#ba.5

[dankronamemeuniversity]

New 'centaurus' Covid-19 variant emerges

The World Health Organisation is monitoring a new Covid subvariant, which some experts fear could be more evasive and transmissible than its

This New ‘Ninja’ COVID Variant Is the Most Dangerous One Yet

The BA.5 subvariant can slip past the body’s defenses easier than any of its predecessors.

Ninja Variant + Centaurus Variant on the Rise 💉🙈

[podracer]

Study shows COVID-19 rates were likely forty-times higher than CDC estimates during BA.4/BA.5 dominant period in the U.S.

Researchers evaluate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and the incidence of long COVID during BA.4/BA.5 dominant period.

[more-flotsam-and-jetsam]

[clatterbane]

Covid UK: Top Omicron symptom in patients revealed by new data as cases surge in England | The Independent

Covid UK: Top Omicron symptom in patients revealed by new data as cas…

The ZOE Covid Study app allows infected people to report their symptoms while suffering from the virus.

The data provided is then analysed by King’s College London researchers who track infections across the UK, as well as identifying who is most at risk and where high-risk areas are.

Almost 58 per cent of all Covid patients who used the app reported suffering a sore throat before returning positive tests.

A headache, blocked nose and cough were reported as the next most common symptoms.

Professor Tim Spector, who leads the Zoe Health Study app, said: “Covid is still rampant in the population. ZOE Health Study data shows that there were over 350,000 daily Covid cases this week – a new record for the UK.

“So much so, that if you have any cold-like symptoms at the moment it’s nearly twice as likely to be Covid as a cold.

“Even if people have had a past infection and are fully vaccinated, people are still catching it.

“Although we all want to make the most of the good weather, people will need to decide for themselves whether going to large events, working from the office or using busy public transport is worth the risk.”

Not hard to add in between the lines: "...in spite of the absolute politicized idiocy of current policy." 🙄

(Not in the UK myself now, but pretty sure I am currently on the mend from BA.5. Which would be my third round with the Omicron clan so far, despite hardly getting out. Subtly different major symptoms this time? Awful sore throat, headache, and a runny stuffy head. Plus my blood sugar going crazy like the previous times, though it thankfully seems to be trying to simmer back down. Thankfully not as much fatigue piled on top of the existing post-viral BS this time. Could have been worse--and may always be next go around. 😒)

[vague-humanoid]

Haven’t had COVID-19 yet? Maybe you’ve just been lucky

With highly contagious new variants in circulation, anyone who hasn’t yet gotten sick can probably thank randomness or genetics more than behavior.

There’s a trend for experts who’ve yet to test positive for COVID-19 to explain their disease virginity on social media, detailing all the steps they’ve taken to evade the increasingly pervasive virus.

COVID-19 virginity is becoming more special now that it describes a shrinking minority. The lucky few, like weight-loss gurus, are only too happy to share their secrets to success.

Some sound quite reasonable, such as virologist Angela Rasmussen, who tweeted that despite resuming travel to scientific conferences, she’s remained uninfected by wearing high quality masks when warranted, skipping the hotel gym, eating outdoors and walking instead of cabbing if possible.

Others are more extreme, such as the expert who Tweeted that, among other measures, he sealed his N95 tightly on his face for the entire trip from the U.S. to Australia. He never removed it even to take a sip of water.

But one piece of advice almost no one is giving? Be lucky. Pediatrician Neil Stone says that there’s no “secret” for staying COVID-19 free because there’s just too much luck involved.

He has a point. And indeed, UCSF oncologist and epidemiologist Vinay Prasad told me he “did everything wrong” and still hasn’t had COVID-19. He’s like those people who stay skinny while eating all kinds of junk food.

As for me, I have some data that can, to an extent, quantify and explain my own good luck in avoiding COVID-19 so far. I’m participating in a study on immunity which allowed me to learn that my blood still carries loads of antibodies induced by my vaccine and December booster shot and no signs of any prior infection. Not everyone’s antibodies wane at the same rate, and in some people, the antibodies don’t wane much at all. (At some point it should become routine to collect this information to help people decide whether to get additional booster shots.)

My high level of vaccine antibodies probably explains my success more than my behavior. I make some effort to avoid COVID-19, but have been far from perfect. And I’ve been potentially exposed at least twice: Once last December, when someone at a small holiday gathering I’d attended developed symptoms the next day, and more recently, when I shared a large indoor space with two people who later tested positive. But according to my lab work, I’ve never had even a silent infection.

It’s possible I was protected by my high antibodies, or that some quirk of air flow meant I never breathed in enough virus to get sick. Or perhaps I benefited from a different form of luck. There’s another facet to immunity called the innate immune system, which acts as a first line of defense and sometimes knocks out a virus or other pathogen before it replicates enough to elicit the production of antibodies. Good innate immunity might help explain something many of us have experienced — not getting a cold or flu even when sleeping in the same bed with the sick person through the whole illness.

Stress, diet, general health and even sunlight might all affect innate immunity. So could other factors. There’s so much we still don’t know about the immune system. And that’s one reason we talk about “luck.” Yes, people like me are lucky — but understanding how the luck works could help other people avoid COVID-19, whether for the first time or for the second or third time. Taking a closer look at what passed for luck helped researchers like Gary Taubes discover that public health had obesity all wrong and the standard high carb/low fat diets were causing people to gain weight.

I expect that BA.5 will be the one that gets me, since it’s growing big here in the U.S. and it’s better than any other variant at sliding past antibodies induced by past infections or vaccines. But until then, I can still tell you how I’ve managed to stay thin.

[inter-volve]

October 18th 2022

[infinitemonkeytheory]

Here's 3 Reasons Why COVID-19 Isn't Leaving Anytime Soon

Dr. Melissa Clarke explains why COVID is here to stay, despite declarations of the pandemic being over.