Author: Claudinne Miller
Confusion and falsehoods spread as China reverses its ‘zero-COVID’ policy
(NPR) After nearly three years of strict “zero-COVID” policies, in recent days Chinese officials have rolled back most of them following rare protests across the country. Mass testing and mass quarantining are now things of the past. Just as dramatic as the policy shifts is the shift in messaging coming from the public health experts […]
Dec 20, 2022
Meet the man preparing Britain for the next pandemic (from a cabin)
(UK Telegraph) Despite facing a funding shortfall, Sir Professor Peter Horby is hard at work devising a defence blueprint for the next outbreak. As a pre-eminent scientist, whose drug research saved more than a million lives during the pandemic, and knight of the realm, Sir Professor Horby would be forgiven for demanding the highest of […]
Dec 20, 2022
One of our best Covid-19 treatments doesn’t work anymore. What now?
(Vox) Covid-19 is once again trending upward in the United States, with new cases reaching more than 450,000 and deaths climbing up to 3,000 per week. But hospitals will have to face this year’s winter surge without a valuable tool. In late November, the Food and Drug Administration revoked its emergency use authorization for bebtelovimab, a monoclonal antibody […]
Dec 20, 2022
Experiments Show Infection of Visceral Fat Cells May Contribute to Severe COVID-19
(SciTechDaily) Two types of adipocytes (fat cells) were infected in the laboratory: one obtained from human stem cells isolated from subcutaneous tissue and the other differentiated from stem cells taken from visceral fatty tissue. Experiments show that visceral fat – fat around the liver, intestines, and other organs, considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, […]
Dec 20, 2022
SARS-CoV-2 infects adipose tissue in a fat depot- and viral lineage-dependent manner
(Nature) Visceral adiposity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19, and a link between adipose tissue infection and disease progression has been proposed. Here we demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 infects human adipose tissue and undergoes productive infection in fat cells. However, susceptibility to infection and the cellular response depends on the anatomical origin of the cells […]
Dec 20, 2022
China’s Abrupt Covid Pivot Leaves Many Without Medicines
(New York Times) Millions are desperate to get their hands on fever-reducing drugs and antivirals such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid as infections across China outpace supplies. As Covid rips through parts of China, millions of Chinese are struggling to find treatment — from the most basic cold remedies to take at home to more powerful antivirals […]
Dec 20, 2022
Dogs May Reliably Detect SARS-CoV-2 Infections at Mass Events
(JAMA) Dogs trained to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection by smell correctly identified individuals with active infections at concerts with a specificity of nearly 100% and a sensitivity of 82%, researchers reported in BMJ Global Health. The results suggest that dogs may provide a fast and reliable screening option for public events at which mass screening is required. Eight trained […]
Dec 20, 2022
Aromatherapy spray that killed two people in a multistate outbreak also killed pet raccoon
(NBC News) A lavender and chamomile-scented aromatherapy spray contaminated with deadly bacteria that killed two people in 2021 also killed one of the victim’s pet raccoon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. In October 2021, investigators with the CDC discovered the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei in the lavender and chamomile scent of Better Homes & Gardens […]
Dec 20, 2022
China COVID wave could kill one million people, models predict
(Nature) Up to one million people in China could die from COVID-19 over the next few months, according to some of the first projections since the government lifted many of its strict ‘zero-COVID-19’ measures. However, two studies find that the number of deaths could be reduced by giving most of the population a fourth vaccine […]
Dec 20, 2022
Vaccination rates are falling, and it’s not just the COVID-19 vaccine that people are refusing
(Nature) Vaccines offer a potent armour against infectious diseases that once carried a heavy toll of mortality and morbidity, particularly among children. Gaps were already forming in that armour in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic. But amid stagnating vaccination rates, the pandemic acted like a shotgun, punching many more holes in humanity’s defences against […]
Dec 20, 2022