Author: Shannon Becker
SARS-CoV-2 infection drives an inflammatory response in human adipose tissue through infection of adipocytes and macrophages
Science – Obesity, characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation of the adipose tissue, is associated with adverse coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes, yet the underlying mechanism is unknown. To explore whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection of adipose tissue contributes to pathogenesis, we evaluated COVID-19 autopsy cases and deeply profiled the response of […]
Sep 25, 2022
New Jersey: Kids are pouring into hospitals. A spate of respiratory illness is filling pediatric beds
NJ.com – New Jersey hospitals are filling up with kids coughing and struggling to breathe. But it’s not COVID-19. Or even influenza. An outbreak of viral respiratory infections is sending children to emergency rooms throughout the state. The biggest culprits are enterovirus and rhinovirus as well as a few cases of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), all of which usually […]
Sep 24, 2022
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and its current known unknowns: A narrative review
Pub Med – The emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) has created great global distress. This variant of concern shows multiple sublineages, importantly B.1.1.529.1 (BA.1), BA.1 + R346K (BA.1.1), and B.1.1.529.2 (BA.2), each with unique properties. However, little is known about this new variant, specifically its sub-variants. A narrative review was conducted to summarise […]
Sep 24, 2022
Mixing patterns and the spread of pandemics
Nature – Integrating social mixing data into epidemic models can help policy makers better understand epidemic spread. However, empirical mixing data might not be immediately available in most populations. In a recent work, a network model methodology is proposed to construct micro-level social mixing structure when empirical data are not available.
Sep 23, 2022
Nearly 225,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 since the start of 2022 despite viral declines, data shows
ABC News – Although the daily death rates have ticked down slightly from August, updated federal data shows that the U.S. is still losing hundreds of Americans to COVID-19 every day, and 225,000 people in the U.S. have been lost to the virus since the start of 2022. On average, more than 350 American deaths […]
Sep 23, 2022
New COVID variants may evade current treatments—or render them entirely ineffective, experts say
Fortune – Future COVID variants are expected to be more transmissible and perhaps better at evading the immune system. And they might even render treatments for patients like monoclonal antibodies “less effective,” the World Health Organization’s pandemic lead said Thursday. Van Kerkhove said that the WHO is keeping an eye on Omicron variants BA.5—currently dominant […]
Sep 23, 2022
Moderna asks FDA to authorize omicron Covid boosters for children as young as 6 years old
CNBC – Moderna has asked the FDA to authorize omicron boosters for adolescents ages 12 to 17 and for kids ages 6 to 11. The Boston biotech company said it will ask the FDA to clear the omicron shots for the youngest children, 6 months through 6-years-old, later this year. The Centers for Disease Control […]
Sep 23, 2022
Major Covid Holdouts in Asia Drop Border Restrictions
NYT – Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan have relaxed their pandemic rules, as they look to bolster their economies and play catch-up with much of the world. Hong Kong said on Friday that it would abandon mandatory hotel quarantine for people coming to the city starting next week, following a similar move by Taiwan. Japan […]
Sep 23, 2022
MSF responds to rare Ebola outbreak
MSF– Following the September 20 declaration of an Ebola outbreak in Uganda in the country’s central Mubende district, the ministry of health has asked the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to support its efforts in the fight against the spread of the disease.
Sep 23, 2022
Reinfections with Different SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Subvariants, France
CDC – We describe 188 patients in France who were successively infected with different SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants, including BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5. Time between 2 infections was <90 days for 50 (26.6%) patients and <60 days for 28 (14.9%) patients. This finding suggests that definitions for SARS-CoV-2 reinfection require revision.
Sep 23, 2022