Coronavirus thread

Started by JBS, March 12, 2020, 07:03:50 PM

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Karl Henning

Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on May 04, 2022, 02:18:28 PM
Karl, I wish you a speedy recovery!

Thanks! Warmly appreciated!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

foxandpeng

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on May 03, 2022, 02:43:20 PM
Thanks, gents. Mostly feeling like a damp dishrag.

Recover quickly, sir!
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

Karl Henning

Quote from: foxandpeng on May 05, 2022, 08:11:42 AM
Recover quickly, sir!

Thanks! Feeling a shade better today: The Paxlovid seems to be doing its job!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

steve ridgway


Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Spotted Horses

There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

Karl Henning

Thanks. My friend Peter alluded to this. Pleased to report no such experience (as yet?) Today is Day 3 of the course. The "grapefruit" mentions have me associatively recalling that my doctor bade me stop use of my statin during the Paxlovid course (since my taking the statin, I've been completely forbidden grapefruit juice, as there is an interaction.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Que

Infection rates of Omicron BA4 and BA5 are picking up in the Netherlands.

Assessment on the basis of the situation in SA:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01240-x



krummholz

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on May 05, 2022, 09:00:19 AM
Thanks! Feeling a shade better today: The Paxlovid seems to be doing its job!

Glad to hear this, Karl! Hope the upward trend continues...

Karl Henning

Quote from: krummholz on May 07, 2022, 07:18:00 AM
Glad to hear this, Karl! Hope the upward trend continues...

Thanks! Gradual improvement, still low-ish energy.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

steve ridgway


MusicTurner

#7251
North Korea has now confirmed its 'first cases' of the corona virus ...

steve ridgway

Quote from: MusicTurner on May 11, 2022, 08:48:46 PM
North Korea has now confirmed its 'first cases' of the corona virus ...

Perhaps they'll wipe it out by nuking Pyongyang. >:D

Karl Henning

A new Omicron variant, BA.2.12.1, has taken over in Massachusetts. Here's what you need to know.

By Kay Lazar Globe Staff, Updated May 13, 2022, 8:45 a.m.

The virus that causes COVID-19 didn't change much in the early days of the pandemic. Then the number of mutations started increasing, and scientists began using an alphabet soup of letters and numbers to distinguish them.

But nothing prepared them for the dizzying array of strains that the mighty Omicron variant has been spitting out.

As one of the newest Omicron variants, BA.2.12.1, overtakes its predecessors, here's what you need to know.

First things, first. The original Omicron variant, called B.1.1.529, emerged in South Africa last year and spread quickly around the world. By late January, another Omicron subvariant, BA.1.1, already was dominant in the United States.

Fast forward to this spring. The BA.2.12.1 subvariant from the fast-moving Omicron lineage was first detected in New York in March, along with its sibling, BA.2.1. These two subvariants are estimated to spread 23 percent to 27 percent faster than their predecessor, the BA.2 variant. Consider that in early March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that BA.2 accounted for about 26 percent of all cases in the US, and BA.2.12.1 accounted for less than 1 percent. By May 7, BA.2 had roughly doubled its prevalence, to about 56 percent of all cases — but BA.2.12.1 had exploded and now accounts for 43 percent of the country's COVID cases. (It's about 40 percent of New England cases, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard estimates that it has taken over in Massachusetts, accounting for nearly 70 percent of cases.)

Will BA.2.12.1 elbow out its sibling for top spot?

Scientists tracking Omicron say that's already happening. Yet its extraordinary speed, fueling another rapid rise in cases, is puzzling researchers because its structure is not all that different from its predecessor's. "It's almost like having somebody who runs a 2:30 marathon changing their sneakers and all of a sudden running a two-hour marathon. It doesn't make sense," said Dr. Jacob Lemieux, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, who is also coleader of the viral variants program at the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness.

Is BA.2.12.1 better at evading immunity?

Yes, it appears it has an increased capacity to evade antibodies triggered by a previous Omicron infection and vaccination, according to recent research by Chinese scientists that has not been peer reviewed. Dr. Pedro Piedra, a professor of molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, compares these virus variants to a leopard that can change its spots to help it avoid detection.

"As these viruses go through the population once, it becomes harder to reinfect the population that already has a level of protection against that variant," he said. "What we are seeing is these rapid changes that are enough for this variant to take a foothold and cause infection."

What about the level of illness from BA.2.12.1?

While this latest subvariant doesn't appear to be causing the flood of hospitalizations that the original Omicron wave did over the winter, hospitalizations are slowly rising again as cases mount in Massachusetts.

"I and many other people had expected that as treatments become more available, as vaccinations are more widespread, we would see a decoupling of the case counts and hospitalizations and we have to a large extent," Lemieux said. "However it hasn't been a complete decoupling that was hoped for. So we will have to keep a close eye on the hospitalization count."

Are there yet more Omicron variants out there?

Yes. Meet BA.4 and BA.5, the newest offshoots identified by scientists in South Africa. The two subvariants have rapidly replaced Omicron's BA.2 line, reaching more than 50 percent of sequenced cases in South Africa from the first week of April 2022 onward, a team of researchers there recently reported in a study that has not been peer reviewed. The scientists also reported "early signs" of rising hospital admissions in some of the country's provinces. They said there are signs BA.4 and BA.5 may be even more wily about evading immunity. As far as causing more severe disease, they said the jury is still out.

Are BA.4 and BA.5 in the US?

Yes. Outbreak.info, a database that tracks variants worldwide, reports that BA.4 was first detected in the US in March, and has since been pinpointed in at least 17 states, including Massachusetts. But it still accounts for less than 1 percent of the samples sequenced in the country. According to the database, BA.5 has shown up in at least 13 states, including Massachusetts, as of mid-April, but it has a tiny presence here, accounting for fewer than 1 percent of sequenced samples.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

11 of 14 Mass. counties now have high levels of COVID-19, CDC reports; indoor masking recommended
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Madiel

Australia is apparently top of the world at getting infected right now. How things have changed.

And over in New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern has it.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

premont

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on May 07, 2022, 09:32:48 AM
Thanks! Gradual improvement, still low-ish energy.

Gradual improvement sounds promising.  :)
Hope you continue at least in this way or still better with faster improvement!
γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Karl Henning

Quote from: (: premont :) on May 14, 2022, 03:21:39 PM
Gradual improvement sounds promising.  :)
Hope you continue at least in this way or still better with faster improvement!

Warm thanks!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Dry Brett Kavanaugh


Karl Henning

Tracking coronavirus in animals takes on new urgency

The questions driving the researchers goes far beyond pet welfare. They're investigating whether animals infected with the coronavirus might become reservoirs for the evolution of new variants that might jump back into humans — an issue with huge implications for both human and animal health.

In year three of the pandemic, scientists have confirmed that the virus believed to have first spilled over to humans from bats or possibly pangolins has already spread to at least 20 other animal species, including big cats, ferrets, North American white-tailed deer and great apes. To date, incidents of animals infecting humans are rare. Only three species — hamsters in Hong Kong, mink in the Netherlands and, possibly, also white-tailed deer in the United States and Canada — have transmitted a mutated, albeit mostly benign, version of the virus back to humans. But those cases are spurring concern.

The search for infected animals in Texas — led by Texas A&M University in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — is part of a scattered but growing global effort to monitor pets, livestock and wildlife for new, potentially more dangerous coronavirus variants and stop them from wreaking havoc on humans.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot