captainmorgan
Well-Known Member
Yeah, everything is puppies and rainbows.
Pandemic 2020
- Thread starter Jimdamick
- Start date
- Status
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
I don't believe this is an intractable problem, we already have many effective solutions and it's just getting started. I believe humanity had previous dealings with a coronavirus pandemic in the late 19th century, one of the current common cold viruses.
I feel a lot better about this shit with vaccines rolling out and Joe running the show in America. We are still in the early days of the scientific pay off period and much has been learned and new therapeutics are coming. I don't think a pandemic is gonna catch us unprepared again, unless ya elect another Donald that is.
I dunno when the exact end of this shit will happen, but hope has already arrived with vaccines and we now have a selection of those. Also I hear there is a good supply of antibody therapeutics in America now, they might not be as effective with some of the new variants, but they did save Donald and Rudy's asses.
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
I guess ya gotta ask for it in Michigan, soon ya will have to send it to Texas!
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Michigan has surplus of effective COVID treatment (wilx.com)
Michigan has surplus of effective COVID treatment
There could be thousands of doses of monoclonal antibody treatment sitting in state warehouses
LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - An effective COVID-19 treatment is rarely being used in Michigan.
There could be thousands of doses of it sitting in state warehouses.
The state got more than 4,300 courses of monoclonal antibody treatment from the federal government.
The issue is it only works on a specific group of people.
Monoclonal antibody treatment has been approved to treat COVID-19 in the U.S. since November.
It uses man-made molecules as a substitute for antibodies to trigger the patient’s immune system.
The federal government bought 300,000 doses of the treatment.
But Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail said this treatment isn’t for everybody.
“Monoclonal antibody treatment really is for severe cases. It’s not the number one go-to,” said Vail.
Because of that, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has a stockpile of the antibody treatment sitting in a state warehouse.
The state has sent letters to providers encouraging them to use it.
MSU Epidemiology professor Nigel Paneth said he’d like to see this treatment used more.
“These are not expensive interventions. That’s one good thing about them. We should keep that in mind,” said Paneth.
The treatment is designed for people who are at risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID.
That includes people with chronic diseases like diabetes.
The trick is those people would need to get the IV treatment before they’re sick enough to be hospitalized.
“Everyone who’s very sick started out not so sick. If you wait, it is too late. The same is true for all forms of passive antibody treatment,” said Paneth.
The state said every hospital that asked for monoclonal antibodies has gotten them and is expanding distribution.
The state said it’s not sure how the antibody treatment will interact with the COVID vaccines.
The CDC recommends waiting for 90-days to get the vaccine if you were treated with antibodies.
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Michigan has surplus of effective COVID treatment (wilx.com)
Michigan has surplus of effective COVID treatment
There could be thousands of doses of monoclonal antibody treatment sitting in state warehouses
LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - An effective COVID-19 treatment is rarely being used in Michigan.
There could be thousands of doses of it sitting in state warehouses.
The state got more than 4,300 courses of monoclonal antibody treatment from the federal government.
The issue is it only works on a specific group of people.
Monoclonal antibody treatment has been approved to treat COVID-19 in the U.S. since November.
It uses man-made molecules as a substitute for antibodies to trigger the patient’s immune system.
The federal government bought 300,000 doses of the treatment.
But Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail said this treatment isn’t for everybody.
“Monoclonal antibody treatment really is for severe cases. It’s not the number one go-to,” said Vail.
Because of that, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has a stockpile of the antibody treatment sitting in a state warehouse.
The state has sent letters to providers encouraging them to use it.
MSU Epidemiology professor Nigel Paneth said he’d like to see this treatment used more.
“These are not expensive interventions. That’s one good thing about them. We should keep that in mind,” said Paneth.
The treatment is designed for people who are at risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID.
That includes people with chronic diseases like diabetes.
The trick is those people would need to get the IV treatment before they’re sick enough to be hospitalized.
“Everyone who’s very sick started out not so sick. If you wait, it is too late. The same is true for all forms of passive antibody treatment,” said Paneth.
The state said every hospital that asked for monoclonal antibodies has gotten them and is expanding distribution.
The state said it’s not sure how the antibody treatment will interact with the COVID vaccines.
The CDC recommends waiting for 90-days to get the vaccine if you were treated with antibodies.
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
New evidence COVID-19 antibodies, vaccines less effective against variants: Worrisome new coronavirus variants can evade antibodies that neutralize original virus -- ScienceDaily
New evidence COVID-19 antibodies, vaccines less effective against variants
Worrisome new coronavirus variants can evade antibodies that neutralize original virus
Summary:
New research has found that new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 can evade antibodies that work against the original form of the virus that sparked the pandemic, potentially undermining the effectiveness of vaccines and antibody-based drugs now being used to prevent or treat COVID-19.
New evidence COVID-19 antibodies, vaccines less effective against variants
Worrisome new coronavirus variants can evade antibodies that neutralize original virus
Summary:
New research has found that new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 can evade antibodies that work against the original form of the virus that sparked the pandemic, potentially undermining the effectiveness of vaccines and antibody-based drugs now being used to prevent or treat COVID-19.
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
Monoclonal Antibody "Cocktail" Blocks COVID-19 Variants: Study (newswise.com)
Monoclonal Antibody "Cocktail" Blocks COVID-19 Variants: Study
5-Mar-2021 3:15 PM EST, by Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Newswise — A monoclonal antibody “cocktail” developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) to neutralize the COVID-19 virus is effective against all known strains, or variants, of the virus, according to a report published in the journal Nature Medicine.
That was one of the findings reported by a multi-institutional team led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
In cell-culture studies, the researchers determined the ability of monoclonal antibodies as well as antibodies isolated from the “convalescent plasma” of previously infected people to neutralize highly transmissible variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have arisen in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil and elsewhere.
In general, most of the monoclonal antibodies that have been developed to combat COVID-19 showed “diminished neutralizing potency,” specifically against strains of the virus bearing a specific mutation at position 484 in the surface “spike” protein, which enables the virus to attach to and enter its host cell in the body.
However, several other highly neutralizing monoclonal antibody cocktails, including those developed at VUMC, showed intact or only mildly diminished activity against the variants tested, possibly because they target sites on the spike protein other than the highly mutable E484K residue.
The study indicated substantially reduced neutralization of variants viruses containing this E484K mutation by antibodies in the sera of both previously infected and COVID-19 vaccinated individuals, further highlighting the need for variant-resistant treatments like the VUMC antibody cocktail.
“This study highlights the importance of rationally designed antibody cocktails like those we developed,” said James Crowe, Jr., MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center (VVC) and Ann Scott Carell Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt.
“We chose two antibodies to create a mixture that specifically would resist escape by SARS-CoV-2,” Crowe said. “Fortunately, this work and several other papers recently published show that the protection mediated by the antibodies we discovered that are now in six different phase 3 clinical trials should extend to all current variants of concern.”
Robert Carnahan, PhD, associate VVC director and associate professor of Pediatrics, added, “These findings that the antibodies we are developing inhibit the new SARS-CoV-2 variants well are made even more important by the fact that some previously approved monoclonal antibody treatments look very unlikely to protect against these variants.
“Using our variant-resistant antibody cocktails likely will provide an important new tool for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic,” Carnahan said.
During the past two-and-a-half years, VUMC researchers have developed ultra-fast methods for discovering highly potent antiviral human monoclonal antibodies and validating their ability to protect small animals and non-human primates.
The VUMC antibodies described in the paper published today – COV2-2196 and COV2-2130 -- were isolated from the blood of a couple from Wuhan, China, who were diagnosed with COVID-19 after traveling to Toronto in January 2020. They were two of the earliest confirmed cases of COVID-19 in North America.
The antibodies were among six that were licensed to the global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca in June for advancement into clinical development. In October the company announced it was advancing into phase 3 clinical trials an investigational therapy consisting of two long-acting antibodies discovered at VUMC and optimized by AstraZeneca.
Today’s study also included researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and the Swiss firm Vir Biotechnology.
Others from VUMC who contributed to the research were Naveen Suryadevara, PhD, Pavlo Gilchuk, PhD, and Seth Zost, PhD.
Monoclonal Antibody "Cocktail" Blocks COVID-19 Variants: Study
5-Mar-2021 3:15 PM EST, by Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Newswise — A monoclonal antibody “cocktail” developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) to neutralize the COVID-19 virus is effective against all known strains, or variants, of the virus, according to a report published in the journal Nature Medicine.
That was one of the findings reported by a multi-institutional team led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
In cell-culture studies, the researchers determined the ability of monoclonal antibodies as well as antibodies isolated from the “convalescent plasma” of previously infected people to neutralize highly transmissible variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have arisen in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil and elsewhere.
In general, most of the monoclonal antibodies that have been developed to combat COVID-19 showed “diminished neutralizing potency,” specifically against strains of the virus bearing a specific mutation at position 484 in the surface “spike” protein, which enables the virus to attach to and enter its host cell in the body.
However, several other highly neutralizing monoclonal antibody cocktails, including those developed at VUMC, showed intact or only mildly diminished activity against the variants tested, possibly because they target sites on the spike protein other than the highly mutable E484K residue.
The study indicated substantially reduced neutralization of variants viruses containing this E484K mutation by antibodies in the sera of both previously infected and COVID-19 vaccinated individuals, further highlighting the need for variant-resistant treatments like the VUMC antibody cocktail.
“This study highlights the importance of rationally designed antibody cocktails like those we developed,” said James Crowe, Jr., MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center (VVC) and Ann Scott Carell Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt.
“We chose two antibodies to create a mixture that specifically would resist escape by SARS-CoV-2,” Crowe said. “Fortunately, this work and several other papers recently published show that the protection mediated by the antibodies we discovered that are now in six different phase 3 clinical trials should extend to all current variants of concern.”
Robert Carnahan, PhD, associate VVC director and associate professor of Pediatrics, added, “These findings that the antibodies we are developing inhibit the new SARS-CoV-2 variants well are made even more important by the fact that some previously approved monoclonal antibody treatments look very unlikely to protect against these variants.
“Using our variant-resistant antibody cocktails likely will provide an important new tool for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic,” Carnahan said.
During the past two-and-a-half years, VUMC researchers have developed ultra-fast methods for discovering highly potent antiviral human monoclonal antibodies and validating their ability to protect small animals and non-human primates.
The VUMC antibodies described in the paper published today – COV2-2196 and COV2-2130 -- were isolated from the blood of a couple from Wuhan, China, who were diagnosed with COVID-19 after traveling to Toronto in January 2020. They were two of the earliest confirmed cases of COVID-19 in North America.
The antibodies were among six that were licensed to the global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca in June for advancement into clinical development. In October the company announced it was advancing into phase 3 clinical trials an investigational therapy consisting of two long-acting antibodies discovered at VUMC and optimized by AstraZeneca.
Today’s study also included researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and the Swiss firm Vir Biotechnology.
Others from VUMC who contributed to the research were Naveen Suryadevara, PhD, Pavlo Gilchuk, PhD, and Seth Zost, PhD.
captainmorgan
Well-Known Member
Yeah I know about the 1890 pandemic, I first posted about it like a year ago. All I'm saying is we are not out of the woods yet and there are too many unknowns to think we are past the worst just yet. Hell we don't even know the long term damage from it to the human body or the fate of the long haulers. Sure we have better treatments to lower the severity but we don't know the true damage it does.
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
Oh I agree, but the science of this thing is well known now and there are hundreds of other antibody therapeutics and antivirals being looked at, some are broad spectrum.
Remember these new antibodies will be turned into mRNA vaccines quickly, the mRNA strands will just crank out the new antibodies and perhaps highly effective broad spectrum ones. Approval times for modified vaccines should be faster in the future too as experience and confidence is gained. Now that the CDC, FDA and the rest of the government has been un muzzled and unleashed to act, I expect progress to speed up and bottle necks to be eliminated.
Like I said before, we are in the early payoff period of scientific research and that pay off will accelerate at an increasing pace over the next year or two. Double blinded studies and clinical trials slow things down quite a bit in this area of science, safety comes first.
captainmorgan
Well-Known Member
In Oregon, Scientists Find a Virus Variant With a Worrying Mutation (Published 2021)
In a single sample, geneticists discovered a version of the coronavirus first identified in Britain with a mutation originally reported in South Africa.
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
Dr.Amber Trichome
Well-Known Member
Very true. I had a patient yesterday that was exposed to Covid with no symptoms of Covid instead she got abdominal lymphoma cancer. She knows she was exposed to Covid because she tested positive for the antibodies!
printer
Well-Known Member
This is the worrying one.In Oregon, Scientists Find a Virus Variant With a Worrying Mutation (Published 2021)
In a single sample, geneticists discovered a version of the coronavirus first identified in Britain with a mutation originally reported in South Africa.www.nytimes.com
CunningCanuk
Well-Known Member
‘When will it end?’: New data suggests COVID-19 could become endemic - National | Globalnews.ca
globalnews.ca
‘When will it end?’: New data suggests COVID-19 could become endemic - National | Globalnews.ca
Scientists now believe that SARS-CoV-2 will not only remain with us as an endemic virus but will likely cause a significant burden of illness and death for years to come.
globalnews.ca
injinji
Well-Known Member
The Brazilian variant is killing folks who had the wild (original) virus. The longer it's out there spreading, the more risk we are in.
hanimmal
Well-Known Member
How do you know this?
I highly recommend checking out the AP site on how the propaganda has been spread on this, they have some really nice interactive charts that show the spread.
https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-beijing-only-on-ap-epidemics-media-122b73e134b780919cc1808f3f6f16e8
There is no question that the Chinese government was actively involved in spamming propaganda about the virus.
I think that the Chinese government is wrong in their suppression of their people, but it is hard to argue that once Trump started his propaganda attack on them to use for his re-election campaign that they had to respond.
It would be interesting if they included Trump's state funded criminal syndicate in the propaganda too.
It just sucks Trump's ending our pandemic response team, entering a trade war with China that put us in a combative position, then when it wasn't going his way after his impeachment he used it as a political statement using the loudest megaphone in human history to attack China with the virus.
hanimmal
Well-Known Member
It helps when the leader of the nation is not actively trying to get people to spread the virus.
Sativied
Well-Known Member
It’s not all hellhounds and fireballs either.
Nuance is dead on most news outlets, and then skewed some more when shared on social media. Much of it is clickbait meant to illicit a “we’re all gonna die” response.
If anything, the numbers in Israel show how well vaccination works. Same for countries that focus on age groups and already show major improvements in those age group. in more than one way. Total infections down, hospitalizations way down, deaths even more down, even after one jab the risk of severe sickness becomes minimal. R-rate of British variant of china virus can be kept under 1.0 easily as well, which is what really matters. Anti-bodies have shown to last over 8 months already, and likely will much longer. The ‘news’ that claims otherwise is typically focused on a single aspect of the immune system, in which anti bodies do longer work on just one of many ways they do. Whether it’s through vaccines or ‘enough’ people getting infected, some level of herd immunity is inevitable. Full herd immunity is no requirement, partial in combination with testing, better care, and standard preventative measures will do.
More deadly versions aren’t necessarily bad either. Virusses that kill the host aren’t evolving in a for them beneficial way. Arguably covid isn’t deadly enough and it spreads too slow (else more people and governments would act responsible).
Cases worldwide dropped with 50% in the first 6 weeks of 2021, partly due to partial immunity for those who were vaccinated or infected. South Africa is a good example where partial immunity slowed the spread significantly. Additionally, it appears to be at least to some extent (nuance...) seasonal, or at least worst in winter, meaning the numbers will drop even further and faster soon. By next season, most people will have had their first jab, reducing hospitalizations and severe sickness to a point the hospitals are no longer overloaded.
It’s going to be a good summer. Might even get a cat-puppy.
CunningCanuk
Well-Known Member
It’s somewhere in between the sky is falling and everything is gonna be normal.
I read something that there is concern that the cases in Israel have seemed to plateau. I don’t have a link.
There is still much we don’t know and erring on the side of caution is always best with diseases.We still don’t know what the long range health issues will be for anyone who gets it.
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