Coronavirus

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Fat_Bulldog
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Re: Coronavirus

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IMADreamer wrote:
April 6 21, 11:51 am
Another update for those of you who have been concerned, btw I appreciate that. My pneumonia has cleared up but scans are showing some pretty severe scarring in my lungs. I have just finished a round of steroids and today is my first day with out them and I feel like garbage. Achy, headache, coughing, etc. Yesterday I had an awful day for brain fog, but today I seem to be thinking much more clearly. I have another doctor appointment Friday. I'm probably going on blood pressure medicine then because since covid it's been up quite a bit.

I started planting corn yesterday and I was completely beat by about 2pm. I kept going until about 6 and just had to stop. I actually took a half hour nap in my car before going home. Still exhausted today, so much so that I'm not planting.
I am so sorry to hear this. Please take care of yourself and rest. I appreciate you sharing and posting updates. This is still scary as hell.

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heyzeus
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by heyzeus »

Stay strong, Dreamer, and rest up. I've known people who were down for over a month with this.

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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Michael »

Take care, Dreamer!

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stlouie_lipp
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by stlouie_lipp »

Don't push yourself too hard Dreamer.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Hope you get back to normal soo, Dreamer. Sorry you're dealing with all these troubles. Has your doctor said anything about getting the vaccine?

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GeddyWrox
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by GeddyWrox »

I know we're still in the process of learning just how effective these vaccines are. But news articles like this are making me nervous. I'm trying to look at this news through the lens of the whole active/passive arms of the immune system that AW has so artfully explained in the past, but all these mutations and variants seem like they are going to keep us chasing solutions for a long, long time. UGH

https://www.boston25news.com/news/healt ... 3PHAQRHXM/
BOSTON — Wonderful. Awesome. Fantastic. Those are the adjectives Emory University researcher Mehul Suthar used to describe the immunity levels seen just after the second dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

But Suthar and colleagues at Emory’s Vaccine Center found that stunning immunity dulled after six months but not to such an extent that the vaccine was ineffective. In fact, Suthar estimated that in three age groups studied – 18-to-55, 56-to-70 and 71-and-older – neutralizing antibodies should linger for one to two years.

That is, neutralizing antibodies to the virus strain the vaccine was designed to handle, which is the only one that was circulating at the time of its development: the one from Wuhan.

“Now, there are so many more variants,” Suthar said. “That’s really the next set of questions. How well does this durability hold up in the face of these variants?”

Against the British or Kent variant – B.1.1.7 – Suthar is betting Moderna’s vaccine and others will do quite well. But other variants carry a mutation known as E484K or 484, which has also been found in a limited number of samples of B.1.1.7.

“The 484 mutation has been identified by several groups, including ours, that it seems to escape antibody responses,” Suthar said. “Other groups are finding that mutations within what’s called the N-terminal domain of that spike protein also encode for escape antibodies.”

Suthar said the question becomes whether normal-over-time reductions in antibody levels with current COVID-19 vaccines will leave hosts open to reinfection by variants with ‘escape antibody’ mutations.

“Does that mean we need a booster to help us get back to the awesome fantastic level? It’s unclear,” he said.

Also unclear – and under study – is whether a booster of the same vaccine formulation will do the trick against variants or whether the vaccine would need readjustment to thwart a specific mutation.

As these issues are studied, COVID-19 is having the equivalent of a global field day.

“Roughly 75% of the vaccines that have been manufactured are only going to 10 countries in the entire world,” said Dr. Ingrid Katz of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who recently co-wrote a piece in the New England Journal of Medicine calling for a global vaccination effort.

Dr. Katz estimated at the current rate of vaccination, it could take four years to immunize the rest of the world.

“And I think that is a real problem when you think about the number of variants that can continue to come up,” she said. “Even in this small window of time, over the course of this past year, we’ve seen multiple variants now emerge. So it’s only going to be continuing to escalate.”

And doesn’t Suthar know it. He pointed to the emergence of numerous new strains in Brazil, Mexico and the recent importation of a ‘double mutant’ from India.

“Three days ago, four days ago it was found in the San Francisco Bay area,” he said. “You can see how mutants in one area, one geographical location of the world, can spread and seed themselves in another geographic location.”

Suthar said mask-wearing, to mitigate the spread and transmission of COVID-19, is key to slowing down the emergence of new variants.

“Because of the rates of transmission and spread of this virus, this has just allowed this virus to test mutation space,” he said, “To figure out what works best for that virus to infect, replicate, transmit.”

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

I haven't kept up with a lot of the variants or what it means for vaccines, @geddywrox, so I don't have much to add. And, I had enough problems understanding the material when it was dummied down to a protein vs an antibody and an immune system. What I said months ago, I think, still holds true. Antibodies will fade, that's a given, though that doesn't necessarily mean protection fades along with it for the original strain/s protein. I don't think that question will be answered for at least a few more months, the antibodies will have to completely fade before it can be proven statistically that the immune system will be able to fight off infections/severe infections. Last I heard, the study group still had levels of antibodies that were deemed protective.

Regardless, vaccines, most of them anyway, are geared towards the s protein. How much does the variant change the s protein? Can the s protein mutate such that it is undetectable by the immune system but still attach to the ace 2 receptors? I don't know, and having taking a cursory glance, it's not something I understand well enough to proffer an opinion.

Another thing I find, well anecdotally mildly frustrating, is given the variants, various stages of vaccine rollout across the country, various rollbacks of local requirements (masks, venue capacity, etc), and various percentages of natural infections, it's almost impossible to keep track of everything anymore.

For instance, you could look at New Hampshire and say whoa! They've vaccinated (1 shot) half their population, the first state to do so, yet they're seeing quite a few new cases daily. https://covidactnow.org/?s=1749670 They also have one of the lowest cases per capita of any state of America with only 6% of their population ever confirmed positive. Conversely, states with the highest cases per capita are around 13%. This may not sound like a big difference, but it needs to be magnified probably by 5x (7-8x according to the CDC). So, that difference between 6 and 13 becomes a difference of 30% vs 65% which is obviously pretty meaningful. With that many more naive hosts, it makes a lot of sense they're still seeing relatively high infection rates. There are just so many variables at play right now, I can't keep up and find trying to make sense of anything overwhelming.

All anybody can do is get vaccinated, avoid licking doorknobs, and hope for the best.

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GeddyWrox
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by GeddyWrox »

Yeah, that all makes sense.

I'm just kind of freaking out that with the variants/mutations and something like 40% of people saying they won't get vaccinated, it just seems like we'll never beat this thing.

I WANT TO GO TO EUROPE GODDAMMT
(I realize this is entirely selfish, but damn... my bags were fooking packed and our boarding passes were fresh off the printer when they shut down travel last year)

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GeddyWrox
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by GeddyWrox »

This is quite the interesting read, too. Apparently US Military doctors are working on rapid production capabilities for antibodies for this and any other virus based on genetic sequencing. And at the very end of the article (quoted), they said they are also working on a vaccine that will attack all coronaviruses (completely binding/blocking the spike protein entirely, if I understood correctly...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/last-pande ... 04-11/#app
Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad: We're trying to not just make a vaccine for this virus, we're trying to make a vaccine for the whole family of coronaviruses. This is the core of our vaccine. We engineer the spike so that we can attach it to this protein.

If his concept, now in clinical trials, proves successful, Dr. Modjarrad says in five years a single vaccine could defeat all coronaviruses: that means many common colds, the deadly strain causing this pandemic and thousands of others.

Bill Whitaker: Is that at this point-- a dream?

Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad: This is not science fiction, this is science fact. We have the tools, we have the technology, to do this all right now.

Bill Whitaker: And you think we can, at some point, inoculate the world against these killer viruses.

Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad: Killer viruses that we haven't seen or even imagined, we'll be protected against.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Not sure if I shared this or not, but I went ahead and sent out an email saying we were going to let all covid policies sunset on June 14th giving everyone plenty of time to get vaccinated if they so desired. We've had crews going out in separate vehicles, office workers coming in on alternating shifts, mask requirements, temp taking upon entry, etc etc etc.

Basically, back to normal after June 14 though. Which is in line with CDC recommendations for vaccinated individuals. It gets tricky requiring vaccines, especially when they don't have full approval from the FDA. One of our clients is kicking around the idea but not willing to do so until the full approval. I know of one employee that is planning on resigning if they do that. We'll see what happens.

Interestingly, maybe a quarter of our employees (small firm) have said they were mulling the idea of being vaccinated but decided to do so when I sent out that email because they more/less felt responsible to help keep themselves and family but also co-workers safe. It was like taking away the protective covid policies forced their hand. I kind of feel bad, but also kind of feel like...huh, that's good. All in all I'd guess 3/4 of our employees will get vaccinated and a few won't. And, that 25% that won't were on the spectrum of never worrying about covid in the first place.

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