Coronavirus News Summary, September 19th-September 25th

The following items are the free newsletter “Smart and useful scientific stuff about COVID-19.. Sign up to receive daily newsletter issues in your inbox here.. Please consider Monthly donation We support this newsletter.

In some SARS-CoV-2 vaccine manufacturers, vaccines “meet the criteria of corporate benchmarks if they reduce the risk of mild COVID-19, but do not show moderate or severe reductions. The risk of COVID-19 is also according to hospitalization, intensive care hospitalization or death. Essay published on 20/22/20 To New York Times.. This statement, according to the essay, is about a vaccine being developed by Moderna, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca. The authors argue that the benchmark should be higher. Evidence should instead show that the vaccine reduces the risk of moderate or severe cases, write Dr. Peter Dosi of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and Dr. Eric Topol of Scripps Research. The essay states that reducing the risk of mild COVID-19 does not guarantee a similar reduction in moderate or severe cases. In both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine experiments, some people reported experiencing “mild COVID-19 symptom-like side effects.”

According to various reports, London may be the site of the first experiments in which quarantined volunteers were intentionally exposed to SARS-CoV-2 after being vaccinated with the candidate vaccine. Such an experiment is called a Human Challenge Trial. The London experiment is scheduled to begin in January, Reuters reported 9/23/20, Get the first report by The Financial Times (Paywall). So far, about 2,000 participants have volunteered to apply for the Coronavirus Challenge test to the 1Day Sooner group, Reuters said.

Tanya Lewis Scientific American reported Featured article Some of the more than 100 US universities (9/23/20) have quickly and frequently contracted campus SARS-CoV-2 tests for programs offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Broad Institute and Harvard University. Institutional reports on the program so far have been positive, and an approach to such testing “may serve as a model for reopening universities and institutions across the country,” Lewis wrote. The program is said to allow students, faculty and staff to take tests once or twice a week throughout the semester. The story includes comments from users of the Broad Program, including representatives from Tufts University, Bodin College, University of Massachusetts and Amherst College. The basketball arena is reportedly converted into a SARS-CoV-2 test center.

The highly anticipated plans for early access to the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine are “in shape,” reports Nidhi Subbaraman. Nature (9/17/20). Organizations that have issued preliminary plans or guidance to date include the World Health Organization Advisory Group and a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences (NASEM). The story tells.. The NASEM Panel gives healthcare professionals and first responders top immunization priorities, followed by people in existing conditions such as heart disease and diabetes and “elderly people living in crowded situations”. Vaccination is our top priority for “medically vulnerable groups”. Subbaraman reports. The NASEM panel’s third priority group includes essential workers at high risk of exposure, such as those who work in public transport and schools, and those who live in homeless shelters and prisons. The story tells. The fourth priority is young adults, children, and mandatory workers who are “at high risk of exposure”, and the fifth priority is that everyone remains. The story states that NASEM plans to announce its final plan in October.

so Featured article scientist, Katalina Zimmer is exploring the latest theory as to why some people develop severe COVID-19 and others do not (9/16/20). The focus is on why the immune system of some people infected with the virus is “troublesome”. One study she mentioned found that the blood of patients with severe COVID-19 showed a diminished initial response to interferon. [small signaling compounds/proteins] It generally acts to suppress viral replication. And that can lead to damage that leads to inflammation, the story says. “The bigger the damage, the more the immune system tries to get rid of it,” said the director of the Precision Medicine Institute on Mount Sinai. “So it’s activated, and at some point … it goes completely crazy.” This leads to a phenomenon called cytokine storms, an overreaction of the immune system. The work also details new insights into the functional and production problems of various immune cells (bone marrow cells, T cells, antibodies, etc.). Near the end of the work, the same researchers allegedly say that myeloid deficiencies may be at the root of the runaway cytokine response. However, immunologists at Emory University reportedly say that it is difficult to separate chickens and eggs.

Some parts of the United States “may have witnessed the first day of the fall surge,” he said. Daily coronavirus data page Updated on 20/24/20 National Geographic.. The graph at the bottom of the page shows that the number of SARS-CoV-2 cases has increased in Utah, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Montana, and Texas over the past week. Delaware, Louisiana, Indiana, Georgia, and Kentucky showed declines during the same period.

Early evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 does not appear to be widespread in US schools so far, reported by T. Laura Meckler and Valerie Strauss.He is the Washington Post (9/23/20). Thousands of teachers and students have been reported infected, The story suggestsHowever, these “infection rates are much lower than those found in the surrounding communities,” the reporters write. Evidence suggests that resuming school “may not be as dangerous as many fear”, the story says. The story states that SARS-CoV-2 tests and reports are vulnerable in many parts of the United States, making it difficult to determine if this is an accurate situation for school infections. Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy said: It was a university. I have to say that I haven’t seen younger children so far. “

Several indoor air quality researchers and other scientists are collaborating on an easily accessible 53-page google docs.FAQ to protect yourself from COVID-19 aerosol propagationIs designed to inform the general public (9/15/20). This information is “the one I understand best at the moment and always [the U.S. Centers for Disease Control], [World Health Organization], And most local and local health authorities. The authors of this document include Linsey Marr of Virginia Tech. Sherry Miller and Jose Luis Jimenez at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Kimberly Plaza at the University of California, San Diego; Charles Haas at Drexel University. Richard Corsi of Portland State University. I haven’t read the entire document, but the main point about reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission is that “at least as much attention should be paid to the breathing air as when disinfecting the surface and hands.” about it.

this 20/22/20 Bloomberg piece Opinion columnists Max Nisen and Elaine He feature easy-to-read graphics that show the long-term health risks posed by SARS-CoV-2 infection. The data is based on a survey of more than 1,500 COVID-19 survivors who reported nearly 100 long-term health problems to researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine. “Researchers have not yet identified which percentage of people infected with COVID-19 suffer from long-term symptoms, but based on the number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2. The potential for harm is enormous. ” A strong graph at the bottom of the page also provides data scientist estimates of the actual number of US infections up to November, compared to confirmed numbers.

You may enjoyOutdoor dining begins at the end of the sidewalk, Jeremy Hooper Maxweenies (9/23/20).