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“We saw that with the mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines that it can be a good messenger,” says Cech. The Catalyst by Thomas R. Cech W W NortonYou mentioned in “The Catalyst” that research on RNA has been around since the ‘50s. What is something that most people get wrong about mRNA vaccines, such as the Covid-19 ones? Thomas R. Cech in a lab in 1984, five years before he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. How does this apply to DNA, RNA, mRNA and CRISPR?
Persons: you’re, , Thomas R, Cech, ” Cech, Sidney Altman, he’s, Norton, It’s, Thomas R . Cech, Organizations: CNN, Pfizer, DNA, University of Colorado, Denver Post, Rotary Clubs, Lions Locations: Moderna, University of Colorado , Boulder, Boulder , Colorado, China, Cambridge , Massachusetts, United States, Germany
Opinion Guest Essay Why the Pandemic Probably Started in a Lab, in 5 Key Points Illustration by Mike McQuade. Here’s what we now know:1 The SARS-like virus that caused the pandemic emerged in Wuhan, the city where the world’s foremost research lab for SARS-like viruses is located. Wuhan China Taiwan Laos South China Sea Thailand The pandemic started roughly 1,000 miles away, in Wuhan, home to the world’s foremost SARS-like virus research lab. Wuhan China East China Sea india Taiwan Myanmar Laos South China Sea philippines Thailand The pandemic started roughly 1,000 miles away, in Wuhan, home to the world’s foremost SARS-like virus research lab. In the United States, virologists generally use stricter Biosafety Level 3 protocols when working with SARS-like viruses.
Persons: Mike McQuade, Anthony Fauci, , Shi Zhengli, Shi’s, Sarah Temmam et, Shi, coronavirus, EcoHealth, Peter Daszak, Biden, Daszak, Baric, Jesse Bloom, Fauci Organizations: Getty Images, National Institute of Allergy, Wuhan Institute of Virology, China East China, U.S, New York, Facebook Locations: United States, Wuhan, China, Yunnan, Southeast Asia, Laos, Yunnan province Taiwan Laos, Laos South China, Thailand, China East China, Taiwan Myanmar Laos South China, Laos philippines Thailand, Taiwan Laos South China, China East, philippines Thailand, Wuhan China Taiwan Laos South China, Wuhan China East China, China Wuhan East China, Covid, MERS
Parts of northern China have seen a surge in children with respiratory illnesses. The WHO requested more information from Chinese health officials, who said common bugs are the cause. AdvertisementCases of respiratory illness among children in northern China have surged in recent weeks, but it's unlikely this is the start of a new pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO has been monitoring an increase in respiratory illness among children in northern China since mid-October. Advertisement2) The illnesses are not caused by a new virusChinese health officials said that the outbreak of respiratory illness is caused by known pathogens.
Persons: , Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID, Van Kerkhove, François Balloux, Hilary Brueck, pneumoniae Organizations: WHO, Service, World Health Organization, UCL Genetics Institute Locations: China
New COVID Variant Takes Hold in the United States
  + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com   time to read: +2 min
By Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter(HealthDay)TUESDAY, Nov. 28, 2023 (Healthday News) -- The prevalence of a highly mutated COVID variant has tripled in the past two weeks, new government data shows. Now, nearly 1 in 10 new COVID cases are fueled by the BA.2.86 variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. Scientists first warned of the highly mutated variant back in August, but it has since spread in several regions of the United States. The CDC also noted that BA.2.86 variant poses a "low" public health risk. But the CDC data released Monday did show that emergency department visits linked to COVID-19 have begun to climb nationwide.
Persons: Robin Foster HealthDay, Jasmine Reed Organizations: U.S . Centers for Disease Control, EG, WHO, CDC, CBS News, JN Locations: New York, New Jersey, United States, U.S
The World Health Organization has requested more information from China about an illness affecting children. Reports of "undiagnosed pneumonia" in children in northern China circulated on November 21. AdvertisementThe World Health Organization (WHO) asked China for "detailed information" about a respiratory illness that's affecting children in the north of the country. The organization requested "additional epidemiologic and clinical information" following reports of "undiagnosed pneumonia" spreading among children, according to a statement released on Wednesday. Hospitals in northern China appear to be "overwhelmed with sick children," NBC News reported.
Persons: , GAO Organizations: World Health Organization, Service, Health Organization, WHO, China Morning Post, NBC, Getty Images China, Centers for Disease Control Locations: China, Beijing
The World Health Organization has formally requested that China share detailed information about a recent increase in respiratory illnesses, citing unconfirmed media reports of undiagnosed pneumonia in children. China has been reporting a jump in respiratory illnesses for months. Chinese media reports have described long lines at pediatric hospitals, and doctors have said that this year’s wave appeared to be more severe than those of previous years. But some news and social media reports have described crowds of children at hospitals with pneumonia, without specifying the exact cause of illness. requested more information from China.
Organizations: World Health Organization Locations: China
CNN —The World Health Organization says it has requested more information from Chinese officials on an increase in respiratory illnesses and pneumonia clusters among children there. Officials from China’s National Health Commission reported an increase in respiratory disease at a news conference last week, WHO said in a statement Wednesday. Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team. Media reports suggest “a widespread outbreak of an undiagnosed respiratory illness in several areas in China,” according to the International Society for Infectious Diseases’ Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases, known as ProMED. The agency advises people in China to take precautionary measures to lower the risk of respiratory illness, including getting recommended vaccines, staying home when sick, wearing masks around others and washing hands regularly.
Persons: , Dr, Sanjay Gupta, ” ProMED, it’s Organizations: CNN, World Health Organization, China’s National Health Commission, WHO, ” WHO, CNN Health, Media, International Society for Infectious Diseases Locations: China
Five tips for living with long Covid
  + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Manav Tanneeru | Andrea Kane | ) edition.cnn.com   time to read: +8 min
They struggled to define and measure long Covid, to identify a cause for or a mechanism behind it. Long Covid is not somebody else’s problem: a 2022 National Center for Health Statistics survey estimated that almost 7% of US adults, and more than 1% of children, who reported having Covid have struggled with long Covid at some point. To hear more of Putrino’s conversation on the possible causes of long Covid and the search for biomarkers, listen to the full podcast episode here:What can you do to help yourself if you have long Covid? Mind your mast cellsSometimes, during both an acute Covid infection and in long Covid, a person experiences hyperinflammation across many body systems; researchers believe that this happens because mast cells are activated. Reach out for helpThis last tip is for caregivers and friends of people with long Covid, or anyone with a chronic disease.
Persons: Sanjay Gupta, , Covid, David Putrino, “ We’re, ” Putrino, Putrino, , , , , ’ ” Putrino, dysautonomia Dysautonomia, they’re Organizations: CNN, National Institute of Health’s, for Health Statistics, Rehabilitation, Sinai Health, MCAS Locations: United States, New York City
CNN —The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expanding its infectious disease surveillance program at four major US airports to more than 30 pathogens, including flu, RSV and other respiratory viruses. The program currently operates Covid-19 surveillance at seven major international airports in the United States. The traveler surveillance program was introduced in 2021 when the CDC began collecting nasal swab samples from anonymous international travelers arriving at participating airports who volunteer to get swabbed. The program has collected samples from travelers from more than 135 countries and has sequenced more than 14,000 samples for further analysis. The wastewater program, which was introduced in August 2022, collects wastewater from a single plane using a custom-made collection device.
Persons: Dr, Cindy Friedman, John F, , ” Friedman, Friedman, Ginkgo Bioworks, Matthew McKnight, ” McKnight, Sanjay Gupta, Deidre McPhillips Organizations: CNN, Centers for Disease Control, CDC’s, Health, Boston Logan International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Dulles International, Washington , D.C, Kennedy International, CDC, Get CNN, CNN Health Locations: United States, Washington ,, New York, Ginkgo
If so, what’s the average length of time they could transmit viruses such as the coronavirus, influenza, RSV or the common cold to others? CNN: Is there an easy way to tell if someone is still contagious after having a viral infection? For many viruses, an infected individual is contagious even before they start exhibiting symptoms. CNN: What’s the average length of time someone could transmit the virus to others if they are infected with common viruses like the coronavirus, influenza, RSV or the common cold? These vaccines, crucially, reduce the risk of severe illness, and they decrease your chance of getting infected with those specific viruses.
Persons: CNN —, Leana Wen, Wen, immunocompromise Organizations: CNN, Northern, CNN Wellness, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, :
The programme, titled “Horizon Special: The Vaccine”, documented the development, by the University of Queensland and biotechnology company CSL, of a COVID vaccine candidate that never made it to market. The 63-second video begins with a social media narrator saying: “This is utter madness. Explaining the reason behind choosing the HIV protein, Chappell says on-camera that the protein was picked because it’s well understood and presents no risks, including having no role in helping HIV to make copies of itself: “It’s a highly stable structure. VACCINE CANDIDATE DROPPEDThe social media clip fails to acknowledge that the production of the Australian vaccine candidate was halted following the discovery that it temporarily caused false-positive HIV tests due to the presence of the protein. The Australian vaccine candidate contained an HIV protein which posed no safety threat, but led the vaccine candidate to be dropped before ever making it to larger trials because it produced false-positive test results for HIV.
Persons: Keith Chappell, Chappell, ” Chappell, Read Organizations: University of Queensland, CSL, BBC, University of Queensland’s, Reuters, HIV, Thomson Locations:
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that COVID-19 hospitalization is a “continued public health threat” that predominantly affects adults ages 65 and older. The study looked at hospitalizations from January to August and found that adults ages 65 and older accounted for 63% of all hospitalizations associated with COVID-19. Nearly all hospitalized individuals ages 65 and older had two or more underlying medical conditions. Despite the issues, uptake of the shot is likely to be significantly higher than the last round of boosters. Broken down by age group, about two-thirds of adults ages 65 and older are likely to get the vaccine.
Persons: , Biden Organizations: Centers for Disease Control Locations: hospitalizations, U.S
CNN —This year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their work on mRNA vaccines, a crucial tool in curtailing the spread of Covid-19. The Nobel Prize committee announced the prestigious honor, seen as the pinnacle of scientific achievement, in Sweden on Monday. Rickard Sandberg, a member of the Nobel Prize in medicine committee, said, “mRNA vaccines together with other Covid-19 vaccines have been administered over 13 billion times. They sold their car, Karikó told The Guardian, and stuffed the money – an equivalent of about $1,200 – in their daughter’s teddy bear for safekeeping. Weissman told CNN that their technology is much more efficient than traditional methods of producing vaccines.
Persons: Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman, , Karikó, Weissman, Rickard Sandberg, ” Karikó, Steffen Trumpf, BioNTech, Penn Medicine J, Larry Jameson, . Weissman, ” Jameson, Drew, , Hope, I’m Organizations: CNN, University of Pennsylvania, Pfizer, Penn Medicine, UPenn’s School of Medicine, Kati, Temple University, Guardian, Moderna Locations: Covid, Sweden, Hungarian, American, Germany, Norway, Hungary, United States, Philadelphia, UPenn
Data is trickling in on a new COVID-19 strain nicknamed “pirola,” giving researchers a wider picture of what the variant could mean for the U.S. and the world. Van Kerkhove said that the global COVID-19 variant picture is complex, and that while BA.2.86 is spreading, it is not currently outcompeting other strains. “It is quite a complex picture globally in terms of how these variants behave because different variants circulate in different countries at different times.”Will Vaccines Work on Pirola? Moderna and Pfizer have announced that early data indicates that their updated vaccines do produce an immune response against BA.2.86. "These results demonstrate that our updated COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong human immune response against the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant.
Persons: “ pirola, ” Mandy Cohen, Maria Van Kerkhove, ” Benjamin Murrell, Ashish Jha, pirola, Van Kerkhove, it’s, , , Stephen Hoge Organizations: U.S, CDC, Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, WHO, White, Moderna, Pfizer, EG Locations: United States, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Israel, Canada, South Africa
Kent Sepkowitz CNNThere are several plausible reasons why this latest bump is occurring now after months and months of calm. To sort it out, I decided to perform an at-home rapid antigen test. One negative test on the first day of symptoms, especially with the rapid antigen test, is not determinative. The virus that causes Covid-19 infection is a simple scrap of RNA that cannot survive without a living cell to support it. This won’t be the last alarm, real or false, for me (and others) in the months ahead.
Persons: Kent Sepkowitz, Covid, , overconfidence Organizations: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, CNN, Kent Sepkowitz CNN, US, Twitter Locations: New York, United States, XBB
Ivermectin is not FDA-approved for COVID treatment, but misleading posts cast the attorney’s statement as though it represented a change in the drug’s status. Referring to ivermectin, a post on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, said: “The FDA now says the Nobel Prize winning drug is approved to treat COVID” (here). Ashley Cheung Honold, a Department of Justice lawyer representing the FDA, said that “FDA explicitly recognizes that doctors do have the authority to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID” (see 22:26 timestamp) and “FDA is clearly acknowledging that doctors have the authority to prescribe human ivermectin to treat COVID” (see 31:30 timestamp). “In general, off-label uses have evidence for efficacy and safety that is less than that required to have an indication FDA-approved. Ivermectin is not FDA-approved to treat COVID but the agency does not prohibit physicians from prescribing the drug off-label.
Persons: ivermectin, Ivermectin, COVID, Ashley Cheung Honold, Randall Stafford, , ” Stafford, , Stafford, Ryan Abbot, ” Abbot, Read Organizations: U.S . Food, Drug Administration, FDA, Twitter, Facebook, U.S ., Appeals, Fifth Circuit, Department of Health & Human, COVID, YouTube, Justice, Stanford School of Medicine, University of Surrey, University of California, al, , Reuters Locations: Los Angeles, Apter
So if people are less likely to be hospitalized or die from a Covid-19 infection now, has the danger passed? Through genetic bad luck, some people may just be at higher risk of serious reactions to Covid-19 infections, and they probably wouldn’t know it. Researchers defined it as any new or continuing symptoms more than 90 days after a Covid-19 infection. Based on his experience treating long Covid patients, Griffin said that the percentage reported in the Australian paper seems high. Earlier in the pandemic, pediatric infectious disease specialists were on the lookout for a rare complication of Covid-19 infection in kids called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C.MIS-C starts two to six weeks after a Covid-19 infection.
Persons: CNN —, we’ve, aren’t, Good, , Megan Ranney, Covid, ” Ranney, that’s, Evusheld, haven’t, you’ve, they’re, They’re, Mandy Cohen, It’s, , Jesse Bloom, Daniel Griffin, it’s ‘, Griffin, , Peter Chin, Chin, Hong, Nathaniel Hendrix, Hendrix, it’s, hasn’t, she’s, Kristin Englund, shouldn’t, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, “ It’s, Ellie Murray, ” Murray Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, Yale School of Public Health, Covid, National Institutes of Health, FDA, US Department of Health, Human Services, CDC, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, HHS, Columbia University, University of California, Census Bureau, Nature Medicine, American Board of Family Medicine, Nature, Veterans Affairs, Cleveland Clinic, CNN Health, Boston University School of Public Health Locations: South Africa, Botswana, United States, China, Seattle, Israel, Denmark, United Kingdom, Portugal, US, Switzerland, Thailand, Australia, San Francisco, Ohio
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/CHICAGO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A highly mutated COVID variant called BA.2.86 has now been detected in Switzerland and South Africa in addition to Israel, Denmark, the U.S. and the U.K., according to a leading World Health Organization official. It has since been detected in other symptomatic patients, in routine airport screening, and in wastewater samples in a handful of countries. That the known cases are not linked suggests it is already circulating more widely, particularly given reduced surveillance worldwide, she said. There have been nine such cases detected as of Aug. 23 and the variant was also found in wastewater in Switzerland. Jha and others, including the European public health agency and COVAX, the global program for getting vaccines to the world's poorest, said COVID surveillance and defenses could be reactivated in the event of a major infection wave.
Persons: Shannon Stapleton, Maria Van Kerkhove, Kerkhove, , Marion Koopmans, Nirav Shah, Van Kerkhove, Tyra Grove Krause, Ashish Jha, Jha, Jennifer Rigby, Julie Steenhuysen, Pratik Jain, Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Health Organization, Omicron, WHO, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Pharmacy, Walgreens, Rite, Reuters, Statens Serum, White, Thomson Locations: Harlem, New York City, U.S, CHICAGO, Switzerland, South Africa, Israel, Denmark, COVID, Dutch, Danish, Bengaluru
The Ongoing Mystery of Covid’s Origin
  + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( David Quammen | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +5 min
But as the researchers describe it, these apparent contradictions were simply a reflection of their fast-evolving views. It showed that such an RBD had evolved in the wild and might well have gotten into SARS-CoV-2 by recombination, the natural gene-swapping process. The genome was 96.2 percent identical to the SARS-CoV-2 genome as sampled from people during the early days of the pandemic. RaTG13 has attained renown, not just because it constituted strong evidence of SARS-CoV-2’s ancestry in bat viruses but also because the Mojiang mine figures in some of the more lurid scenarios for a lab-leak origin. The inference is that Shi’s team, a year after the mine workers died, may have taken the virus back to Wuhan.
Persons: Andersen, , Slack, Matt Wong, ” Andersen, Zhengli Shi, Shi, RaTG13 Organizations: Twitter, Nature, Wuhan Institute of Virology Locations: Houston, Yunnan Province, Wuhan, Tongguan, Mojiang, Yunnan
CNN —The US intelligence community still believes it is plausible that Covid-19 originated in a laboratory or in the wild, a conclusion that has been consistent for months, according to newly declassified information released Friday evening. And almost all American intelligence agencies also assess that the virus itself was not genetically engineered, the report states. “Most agencies assess that SARS-CoV-2 was not laboratory-adapted; some are unable to make a determination. All IC agencies assess that SARS-CoV-2 was not developed as a biological weapon,” according to the ODNI report. US intelligence agencies remain split over whether it resulted from a lab leak or occurred in the wild.
Persons: , WIV Organizations: CNN, National Intelligence Locations: Wuhan, China
A South Korean COVID-19 vaccine recently authorised in Britain is administered by injection, not sprayed into the sky from aircraft, as social media posts falsely claim. Some social media users have since been saying that SKYCovion will be sprayed on people from aircraft in a possible misinterpretation of the vaccine’s name (here). However, the vaccine is not based on mRNA and is administered through intramuscular injection, according to the MHRA and SK bioscience. SKYCovion is not an mRNA vaccine but has a traditional protein-antigen design. The SKYCovion vaccine authorised in Britain is injected intramuscularly, not sprayed from the sky.
Persons: chemtrails, Read Organizations: South, SK bioscience, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, SK Chemicals, Britain’s Medicines, Healthcare, Agency, Twitter, ” SK bioscience, Reuters Locations: Britain, South Korean
Scott Olson | Getty ImagesThree years and billions of Covid vaccinations into the pandemic, Pfizer and Moderna say their work is far from over. Here's what Moderna and Pfizer say is next for their Covid shots. Annual Covid shotsPfizer and Moderna aim to keep up with a shift in the U.S. toward annual Covid shots rather than frequent booster doses. Miller, who helped lead the development of Moderna's Covid shot in 2020, said the advantages of using mRNA became evident earlier on in the pandemic. 'Next-generation' Covid shotsPfizer's and Moderna's Covid vaccines both deliver robust protection against the virus, but that immunity can start to fade after four to six months.
Bat viruses have been the source of multiple health crises besides those related to coronaviruses, including recent outbreaks of Ebola, Nipah, and Marburg. Partners in risk The total area at high risk for bat viruses to infect humans more than doubled in size in Laos between 2002 and 2020. The animals, known to be susceptible to bat viruses, included raccoon dogs, bamboo rats and porcupines. As China boomed in recent decades, global demand for rubber also skyrocketed, leading to further development and deforestation here. Already, scientists have found local bats bearing viruses closely related to those responsible for the 2003 SARS and COVID-19 pandemics.
How Reuters pinpointed bat-virus risk zones worldwide
  + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +12 min
Areas where conditions are similar are more prone to spillover, scientists say. The Reuters analysis, which assessed spillover risk through 2020, has proven to have some predictive power. Similar statistical models are used widely to analyze data in ecology, and researchers use them to understand spillover risk. More than one of every five people on the planet is living in areas where the risk is highest for spillover. Using epidemic modeling software called GLEAMviz, the news agency simulated a worldwide pandemic originating from the spillover of a theoretical novel virus.
We may never know where the COVID pandemic originated
  + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +7 min
LONDONIt’s the enduring mystery of the COVID-19 pandemic: Where did the virus come from? They also mostly agree that many of the earliest known infections and deaths clustered around a wildlife market in Wuhan, China. Others suspect the pathogen somehow leaked from a Wuhan laboratory, 27 km from the market, where researchers study bat viruses. One concentration of jump zones includes a region of mountains and lakes about 175 km southeast of the Wuhan market. In late 2002, the SARS-CoV-1 virus emerged in Guangdong province, in southern China, and became the SARS pandemic of 2003.
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