Coronavirus thread

[Baldanders]

Viruses normally evolve to become more infectious, but less lethal. Thus they keep on reproducing and existing.

Of course for a population more infections, even if less lethal on an individual level, ussually mean more overall deaths or severe cases.

I believe the earliest documented cases of syphilis had deaths within months.

Ebola gets scary when less lethal strains emerge...

[EVP]

Thanks for all the great info and knowledge. A lot of it is way over my head but it is very interesting.


I apologize in advance for the simple question that may be in the previous 600+ pages but is there a reason why some”healthy” people are affected with severe symptoms vs others that barely have a cold?

[Robert Mitchum]

If this was already posted... delete it.



COVID 19 Vaccine Deep Dive: Safety, Immunity, RNA Production, with Shane Crotty, PhD

[Joe in PNG]

Sydney Australia just had a big spike, which has led to a state border closure.
The interesting thing is that a lot of Sydney people are trying to leave that area for less restrictive parts of the country.

[karandom]

The lady just got the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine this afternoon. Arm is a little sore, but otherwise no issues so far and I'll update if anything changes.



I actually have very few infections in my immediate social group, thankfully, but a friend of mine is coming off one. 30 years old, healthy, fit, no per-existing conditions etc. and was basically bed ridden for week. His only real symptom was the major fatigue. Just a 1 of 1 data point, but thankfully on the mend now.

[Dog Guy]

I saw reports today that vets, feed stores and ranch supply outfits in northern Nevada are running out of Ivermectin. Not just the once a month pills for your dog, but also the big dose stuff for worming horses. They've started making buyers sign a form stating that they understand that stuff they're buying is animal doses, not for human use. Vets are concerned about access to the meds they need for animal treatment.

I swear, sometimes I have to double check whether I'm watching the news or scanning the PF memes thread.

[pangloss]

Viruses normally evolve to become more infectious, but less lethal. Thus they keep on reproducing and existing.

Of course for a population more infections, even if less lethal on an individual level, ussually mean more overall deaths or severe cases.

I think I mentioned a book, The Evolution of Infectious Disease by Ewald, upthread a ways. The premise of this book is that pathogens evolve to maximize transmissibility. Depending on the circumstances, increased transmissibility could be achieved through increased OR decreased pathogenicity. I read the book in ~1998, and at that time in my education, his arguments were persuasive. I've wondered what sort of selection event masks and social distancing would be for the virus. My thinking has been that they would select for less virulent variants. If a person doesn't become overtly ill, he/she would be less likely to isolate, and thus more likely to transmit the virus. So far, I can't tell that there's an answer one way or the other. Maybe these new variants will have an answer.

Earlier in the pandemic, the D614G mutation became the dominant sequence in circulation. Residue 614 wasn't in the receptor binding domain (RBD), so I didn't think it'd make much difference to the immune response. This 502 variant is right at the tippy top of the RBD though. Hopefully I'll have more time tomorrow to look at the sequences. However, based on other viruses, I'd be surprised if just a few mutations are enough to dramatically affect the efficacy of the vaccine. In a previous job, I made a small panel of monoclonal antibodies against a single viral epitope. I had "dead epitope" mutants that were structurally designed to disrupt binding of one monoclonal. However, binding of the other antibodies was basically unaffected. In a normal immune response, you have a number of genetically distinct antibodies targeting each epitope. If 30% of the antibodies that target a single epitope fail to recognize the new mutated epitope, it really shouldn't matter much. Also, you'll have other B cells that recognize the new epitope.

I was immunized on scheduled this afternoon. The injection was not bad at all--probably a little less painful than your average flu show. My arm is just a tiny bit sore tonight. No headaches, no anaphylaxis, no passing out. Mutations or not, one week after my second immunization, I'm going to pay someone who cuts hair for a living to cut my hair!

[David S.]

Quick drive-by.

New COVID-19 treatment saves local great-grandmother just in time for Christmas

He called her doctor at Kelsey Seybold Clinic. Dr. Tony Lin immediately offered to administer a new treatment in the fight against COVID-19 called Bamlanivimab. It had just received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) emergency use authorization. It was perfect timing for Susan.

"We knew we were going to get some doses, but we did not know when it was going to come in. On that Friday when the Forney’s called, we were fortunate to have had our hospital partner, Baylor St. Luke's, give us several doses! Susan is my third or fourth patient at Kelsey to receive this," states Dr. Lin. He says all of them have done well.

"Having the medicine is obviously a good thing, but having Susan’s family as part of the team, with the infusion nurses, the facility to take care of her, the pharmacist in the background, some of those physicians were there waiting in case anything needed to be done. They all stayed until eight o'clock on a Friday night. Then all through the weekend, Larry texted me to update me on her vital signs, her o2 saturation rates, her temperature, and we followed along with her progress," explains Dr. Lin.

Dr. Lin says the drug, Bamlanivimab is something called a monoclonal antibody.

"For a normal person, they may take sometimes up to two weeks to produce the immune response and what this does is give the body instant relief, with the antibodies that synthetically may boost the immune system, and while the natural immune system takes over at a later time," says Dr. Lin.

[Savage Hands]

Our kids center had an outbreak, we learned about it Wednesday and quarantined right away, had testing done Thursday and they all came back negative today.

[MichaelD]

My wife managed to get COVID thanks to an outbreak at her crossfit gym. I tested negative about seven days later.