Just saw this. The author of that study (a preprint, not peer-reviewed at the time of publication) does NOT conclude that “raccoon dogs did not start Covid-19”. His findings disagree with a previous study suggestive of raccoon dogs’ role, but are not definitive as to what species was responsible for sparking the pandemic. From the study abstract:
“These results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 was widespread at the market by January 2020, and therefore that co-mingling of viral and animal genetic material in environmental samples collected at that time is unlikely to be informative about the original source of the outbreak.”
Reporters/editors who are responsible for misleading headlines need to be flogged with partially cooked noodles.
Gene linked to long COVID found in analysis of thousands of patients
The first genome-wide search for long-COVID risk factors could pave the way for larger studies.
The first genome-wide hunt to find genetic risk factors for long COVID has yielded a hit: a DNA sequence near a gene called FOXP4 , which is active in the lungs and in some immune cells.
… the researchers isolated antibodies from the blood of a recovered SARS patient who was thereafter vaccinated against COVID-19. This unique combination of prior coronavirus infection and vaccination generated an extremely broad and powerful antibody response capable of stopping nearly all related coronaviruses tested.
“We sought to address the lack of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for treatment and prophylaxis of high-risk COVID-19 patients, as all previously approved monoclonal antibodies have lost efficacy against newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants,” says senior author Wang Linfa, a world-renowned bat virus expert with the Duke-NUS’ Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Programme.
“This work provides encouraging evidence that pan-coronavirus vaccines are possible if they can ‘educate’ the human immune system in the right way.”
…
The most powerful antibody, named E7, neutralized both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 sarbecoviruses, animal sarbecoviruses, and newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as Omicron XBB.1.16.
It was shown to neutralize via a unique mechanism of binding that bridges two parts of the coronavirus’ spike protein that it uses to invade cells. This appears to lock the spike in an inactive conformation and block the shape-shifting process the virus requires to infect cells and cause illness.
Original study – hopefully this work can be replicated and corroborated:
– hey! one of my risk factors is causing me to take an anti-risk factor!
The world is weird and complicated. – I wonder why diabetes shows up as a risk factor if metformin is protective, though; as quite a lot of diabetics take metformin. Is diabetes itself such a high risk factor that it overwhelms that? Does diabetes show up statistically as a risk factor for catching covid and/or for dying of it, but not for long covid?
I’m DM2. IIRC mst of the early “diabetes is a risk factor” stuff was dealing with seriously obese, high A1C, weak kidney patients. IOW, it wasn’t the DM that was dangerous, it was the advanced co-morbidities of DM. Which such a vast subset of all DM2 patients have that it was easier to lump them all together. The number of truly successful DM2 (or DM1) patients in the USA that are lean and low A1C with no comorbidities is a rounding error on the total.
I’m not sure how well that idea has held up, theirs or mine, over time.
Do a “vast subset” of identified DM2 patients have uncontrolled high A1C and weak kidneys? (Serious question, I have no idea what the percentage is. I don’t even know to what extent the percentage of the “seriously obese” exceeds that in the general population, though it may well do so to some extent.)
I am obese (though I don’t know what you mean by “seriously obese”) but my A1C is well controlled and my kidneys are fine.
IANA expert on the demographics of diabetics. You raise some fascinating questions and I wish I had answers for them. I’m working the next 2 days but I’ll try to see what I can find and report back for both our benefit.
I only know that as a lean person with a very low A1C all the various educators and care providers I’ve met have said I’m a far, far outlier. Which leads me to suspect the thick part of the envelope is in much worse shape.
I think they didn’t know for sure what the risk factors were, and included diabetes. I’m not sure the evidence of diabetes being an independent risk factor held up. Obesity is definitely a risk factor, though.
I looked at a couple of studies back when they first started saying that, and it didn’t really look supported to me, because it didn’t look to me like they’d controlled for the rate of obesity in the general population. But I didn’t look at later studies on the subject, and haven’t investigated it further. I do count it as one of my risk factors (weight, diabetes, age, and heart condition. The heart condition’s congenital and has nothing to do with the weight. I’m not sure that the diabetes does either; there’s a very strong streak of it on my father’s side of the family, and my sister, who’s been thin all her life, also has it though controlled so far with diet only. I didn’t develop it until I was some 30 years older than my father was when he developed his.)
I posted this on some other thread, but i guess it belongs here.
A new variant with a lot of mutations. It probably evolved over a year or more in the body of an immune compromised person, and it’s been found in a few widespread countries plus in many of the sewage systems that are still testing genotypes. It might just peter out, but it might also be the next variant of concern. If it does, it will be called Pi.
I’m gonna suggest that the amount of irrational public behavior by the usual suspects will be extra large with the pi variant. It may even transcend all previous records for dumb shit done by dumb people.
Looks like the vaccine for the latest variant has been approved. You can’t get the old vaccine anymore, and the new vaxx will be available at the end of this week. Yay - I need to get it out of the way so that we’re vaxxed up for our October road trip.
Just looked at the CVS website, and they’re letting me schedule appointments for the newest vaxx.
