, a striking 100-fold difference. Such remarkable diversity raises an important question: What biological factors allow long-lived mammals to maintain health well into old age?
A new study published in Nature Communications by researchers at Bar-Ilan University addresses this question by drawing on evolution itself, the longest and most extensive natural experiment, to uncover the secrets of longevity.
NEW: Bar-Ilan University: Building A New Type Of Efficient Artificial Intelligence Inspired By The Brain. (SciTech Daily, January 30, 2023)
Although the brain's architecture is very shallow, brain-inspired artificial neural networks' learning capabilities can outperform deep learning.
Traditionally, artificial intelligence stems from human brain dynamics. However, brain learning is restricted in a number of significant aspects compared to deep learning (DL). First, efficient DL wiring structures (architectures) consist of many tens of feed-forward (consecutive) layers, whereas brain dynamics consist of only a few feed-forward layers. Second, DL architectures typically consist of many consecutive filter layers, which are essential to identify one of the input classes. If the input is a car, for example, the first filter identifies wheels, the second one identifies doors, the third one lights and after many additional filters it becomes clear that the input object is, indeed, a car. Conversely, brain dynamics contain just a single filter located close to the retina. The last necessary component is the mathematically-complex DL training procedure, which is evidently far beyond biological realization.
Can the brain, with its limited realization of precise mathematical operations, compete with advanced artificial-intelligence systems implemented on fast and parallel computers? From our daily experience, we know that for many tasks the answer is YES! Why IS this and, given this affirmative answer, can one build A NEW TYPE of efficient artificial intelligence - inspired by the brain?
In an article published today (January 30) in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers from Bar-Ilan University in Israel SOLVE this puzzle.
NEW: Gero: Scientists Have Found A Way To Break The Limit Of Human Longevity. (SciTech Daily, May 25, 2021)
The research team of Gero, a Singapore-based biotech company in collaboration with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo NY, announces a publication in Nature Communications, a journal of Nature portfolio, presenting the results of the study on associations between aging and the loss of the ability to recover from stresses.
Recently, we have witnessed the first promising examples of biological-age reversal by experimental interventions. Indeed, many biological-clock types properly predict more years of life for those who choose healthy lifestyles or quit unhealthy ones, such as smoking. What has been still unknown is, how quickly is biological age changing over time for the same individual? And especially, how one would distinguish between the transient fluctuations and the genuine bioage-change trend?
The emergence of big biomedical data involving multiple measurements from the same subjects brings about a whole range of novel opportunities and practical tools to understand and quantify the aging process in humans. A team of experts in biology and biophysics presented results of a detailed analysis of dynamic properties of the fluctuations of physiological indices along individual aging trajectories.
Healthy human subjects turned out to be very resilient, whereas the loss of resilience turned out to be related to chronic diseases and elevated all-cause mortality risks. The rate of recovery to the equilibrium baseline level after stresses was found to deteriorate with age. Accordingly, the time needed to recover was getting longer and longer: around 2 weeks for 40 y.o. healthy adults, the recovery time stretched to 6 weeks for 80 y.o., on average in the population. This finding was confirmed in two different datasets based on two different kinds of biological measurements: blood-test parameters on one hand, and physical-activity levels recorded by wearable devices on the other hand. "Calculation of resilience based on physical-activity data-streams has been implemented in our GeroSense iPhone app, and made available for the research community via web-based API", commented the first author of the study, Tim Pyrkov, head of the mHealth project at Gero.
If the trend holds at later ages, the extrapolation shows a complete loss of human body resilience, that is the ability to recover, at some age around 120-150 y.o. The reduced resilience was observed even in individuals not suffering from major chronic diseases, and led to the increase in the range of the fluctuations of physiological indices. As we age, more and more time is required to recover after a perturbation, and on average we spend less and less time close to the optimal physiological state.
The predicted loss of resilience even in the healthiest, most successfully aging individuals, might explain why we do not see an evidential increase of the maximum lifespan, while the average lifespan was steadily growing during the past decades. The divergent fluctuations of physiological indices may mean that no intervention that does not affect the decline in resilience may effectively increase the maximum lifespan, and hence may only lead to an incremental increase in human longevity. Gero's work shows that longitudinal studies open a whole new window on the aging process, and produce independent biomarkers of human aging suitable for applications in geroscience and future clinical trials of anti-aging interventions.
"Aging in humans exhibits universal features common to complex systems operating on the brink of disintegration. This work is a demonstration of how concepts borrowed from physical sciences can be used in biology to probe different aspects of senescence and frailty to produce strong interventions against aging", says Peter Fedichev, co-founder and CEO of Gero.
Accordingly, no strong life extension is possible by preventing or curing diseases without interception of the aging process, the root cause of the underlying loss of resilience. We do not foresee any laws of nature prohibiting such an intervention. Therefore, the aging model presented in this work may guide the development of life-extending therapies with the strongest possible effects on health span.
NEW: Incredible Images Reveal How Bacteria Form Communities On The Human Tongue. (Cell Press, March 24, 2020)
Using a recently-developed fluorescent-imaging technique, researchers in the United States have developed high-resolution maps of microbial communities on the human tongue. The images, presented today in the journal Cell Reports, reveal that microbial biofilms on the surface of the tongue have a complex, highly-structured spatial organization.

COVID-19 And Related:

Jillian Wilson: COVID-19 Is Surging Again - And These Regions Are Facing The Sharpest Spikes. While Everyone Should Take Precautions To Stay Well, Folks In Western And South-Central States Should Be Extra Careful. (Huffington Post, August 29, 2025, Updated September 1, 2025)
If you're like most people in the U.S., you probably either know someone with COVID-19 right now, know someone who just got over an infection or have the virus yourself.
COVID cases are high as kids go back to school and folks return home from summer trips. It's part of the COVID pattern - the virus tends to peak in late summer and again in the winter - but just because it's part of a pattern doesn't make a COVID infection any less severe, scary or annoying than years past.
While COVID cases are high throughout the country (read: don't discount your stuffy nose as "just a cold"), cases are particularly high in certain states. Here's what to know:
COVID cases are highest in Texas, California, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico and other states in the West and South-Central part of the country.
It's worth knowing that COVID tracking data is less-reliable now - because of COVID funding cuts by the Trump administration, less testing and the discontinuation of certain tools that researchers relied on. While tracking is less-accurate than it was a few years ago, COVID is surging in these regions, based on the data that IS available.
"We are seeing cases increase here in Houston, and in Texas, and if we look at the data that is available from [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], it certainly seems like the South-Central U.S. - Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana - is seeing some of the higher test-positivity rates in the country", said Dr. S. Wesley Long, the medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist Hospital.
According to Dr. Scott Roberts, an infectious disease doctor at Yale Medicine in Connecticut, "the highest test positivity is in the Texas region ... with the second-highest broadly being the West Coast. So, the Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada areas, but that does extend through Colorado and then the Dakotas".
Folks in these areas should take particular caution when spending time indoors and certainly shouldn't assume any COVID symptoms (runny nose, cough, fever, headache, fatigue, sore throat) are only a cold or allergies.
COVID cases are rising throughout the country, but rates are lower in the Eastern U.S. COVID-test positivity-rates, which measure the percentage of positive tests out of all tests given, in the United States is 11.2%, which is up from 9.9% last week and 2.7% in May, according to CDC data. This number is an average of positivity rates across the country, meaning it's lower in some places and higher in others. Test positivity is as high as 17.9% in places like Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, and 7.5% in many New-England states.
“The increased test positivity shows that there is an increase in COVID cases. It also means that we're probably not testing enough. So, there's likely more cases out there than we even suspect", Coles said.
For comparison, though, test positivity in the U.S. was 30% during the peak of omicron in January 2022. So, while cases are going up, they are much lower than they were earlier on in the pandemic, Roberts said.
COVID rates are lower in the East and Southeast parts of the United States, but are, once again, largely trending upward, said Long. Specifically, states east of the Mississippi have lower rates of COVID right now, added Roberts. No matter where you live, you should take precautions to stay healthy.
Two new COVID variants, Stratus and Nimbus, are behind the summer increase in cases, said Roberts, but they are not any more severe than previous COVID strains. That being said, a COVID infection can still lead to complications such as long COVID, hospitalization and death, said Coles. And, COVID emergency-room visits are also on the rise in many parts of the country. "I would strongly encourage everybody to take actions to stay healthy from COVID and prevent the spread of COVID to others. I would encourage people to stay home when they feel sick, wash their hands, wear a mask in crowded public areas, get vaccinated if and when vaccines become available, and encourage their family and community members to do so as well".
The COVID-vaccine conversation is a complicated one right now as the new COVID shots are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (but not yet the CDC), and are very restricted and are available to a smaller group of people than in previous years. Shots for 2025-2026 are approved for people 65 and older, and those under 65 with an underlying condition that puts them at high risk of severe COVID. Last year, everyone over 6 months was eligible for the shot. The new vaccines are designed to target the COVID variants circulating now, Long said. "Certainly, if folks haven't had a recent COVID shot, would like to have a COVID shot, it is the best defense against severe disease, hospitalization and death from COVID." The vaccines are effective, safe and the best way to protect yourself regardless of your age, he added. "Certainly the populations they singled out are high-risk, [but] I think it's important to remind people that there are a lot of health conditions that may make people high-risk. Common conditions such as having high blood-pressure, diabetes and being a higher weight can all put you at higher risk of getting very sick. My hope is that vaccines will still remain fairly-easy to obtain for those who want them. Certainly, people can talk to their doctors to see if they are high-risk", Long said.
With COVID seemingly everywhere right now, you shouldn't discount sniffles or a stuffy nose as a cold or allergies. If you do feel sick or have symptoms, Coles said, you should take a COVID test. "If that test is negative, it might be what's called a false-negative, or not positive yet. In that case, you should test again in three or four days to ensure you don't have COVID. Because if you have COVID, we want you to stay home, protect yourself and protect others as well."
If you do test positive, you can check with your doctor to see if you're eligible for COVID antiviral medications that can help you stay out of the hospital and feel better faster.
[It's long, but if it helps you and others to stay healthy...]
NEW: Marc Bevand: COVID-19 Resource
[It's a MAJOR resource; take a look!]
No. 3 - AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Success: Here's How It Stacks Up To Others. (Ars Technica, November 23, 2020)
AstraZeneca used two equal dosages and measured 62% average effectiveness. Halving the first dose upped it to 90% average. Unlike its competitor vaccines, normal refrigeration is sufficent - and its proven production methods permit early - and probably less costly - distribution to more people.
We're Celebrating Thanksgiving Amid A Pandemic. Here's How We Did It In 1918 – And What Happened Next. (USA Today, November 22, 2020)
On Thanksgiving more than a century ago, many Americans were living under quarantines, and officials warned people to stay home for the holiday.
Why Face Masks Belong At Your Thanksgiving Gathering – 7 Things You Need To Know About Wearing Them (The Conversation, November 19, 2020)
Here are answers to some key questions about how and when to wear masks, and how to manage their use during the holidays.
Clinical Outcomes Of A COVID-19 Vaccine: Implementation Over Efficacy. (Health Affairs, November 19, 2020)
Using a mathematical simulation of vaccination, we find that factors related to implementation will contribute more to the success of vaccination programs than a vaccine's efficacy as determined in clinical trials. The benefits of a vaccine will decline substantially in the event of manufacturing or deployment delays, significant vaccine hesitancy, or greater epidemic severity. Our findings demonstrate the urgent need for health officials to invest greater financial resources and attention to vaccine production and distribution programs, to redouble efforts to promote public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, and to encourage continued adherence to other mitigation approaches, even after a vaccine becomes available.
"They've Been Following The Science": How The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Been Curtailed In The Cherokee Nation. (Stat, November 17, 2020)
While the United States flounders in its response to the coronavirus, another nation — one within our own borders — is faring much better. With a mask mandate in place since spring, free drive-through testing, hospitals well-stocked with PPE, and a small army of public health officers fully supported by their chief, the Cherokee Nation has been able to curtail its COVID-19 case and death rates even as those numbers surge in surrounding Oklahoma, where the White House coronavirus task force says spread is unyielding.
COVID: Think For Yourself, Dammit! (This Is True, November 16, 2020)
Terry: "I'm tired of the state telling me I have to wear a face diaper as a method of control. That is what is at stake here."
Randy: "Wrong. What's at stake here is millions of lives - with more than 1.3-million dead around the world so far. "The state" isn't trying to control you, it's trying to control something that has evolved to kill you."
To Shut Down Or Not Shut Down? Officials Implement New Coronavirus Restrictions As Cases Skyrocket, But Face Angry Backlash. (Washington Post, November 13, 2020)
Governors and mayors are forced again to weigh coronavirus deaths against anger and economic devastation.
Lungs (And COVID-19) (Quartz, October 14, 2020)
The thing about lungs - and most of our health for that matter - is that when they're working well, we barely notice them. It's only when they're threatened by something like a global respiratory pandemic that we start to notice just how talented these organs actually are.
The Coronavirus Unveiled (with stunning photos and links; New York Times, October 9, 2020)
The first pictures of the coronavirus, taken just seven months ago, resembled barely discernible smudges. But scientists have since captured the virus and its structures in intimate, atomic detail, offering crucial insights into how it functions.
Less than a millionth of an inch wide, the virus is studded with proteins called spikes that attach to cells in people's airways, allowing the virus to infiltrate. But under an electron microscope, the proteins look more like tulips than spikes, consisting of long stems topped with what looks like a three-part flower. These spikes also swivel on a three-way hinge, which may increase their odds of encountering and attaching to proteins on human cells.
UN: New Daily Record As COVID-19 Cases Hit More Than 350,000 (AP News, October 9, 2020)
In a press briefing on Friday, WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan acknowledged that even as COVID-19 continues to surge across the world, "there are no new answers". He said that although the agency wants countries to avoid the punishing lock-downs that have devastated economies, governments must ensure the most-vulnerable people are protected and numerous measures must be taken. "The majority of people in the world are still susceptible to this disease", Ryan warned. He said countries should focus not just on restrictive measures, but also on bolstering their surveillance systems, testing, contact-tracing and ensuring populations are engaged.
Globally, more than 36-million cases of COVID-19 have been reported, including more than 1-million deaths. Experts say the tally far underestimates the real number of cases and Ryan said on Monday that the WHO's "best estimates" were that 1-in-10 people worldwide - or roughly 760-million people - may have been infected.
The White House BLOCKED The CDC From Requiring Masks On Public Transportation. (New York Times, October 9, 2020)
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. The order would have required face coverings on airplanes, trains, buses and subways, and in transit hubs such as airports, train stations and bus depots.
A task force official said the decision to require masks should be left up to states and localities. The administration requires the task force to sign off on coronavirus-related policies.
Despair at CDC after Trump influence: "I have never seen morale this low." (The Hill, September 23, 2020)
CDC Reverses Itself And Says Guidelines It Posted On Coronavirus Airborne Transmission Were Wrong. (5-min. video; Washington Post, September 21, 2020)
Despite expert recommendations, CDC removes statement, claiming website error. The agency had posted information Friday stating the virus can transmit over a distance beyond six feet, suggesting that indoor ventilation is key to protecting against a virus that has now killed nearly 200,000 Americans. Where the agency previously warned that the virus mostly spreads through large drops encountered at close range, on Friday it said "small particles, such as those in aerosols," were a common vector.
The edited Web page now has removed all references to airborne spread, except for a disclaimer that recommendations based on this mode of transmission are under review.
For months, scientists and public health experts have warned of mounting evidence that the coronavirus is airborne, transmitted through tiny droplets called aerosols that linger in the air much longer than the larger globs that come from coughing or sneezing.
Food And Coronavirus Disease 2019/COVID-19 (CDC, August 22, 2020)
- The risk of getting sick with COVID-19 from eating or handling food (including frozen food and produce) and food packages is considered very low.
- Take everyday actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- Continue following basic steps for food safety and eat nutritious foods to take care of your physical and mental health.
America's Uniquely-Bad COVID-19 Epidemic, Explained In 18 Maps And Charts (Vox, August 11, 2020)
It's now clear the United States has failed to contain its COVID-19 epidemic, with case counts far ahead of other developed nations and more than 1,000 deaths reported a day for over two weeks and counting. Asked if America's coronavirus outbreak is the worst in the world, White House adviser and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci admitted it was on August 5: "Yeah, it is. Quantitatively, if you look at it, it is. I mean, the numbers don't lie."
It didn't have to be this way. In March and April, other developed countries had significant COVID-19 outbreaks, but they did a much better job than the U.S. in containing the coronavirus and keeping it down after the virus arrived. So while some other developed nations have experienced upticks, they all pale in comparison to the massive surge in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that the U.S.s has seen since May and June. Here's what you need to know.

**Below here, COVID items still need date-sorting and formatting.**
Answers To Common Questions About Coronavirus And The Food You Eat (Consumer Reports, April 1, 2020)
Food safety experts address 12 top concerns.

Trump To Launch Second Pandemic Task Force, One That Does Away With Irritating Medical Experts. (Daily Kos, April 9, 2020)
The Wall Street Journal Board Has Had Enough Of Donald Trump's Coronavirus Briefings. (Huffington Post, April 9, 2020)   
In the editorial titled "Trump's Wasted Briefings", the conservative newspaper's board said the pressers had started off as "a good idea to educate the public" about the pandemic but had now descended into "a boring show of President Vs. The Press" after Trump decided to make them all about himself. Trump's frequent "outbursts against his political critics" were "notably off-key at this moment" given the "once-a-century threat to American life and livelihood", it added, noting how public health officials have in the briefings been relegated to the role of "supporting actors".
"If Mr. Trump thinks these daily sessions will help him defeat Joe Biden, he's wrong", the board wrote, suggesting Trump's 2020 campaign against the de facto Democratic nominee Biden is "about one issue: how well the public thinks the President has done in defeating the virus and restarting the economy."

White House Reverses Position After Blocking Health Officials From Appearing On CNN. (CNN, April 9, 2020)
Vice President Mike Pence's office reversed course on Thursday afternoon, after declining for days to allow the nation's top health officials to appear on CNN and discuss the corona-virus pandemic, in what was an attempt to pressure the network into carrying the White House's lengthy daily briefings in full.
After this story was published, Pence's office allowed the bookings.

Emily Maitlis, BBC: They Tell Us Coronavirus Is A Great Leveller. It's Not. (4-min. video; BBC, April 9, 2020)

The Invisible Vector (Hakai Magazine, April 9, 2020)
Ships and their crews criss-cross the planet, but their travels are largely unaccounted for in epidemiological modeling.
AIS is a global-tracking program that all passenger ships, international ships over 270 tonnes, and cargo ships over 450 tonnes are legally required to take part in. Over a half-million vessels carry on-board transceivers that broadcast messages on the ship's location, speed, course, destination, and estimated time of arrival, as well as static information like the ship's name, type, and size.
With so many messages coming at any given time from the hundreds of thousands of ships at sea, scientists could better understand the risk of a disease criss-crossing the planet.
Despite ships' close association with historical pandemics, they have been overlooked. That's largely due to the field's reliance on aviation data, which dwarfs maritime traffic with nearly 40-million flights in 2019. The stories of cruise ships being floating infection hubs, however, might make using ship data seem less far-fetched.

Korean CDC Investigates Possible Reactivation As 51 Coronavirus Patients Re-Test Positive After Recovery. (Daily Kos, April 9, 2020)

Study From China Raises Serious Questions About Both COVID-19 Immunity And Vaccine Effectiveness. (Daily Kos, April 9, 2020)
Since the early weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak in Hubei province, China, there have been reports of patients who were released after testing negative for the virus, only to test positive again at a later date. These numbers have definitely raised concerns over whether it is possible to be reinfected by 2019 novel coronavirus, and whether having the disease and recovering really confers lasting immunity. On the other hand, there has been every reason to expect that immunity is a given, based on the example of many similar viruses.
A new study in Shanghai may have the answer: Having COVID-19 provides lasting, strong immunity … for most people. But there may actually be a group that's vulnerable to reinfection, and that group may not be what anyone was expecting. While the distribution of those catching COVID-19 may be more or less even across age brackets, the distribution of these "low antibodies" cases was not. Most of those who had low antibodies were young. In fact, the study showed the level of antibodies increased with age. Patients over 60 had three times the amount of antibodies as those under 40, even though both groups had mild cases of COVID-19.
If accurate, these results have a number of considerations:
- A portion of low-symptom COVID-19 patients may be subject to reinfection or rebound. It's completely unclear whether a second round of infection is more or less mild than the first round, or whether this second round would increase the number of antibodies present.
- This weak response to the virus may also have implications for teams working on vaccines for COVID-19. If the fragments of the virus chosen for vaccine mimic this result, some portion of those vaccinated might not develop sufficient antibodies to proof them against infection. This may lead to suggestions for increased dosages or multiple-shot vaccines.
- A portion of those now considered "safe" because they've had the disease and recovered may be subject to reinfection, representing a danger to both themselves and acting as a vector to others.
- Vaccines may actually work better for the older population most at risk from the COVID-19 infection.
All of this is very early, unconfirmed research and 175 patients is still a very small group to characterize the tens of thousands who have already recovered from COVID-19 or the millions who will follow. Nothing about this study suggests that it was done in any randomized way, and the lack of peer review on the published paper means that there could be serious issues in methodology, even aside from some obvious issues with how the test group was defined.
One very interesting point: The researchers in Shanghai excluded any patients who had more serious cases of COVID-19 from the study exactly because use of plasma or antibodies from recovered patients has become common in treatment of critical cases there. So in anyone who had a more serious cases of COVID-19, they would have a mix of their own antibodies and those given to them as treatment. That this treatment has become so common in the country where the pandemic began may suggest that they've seen good results with these treatments. But, just as with the antibody study covered here, those results don't seem to be well-documented.

Ventilators: From The "Iron Lung" To The Coronavirus (Quartz, April 9, 2020)
The history of the device we forgot we'd need more of - and what's being innovated now.

China Holds Navy Drills In Pacific As U.S. Aircraft Carriers Hit By Coronavirus. (Newsweek, April 9, 2020)

Impeached Donald Trump Is A Stochastic Murderer! (Daily Kos, April 9, 2020)
Stochastic Murder is a simple inversion of G2geek's Stochastic Terrorism. It refers to an individual, group, or system that causes the deaths of ecosystems, plants, animals or humans through indirect causation, or George Lakoff's systemic causation. (The utilitarian version of systemic causation is indirect causation.) These Stochastic Murderers (see diagram above) ignore statistics for their selfish gain and, because our laws are mostly tribal and directly causal, they remain unpunished. Our laws have not caught up with being able to deter and punish crimes committed on a global scale.
"It Will Disappear": The Disinformation Trump Spread About The Coronavirus – Timeline (The Guardian, April 14, 2020)
How Trump Gutted Obama's Pandemic-Preparedness Systems (Vanity Fair, May 1, 2020)
Former officials: Trump's reshuffling of positions and departments, focus on business solutions, downgrading of science, left the country dangerously unprepared for an unprecedented pandemic.
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak (World Health Organization, latest status and advice)
How The Virus Won (New York Times, June 25, 2020)
Invisible outbreaks sprang up everywhere. The United States ignored the warning signs. We analyzed travel patterns, hidden infections and genetic data to show how the epidemic spun out of control.
Inside The Coronavirus (Scientific American, July 2020 Issue)
What scientists know about the inner workings of the pathogen that has infected the world.
Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker (New York Times)
Researchers around the world are developing more than 155 vaccines against the coronavirus, and 23 vaccines are in human trials. Vaccines typically require years of research and testing before reaching the clinic, but scientists are racing to produce a safe and effective vaccine by next year.
Track Coronavirus Cases In Places Important To You. (New York Times)
What's The Best Material For A Mask? (New York Times, June 20, 2020)
Scientists are testing everyday items to find the best protection from coronavirus. Pillow cases, flannel pajamas and origami vacuum bags are all candidates.
Coronavirus May Be A Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything. (Medium, June 1, 2020)
Many of the infection's bizarre symptoms have one thing in common.
Monster Or Machine? A Profile Of The Coronavirus At 6 Months (New York Times, June 2, 2020)
Our "hidden enemy," in plain sight.
3D Model Of The SARS-CoV-2 Virus At Atomic Resolution (2-min. video; Vimeo, May 11, 2020)
From Hair Salons To Gyms, Experts Rank 36 Activities By Coronavirus Risk Level. (Michigan Live, June 8, 2020)
From Camping To Dining Out: Here's How Experts Rate The Risks Of 14 Summer Activities (NPR, May 23, 2020)
The Risks: Know Them, Avoid Them. (Erin Bromage, May 6, 2020)
Comprehensive COVID-19 Reporting (by Seattle-area 17-year-old Avi Schiffman)
Infection Trajectory: See Which Countries Are Flattening Their COVID-19 Curve (Visual Capitalist)
The 7 Best COVID-19 Resources We've Discovered So Far (Visual Capitalist)
Coronavirus Worldwide Graphs (Worldometers)
COVID-19 Global Visualizer (Carnegie Mellon University)
Rt COVID-19 Curves For U.S. States (June 6, 2020)
These are up-to-date values for Rt, a key measure of how fast the virus is growing. It's the average number of people who become infected by an infectious person.
How To Talk About The Coronavirus (The Atlantic, March 31, 2020)
Four ways to help those around you be better informed about the pandemic.
Epidemic Calculator (GitHub)
U.S. Projected Hospital-Resource Use, Based On COVID-19 Deaths, assuming continued social distancing until the end of May 2020 (IHME Group at the Washington Univ. St. Louis)
Daily Coronavirus Briefing (New York Times)
What Is Coronavirus? (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
Coronavirus Myths And Facts (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
Misinformation Related To The COVID-19 Pandemic (Wikipedia)
We Need To Talk About Ventilation. (The Atlantic, July 30, 2020)
How is it that, six months into a respiratory pandemic, we are still doing so little to mitigate airborne transmission?
Coronavirus: Disinfectant Firm Warns, After Trump Comments. (BBC News, April 24, 2020)
How to Wear a Face Mask Correctly: Common Mistakes To Avoid (NBC Boston, April 22, 2020)
Here's What We Know About The Most-Touted Drugs Tested For COVID-19 (Scientific American, April 16, 2020)
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) – Research And Statistics (Our World In Data)
Coronavirus Resource Hub (Consumer Reports)
Information On The Outbreak Of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (Massachusetts Department of Public Health)
2020 Coronavirus Pandemic In Massachusetts (Wikipedia)
Information About The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Stanford CA Hospital)
Coronavirus Is Most Contagious Before And During The First Week Of Symptoms. (Science News, March 13, 2020)
People stop making infectious virus once the body's antibody response kicks in. All symptoms may not appear, and NO symptoms may appear until after the most contagious period.
Dr. Jeffrey VanWingen, MD: Safety Tips For Grocery And Take-Out Shopping During The COVID-19 Pandemic (14-min. video; YouTube, March 28, 2020)
Michael Osterholm: On The Coronavirus Pandemic (1.5-hour video; Joe Rogan Experience #1439, March 10, 2020)
Michael Osterholm is an internationally-recognized expert in infectious-disease epidemiology. He is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the Medical School, all at the University of Minnesota. Look for his book "Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Deadly Germs" for more info.
Doctors And Nurses Demonstrate Breathing Techniques Proven To Help With Coronavirus Symptoms. (Daily Kos, April 8, 2020)
Long-Haulers Are Redefining COVID-19. (The Atlantic, August 19, 2020)
Without understanding the lingering illness that some patients experience, we can't understand the pandemic.
Heather Cox Richardson: Today, Trump And His Supporters Doubled Down On The Idea That The Coronavirus Is A "Hoax". (Letters from an American, February 28, 2020)
Today, Trump and his supporters doubled down on the idea that the coronavirus is a "hoax," as Trump said, perpetrated by Democrats eager to tank his presidency. That would explain the dramatic drop of the stock market this week as nothing but an emotional reaction to "fake news". It would mean that the strong economy Trump has hyped as his major contribution to the country - he denies that his predecessor Barack Obama had anything to do with it, although economic numbers under Obama were as good or better than today's - remains intact, so long as people will ignore those dastardly Democrats... the Democrats that Donald Trump, Jr. says are hoping the coronavirus "comes here and kills millions of people so that they can end Donald Trump's streak of winning."
This is one heck of a gamble, and it reveals the corner into which the administration's reliance on a false narrative has painted it. Under Trump, the country is great again… so the virus can't be a problem. The rising stock market has proved that the economy is brilliant and Trump gets all the credit for it… so the falling stock market must be fake, or else the fault of jealous Democrats.
But the virus isn't playing Trump's game. It is spreading. Today, after we learned there are more than 85,000 known cases in the world and more than 2,900 known deaths, the director of the World Health Organization's health emergencies program warned "every government on the planet" to "wake up. Get ready. You have a duty to your citizens. You have a duty to the world to be ready."
[This is one way that Trump is murdering innocent (but-gullible) people with one of his lies. When will he be held responsible, and stopped?]
A Complete List Of Trump's Attempts To Play Down Coronavirus (New York Times, March 15, 2020)
He could have taken action. He didn't. Instead, he has continued many of his old patterns of self-congratulation, blame-shifting and misinformation. Trump now seems to understand that coronavirus isn't going away anytime soon. But he also seems to view it mostly as a public-relations emergency for himself, rather than a public-health emergency for the country.
What You Need To Know About Getting Tested For Coronavirus (New York Times, December 9, 2020)
Long lines, slow results and inconsistent advice have left many of us confused about when and how to get tested. We talked to the experts to answer your questions.
NEW: A Top Scientist Questioned Virus Lockdowns On Fox News. The Backlash Was Fierce. (4-min. and 3-min. videos; Washington Post, December 16, 2020)
John Ioannidis, 55 and a famous Stanford University medical professor, insists he is doing what he has always done: following the data and sometimes contending with the head winds of conventional wisdom or popular opinion. He says governments should focus on protecting the sick and elderly from infection while keeping businesses and schools open for the less-vulnerable. "There is a lethal virus circulating out there. We all have responsibility to do our best to contain it as much as possible. It's not a joke. It's not a conspiracy. It's not fake", he told The Washington Post. "But we don't panic. We don't destroy our world. We don't freeze everything."
At a time when President Trump was openly at war with his own administration's medical experts, Ioannidis's doubts about the wisdom of lock-downs became part of the rancorous debate about how the country should respond to the threat of COVID-19. His arguments in a string of appearances on Fox News, CNN and other news networks were seized on by right-wing firebrands seeking to discredit public-health officials and reopen the economy. It was a remarkable turn for Ioannidis, a longtime evangelist for science-based health policies who has argued for zealous gun-control measures and the abolition of the tobacco industry.

SARS-CoV-2's spread to wild mink not yet a reason to panic. (Ars Technica, December 22, 2020)
A monitoring program picked up a single case and no indications of wider spread.

How Full Are Hospital I.C.U.s Near You? (New York Times, December 28, 2020)

In Fast-Moving Pandemic, Health Officials Try To Change Minds At Warp Speed. (Salon, January 2, 2021)
Public health laws typically come long after social norms shift, affirming a widespread acceptance that a change in habits is worth the public good and that it's time for stragglers to fall in line. But even when decades of evidence show a rule can save lives - such as wearing seat belts, or not smoking indoors - the debate continues in some places with the familiar argument that public restraints violate personal freedoms. This fast-moving pandemic, however, doesn't afford society the luxury of time. State mandates have put local officials in charge of changing behavior while general understanding catches up.

More Than 12-Million Shots Given: COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker (Bloomberg, January 2, 2021)
The U.S. has administered 4.28 million doses; Europe's roll-out begins.

Here's Where All The COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates Currently Stand. (Popular Science, January 4, 2021)
More than a dozen frontrunners have reached late-stage clinical trials.

Professor Dr. John Dennehy: What Does SARS-CoV-2 Evolution Mean For The Future Of The Pandemic? (59-min. video; Queens College, January 12, 2021)
Dr. Dennehy's laboratory researches virus evolution, ecology, population dynamics, and the emergence of viruses in new host populations. Currently, the laboratory's main focus is two-fold: modeling the persistence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the built environment and monitoring SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity in NYC wastewater.
[Excellent presentation, with good charts.]
Johnson & Johnson's Single-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine Suggests Strong Immune Response. (The Hill, January 13, 2021)
One of the next vaccine candidates could change the game, but is reportedly behind production goals.
Drug Prevents Coronavirus Infection In Nursing Homes, Maker Claims. (New York Times, January 21, 2021)
An unusual experiment to prevent nursing-home staff members and residents from infection with the coronavirus has succeeded, the drug maker Eli Lilly announced on Thursday. A drug containing monoclonal antibodies - laboratory-grown virus-fighters - prevented symptomatic infections in residents who were exposed to the virus, even the frail older people who are most vulnerable, according to preliminary results of a study conducted in partnership with the National Institutes of Health. The researchers found an 80% reduction in infections among residents who got the drug, compared with those who got a placebo, and a 60% reduction among the staff, results that were statistically powerful, Eli Lilly said.
Obesity, Impaired Metabolic Health And COVID-19: The Interconnection Of Global Pandemics. (SciTechDaily, January 24, 2021)
Obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases do not only trigger a more severe course of COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 infection could promote the development of these conditions.
As Virus Grows Stealthier, Vaccine Makers Reconsider Battle Plans. (New York Times, January 25, 2021)
Vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech effectively protect recipients. But in a worrying sign, they are slightly-less effective against a variant found in South Africa.
Paul Krugman: GOP Says COVID-19 Bill Is Too Big. (New York Times, February 2, 2021)
The Republican counter-offer to Joe Biden's proposed rescue package is grotesquely inadequate. While the Republican offering is criminally under-powered, however, is it possible that Biden's plan overdoes it? Could the extensive aid to families, businesses, and state and local governments end up being more than needed?
Yes, it could, although we don't know that for sure. It depends on how long the pandemic lasts, and how quickly the economy rebounds once we get herd immunity. Maybe we're overdoing it, maybe not. While the rescue plan might overshoot, there's not much harm if it does. On the other hand, an inadequate plan would lead to vast, unnecessary suffering. So we actually want the plan to be bigger than we expect we'll need, just in case.
The Second COVID-19 Shot Is A Rude Reawakening For Immune Cells. (The Atlantic, February 2, 2021)
Side effects are a natural part of the vaccination process, just a sign that protection is kicking in as it should. Not everyone will experience them. But the two COVID-19 vaccines cleared for emergency use in the United States, made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, already have reputations for raising the hackles of the immune system: In both companies' clinical trials, at least a third of the volunteers ended up with symptoms such as headaches and fatigue; fevers were less common. Dose No. 2 is more likely to pack a punch - in large part because the effects of the second shot build iteratively on the first.
The Coronavirus Is A Master Of Mixing Its Genome, Worrying Scientists. (New York Times, February 5, 2021)
New studies underscore how coronaviruses frequently mix their genetic components - which could contribute to the rise of dangerous variants.
When It Comes To Their Own Pandemic Precautions, State Legislatures In The U.S. Are All Over The Map. (New York Times, February 8, 2021)
Nearly a year into the coronavirus crisis, with no national standard for legislating during a pandemic, lawmakers in state capitals around the country are grappling with how to carry out a new season of sessions. A partisan pattern has emerged, but there remains a patchwork of shifting, inconsistent rules about where to meet, how the public can take part, and what to do about masks.
In at least 28 states, masks are required on the floors of both legislative chambers, according to a New York Times survey of legislatures in every state; 17 of the 28 states are controlled by Democrats. Legislatures in at least 18 states, including 15 that are Republican-controlled, do not require masks on the floor in at least one chamber. In the three state legislatures where party control is divided, one is requiring masks and two are not.
China Scores A Public-Relations Win, After First W.H.O. Mission To Wuhan To Study The Origins Of The Coronavirus Pandemic. (New York Times, February 9, 2021)
Experts with the global health agency endorsed critical parts of Beijing's narrative, even some parts that independent scientists question.
The team did not report major breakthroughs, but said it had found important clues. The virus was circulating in Wuhan several weeks before it appeared at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where some of the earliest clusters were initially reported, the experts said. It most-likely emerged in bats and spread to humans through another small mammal, though the experts said they have not been able to identify the species.
A Next-Generation Coronavirus Vaccine Is In The Works, But Initial Funding Was Denied. (2-min. video; USA Today, February 17, 2021)
Drew Weissman realized a year ago that even if the COVID-19 vaccines then in progress were eventually approved, it might not be enough. The world might need a next-generation vaccine to rid itself of this pandemic. Recent outbreaks of more resilient variants suggest he could be right. And yet, when Weissman – discoverer of the mRNA science behind two of the current vaccines – and a team of fellow scientists took a proposal for a more versatile COVID-19 vaccine to the National Institutes of Health for funding last May, they left empty-handed. The group had proposed research on vaccines to protect against any variant of the virus, known as a universal or pan vaccine.
An Antiviral Nasal Spray To Prevent COVID/Coronavirus Transmission (1-min. video; SciTechDaily, February 17, 2021)
The antiviral lipopeptide is inexpensive to produce, has a long shelf life, and does not require refrigeration. These features make it stand out from other antiviral approaches under development, including many monoclonal antibodies. The new nasal lipopeptide could be ideal for halting the spread of COVID in the United States and globally; the transportable and stable compound could be especially key in rural, low-income, and hard-to-reach populations.
Pfizer Vaccine Doesn't Need Ultra-Cold Storage After All, Company Says. (Ars Technica, February 19, 2021)
The pharma giant and partner BioNTech have asked FDA to revise the vaccine's label.
U.S. May Duck A Surge From COVID-19 Variant That Sent Britain Reeling. (Harvard Gazette, February 19, 2021)
Expert says falling COVID rates, rising vaccinations, timing may hamper spread.
We're Just Rediscovering A 19th-Century Pandemic Strategy. (The Atlantic, February 22, 2021)
The first way to fight a new virus would once have been opening the windows.
Two-Thirds Of COVID-19 Hospitalizations Are Due To These Four Conditions. (Tufts University, February 25, 2021)
Model suggests higher risk based on obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart failure (also race and age), offers insights to reduce disease impact.
Research Suggests Proper Fit Of COVID Face Masks Is More Important Than Material. (SciTechDaily, February 27, 2021)
The COVID-19 pandemic has made well-fitting face masks a vital piece of protective equipment for healthcare workers and civilians. While the importance of wearing face masks in slowing the spread of the virus has been demonstrated, there remains a lack of understanding about the role that good fit plays in ensuring their effectiveness.
"We know that unless there is a good seal between the mask and the wearer's face, many aerosols and droplets will leak through the top and sides of the mask, as many people who wear glasses will be well aware", said Eugenia O'Kelly from Cambridge's Department of Engineering, the paper's first author. "We wanted to quantitatively evaluate the level of fit offered by various types of masks, and most importantly, assess the accuracy of implementing fit checks by comparing fit check results to quantitative fit testing results."
U.S. Hits Grim COVID Milestone, Amid New Hope Of Third Vaccine. (2-min. video; CBS News, February 28, 2021)
CBS News reports on the latest developments in vaccine distribution as the U.S. continues its battle against COVID-19.
COVID-19 Revealed How Sick The U.S. Health-Care Delivery System Really Is. (The Conversation, March 2, 2021)
If you got the COVID-19 shot, you likely received a little paper card that shows you've been vaccinated. Make sure you keep that card in a safe place. There is no coordinated way to share information about who has been vaccinated and who has not.
That is just one of the glaring flaws that COVID-19 has revealed about the U.S. health care system: It does not share health information well. Coordination between public health agencies and medical providers is lacking. Technical and regulatory restrictions impede use of digital technologies. To put it bluntly, our health-care delivery system is failing patients. Prolonged disputes about the Affordable Care Act and rising health care costs have done little to help; the problems go beyond insurance and access.
Interim Public-Health Recommendations For Fully-Vaccinated People (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, March 8, 2021)
Fully-vaccinated people in non-healthcare settings can:
- Visit with other fully-vaccinated people indoors, without wearing masks or physical distancing.
- Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors, without wearing masks or physical distancing.
- Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure, if asymptomatic.
For now, fully-vaccinated people should continue to:
- Take precautions in public, like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing.
- Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures, when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease.
- Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures, when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households.
- Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings.
- Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
- Follow guidance issued by individual employers.
- Follow CDC and health-department travel requirements and recommendations.
A New Lab Study Shows Troubling Signs That Pfizer's And Moderna's COVID-19 Shots Could Be Far-Less Effective Against The Variant First Found In South Africa. (Business Insider, March 8, 2021)
The percentage of protective antibodies that neutralized the variant - called B.1.351, which has been recorded in 20 U.S. states - was 12.4-fold lower for Moderna's COVID-19 shot than against the original coronavirus, and 10.3-fold lower for Pfizer's, the study authors said. This was a bigger drop than in previous lab studies testing the vaccines against manufactured forms of the variant, they said. For this study, the researchers used real forms of the variant taken from people who had caught the virus.
Americans Started Wearing Face Masks A Year Ago. Where Do We Go From Here? (8-min. video; Washington Post, March 8, 2021)
The rapid spread of COVID-19 in the United States began in the early months of 2020. A lot has changed in our day-to-day lives since then, including the use of face masks.
A Year Into The Pandemic, The Coronavirus Is Messing With Our Minds As Well As Our Bodies. (The Conversation, March 8, 2021)
As we see it, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is a sort of zombie virus, turning people not into the undead but rather into the unsick. By interfering with our bodies' normal immune response and blocking pain, the virus keeps the infected on their feet, spreading the virus. Zombie viruses are also a real thing, influencing their host's behavior in ways that enhance the viruses' evolutionary fitness.
Leaked Documents Raise Concerns Over Integrity Of mRNA Molecules In Some COVID-19 Vaccines. (SciTechDaily, March 10, 2021)
Documents leaked from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) following a cyber-attack in December, show that some early commercial batches of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine had lower-than-expected levels of intact mRNA molecules.
These molecules instruct our cells to make a harmless piece of coronavirus protein, triggering an immune response and protecting us from infection if the real virus enters our bodies. The complete, intact mRNA molecule is essential to the potency of the vaccine. But in a special report for The BMJ today, journalist Serena Tinari shows that the EMA was concerned about the difference in quality between clinical batches and proposed commercial batches of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Specifically, EMA had major concerns over unexpectedly low quantities (around 55%) of intact mRNA in batches of the vaccine developed for commercial production. It is an issue relevant not just to Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine but also to those produced by Moderna, CureVac, and others, as well as a "second generation" mRNA vaccine being pursued by Imperial College London.
COVID Herd Immunity May Be Unlikely; Winter Surges Could "Become The Norm". (Ars Technica, March 10, 2021)
Some experts speculate that the pandemic coronavirus will one day cause nothing more than a common cold, mostly in children, where it will be an indistinguishable drip in the steady stream of snotty kid germs. Such is the reality for four other coronaviruses that have long stalked school yards and commonly circulate among us every cold and flu season, to little noticeable effect.
But that sanguine - if not slightly slimier - future is shaky. And the road to get there will almost certainly be rocky. For the pandemic coronavirus to turn from terror to trifle, we have to build up high levels of immunity against it. At the population level, this will be difficult - even with vaccines. And with the uncertainty of how we'll pull it off, some experts are cautioning that we should prepare for the possibility that the pandemic coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, will stick with us for the near future, possibly becoming a seasonal surge during the winter months when we're largely indoors.
Despite a lot of uncertainty, researchers lay out five ways to prepare for the worst.
NEW: Pandemic Special Series: The Week Our Reality Broke (New York Times, March 11-17, 2021)
A series reflecting on a year of living with the coronavirus pandemic and how it has affected American society.
Republicans On Biden's COVID Bill: "We Bungled This One." (Politico, March 17, 2021)
The GOP didn't think it could stop passage. But with nearly three-quarters of Americans approving of the law, some luminaries can't believe how little a dent they made.
The Republican Party's stumbles around the passage of the COVID-relief bill were, to a degree, a microcosm of the difficulties it has had finding its footing in the post-Trump era. Indeed, some Republicans said their party was hamstrung in the relief bill fight by the fact that they had so recently supported bills that relied on deficit-spending and pushed similar provisions, like direct payments...
[... to the wealthy.]
Variant Or "Scariant"?: When To Worry About COVID Virus Strains (Medium, March 18, 2021)
Plus, the most important way to prevent more variants from emerging.
As Republicans Shun Vaccines, Congress Toils To Return To Normal. (New York Times, March 19, 2021)
A quarter of lawmakers have yet to receive a coronavirus vaccine, even though they have been available since December.
Staples, Office Depot Will Laminate Your COVID-19 Vaccination Card For Free Until May 1. (Frommers, March 25, 2021)
Office supply giants Staples and Office Depot are laminating customers' COVID-19 vaccination record cards for free until May 1.
Why would you want that? Because having proof of vaccination will soon be imperative for many types of travel - cruise lines and whole countries have already announced or suggested that they will only accept vaccinated visitors in the future. Preserving the paper innoculation card, which is too large to fit in most wallets, will help the document weather use at borders and ticket counters.
"The U.S. government asks citizens not to laminate Social Security cards, but COVID-19 vaccination forms have no security measures that would be hampered by encasing them in plastic."
[But see April 25th...]

New Revelations About GOP Governors Prove That COVID-19 Has Truly Been An American Genocide. (Daily Kos, March 29, 2021)
At least 563,000 Americans dead of the virus - and likely far more than that. Over 31-million confirmed cases. Poverty rising to rates unseen since the Great Depression. When time provides some buffer and perspective, it will be impossible to recognize the pandemic in the United States as anything but a genocide - at least to those unblinkered by American exceptionalism. With that many deaths driven by cruelty and politics, there's no other word for it.
Republicans consciously ignored all scientists, medical professionals, and policy experts, choosing to instead encourage and even force their own constituents to march towards their own doom. The facts are coming out now; in her apology tour, Trump-enabler Deborah Birx just estimated that more than 400,000 American lives were lost due to Trump's blatant and purposeful mishandling of the virus.
But Trump wasn't the only Republican leader that was grossly negligent and willingly homicidal. Republicans across the country, from senators to governors and state legislators, downplayed the virus and spread lies about it from the moment it arrived and began killing Americans by the dozen. They did it with an election in mind, knowing that people of color were dying at higher rates, and that stoking inane and vulgar culture wars allows GOP powerbrokers to continue their plunder of the American people and the dying planet.
Trump Inadvertently ADMITS HE'S GUILTY Of 400,000 Cases Of Negligent Homicide. (Daily Kos, March 30, 2021)
The most jarring part of that first sentence is Trump's dismissal of what he calls "faulty recommendations", that he "fortunately almost-always overturned". In other words, Trump is confessing that he rejected the advice of the experts that he hired to mitigate the deadly potential of the COVID pandemic. Therefore, Trump is conceding that the tragic results that took the lives of more half-a-million Americans are wholly his responsibility.
Trump has entirely absolved the others of blame. And since their recommendations were discarded by Trump personally, he is unselfishly taking all the "credit" for the horror that followed. For the record, the common-sense, CDC-approved recommendations that he overturned were replaced by his own favorite (albeit fraudulent) therapies that included injecting bleach, hydroxychloroquine, ultraviolet light, and herd "mentality" (sic).
[And SICK!]

Network Model Shows How Combining Mask Wearing, Social Distancing Suppresses COVID-19 Virus Spread. (SciTechDaily, April 13, 2021)
Researchers at New York University and Politecnico di Torino in Italy developed a network model to study the effects of these two measures on the spread of airborne diseases like COVID-19. The model shows viral outbreaks can be prevented if at least 60% of a population complies with both measures. "Neither social distancing nor mask wearing alone are likely sufficient to halt the spread of COVID-19, unless almost the entire population adheres to the single measure", author Maurizio Porfiri said. "But if a significant fraction of the population adheres to both measures, viral spreading can be prevented without mass vaccination."SARS-CoV-2 Variant Found In Brazil: More Infectious, May Limt Immunity. (Ars Technica, April 16, 2021)

The virus appears to be more infectious and more likely to infect those who have immunity to other viral strains, and it might even be more lethal. And, as of when the paper was written, the lineage had been detected in over 35 countries.
Hot Fun In The Summertime? Maybe. States Begin To Plan For Warmer Days. (New York Times, April 22, 2021)
With summer on the horizon, states are beginning to rethink social-distancing measures. Science shows that the risk of viral transmission outside is very low. The Times's Well columnist, Tara Parker-Pope, suggests making sure activities meet two out of the following three conditions: outdoors, distanced and masked.
Do NOT Get Your COVID-19 Vaccination Card LAMINATED. (AARP, April 22, 2021)
Tips for safeguarding the paper record of your coronavirus vaccination.
[The bad news: Why are we hearing this too late? (See March 25, herein.)
The good news: They simply taped the newer vaccination date onto our laminated cards. No problemo!]
India's Military Helps Speed Medical Supplies, As Pandemic Surge Sets Infection Record. (Washington Post, April 23, 2021)
India set another daily record for new coronavirus infections Saturday as the country's health-care system buckled under a rampaging outbreak that has left dire shortages of oxygen tanks, medicines and hospital beds. Indian authorities said they are commandeering trains and using air force planes to speed up the distribution of medical supplies to hard-hit regions. Some of India's crematories have been put out of service from overuse.
Pesticide Exposure May Increase COVID-19 Susceptibility. (SciTechDaily, April 26, 2021)
A new study performed in human lung-airway cells is one of the first to show a potential link between exposure to organophosphate pesticides and increased susceptibility to COVID-19 infection. The findings could have implications for veterans, many of whom were exposed to organophosphate pesticides during wartime, and for people with metabolic disorders.
Exposure to organo-phosphate pesticides is thought to be one of the possible causes of Gulf War Illness, a cluster of medically-unexplained chronic symptoms that can include fatigue, headaches, joint pain, indigestion, insomnia, dizziness, respiratory disorders and memory problems. More than 25% of Gulf War veterans are estimated to experience this condition.
The African Vaccine Roll-Out (New York Times, April 26, 2021)
Of the one-billion shots given around the world, 82% have been given in high- and upper-middle-income countries. Only 0.2% of doses have been administered in low-income countries - pockets of infection that can produce variants that put us all in danger.
CDC: Vaccinated Americans can go maskless outdoors in many situations. (Politico, April 27, 2021)
Fully-vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors or outdoors when in small groups with other fully-vaccinated friends and family, and in some circumstances can go maskless with unvaccinated people. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky announced the guidelines, saying the agency had made the changes after studying how likely vaccinated people are to transmit the virus.
NEW: SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Alone May Cause COVID-19 Lung Damage – Even Without The Presence Of Intact Virus. (Experimental Biology April 30, 2021)
Using a newly developed mouse model of acute lung injury, researchers found that exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein alone was enough to induce COVID-19-like symptoms including severe inflammation of the lungs. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is covered in tiny spike proteins. These proteins bind with receptors on our cells, starting a process that allows the virus to release its genetic material into a healthy cell.
Will The Pandemic Make Us Nicer People? Probably Not. But It Might Change Us In Other Ways. (Washington Post, May 1, 2021)
If past is prologue, the deadly flu epidemic of 1918 and 1919 should help us understand how we will navigate the post-covid years. "I think it's fair to say that people want to forget as soon as possible," said Laura Spinney, author of "Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World." "That is pretty much the pattern for pandemics throughout history. If you talk to public health experts, they talk about us going through this cycle of panic and complacency: We panic when a pandemic declares itself, and then we forget about it as soon as it's gone."
[An excellent look at how pandemics can change personalities.]
Reaching 'Herd Immunity' Is Unlikely In The U.S., Experts Now Believe. (NewYork Times, May 3, 2021)
Widely-circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy.
How America's Partisan Divide Over Pandemic Responses Played Out In The States. (The Conversation, May 12, 2021)
Looking at states' COVID-19 case and death rates, researchers are finding the more stringent policies typical of Democratic governors led to lower rates of infections and deaths, compared to the the pandemic responses of the average Republican governor. In preparation for future pandemics, it may be worth considering how to address the impact that a state government's partisan leanings can have on the scope and severity of a public health crises.
The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screw-Up That Helped COVID Kill (Wired, May 13, 2021)
All pandemic long, scientists brawled over how the virus spreads. Droplets! No, aerosols! At the heart of the fight was a teensy error with huge consequences.
The Yankees COVID Outbreak May Be Bad News For Ditching Masks. (Wired, May 13, 2021)
The spate of cases is a bad bounce - and it might show that lifting mask mandates for the vaxxed won't be a grand slam.
Coronavirus Vaccines May Not Work In Some People. It's Because Of Their Underlying Conditions. (Washington Post, May 18, 2021)
Early research shows that 15% to 80% of people with certain medical conditions, such as specific blood cancers or organ transplants, are generating few antibodies after receiving coronavirus vaccines.
Equity At A Time Of Pandemic (U.S. National Institute of Health, May 21, 2021)
Health promotion has long aspired for a world where all people can live to their full potential. Yet, COVID-19 illuminates dramatically different consequences for populations bearing heavy burdens of systemic disadvantage within countries and between the Global South and Global North. Many months of pandemic is entrenching inequities that reveal themselves in the vastly differential distribution of hospitalization and mortality, for example, among racialized groups in the USA. Amplified awareness of the intimate relationship between health, social structures, and economy opens a window of opportunity to act on decades of global commitments to prioritize health equity.
"Super Carriers" – 2% of People Carry 90% of COVID-19 Virus. (SciTechDaily, May 25, 2021)
A few "super carriers" with off-the-charts viral loads are likely responsible for the bulk of COVID-19 transmissions, while about half of infected people aren't contagious at all at the time of diagnosis, suggests a new CU Boulder analysis of more than 72,000 test samples.
A second, related study lends further credence to the idea that viral load, or the amount of virus particles a person carries, drives contagion. It found that only one in five university students who tested positive while living in a residence hall infected their roommate. And their viral load was nearly seven times higher than those who didn't spread the virus.
"The takeaway from these studies is that most people with COVID don't get other people sick, but a few people get a lot of people sick," said Sara Sawyer, a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology and senior author of the first study. "If you don't have a viral super-carrier sitting near you at dinner, you might be OK. But if you do, you're out of luck. It's a game of roulette so you have to continue to be careful."
This provides another example of why you don't necessarily need super-sensitive tests that may take longer to process", said coauthor Roy Parker, director of the BioFrontiers Institute and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "Even a faster but less-sensitive test will catch all the people who are contagious."
Paxlovid Rebound: When COVID Symptoms Return After Pills Are Gone. (AARP, May 25, 2022)
Health experts are puzzled why some people get well, then feel sick again, after antiviral treatment ends.
Our Creativity Has Increased As A Result Of The COVID-19 Lockdown. (SciTechDaily, May 31, 2022)
COVID-19 caught us off guard, and the unusual circumstances of the initial lock-down demanded extraordinary adaptability, particularly from our brains. A new study from the Paris Brain Institute (Inserm/CNRS/Sorbonne University/AP-HP) has revealed how human creativity developed throughout this time period and the variables that may have impacted it. Despite the lockdown, our creativity increased and we concentrated on tasks mainly related to the situation's issues.
Anthony Fauci's Pandemic Emails: "All Is Well, Despite Some Crazy People In This World." (Washington Post, June 1, 2021)
866 pages of Fauci's emails were obtained by The Washington Post as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. The correspondence from March and April 2020 opens a window to Fauci's world during some of the most frantic days of the crisis, when the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was struggling to bring coherence to the Trump administration's chaotic response to the virus and President Donald Trump was seeking to minimize its severity. The emails show Fauci was inundated with more than 1,000 messages a day.
The Next Pandemic Is Already Happening. Targeted Disease Surveillance Can Help Prevent It. (The Conversation, June 1, 2021)
As more and more people around the world are getting vaccinated, one can almost hear the collective sigh of relief. But the next pandemic threat is likely already making its way through the population right now. Don't wait for sick people to show up at a hospital. Instead, monitor populations where disease spillover actually happens.
An Omega-3 That's Poison For Cancer Tumors (SciTechDaily, June 11, 2021)
3D tumors that disintegrate within a few days thanks to the action of a well-known Omega-3 (DHA, found mainly in fish) - this is the exceptional discovery by University of Louvain.
Could The U.S. Have Saved More Lives? 5 Alternate Scenarios For The Vaccine Rollout. (New York Times, June 17, 2021)
About 100,000 people have died of COVID in the United States since February, after vaccine distribution was well underway.
The Delta Variant Could Create "Two Americas" Of COVID, Experts Warn. (BuzzFeed News, June 17, 2021)
If you are fully vaccinated, you are most likely to be safe. But in parts of the U.S. where few people have gotten COVID vaccine shots, the Delta variant could trigger renewed deadly surges.
[See the graph near the end of this good/sad article!
Return Of Smell Can Take Up To One Year After COVID-19 Infection. (The Hill, June 25, 2021)
A new study looks at patient recovery times from anosmia brought on by the coronavirus.
Surgeon General Warns Misinformation Is The Greatest Threat To COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts. (CBS, June 25, 2021)
With a dangerous COVID-19 variant on the rise, health experts are urging people who are still hesitant to get their vaccinations. But the US surgeon general warns a big obstacle stands in their way: Misinformation. "There is so much misinformation out there about the vaccine, coming through so many channels — a lot of it being spread on social media," Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN's Erin Burnett. "It's inducing a lot of fear among people." "Two-thirds of those who are unvaccinated in polls say that they either believe the myths about COVID-19 or think that they might be true," he added.
Where Did The Coronavirus Come From? What We Already Know Is Troubling. (New York Times, June 25, 2021)
There were curious characteristics about the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 1977-78, which emerged from northeastern Asia and killed an estimated 700,000 people around the world. For one, it almost exclusively affected people in their mid-20s or younger. Scientists discovered another oddity that could explain the first: It was virtually identical to a strain that circulated in the 1950s. People born before that had immunity that protected them, and younger people didn't.
But how on earth had it remained so steady genetically, since viruses continually mutate? Scientists guessed that it had been frozen in a lab. It was often found to be sensitive to temperature, something expected for viruses used in vaccine research. It was only in 2004 that a prominent virologist, Peter Palese, wrote that Chi-Ming Chu, a respected virologist and a former member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told him that "the introduction of this 1977 H1N1 virus" was indeed thought to be due to vaccine trials involving "the challenge of several thousand military recruits with live H1N1 virus." For the first time, science itself seemed to have caused a pandemic while trying to prepare for it.
Now, for the second time in 50 years, there are questions about whether we are dealing with a pandemic caused by scientific research. While the Chinese government's obstruction may keep us from knowing for sure whether the virus, SARS-CoV-2, came from the wild directly or through a lab in Wuhan or if genetic experimentation was involved, what we know already is troubling.
How Americans Waged War On The Scientists Trying To Save Them. (Business Insider, June 27, 2021)
Distrust of science isn't new in the U.S. The anti-vaccination movement dates back to 19th-century New Englanders who opposed the smallpox vaccine. Climate-change deniers have been vocal since the 1980s. But the pandemic intensified a new type of attack - one that focused not on the research itself, but on experts and health officials as people.
During the Ebola crisis in 2014, conservatives in the US called for tighter travel restrictions than Democrats did. At the time, psychologists theorized that conservatives were more inclined to react strongly to a perceived danger. "Conservatism is a strategy to protect a society from harm from both outsiders and diseases," journalist Brian Resnick wrote in The Atlantic in 2014. "Ebola hits this exact conservative nerve - it's a deadly disease from a foreign country."
But in the case of the coronavirus, the idea that scientists were trying to dupe the public swelled among conservatives, leading many to fear a loss of liberty more than the virus. President Donald Trump, of course, played a major role in shaping that narrative. He had already painted himself as the David that would put the Goliath industries of science and medicine in check, and also regularly suggested that Democrats were exaggerating the virus' severity as a political stunt. A Cornell University analysis found that Trump was the largest driver of coronavirus misinformation during the pandemic. He touted the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential COVID-19 treatment without much evidence, and used racist misnomers like "Chinese virus" and "kung flu" to push blame onto a foreign country - a time-tested move from the populist handbook.
Maggie Chen: The Secrets of COVID "Brain Fog" Are Starting To Lift. (Wired, July 1, 2022)
Scientists are getting closer to understanding the neurology behind the memory problems and cognitive fuzziness that an infection can trigger.
For the past 20 years, Monje, a neuro-oncologist, had been trying to understand the neurobiology behind chemotherapy-induced cognitive symptoms - also known as "chemo fog". When COVID-19 emerged as a major immune-activating virus, she worried about the potential for similar disruption. "Very quickly, as reports of cognitive impairment started to come out, it was clear that it was a very similar syndrome," she says. "The same symptoms of impaired attention, memory, speed of information processing, dis-executive function—it really clinically looks just like the 'chemo fog' that people experienced and that we'd been studying."
New Universal Vaccine Targets COVID-19, SARS, And Other Coronaviruses To Prevent Future Pandemics. (SciTechDaily, July 3, 2021)
To prevent a future coronavirus pandemic, UNC-Chapel Hill researchers designed a universal vaccine to provide protection from the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and a group of coronaviruses known to make the jump from animals to humans. It already has protected mice not just against COVID-19 but also other coronaviruses and triggered the immune system to fight off a dangerous variant.
NEW: Their Neighbors Called COVID-19 A Hoax. Can These ICU Nurses Forgive Them? (1-min. video; Washington Post, July 6, 2021)
For the nurses in the Appalachian highlands who risked their lives during the pandemic, it is as if they fought in a war no one acknowledges. Conspiracy theories about the pandemic and lies recited on social media - or at White House news conferences - had penetrated deep into their community. When refrigerated trailers were brought in to relieve local hospitals' overflowing morgues, people said they were stage props. Agitated and unmasked relatives stood outside the ICU, insisting that their intubated relatives only had the flu. Many believed the doctors and nurses - hailed elsewhere for their sacrifices - were conspiring to make money by falsifying COVID-19 diagnoses.
NEW: More Than 200 Symptoms Across 10 Organ Systems Identified In Long COVID. (SciTechDaily, July 15, 2021)
With responses from 3,762 eligible participants from 56 countries, the researchers identified a total of 203 symptoms in 10 organ systems; of these, 66 symptoms were tracked for seven months. The most common symptoms were fatigue, post-exertional malaise (the worsening of symptoms after physical or mental exertion), and cognitive dysfunction (often called brain fog). Of the diverse range of symptoms, others included: visual hallucinations, tremors, itchy skin, changes to the menstrual cycle, sexual dysfunction, heart palpitations, bladder-control issues, shingles, memory loss, blurred vision, diarrhea, and tinnitus.
The research team, who have all had or continue to have long COVID, are now calling for clinical guidelines on assessing long COVID to be significantly widened - beyond currently-advised cardiovascular and respiratory-function tests - to include neuropsychiatric, neurological, and activity-intolerance symptoms. Furthermore, with large numbers of long-haulers "suffering in silence", the authors advocate that a national screening program, accessible to anyone who thinks they have long COVID, should be undertaken. Given the heterogeneous (diverse) make-up of symptoms that affect multiple organ systems, it is only by detecting the root cause that patients will receive the correct treatment.
As News Stories Drop About COVID-19 Pandemic Deniers And Anti-Vaxxers Ranting Defiantly From ICU Beds, Let's Review What Fraud Research Suggests About The Responsibility We Should Attribute To Them For Their Condition And For The Messages They Send. (Twitter via Threadreader, July 22, 2021)
One of the recurrent problems in U.S. popular discourse on the proper response to crises, is that it's often assumed there are only two options:
1. "Crack down hard; damn the consequences!" (usually associated with the Right Wing).
2. "Just be kind; kindness is everything.😊🌈❤️" (usually associated with the Left Wing).
Both approaches have become almost-completely divorced from the American pragmatic tradition, which would lead us to ask: What do we want to accomplish, and what will actually work? Those are important questions when millions of lives are at stake.
Clearly, Americans *can* be rational problem-solvers when it comes to some situations that require weighing the claims of personal liberty vs collective survival. No one (that I know of) argues that we should address the problem of drunk driving with kindness - or with executions.
[This crudely-edited article on applying fraud research to coronavirus deniers is so potentially useful that we encourage you to read it anyway. Thank you, This Is True!]
COVID-19 Could Cause Male Infertility And Sexual Dysfunction – But Vaccines Do Not. (The Conversation, July 26, 2021)
Contrary to myths circulating on social media, COVID-19 vaccines do not cause erectile dysfunction and male infertility.
What is true: SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, poses a risk for both disorders. Until now, little research has been done on how the virus or the vaccines affect the male reproductive system. But recent investigations by physicians and researchers have discovered potentially far-reaching implications for men of all ages – including younger and middle-aged men who want to have children.
Pfizer Data Shows Vaccine Protection Remains Robust Six Months After Vaccination - Even As The Company Argues That Boosters Will Be Needed. (4-min. video; Washington Post, July 28, 2021)
Yesterday's Pfizer paper, which has not yet undergone peer review, showed a slight drop in efficacy against any symptomatic cases of covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, from 96% protection in the first two months after vaccination to 84% after four months. Company officials also presented data on a third dose at least six months after full vaccination, showing that it caused antibody numbers to soar, including disease fighters capable of neutralizing the delta variant. They said that they planned to seek authorization for a booster by mid-August, reiterating the company's belief that a third dose would be needed to enhance immunity within a year of vaccination.
Hours later, Israeli health officials moved toward making boosters available for older residents. The Israeli officials said protection against serious illness for those older than 60 who were vaccinated in January dropped from 97% to about 81%. For those older than 60 vaccinated in March, it fell to about 84%. They said efficacy remained at 93% for people ages 40 to 59 years.
Study: Vaccinated People Can Carry As Much Virus As Others. (AP News, July 29, 2021)
In another dispiriting setback for the nation's efforts to stamp out the coronavirus, scientists who studied a big COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts concluded that vaccinated people who got so-called "breakthrough infections" carried about the same amount of the coronavirus as those who did not get the shots. Health officials on Friday released details of that research, which was key in this week's decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the Delta variant is fueling infection surges.
The authors said the findings suggest that the CDC's mask guidance should be expanded to include the entire country, even outside of hot spots. The findings have the potential to up-end past thinking about how the disease is spread. Previously, vaccinated people who got infected were thought to have low levels of virus and to be unlikely to pass it to others. But the new data shows that is not the case with the Delta variant.
The outbreak in Provincetown - a seaside tourist spot on Cape Cod in the county with Massachusetts' highest vaccination rate - has so far included more than 900 cases. About three-quarters of them were people who were fully-vaccinated. Like many states, Massachusetts lifted all COVID-19 restrictions in late May, ahead of the traditional Memorial Day start of the summer season. Provincetown this week reinstated an indoor mask requirement for everyone.
The Delta variant, first detected in India, causes infections that are more contagious than the common cold, flu, smallpox and the Ebola virus, and it is as infectious as chickenpox, according to the documents, which mentioned the Provincetown cases.
COVID-19 Associated With Long-Term Cognitive Dysfunction, Acceleration Of Alzheimer's Symptoms. (SciTechDaily, July 29, 2021)
In addition to the respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms that accompany COVID-19, many people with the virus experience short- and/or long-term neuropsychiatric symptoms, including loss of smell and taste, and cognitive and attention deficits, known as "brain fog". For some, these neurological symptoms persist, and researchers are working to understand the mechanisms by which this brain dysfunction occurs, and what that means for long-term cognitive health.
"The War Has Changed": Internal CDC Document Urges New Messaging, Warns Delta Infections Likely More Severe. (Washington Post, July 29, 2021)
The internal presentation captures the struggle of the nation's top public health agency to persuade the public to embrace vaccination and prevention measures, including mask-wearing, as cases surge across the United States and new research suggests vaccinated people can spread the virus - the COVID-19 delta variant is so contagious that it acts almost like a different novel virus, leaping from target to target more swiftly than Ebola or the common cold.
Biden Announces Measures To Incentivize COVID-19 Vaccinations, Including A Requirement For Federal Employees. (CNN, July 29, 2021)
"This is an American tragedy. People are dying – and will die – who don't have to die. If you're out there unvaccinated, you don't have to die", Biden said during remarks at the White House. "Read the news. You'll see stories of unvaccinated patients in hospitals, as they're lying in bed dying from COVID-19, they're asking, 'Doc, can I get the vaccine?' The doctors have to say, 'Sorry, it's too late.'" In his sternest approach yet to pushing Americans to get vaccinated, the President bluntly argued that if you are unvaccinated, "You present a problem to yourself, to your family and to those with whom you work."
A COVID Diagnostic In Only 20 Minutes, Using Two CRISPR Enzymes (University of California/Berkeley, August 6, 2021)
Frequent, rapid testing for COVID-19 is critical to controlling the spread of outbreaks, especially as new, more transmissible variants emerge.
While today's gold standard COVID-19 diagnostic test, which uses qRT-PCR - quantitative reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) - is extremely sensitive, detecting down to one copy of RNA per microliter, it requires specialized equipment, a runtime of several hours and a centralized laboratory facility. As a result, testing typically takes at least one to two days.
A research team led by scientists in the labs of Jennifer Doudna, David Savage, and Patrick Hsu at the University of California, Berkeley, is aiming to develop a diagnostic test that is much faster and easier to deploy than qRT-PCR. It has now combined two different types of CRISPR enzymes to create an assay that can detect small amounts of viral RNA in less than an hour. Doudna shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for invention of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing. "Our hope was to drive the biochemistry as far as possible to the point where you could imagine a very convenient format in a setting where you can get tested every day, say, at the entrance to work."
Recently-Vaccinated Scalise Wants Voters To Know Democrats Are To Blame For The Red-State Surge. (Daily Kos, August 6, 2021)
GOP House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana spent months putting off getting vaccinated, before having an abrupt change of heart in late July. As the delta variant started ravaging his state, Scalise was photographed getting the jab. At a press conference several days later, he told reporters, "I would encourage people to get the vaccine. I have high confidence in it. I got it myself."
But quickly adopting a pro-vaccine posture wasn't enough for Scalise. On July 26, he posted a disinformation video claiming, "Democrats have a history of vaccine misinformation and not trusting the science."
Republican Congressman, Who Filed A Lawsuit Over Masks Last Week, Tests Positive For COVID This Week. (Daily Kos, August 6, 2021)
Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina was in the news a little over a week ago as he, and two other congressional Republicans announced they were suing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over a mask mandate requiring all people on the House floor to cover their yaps. Rep. Norman was flanked by bats-in-the-belfry Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who submitted legal arguments that the mask mandate "has been used to force Plaintiffs and other members of the minority party to be instruments for fostering public adherence to this ideological point of view that Plaintiffs find unacceptable." As with all ironies, the irony of three television vampires like Norman, Greene, and Massie complaining about political theatre was lost on the Republicans.
One of these Congresspeople will be doing their work from the comfort of a quarantine bunker. According to Rep. Ralph Norman, he's tested positive for COVID-19. According to Norman - grain of salt and all of that - he has been "fully vaccinated" since February, but began "experiencing minor symptoms" Thursday morning. He says that "thankfully", since he was vaccinated, his "symptoms remain mild".
The Delta Variant Has Warped Our Risk Perception. (excellent 31-min. video w/two experts; Wired, August 8, 2021)
Gone are the easy, thoughtless choices of hot vax summer. Making decisions that balance safety and sanity just got a lot more complicated.
Florida Radio And Newsmax Host Who Opposed COVID Vaccine Dies Of COVID Complications. (NBC News, August 8, 2021)
Dick Farrel was a vocal and staunch advocate against the coronavirus vaccines, which he posted about on social media, once calling them "bogus". He also railed against figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci, whom he called a "lying freak".
But at the end, a friend reported, "Dick texted me and told me to 'Get vaccinated!' He told me this virus is no joke and he said, 'I wish I had gotten it!'"
GOP Senator (And MD) Bill Cassidy Breaks With DeSantis On School Mask Mandates: "The Local Official Should Have Control." (2-min. video; CNN, August 8, 2021)
On Friday, Florida reported more COVID-19 cases over the past week than any other seven-day period during the pandemic, and the state has accounted for about one in five of the nation's new COVID cases over the past couple of weeks. Texas came in second. When asked specifically if the two governors are prioritizing politics over public health, the senator, who had previously contracted the virus, said he didn't want to "guess other people's motives", but argued that "public health suffers" when politics get involved. "Whenever politicians mess with public health, usually it doesn't work out well for public health, and ultimately it doesn't work out for the politician, because public health suffers and the American people want public health", Cassidy said.
The bans from DeSantis and Abbott were also criticized last week by President Joe Biden, who blasted them as "bad health policy". DeSantis later defended his order and shot back at Biden, saying: "I'm the governor who answers to the people of Florida, not to bureaucrats in Washington."
Paul Krugman: "Freedom" (Privilege), Florida And The Delta-Variant Disaster (New York Times, August 8, 2021)
Florida is in the grip of a COVID surge worse than it experienced before the vaccines. More than 10,000 Floridians are hospitalized, around 10 times the number in New York, which has about as many residents; an average of 58 Florida residents are dying each day, compared with six in New York. And the Florida hospital system is under extreme stress.
And yet, at every stage of the pandemic Ron DeSantis, Republican governor of Florida, has effectively acted as an ally of the coronavirus, for example by issuing orders blocking businesses from requiring that their patrons show proof of vaccination and schools from requiring masks. More generally, he has helped create a state of mind in which vaccine skepticism flourishes and refusal to take precautions is normalized. DeSantis isn't stupid. He is, however, ambitious and supremely cynical. So when he says things that sound stupid, it's worth asking why. And his recent statements on COVID-19 help us understand why so many Americans are still dying or getting severely ill from the disease.
Above all, he has been playing the liberal-conspiracy-theory card, with fund-raising letters declaring that the "Radical Left" is "coming for your freedom".
So let's talk about what the Right means when it talks about "freedom". Since the pandemic began, many conservatives have insisted that actions to limit the death toll - social distancing, wearing a mask and now getting vaccinated - should be matters of personal choice. Does that position make any sense? Well, driving drunk is also a personal choice. But almost everyone understands that it's a personal choice that endangers others; 97% of the public considers driving while impaired by alcohol a serious problem. Why don't we have the same kind of unanimity on refusing to get vaccinated, a choice that helps perpetuate the pandemic and puts others at risk?
My answer is that when people on the right talk about "freedom", what they actually mean is closer to "defense of privilege" - specifically the right of certain people (generally white male Christians) to do whatever they want. Not incidentally, if you go back to the roots of modern conservatism, you find people like Barry Goldwater defending the right of businesses to discriminate against Black Americans. In the name of freedom, of course. A lot, though not all, of the recent panic about ""cancel culture" is about protecting the right of powerful men to mistreat women. And so on.
Once you understand that the rhetoric of freedom is actually about privilege, things that look on the surface like gross inconsistency and hypocrisy start to make sense. Why, for example, are conservatives so insistent on the right of businesses to make their own decisions, free from regulation - but quick to stop them from denying service to customers who refuse to wear masks or show proof of vaccination? Why is the autonomy of local school districts a fundamental principle - unless they want to require masks or teach America's racial history? It's all about whose privilege is being protected.
The reality of what the right means by freedom also, I think, explains the special rage induced by rules that impose some slight inconvenience in the name of the public interest - like the detergent wars of a few years back. After all, only poor people and minority groups are supposed to be asked to make sacrifices.
Anyway, as you watch DeSantis invoke "freedom" to escape responsibility for his COVID catastrophe, remember, when he says it, that that word does not mean what you think it means.
[No surprise, that DeSantis has been nicknamed, "DeathSentence".]
Norwegian Cruises: 1, State Of Florida: 0. (Newser, August 9, 2021)
Company wins temporary stay against Florida's ban on businesses asking for vaccine passports.
After Six Churchgoers Die From COVID-19, FL Pastor Runs Vaccination Drive. (Daily Kos, August 12, 2021)
"Why is your church holding another vaccination event?"
"BECAUSE…6 church members have died in the last 10 days. 4 of them under 35. All healthy. All unvaccinated. And I'm tired of crying about and burying people I love. So take the political & religious games somewhere else!!"
The Thoughtless Privilege Of America's Vaccine Refusers. (Daily Kos, August 13, 2021)
So we sit, month after month, patiently waiting for the 90-million or so unvaccinated, COVID-19 vaccine-eligible people in this country to get off their pampered American asses and drive a meager mile or so to the CVS or Walgreen's to get a safe and simple shot that would prevent a long, painful hospital stay (or at worst, a dismal end-of-life experience on a ventilator) for them. We wait, and wait again, as we read article after article proposing new, clever ways to get the so-called "vaccine hesitant" to come around. (Whatever you do, don't criticize them, we're told.)
But while we're busy waiting for these people to somehow see the light, we shouldn't lose sight of just how incredibly lucky we all are to live in a country that actually has the wealth and public health infrastructure to provide these vaccines in the first place.
FDA Authorizes Additional COVID-19 Vaccine Dose – But Not For Everyone. (SciTechDaily, August 13, 2021)
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for both the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine to allow for the use of an additional dose in certain immuno-compromised individuals, specifically, solid organ transplant recipients or those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immuno-compromise.
Inside America's COVID-Reporting Breakdown (Politico, August 15, 2021)
Crashing computers, three-week delays tracking infections, lab results delivered by snail mail: State officials detail a vast failure to identify hotspots quickly enough to prevent outbreaks.
Teri Kanefield: White Supremacy, Hierarchy, And The Anti-Mask "Debate" (18-min. video; YouTube, August 15, 2021)
For this week, I tackle these questions:
- What's the endgame of the anti-mask, anti-vax campaign being pushed by certain Republican leaders?
- Won't it backfire when their own constituents get sick and die?
To answer, I show the connection between theories of white supremacy and the anti-mask debate.
[Excellent! See her follow-up below, on August 22nd.]
Troubling CDC Vaccine Data Convinced Biden Team To Back Booster Shots. (Politico, August 17, 2021)
The evidence showed a decline in the initial round of protection against COVID-19 infection that's coincided with a resurgence in cases driven by the more contagious Delta variant.
Radio Host Who Spread Vaccine Disinformation Dies Of COVID. (Daily Kos, August 17, 2021)
Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, Sr., a conservative Christian radio host, has died in Chattanooga of COVID-19, according to his family. "Prophecy Today" was broadcast daily over several-hundred stations. In February, DeYoung published an interview promoting the conspiracy theories that the Pfizer vaccine would make women sterile and that world governments were using the virus and vaccine to centralize power. DeYoung's guest at the time, Sam Rohrer, said that very few people who were infected lost their lives, calling the vaccine only a "purported solution" and "not truly a vaccine".
Phil Valentine, yet another conservative talk show host in Nashville, is in "grave condition" according to his family. Valentine had been skeptical of COVID vaccines, but his family is now encouraging others to get the shots.
Marc Bernier, a Daytona Beach talk show commentator who has spoken against vaccinations, has been hospitalized for more than a week with COVID.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (Republican) Tests Positive For COVID After Banning Mask, Vaccine Mandates. (3-min. video; NBC News, August 17, 2021)
Abbott has told people he got a third booster-dose of a vaccine.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Republican) Has A Very Good Reason To Be Pro-Virus, And It's Exactly What Everyone $u$pect$. (Daily Kos, August 17, 2021)
DeSantis continues to fight against schools and localities that want to save the lives of children, teachers, staff, and residents by taking minimal efforts to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Vaccines, masks, and social-distancing are the way to save lives - AND the way to save the economy.
What can't work to save Florida? REGEN-COV, the monoclonal antibody treatment from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Not only can the treatment not be administered to patients who have already been hospitalized for COVID-19, or patients using oxygen for COVID-19, REGEN-COV has to be administered by IV and is only available in limited quantities.
So WHY is DeSantis pushing the treatment from Regeneron at every press conference, rather than pushing Floridians to take a free vaccine or use cheap masks? If all this seems nonsensical, writer Jennifer Cohn provides the simple answer - and it's exactly the answer you might expect.
The largest donor to DeSantis in 2020 was a man named Ken Griffin. Griffin is the founder and CEO Of investment firm Citadel. And, as Yahoo Finance reported in June about Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, "The second largest stake is held by Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which holds a $171.2-million call position."
For months, it has seemed like Ron DeSantis wasn't just failing to block COVID-19, he was openly promoting its spread. DeSantis has been objectively pro-virus - down-playing vaccines, banning masks, forcing schools to conduct in-person classes, and opening businesses even when it violated the guidelines published by his own Department of Health.
What could make sense of that? A top donor whose business is actively helped by getting more people sick.
MA Teachers Union Presses Vaccine Mandate For All Staff, Students. (Patch, August 18, 2021)
The Massachusetts Teachers Association Board of Directors wants Gov. Charlie Baker (Republican) to get strict on school vaccination requirements.
Baker said earlier this week there are unlikely to be any additional statewide mask restrictions - leaving it up to local school districts - beyond the strong recommendation that unvaccinated students and staff wear masks indoors, while vaccinated students in seventh grade and older, as well as vaccinated staff, have the option whether to wear them or not. While Baker has repeatedly touted the state's high vaccination rates and promoted near-universal vaccinations as "the pathway out of this pandemic", he has not backed statewide requirements beyond for those who work in long-term care facilities.
"It's as if Governor Baker, Education Secretary James Peyser and Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley have learned nothing over the past year and a half", Najimy said. "MTA members have spent that time calling for well-informed and researched approaches to make in-person learning as safe as possible."
Rural Texas Schools Shut Down To Keep COVID-19 From Overwhelming Their Small Communities. (Texas Tribune, August 19, 2021)
The small districts aren't fighting Gov. Greg Abbott's mask rules, but fears for staff, students and local medical facilities are driving them to fight high COVID-19 rates with temporary closures.
New Research Explains Why Vaccinated People Are At Low Risk During COVID Delta Variant Surge. (SciTechDaily, August 19, 2021)
The researchers analyzed a panel of antibodies generated by people in response to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and found that delta was unable to evade all but one of the antibodies they tested. Other variants of concern, such as beta, avoided recognition and neutralization by several of the antibodies.
Maker Of Popular COVID Test Told Factory To Destroy Inventory. (New York Times, August 20, 2021)
Abbott Laboratories, one of the leading producers of rapid tests, purged supplies and laid off workers as sales dwindled. "It's all about money."
Weeks later, the U.S. is facing a surge in infections with diminished capacity.
The U.S. Is Getting COVID Booster Shots. The World Is Furious. (Wired, August 20, 2021)
The White House's plan to roll out third shots for any American adult is raising profound questions about global equity. "We're planning to hand out extra life jackets to people who already have life jackets, while we're leaving other people to drown!" Globally, more than 5-billion people remain unvaccinated.
Mississippi Threatens Fines, Jail Time For COVID Patients Who Don't Isolate. (2-min. video; NBC News, August 20, 2021)
Mississippi State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs indicated sentences as long as five years could be in store for COVID-19 patients who fail to isolate.
State epidemiologist Paul Byers said Mississippi has the highest number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the nation. "These numbers are staggering", he said during a weekly Mississippi pandemic update. Only seven ICU beds were available in the entire state Thursday as a result of its COVID-19 fourth wave.
Teri Kanefield: More About White Supremacy And Hierarchy (20-min. video; YouTube, August 22, 2021)
Last week I drew the connection between White supremacy, hierarchies, and the anti-mask "debates". This week I expand on these ideas, focusing a bit more on economic hierarchy and regulations in general.
[Excellent! You can find her prior one above, at August 15th.]
Unvaccinated Are Breaking Everything - The Bank, The Health Care System, The Bonds Of Society. (Daily Kos, August 23, 2021)
Vaccines and adequate supplies have definitely made the delta round of the COVID-19 pandemic less horrific for the doctors and nurses trying to save lives. The jeopardy for them and their families is at least reduced by the fact that the vaccine has been available to them, and they don't have to rely on personal protective equipment that's days old. But the fact that there is a vaccine and that many of the people who are filling up ICUs are there by choice adds a whole level of demoralization that didn't exist in the first round.
Would It Be Fair To Treat Vaccinated COVID Patients First? (Wired, August 23, 2021)
Last week, Texas health-care policy-makers discussed taking vaccination status into account for COVID triage. It's a larger conversation that ethicists are bracing for.
"I've Never Seen Anything Like This!" ER Doctor Says 100's Waiting To Be Admitted: NO BEDS! (Daily Kos, August 23, 2021)
Emergency-room doctors in Southeast Texas say they are running out of hospital beds, and some patients are waiting hours, sometimes days to be admitted into a hospital. "Are there patients dying because of this that might not have died? Absolutely, yes", said Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council CEO, Darrell Pile. "I am very concerned about the fatalities that are about to happen."
An anonymous U.S. hospital staffer: "If you don't trust doctors and science to keep you from getting sick, why the hell are you clogging up hospitals trusting them to cure you?"
Extreme, Vocal Minority Of Anti-Mask Anti-Vaxxers Turn To Violence To Win Debate They Have Lost. (Daily Kos, August 23, 2021)
Donald Trump and Republicans like to talk about the "silent majority" of Americans who Democrats are unfairly oppressing. But what the increasingly-contentious battle over masking in schools proves is that, in truth, it's the GOP's "violent minority" afflicting the rest of Americans over COVID-19.
The Associated Press lays out a series of aggressive and even violent incidents in recent weeks over pandemic-mitigation efforts:
- a Northern California man marching into his daughter's elementary school and punching a teacher in the face;
- a Texas parent ripping the mask off a teacher's face at a "Meet the Teacher" event;
- a furious Tennessee man yelling at a mask proponent, "We know who you are. And we will find you!"
School Mask And Vaccine Mandates Are Supported In U.S. (Associated Press, August 23, 2021)
Masks have been a point of contention as U.S. schools reopen amid rising numbers of coronavirus cases. Questions about whether to require them have caused turmoil among parents and politicians, with some Republican governors banning mask mandates even as President Joe Biden threatens legal action against them.
In a reflection of that polarizing debate, the poll finds a wide partisan divide. About 3 in 10 Republicans said they favor mask requirements for students and teachers, compared with about 8 in 10 Democrats. There was a similar split over vaccine mandates in schools.
Vaccine Mandates Work - But Only If They're Done Right. (Wired, August 26, 2021)
Nobody has the freedom to go unmasked and unvaccinated in a crowded workspace or classroom. We do not have the freedom in America to expose other people to an infectious disease. Requiring people to get their shots can stop COVID-19, but those rules have to be doable and equitable.
Like the other vaccines still available under EUA, the Pfizer drug is extraordinarily good at keeping people from getting really sick or dying from COVID. But with more than 100,000 people in the hospital with COVID in the US - the most since January - and with the vast majority of them unvaccinated, clearly that alone is not enough. States, localities, and businesses have tried inducements like prizes, cash, or lotteries, little tricks designed to corral people into doing what's good for them. In the language of behavioral economics, that's called a nudge. But in states with low vaccine uptake, those nudges didn't change the momentum. So now, it's time for mandates. If you're one of the 30 percent or so of Americans who haven't gotten vaccinated yet, get ready for a good hard shove.
And nobody shoves harder than the Pentagon. The Department of Defense immediately announced it'd add COVID-19 vaccines to the more-than-a-dozen already required of service members. Big universities like California's UC system already had mandates in place, but now more schools have joined: Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota. City workforces in Los Angeles and Chicago came under mandate. The new governor of New York announced at her inauguration that she'd institute them, too, and New York City put them in place for public school teachers and the NYPD. In late July, pretty much every major medical and health care professional association signed onto an open letter calling for vaccine mandates across health care; the influential American Medical Association has now reiterated that position. Even the hardcore capitalists at Goldman Sachs won't let anyone in their offices without proof-of-shot. In journalism, all it takes to make a trend is three examples. I think we're there.
DeSantis' Ban On School Mask Mandates Violates State Constitution, Judge Rules. (Ars Technica, August 27, 2021)
DeSantis' controversial ban "does not meet constitutional muster", judge said.
Coronavirus Briefing (New York Times, September 2, 2021)
- Steeper medical bills to come.
- Federal pandemic unemployment assistance for millions of people will end after this week.
- Amid a record surge in cases, Hawaii is facing an oxygen shortage.
- More countries will start giving booster shots this month.
Lock Him Up: Tucker Carlson Is Telling His Viewers To Get Fake Vaccination Cards - Which Is A Felony. (Daily Kos, September 3, 2021)
Fox News has been at the forefront of the pro-COVID, anti-vax movement for more than a year-and-a-half. Their callously political aversion to common-sense methods of mitigating the harm of the deadly coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the latest surge that can be accurately attributed to the "Fox-News Variant" that is infecting and killing Americans at record levels.
While most of the Fox News roster is spreading disinformation about COVID, no one is more committed to propagating lethal lies than Tucker Carlson. He has promoted the use of quack cures, espoused paranoid conspiracy theories that the vaccines don't work, and even exhorted his viewers to make false police reports of child abuse against parents whose children wear face masks. On Thursday's episode of Carlson's White Nationalist Hour on Fox News, he went farther over the cliff of sanity than ever before.
Here's What We Know About The Mu Variant Of COVID-19. (1-min. Fauci video; Washington Post, September 3, 2021)
The WHO-designated 'variant of interest' was first detected in Colombia in January 2021, where cases continue to rise. It has since been identified in more than 39 countries, according to the WHO, among them the United States, South Korea, Japan, Ecuador, Canada and parts of Europe. About 2,000 mu cases have been identified in the United States, so far; most cases have been recorded in California, Florida, Texas and New York.
However, mu is not an "immediate threat right now" within the United States, top infectious-disease expert Anthony S. Fauci told a press briefing on Thursday. He said that while the government was "keeping a very close eye on it", the variant was "not at all even close to being dominant", as the delta variant remains the cause of over 99% of cases in the country.
In Florida, A Summer Of Death And Resistance As The Coronavirus Rampaged. (4-min. video; Washington Post, September 5, 2021)
As Florida appears to be turning the corner from a coronavirus rampage that fueled record new infections, hospitalizations and deaths, its residents and leaders are surveying the damage left from more than 7,000 deaths reported since July Fourth and the scars inflicted by feuds over masks and vaccines. New infections were averaging more than 22,000 a day in the last days of August but have fallen to about 19,000. Yet recovery could prove fleeting: Holiday weekends such as Labor Day have acted as a tinderbox for earlier outbreaks, and late summer marks the return of students to college campuses.
Better Data On Ivermectin For COVID Is Finally On Its Way. (Wired, September 8, 2021)
Studies have been small, and often not great. The best info so far says don't use it, get vaccinated, and hang in there for the more promising meds being tested.
Did Neil DeGrasse Tyson Tweet This About Unvaccinated Republicans? (Snopes, September 9, 2021)
The famous astrophysicist deleted the tweet, saying it was causing unintended "Twitter fights".
Over-The-Counter Rapid Antigen Tests Can Help Slow The Spread Of COVID-19. Here's How To Use Them Effectively. (The Conversation, September 10, 2021)
It's important to remember that rapid antigen tests serve a different purpose than PCR testing, which is considered the gold standard even though it isn't 100% accurate. Rapid tests are designed to identify cases with a high-enough viral load in the nasal passage to be transmissible – not to diagnose all COVID-19 cases. Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen testS may only detect 85% of the positive cases detected by PCR tests. But the key is that published studies found that they detect over 93% of cases that pose a transmission risk, which is what matters most for getting the pandemic under control. Ellume correctly identifies 95% of all positive cases, and Quidel QuickVue accurately identifies 85%. All three tests correctly identify upwards of 97% of all negative cases, regardless of symptoms.
Making the COVID-19 vaccine free and easily-accessible brought cases down quickly in the spring of 2021. Putting frequent rapid testing within reach for all could do the same now.
Coronavirus: The Religious Exemption (New York Times, September 14, 2021)
Major religious traditions, denominations and institutions are nearly unanimous in their support of COVID-19 vaccines. Nevertheless, many Americans say they are hesitant to get vaccinated for religious reasons. Their attempts to secure exemptions from the country's rapidly-expanding vaccine mandates are creating new fault lines, pitting religious-liberty concerns against the priority of maintaining a safe environment at work and elsewhere.
COVID-19 Updates: Most Americans Believe Worst Of Pandemic Is Yet To Come, Poll Says; 1 In 500 Americans Have Died. (1-min. video; USA Today, September 15, 2021)
Despite widespread vaccination efforts, 54% of U.S. adults say the worst of the outbreak is still to come. The report, based on a survey of 10,348 U.S. adults conducted Aug. 23-29, 2021, found 73% of those ages 18 and older say they've received at least one dose of a vaccine for COVID-19.
About a quarter of adults say they have not received a vaccine. Some of the lowest vaccination rates are seen among those with no health insurance and white evangelical Protestants (57% each) as well as among Republicans and Republican leaners (60%).
Black adults are now about as likely as white adults to say they've received a vaccine (70% and 72%, respectively). Earlier in the outbreak, African Americans were less likely to say they planned to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Hawaii Is Out Of Oxygen. (Daily Kos, September 15, 2021)
I am an 80-year-old retired physician living on the Big Island of Hawaii. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic we have prided ourselves on our ability to self-discipline, follow masking guidelines and socially distance, which has been reflected in the lowest prevalence and mortality rates in the country. However, with the emergence of the Delta variant, we have seen rates skyrocket to the point that our epidemiologic curves are approximating those of Florida and other Southern red states. Our hospitals are full and there are essentially no ICU beds available on the island. The vaccination rate is stagnating at around 60%, and 98% of the hospitalized COVID patients are unvaccinated.
Yesterday, my neighbor, a 75-year-old retiree, developed symptoms of renal stones; surgery would be necessary to remove the stone. However, due to the COVID situation, there is no oxygen available for non-emergent surgeries anywhere on the islands. Thus, as my neighbor's condition is not life threatening, and even though he is in considerable pain, the surgery has been put off for 2 weeks until additional oxygen can be shipped in.
This is a reminder, that even in the bluest of blue states, the anti-vaxxers are continuing to create a health crisis for us all.
Nearly All Fox Staffers Vaccinated For COVID - Even As Hosts Cast Doubt On Vaccine. (The Guardian, September 15, 2021)
More than 90% of Fox Corporation staff inoculated, according to memo announcing daily testing for unvaccinated employees.
Companies Backed By Private-Equity Firms Got $5-Billion Out Of $2-Trillion In Federal COVID Relief. (multiple short videos; NBC News, September 15, 2021)
Some $1.2-Billion of PPP and other relief money - targeted at small businesses - went to companies backed by large and well-funded private-equity firms.
Rep. Kurt Schrader Of Oregon Helps Kill Drug-Pricing Bill, Endangering Biden Infrastructure Plan. (Oregon Live, September 15, 2021)
A House committee dealt an ominous if tentative blow Wednesday to President Joe Biden's huge social and environmental infrastructure package, derailing a money-saving plan to let Medicare negotiate the price it pays for prescription drugs. The legislation would authorize Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, using lower prices paid in other economically-advanced countries as a yardstick. The savings produced would be used to expand Medicare coverage by adding dental, vision and hearing benefits. Democrats are counting on the drug-pricing provisions to pay for a modest but significant part of their $3.5-Trillion plan to bolster the safety net, address climate change and fund other programs. Proponents say it could save $600-Billion over the coming decade.
U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon, who inherited a fortune from his grandfather who was a top executive at pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and who has accepted large donations from big pharma during his seven terms in Congress, cast one of the key Democratic votes against the drug-pricing plan.
Another Global Pandemic Is Spreading - Among Pigs. (Wired, October 12, 2021)
African swine fever killed half the pigs in China. There is no vaccine and no treatment. Now it's in the Caribbean and on the doorstep of the U.S.
"I Am Offended.": DeSantis Vows To Sue Biden Over Vaccine Mandates. (Politico, October 14, 2021)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has opened a multimillion-dollar battle against vaccine mandates, and on Thursday took the fight to the Biden administration.
Florida over the summer was a hotbed for new infections, as the Delta variant spread through the state. At one point, the state made up about 1 in 5 new coronavirus infections in the nation. Before the summer surge, Florida had the nation's 27th highest COVID-19 death rate; afterward, the state's death rate climbed to 10th highest, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Counterfeit Respirators, Misrepresentation Of NIOSH-Approval (US CDC, November 5, 2021)
Counterfeit respirators, products that are falsely marketed and sold as being NIOSH-approved, may not be capable of providing appropriate respiratory protection to users. When NIOSH becomes aware of counterfeit respirators or those misrepresenting NIOSH approval on the market, we will post them here to alert users, purchasers, and manufacturers.
Appeals Court Halts COVID Vaccine Mandate For Larger Businesses. (2-min. video; CBS News, November 6, 2021)
At least 27 states filed lawsuits challenging the rule in several circuits, some of which were made more conservative by the judicial appointments of former Republican President Donald Trump. The 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, said it was delaying the federal vaccine requirement because of potential "grave statutory and constitutional issues" raised by the plaintiffs. The government must provide an expedited reply to the motion for a permanent injunction Monday, followed by petitioners' reply on Tuesday.
Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University's law school, said it was troubling that a federal appeals court would stop or delay safety rules in a health crisis, saying no one has a right to go into a workplace "unmasked, unvaxxed and untested".
The Biden administration has been encouraging widespread vaccinations as the quickest way to end the pandemic that has claimed more than 750,000 lives in the United States. The administration says it is confident that the requirement, which includes penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation, will withstand legal challenges, in part because its safety rules pre-empt state laws.
Over 80% Of Deer In Study Test Positive For COVID. They May Be A Reservoir For The Virus To Continually Circulate. (SciTechDaily, November 6, 2021)
This is the first direct evidence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in any free-living species, and our findings have important implications for the ecology and long-term persistence of the virus. These include spillover to other free-living or captive animals and potential spill-back to human hosts.
While no evidence exists that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted from deer to humans, hunters and those living in close proximity to deer may want to take precautions, including during contact with or handling the animals, by wearing appropriate personal protective equipment and getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
What The 14th-Century Plague Tells Us About How COVID Will Change Politics. (Politico, November 7, 2021)
Regions hit hardest by the Black Death in Europe looked more democratic centuries later. What does that mean for society coming out of this pandemic?
[Good medicine perpetuates bad government? Interesting...]
"Don't Wait!": WHO Urges U.S. To Pay Attention, As Surging COVID Cases Flood Europe's Hospitals Again. (Three 3-min. videos; CBS News, November 8, 2021)
Europe has seen a jump of more than 50% in new coronavirus cases over the last month, and the World Health Organization has warned the continent could see another half-million deaths by February.
U.S. Lifts Most COVID-Linked Bans On Travelers From Abroad. (2-min. video; CBS News, November 8, 2021)
The moves come as the U.S. has seen its COVID-19 outlook improve dramatically in recent weeks, since the summer delta surge that pushed hospitals to the brink in many locations.
[Timed perfectly with Europe's new fourth wave of the pandemic. What fools these mortals be!]
NY Times: COVID Is Getting Even Redder. (graphs; Daily Kos, November 8, 2021)
The gap in COVID's death toll between red and blue America has grown faster over the past month than at any previous point. In October, 25 out of every 100,000 residents of heavily Trump counties died from COVID, more than three times higher than the rate in heavily Biden counties (7.8 per 100,000). October was the fifth consecutive month that the percentage gap between the death rates in Trump counties and Biden counties widened.
Coronavirus: The Future Of Work (New York Times, November 12, 2021)
As the pandemic drags on, so does the profound reordering of work and office life. After a year without commutes, many white-collar workers have grown accustomed to the flexibility of working from home. Companies are reassessing whether they need to rent large office spaces with so few employees coming in. A record number of U.S. workers quit their jobs in September as the "Great Resignation" continues, while thousands more are protesting pay or working conditions.
New Clues To The Biology Of Long COVID Are Starting To Emerge. (NPR, November 12, 2021)
Some people experience persistent, often-debilitating symptoms after catching SARS-CoV-2. It remains unclear how often it occurs. But if only a small fraction of the hundreds of millions of people who've had COVID-19 are left struggling with long-term health problems, it's a major public health problem. "It's the post-pandemic pandemic."
New COVID Threat: Rodents Could Be Asymptomatic Carriers Of SARS-Like Coronaviruses. (SciTechDaily, November 18, 2021)
Ancestral rodents may have had repeated infections with SARS-like coronaviruses and have acquired some form of tolerance or resistance to SARS-like coronaviruses as a result of these infections. This raises the tantalizing possibility that some modern rodent species may be asymptomatic carriers of SARS-like coronaviruses, including those that may not have been discovered yet.
MA Sees Highest COVID Case Count In 9 Months, As Virus Rebounds. (Patch, November 18, 2021)
With cold weather and family gatherings on the horizon, the state reported more new COVID-19 cases Wednesday than any day since February. There were 2,650 new coronavirus cases, the most since 3,004 cases were reported on Feb. 7. At that point, most people weren't vaccinated; now, most adults and many children are. Other coronavirus metrics have been increasing along with total case counts. The average positive test rate is at 2.84%, there are 642 COVID hospitalizations, and more than 10 people a day on average are dying due to the virus. The average age of death was 76.
Vaccinations are still the best defense against the virus - the 64,000 breakthrough cases represents just 1.3% of the state's vaccinated population.
[Vaccines AND FACE MASKS! Every time the count goes down, we see fewer face masks - and then the count goes up once again.]
MA Hospitals Told To Reduce Elective Surgeries, As COVID Cases Surge. (Patch, November 23, 2021)
The guidance from the state Department of Public Health comes as COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise.
What We Know So Far About The B.1.1.529 "Omicron" COVID Variant Causing Concern. (Euronews, November 25, 2021)
The WHO classified the new Omicron strain as a "variant of concern" on Friday. It is as yet unclear how effective vaccines will be against it.
A virologist posted that a "very-small cluster of variant associated with Southern Africa, with very-long branch length and really-awful Spike-mutation profile" had been spotted. The high number of spike mutations - believed to be at least 32 at the moment - raise concerns about its ability to evade vaccines and to spread. The spike protein is what helps the virus to invade the body's cells.
Today's "Trump Is Mentally Ill" Story (Medium, November 25, 2021)
Today Trump released the above statement further evidencing the mental illness that untethers him from reality. So let's unpack all the crazy in the Trump statement above.

Opinion: Florida's New Anti-Masking Law Denies Us Key Tools To Protect Our Schools From Future COVID Surges. (Washington Post, November 25, 2021)
Our hands are tied. If and when there's another covid surge in Florida, public schools will be without two of the most useful weapons in our fight against the virus: masks and quarantines.
After months of harassing school districts, including mine, over our covid-19 protocols, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the Florida Legislature have just passed a new law that blocks schools from requiring masks for students, and quarantines for students and staff who appear asymptomatic. The governor even called a special legislative session to get this and other bills targeting COVID-19 measures passed - although he conveniently waited until the delta-driven COVID surge of the late summer and early fall had subsided in the state.
Of course, the outcome of the session was never in any doubt:
- DeSantis and other state leaders vehemently opposed mask mandates and quarantine protocols, even as positive cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID skyrocketed in Florida during the first few weeks of school.
- They fought school districts that required them tooth and nail, even withholding our funding because we did what was necessary to protect students and staff during a public health crisis.
- Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the governor insists that masks are ineffective and even harmful.
- To bolster his viewpoint, he fast-tracked the appointment of Joseph Ladapo - an anti-vaccine, anti-mask, hydroxychloroquine-promoting doctor apparently focused on undermining rather than protecting public health - as the state's surgeon general.
Their nonscientific and nonsensical agenda is now enshrined in Florida law. From here on out, school districts cannot require masks no matter what happens in the future.
[Also see "COVID Isn't Over" on Nov. 28th, above. When DO we jail politicians who commit blatant mass 2nd-degree murder?]

Frontline: "The Virus That Shook The World, Part 2" (54-min. video; PBS, November 26, 2021)
The epic story of how people around the world lived through the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, from lockdowns to funerals to protests. Filming across the globe and using extensive personal video and local footage, FRONTLINE documented how people and countries responded to COVID-19 across cultures, races, faiths and privilege.
[Part 1 is on April 26, 2021, below.]

EXPLAINER: What is this new "Omicron" COVID variant in South Africa? (AP News, November 26, 2021)
From just over 200 new confirmed cases per day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number of new daily cases rocket to 2,465 on Thursday. Struggling to explain the sudden rise in cases, scientists studied virus samples from the outbreak and discovered the new variant. In a statement on Friday, the World Health Organization designated it as a "variant of concern," naming it "Omicron" after a letter in the Greek alphabet.
It appears to have a high number of mutations - about 30 - in the coronavirus' spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people. The data so far suggest the new variant has mutations consistent with enhanced transmissibility, but the significance of many of the mutations is still not known. A virologist described omicron as "the most heavily mutated version of the virus we have seen," including potentially worrying changes never before seen all in the same virus.

Classification Of Omicron (B.1.1.529): SARS-CoV-2 Variant Of Concern (WHO, November 26, 2021)
The Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) is an independent group of experts that periodically monitors and evaluates the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and assesses if specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the behaviour of the virus. The TAG-VE was convened on 26 November 2021 to assess the SARS-CoV-2 variant: B.1.1.529.
The B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24 November 2021. The epidemiological situation in South Africa has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant. In recent weeks, infections have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection of B.1.1.529 variant. The first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November 2021.
This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa. Current SARS-CoV-2 PCR diagnostics continue to detect this variant. Several labs have indicated that for one widely used PCR test, one of the three target genes is not detected (called S gene dropout or S gene target failure) and this test can therefore be used as marker for this variant, pending sequencing confirmation. Using this approach, this variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage.

COVID Isn't 0ver. Texas Schools Pretend It Is, And Leave Students To Fend For Ourselves. (2-min. video; NBC News, November 28, 2021)
With no mask or vaccine mandates, my classmates are often sick. I want to protect myself, but I get judged if I cover up.
[Also see "Opinion" on Nov. 25th.]

Omicron - The Disinformation Campaign From The Right Goes Into Full Gear, Some To Hilarious Effect. (Daily Kos, November 29, 2021
While:
- the civilized world reacts to the news about the new COVID-19 virus variant called Omicron,
- while global teams of experts are gathering data and studying the genetic structure of the virus,
- while policy makers are rapidly deploying short-term measures and evaluating long term mitigation strategies,
The Right-Wing world:
- is busy spreading disinformation and nonsensical but insidious conspiracy theories and propaganda.
- Instead of informing and cautioning their supporters, they are throwing up conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory, relying on the ignorance and stupidity of their base, hoping to keep them scared and angry.
Until we know more about Omicron, we all know the drill:
- We need to stay vigilant,
- get the booster shot if we have not already done so,
- keep practicing masking and social distancing protocols,
- encourage others to do so and
- keep an eye on the news from reliable sources.

Omicron was already in Europe. (New York Times, November 30, 2021)
Across Europe, more than 44 cases of the new COVID variant have been confirmed in 11 countries, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. All of the confirmed cases in Europe have exhibited mild symptoms or none at all, and authorities were analyzing six further "probable" cases. They were also testing how the variant behaved in vaccinated people, and more information was expected in a "couple of weeks".

Trump Tested Positive For COVID A Few Days Before Biden Debate, Chief Of Staff Says In New Book. (The Guardian, December 1, 2021)
Mark Meadows makes stunning admission in new memoir obtained by Guardian, saying a second test returned negative.

Co-founder Of Christian TV Network That Railed Against Vaccines Dies Of COVID-19. (The Guardian, December 1, 2021)
Marcus Lamb, 64, whose Daystar network reaches an estimated 2-billion viewers worldwide, had pushed alternative therapies.

How Can Scientists Update Coronavirus Vaccines For Omicron? (The Conversation, December 2, 2021)
A microbiologist answers 5 questions about how Moderna and Pfizer could rapidly adjust mRNA vaccines.

"Magic Dirt": How The Internet Fueled, And Defeated, The Pandemic's Weirdest MLM. (3-min. video; NBC News, December 2, 2021)
Black Oxygen Organics became a sudden hit in the fringe world of alternative medicines and supplements, where even dirt can go for $110 a bag.
[What fools these mortals be!]

Trump And His Deplorables Cheer The Spread Of COVID While Trying To Smear Biden. (News Corpse, December 3, 2021)
Politics can be a dirty game. Particularly when disreputable players overtly applaud tragedies simply because those dreadful events will reflect badly on their opponents. These low-lifes actually care more about their own political self-interests than the suffering of innocent people. And no one is more likely to behave so despicably than the failed reality-TV-game-show host, Donald Trump.

Deranged Trump Declares That "I Developed The Vaccine" In Lie-Riddled Twitter Tantrum. (News Corpse, December 4, 2021)
Donald Trump is, if nothing else, consistent - although that isn't a compliment, considering that his consistency is related to his being a pathological liar. He distinguished himself as having told more than 30,000 lies during his single term in the White House.

Pro-Trump Counties Now Have Far-Higher COVID Death Rates. Misinformation Is To Blame. (NPR, December 5, 2021)
Political polarization and misinformation are driving a significant share of the deaths in the pandemic. Since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden. People living in counties that went 60% or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.73 times the death rates of those that went for Biden. Counties with an even-higher share of the vote for Trump saw even-higher COVID-19 mortality rates. In October, the reddest tenth of the country saw death rates that were six times higher than the bluest tenth.

Trump's Cult Is Dying From COVID In Much Greater Numbers, But FOX News Won't Tell Them. (Daily Kos, December 6, 2021)
The recent surge in COVID infections is being distributed in an alarmingly-discriminating fashion. Data shows that it is predominantly spreading in the parts of the country that voted for Donald Trump. This should not come as a surprise to anyone who has noticed how Trump and his right-wing propaganda machine have downplayed the risks and discouraged responsible behavior such as getting vaccinated and wearing masks. Even worse, they have actually been celebrating the suffering and loss of life.

Willfully Un-Vaccinated Should Pay 100% of COVID Hospital Bills, Lawmaker Says. (Ars Technica, December 7, 2021)
Rep. Carroll calls the legislation a starting point to hold un-vaccinated people responsible. The Democrat from the Chicago suburb of Northbrook introduced legislation Monday that would amend the Illinois insurance code so that accident- and health-insurance policies in 2023 would no longer cover COVID-19 hospital bills for people who choose to remain unvaccinated. Carroll said the rule would not apply to those with medical conditions that prevent vaccination.

Pfizer CEO Says Fourth COVID-Vaccine Doses May Be Needed Sooner Than Expected, Due To Omicron. (CNBC, December 8, 2021)
"When we see real-world data, we'll determine if the omicron is well covered by the third dose and for how long," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC. "And the second point, I think we will need a fourth dose," Bourla said. The Pfizer CEO originally expected a fourth dose 12 months after the third, but he told CNBC it might be needed sooner than that.

Pfizer Says Its Booster Offers Strong Protection Against Omicron Variant. (New York Times, December 8, 2021)
Pfizer and BioNTech said Wednesday that laboratory tests suggest that three doses of their coronavirus vaccine offer significant protection against the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the virus.
The companies said that tests of blood from people who received only two doses found much-lower antibody levels against Omicron, compared with an earlier version of the virus. That finding indicates that two doses alone "may not be sufficient to protect against infection" by the new variant, the companies said. But the blood samples obtained from people one month after they had received a booster shot showed neutralizing antibodies against Omicron comparable to those against previous variants after two doses, the companies said in a statement.

Two Years Into This Pandemic, The World Is Dangerously Unprepared. (Washington Post, December 8, 2021)
Some countries had a foundation for preparedness that "did not necessarily translate into successfully protecting against the consequences of the disease because they failed to also adequately-address high levels of public distrust in government. With its vast wealth and scientific capability, the United States held on to its top ranking among 195 countries, even as it scored lowest on public confidence in government - a factor associated with high numbers of cases and deaths. The United States had more capacity to prevent and respond to epidemics than any other country, but it also had more reported cases and deaths than any other nation.
Among the report recommendations:
- Countries should allocate funds for health-security in their national budgets.
- International organizations should identify countries most in need of additional support.
- The private sector should look for ways to partner with governments.
- Philanthropies should develop new financing mechanisms, such as a global health-security matching fund, to prioritize resources.

NEW: Robin Schoenthaler, MD: Waiting for the Omicron Science (Medium, December 8, 2021)
It's not looking all that optimistic.

Hospital Beds Full, National Guard Deployed Amid Crushing Delta Wave. (Ars Technica, December 9, 2021)
Pennsylvania hospitals are running at 110%, while Maine and New York call National Guard. "We should remember that 99.9% of cases in the country right now are from the Delta variant", Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a press briefing last Friday. "Delta continues to drive cases across the country, especially in those who are unvaccinated."

17 pandemic innovations that are here to stay. (Politico, December 10, 2021)
During the pandemic, necessity became the mother of invention. Here are some innovations that are likely to stick.

I-Team: 93-Year-Old Veteran Denied Treatment For COVID-19 As Massachusetts Prioritizes Unvaccinated. (CBS Boston, December 14, 2021)
The I-Team has learned that hospitals are not able to meet the increased demand for treatment, not because of an issue with supply, but a shortage of staff and space to administer the treatments. According to state-issued guidelines, providers are advised to prioritize the unvaccinated and the immuno-compromised. Treatment requires a medical order and the decision for mAb referrals and treatment are made by the patient's health care provider. A map of mAb therapy sites can be found here

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: Omicron This Week: A Little Good News; Some Lousy News (Medium, December 15, 2021)
Good news: We are a lot better at "genomic sequencing" than we used to be. Genomic sequencing, you'll recall, is the kind of fancy specialized testing we need to identify a variant or in this case to confirm a positive test is actually Omicron
Bad news: We still don't have as much capacity to do genomic sequencing as many other countries (we're 20th in the world and do about 25% of what Britain does) and it's always at least a week behind. So we don't really know how much Omicron is out there right this second - except it's pretty much anywhere we look and rising fast.
I keep saying "We can't yet know…" and "It seems to be…". This isn't hedging — it's science.
What emerges from the murkiness we now stand in is that it seems to makes sense to do whatever you can to avoid Trouble (mask, test, ventilate, reduce indoor eating, and avoid connection with unvaccinated people), but most of all to get vaccinated and boosted as quickly as possible to maximize any and all hoped-for protection against Omicron.
[There's more.]

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: Urgent Omicron Action. What To Do, Now That We See the Train A-Coming? (Medium, December 17, 2021)
a) Go get boosted. This week. Vaccination seems to still be helpful in not getting severe disease; boosters may help with not catching this wildly contagious Omicron.
b) Go buy at-home tests. I know, I know, they're hard to find. Keep looking. They run out, they restock. Friends and patients have founds them on-line and in person at their CVS, Costco, Target, Walgreens, Walmart, Sam's Club, BJ's and on-line suppliers like this one .
c) Any symptoms at all? Get tested.
d) Test you and your loved ones (per Michael Mina) on Dec 25, 28, 31, and Jan 3 (and before and after any other gatherings).
e) Decline indoor dining with strangers or unmasked activities with indoor crowds until this surge is over
f) Wear the best masks you can find.
g) Read this fantastic piece by one of my favorite COVID writers Ed Yong and his thought processes about cancelling parties in the Omicron age.
h) Hang on tight. All surges go down, but this one is going to have a steep ascent.

Brace Yourself. Omicron's Going To Be Worse Than You Probably Think. (Eudaimonia, December 18, 2021)
How Bad Omicron's Really Looking, And Where the Myth That It's Mild Came From.

Highly-Vaccinated Countries Thought They Were Over The Worst. Denmark Says The Pandemic's Toughest Month Is Just Beginning. (Washington Post, December 18, 2021)
In a country that tracks the spread of coronavirus variants as closely as any in the world, the signals have never been more concerning. Omicron positives are doubling nearly every two days. The country is setting one daily case record after the next. The lab analyzing positive tests recently added an overnight shift just to keep pace. And scientists say the surge is just beginning.

Coronavirus Spike Sends Harvard University Remote In January. (Patch, December 18, 2021)
Harvard will go remote for at least the first three weeks of January. It is prompted by the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases locally and across the country, as well as the growing presence of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

Omicron and holidays unleash scramble for coronavirus tests across the U.S. (Washington Post, December 18, 2021)
testing capacity is under major strain as exposures to positive cases grow, schools, workplaces and travel destinations require proof of negative test results and government agencies recommend testing before holiday gatherings. Local public health officials often have to decide whether to use their limited staff and resources on shoring up vaccine sites or testing sites.
The Biden administration has taken steps to increase the availability of rapid testing, including streamlining the review process to authorize kits, and ensuring supply of about 200-million for December. But critics say the U.S. has still failed to make tests as readily accessible as they are in other countries such as the United Kingdom and Singapore. President Biden also moved to require insurers to reimburse rapid test kit purchases, which typically run about $25 for two tests. But it will not take effect until after the holidays, and places the burden on the consumer. Earlier this month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed a question about sending free testing kits to households as costly - although several states are already doing so.

At-home COVID testing kits will be free in 2022: Here's how and where to get yours. (CNET, December 18, 2021)
The White House has said it will issue reimbursement guidelines by January 15, with health insurers expected to start reimbursing the cost of at-home testing shortly after that date. The administration's plan is not retroactive, however, so kits purchased during the holidays will not be covered.
Some states, including Vermont, aren't waiting for Biden's plan to take effect: They've mandated insurers to start paying for at-home kits now. You may want to check with your company, as some private employers have also begun offering reimbursement options.

Finding masks that meet CDC and WHO guidelines is tough. We did the work for you. (Ars Technica, December 18, 2021)
Our newly updated mask guide includes information on how to double-mask effectively, how to reuse KN95 and N95 masks safely, how to maximize a surgical mask's effectiveness, how to choose and clean great cloth masks, and more. Below are our latest picks based on product availability and long-term testing.
[Keep this article where you can find it, and share - the article, not facemasks. Take care.]

Details Released On The Trump Administration's Pandemic Chaos. (Ars Technica, December 20, 2021)
Report provides details of how Trump's appointees got in the way.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis has been investigating the previous administration's haphazard and sometimes counter-productive response to the pandemic. On Friday the group issued a major report that puts these details all in one place. The report confirms suspicions about the Trump administration's attempt to manipulate the public narrative about its response, even as its members tried to undercut public health officials.
[Think, second-degree premeditated mass murder.]

Omicron sweeps across nation, now 73% of new US COVID cases. (Associated Press, December 20, 2021)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron's share of infections in only one week. In much of the country, it's even higher. Omicron is responsible for an estimated 90% or more of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. The national rate suggests that more than 650,000 omicron infections occurred in the U.S. last week.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: Omicron: Our New Fierce Foe: How To Decide if Holiday Gatherings Are Safe For Your Family (Medium, December 20, 2021)
The only "mild" thing about this surge will be peoples' individual symptoms; e.g., it's much "milder" to have the sniffles and a couple of days of fatigue rather than having horrible blood clots or feeling like you're strangling half to death. And hopefully we will have a "milder" death rate, although the science isn't all in on that yet.
But everything else will be "fierce". We will have a fierce number of cases, a fierce fraction of people in the hospital, a fierce number of people who can't get good hospital care because there's not enough staff or too much COVID.

We Were Always Disposable, And We Can't Ignore It Anymore. (Medium, December 20, 2021)
The truth behind hidden corporate transcripts.

Massachusetts Needs Full Mask Mandate, Spilka, Rausch Urge. (Patch, December 21, 2021)
A growing number of local elected officials are calling on Gov. Charlie Baker to bring back masks as COVID-19 surges.

US Army Creates Single Vaccine Against All COVID & SARS Variants, Researchers Say. (Defense One, December 21, 2021)
Within weeks, Walter Reed researchers expect to announce that human trials of Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine (SpFN) show success against Omicron—and even future strains.

Biden's Omicron battle plan includes 500 million home test kits. (Ars Technica, December 21, 2021)
President Biden outlined the federal government's response to omicron's ascendancy.

Anti-Vaxx Chronicles: ER Doctor Quits Because Q Nuts Push Him Over The Edge. (Daily Kos, December 21, 2021)
After more than three decades as a physician, the Q maniacs have succeeded in driving me out of providing care to patients. I, like many of my colleagues, am moving into medically-adjacent work, where we can continue to apply our training and decades of knowledge without ever having to come in contact with sick people.

Fauci Says Fox News And RFK Jr. Attacks "Accelerated" Death Threats. (10-min. video; Yahoo, December 21, 2021)
"The only thing I've ever said or done is to encourage people to get vaccinated, to wear a mask and to do things that would be good for their health, the health of their family and the health of the community. So to get villainized because of that is a sad testimony on our society."

It's Hard To Describe What's About To Happen In America. We're Woefully Unprepared. (Medium, December 22, 2021)
We know Omicron is highly contagious, and it's not milder on its own. We also know that it knocks Pfizer's vaccine effectiveness down significantly, even if you're boosted, and that the benefits of a third shot only last a few months. Israel has already started rolling out a fourth dose. Meanwhile, drug companies are working on a vaccine that targets Omicron, but it won't be ready until March. Only 30% of Americans have gotten a booster. Healthcare workers in states like Rhode Island describe the system as "currently in collapse," and the Omicron wave has just barely started, after leaping up to 73% of cases in barely a week. Based on that rate, it's probably already at 100% by now.
None of this is good news. This isn't the kind of information that says we can all go back to living our normal lives, but that's exactly what too many Americans are doing. They're acting like the pandemic is over, pretending Omicron is mild, and shaming anyone who doesn't play along. Our government is fully expecting some fully-vaccinated and -boosted people to get severely sick, even die, based on the drops in efficacy. They know it's going to happen. It's happening right now. The losses have simply reached an acceptable level for bureaucrats and politicians seeking reelection. It doesn't bother billionaire CEOs and hedge-fund managers, either. They're just not saying that part out loud.
It sounds amoral. It is.

Omicron: What you need to know about the COVID variant. (3-min. video; CBS News, December 22, 2021)
Omicron appears to have evolved separately from the Delta variant, descending from another strain that appeared in mid-2020. Some scientists speculate it may have accumulated so many changes while evolving for months in animals or an immuno-compromised person. The Omicron variant is the most divergent variant that has been detected in significant numbers during the pandemic so far, which raises serious concerns that it may be associated with significant reduction in vaccine effectiveness and increased risk for reinfections.

13% Mortality Rate In Fully-Vaccinated Patients With Cancer Who Had Breakthrough COVID-19. (SciTechDaily, December 24, 2021)
Patients were considered fully vaccinated after having received two doses of either the BioNTech vaccine, Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna/NIAD vaccine, or one dose of the J&J vaccine, with the last vaccine dose long enough before breakthrough COVID-19, to consider them as fully vaccinated.
Because measures of immunity are not routinely collected in clinical care, we don't know whether these were patients who mounted effective immune responses after vaccination; a lot of emerging data have suggested that patients with cancer, especially blood cancers, do not mount adequate protective antibody responses. It's important to note that many of the same factors that we identified prior to the availability of vaccination – age, comorbidities, performance status, and progressing cancer – still seem to drive many of the bad outcomes.
A multilayered approach that includes masking and social-distancing, along with vaccination plus booster against COVID-19 remains an essential approach for the foreseeable future.
[Notes: (a) This analysis preceded the booster shot. (b) Patients with cancer, especially blood cancers, are less likely to mount adequate protective antibody responses.]

Fully-Vaccinated Individuals at Risk for COVID Infection With Omicron Variant – Columbia Study. (3-min. video; SciTechDaily, December 24, 2021)
Results suggest that previously-infected individuals and fully-vaccinated individuals are at risk for infection with the omicron variant. It is not too far-fetched to think that SARS-CoV-2 is now only a mutation or two away from being completely resistant to current antibodies.
Umair Haque: America's Approach To Omicron Is Insane. (Eudaimonia, December 23, 2021)
Through a combination of incompetence, ineptitude, and indifference, America is bungling COVID yet again.
I was trying to get the booster that everyone in power - Biden and Fauci and all the rest - were begging me to get. Only I couldn't get one, because of America's at-least-six-months-since-the last-prior-shot rule.
Similar rules in other countries? Britain, Three months. France, Four. Holland, Three. And so forth. America is the only country in the rich world (probably the one, period!) where the rule, even in the middle of a vaccine-resistant wave of a pandemic, is six months or no booster. Nobody in power has checked that rule. Even thought about it. CDC, hospitals, President, task force. Nobody. Nobody's changed it, understood it. Not a single person has connected the dots and said, hey, vaccines lose their efficacy fast, and we want everyone to get boosted, so maybe we should make it happen.
Do you see what an incredible level of institutional and government failure this is? Not to even think about the science? To keep a policy that's now in stark opposition to the science? How many millions of Americans are in the same boat as me?
God's Tech-Support Hotline (2-min. video; YouTube, December 24, 2021)
[Don't miss this viral virus video!]
Robin Schoenthaler, MD: Omicron Has Landed. And It's Everywhere. (Medium, December 26, 2021)
It was a very Omicron Christmas for many of us. As cases soar (70,000 at the end of October; over 200,000 today), I had countless friends and relatives who suddenly had to cancel, adjust, or scale down their celebrations because of people finding out they were positive on Thursday or Friday or even in the car on the way over to open presents.
The ripple effect of having so many people get COVID and needing to isolate for 5, 7, or 10 days (recommendations are evolving) is happening as we speak: schools and daycares closing because not enough teachers, flights cancelled because not enough crew, restaurants shuttering because not enough staff, church/temples cancelling in-person services because the leaders are sick.
And most importantly, hospitals forced to limit access because so many staff can't come in.

1-Million COVID-19 Cases Later, Massachusetts Hits Grim Milestone. (The Patch, December 28, 2021)
The milestone comes during a surge, where Massachusetts is ranked fifth among states where the coronavirus is spreading the fastest.

Anti-Vaxx Chronicles: Husband-Wife Team Put Their Faith In Jesus, Mocked Science. (Daily Kos, December 29, 2021)
This series documents stories from the Herman Cain Awards subreddit, tracking the COVID mis- and dis-information on Facebook that is leading to so many deaths. Today's cautionary tale is a husband-wife fundamentalist team.
"If people feared going to Hell as much as they feared the Coronavirus, they would be more people coming to Jesus."
[If people feared COVID as much as they fear hell, maybe more people would vaccinate. (See? Everyone can play this false-equivalency game. It's stupid.)]
"No mask, no service. No mark, no sale. Do you see where this is going? They are conditioning the people to accept The Mark Of The Beast."
[No shirt, no service. No shoes, no service. (See where this is going? They have been conditioning us for centuries!)]
From its Comments thread:
- This whole slide-sideways-off-the-road-and-over-the-cliff started back in the Reagan Administration, with the (im)moral minority and their evangy ways about life. Trump helped, there is no doubt, but history shows us that they are taking the same route, albeit with different acts in different places, like all authoritarian dictatorships.
- The difference before was that we never had a right-wing troll as president. Trump legitimized the worst of us in a way they had never been legitimized before. Without the staggering misfortune of the Trump presidency, these people would be little more than an annoyance. Now they are an existential threat to public health and to our democracy. Trump gets 99% of the blame, IMO.
- My take, too. Except I'd give more blame to the media. If they did their jobs and reported honestly and fairly, Trump never would have won the Republican primary, much less the general election. If the media wasn't broken, Republicans would be merely loathsome instead of criminally insane.
- The media reported the outrageous, stupid shit he said and the horrendous, credible allegations against him. The problem is that the right-wing loonies loved every bit of it.
- A study conducted by Harvard Law School faculty proved that the "right-wing media ecosystem" regularly distorts and misrepresents the facts to serve their purposes. This can be traced back to Reagan, who vetoed legislation to codify the FCC's "Fairness Doctrine" as law, and to his granting expedited citizenship to Rupert Murdoch. Unfortunately, the US educational system cranks out far too many graduates who are incapable of critical thinking and thus naïve and gullible.
[That link leads to the entire 2018 Study Report, starting with:
ABSTRACT:
This book examines the shape, composition, and practices of the United States political media landscape. It explores the roots of the current epistemic crisis in political communication with a focus on the remarkable 2016 U.S. president election culminating in the victory of Donald Trump and the first year of his presidency. The authors present a detailed map of the American political-media landscape based on the analysis of millions of stories and social media posts, revealing a highly-polarized and asymmetric media ecosystem. Detailed case studies track the emergence and propagation of disinformation in the American public sphere that took advantage of structural weaknesses in the media institutions across the political spectrum. This book describes how the conservative faction led by Steve Bannon and funded by Robert Mercer was able to inject opposition research into the mainstream media agenda that left an unsubstantiated but indelible stain of corruption on the Clinton campaign. The authors also document how Fox News deflects negative coverage of President Trump and has promoted a series of exaggerated and fabricated counter-narratives to defend the president against the damaging news coming out of the Mueller investigation. Based on an analysis of the actors that sought to influence political public discourse, this book argues that the current problems of media and democracy are not the result of Russian interference, behavioral microtargeting and algorithms on social media, political clickbait, hackers, sockpuppets, or trolls, but of asymmetric media structures decades in the making. The crisis is political, not technological.]

Our Relationship With COVID Vaccines Is Just Getting Started. (The Atlantic, December 29, 2021)
We probably will need additional shots. But just how many depends on our immune systems, the virus, and how often they collide.
[A good look forward.]

The Pandemic Might Have Redesigned Cities Forever. (The Conversation, December 30, 2021)
Changes small and large - parklets, outdoor restaurants, bike lanes - could remake our relationship to cities (and help fix climate change).

Tracking The Coronavirus Around The U.S.: See How Your State Is Doing. (PBS, December 30, 2021)
The consortium (of researchers and public health experts who developed these risk levels) advises states in the red category to issue stay-home orders. Orange states should consider stay-home orders, along with increased testing and contact tracing. Yellow states need to keep up social distancing and mask usage, and all states should continue testing and contact-tracing.

Coronavirus Briefing Year 3 (New York Times, December 30, 2021)
- The U.S. set a one-day record of almost half-a-million cases, nearly doubling the highest numbers from last winter.
- South Africa said it has passed its fourth wave of cases, and counts few added deaths.
- The F.D.A. will allow Pfizer boosters for 12- to 15-year-olds.
- Latest updates, maps and a vaccine tracker.
As we prepare to enter the third year of the pandemic, we have been hoping for more normality and less COVID disruption by now. Case counts are soaring to all-time highs in some parts of the world, and 2022 is shaping up to be just as uncertain as the last 12 months. That said, we've made huge strides against the coronavirus this year. There are now multiple vaccines that offer powerful protection against the worst effects of COVID, as well as remarkably-effective treatments for those who become infected.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: Children And Omicron (Medium, December 30, 2021)
Our surge continues. It's moving from some-Omicron to half-Omicron and soon we will be virtually-all Omicron. It is, as one of my favorite doctors innocently said, "breathtakingly infectious". The big question on every parent's mind these days: "What's going to happen when the kids go back to school?"
We all know there has been a lot of buzz about the increased number of pediatric cases and hospitalizations. However, this doesn't seem to be happening because Omicron is more dangerous. It seems to be simply due to a bigger denominator: ie. since there's more NUMBERS of sick kids, there will be more NUMBERS of kids sick enough to need a hospital.
So let's start out with this reassurance: We are not seeing any evidence that Omicron is more severe in kids (or adults). That doesn't mean it isn't disruptive. But it does mean it's not more dangerous.

Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests Are Coming: How To Get Reimbursed By Health Insurance. (Today, updated December 30, 2021)
More details of the plan will be announced in January, but here's how experts predict it will work.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: What To Do If/When You Get COVID. (Medium, January 3, 2022)
Please, please - go stock up your COVID kits. A large number of us are going to get COVID in the next couple of weeks so get your gear today. In fact, go buy your oximeter tonight. And get home testing kits; places run out, but then they restock.
[Listen to Dr. Robin, and spread her word!]

Baker Touts Successful School Return Despite Some Delaying Class. (Mass. Patch, January 3, 2022)
"There was all kind of talk about how school wouldn't open Massachusetts today," Gov. Charlie Baker (R.) said. "They did." But not all.
Nearly 20 school districts delayed their return from the 10-day winter break due to health concerns and staffing shortages amid an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant. The state had been pressed by its largest teachers union to delay the return to school to allow educators time to test following a holiday break that saw the state break record after record of single-day confirmed COVID-19 cases, punctuated by more than 20,000 on Friday. "At this time, we simply do not have the staffing capacity to operate all schools safely," Brookline Public Schools said in a letter to families late Sunday night. "While we understand that closing schools on Monday will be challenging for families, we believe this is in the best interest for our staff, students, and families and will allow us to return as safely and as strongly as possible."

1 In 5 Massachusetts COVID-19 Tests Were Positive In Latest 7-Day Average. (Mass. Patch, January 3, 2022)
Monday's Department of Public Health report also broke another record for confirmed cases after the holiday weekend in Massachusetts.
[It's true, but MDPH doesn't say it that clearly. 20-29-year-olds are most likely to catch it; 75-year-olds are most likely to die from it.]

Over 1,000 Boston Teachers, Staff Out Sick Today. (Mass. Patch, January 4, 2022)
While schools prepare for staffing shortages, officials stand firm on keeping students in class this year.

France detects new COVID-19 variant 'IHU', more infectious than Omicron: All we know about it. (Firstpost, January 4, 2022)
The new variant — B.1.640.2 — which has been detected in 12 patients near Marseille, contains 46 mutations, making it more resistant to vaccines and infectious.
[On which wave of this pandemic will the politicians heed the medical experts?]

Initial Results Of A 4th-Dose COVID Study In Israel Show An Expected Rise In Antibodies. (New York Times, January 4, 2022)
Fourth shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine produce a five-fold increase in antibodies in recipients' blood, according to preliminary study results announced on Tuesday by an Israeli hospital. The small, pioneering research study, underway for a week, is meant to test the safety and effectiveness of giving yet another shot of the vaccine to people who have already received a booster dose. Still, there remains debate over whether fourth shots are advisable, as research indicates that COVID vaccines already protect against the worst outcomes, including from the Omicron variant. Any booster is likely to raise the number of antibodies in the short term; the question remains how long the effect will last, since antibodies inevitably decline over time.
Israel is facing a surge in coronavirus cases, driven by the Omicron variant. In an effort to protect the most vulnerable parts of the population, Israel has already begun offering fourth vaccine doses to people aged 60 or over, to people with weakened immune systems, and to medical and nursing home workers.

If you got Pfizer's vaccine, seek a booster 5 months after the second shot, not 6, the C.D.C. recommends. (New York Times, January 4, 2022)
The agency also recommended that some immuno-compromised children ages 5 to 11 receive an additional primary vaccine shot 28 days after the second shot, matching the guidance for similar people 12 and older. Pfizer's vaccine is the only one authorized for pediatric use in the United States. The endorsements come on the heels of the authorization of the same steps by the Food and Drug Administration on Monday.


State Sent Expired COVID Test Kits To Massachusetts Schools. (Mass. Patch, January 4, 2022)
Meanwhile, some Massachusetts school districts did not receive enough of the coronavirus test kits, forcing teachers and staff to share.

From Delta to Omicron, here's how scientists know which coronavirus variants are circulating in the US. (The Conversation, January 7, 2022)
Alexander Sundermann and Lee Harrison are epidemiologists who study novel approaches for outbreak detection. Here they explain how the genomic surveillance system works in the U.S. and why it's important to know which virus variants are circulating.

Dr. Robin's COVID-19 Updates: Doctors Telling Their Omicron Stories (Medium, January 9, 2022)
Forget anything you've heard about Omicron being "mild." It is HORRIFIC how it is ravaging our society and our hospitals and our health care workers.
-   11,000 cases/day in June in the US.
- 650,000 cases yesterday (plus a gabillion unreported at-home tests).
Please do everything you can to not get Omicron this month. Get boosted. (Get vaccinated!) Wear a good mask everywhere. Hunker down. Don't congregate inside with unmasked people. Don't eat inside with strangers. Minimize travel. Do what you can to not get hurt or sick or quarantine-stranded.
Our hospital systems are beyond stressed: the ER's hallways are full of patients, the ICUs are full up, the Urgent Cares have lines around the block, the PCPs are getting pounded, the pediatricians have exploding clinics.
In addition, if you get seriously ill right now, there are essentially no drugs to help you out. They simply haven't been manufactured in bulk yet; they do not exist. There are almost no monoclonal antibodies available, and the antivirals like Paxlovid will not be readily available until February or March. There are no real out-patient treatments except Tylenol.
Please do everything you can to not get Omicron this month.

As an E.R. Doctor, I Fear Health Care Collapse More Than Omicron. (New York Times, January 10, 2022)
[via the Democratic Underground]

How To Get MA COVID-19 Vaccination Card Online (Mass. Patch, January 10, 2022)
Massachusetts still does not mandate a vaccine, though a handful of cities are requiring proof of vaccination in many instances.

Coronavirus: Free at-home tests (New York Times, January 10, 2022)
The Biden administration today released the details of its plan to allow Americans to be reimbursed for at-home virus tests through private insurance. Here's what you need to know:
- Americans can be reimbursed for eight at-home coronavirus tests per person per month starting Saturday, my colleagues Noah Weiland and Sarah Kliff report.
- People who provide their insurance information will be able to get the tests with no out-of-pocket costs at certain pharmacies. In other instances, they will have to file claims to their insurers for reimbursement, just as they often do for other medical services.
- Tests ordered or administered by a health provider will continue to be covered by insurance without a co-payment or a deductible, the administration said.
- The policy does not apply to tests that Americans have already purchased.
[Also, you can order one free 4-pack per household, here.]

WHO: Omicron Could Infect Half of Europe's Population in Coming Weeks. (U.S. News, January 11, 2022)
A World Health Organization official warned that COVID-19 is "still a way off" from becoming an endemic, like the flu, rather than a pandemic.

Stopping COVID-19: New Research Shows Face Masks Cut Distance Airborne Pathogens Could Travel in Half. (SciTechDaily, January 12, 2022)
The research provides clear evidence and guidelines that 3 feet of distancing with face coverings is better than 6 feet of distancing without face coverings. The study is part of the researchers' larger overall effort to control airborne disease transmission, including through food ingredients, a better understanding of factors related to being a super-spreader; and the modeling of airborne disease transmission in classrooms.

Omicron goes to Washington. (New York Times, January 12, 2022)
Omicron has ushered in a new and frustrating phase of the pandemic. Soft shutdowns, empty shelves and another pandemic winter spent at home have shortened tempers.
Like the rest of the country, the virus has ripped through Congress. At least 129 House members and senators - nearly one in four - have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic. Thirteen were infected in the last week. Since the pandemic began, two Republican legislators have died: Ron Wright of Texas and Luke Letlow of Louisiana. And yet, even as the hyper-contagious Omicron variant infects hundreds of thousands of Americans a day, the two sides can't agree on what to do.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: Encouraging Omicron Sewage News (Medium, January 12, 2022)
Massachusetts "poop-ometer" gives us some hope.

MA Coronavirus: Hospitalizations Top 3K, Positive Rate Drops. (Patch, January 12, 2022)
With wastewater samples showing hopes for an Omicron decline, hospitalizations reached a new high on Wednesday.

There are early signs that Omicron has begun to peak. (New York Times, January 13, 2022)
The number of new COVID-19 cases in New York City rose more than twentyfold in December. In the past few days, it has flattened. In both New Jersey and Maryland, the number of new cases has fallen slightly this week. In several major cities, the number is also showing signs of leveling off.
"We really try not to ever make any predictions about this virus, because it always throws us for a loop", a Boston epidemiologist told GBH News. "But at least the wastewater is suggesting a steep decline, and so we hope that means cases will decline steeply as well, and then (declines in) hospitalizations and deaths will follow."

Natick Brings Back Mask-Mandate Temporarily. (Patch, January 13, 2022)
Masks will be required in all public spaces in Natick MA beginning on Monday and lasting through February.

Trump Surfaces With A New Racist Hoax - And A New Attack On Our Elections. (Daily Kos, January 16, 2022)
Trump says white people are being discriminated against on covid treatment: "If you're white, you don't get the vaccine or if you're white you don't get therapeutics .. In NY state, if you're white, you go to the back of the line if you want help."
There are a great many weird things about this particular verbal spasm from the ranting man. The first, obviously, is that the claim is transparently false. Not only are white people not being refused the vaccine or treatment in New York state, it is not happening anywhere. But it also makes no sense. It is, in fact, a monument to how thoroughly the anti-democratic Republican base demands their leaders spew provocative gibberish that makes no sense. The Republican base does not want the vaccine. The Republican base, and their politicians, are going to great lengths to make sure nobody can "make" them get vaccinated against a disease that has killed over 800,000 Americans and is still going strong.

AI Reveals Major Differences In How Social Media Users Debate Vaccinations And Climate Change. (Study Finds, January 18, 2022)
Social media users are more open to discussion and differing views regarding climate change, whereas online vaccination conversations tend to be more biased or one-sided.

NEW: How To Identify Counterfeit N95 Masks For COVID-19 (Mental Floss, January 18, 2022)
With the highly transmissible omicron variant burning through the United States, many people are upgrading their face masks. High-filtration N95 and KN95 respirators offer more protection against viral particles than cloth face masks, but they aren't always easy to find. The market is flooded with counterfeits that look like the real thing without meeting government safety standards. To avoid spending money on a fake product, watch out for these warning signs.
Legitimate N95 (US-standard) respirators will usually have NIOSH's name (spelled correctly) displayed on the package. U.S. government-approved masks also have headbands instead of ear loops, and an approval number on the band or facepiece that starts with the letters TC. To avoid spreading virii, the mask should have no valves.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: Omicron Update: We've Learned a Lot in Two Months. But We're Still in the Soup. (Medium, January 24, 2022)
Cases don't really matter any more: there's huge under-counting because of the gajillion unreported at-home tests and we know Omicron is getting past our vaccines. But the vaccines are still hugely protecting us against hospitalization and deaths, and even though there's 2,000 deaths a day, the vast majority are among the unvaccinated because vaccines are keeping us from dying.
But please don't use the word "mild" for even a nano-second to describe what's going on now. Our hospitals — and ERs and clinics and internist and pediatrician offices — remain under the absolute worst strain they have been under since this all started.
[As always, Dr. Robin offers excellent advice.]

The extraordinary success of COVID-19 vaccines, in two charts. (Vox, January 27, 2022)
Deaths tell one story of the pandemic. The lives saved tell another.

The Physics of the N95 Face Mask (3-min. video; Wired, January 28, 2022)
You've seen them a million times. You might be wearing one right now. But do you know how they work to block a potentially virus-carrying respiratory blob?

MIT Research Reveals How Omicron Escapes From All Four Classes of Antibodies That Target COVID-19. (SciTechDaily, February 1, 2022)
The researchers' approach, known as amino acid interaction network analysis, evaluates how one mutated amino acid can influence nearby amino acids depending on how "networked" they are — a measure of how much a given amino acid interacts with its neighbors. This yields richer information than simply examining individual changes in the one-dimensional amino acid sequence space.
The researchers compared the Omicron variant to the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as the Beta and Delta variants. The Beta and Delta variants have mutations that help them evade class 1 and 2 antibodies, but not class 3 and 4. Omicron, on the other hand, has mutations that affect the binding of all four classes of antibodies.
Even though Omicron is able to evade most antibodies to some degree, vaccines still offer protection, Sasisekharan says. "What's good about vaccines is they don't just generate B cells, which produce the monoclonal [antibody] response, but also T cells, which provide additional forms of protection."
"Our hope is that as we understand the viral evolution, we're able to home in on regions where we think that any perturbation would cause instability to the virus, so that they would be the Achilles' heels, and more effective sites to target," he says.

"The Power of Boosters" is immense as NY Times shows from CDC death data. (Daily Kos, February 1, 2022)
This data underscores both the power of the COVID vaccines and their biggest weakness - namely, their gradual fading of effectiveness over time, as is also the case with many other vaccines. If you received two Moderna or Pfizer vaccine shots early last year, the official statistics still count you as "fully vaccinated." In truth, you are only partially vaccinated.
Once you get a booster, your risk of getting severely ill from COVID is tiny. It is quite small even if you are older or have health problems. The data shows the power of boosters. Get fully vaccinated, get boosted, avoid crowds especially indoors, wear a KN-95 mask correctly when indoors, avoid those who are not vaccinated and avoid areas where the vaccination rate is low.
[View the graph.]

The Army Is Finally Giving Anti-Vaxxers The Boot - Effective "Immediately". (RollingStone, February 2, 2022)
The Army joins the Air Force, Navy, and Marines in discharging active-duty troop who have refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The U.S. is seeing a higher rate of deaths from omicron. It's important to know why. (Daily Kos, February 2, 2022)
The shape of the omicron wave in the United States has differed significantly from that in other nations. That's not so much true of the number of cases coming in—omicron has generated a spike in cases almost everywhere—but it is true of the outcomes of those cases. For most of the world, each successive wave of COVID-19 has seen a decreasing rate of hospitalizations and deaths. That steadily improving outcome was true even during the delta variant, which was widely seen as more virulent than past versions of SARS-CoV-2. However, though the U.S. saw significant improvements as vaccines rolled out, the rate of improvement slowed significantly during delta. Now the U.S. is showing a case fatality rate for omicron that greatly exceeds many nations. Americans are simply dying at a higher rate from COVID-19 than in the vast majority of wealthy nations.
On Wednesday, The New York Times noted this issue. The paper of record did an admirable job of charting America's "ballooning death toll" in spite of the still widely held idea that omicron is a "mild" variant of COVID-19. They note, accurately, that deaths are now exceeding the worst levels seen during the delta surge and that they are "more than two-thirds as high as the record tolls of last winter, when vaccines were largely unavailable."
And that dependent clause is as close as the whole article ever comes to providing a reason.
[Rest assured that this article will fill that gap.]

Efficiency of Different Types of Face Masks in Preventing COVID-19 (Fact Crescendo/India, February 2, 2022)
Wearing a mask is not an alternative to physical distancing and hand hygiene, but it is most valuable in scenarios where physical distancing is challenging.
Certified N95 masks are equipped to filter out 95% of air particles and hence are touted for maximum safety from COVID-19 infection. Despite being multi layered, these masks are breathable. They are available in different sizes and if the fit is perfect, it wraps snugly around the nose and mouth area, offering protection against any droplets or particles in the air.
However, N95 masks with respirator valve should be avoided, as they do not provide protection from the virus.

There's a COVID-19 epidemic in deer. It could come back to haunt us. (Vox, February 3, 2022)
Cats, dogs, and ferrets have been infected by the coronavirus. But outbreaks in deer are different.

Detecting COVID-19 with a 40-second eye scan (Isreal21c, February 3, 2022)
AdOM Advanced Optical Technologies and Israel's Sheba Medical Center have launched the world's largest study for the detection of COVID-19 on the surface of the eye. The study will compare AdOM's Tear Film Imager (TFI) — a quick, noninvasive and inexpensive exam — to the PCR diagnostic test, the current standard. The validation trial at Sheba – Israel's largest medical center – will test the TFI on about 500 patients over the next 30 days.
In just 40 seconds, the TFI simultaneously measures the muco-aqueous and lipid sublayers of the eye's tear film, at a resolution depth of a few nanometers. These sublayers play an important role in the identification and treatment of specific eye conditions such as dry eye syndrome. The TFI is used in countries including the United States and Japan. It's one of the only commercially available devices that can identify and quantify a virus within the surface of the eye.

Hamsters can transmit COVID to humans, data suggests. (The Guardian, February 8, 2022)
The research confirms fears that a pet shop was the source of a recent COVID outbreak in Hong Kong, which has seen at least 50 people infected and led to the culling of more than 2,200 hamsters. However, virologists emphasised that, although the pet trade could provide a route for viral spread, existing pet hamsters are unlikely to pose a threat to their owners and should not be harmed.
Many animals are susceptible to catching COVID from humans, but until now, only one – the mink – has proved capable of transmitting it in the opposite direction. Hamsters are particularly vulnerable to the virus – dwarf Roborovski hamsters can die from it – so have been widely used as a model for studying the disease.

Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines Currently Approved or Authorized in the United States (US CDC, February 11, 2022)
Efforts to increase the number of people in the United States who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines remain critical to preventing illness, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.

COVID Won't End Up Like the Flu. It Will Be Like Smoking. (The Atlantic, February 17, 2022)
Hundreds of thousands of deaths, from either tobacco or the pandemic, could be prevented with a single behavioral change.
The COVID vaccines are, without exaggeration, among the safest and most effective therapies in all of modern medicine. An unvaccinated adult is an astonishing 68 times more likely to die from COVID than a boosted one. Yet widespread vaccine hesitancy in the United States has caused more than 163,000 preventable deaths and counting. Because too few people are vaccinated, COVID surges still overwhelm hospitals—interfering with routine medical services and leading to thousands of lives lost from other conditions. If everyone who is eligible were triply vaccinated, our health-care system would be functioning normally again.
Smokers are 15 to 30 times more likely to develop lung cancer. Quitting the habit is akin to receiving a staggeringly powerful medicine, one that wipes out most of this excess risk. Yet smokers, like those who now refuse vaccines, often continue their dangerous lifestyle in the face of aggressive attempts to persuade them otherwise. Even in absolute numbers, America's unvaccinated and current-smoker populations seem to match up rather well: Right now, the CDC pegs them at 13 percent and 14 percent of all U.S. adults, respectively, and both groups are likely to be poorer and less educated.

Increased Infectivity Drives COVID Evolution. Mutations That Allow The Virus To Escape Vaccines Become Dominant. (SciTechDaily, February 20, 2022)
Omicron and other variants are evolving increased infectivity and antibody escape, according to an artificial intelligence (AI) model. Therefore, new vaccines and antibody therapies are desperately needed, the researchers say.

Maps Reveal Spread Of "Stealth" Omicron Sub-Variant BA-2 In UK, As Whitty Warns "Next Strain Could Be Worse." (graphs; Grapitic, February 23, 2022)
These maps show how much Omicron's "stealth" sub-variant has spread in the UK within a month. BA.2 has taken over Delta and is able to spread faster than original.

Deadly BA.2 Subvariant Of Omicron Spreading In More Than 74 Countries And Dominant Already In Several, Just As Mask Mandates Are Being Lifted. (Grapitic, February 23, 2022)
"It's really quite incredible how quickly the Omicron, the latest variant of concern, has overtaken Delta around the world. Most of the sequences are this sublineage BA.1. We are also seeing an increasing in proportion of sequences of BA.2. Omicron is more transmissible than Delta - all of the sublineages [are]. But within the sublineages, Omicron BA.2 is more transmissible than BA.1. And so, what we are looking for in the epi[demic] curves, we're looking at not only how quickly those peaks go up, but how they come down. And as the decline in cases occur, we also need to look at is there a slowing of that decline or will we start to see an increase again? If we start to see an increase, we could see some further infections of BA.2 after this big wave of BA.1."

10 Consequential Days: How Biden Navigated War, COVID And The Supreme Court (New York Times, February 28, 2022)
[An inside look at President Biden doing his job during a time of turmoil, and doing it well.]

From "Zero" To Surge (New York Times, March 3, 2022)
For a lot of the pandemic, Hong Kong and New Zealand have been icons of success in fighting the coronavirus. Their cautious "zero COVID" approaches kept instances and deaths low, and every day life has continued as normal.
Now, with the Omicron variant walloping a lot of Asia, each location is experiencing scary surges — but in strikingly divergent ways.

"Very Sobering": Global Deaths From COVID May Be More Than 3 Times Higher Than Official Toll, Study Says. (USA Today, March 10, 2022)
Researchers at the University of Washington's Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation found an estimated 18.2 million people may have died by the end of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than three times the official toll of 5.9 million, according to the study published Thursday in The Lancet.

MA Town-By-Town COVID: Positivity Rate Below 2% For 2 Straight Weeks. (Data tables; Patch, March 10, 2022)
In Massachusetts, COVID-19 case counts dropped in 267 communities, stayed the same in 52 and rose in 32.
[Good news! IF this local drop continues.]

China's Worst COVID-19 Surge Since 2020 (New York Times, March 14, 2022)
China is grappling with its worst spate of COVID-19 infections since the coronavirus first emerged more than two years ago in central China. Sustained outbreaks have erupted in two-thirds of the country's provinces, prompting two of the country's largest cities, Shenzhen and Shanghai, to impose stringent restrictions.

Once Again, America Is In Denial About Signs Of A Fresh COVID Wave. (The Guardian, March 16, 2022)
In the past couple of weeks, UK, Germany, France and others are experiencing a new wave. The US should get ready.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: They've Changed The COVID Rules Of Engagement. (Medium, March 16, 2022)
Six Steps To Being SafeR.
MA Town-By-Town COVID-19: Infection Rates Rise In 143 Communities. (Patch, March 24, 2022)
The state's positive test rate, though still low, started heading in the wrong direction, according to the Department of Public Health.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: BA.2 Is COVID Is Snapping At Our Heels. Will It Cripple Us Again? (Medium, March 27, 2022)
Numbers of cases, deaths and hospitalizations are going down in the US but skyrocketing in other parts of the world, including places like the UK which has super high numbers. This is worrisome because the UK is one of our "Prediction Countries" — they tend to have patterns in Month One (late March) that we usually follow pretty closely in Month Two (late April). In addition, our wastewater situation is worrying — there's a bunch of places in the US that are showing an increase in COVID particles in the wastewater, and that tends to be very predictive. If you see rising numbers of particles in the poop it's pretty inevitable that a few weeks later you are going to see a rise in cases.
Even though testing and reporting is getting lousy (fewer places to test, more at-home tests), the fact that BA.2 is more transmissible than BA.1 makes it probable that — as "good" as things are now — we may have some kind of a surge of cases in late April/May
That's the bad news. The good news is that I doubt a BA.2 uptick will affect our public lives. I don't think schools will shut down or hospitals will get so jammed they will have to cancel surgeries or routine care again.
There is some good news about BA.2 as well...
[There's more, and it's worth a close read.]

New Variants. New Boosters. But So Far, No New COVID Spending From Congress. (10-min. audio; NPR, March 29, 2022)
An omicron subvariant known as BA.2 could soon become the dominant form of the coronavirus in the United States. It's not more deadly, but it is more transmissible.
At the same time, the Biden administration has authorized a second booster shot for people over 50 and other people vulnerable to infection.
But against that backdrop, Congress has so far refused to authorize more COVID spending measures, which would fund the stockpiling of more vaccine doses and public health surveillance for emerging variants.

Preparing For The Next Wave (New York Times, April 1, 2022)
Just when the Omicron wave seems to have died down in the U.S., experts are already warning about the next surge of cases - this time driven by the highly-infectious subvariant BA.2.

NEW: We're Running Out Of Money To Track COVID Variants. An Expert Explains Why That Would Be Very Bad. (Mother Jones, April 7, 2022)
"There are times when you ask yourself, 'Have we learned nothing here?'"

A Tale Of Many Pandemics: In Year Three, A Matter Of Status And Access. (Washington Post, April 16, 2022)
At this precarious moment in the pandemic - with cases comparatively low but poised to rise again - the reality is that people are experiencing many different pandemics depending on their job, health, socio-economic status, housing and access to medical care.

Now We're Getting Rid Of Masks On Planes - Just As COVID Is Spiking Again. (Mother Jones, April 18, 2022)
Gear up for another round of mass pandemic chaos. Not even a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended its masks mandate for public travel - a move that reflected rising COVID trends from the BA.2 subvariant - a federal judge in Florida has struck down the order, sending airlines and other public transportation hubs into confusion.
The CDC had previously extended the federal mask mandate to stay in effect until May 3 in order to monitor how the omicron subvariant BA.2 would transpire across the country. (Coincidentally, the requirement had been set to expire today.) The Northeast in particular has seen cases tick up significantly, with New York and New Jersey seeing average daily cases climb by an alarming 64% over the past week.

For mRNA, COVID Vaccines Are Just The Beginning. (Wired, April 18, 2022)
With clinical vaccine trials for everything from HIV to Zika, messenger RNA could transform medicine - or widen health-care inequalities.

Travel Mask Mandate Struck Down: What It Means In Massachusetts. (Patch, April 19, 2022)
Florida federal Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle - appointed to the federal bench by now-former President Donald Trump in November 2020 after he lost the presidential election - said in the 59-page decision striking down the travel-mask mandate that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both exceeded its legal authority and failed to go through proper channels to put the rule in place. Her ruling means face coverings to protect against COVID-19 are no longer required on planes, trains and, in most cases, subways and buses.
The MBTA held out and kept the rules in place for part of Tuesday, but is now expected to follow other agencies and drop them later today. The CDC said late Monday that its order requiring masks on public transportation "is no longer in effect" and the agency will not enforce it. The CDC said it "continues to recommend that people wear masks in indoor public-transportation settings at this time."
The suit was brought by the so-called Health Freedom Defense Fund, which apparently supports the freedom to continue the ravages of this COVID-19 pandemic by fighting mandatory COVID masks and vaccines in public places.
[Worried about an invasion of America? Too late; it's already occupied.]

Biden Administration To Appeal Ruling Striking Down Transit-Mask Mandate. (Washington Post,
April 20, 2022)
"If the courts handcuff the CDC in this most classic exercise of public health powers, it seems to me that CDC will not be able to act nimbly and decisively when the next health crisis hits. And it will hit," said Lawrence O. Gostin, a Georgetown University professor of global-health law who advises the White House and urged the administration to appeal. If the decision is allowed to stand, Gostin said, the CDC "will always be looking over its shoulder, always gun-shy about exercising its powers."
But the appeal could tee up a battle at the Supreme Court, which has already dealt several blows to the administration's coronavirus policies and could issue a new ruling that further constrained the CDC's attempts to fight future virus surges.

Evidence Of Zoonotic Spread: Superbug C. difficile Can Jump Between Pigs And Humans. (SciTechDaily, April 23, 2022)
C. difficile is a bacterium that infects the human gut and is resistant to all current antibiotics except three. Some strains possess genes that allow them to produce toxins that can cause damaging inflammation in the gut, leading to life-threatening diarrhea, mostly in the elderly and hospitalized patients who have been treated with antibiotics.
C. difficile is regarded as one of the most serious antibiotic resistance threats in the United States. It caused an estimated 223,900 infections and 12,800 deaths in 2017, at a healthcare cost of more than $1 billion. A hypervirulent strain of C. difficile (ribotype 078; RT078) that can cause more serious disease and its main sequence type 11 (ST11), is associated with a rising number of infections in the community in young and healthy individuals. Farm animals have recently been identified as RT078 reservoirs.

COVID-19 Third-Dose Vaccine Protection Against Hospitalization Wanes After 3 Months. (SciTechDaily, April 24, 2022)
A booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine provides strong protection, roughly 80% to 90%, in the first few months against hospital admissions and emergency department visits caused by the delta and omicron variants of COVID-19. However, this protection against omicron deteriorates over time – even after a third vaccine dose.
[Get that next booster shot!]

When The Next COVID Wave Breaks, The US Won't Be Able To Spot It. (Wired, April 27, 2022)
Lab programs are closing. Home testing has shrunk the pool of publicly reported data. Will we still see the next surge before it arrives?

More Than Half Of Americans Infected With The Coronavirus. (New York Times, April 27, 2022)
According to new research from the C.D.C., 60% of Americans - including 75% of children - had been infected with the coronavirus by February. Omicron seems be responsible for much of the toll. In December last year, as the highly-contagious variant began spreading, only half-as-many people had antibodies indicating prior infection.
The astonishing milestone was certainly not reached by design, and came at an immense human and economic cost. But the data may signal good news. A high level of population-wide immunity and resistance may offer at least a partial bulwark against future waves. The trend may also explain why the surge that is now roaring through China and many European countries has been muted in the U.S. A high percentage of previous infections may also mean that there are now fewer cases of life-threatening illness or death relative to infections.

MA Town-By-Town COVID-19: Hospitalization Rate Up 85% Since Last Month. (Patch, April 28, 2022)
The COVID-19 positive test rate for Massachusetts also rose above 5% for the first time in months.

Coronavirus Briefing: Lessons from a lesser variant (New York Times, May 4, 2022)
Some variants are really good at spreading, and others are maybe fine at spreading, but much better at evading antibodies and our immune system defenses. And at least for the first year or two years of the pandemic, transmissibility really won out.
That may already be changing. As vaccinations and multiple waves of infection have changed the immune landscape, a highly immune-evasive variant should now have more of an edge, scientists said, which is probably part of the reason Omicron has been so successful.
Looking back at previous variants is also providing insight into what worked — and didn't — in containing them.
Lesser variants are also revealing our blind spots. By analyzing the genomic sequences of Mu samples collected from all over the world, researchers have reconstructed the variant's spread and found that it circulated for months before it was detected.
It's a reminder that comprehensive, real-time surveillance is going to give us the best warning system for which variants pose a threat. Even countries that have had laudable tracking systems, like Britain, are starting to ease off and discontinue some aspect of their programs. There's a real concern that we're not doing enough.

Making Up 1-Million Deaths: Where COVID Killed (NBC News, May 6, 2022)
From nursing homes to prisons, measuring the pandemic's U.S. death toll.

Cognitive Impairment From Severe COVID-19 Is Equivalent To 20 Years Of Aging – Losing 10 IQ Points.
(SciTechDaily, May 8, 2022)
Survivors scored particularly poorly on tasks such as verbal analogical reasoning, a finding that supports the commonly-reported problem of difficulty finding words. They also showed slower processing speeds, which aligns with previous observations post COVID-19 of decreased brain glucose consumption within the frontoparietal network of the brain, responsible for attention, complex problem-solving and working memory, among other functions.

Scientists Warn U.S. Health Officials Against "New Normal" Strategies For COVID-19. (SciTechDaily, May 10, 2022)
The warning, published in a Journal of General Internal Medicine viewpoint, contends that discussions of a new normal fail to incorporate key lessons from the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the significant role of noncommunicable chronic diseases in exacerbating COVID-19 and the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 on under-served populations and communities of color.
Noncommunicable chronic diseases are those that are not spread from person to person and persist for at least one year, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. They are the leading cause of death worldwide and represent a global health threat that predates the COVID-19 pandemic - the noncommunicable disease crisis kills more than 15-million Americans prematurely each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Ticks Are Spreading In The US - And Taking New Diseases With Them. (Wired, May 10, 2022)
The vast majority of tick-borne disease goes unrecorded, meaning life-threatening pathogens are traveling under the radar to new locations.

Natick Seeks To Fight COVID Fatigue As Numbers Head In Wrong Direction. (Natick Report, May 11, 2022)
Natick Public Health Director Michael Boudreau ticked off a list of COVID-19 numbers at the Board of Health meeting on Wednesday that confirmed what many of us know personally or anecdotally: The virus is making yet another comeback.

NEW: Paxlovid Vs. Molnupiravir (Lagevrio) For COVID-19 (GoodRx, May 17, 2022)
Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) and molnupiravir (Lagevrio) are two oral antiviral treatments that are authorized to treat mild to moderate COVID-19. These COVID-19 pills are only recommended for people with a high risk of developing severe illness. Both Paxlovid and molnupiravir are taken by mouth twice daily for 5 days. They should both be started within 5 days of first feeling symptoms.
In late April 2022, some reports emerged of COVID-19 symptoms returning after a completed course of Paxlovid. More research is needed to understand why this happens and what raises the risk for it.

NEW: Donald G. McNeil Jr.: Let's Take Monkeypox Seriously. (Medium, May 23, 2022)
It's adapting to humans. We have a safe vaccine. Let's offer it voluntarily to those most at risk, like gay men, Africans in the modern diaspora and health workers, and head off the possibility that it becomes another AIDS.
As viruses get better at infecting humans, the infection routes they sniff out are unpredictable. For 50 years, we thought Ebola was transmitted only by blood, vomit and feces, and then in 2015 we discovered that it could be transmitted by sex. We thought Zika was transmitted only by mosquitoes, and then in 2016, we discovered that it too could be transmitted by sex. Conversely, 40 years ago, we initially feared AIDS might be spread by kissing or sharing forks and spoons, and we turned out to be wrong.
Going forward, we will undoubtedly sometimes be wrong about monkeypox, and we should be prepared to change our minds. (Let's not repeat the "Fauci lied about masks" nonsense. Fauci, like any good scientist, changed his advice as we learned more.)
[This article is informative and excellent!]

Michael Moore: Holy America (A Monkeypox On Us All!) (Michael Moore, May 24, 2022)
Riding through the tidal waves of emboldened Archbishops who are weaponizing & politicizing communion, a new viral outbreak (monkeypox WTF?!) threatening public health, and the corporate greed behind the real story of why there's no formula milk that is causing American babies to go hungry, plus Biden saying he'd send troops to Taiwan if China invaded when he knows no American parent will offer up their son or daughter to go and die for such a crazy idea, I have had it. And any day now, the Supreme Court is about to set off their time bomb against an entire gender.

Neuroscientists Discover Brain Mechanism Tied To Age-Related Memory Loss. (SciTechDaily, May 30, 2022)
As the brain ages, a region in the hippocampus becomes imbalanced, causing forgetfulness. Researchers say understanding this region of the brain and its function may be the key to preventing cognitive decline.

Study Shines Light On Immune Responses For Long-Lasting Protection From COVID-19. (SciTechDaily, May 30, 2022)
The team studied how immune responses behaved in previously infected individuals versus those who hadn't yet been infected. The antibody response in previously-infected individuals was relatively stable, and they were protected from re-infection unless the new infection was the Omicron variant. The researchers showed that previously infected individuals mounted very rapid immune responses even after a single vaccine dose. Vaccination boosts your protection and provides better immunity.

Concerning COVID-19 Symptoms, Blood-Oxygen Monitors Miss More Often With Patients Of Color. (The Verge, May 31, 2022)
Blood-oxygen monitors said that hospitalized Asian, Black, and Hispanic COVID-19 patients had higher blood-oxygen levels than they actually did, according to a new study. Oxygen levels are an important indicator of how serious someone's case of COVID-19 is, and what medications they're eligible for - and that over-estimation meant that it took longer for Black and Hispanic patients to get necessary treatment.

How American Influencers Built A World-Wide Web Of Vaccine Disinformation. (Mother Jones, June 2, 2022)
Last year, the anti-extremism group Center for Countering Digital Hate found that 65% of vaccine disinformation on Facebook and Twitter came from just 12 people, including the activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the natural-lifestyle influencer Dr. Joseph Mercola. The target audience, the media reports, is in bastions of American conservatism - in rural communities, among evangelical Christians, and among Trump voters.
Over the last year, global public-health experts have documented rising rates of vaccine hesitancy in other parts of the world, from Africa to South Asia, from Eastern Europe to South America. While some disinformation is locally sourced, these experts have traced many of the myths to American anti-vaccine activists who create an onslaught of social media content at virtually no cost.

MA Town-By-Town COVID-19: Case Rates Down In 84% Of Communities. (Patch, June 2, 2022)
Every key coronavirus metric in Massachusetts headed in the right direction for the first time since late March, state data showed.

Behind the high-tech COVID-19 tests you probably haven't heard about. (The Verge, June 3, 2022)
OTC molecular tests combine PCR accuracy with the convenience of rapid antigen tests.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: Should You Boost? Now? Then? When? (Medium, June 14, 2022)
Do You Feel Lucky? COVID remains active but less horrifying than many times in the past. With the one-two-three punch of summertime, vaccines, treatments, and shorter isolation periods, for some of us it's becoming more of an inconvenience and less of a life-altering drama.
This is not to minimize that some people still get really sick and miserable, but fewer are ending up in the hospital.
This is also not to say the inconvenience of a COVID diagnosis can't be really rough - this week alone I've heard of people who were unable to attend their own graduations, who had to cancel trips, who couldn't attend weddings, and who needed to drop out of speaking engagements - all because of an ill-timed illness. But overall in much of the Northeast and other parts of the country things are a little better. We're in better shape than two years ago, a year ago, a month ago.
Why are things better? It's all about the progress we've made in COVID science. It's because people who were once at high risk to end up in the hospital are now:
a) vaccinated, which decreases the chance of serious disease.
b) boosted, which decreases the chance of serious disease.
c) taking Paxlovid or bebtelovimab when they do get infected, which seems to decrease the chance of serious disease.
d) taking Evusheld ahead of getting ill if immunosuppressed, which decreases the chance of serious disease.
When you get these agents, you are safer and suffer less. However, even though people are moving back towards a normal life with conferences and weddings and travel — there's still a bunch of COVID out there and you still don't want to get COVID.
Why? Because it can be a misery, it's an inconvenience, there's still too much we don't know about long COVID and how COVID infection can affect organs in the long-term. And every now and then super-healthy people get really sick from this disease.
So, should you and your kids be getting boosted? The CDC says yes, everybody over 5 should have the "primary series" (two shots if mRNA) and then a booster (I like to call it a third shot). The THIRD shot should come FIVE months after the primary series. The CDC also says you should get a FOURTH shot (second booster) if you are over 50 or immuno-compromised. Immuno-compromised in this situation means people getting active treatment for cancer, transplant patients, HIV, bad immunodeficiency diseases, and actively taking high-dose steroids. That fourth shot (second booster) comes at least FOUR months after the last shot.
[There's plenty more, and it should be Must Reading.]

Evidence Of COVID-Related Original Antigenic Sin Has Finally Surfaced. (Medium, June 20, 2022)
Prior immunity - especially from natural infection - may backfire instead when it comes to Omicron.
In the late 1900s, scientists discovered that antibodies generated against a particular influenza virus strain were deployed again even when the person got infected with a different influenza virus strain.
Not only are such old antibodies ineffective, but they sometimes hinder the formation of newer, more effective antibodies. In essence, the immune system insists on doing what it has learned initially, despite that the same trick may not work twice. This phenomenon is called the original antigenic sin or immune imprinting.

A Plane Of Monkeys, A Pandemic, And A Botched Deal: Inside The Science Crisis You've Never Heard Of (Mother Jones, June 23, 2022)
Experts say there's a dire shortage of primates for biomedical research - and it's putting human lives at risk.

NEW: The Secrets of COVID "Brain Fog" Are Starting To Lift. (Wired, July 1, 2022)
Scientists are getting closer to understanding the neurology behind the memory problems and cognitive fuzziness that an infection can trigger.
For the past 20 years, Monje, a neuro-oncologist, had been trying to understand the neurobiology behind chemotherapy-induced cognitive symptoms - similarly known as "chemo fog." When COVID-19 emerged as a major immune-activating virus, she worried about the potential for similar disruption. "Very quickly, as reports of cognitive impairment started to come out, it was clear that it was a very similar syndrome," she says. "The same symptoms of impaired attention, memory, speed of information processing, dis-executive function—it really clinically looks just like the 'chemo fog' that people experienced and that we'd been studying."

MA Town-By-Town COVID: Positivity Rate At Highest Since Late January. (Patch, July 7, 2022)
The COVID-19 hospitalization rate in Massachusetts also rose, but deaths and weekly case counts were down, according to state data.

The Worst Virus Variant Just Arrived. The Pandemic Is Not Over. (Washington Post, July 7, 2022)
COVID-19 > Omicron > BA.5. Whether BA.5 will lead to more severe disease isn't clear yet. But knowing that the virus is spreading should reinforce the need for the familiar mitigation measures: high-quality face masks, better air filtration and ventilation, and avoiding exposure in crowded indoor spaces.

As The BA.5 Variant Spreads, The Risk Of Coronavirus Reinfection Grows. (Washington Post, July 10, 2022)
America has decided the pandemic is over. The coronavirus has other ideas. The latest omicron offshoot, BA.5, has quickly become dominant in the United States, and thanks to its elusiveness when encountering the human immune system, is driving a wave of cases across the country.
The size of that wave is unclear because most people are testing at home or not testing at all. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the past week has reported a little more than 100,000 new cases a day on average. But infectious-disease experts know that wildly underestimates the true number, which may be as many as a million.

COVID Hospitalizations Have Doubled Since May As Omicron BA.5 Sweeps U.S., But Deaths Remain Low. (CNBC, July 12, 2022)
The omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants now make up 80% of COVID infections across the U.S., with BA.5 emerging as the dominant version of the virus. Fauci said BA.5 is more transmissible than past variants and it substantially evades the protective antibodies triggered by vaccines, but the shots are still generally protecting against severe disease. In other words, people who are fully vaccinated might get infected and have mild to moderate symptoms, but they are unlikely to be hospitalized and even more unlikely to die from COVID.

The BA.5 Wave Is What COVID Normal Looks Like. (The Atlantic, July 14, 2022)
The endless churn of variants may not stop anytime soon, unless we do something about it.

The COVID-19 Reinfection Loop, And What It Means For Americans' Health (US News, July 14, 2022)
The continued emergence of new coronavirus variants means that protection from COVID-19 is fleeting, and herd immunity is likely unattainable.

The Pandemic Fueled A Superbug Surge. Can Medicine Recover? (Wired, July 14, 2022)
As COVID swept ICUs, doctors prescribed antibiotics to ward off secondary infections. Now bacteria have evolved resistance—but hospitals are fighting back.

Experts Know Very Little About COVID Reinfection, Including Long-Term Health Effects. (Self, July 20, 2022)
Here's what to know about your risk, as cases continue to rise.

NEW: How Accurate Are At-Home COVID Tests With BA.5? Chicago's Top Doc Explains. (2-min. video; NBC TV Chicago, July 22, 2022)

NEW: Natick's COVID-19 Positivity Rate Rises To 8.95%. (Natick Patch, July 22, 2022)
This week, Natick reported a two-week case count of 124. The total positive test number reported was 130.

Monkeypox Is Truly An Emergency. The WHO Was Right To Raise The Highest Alarm. (The Guardian, July 25, 2022)
Supporting the people most at-risk of this awful disease is the only way to reduce its impact and stop its spread.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: President Biden's COVID (Medium, July 27, 2022)
Ten advances in COVID science that kept him okay.

NEW: Study Finds Molnupiravir Well-tolerated, And Effective In Vaccinated And Unvaccinated. (News Medical, July 27, 2022)
Molnupiravir has been shown to effectively reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in treated patients. Furthermore, this treatment has been associated with a higher severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) negativity rate following five, ten, and fourteen days of treatment.
Nevertheless, in vivo, long-term safety studies of molnupiravir have not been conducted. Additionally, the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants has caused a loss of efficacy for several monoclonal antibodies; therefore, monitoring the efficacy of directly-acting antivirals against new variants is needed.
A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* reports the phase-II efficacy and safety of molnupiravir in both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals in the United Kingdom.

NEW: He Discovered The Origin Of The Monkeypox Outbreak - And Tried To Warn The World. (NPR, July 29, 2022)
Five years ago Dr. Dimie Ogoina, an infectious-disease specialist at the Niger Delta University in Nigeria, saw perhaps the most-important patient of his career – a patient whose infection would eventually be linked to the largest monkeypox outbreak in history.

In Race For Monkeypox Vaccines, Experts See Repeat Of COVID. (many related items; NBC TV Chicago, July 30, 2022)
Public health officials warn that moves by rich countries to buy large quantities of monkeypox vaccine could leave millions of people in Africa unprotected against a more dangerous version of the disease...
Moves by rich countries to buy large quantities of monkeypox vaccine, while declining to share doses with Africa, could leave millions of people unprotected against a more dangerous version of the disease and risk continued spillovers of the virus into humans. Critics fear a repeat of the catastrophic inequity problems seen during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sewage Sludge Contaminated With Toxic-Forever Chemicals Spread On Thousands Of Acres Of Chicago-Area Farmland. (Chicago Tribune, July 31, 2022)
Long-term exposure to tiny concentrations of certain PFAS can trigger testicular and kidney cancer, birth defects, liver damage, impaired fertility, immune system disorders, high cholesterol and obesity, studies have found. Links to breast cancer and other diseases are suspected.
Yet forever chemicals remain largely unregulated. In Illinois and most other states, there is no requirement to test sludge for PFAS before it is spread as fertilizer. Nor are there limits on concentrations of the chemicals in sludge or soil.
Operators of most of the nation's sewage treatment plants aren't even required to warn farmers about the risks. Everybody wants to pretend it's not happening.

Flood Maps Show U.S. Vastly Underestimates Contamination Risk At Old Industrial Sites. (The Conversation, August 1, 2022)
Climate science is clear: Floodwaters are a growing risk for many American cities, threatening to displace not only people and housing but also the land-based pollution left behind by earlier industrial activities.
In 2019, researchers at the U.S. Government Accountability Office investigated climate-related risks at the 1,571 most polluted properties in the country, also known as Superfund sites on the federal National Priorities List. They found an alarming 60% were in locations at risk of climate-related events, including wildfires and flooding.
As troubling as those numbers sound, our research shows that that's just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

NEW: Life-Hacks From India On How To Stay Cool (Without An Air Conditioner) (NPR, August 2, 2022)
People in India and in other countries across the Global South have long figured out ways to deal with the horrible heat. And so, I'd like to share a few tips on how to stay cool that I've learned from my upbringing and elders in Uttar Pradesh. Some of the advice is just what you'd think – like drinking lots of liquids and staying out of the sun – but others might surprise you.
[This one is important during these heat waves! Share.]

First Map Of Immune-System Connections Reveals New Therapeutic Opportunities. (ETH Zurich, August 3, 2022)
Researchers of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and ETH Zurich have created the first full-connectivity map of the human immune system, showing how immune cells communicate with each other and ways to modulate these pathways in disease.
[Excellent! Now, how long to wait?]

NEW: What Is Monkeypox? Neil deGrasse Tyson And Epidemiologist Anne Rimoin Explain. (27-min. video; August 5, 2022)
Is this going to end up like COVID-19? Learn about the field of epidemiology, how monkeypox spreads, and where monkeypox comes from. Does it really come from monkeys? We take a deep dive into the history of monkeypox and zoonotic diseases. How long has it been around? How contagious is it? How does it transmit? How prevalent is it? Find out how to keep yourself and others safe from the disease.

NEW: How Many Animal Species Have Caught COVID? First Global Tracker Has (Partial) Answers. (Interactive chart; PBS, August 5, 2022)
Mink get it. Hamsters get it. Cats and dogs get it. They're a few of the many animal species to have contracted COVID-19. This interactive visualization lets users explore which animals have gotten COVID, how many cases were reported for each species and the source of the data. It also covers what happened to the animals, ranging from mild symptoms like a runny nose to more severe symptoms like myocarditis or even sudden death.

It's Hot! (Why no link? We copy and share this e-mail message from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, August 8, 2022)
We're sure you've noticed these last few weeks have made for an especially uncomfortable summer in NYC, the rest of the country, and all over the world. Make no mistake, skyrocketing global temperatures are a result of the climate crisis, and we can expect these extreme-weather conditions to worsen.
So, here at Team AOC, we want to make sure you know how to stay safe this summer from heat stroke and other health effects of heat:
1. Get creative with hydration.
It doesn't just have to be water! Juices and electrolyte-infused drinks will help replace some of the energy lost in your sweat. You can even add DIY electrolytes to your beverages at home with this recipe from 350.org:
Mix together:
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp raw honey
- 1/8 tsp of sea salt
- 2 cups of cold water
2. If you don't have A/C, cover your windows with curtains or sheets – better yet, damp sheets.
The curtains will block the sun's rays from further heating up your home, and the moisture in the fabric will cool down whatever air is flowing in from outside. This is an important tip from heat wave researcher Gulrez Shah Azhar - who grew up in Uttar Pradesh, India without A/C - in an article for NPR (read more here).
3. Mist yourself with cool water, or place a wet towel around the back of your neck.
Azhar also attests to how important it is to lower the temperature of your skin with moisture and breezes whenever possible. Soaking your feet in cool water will help lower that temp too!
4. Check on your neighbors.
Are the elders and unhoused in your neighborhood struggling to keep themselves cool? Post these tips in your lobby and knock on your neighbors' doors to check in. Offer water and damp towels to the unhoused. Communities keep each other safe!
5. Keep the larger climate fight in mind.
If corporations and establishment politicians are going to continue to prioritize profit over protecting vulnerable communities, it's up to us to educate and protect our neighbors from the dangers of extreme heat - which we know disproportionately affects lower-income communities and marginalized people. It's no secret as to why portions of The Bronx have the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country. As temperatures climb and air quality suffers, we have to stick together to fight these devastating health outcomes. The climate crisis may be global, but Alexandria firmly believes that coordinated action at a local level is the best community protection money can't buy.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: A 2022 COVID Kit (Medium, August 10, 2022)
Given that everybody is traveling and coming back from camp and every day there's less masking and Omicron's BA.5 variant is the most contagious one yet, I think it's safe to assume you or somebody in your friends and family group has COVID, is going to get COVID, and/or is about to get COVID very soon. Here is what to do if you get COVID, and what to have in your COVID Kit.

New Virus Found In China Is Another Hard-To-Predict Threat. (2-min. video; CNN, August 17, 2022)
Just when you thought that 2022 already had provided a century's worth of scary infectious diseases, from COVID-19 to monkeypox to polio, last week's headlines warned of yet another. In eastern China, the Langya virus may have jumped from the white-toothed shrew to humans. It has sickened dozens of people, but has caused no reported deaths.
Whatever is happening, the moment has created a scramble to find someone who can predict the future, no experience necessary. This search for a crystal ball specialist goes back millennia: The Oracle of Delphi dominates stories from ancient Greece, while astrologers and clairvoyants have filled a similar role for centuries.

Is Oxygen the Answer to Long COVID? (Wired, August 17, 2022)
Treatment options for lasting COVID symptoms are limited, but initial studies suggest hyperbaric oxygen could help.

Oregon Identifies First Pediatric Case Of Monkeypox, As Outbreak Spreads. (Oregon Capital Chronicle, August 17, 2022)
With the next school year starting, the biggest risk remains COVID, not monkeypox which usually requires skin-to-skin contact. It can take up to four weeks for monkeypox to end. Patients are infectious until the scabs fall off. The outbreak is growing, with more than 116 cases in Oregon. Nearly one-third of the cases are Hispanics.
Nationwide, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are nearly 12,700 cases in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. They are among more than 38,000 cases in 93 countries.

The Preventable Tragedy of Polio in New York (New Yorker, August 22, 2022)
Polio is one of the few diseases that can be eradicated - but faltering vaccination rates could undo years of hard-won global progress.

Polio Is Back in the US and UK. Here's How That Happened. (Wired, August 24, 2022)
For every person paralyzed, hundreds or thousands could be infected. It's a setback for the long-overdue plan to eradicate the virus from the world.

Virus Briefing (The New York Times, August 24, 2022)
Something perplexing is going on with the U.S. monkeypox outbreak. If you look at the national case numbers, it looks as if the outbreak in the country may have plateaued in the worst-afflicted states. The only problem is, we don't yet know why this is happening. If cases are stabilizing because the vaccine is having a real effect, it bodes well for our ability to contain the outbreak. But while we wait for data on how well the Jynneos vaccine is working, the rollout continues to experience hiccups.
The Biden administration plans to offer the next generation of coronavirus booster shots to Americans 12 and older soon after Labor Day, and ahead of an expected surge this winter. The F.D.A. is close to authorizing updated doses that would target the Omicron versions of the virus. The shots we currently have were formulated to disrupt the virus that was circulating in 2020. Federal health officials are eager to offer the updated boosters as quickly as possible, pointing to a death toll that now averages about 450 Americans per day and could rise in the coming months as people spend more time indoors.
An outbreak of tomato flu, a viral infection that was first detected in India, is spreading there, The Guardian reports.

Report: New Data Shows Long COVID Is Keeping As Many As 4-Million People Out Of Work. (Brookings Institution, August 24, 2022)
In January 2022, Brookings Metro published a report that assessed the impact of Long COVID on the labor market. Data on the condition's prevalence was limited, so the report used various studies to make a conservative estimate: 1.6-million full-time-equivalent workers could be out of work due to Long COVID. With 10.6-million unfilled jobs at the time, Long COVID potentially accounted for 15% of the labor shortage.
This June, the Census Bureau finally added four questions about Long COVID to its Household Pulse Survey (HPS), giving researchers a better understanding of the condition's prevalence.
This report uses the new data to assess the labor market impact and economic burden of Long COVID, and finds that around 16-million working-age Americans (those aged 18 to 65) have Long COVID today. Of those, 2- to 4-million are out of work due to Long COVID. The annual cost of those lost wages alone is around $170-billion a year (and potentially as high as $230-billion).
These impacts stand to worsen over time if the U.S. does not take the necessary policy actions. With that in mind, the final section of this report identifies five critical interventions to mitigate both the economic costs and household financial impact of Long COVID.

Americans Who Have Had COVID More Than Once: You Are In For a Miserable Fate. (Medium, August 26, 2022)
Social media is full of examples of people catching COVID, now going into second, third, and fourth infections. How is this ok? Why is this ok? How is this happening? Common sense has to come into play at some point. Right? Here is the thinking pattern of the average American who doesn't care about COVID, Monkey Pox or any pandemics coming down the road.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccines for Use as a Booster Dose. (US FDA, August 31, 2022)
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to authorize bivalent formulations of the vaccines for use as a single booster dose at least two months following primary or booster vaccination. The bivalent vaccines, which we will also refer to as "updated boosters," contain two messenger RNA (mRNA) components of SARS-CoV-2 virus, one of the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the other one in common between the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older.

For Some Patients, Long COVID Symptoms Mask Something Else. (Wired, August 31, 2022)
Long COVID is common - estimates of its prevalence vary widely, but even the most conservative studies imply that millions of people are dealing with long-lasting symptoms of their infections.
But issues like fever, shortness of breath, and fatigue can also be signs of other illnesses. With dozens of possible symptoms, Long COVID can be easily confused with countless other conditions, including cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, autoimmune diseases like lupus and multiple sclerosis, and cancer. Add the fact that COVID can make pre-existing conditions worse, and determining whether or not someone has Long COVID becomes a daunting task.
Symptoms that group together can help point doctors toward what that something else might be. Most of the Long COVID patients Brode sees who exhibit fatigue and the sluggish thinking known as "brain fog", are also dealing with post-exertional malaise - extreme exhaustion after physical, mental, or emotional effort. So when a man came into his clinic with the first two symptoms but not the third, Brode suspected that something else might be going on. He eventually discovered that the patient was dealing with a large, benign brain tumor.
Most US states have only a few Long COVID clinics; some have none at all. Some patients don't have a primary care doctor; as a result, Long COVID clinicians have had to take on the role of filling gaps in the nation's medical system. These clinics, however, were not designed to carry the full weight of chronic illness care in a broken health care system.

Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions (CDC, September 1, 2022)
Some people who have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 can experience long-term effects from their infection, known as post-COVID conditions (PCC) or Long COVID. People call post-COVID conditions by many names, including: Long COVID, long-haul COVID, post-acute COVID-19, post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2 infection (PASC), long-term effects of COVID, and chronic COVID.
- Post-COVID conditions can include a wide range of ongoing health problems; these conditions can last weeks, months, or years.
- Post-COVID conditions are found more often in people who had severe COVID-19 illness, but anyone who has been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 can experience post-COVID conditions, even people who had mild illness or no symptoms from COVID-19.
- People who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 and become infected may also be at higher risk of developing post-COVID conditions compared to people who were vaccinated and had breakthrough infections.
- While most people with post-COVID conditions have evidence of infection or COVID-19 illness, in some cases, a person with post-COVID conditions may not have tested positive for the virus or known they were infected.
- CDC and partners are working to understand more about who experiences post-COVID conditions and why, including whether groups disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 are at higher risk.
- As of July 2021, "Long COVID", also known as post-COVID conditions, can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Learn more: Guidance on "Long COVID" as a Disability Under the ADA, Section 504, and Section 1557.

COVID, Monkeypox, Polio: Summer of viruses reflects travel, warming trends. (Washington Post, September 1, 2022)
"We are the invaders of the viral world, not vice versa", a virologist says.

Powerful New Antibody Neutralizes All Known COVID Variants. (Boston Children's Hospital, September 5, 2022)
Therapeutic antibodies that were effective early in the pandemic have lost their efficacy as SARS-CoV-2 has changed and mutated, and more recent variants, particularly Omicron, have learned how to circumvent the antibodies our systems produce in response to vaccinations. We may be able to better guard against possible variations thanks to a new, widely-neutralizing antibody created at Boston Children's Hospital. In tests, it neutralized all known SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including all Omicron variants.
The BCH researchers utilized a modified version of a humanized-mouse model that they had previously used to look for broadly-neutralizing antibodies to HIV, another virus that often mutates. Since the mice effectively have built-in human immune systems, the model closely resembles the trial-and-error process that our immune system uses to create increasingly-effective antibodies.
The researchers initially introduced two human gene segments into the mice, causing their B cells to create a wide repertoire of humanized antibodies in a short period of time. They subsequently exposed the mice to the original Wuhan-Hu-1 strain of the virus's SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is the main protein targeted by our antibodies and current vaccines.
The modified mice developed nine lineages, or "families," of humanized antibodies that bonded to the spike in response. Antibodies from three of the nine lineages were effective in neutralizing the original Wuhan-Hu-1 virus. The SP1-77 antibody and other members of its lineage, in particular, demonstrated extremely wide activity, neutralizing Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and all prior and current Omicron strains. Structural studies showed that SP1-77 works differently from current antibodies (either therapeutic antibodies or those we make in response to current vaccines).
Many of the existing antibodies work by attaching to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike in certain regions, preventing SARS-CoV-2 from binding to our cells' ACE2 receptors, which is the initial step in infection. The SP1-77 antibody binds to the RBD as well, but in a completely different manner that does not prevent the virus from binding to ACE2 receptors. SP1-77 prevents the virus from fusing its outer membrane with the membrane of the target cell. This thwarts the final necessary step that throws the door open to infection.
"We hope that this humanized antibody will prove to be as effective at neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 in patients, as it has proven to be thus far in pre-clinical evaluations."
[Let's hope this generates an effective COVID defense, and quickly. Because face masks, you know, are so very hard to use. See "Summer of Viruses" (September 1st, above).]

"Unlimited Possibilities" – New Law Of Physics Could Predict Genetic Mutations. (University of Portsmouth, September 6, 2022)
The study discovers that the second law of information dynamics, or "infodynamics," behaves differently from the second law of thermodynamics. This finding might have major implications for how genomic research, evolutionary biology, computing, big data, physics, and cosmology develop in the future.
"If the second law of thermodynamics states that entropy needs to stay constant or increase over time, I thought that perhaps information entropy would be the same. But what we found was the exact opposite – it decreases over time. The second law of information dynamics works exactly in opposition to the second law of thermodynamics."
The group analyzed COVID-19 (Sars-CoV-2) genomes and discovered that their information entropy reduced with time: "The best example of something that undergoes a number of mutations in a short space of time is a virus. The pandemic has given us the ideal test sample, as Sars-CoV-2 mutated into so many variants and generated so much data. The COVID data confirms the second law of infodynamics, and the research opens up unlimited possibilities. Imagine looking at a particular genome and judging whether a mutation is beneficial before it happens. This could be game-changing technology which could be used in genetic therapies, the pharmaceutical industry, evolutionary biology, and pandemic research."

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: The New "Omicron Vaccine" (Medium, September 6, 2022)
The new vaccine that the CDC is recommending for everyone over 12.
[She's good. Details inside. Do it!]

New York To Ramp Up Polio Vaccinations After Virus Found In Wastewater. (Reuters, September 9, 2022)
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a disaster emergency on Friday, in a bid to accelerate efforts to vaccinate residents against polio after the virus was detected in wastewater samples taken in four counties. Hochul's executive order followed the discovery of the virus last month in samples from Long Island's Nassau County, bordering the New York City borough of Queens. Earlier this year the virus was found in samples from Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties, all north of the city.

Weekly Virus Briefing (New York Times, September 14, 2022)
[It ends with links for Coronavirus, Monkeypox, and Polio news.]

CDC Warns About Enterovirus In Kids - And The Risk Of Rare Paralysis That Can Follow. (3-min. video; CBS News, September 12, 2022)
After virtually disappearing for several years amid measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now urging doctors to be vigilant for a renewed wave of enterovirus D68 (or EV-D68) - a viral infection in children that can cause a rare kind of paralysis. In July and August, the CDC says hospitals detected an increase in infections caused by enterovirus D68. The number is now the biggest seen since 2018, when the agency tracked the last wave of summer and fall infections caused by the virus.
Many children are infected by enterovirus D68 early in their life and will face only a range of mild cold-like symptoms at worst, like runny nose and cough. One study in Missouri from 2012 and 2013 found antibodies from a prior infection in every child they tested. But some kids, especially those with underlying conditions like asthma, are at higher risk of severe symptoms that can cause breathing issues and require hospitalization. A small fraction of infected kids also develop a rare complication known as acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), which can result in muscle weakness and paralysis similar to, but likely rarer than, the paralysis caused by polio.

Commonly-Used Agricultural Herbicide Can Cross the Blood-Brain Barrier. (SciTechDaily, September 15, 2022)
Neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's are among the most puzzling in medical research. The underlying causes of these conditions might be anything from dietary influences and lifestyle decisions, to genetic factors and general cardiovascular health.
Various environmental pollutants have also been linked to the development or progression of neurological illness. Among them is glyphosate, a broad-spectrum herbicide.
Glyphosate is a widely-used herbicide that is used on agricultural crops all over the globe.

Alzheimer's Disease Risk 50–80% Higher in Older Adults Who Caught COVID-19. (SciTechDaily, September 15, 2022)
Older people who had a COVID-19 infection show a considerably higher risk - as much as 50% to 80% higher than a control group - of developing Alzheimer's disease within a year. This is according to a new research study of more than 6-million patients aged 65 and older. People 65 and older who contracted COVID-19 were substantially more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease in the year following their COVID diagnosis. The highest risk was observed in women at least 85 years old.

Dangerously-Wrong Oxygen Readings In Dark-Skinned Patients Spur FDA Scrutiny. (Ars Technica, September 15, 2022)
The meeting follows years of mounting data on inaccuracies and potential harms.

Stick To Masks: Face Shields Don't Provide High-Level COVID Protection! (SciTechDaily, September 16, 2022)
The peer-reviewed study found that face shields did not give high levels of protection against external droplets.

WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard (World Health Organization, September 19, 2022)
Globally, as of 5:42pm CEST, 19 September 2022, there have been 609,247,113 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,503,894 deaths, reported to WHO.

Biden Says, "The Pandemic Is Over." Some Local Docs Disagree. (Boston Globe, September 19, 2022)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicates the U.S. is on pace for more than 10,000 COVID-related deaths this month.
"The biggest and most important thing that folks can do today is to make sure they are vaccinated and, if eligible, boosted - particularly for folks that are aged 50-plus", Ranney said. She also advised wearing masks in public during surges, and advocating for investments in ventilation, testing, and treatment.
Levy said people should be "sensible" when it comes to wearing masks, testing, and avoiding indoor crowds. "Just because people are wanting to move on past COVID, doesn't mean that it is no longer present and in our lives", he said.

Potent New Boosters Are Here. Will Weary Americans Bother? (New York Times, September 19, 2022)
The new vaccine campaign is one of the country's last remaining strategies, as masks have fallen away and quarantines have diminished.

What Long COVID Is Like For These 14 People (Teen Vogue, September 20, 2022)
The COVID-19 pandemic has been filled with unexpected and difficult health challenges, many of which researchers are beginning to understand better. But among the challenges that still remain is Long COVID - a complex and often-taxing illness that scientists can't yet fully explain.

How Clean Is The Air On Planes? (Condé Nast Traveler, September 20, 2022)
Apprehension about aircraft cabin air is common during flu season. Here's what to know.
[This story was originally published in July 2017. It has been updated with new information.]

Why Omicron Might Stick Around (The New York Times, September 22, 2022)
Omicron, the 13th-named variant of the coronavirus, seems to have a remarkable capacity to evolve new tricks.

When Will the Pandemic Truly Be "Over"? (Wired, September 28, 2022)
It was a political stumble that turned into a policy two-step. In a 60 Minutes interview, US President Joe Biden declared the COVID pandemic over. Within 12 hours, public health officials, including in his own administration, weighed in to say "No, it's not." And within 12 hours after that, the White House - somewhat - walked his comments back.
Chalk it up to exuberance - the updated boosters were just rolling out - or to pandemic fatigue. But look past the immediate messaging failure, and the episode poses an important question: If the pandemic isn't over yet, how will we know when it is?
Everyone wants to be done with COVID. But no single milestone will signal the end of the virus.

MCAS Scores Dip Shows COVID-19 Learning Recovery May Take Years. (Patch, September 29, 2022)
Education Secretary James Peyser said more learning time is needed after English scores drop statewide. See how your school district scored.

How A Chinese Doctor Who Warned Of COVID-19 Spent His Final Days. (DNYUZ, October 6, 2022)
In early 2020, in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Dr. Li Wenliang lay in a hospital bed with a debilitating fever. He was no ordinary patient, and even then - before COVID had its name - he feared that this was no ordinary ailment. Dr. Li was widely regarded in China as a heroic truth-teller. He had been punished by the authorities for trying to warn others about the virus, and then, in a terrible turn, had become severely sickened by it.
Weeks later, he would become China's most-famous fatality of the emerging pandemic. He was 34. His death set off an outpouring of grief and anger on a scale and intensity rarely seen in China. More than two years later, Dr. Li remains a galvanizing figure, a symbol of frustration with the government's suppression of independent voices.

An Unlikely Source Provides New Hope For Heart-Disease Patients. (SciTechDaily, October 8, 2022)
Half of all cases of sudden cardiac arrest in athletes occurring during physical activity are thought to be caused by ARVC. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen provide new insights into a process involved in the development of the disease - and also present a viable treatment method.
The previously-unknown disease mechanism is a defect in the nucleus, deep within the heart cells that are responsible for heart muscle-contraction. The defect sets off a chain reaction that leads to cell death.
Based on the new insights, the researchers found that by activating a specific molecule, sirtuin-3, they could slow down disease development. They, therefore, started a hunt for a molecule with that function. And with honokiol, they found it. Honokiol is a natural product extracted from the bark and leaves of the tulip tree - and has been used as a pain killer in traditional medicine in some parts of Asia.
When they tested honokiol on their mouse model, it really did slow down the development of the disease. The same happened in their stem-cell-derived heart cells. They have begun to determine whether the new disease mechanism is present in all ARVC patients.

Pfizer-BioNTech Releases First Human Results On Updated COVID-19 Booster, Citing An Increase In Antibodies. (NBC News, October 13, 2022)
In the six weeks since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized updated omicron boosters, it's been unclear how much more protection the new version of the shot provides against infection.
On Thursday, Pfizer and BioNTech provided an early glimpse at the findings from their ongoing study in humans, saying in a press release that the updated booster generated a strong immune response against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. Experts were critical of the companies' announcement, however, pointing to a lack of data in their press release.

Vaccines To Treat Cancer Possible By 2030, Say BioNTech Founders. (The Guardian, October 16, 2022)
Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, who co-founded BioNTech, the German firm that partnered with Pfizer to manufacture a revolutionary mRNA COVID vaccine, said they had made breakthroughs that fueled their optimism for cancer vaccines in the coming years.

NEW SERIES: Living With Long COVID (The Guardian, October 17, 2022)
Millions of lives are impacted by Long COVID. The Guardian takes a closer look at the illness, and those who live with it.

Dr. Anthony Fauci: Long COVID Is An "Insidious" Public-Health Emergency. (The Guardian, October 17, 2022)
America's top disease expert speaks to The Guardian about the dangers of Long COVID, and urges US Congress to avoid complacency.

WHO Chief Urges Immediate Action To Tackle "Devastating" Long COVID. (The Guardian, October 17, 2022)
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calls for "sustained" efforts to help people still experiencing "prolonged suffering".

DeSantis Is Slamming COVID Vaccines. Here's Why. (Mother Jones, October 20, 2022)
It's a little bit of a dance between him and Trump right now.

"Tripledemic" Warning, As Respiratory-Illness Cases Rise In MA (Patch, October 26, 2022)
Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, a fairly common illness that can cause breathing difficulties in young children, is surging early across the country, and infectious disease experts worry that local hospitals may be unable to keep pace. Health officials are warning of a possible "tripledemic" if the RSV peak coincides with seasonal peaks in influenza and COVID-19. The three illnesses have similar symptoms.
There are no inoculations against RSV, as there are for both the flu and COVID-19, but a couple of pharmaceutical companies are working to develop vaccines.
RSV cases fell dramatically two years ago when schools, day-cares and businesses shut down to control the spread of COVID-19. Doctors saw an alarming increase - in what is normally a Fall and Winter virus - when coronavirus restrictions were eased in the summer of 2021.

COVID-19 Surges Linked To Spike In Heart-Attack Deaths – "Like Nothing Seen Before". (SciTechDaily, October 27, 2022)
Researchers at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai conducted a new data analysis and found that deaths from heart attacks rose significantly during pandemic surges, including the COVID-19 Omicron surges, overall reversing a heart-healthier pre-pandemic trend. The heart attack increase has been most prominent in young adults, especially those ages 25-44.

Thawing Permafrost Exposes Old Pathogens - And New Hosts. (Wired, October 27, 2022)
The Arctic - that remote, largely undisturbed, 5.5-million square miles of frozen terrain - is heating up fast. In fact, it's warming nearly four times quicker than the rest of the world, with disastrous consequences for the region and its inhabitants. Many of these impacts you probably know from nature documentaries: ice caps melting, sea levels rising, and polar bears losing their homes. But there is another knock-on effect to worry about: the warming landscape is rewiring viral dynamics, with the potential to unearth frozen viruses and transport them elsewhere.

"A Silent Killer" – COVID-19 Shown To Trigger Inflammation In The Brain Without Outward Symptoms For Years. (University of Queensland November 8, 2022)
Research led by the University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia has found COVID-19 activates the same inflammatory response in the brain as Parkinson's disease. The discovery not only identified a potential future risk for neurodegenerative conditions in people who have had COVID-19, but aalso suggested a possible treatment.

Virus Briefing: How To Approach The Holidays (The New York Times, November 9, 2022)
There was a brief moment this fall, when COVID-19 cases were low and we hadn't yet heard the word "tripledemic," that I thought we might have something close to a normal holiday season, for the first time in years. But the last few weeks have changed the picture. A soup of Omicron variants is swirling across the U.S., and we don't yet know how much these variants will spread this winter. Meanwhile, a surge in flu and R.S.V. cases is already stretching hospitals thin, and we still have months of cold weather ahead. Make a plan!

Growing Anger In China Over "Zero-COVID" Policy (2-min. video; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 16, 2022)
Images shared on social media showing residents in China's Canton tearing down barriers and clashing with COVID prevention enforcement officers have highlighted growing discontent in the country over Beijing's tough "zero-COVID" policy and repeated lockdowns.

RSV, COVID And Flu Push Hospitals To The Brink - And It May Get Worse. (Washington Post, November 20, 2022)
More than half-a-million people in the health-care and social- services sectors quit their positions in September - evidence, in part, of burnout associated with the coronavirus pandemic - and the American Medical Association says 1 in 5 doctors plan on leaving the field within two years.
The shortages have hit the health-care system like a tsunami, according to Thomas Balcezak, chief medical officer at Yale New Haven Health Hospital. He said physicians, nurses and support staff have experienced a shift in how the public treats them compared with 2020.

Significant Post-COVID Brain Abnormalities Revealed By Special MRI. (SciTechDaily, November 21, 2022)
As more people become infected and recover from COVID-19, research has begun to emerge, focusing on the lasting consequences of the disease. These are known as post-COVID conditions, Long COVID, long-haul COVID, post-acute COVID-19, post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2 infection (PASC), long-term effects of COVID, and chronic COVID.
Scientists uncovered brain changes in patients up to six months after they recovered from COVID-19 by using a special type of MRI. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately one in five adults will develop long-term effects from COVID-19. Difficulty thinking or concentrating, sleep problems, headache, lightheadedness, change in smell or taste, pins-and-needles sensation, and depression or anxiety are all neurological symptoms associated with Long COVID. However, research studies have found that COVID-19 may be associated with changes to the heart, lungs, or other organs even in asymptomatic patients.

After Decades Of Public Service, Dr. Fauci Gives His Final White House Briefing. (Mother Jones, November 22, 2022)
After nearly forty years as the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday made what is likely his final appearance in the White House briefing room before he steps down from his positions as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical officer to President Joe Biden.
His departing message to the public: Get vaccinated before the holidays. "My final message, maybe the final message I give you from this podium, is, please, for your own safety and the safety of your own family, please get your updated COVID-19 shot as soon as you're eligible", Fauci told reporters. The remarks come as families around the country prepare to gather for the holidays amid rising cases of various respiratory illnesses, including COVID. Last month saw a record number of hospitalizations for the flu. As my colleague Kiera Butler recently reported, hospitalizations for RSV in children have also skyrocketed.

MIT Finds Indoor-Humidity "Sweet Spot" To Reduce Spread of COVID-19. (SciTechDaily, November 26, 2022)
We know proper indoor ventilation is key to reducing the spread of COVID-19. Now, a study by MIT researchers links very dry and very humid indoor environments with worse COVID-19 outcomes. Their study suggests a strong connection between regional outbreaks and indoor relative humidity. The MIT team reports that maintaining an indoor relative humidity between 40% and 60% is associated with relatively lower rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths, while indoor conditions outside this range are associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes. To put this into perspective, most people are comfortable between 30% and 50% relative humidity, and an airplane cabin is at around 20% relative humidity.
[I shared this easy and apparently-significant protection from COVID with our Town Health Dept., Senior Center and Library - and you may want to share it, too.]

The Era of One-Shot, Multimillion-Dollar Genetic Cures Is Here. (Wired, December 5, 2022)
Gene therapies promise long-term relief from intractable diseases - if insurers agree to pony up.

COVID Will Become Endemic. The World Must Decide What That Means. (Wired, December 5, 2022)
The task of 2022 will be figuring out how much action we're willing to take, and how much disease and death we'll tolerate.

Everyone Is Sick Right Now. (Wired, December 7, 2022)
For the past two years, social distancing kept seasonal viruses at bay. Now they're roaring back.

Robin Schoenthaler, MD: How To Protect Yourself From December's Perfect Viral Storm - And Protecting Yourself From Paxlovid Myths As Well. (Medium, December 5, 2022)
We are again seeing a "Thanksgiving-as-super-spreader" small surge (I've heard of entire families testing positive by Sunday afternoon!), but nothing like last year.
There are a few changes: one is the COVID daily death rate, now "down" to ~250 compared to ~2500 at our worst. Another important change in the death statistics: the vast majority of deaths now are in the "elderly elderly," sometimes defined as over 85 (my personal definition is "much older than me").
A huge change this month is that the newer Omicron variants changed just enough that they "out-grew" some of our best drugs so now most old monoclonal antibodies no longer work against COVID. Included in this sad list is the excellent antibody bebtelovimab and the preventative drug Evusheld which have ceased to give the immuno-compromised protection against the new variants - a gigantic loss. The only things left for COVID treatment are Paxlovid, Remdesivir (three IVs), or the less-effective Molnupiravir.
Number-one myth: "I don't need Paxlovid because I'm not that sick."
Myth-buster: The reason to get Paxlovid is NOT how sick you are with COVID but rather whether you are at high risk to DEVELOP severe COVID. Your EARLY symptoms don't matter. What matters is your RISK to develop severe disease. Those risks are: AGE (over 65 if vaccinated; over 50 if un-vaccinated) or any significant (heart, lung, kidney disease, current cancer, depression, etc.) maladies listed by the CDC here. If you are 65 or at risk, you and your doctor should really consider Paxlovid.
Number-two myth: "I take medications that can't be taken with Paxlovid."
Myth-buster: The reality is that you're on Paxlovid for five short days. Many medications can be stopped for those few days, like some statins, sleeping pills, etc. Obviously you DO NOT stop the heart medicine that keeps your heartbeat normal (please!), but there's other times your health won't be harmed by briefly pausing a med. Talk to your doc!
Number-three myth: "I'll wait a few days and see how I feel."
Myth-buster: Paxlovid needs to be taken within five days of your positive test. This makes sense - it's an anti-viral. The viruses multiply like crazy the first week, so that's exactly when you want Paxlovid in your body so it can kill tons of viruses before they turn into gazillions of viruses. It's useless after the first week: you NEED to take it early.
Number-four myth: Paxlovid only helps the unvaccinated.
Myth-buster: The data is now clear. Paxlovid keeps BOTH vaccinated and unvaccinated people out of the hospital, off ventilators, and not dead. Paxlovid may also be shortening the disease, the symptoms and the chance of getting Long COVID - although this evidence is preliminary.
Number-five myth: There are other meds I can take instead.
Myth-buster: Unfortunately, no. The evidence AGAINST other treatments that first week is strong. You definitely do NOT want to take steroids (can cause more deaths), or antibiotics (no help, can harm), and no supplements have been definitively shown to help, not even my beloved Vitamin C and D.
Number-six myth: "Everybody who takes Paxlovid rebounds."
Myth-buster: It's more like everybody who rebounds, gets a headline. In fact, the percentage of people who "rebound" after Paxlovid seems similar to people who "rebound" without taking Paxlovid, and it's lower than originally thought in both groups.
We've all known somebody who said, "I just can't shake this cold I got last month", or "I started to get better and then I felt lousy again". This seems to be a similar process.
People at risk to get super-sick should strongly consider Paxlovid. If your doctor/NP/PA says no, it's very reasonable to ask why they think you in particular don't need it. You can always double-check the treatment guidelines as formalized by the specialty societies. And best of all, plan ahead. Talk to your doctor now about what to do if you get sick.
Protecting yourself this winter: This winter is shaping up to be a particularly nasty one for respiratory viruses. On top of a not-going-away COVID, we already have record-breaking rates of flu, the off-the-charts rates of RSV, and there's a ton of what I call the "GLLABC virus": the non-flu, non-RSV, non-COVID, non-strep Generalized-Long-Lasting-And-Brutal Crud.
It's clear we're in the middle of a respiratory perfect storm: a boat-load of pretty-darn-contagious bugs, our immune systems unaccustomed to the fight and now, on top of that, it's winter. With masking pretty much a thing of the past - well, I'm afraid the genie is out of the bottle. There are five things you can still do to protect yourself in addition to masking - boost for COVID, vaccinate for flu, keep washing your hands, stay home when sick, and test-before-you-go.
But the other thing you can do to protect yourselves and your family and friends is: Don't hang out with people who are sick, and try and create a culture where symptomatic people stay home. I know this is super-hard at jobs with lousy sick-leave and unbearable work burdens (in which case you should of course mask!), but it is something you can absolutely do in your social life.
This is also a time to think about COVID testing before social gatherings. If you feel even a little under the weather, test before showing up. In fact, testing ANYtime you're in a group - especially with the elderly, frail, or immunosuppressed - should really be our fallback position these days. It's not a guarantee, but it's a help.
 And if you're actually coughing or sneezing or blowing your nose fifty-times-an-hour, you should definitely assume you're contagious with one of our winter-wrecking-ball viruses - even if it's not actually COVID. Getting even slightly sick these days is our body's way of saying, "Stay home, get in bed, and keep friends safe."
We need to do this, even when it breaks our hearts during this, our Three-Years-of-Constant-Disappointments. Because high on the list of the one-gajillion things we've learned from COVID is that Friends Don't Share Secretions With Friends.
[This is long. Read it! Believe it! Share it.]

NEW: Hackers Linked To Chinese Government Stole $Millions In COVID Benefits, Secret Service Says. (NBC News, December 5, 2022)
The theft of state unemployment funds is the first pandemic fraud tied to foreign, state-sponsored cybercriminals that the U.S. government has acknowledged publicly.

Researchers Turn Cancer Cells Into Less Harmful Cell Types. (SciTechDaily, December 10, 2022)
Cancer cells are incredibly adaptable, much like stem cells. Researchers from the University of Basel have discovered substances that artificially mature breast cancer cells of the very aggressive triple-negative subtype and transform them into a state that is similar to normal cells.
"Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that define cancer and how these mechanisms differ from normal cells is crucial for developing new innovative therapies," says Bentires-Alj. The results open a new avenue for treating triple-negative breast cancer. "The compounds used in this study are already in clinical trials to treat other cancer types, including blood-borne, lung, and pancreatic cancer", the researcher continues. This underlines the possibility of testing these compounds in clinics and in treating breast cancer.
Especially in the era of immunotherapies, it has been suggested that "normal-like" cells can be cleared by the immune system while "cancerous" cells evade killing by immune cells. In the future, it remains to be determined if differentiation therapy can be combined with immunotherapies. "We are pursuing such strategies, and only time and resources are in our way to make further progress," the researchers conclude.

3 Ways To Actually Reduce Your Heart-Failure Risk, According To Science. (Self, December 19, 2022)
These habits can make a big impact over time - and it's never too late to start.

The UK Is Enduring An Onslaught Of Scarlet Fever. Is The US Next? (Wired, December 19, 2022)
The US is more alert to the risks of strep infections, but the UK has better data. It's not clear which makes more difference in controlling disease.

11 Rapid At-Home COVID-19 Tests - And Where To Find Them (Wired, December 21, 2022)
How accurate are over-the-counter swabs? Does your insurance cover them? We have answers.

A COVID-19 "Senior Wave" Is Driving Up Hospitalizations. (CNN, December 23, 2022)
Rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations among seniors is creating the largest age gap yet.
[Get current booster shots. Wash your hands. Wear a face mask.]

Molecular Changes Linked To Long COVID - A Year After Hospitalization. (SciTechDaily; by The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, December 23, 2022)
Mount Sinai researchers have published one of the first studies to associate changes in blood gene expression during COVID-19 with "Long COVID" in patients more than a year after they were hospitalized with severe COVID-19. Long COVID is the common name used for what is known more technically as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The findings highlight the need for greater attention at the infection stage, to better understand how the processes that begin then eventually lead to Long COVID, which could help improve both prevention strategies and treatment options for COVID-19 survivors experiencing persistent symptoms after infection.

A More Elegant Form Of Gene-Editing Progresses To Human Testing. (Wired, December 23, 2022)
Instead of cutting out chunks of the genome to disable malfunctioning genes, base-editing makes a smaller, more precise swap. Early results for treating leukemia and other cancers, and for treating people at risk of repeated heart attacks, are promising.

XBB Subvariant Now Accounts For Half Of All COVID Cases In New England. (23-min. video; NBC/Boston, December 27, 2022)
The XBB variant, which accounted for only 11% of COVID cases in the region two weeks ago, now makes up 52.6%!

Why Do You Get Sick In The Winter? Blame Your Nose - And Keep It Warm. (Wired, January 2, 2023)
A new study shows that as temperatures drop, nasal cells release fewer of the tiny protectors that bind and neutralize invading germs.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team notes that there's already a practical real-world way to help your nose defend you in cold weather: Masking. Noses can stay snug and cozy under a mask - as any glasses-wearer whose lenses have fogged from their warm breath can attest. "Wearing masks may have a dual protective role", says Bleier. "One is certainly preventing physical inhalation of the [viral] particles, but also by maintaining local temperatures at least at a relatively-higher level than the outside environment."
And here's one more idea to consider: Maybe it's just time for a vacation somewhere warm.

New COVID Strain Is The Most-Transmissible Yet, WHO Says. (Politico, January 4, 2023)
The coronavirus Omicron strain XBB.1.5, which has become the dominant strain in the U.S. in just a matter of weeks, could drive a new wave of cases. The global health body is now trying to figure out how severe the sub-variant is.
The United States is suffering far less from COVID than it did a year ago. Death rates were about seven times higher at this time last year, and hospitalizations were almost three times as high. Both categories have been lower at various points in the pandemic, however, and hospitalizations in New England, where XBB.1.5 is spreading fast, are rising and are at about 40% of last year's levels. The increase in hospitalizations in the Northeast cannot be attributed yet to XBB.1.5 because other respiratory illnesses, including flu, could be partially responsible.
Jha warned that Americans' immunity against XBB.1.5 "is probably not great" if a prior infection was before July or if they have not received the bivalent shot that became available in September.

A New Study Has Identified Genes Associated With The Most-Aggressive Kidney Cancer. (SciTechDaily, January 6, 2023)
Clear-cell renal carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most-common type of kidney cancer. In the past few decades, the number of new cases has been increasing. Although there is a significant amount of data on this disease, there is still a lack of information on specific human genes that could help predict its clinical course.
Findings from Puzanov's study reveal which ccRCC subtypes are more dangerous than others and which human genes appear to be responsible for the progression of the disease. This new information is significant for the early detection of aggressive tumors, and for designing personalized treatment plans for ccRCC patients.

What You Need To Know About The Kraken COVID Variant. (Wired, January 12, 2023)
XBB.1.5, a.k.a. the Kraken, is sweeping the Northeast U.S. and dodging immunity. Any time a new variant snowballs so quickly, it garners attention. Significant variations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can mean more illness, hospitalizations, and death, which can strain health-care systems and increase rates of long COVID. While XBB.1.5 infections are swelling, the WHO says there's no evidence that this variant's mutations would result in more severe infections - but it's still early.
It's also spreading faster, because of how people are behaving: Few are wearing masks compared to 2020, and many have traveled and gathered indoors to celebrate the holiday season. That's a recipe for lots of people getting sick, fast.

COVID-19 Wastewater Levels Vary In MA, But Headed Down In Places. (Patch, January 13, 2023)
Wastewater COVID-19 levels in the Boston area have begun to trend downward, with concentration levels falling rapidly between Jan. 5 and 10.

For Some Food Professionals, Long-COVID Has Cast A Long Shadow On Their Senses. (Civil Eats, January 19, 2023)
Many workers in the food industry experiencing parosmia - or a long-term distorted sense of smell - find their lives and livelihoods disrupted. And they have trouble accessing help.

NY Times' Virus-Briefing Newsletter Will Suspend. (New York Times, January 25, 2023)
On Jan. 6, 2020, The New York Times first reported on a mysterious "pneumonia-like illness" that sickened 59 people in Wuhan, China. Symptoms included high fever, trouble breathing and lung lesions, but Chinese health officials said there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.
Two days later, they identified it as a new coronavirus, and it WAS spreading, dramatically.
"We thought that we were going to have a big burst of infections and, like every other outbreak, it was going to peak, turn around, come back down and then, if not disappear, go to a low-enough level that it didn't bother anybody", Dr. Fauci said. "And here we are, three years later, into our fifth or sixth variant."
As the virus evolved, so did the newsletter. We explored the pandemic's effects on health care, education, politics, mental health, minority groups, workplaces, travel, relationships and families. Times reporters from across the world - in China, Brazil, India, Israel, Canada, Britain, Hong Kong and more - gave us on-the-ground reports of outbreaks. We also covered the fault lines that the pandemic revealed and exacerbated.
Now, after three years, we're pausing this newsletter. The acute phase of the pandemic has faded in much of the world, and many of us have tried to pick up the pieces and move on. We promise to return to your inbox if the pandemic takes a sharp turn. But, for now, this is goodbye.

A Completely-New Way To Kill Cancer: Artificial DNA (SciTechDaily, January 30, 2023)
University of Tokyo researchers have made a breakthrough in the fight against cancer with the use of artificial DNA. In laboratory tests, the method effectively targeted and destroyed human cervical and breast cancer cells, as well as malignant melanoma cells from mice.
The team designed a pair of chemically-synthesized DNA, shaped like hairpins, specifically to kill cancer cells. When injected into cancer cells, the DNA pairs attach to microRNA (miRNA) molecules that are overproduced in certain cancers. The DNA pairs, upon attaching to the miRNA, unraveled and combined, forming longer chains of DNA that activated an immune response. This response not only eliminated the cancer cells, but also prevented the continuation of cancerous growth.
This innovative approach stands apart from traditional cancer drug treatments, and is hoped to usher in a new era in drug development.

How To Improve Your Gut Health In 6 Easy Steps (Vogue, January 31, 2023)
They don't call it the "second brain" for nothing. The gut microbiome, which consists of no less than-100 trillion bacteria, affects everything from skin health and sex drive to energy levels and hormone balance. How, exactly? The gut has its own nervous system called the enteric nervous system (ENS), and while its main purpose is to regulate digestion, it also has a strong connection to the brain, and thus, a major impact on your mental well-being. "If your gut health is out of whack, your microbes send signals that negatively influence your mood", explains Keri Glassman, a registered dietitian and founder of Nutritious Life.
From understanding the signs of poor digestion to giving your microbiome the good bacteria it craves to stay balanced, experts weigh in on how to take a holistic approach to improving your gut health.

New UN Report: Bracing For Superbugs: Strengthening Environmental Action In The One Health Response To Anti-Microbial Resistance (United Nations Environmental Programme, February 7, 2023)
Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is considered one of the top global public-health problems. It also poses an urgent and critical threat to animal and plant health, food security and economic development. To reduce superbugs, the world must reduce pollution.
Anti-microbials – anti-biotics, anti-virals, anti-fungals and anti-parasitics – are medicines widely used
to prevent and treat infections in humans, aquaculture, livestock, and crop production.
What is anti-microbial resistance (AMR)? AMR occurs when micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi become resistant to anti-microbial treatments to which they were previously susceptible. Increasing use and misuse of anti-microbials and other microbial stressors (e.g., the presence of heavy metals and other pollutants) creates favourable conditions for micro-organisms to develop resistance.
The World Health Organization (WHO) lists AMR among top 10 threats for global health. Limiting the emergence and spread of AMR is critical to preserving the ability to treat diseases, reduce food safety and security risks, and protect the environment.
Why? Without effective anti-microbials, modern medicine would struggle to treat even mild infections among humans, animals, and plants.
In 2019, it is estimated that 1.27-million deaths were directly attributed to drug-resistant infections globally, and 4.95-million deaths world-wide were associated with bacterial AMR (including those directly-attributable to AMR). Estimates suggest that by 2050, up to 10-million additional direct deaths could occur annually. That is on par with the 2020 rate of global deaths from cancer. In the next decade, AMR could result in a GDP shortfall of at least US$3.4-Trillion annually and push 24-million more people into extreme poverty.

A Crucial Group Of COVID Drugs Has Stopped Working. (Wired, February 8, 2023)
A key tool in the early pandemic response, monoclonal antibodies are now ineffective against new variants. Immuno-compromised patients are especially at risk.

Lack Of Diversity In Clinical Trials Is Leaving Women And Patients-Of-Color Behind, And Harming The Future Of Medicine. (40-min. podcast; The Conversation, February 9, 2023)
Despite the many biological differences between people of different genders, races, ages and life histories, chances are that if two people walk into a doctor's office with the same symptoms, they are going to get roughly the same treatment. As you can imagine, a whole range of treatments – from drugs to testing – could be much more effective if they were designed to work with many different kinds of bodies, not just some abstract, generic human.

NEW: Scientists Discover Protein In The Lungs That Blocks COVID-19 Infection, A "Natural Protective Barrier". (University of Sydney, February 11, 2023)
This protein, the leucine-rich repeat-containing protein 15 (LRRC15), is an in-built receptor that binds the SARS-CoV-2 virus without passing on the infection. The research opens up an entirely new area of immunology research around LRRC15, and offers a promising pathway to develop new drugs to prevent viral infection from coronaviruses like COVID-19 or deal with fibrosis in the lungs.

NEW: A Little-Known Inflammatory Disease Is Hiding In Plain Sight. (February 14, 2023)
Genetic analyses show a newly-discovered condition called Vexas is more common than previously thought - and could explain some patients' undiagnosed symptoms.

Dramatic Drop In U.S. Heart-Attack Deaths Over the Past Two Decades. (SciTechDaily, March 4, 2023)
The U.S. not only saw a significant decline in the overall rate of heart-attack-related deaths in the past two decades, but also a reduction in racial disparities for heart-attack deaths. The gap in the rate of heart-attack deaths between White people and African-American/Black people narrowed by nearly half over the 22-year period, researchers reported.

Brain-Tumor Breakthrough: New Cancer Vulnerability Discovered. (SciTechDaily, March 12, 2023)
Scientists have discovered high levels of LDL receptors, on blood vessels feeding high-grade glioma brain tumors. These findings open the door for using drugs, currently in development, to target these receptors and attack the tumors.
Gliomas are the most-common primary brain tumors, and originate from the glial cells of the brain. They are a heterogenous spectrum, from slow-growing to highly-aggressive infiltrating tumors. Nearly-half of all gliomas are classed as high-grade gliomas (HGG) and, due to their highly-aggressive nature, have a dismal prognosis with an average survival of only 4.6 months without treatment and approximately 14 months with today's optimal multi-modal treatments.

New Data Links COVID-19's Origins To Raccoon Dogs At Wuhan Market. (The Guardian, March 17, 2023)
Analysis of gene sequences by an international team finds COVID-positive samples rich in raccoon-dog DNA. The discovery does not prove that raccoon dogs or other animals infected with COVID triggered the pandemic.
[Meanwhile, avoid eating that raccoon-dog sandwich.]

Here's The Full Analysis Of Newly-Uncovered Genetic Data On COVID's Origins. (Ars Technica, March 21, 2023)
The genetic data paints a picture of spillover in one zone of the market.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Has A Bacterial Signature. (Psychology Today, March 24, 2023)
ME/CFS is a complex illness characterized by extreme fatigue, sleep disturbances, cognitive difficulties, and a variety of other symptoms. The cause of ME/CFS is unknown, but it is thought to be triggered by a combination of factors, including genetics, infection, and environmental stressors.
Over a million people in the United States alone have ME/CFS. In 1969, it was inducted into the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) as myalgic encephalomyelitis. In 1996, it was renamed chronic fatigue syndrome and the two terms are now often merged as ME/CFS, although there is still some disagreement about whether it is one or two conditions. One of the nicknames for the disorder is "Raggedy Ann Syndrome", a colorful acknowledgment of the weakness noted by patients.
It is not a trivial disease. One patient said: "My personal experience of having ME/CFS feels like permanently having the flu, a hangover, and jet lag while being continually electrocuted (which means that pain plays at least as much of a role in my condition as fatigue)." As well as physical symptoms, ME/CFS creates brain fog, depression, and anxiety, making it difficult to work, socialize, or attend school. ME/CFS sufferers also have another symptom, called post-exertional malaise (PEM), that causes them to suffer for days after physical exertion. All in all, it's a lousy syndrome.
New studies find specific microbes are associated with ME/CFS. In all, twelve species of bacteria were identified that were associated, both positively and negatively. The researchers say that these bacteria could be used as biomarkers, or signatures, for ME/CFS, potentially helping to diagnose the disease. The exact role of the microbiota in ME/CFS is not yet fully known, and these studies show correlation, not causation. Still, it's not much of a stretch to think that inflammation may play a role in ME/CFS.
There are a few things that people with ME/CFS can do to improve their microbiota. These include:
- Eat a healthy diet that is rich in fiber (prebiotics) and probiotics.
- If you don't have PEM, try to get some exercise.
- Avoid antibiotics, if possible.
- Get sufficient sleep on a regular basis.
These changes will help to improve the health of the microbiota and may reduce the symptoms of ME/CFS. More studies are needed, but this research is a wonderful start for the millions of sufferers who are finally being heard.

Beware the Roar of Traffic: Study Shows Road Noise Makes Your Blood Pressure Rise – Literally. (SciTechDaily, March 24, 2023)
A new study published in JACC: Advances confirms that living near busy roads and being exposed to traffic noise is associated with an increased risk of hypertension. While previous studies hinted at this connection, it was unclear whether noise or air pollution was the primary factor. This research demonstrates that road-traffic noise itself elevates the risk of hypertension, even after accounting for air pollution. The findings call for public-health measures to reduce noise-exposure.

Engineered E. coli Delivers Therapeutic Nanobodies To The Gut. (Phys.org, March 31, 2023)
Humans are colonized with thousands of bacterial strains. Researchers are now focused on genetically-modifying such bacteria to enhance their intrinsic therapeutic properties.
One goal is to develop smart microbes that release therapeutic payloads at sites of disease, thus maintaining therapeutic efficacy while limiting many of the side effects that can be associated with the systemic administration of conventional drugs.
Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham (MGB), have engineered a strain of the probiotic Escherichia coli (E. coli), Nissle 1917, to secrete proteins of therapeutic value into its surroundings.
[And, right here in metro-Boston!]

Human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, is filling ICUs this Spring.  A pediatric infectious-disease specialist explains this little-known virus. (The Conversation, April 12, 2023)
Respiratory infections are the leading cause of death in children under 5 globally, and a major reason for hospitalization of children in developed countries. They are also a major cause of disease and death among people at high risk for severe disease, such as premature infants, older adults and those with underlying conditions.
In the year 2000, Dutch scientists discovered a new virus, human metapneumovirus (HMPV or MPV), which turns out to be a leading cause of respiratory infections. HMPV often presents like other common respiratory viruses, with congestion, cough and fever.

Dr. Fauci Looks Back: "Something Clearly Went Wrong." (NY Times Magazine, May 2, 2023/printed April 24, 2023)
In his most extensive interview yet, Anthony Fauci wrestles with the hard lessons of the pandemic - and the decisions that will define his legacy.
- "Only 68% of the country is vaccinated. If you rank us among both developed and developing countries, we do really poorly. We're not even in the top 10. We're 'way down there.
- "And then: Why do you have Red states that are un-vaccinated, and Blue states that are vaccinated?
- "Why do you have death rates among Republicans that are higher than death rates among Democrats and Independents? It should never ever be that way, when you're dealing with a public-health crisis the likes of which we haven't seen in over a hundred years.
- "I have always felt that, when there are people pushing back at you, even though they in many respects are off in left field somewhere, there always appears to be a kernel of truth - maybe a small kernel or a big segment of truth - in what they say.
- "That's part of it. The other part of it has nothing to do with that divisiveness. We have let the local public-health and health-care delivery system really suffer attrition. And the health disparities - racial and ethnic health disparities - every country has a little bit of that, but we really have a lot of it.
- "I think the average American knew that it was more dangerous among older people, and that it was more dangerous for people with co-morbidities. But I still think that almost no one appreciates just how wide that age skew really is - that the risk to someone in their 80s or 90s is perhaps hundreds of times as high as it is to someone in their 20s or 30s."
[A great American hero clarifies the highly-distorted record regarding America's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. THANK YOU, Dr. Fauci! (The article has much more, and many links.)]

The Next Pandemic (New York Times, May 7, 2023)
Long-recognized as the nation's leading public health institution and widely respected around the world, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recently seen its reputation shaken and its performance compromised. As a result, public trust in the institution has eroded‌.
Amid that backdrop, we recently conducted an independent and bipartisan investigation of the C.D.C.'s pandemic preparedness and response during the COVID-19 pandemic. And we concluded that the agency needs a serious reset - urgently so. The health and resilience of the country hangs in the balance.

Breathing New Life: Oxygen-Therapy Improves Heart Function in Long-COVID Patients. (SciTechDaily, May 26, 2023)
"The study suggests that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be beneficial in patients with long COVID", said study author Professor Marina Leitman of the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University and Shamir Medical Centre, Be'er Ya'akov, Israel. "We used a sensitive measure of cardiac function which is not routinely performed in all centers. More studies are needed to determine which patients will benefit the most, but it may be that all long-COVID patients should have an assessment of global longitudinal strain and be offered hyperbaric oxygen therapy if heart function is reduced."
Most COVID-19 sufferers fully recover but, after the initial illness, approximately 10–20% of patients develop Long COVID, also called post-COVID condition or syndrome. Symptoms include shortness of breath, fatigue, cough, chest pain, rapid or irregular heartbeats, body aches, rashes, loss of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, insomnia, brain fog, depression and anxiety. Patients with post-COVID syndrome may also develop cardiac dysfunction, and are at increased risk of a range of cardiovascular disorders.

COVID-19 Can Cause Brain Cells To Fuse – Leading To Chronic Long-COVID Neurological Symptoms. (11-sec. time-lapse video - each second of the video covers 5 hours of elapsed time; University of Queensland, June 10, 2023)
Professor Massimo Hilliard and Dr. Ramon Martinez-Marmol from the Queensland Brain Institute have explored how viruses alter the function of the nervous system. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been detected in the brains of people with Long COVID - months after their initial infection. "We discovered COVID-19 causes neurons to undergo a cell-fusion process, which has not been seen before", Professor Hilliard said. "After neuronal infection with SARS-CoV-2, the spike S protein becomes present in neurons - and once neurons fuse, they don't die. They either start firing synchronously, or they stop functioning altogether."
"In the current understanding of what happens when a virus enters the brain, there are two outcomes – either cell death or inflammation", Dr. Martinez-Marmol said. "But we've shown a third possible outcome, which is neuronal fusion."
Dr. Martinez-Marmol said numerous viruses cause cell fusion in other tissues, but also infect the nervous system and could be causing the same problem there. "These viruses include HIV, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, measles, herpes simplex virus, and Zika virus", he said. "Our research reveals a new mechanism for the neurological events that happen during a viral infection. This is potentially a major cause of neurological diseases and clinical symptoms that is still unexplored."
[Let the exploration begin!]

Unmasking The Long-COVID Mystery: New Study Reveals Cause Of Persistent Fatigue, Shortness Of Breath, "Brain Fog" (Concentration Difficulties), And Muscle Weakness. (University of Malta, August 18, 2023)
Around one-in-three individuals who recover from COVID-19 continue to experience life-disrupting symptoms, such as persistent fatigue, shortness of breath, "brain fog" (concentration difficulties), and muscle weakness. The origin of Long COVID, despite its increasing global impact on daily life, has remained a mystery.
SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, latches onto the ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) receptor, which acts as the doorway through which the virus infects cells. In a pioneering study, researchers at the University of Malta exploited fruit flies to curb down the levels of the ACE2 receptor. In the absence of the virus, this was enough to induce fatigue and diminished mobility. "Our research clearly shows that depletion of ACE2 is central to the neuro-muscular complications experienced by a significant percentage of COVID-19 patients", said Professor Ruben Cauchi, who heads the Motor Neuron Disease Laboratory at the University of Malta.
The compelling findings stem from a major study that started during the heat of the pandemic and temporarily took over the lab's main focus in response to the global emergency. Prof. Cauchi and his team have long been using fruit flies to research ALS, because of their remarkable genetic and biological similarities to humans.
When analyzing molecular defects in organisms with down-regulated ACE2 levels, the Maltese scientists discovered a breakdown in communication between nerves and muscles. Several key molecules, required for nerves to send messages to muscles, were found compromised.
Various paths are thought to coalesce to bring down ACE2 levels or dampen its function, in humans following a coronavirus infection. "In addition to being hijacked by the virus, the ACE2 receptor on the cell's surface can also be targeted by auto-antibodies, with the immune system attacking the body as it does in Multiple Sclerosis", added Dr. Paul Herrera, who performed the intricate experiments that were crucial to the study. There have also been reports of virus persistence long after the initial infection.
The discovery by the University of Malta sheds light on the lasting impact of COVID-19 infection, and paves the way for therapeutic approaches to mitigate chronically-disabling complications.

New Tests Of A Recently-Approved RSV Vaccine Show Potent Antibody Response To Current And Past Variants. (Medical Xpress, October 2, 2023)
New tests of a recently-approved vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) show the shot remains effective against a range of variants producing potent antibody responses against current and past strains, and may even bode well against future viral offshoots. The new research, led by scientists in Belgium, involved small and large animals as well as antibody samples from older human adults. The positive antibody response against the virus was particularly evident when the vaccine was combined with an adjuvant, which is an additional ingredient to boost the immune response.
The new research arrives as seasonal viruses begin their annual circulation throughout the Northern Hemisphere - and public-health officials wait with bated breath to gauge whether a "tripledemic" could mark the 2023–2024 season. COVID cases have already gotten a jump on the season in many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Whether RSV and influenza will be more or less aggressive has yet to be determined.
"RSV is a major cause of lower respiratory tract diseases in young children and older adults," asserted Lionel Sacconnay, lead author of the new research. "Two antigenically-distinct RSV subtypes, RSV-A and –B, co-circulate worldwide, with each subtype being composed of multiple genotypes. Several vaccine candidates were recently shown to be efficacious in protecting older adults against RSV-associated lower-respiratory-tract diseases in clinical trials."
To date, only one of those vaccines - RSVPreF3 - has been approved, and it is the one under study for long-term effectiveness by Sacconnay and his team.

NEW: A More-Effective Experimental Design For Engineering A Cell Into A New State (MIT News, October 2, 2023)
Researchers from MIT and Harvard University developed a new, computational approach that can efficiently identify optimal genetic perturbations based on a much smaller number of experiments than traditional methods. By focusing on causal relationships in genome regulation, a new AI method could help scientists identify new immunotherapy techniques or regenerative therapies.

MIT: MIT/Harvard Cellular-Reprogramming Innovation Could Find Potent Cancer Killers And Regenerative Therapies. (SciTechDaily, October 6, 2023)
A strategy for cellular reprogramming involves using targeted genetic interventions to engineer a cell into a new state. The technique holds great promise in immuno-therapy, for instance, where researchers could reprogram a patient's T-cells so they are more potent cancer killers. Someday, the approach could also help identify life-saving cancer treatments or regenerative therapies that repair disease-ravaged organs.
However, the human body has about 20,000 genes, and a genetic perturbation could be on a combination of genes or on any of the over 1,000 transcription factors that regulate the genes. Because the search space is vast and genetic experiments are costly, scientists often struggle to find the ideal perturbation for their particular application.
Reseachers from MIT and Harvard University developed a new, computational approach that can efficiently identify optimal genetic perturbations based on a much smaller number of experiments than traditional methods.

NEW: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Challenging Long-Held Assumptions: New Research Reveals How Nuclear Spin Impacts Biological Processes. (SciTechDaily, October 6, 2023)
A research team led by Prof. Yossi Paltiel at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with groups from HUJI, Weizmann, and IST Austria recently conducted a study unveiling the significant influence of nuclear spin on biological activities. This discovery challenges long-held assumptions and opens up exciting possibilities for advancements in biotechnology and quantum biology.
Scientists have long believed that nuclear spin had no impact on biological processes. However, recent research has shown that certain isotopes behave differently due to their nuclear spin. The team focused on stable oxygen isotopes (16O, 17O, 18O) and found that nuclear spin significantly affects oxygen dynamics in chiral environments, particularly in its transport.

How SARS-CoV-2 Contributes To Heart Attacks And Strokes (NIH, October 24, 2023)
"Since the early days of the pandemic, we have known that people who had COVID-19 have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease or stroke up to one year after infection", says Dr. Michelle Olive of NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "We believe we have uncovered one of the reasons why."
The findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may increase the risk of heart attacks and stroke by infecting artery wall tissue, including associated macrophages. This provokes inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques, which could lead to heart attack or stroke. These results shed light onto a possible connection between pre-existing heart issues and Long-COVID symptoms. It appears that the immune cells most involved in atherosclerosis may serve as a reservoir for the virus, giving it the opportunity to persist in the body over time.
The authors plan to further investigate the potential link between infection of the arteries and Long COVID. They also aim to see if their results also hold true for newer SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Scientists Discover A "Switch" To Trigger Cancer-Cell Death. (University of California/Davis, October 27, 2023)
A group of researchers from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center identified a crucial epitope (a protein section that can activate the larger protein) on the CD95 receptor that can cause cells to die. This new ability to trigger programmed cell death could open the door for improved cancer treatments.
Also referred to as Fas, the CD95 receptors are often termed "death receptors". These protein structures are found inside cell membranes and, upon activation, release a signal that causes the cells to self-destruct.
While Fas plays an essential role in regulating immune cells, Tushir-Singh and his colleagues knew they might be able to target cancer cells selectively if they found the right epitope. Having identified this specific epitope, he and other researchers can now design a new class of antibodies to selectively bind to and activate Fas to potentially destroy tumor cells specifically.
[An excellent article on a promising break-through.]

Beware the Chair: How Extended Sitting Time May Be Aging Your Brain Faster. (University of Arizona/University of Southern California, October 29, 2023)
Individuals aged 60 and above could face a higher risk of dementia if they frequently partake in inactive activities such as sitting while watching television or driving, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of Arizona.
Their study showed the risk of dementia significantly increases among adults who spend over 10 hours a day engaging in sedentary behaviors like sitting - a notable finding considering the average American is sedentary for about 9.5 hours each day.

3 Simple Activities That Can Enhance Cognitive Function In Older Adults (SciTechDaily, October 29, 2023)
Playing a single 18-hole round of golf or completing 6 km of either Nordic walking or regular walking can significantly improve immediate cognitive function in older adults, according to a recent study.
An international research team, comprising members from the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Edinburgh, and ETH Zürich, sought to uncover the immediate effects of three specific cognitively-demanding aerobic activities on cognition and associated biological responses in older, healthy participants.

"Game Changer for Vitamin D": Supplementation Found To Improve Cancer Survival. (Boston University School of Medicine< October 30, 2023)
For over a century, the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of several cancers has been a topic of discussion. A recent commentary has highlighted the potential benefits of improving vitamin D levels to reduce cancer risk and enhance survival rates. It emphasizes the results of a study by Kanno et al., which found that certain patients with immune responses against the mutated p53 protein, a protein associated with cancer growth, benefited from vitamin D supplementation. It also suggests that future research should consider these factors and focus on vitamin D dosage to improve cancer outcomes.

"Life-Changing": New Brain Implant Successfully Controls Both Seizures And OCD. (Oregon Health & Science University, October 31, 2023)
For the first time, a single electrode targets two brain regions for dual benefit; patient reports a life-changing outcome from 2019 procedure.

Bendy X-ray Detectors Could Revolutionize Cancer Treatment. (MedicalXpress, November 5, 2023)
New materials developed at the University of Surrey could pave the way for a new generation of flexible X-ray detectors, with potential applications ranging from cancer treatment to better airport scanners.
Traditionally, X-ray detectors are made of heavy, rigid material such as silicon or germanium. New, flexible detectors are cheaper and can be shaped around the objects that need to be scanned, improving accuracy when screening patients and reducing risk when imaging tumors and administering radiotherapy.

Serotonin Slump: The Viral Residue Connection To Long-COVID Symptoms. (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, November 5, 2023)
Patients with long COVID – the long-term symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, or memory loss in the months or years following COVID-19 – can exhibit a reduction in circulating levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. The study sheds new light on the mechanisms of how persistent inflammation after contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus can cause long-term neurological symptoms.

A School Nurse Explains The Powers Of Mucus. (The Conversation, November 6, 2023)
Mucus lines your nose, throat, lungs and other parts of your body to protect it from bad bacteria, viruses and other particles. Your body continuously creates mucus to fight off germs and help get rid of them. When you're sick, your immune system ramps up to produce extra mucus to flush out germs. While it might seem gross, mucus is also pretty amazing.

Research Team Devises An Implantable Wireless Cardiac Pacemaker. (Medical Xpress, November 7, 2023)
Cardiac pacemakers are battery-dependent, where the pacing leads are prone to introduce valve damage and infection. In addition, complete pacemaker retrieval is necessary for battery replacement. Despite the presence of a wireless bioelectronics device to pace the epicardium, surgeons still need to implant the device via thoracotomy, an invasive surgical procedure in health care that necessitates wound healing.
Shaolei Wang and a research team of scientists in bioengineering, microbiology, and cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, devised a biocompatible wireless microelectronics device to form a micro-tubular pacemaker for intra-vascular implantation and pacing. Their work has been published in Science Advances. The pacemaker provided effective pacing to restore cardiac contraction from a non-beating heart in a porcine animal model. The micro-tubular pacemaker paves the way for the minimally-invasive implantation of leadless and battery-free micro-electronics for health care and cardiac-pace restoration.

Hearts on the Line: Anxiety and Depression As Silent Accelerators of Cardiovascular Disease (American Heart Association, November 17, 2023)
Two studies presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2023 link mental health to heart health, showing that depression and anxiety can hasten the onset of cardiovascular risk factors and major events.

Hannah Docter-Loeb: An Experimental Treatment Could Help COVID Smell-Distortion. (Scientific American, December 15, 2023)
An injection that targets nerves in the neck appears to relieve parosmia related to COVID infection in some people, but more rigorous studies are needed.

Simon Makin: Here's Why Infants Are Strangely Resistant To COVID. (Scientific American, February 12, 2024)
Very young children's developing immune systems respond to the COVID-causing virus SARS-CoV-2 very differently than do those of adults.

Carl Zimmer: Viruses Finally Reveal Their Complex Social Life. (Quanta Magazine, April 11, 2024)
Far from solitary particles, viruses engage in social behaviors within cells and hosts. New research has uncovered a social world of viruses full of cheating, cooperation and other intrigues, suggesting that viruses make sense only as members of a community.
The field of sociovirology is still young and small. The first conference dedicated to the social life of viruses took place in 2022, and the second will take place this June. A grand total of 50 people will be in attendance. Still, sociovirologists argue that the implications of their new field could be profound. Diseases like influenza don't make sense if we think of viruses in isolation from one another. And if we can decipher the social life of viruses, we might be able to exploit it to fight back against the diseases some of them create.

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