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

Linked to previous posting on DT's Crowdfunding etc...

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/04/john-james-aids-treatments-covid-pandemic/618679/


https://covidsalon.com/

CovidSalon: Treatment Options
by John S. James, April 17, 2021

An AIDS treatment activist on COVID

Early Treatment: Monoclonal Antibodies Fluvoxamine Famotidine Other

Long COVID Research: Some Treatments to Test Crowdsourcing for a Cure Lab-Test Intensive N of 1 Trials How Long COVID Research Helps Everyone

Resources About This Site

Alert: 4th Wave Threat: A 4th wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is developing now (April 2021). This wave is driven by the variant B.1.1.7, first discovered in the UK and now the dominant virus (leading cause of new infections) in the U.S. This virus is:

  • More contagious than previous COVID viruses;
  • Maybe more deadly; one recent study found a 61% higher death rate, but two studies published April 12, 2021 did not find worse outcomes (see Treatment News, below); and
  • More dangerous to younger and healthier patients in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, and more contagious to children.
Fortunately the vaccines are effective against this variant. For more information search any major news site (such as news.google.com) for B.1.1.7
 
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Genetic changes could be behind long-term COVID symptoms
Even those with asymptomatic COVID infections could have long-lasting changes in genetic expression which could be behind long-lasting symptoms in recovered patients.

This really is a complete muddle. This has nothing to do with 'genetic changes'. They are talking about changes in expression of host genes and that simply means that the cells are actively responding to virus in some way - which we have assumed from day one. In fact the general view is that pretty much all symptoms in viral illness are due to cells responding to virus.
 
I can't follow these things very well anymore, but has it not been suggested that the problem in ME is that gene expression gets changed to cope with a viral infection but then gets stuck like that instead of going back to its preinfection state when the virus has gone.
 
Mithriel said:
I can't follow these things very well anymore, but has it not been suggested that the problem in ME is that gene expression gets changed to cope with a viral infection but then gets stuck like that instead of going back to its preinfection state when the virus has gone.
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Yes, epigenetic changes. This is usually temporary, like with sepsis and burns, but with us its postulated that we get stuck. Why we get stuck has multiple hypotheses. So its not about the genes so much as which ones are off or on, according to these hypotheses. This is reflected in both the miRNA and metabolomic data. Yet we still have not proven a detailed mechanism. Its all still under investigation.
 
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Mithriel said:
I can't follow these things very well anymore, but has it not been suggested that the problem in ME is that gene expression gets changed to cope with a viral infection but then gets stuck like that instead of going back to its preinfection state when the virus has gone.
Click to expand...

Yes, but 'gene expression' just means cells are doing something. It provides no other useful meaning. It is a pretension. If someone says 'altered gene methylation' then that is a bit more specific but gene expression covers everything active - metabolism, immune signalling, salt regulation - everything.
 
Recording of a webinar (in Swedish), hosted by Uppsala University.
Google Translate said:
Long-term symptoms of covid-19: what have we learned so far?

A significant proportion of those who have had covid-19 get persistent symptoms so-called long covid or postcovid. COVID Symptom Study with 4.6 million participants is ongoing in three countries and data from the study have been used to describe the condition and its risk factors.

In this webinar, the study's researchers Maria Gomez, professor of physiology at Lund University and Tove Fall, professor of molecular epidemiology at Uppsala University, discuss research results with patient representative Åsa Kristoferson Hedlund from the Swedish Covid Association and Petter Brodin, doctor and associate professor with expertise in immunology at Karolinska Institutet.

COVID Symptom Study Sweden is a research study at Uppsala University and Lund University. The research study uses a mobile app to collect data. The app has been developed and maintained by the health company ZOE Global Ltd. In the app, the participant reports how it feels and if it has symptoms of illness.
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ME is mentioned. One of the panelists, Petter Brodin, has done some ME research (I'm not sure if he is still doing it?).

 
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/05/19/science.abg6296

Face masks effectively limit the probability of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

Abstract

Airborne transmission by droplets and aerosols is important for the spread of viruses. Face masks are a well-established preventive measure, but their effectiveness for mitigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission is still under debate.

We show that variations in mask efficacy can be explained by different regimes of virus abundance and related to population-average infection probability and reproduction number. For SARS-CoV-2, the viral load of infectious individuals can vary by orders of magnitude.

We find that most environments and contacts are under conditions of low virus abundance (virus-limited) where surgical masks are effective at preventing virus spread.

More advanced masks and other protective equipment are required in potentially virus-rich indoor environments including medical centers and hospitals.

Masks are particularly effective in combination with other preventive measures like ventilation and distancing.
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Didn't know where else to put this, and it's distinctly stale news, but the BBC News tonight had a report on trained sniffer dogs very successfully picking out people who were wearing clothing which had been worn by a Covid patient. It will be a great help e.g. at airports if most of the people who need to undergo a PCR test can be picked out easily.
 
Wits_End said:
Didn't know where else to put this, and it's distinctly stale news, but the BBC News tonight had a report on trained sniffer dogs very successfully picking out people who were wearing clothing which had been worn by a Covid patient. It will be a great help e.g. at airports if most of the people who need to undergo a PCR test can be picked out easily.
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The sensitivity and specificity of sniffer dogs for something like COVID is poor, I suspect it's promotion, is so that it can be used as a deterrent.
 
Does anyone know when the virus sticks to something or is on something will it stay on it or can the wind/air/fans blow it off?

Curious also does it stick to things when moving around in the air (not talking about it on facemasks) or only when it falls on things or is directly "sprayed" ?

The CDC writes not to shake your laundry yet that may be different than if on an object and strong air movement, etc.

Reason I'm asking is cause of something happening within feet of my room involving this and other variables. I need to understand what precautions I may need to take. I still haven't been able to get the vaccine and I'll only be able to do the J&J when I do.
 
The Swedish charity Hjärt-Lungfonden ("Heart Lung Foundation") has donated 15.7 million SEK (approx GBP 1.3 million, USD 1.9 million) to covid-19 research.
Hjärt-Lungfonden press release Auto-translate said:
The research focus is on the aftermath of covid-19 where the disease has caused late complications to the heart, vessels and lungs. Research on long-term effects on other organs combined with effects on the heart, vessels and lungs is also included in the research plan. The patient focus is on those who have not been initially hospitalised but who have continuing multisystemic symptoms, i.e. symptoms that may originate from different organ systems in the body and symptoms that are difficult to trace.

- Our long-term sick members live with severe symptoms such as cardiovascular impact, extreme fatigue, respiratory problems, fluctuating oxygenation, prolonged fever, cognitive impairment and neurological problems. Children and young people are also affected. We have high hopes for what research can achieve for these serious conditions," says Åsa Kristoferson Hedlund, President of the Swedish Covid Association.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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A complete list of the 30 funded research projects (biomedical focus, yay!) is available here:

Hjärt-Lungfonden delar ut 16 miljoner till forskning om covid-19
https://news.cision.com/se/hjart-lu...-miljoner-till-forskning-om-covid-19,c3333443

Approx 40% of the money goes to Karolinska Institutet:

KI får 6,5 miljoner i anslag till covid-19-forskning
https://nyheter.ki.se/ki-far-65-miljoner-i-anslag-till-covid-19-forskning

(The project I'm most excited for personally is Arthur Fedorowski's study about chronic cardiovascular dysautonomia and POTS. He has seen many POTS patients with ME over the years, and I believe his experience is very valuable in this context.)
 
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They have high hopes that less than $2M will go a long way? How disconnected from reality are they? All of it?!

I'd sell them the Brooklyn bridge but first I'll go ahead and build a duplicate all by myself on the odd week-end. Should be done in shortly. That's about as likely to work.
 
Merged thread - re children being severely affected

It is worrying that there have been 10 children hospitalised in Scotland with covid in the last week. They do not know if some of the new variants are causing more severe disease in children.
 
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