CORONAVIRUS INFO PROVIDED BY DR. JIM HARRIS – 4/12/2022

Because I have several readers who are physicians in active practice, I sometimes include articles that some readers might not enjoy. Allegedly, I save some of the physicians some time.

From BECKERS:

Fauci, Gottlieb urge self-interpretation amid COVID-19 case undercounts, relaxed mask rules

”…Drs. Fauci’s and Gottlieb’s remarks suggest the U.S. has reached a pandemic stage where self-determination among the public is more emphasized than ever — first to interpret the risk of COVID-19 transmission in their communities, then to decide what mitigation measures to take……I think that we’re dramatically undercounting cases,” Dr. Gottlieb told CBS News. “We’re probably only picking up one in seven or one in eight infections. So when we say there are 30,000 infections a day, there’s probably closer to a quarter of a million infections a day.”…”This is not going to be eradicated and it’s not going to be eliminated,” Dr. Fauci said of COVID-19. “And what’s going to happen is that we’re going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take in going to indoor dinners and in going to functions, even within the realm of a green zone map of the country where you see everything looks green but it’s starting to tick up. So you’re going to make a question and an answer for yourself, for me as an individual, for you as an individual. What is my age? What is my status? Do I have people at home who are vulnerable that if I bring the virus home there may be a problem?”

(J. Harris: So we’re back to where we started from: ultimately, responsibility for Covid protection is a personal/family >neighborhood > city >county > state > national >>>then world medical problem — with emphasis on personal and family. We’ve learned a lot and will be able live with Covid. We’ll have to.)

FROM NYT:

1. The city of Philadelphia will reinstate an indoor mask mandate, the first major U.S. city to do so this spring.

”With new coronavirus cases low but rising sharply in recent days, the city of Philadelphia announced on Monday that it will reinstate an indoor mask mandate a little more than a month after lifting it, becoming the first major U.S. city to do so…“This is our chance to get ahead of the pandemic,” said Cheryl Bettigole, the city’s health commissioner, in a news conference…’

‘2. New Drug Slashed Deaths Among Patients With Severe Covid, Maker Claims

”…The new drug, sabizabulin, reduced deaths among hospitalized Covid-19 patients so drastically in a clinical trial that independent safety monitors recommended stopping it early, officials at Veru Inc., the drug’s maker, said. The trial was halted on Friday…..Sabizabulin was given in a 9-milligram dose in a capsule that was taken once a day. It doesn’t require refrigeration, and the capsule can be given by mouth or opened up so that the contents can be added to a feeding tube…The drug is intended only for hospitalized patients at this point, so making it accessible to patients in the United States will be simpler than making it available to outpatients, which requires distributing it to pharmacies and educating general doctors about its use….”

3. (This AM) Experts say it is unclear whether rising cases in the northeastern U.S. are the start of a larger surge. Image

”…Covid outbreaks in elite circles in Washington, D.C., and on Broadway have received a lot of news media attention in recent days, but they appear to be only one part of a broader regional rise in infections: States in the Northeast are now reporting an uptick in cases…“There’s definitely something coming,” William Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard, told The Morning. “But depending on all the moving parts, it might be a ripple relative to previous waves….”

4. Virus outbreaks are pushing some U.S. universities to reinstate mask mandates.

”…A small number of U.S. colleges and universities are reinstating mask policies, citing coronavirus outbreaks on campus…But now, while some universities, such as Harvard, are letting professors decide what protocol to follow in the classroom, others are imposing new mask rules:…Rice University reinstated its mask policy for classrooms, regardless of vaccination status. Those who are unvaccinated also must continue to wear a mask in other indoor areas…”

FROM THE LANCET:

1. Estimating global, regional, and national daily and cumulative infections with SARS-CoV-2 through Nov 14, 2021: a statistical analysis

Conclusion

COVID-19 has had a staggering impact on the world, with 3·39 billion (95% UI 3·08–3·63) people infected with SARS-CoV-2 at least once as of Nov 14, 2021. These findings highlight the potential for COVID-19 to have a continued and profound impact on the world’s population. The vast differences in cumulative proportion of the population infected across countries and territories can help policy makers identify locations whose transmission-prevention strategies should be emulated, as well as those populations at greatest risk of future infection—a factor that should be considered in global vaccine prioritisation. Our statistical approach to estimating SARS-CoV-2 infection, which can be applied routinely and will allow for rapid availability of estimates, will be crucially important for research, science, and policy efforts towards pandemic preparedness, response, and control in the coming months and years. It has and continues to be made freely available to all on a routine basis.

2. AN ANTISPIKE VACCINE TESTED IN CUBA

”…In conclusion, the results of the phase 1-2 trial indicated that Abdala vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 was safe, well tolerated and induced humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 among adults from 19 to 80 years of age. Our findings indicate that the a SARS-CoV-2 recombinant spike protein vaccine studied (Abdala) is a promising candidate that warrants testing in phase 3 studies, in a larger number of individuals older than 19 years of age and a three-dose schedule of 50 μg on days 0-14-28, evaluating vaccine efficacy in the prevention of symptomatic COVID-19 and progression to serious and critical forms of the disease….”

FROM HOPKINS SUGGESTIONS:

1. The Next Leap in Coronavirus Vaccine Development Could Be a Nasal Spray (Washington Post) As the omicron variant of the coronavirus moved lightning-fast around the world, it revealed an unsettling truth. The virus had gained a stunning ability to infect people, jumping from one person’s nose to the next. Cases soared this winter, even among vaccinated people. That is leading scientists to rethink their strategy about the best way to fight future variants, by aiming for a higher level of protection: blocking infections altogether. If they succeed, the next vaccine could be a nasal spray.

2. Mechanical Control of Innate Immune Responses Against Viral Infection Revealed in a Human Lung Alveolus Chip (Nature Communications) Here we use a human lung alveolus chip that experiences cyclic breathing-like deformations to investigate whether physical forces influence innate immune responses to viral infection. Influenza H3N2 infection of mechanically active chips induces a cascade of host responses including increased lung permeability, apoptosis, cell regeneration, cytokines production, and recruitment of circulating immune cells. Comparison with static chips reveals that breathing motions suppress viral replication by activating protective innate immune responses in epithelial and endothelial cells, which are mediated in part through activation of the mechanosensitive ion channel TRPV4 and signaling via receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). RAGE inhibitors suppress cytokines induction, while TRPV4 inhibition attenuates both inflammation and viral burden, in infected chips with breathing motions. Therefore, TRPV4 and RAGE may serve as new targets for therapeutic intervention in patients infected with influenza and other potential pandemic viruses that cause life-threatening lung inflammation.

FROM THE CDC:

COVID-19 Vaccines for Children and Teens

(J. Harris: An assortment of short readable articles related to youth and vaccines)

AND LASTLY FROM DR. MCCLURG IN AUSTIN:

These insults are from an era before the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words:

1. “He had delusions of adequacy ” Walter Kerr

2. “He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”- Winston Churchill

3. “I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. – Clarence Darrow