SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus (COVID-19)

I post for the facts and data and the occasional opportunity to crack a joke.

Bob Wilson

 

be that as it may, case rates are diving quickly here. it's nice to see. hospitalizations, intubations and deaths are following.
hoping for a decent spring/summer/early fall, and the possibility of a less severe or almost no virus next year.
my hope is unencumbered friends and family gatherings.

 

I wouldn't look at any data out of China with a straight face. If you look at their death rate over time, it jumped up until about April 2020 at 4637 deaths then pretty much flatlined from that date until now, when they are still claiming less than 5000 deaths for the entire country.

Now either China has enacted some kind of Biblical level miracle, or officials decided on April 2020 to no longer record Covid deaths. You can pick which one you decide to believe.

That being said, Omicron does appear to have peaked in many places and rates are going down fast. You can never predict with this sneaky mutating virus, but I'm hopeful.

 

A product underdevelopment, they report a PCR assay, post sampling, is still needed. Not an objection as much as wondering how the operational scenario would work.

I would prefer a system aimed at identification of infected individuals for contact tracing. Perhaps a video camera equipped, continuous air sampling system with a 'warning' light.

Bob Wilson

 

There was a device shown at the recent CES that could detect Covid in the air on-the-fly. Supposedly the CES organizers wouldn't let them turn it on during the show.

 

We have a (voluntary) app (at least here in CA), called CA Notify. It seems to work on Bluetooth as whenever I turn it off I get a warning about the app not working without it on.

REVVL V+ 5G ?

 

cdc recommending continued masking for now, states ignoring their continued nonsensical statements with no data, just the usual, 'we're following the science' response.

 

Just remember that this app doesn't detect any virus, it is just for contact tracing.

We caught our covid cases last week on a ski trip through a heavily un-masked un-vaxxed state that doesn't participate in this contact tracing program. On top of that, my spouse's dumb phone is not app-capable. And not using Bluetooth for anything else, I elected to not turn it on solely for my state's version of this app.

 

Hope the cases are mild and you are recovering well.

At least well enough to post here.

 

Our cases aren't as mild as I'd like, but also not as bad as our worst common colds and flus. Even on the peak symptom day, 6 days ago, we were still able to get outside in late afternoon for a few slow miles of exercise. But recovery seems to be progressing slowly now.

Probably the most unnerving part was, just as we figured out that we were actually ill and not merely fatigued from 8 days of skiing, we also finally noticed the news of a prominent anti-vaxxer (the State Patrol trooper who resigned and told the Gov to "kiss my a**" rather than obey the state employment vaccine mandate) earning his Herman Cain award. Such death announcements, of someone much younger, are uncomfortable while one's own symptoms are still worsening.

 

I am glad you are okay as well as your family fuzzy1, It is amazing the destruction this virus can cause. I am a member of a Service Organization which was asked to stand watch at a funeral visitation for a fellow member. He was one of our young members at 46 years old and in fine health. Covid claimed his life. He left behind a wife and three kids. The wife is in the medical field and was vaccinated as well as his three school age kids. He never bothered to get the vaccine. Apparently, his wife and children did not even experience any symptoms of the infection, but it claimed his life. I wonder what his outcome would have been the same if he had been vaccinated like the rest of his family? Unfortunately, this was not the first funeral visitation we have been asked to stand watch for due to this terrible pandemic, the others were for older members, this one was especially tragic because of how unexpected it was.

 

We'd had to skip too many non-covid funerals because of the pandemic. But the one funeral we did attend, very nearby, was for the covid death of a minor who caught it at about the same time she became vaccine eligible, before protection could possibly have become effective. She was the first pediatric covid death in her county, the child of a very long time friend.

 

I'm looking forward to a post omicron, vaccine efficacy report in a month. We are still in the ramp down which is still too early for a survey report. In particular compare and contrast:

• mRNA (Fpizer-BioNTech / Moderna)
• viral vector (J&J / Janssen)

I found this readable layman's report on how vaccines work: Immune responses to viruses | British Society for Immunology

When a virus infects a person (host), it invades the cells of its host in order to survive and replicate. Once inside, the cells of the immune system cannot ‘see’ the virus and therefore do not know that the host cell is infected. To overcome this, cells employ a system that allows them to show other cells what is inside them – they use molecules called class I major histocompatibility complex proteins (or MHC class I, for short) to display pieces of protein from inside the cell upon the cell surface. If the cell is infected with a virus, these pieces of peptide will include fragments of proteins made by the virus.
. . .​

This explains breakthrough infections having milder symptoms and remaining survivable. So I'm three-shot vaccinated and wear a mask in Alabama (50% vaccinated) public places. Even going to the dog park, I may get some glances but no problem as I keep my distance.

Bob Wilson

 

Bob,

I and my significant other are also thrice mRNA vaccinated (Moderna) and We always wear a mask (N95 when longer duration such as teaching) in public INDOOR locations. It is not very likely to be sufficiently exposed to get a breakthrough infection when outdoors as long as you maintain some distance from strangers.

JeffD

 

I wasn't the best student in college, sadly, and immunology was one of the classes I didn't feel I excelled in. (I think I got a B+, all the way back right before the turn of the century).

I wonder about the accuracy of the MHC role, histo means tissue and that has to do with donor recipient compatibility...

I remember learning about Antigen Presenting Cells. That sounds like the correct one described. The cells break down the virus and present pieces on the outside for the T-cells to recognize, something like that....

REVVL V+ 5G ?

 

he could have skipped the novella and been more concise

shi has a guilt complex, causing her to lash out at western society, instead of realizing (or admitting) that the problem is china.
this is reflective of their governments stance on the issues.

let me make an analogy:

russian figure skater tests positve for banned drug prior to the olympics. instead of banning the russian team, or at least that skater, the olympic commitee, delays the medal ceremony, allows her to continue competing, and will make their decision ex post facto.
these types pf cow towing elicit skeptical thoughts from a world long tired of politics and obfuscation.

but as a few people here like to say to anyone criticizing china: 'how does all this help us get through the pandemic'?

 

I ran into my neighbor at the mailbox yesterday (she's head nurse at a large hospital in Colorado Springs.) She said the number of those sick is way down, now, and they are enjoying the breathing room!!
We did get the two Pfizer's, early on, at the suggestion by our doctor. (We're both almost 60) But we are done with them...and the boosters. We know two people who are triple-vaccinated and, yet, still caught the virus. We know another man in his 20's who's also triple-vaccinated and has caught it twice. Three of our neighbors caught it, and two are over 70, and all beat it.
Like the Swine Flu pandemic, this one is fading fast as we are getting natural herd immunity.