The biology of coronavirus COVID-19 - including research and treatments

Wits_End said:
Another article suggesting that blood group type may influence people's reaction to Covid-19:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/mi...id-19-risk/ar-BB1ecX69?ocid=ASUDHP&li=BBoPWjQ
Click to expand...

https://ashpublications.org/bloodad...475250/The-SARS-CoV-2-receptor-binding-domain

Well, not exactly. The authors state:
Interestingly, the SARS-CoV-2 RBD exhibited only low-level binding to human RBCs of all types and failed to display any detectable preference for blood type A RBCs (Figure 1C; supplemental Figure 1). In contrast, the SARS-CoV-2 RBD readily bound ACE2-expressing HEK293 T cells, and anti-A antibody likewise bound blood group A RBCs (Figure 1D-E). Thus, significant binding of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD to the blood group A structures found on human blood group A RBCs does not seem to contribute to the increased likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 infection in blood group A individuals.
Click to expand...

They used a glycan array assay - they didn't actually observe differences in binding to real lung cells.

Also note that spike protein binding to glycans (and sialic acid residues) is already well known.
 
Last edited:
Moved post

A rare treat for today! RSM
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jJZ5inQCQMi5AcxYhNiQIw?_cldee=YmFyYi5zdWZmb2xrQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ==&recipientid=contact-99eed06f8f84ea11a811000d3a86ad25-7e30243b3f204acda7ac2463f04f8b8d&utm_source=ClickDimensions&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CON.C19&esid=a5cb580c-1987-eb11-a812-0022481a7839

Episode 66: The pandemic year - what happens next?

'Date: Thursday 18 March 2021
Time: 12:30pm - 1:30pm GMT
Dear Sir/Madam,
One year on from the first UK national lockdown, in this hour-long anniversary episode of the COVID-19 Series we look forward, to ask what might happen next in the pandemic.

Professor Sir Simon Wessely will be joined by three expert commentators from the fields of public health, infectious diseases and health psychology: Professor Gabriel Scally, President of the Epidemiology and Public Health Section at the RSM and member of Independent SAGE, Dr Muge Cevik, virologist and clinical lecturer in infectious diseases at the University of St Andrews and member of NERVTAG, and Professor Lucy Yardley, Professor of Health Psychology at the Universities of Southampton and Bristol and member of SAGE.

Offering insights from their areas of expertise, the panel will discuss different scenarios for the future of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what we might expect with an evolving virus, changing human behaviour and different approaches to public health.'

Thank you for registering for "COVID-19 Series: The pandemic year - what happens next? - Episode 66".
Please submit any questions to: webinar1@rsm.ac.uk
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Paywalled article in Swedish newspaper:

Unik kartläggning: Här är de som dött i covid i Sverige
https://www.dn.se/sverige/unik-kartlaggning-har-ar-de-som-dott-i-covid-i-sverige/

Unique mapping: Here are those who died in covid in Sweden

■ DN can today present a unique survey of who has so far died in covid-19 in Sweden. Low-income earners, low-educated and foreign-born from some countries are strongly overrepresented among the deceased.

■ Our survey also shows that foreign-born people were hit much harder in the first wave than in the second wave.

■ “Education and income are major markers of health, morbidity and mortality. Covid-19 is no exception ", says epidemiologist Karin Modig. [...]

About three-quarters of the over-representation of people born in other countries can be explained by various factors such as overcrowding, previous illnesses, income, occupations and age.
Click to expand...
 
Eyes are getting some attention as an entry point. Logical for an airborne virus considering they are nearly always open. There was a study suggesting people wearing glasses may have a slightly lower risk of getting it. Especially relevant with mask-wearing, leaves mostly the eyes unprotected.



Bit disappointed it didn't catch on to vision problems, which appear to be neurological, and are pretty common in LC, seems about similar as for ME: blurry vision, double vision, phosphenes, floaters, sensitivity to bright lights, etc. As usual you can't get an answer for unasked questions.
 
Thanks. I was asking a while ago whether the eyes were still considered a vulnerable point, since the concentration seemed to have moved onto the airways.
 
Seems unlikely to me that we would get pills, especially something you can take at home, anytime soon. When the outbreak started, I remember several doctors predicting we would have specific non-vaccine repurposed drugs available to treat COVID-19 before the vaccines would roll out. A year later, is there any treatment available that ICUs are using beyond standard care? I'm not aware of it at least.
 
I am hesitant to bring it up, but it seems like there is a growing body of evidence that suggests there are at least a couple repurposed medications that have efficacy against COVID.

Something something “big pharma” etc...
 
Sarah94 said:
"Plan for pills to treat virus at home by autumn" implies that it's going to happen.
Click to expand...

But surely that is the ideal? Give patients drugs they can take when necessary to prevent Covid getting serious and requiring hospital/ICU stays?
 
Arnie Pye said:
But surely that is the ideal? Give patients drugs they can take when necessary to prevent Covid getting serious and requiring hospital/ICU stays?
Click to expand...
Yes, but the headline implies that it's going to happen (when really it's just something that they're hoping to achieve, which may actually be unlikely to happen by autumn). Headlines like that will lead people to think "oh it's all going to be okay soon" and therefore take more risks.
 
Sarah94 said:
Yes, but the headline implies that it's going to happen (when really it's just something that they're hoping to achieve, which may actually be unlikely to happen by autumn). Headlines like that will lead people to think "oh it's all going to be okay soon" and therefore take more risks.
Click to expand...
I read it that they are just starting to look at this and the article does say they might not find anything so I agree the headline is misleading. If it said search for instead of plan for.......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom