Sunday, May 24, 2020

Coronavirus News (110)

Texas Lt. Governor: Old People Should Volunteer to Die to Save the Economy According to Dan Patrick “lots of grandparents” are willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause.



Why we might not get a coronavirus vaccine Politicians have become more cautious about immunisation prospects. They are right to be .......... while trials have been launched and manufacturing deals already signed – Oxford University is now recruiting 10,000 volunteers for the next phase of its research – ministers and their advisers have become noticeably more cautious in recent days. ............

“We can’t be sure we will get a vaccine.”

........ Vaccines are simple in principle but complex in practice. The ideal vaccine protects against infection, prevents its spread, and does so safely. But none of this is easily achieved, as vaccine timelines show. ........ More than 30 years after scientists isolated HIV, the virus that causes Aids, we have no vaccine. The dengue fever virus was identified in 1943, but the first vaccine was approved only last year, and even then amid concerns it made the infection worse in some people. The fastest vaccine ever developed was for mumps. It took four years. ..........

coronaviruses do not tend to trigger long-lasting immunity

. About a quarter of common colds are caused by human coronaviruses, but the immune response fades so rapidly that people can become reinfected the next year. ........... Researchers at Oxford University recently analysed blood from recovered Covid-19 patients and found that levels of IgG antibodies – those responsible for longer-lasting immunity – rose steeply in the first month of infection but then began to fall again. ...........

most people who recovered from Covid-19 without going into hospital did not make many killer antibodies against the virus.

......... If a vaccine only protects for a year, the virus will be with us for some time. ........ Some viruses, such as influenza, mutate so rapidly that vaccine developers have to release new formulations each year. The rapid evolution of HIV is a major reason we have no vaccine for the disease. ........ Unlike experimental drugs for the severely ill, the vaccine will be given to potentially billions of generally healthy people. .......... During the search for a Sars vaccine in 2004, scientists found that one candidate caused hepatitis in ferrets. Another serious concern is “antibody-induced enhancement” where the antibodies produced by a vaccine actually make future infections worse. The effect caused serious lung damage in animals given experimental vaccines for both Sars and Mers. .............. The US biotech firm Moderna reported antibody levels similar to those found in recovered patients in 25 people who received its vaccine. ....... Another vaccine from Oxford University did not stop monkeys contracting the virus, but did appear to prevent pneumonia, a major cause of death in coronavirus patients......... Coronavirus patients pass the virus on to three others, on average, but if two or more are immune, the outbreak will fizzle out. That is the best-case scenario. .........

a vaccine that doesn’t stop the virus replicating can encourage resistant strains to evolve, making the vaccine redundant.

........ “If and when we have a vaccine, what you get is not rainbows and unicorns” ...... “If we are forced to choose a vaccine that gives only one year of protection, then we are doomed to have Covid become endemic, an infection that is always with us.” ......... “It will be harder to get rid of Covid than smallpox,” says Brilliant. With smallpox it was at least clear who was infected, whereas people with coronavirus can spread it without knowing. A thornier problem is that

as long as the infection rages in one country, all other nations are at risk

. ............ “Unless we have a vaccine available in unbelievable quantities that could be administered extraordinarily quickly in all communities in the world we will have gaps in our defences that the virus can continue to circulate in.” ........... the virus will “ping-pong back and forth in time and geography”. ....... some kind of global agreement must be hammered out now. “We should be demanding, now, a global conference on what we’re going to do when we get a vaccine, or if we don’t” ............ “If the process of getting a vaccine, testing it, proving it, manufacturing it, planning for its delivery, and building a vaccine programme all over the world, if that’s going to take as long as we think, then let’s fucking start planning it now.” ............. we will have to get used to extensive monitoring for infections backed up by swift outbreak containment. People must play their part too, by maintaining handwashing, physical distancing and avoiding gatherings, particularly in enclosed spaces. ......... Immediate treatment when symptoms come on could at least reduce the death rate. ........ all social distancing can be relaxed – but only if people wear masks in enclosed spaces such as on trains and at work, and that no food or drink are consumed at concerts and cinemas. ..........

the diligent and correct use of reusable masks is the most important measure



Inflamed brains, toe rashes, strokes: Why COVID-19's weirdest symptoms are only emerging now These symptoms sound scary, but they should be expected. Here's what scientists know about the "new" effects of the coronavirus. ....... An infection can inflict serious damage inside your body in many different ways, and COVID-19 seems to use just about all of them. The coronavirus primarily attacks the lungs, which can cause pneumonia or even respiratory failure, and

in one of every five patients, it also leads to multiple organ failure

. ........... Every human body is unique, so a disease that strikes millions of people will yield some oddities. .........

COVID-19 starts as a respiratory disease

. The virus invades cells in the nose, throat, and lungs and starts to replicate, causing flu-like symptoms that can progress to pneumonia and even punch holes in your lungs, leaving permanent scars. For many patients, that’s the worst of it. .........

A cytokine storm can damage the liver or kidneys and result in multi-organ failure.

....... one in five COVID-19 patients experiencing some cardiac injury ........... If a virus attacks the lungs, they become less efficient at supplying oxygen to the bloodstream. An infection can also inflame the arteries, causing them to narrow and supply less blood to the organs, including the heart.

The heart then responds by working harder to compensate, which can lead to cardiovascular distress

. ........... One unusual and as-yet unexplained symptom—even among young and otherwise healthy people—is myocarditis, a relatively rare condition in which inflammation weakens the heart muscle. ........

the coronavirus may embed itself directly in the heart

. Viruses enter cells by looking for their favorite doorways—proteins called receptors. In the case of the coronavirus, scientists have noted that the heart possesses the same protein gateway of choice, called ACE-2, that SARS-CoV-2 uses to attack the lungs. ............ viruses such as chickenpox and HIV have been known to directly infect heart muscle, and research suggests that the coronavirus can invade the blood vessel lining. .......... has raised the question of whether COVID-19 should also be classified as a cardiovascular disease. ....... More than 160 years ago, a German physician named Rudolf Virchow detailed three reasons abnormal blood clots can occur. First, if the inner lining of blood vessels becomes injured, perhaps due to an infection, it can release proteins that promote clotting. Second, clots can form if the blood flow becomes stagnant, which sometimes happens when people in hospital beds are immobile for too long. Finally, vessels can develop a tendency to become cluttered with platelets or other circulating proteins that repair wounds—which typically happens with inherited diseases but can also be triggered by systemic inflammation. ............ all three of those are playing a role in COVID .........

pre-existing cardiovascular disease correlates with severe COVID-19.

.......... It’s not clear why COVID-19’s clots are so tiny and are filling organs by the hundreds ........ Most of the strokes reported with COVID-19 have been “ischemic,” meaning a clot plugs one of the vessels supplying blood to the brain. Ischemic strokes are already common in general—with 690,000 cases in the U.S. per year—due to their tight correlation with cardiovascular conditions like atherosclerosis. If an ischemic stroke blocks the supply of oxygenated blood for too long, it can impair the area of the brain that lies downstream. That’s why the manifestations caused by the coronavirus can seem random—such as trouble speaking or seeing or walking. Some COVID-19 cases have also involved hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when a weakened blood vessel ruptures and bleeds into the brain, compressing the surrounding brain tissue. ............ Reports have also linked COVID-19 to patients suffering from encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, as well as a much rarer syndrome called Guillain–Barré, in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves. In milder cases, encephalitis can cause flu-like symptoms; in more severe cases, it might bring

seizures, paralysis, and confusion

............. When one of these viruses invades the nervous system, it can injure and inflame the brain either by directly killing cells or by inviting the immune system to do the job, akin to a cytokine storm. .......... One of the most recently discovered—and most inexplicable—signs of COVID-19 is a broad range of inflammatory symptoms that it seems to be provoking in the skin, including rashes, the painful red lesions that have come to be known as COVID toe, and the collection of symptoms in children that’s been labeled a “Kawasaki-like” syndrome. ............ with COVID-19, rashes take on so many different patterns that it’s hard to tell if any of them are unique to SARS-CoV-2 in the same way that itchy red bumps and blisters are a telltale sign of chickenpox. The situation is so

mystifying

that some experts wonder if the rashes seen in COVID-19 patients are just a coincidence. ......... In the meantime, researchers say, we should stay focused on maintaining the now standard practices to protect ourselves from COVID-19, including

wearing masks outside, meticulous handwashing, and careful social distancing

. “That’s going to be the answer,” Agus says, “whether this turns into one syndrome or four syndromes.”


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