oyvayblog: Dr Ruth's COVID news & more 7/27/24

Here's the latest issue of Dr Ruth Ann Crystal's important COVID news & more newsletter:

The Olympic opening ceremonies yesterday were extraordinary. Bravo Paris!

If it seems like everyone around you has COVID now, or a “summer cold” or “allergies”, it is because we are in a large wave being caused by KP.3. Its descendant KP.3.1.1 is even more immune evasive because of its S31 deletion and this will probably give another boost to COVID cases in the ongoing COVID wave. According to JP Weiland, KP.3.1.1 will become dominant in the United States around August 6th, and this should push upwards on the Midwest and Northeast, where case levels are still moderate.

There are presently about 760,000 to 900,000 new COVID infections each day, with 1 in every 44 people in the US infected now. The ratio is higher in the West where 1 in every 26 people is infected now and the South where 1 in every 29 people is infected.

From: https://twitter.com/JPWeiland/status/1816924925543719301

Test positivity is up, as are emergency department visits for COVID nationally. It looks like California and Florida emergency department visits are starting to peak for this wave, but they are at near 12 month highs. Of course, hitting the peak still means that half of the cases from this wave will be happening soon. COVID transmission is expected to continue to be high for at least another 4 to 6 weeks depending on location.

According to Sara Anne Willette’s dashboard, there are Excessively High levels of SARS-2 in wastewater in Oregon and Florida, followed by Very High in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Utah, Wyoming, Washington state and California.

CDC (NWSS) Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 levels as of July 27, 2024 from

https://iowacovid19tracker.org/

Excessive levels of SARS-2 in wastewater in Oregon and Florida, followed by Very High in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Utah, Wyoming, Washington state and California

From: Sara Anne Willette https://iowacovid19tracker.org/

Acute COVID infections, General COVID info

A Pfizer sponsored study shows that Paxlovid post-exposure prophylaxis given for 5 days or for 10 days after exposure did NOT significantly reduce the risk of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in people exposed to an infected family member. 2736 adults participated in the study.

COVID and heart attacks

A new study examined the link between COVID-19 infection and the increased risk of heart attack (also known as acute myocardial infarction or AMI). Using advanced computational analysis, researchers identified genes that are abnormally expressed in both COVID-19 and AMI patients. They found 21 common genes that were dysregulated (either increased or decreased) in both conditions that are involved in inflammation and immune response. The endothelial cells that line blood vessels were especially sensitive to excess inflammation from TNF and IL-17 signaling pathways. Five key genes (IL1B, CXCL8, CTNNB1, FOS, PTGS2) play crucial roles in this inflammatory process and contribute to endothelial dysfunction and to atherosclerosis. These genes may be useful as biomarkers or therapeutic targets.

COVID prevention

Poor air quality and ventilation contributed greatly to the spread of COVID. A new review article shows that in order to reduce the risk of infection, we need better building design and improved ventilation, including monitoring of indoor air quality. Here are the 7 key lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the reduction of viral loads through ventilation in the indoor environment.

From: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp2241

Long COVID

Using longitudinal brain MRIs from the UK Biobank, researchers found that the pandemic significantly increased brain aging. Part of this was due to stress from the pandemic itself. But, accelerated brain aging associated with reduced cognitive ability was seen only in people who had been infected with COVID. This is yet another study to show the negative effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the brain.

Fig. 5. Impact of COVID-19 on cognitive performance across rates of change in Brain Age Gap (BAG=difference between estimated brain age and chronological age)

From: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.07.22.24310790v2

Red/Orange (G3): Pandemic + COVID infection
Green (G4): Pandemic, No COVID infection
Blue (G2): Pre-pandemic control group

A group from Japan looked at orthostatic intolerance in young people with Long COVID using the 10-minute standing test (ST). People with severe long COVID who could not stand were not included in this study. They found that in patients over 20 years old who were positive for orthostatic intolerance, serum cortisol levels were higher than in people who did not have orthostatic intolerance. In teens under 20 years old, growth hormone (GH) levels were lower in the orthostatic intolerance group compared to people who tested negative on the 10-minute standing test.

Long COVID orthostatic intolerance issues appear to be affecting or are being affected by the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and GH which is made in the pituitary gland as well. Other studies have shown low cortisol levels in Long COVID suggesting that Long COVID somehow negatively affects the function of the pituitary and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. A group from Spain proposed a possible theory that there could be autoantibodies to the pituitary gland in Long COVID, but this has not been proven.

This week, Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly wrote a great review of Long COVID and other new chronic medical conditions that happen after COVID infection. He discussed research findings such as long term changes in immune responses that are linked to the original COVID infection. He also talked about some possible causes of Long COVID including viral persistence and autoantibodies.

Dr. Al-Aly also brought up that misinformation about COVID is being propagated in the public. He wrote, "COVID-19 infections continue to outnumber flu cases and lead to more hospitalization and death than the flu. COVID-19 also leads to more serious long-term health problems. Trivializing COVID-19 as an inconsequential cold or equating it with the flu does not align with reality."

The NIH announced that RECOVER finally plans to do clinical trials on treatments for Long COVID. It is therefore very important that the CURE ID study on Long COVID gets enough people to help guide the NIH as to what treatments to try. So far, only 325 people with Long COVID have responded on the CURE ID website, but they need at least 1,000. If you or someone you know has Long COVID, please go to https://cure.ncats.io/home to let the NIH know which treatments worked and which did not. The survey does not need to be filled out all at one time.

H5N1

This week, Colorado reported 2 more human cases of H5N1 avian flu, increasing the total cases in Colorado to 10 (9 related to chicken farms, 1 from a dairy farm). The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) started a new H5N1 dashboard where they will post the number of H5N1 cases twice weekly. Colorado also plans to add mandatory weekly testing of milk.

The United Kingdom has increased the pandemic risk assessment of H5N1 Avian Influenza from a Level 3 to a Level 4 because of sustained transmission in US cattle and other mammals and onwards transmission to chickens.

A new, open source platform called Precious3GPT is available for aging research and drug discovery.

Other news

Lymphatic drainage is important for removing waste and toxins from tissues, and in the brain, it relies on lymphatic vessels in the meninges and on the recently discovered glymphatic system that works with brain glial cells. Glial cells support neurons by providing nutrients and by helping with repair after injury. The lymphatic-glymphatic systems work together to circulate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), clear waste products, and maintain immune surveillance. This “brainwashing” is crucial for brain health and knowledge of this system may help create new treatments for brain diseases.

From: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp1705

This week, Boar's Head foods recalled over 200,000 pounds of deli-sliced meats that were sliced on the same line as listeria contaminated liverwurst at a Virginia plant. This recall applies to meats sliced at deli counters, not prepackaged products.

Eleven time Olympic medalist and mom of two kids Allyson Felix wanted to support athlete moms, so she launched the first-ever Olympic Village nursery for Paris 2024. Felix also recently received a $20 million grant from the Melinda French Gates Foundation to support Black maternal health.

NASA’s Curiosity 1-ton rover drove over a rock on Mars and broke it open to find yellowish-green crystals of pure sulfur inside. This is the first time that sulfur has been found on the red planet.