I think we are all going to get Covid soon

[Randomguy]

Omicron found to grow 70 times faster than Delta in bronchial tissue

Study of tubes between windpipe and lungs could help explain Covid variant’s rapid transmission

 

Wed 15 Dec 2021 13.01 EST

The Omicron Covid variant has been found to multiply about 70 times quicker than the original and Delta versions of coronavirus in tissue samples taken from the bronchus, the main tubes from the windpipe to the lungs, in laboratory experiments that could help explain its rapid transmission.

The study, by a team from the University of Hong Kong, also found that the new variant grew 10 times slower in lung tissue, which the authors said could be an indicator of lower disease severity.

Michael Chan Chi-wai, who led the work, said the result needed to be interpreted with caution because severe disease is determined not only by how quickly the virus replicates but also by a person’s immune response and, in particular, whether the immune system goes into overdrive, causing a so-called cytokine storm.

“It is also noted that by infecting many more people, a very infectious virus may cause more severe disease and death even though the virus itself may be less pathogenic,” he said. “Therefore, taken together with our recent studies showing that the Omicron variant can partially escape immunity from vaccines and past infection, the overall threat from the Omicron variant is likely to be very significant.”

Jeremy Kamil, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, pointed out that Delta, which turned out to be more pathogenic, showed a similar pattern of replicating more slowly in the lungs.

“These authors found Omicron replicates fantastically well – far better than either Delta or the original virus – in bronchial tissue,” Kamil said. “This could in some ways contribute to an advantage in spread/transmission between people.

“Of course, a huge component of Omicron’s transmissibility in real life is going to be its potential to escape neutralising antibodies that protect against infection in the first place. It’s very likely spreading well even between vaccinated people, especially those who haven’t recently gotten a booster shot.”

The initial data, published online and not yet peer-reviewed, came from experiments using lung tissue samples taken from patients during surgery. By 24 hours, the Omicron variant had replicated about 70 times more than Delta and the original variant. Although the bronchus is not the upper respiratory system, scientists said this could lead to people shedding more virus and passing on infections more easily.

[Randomguy]

And this, too!  

Omicron evades Moderna vaccine too, study suggests, but boosters help

 

December 15, 202112:57 PM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

Updated 5:00 p.m. ET

There's more mixed news about the power of vaccines to protect people against the omicron variant — this time about the Moderna vaccine.

A preliminary study made public Wednesday studied blood samples in the lab from 30 people who had gotten two Moderna shots, and it found that the antibodies in their blood are at least about 50 times less effective at neutralizing the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Previous research had indicated the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is also less protective against omicron.

"The antibodies that people make after they get the standard two inoculations of the Moderna mRNA vaccine are 50 times less effective against omicron than they are against the original form of the virus," says David Montefiori, a virologist at Duke University who helped conduct the study.

But there was good news too. An additional 17 people in the study had received a Moderna booster. And the antibodies in their blood were highly effective at blocking the omicron variant — essentially about as effective as they are at blocking the delta variant, Montefiori says.

"What these results are telling us is that if omicron becomes a dominant variant, it's going to become even more important that people get their boost," Montefiori says.

Vaccine protection vs. omicron infection may drop to 30% but does cut severe disease

Studies suggest sharp drop in vaccine protection vs. omicron — yet cause for optimism

That would especially be important for elderly people and people with health problems that put them at increased risk, he says.

These findings are similar to those of studies done in labs on the blood of people who had gotten the Pfizer vaccine. Those also showed that people's antibodies were markedly less potent against omicron.

The latest study, which has been released on a preprint server but has not yet been reviewed by other scientists, involved testing antibodies in the blood of vaccinated people against a "pseudovirus," which is a virus created in the lab to mimic the mutations found in the omicron variant.

Based on the findings, Montefiori says a new vaccine specifically targeting omicron probably won't be needed. During a White House briefing Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health echoed that, both for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

"Our booster vaccine regimens work against omicron. At this point, there is no need for a variant-specific booster," Fauci said.

Scientists are doing similar experiments testing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine alone, as well as the J&J vaccine with a Pfizer booster, and expect to have some results by early next week.

Public health experts are alarmed by the omicron variant because it has more mutations than any previous SARS-CoV-2 mutants and appears to be the most contagious variant yet.

Originally spotted in South Africa, the variant is now spreading quickly around the globe. It has already been detected in at least 33 U.S. states and appears to be spreading fast. The latest estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is that omicron already accounts for about 3% of the samples the agency has analyzed, which is about a sevenfold jump from a week earlier.

The variant is already far more common than that in some parts of the country, such as in the New York and New Jersey area, where it's showing up in 13% of cases, according to the CDC.

Omicron spreads so fast that it's on track to overtake delta and become the dominant variant in the U.S. within weeks, raising fears it could accelerate the delta surge already underway.

"We could be facing very severe surges, very severe strains on our health care systems under the worst-case scenarios," says Lauren Ancel Meyers of the University of Texas at Austin, who has been modeling the possible impact of omicron on the United States.  "We don't want to be caught unprepared."

Data coming out of South Africa and the U.K. indicates that vaccinated people can still catch the omicron variant and can still end up in the hospital, but may not get as sick. But there are many questions about whether that would be the case in the U.S., where there aren't necessarily as many people who have added protection from natural exposure to the virus.

Nevertheless, the variant could still overwhelm the health system.

"While as a public health community we are still learning about the severity of cases caused by the omicron variant, modeling shows that even if it is less severe, the sheer number of cases that could come from a variant with the level of transmissibility that we are seeing in other countries could overrun our health care system resources, especially if it coincides with the current delta wave and flu season," says Adriane Casalotti of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

[Randomguy]

I am gonna name my Covid something fun when I get it, any name suggestions?

[bikeman564™]

Can I get covid a second time?

[Randomguy]

3 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

Can I get covid a second time?

Yup, that is what the science geeks have been saying.  The Browns coach has it a second time, the first time was last January.  Then came Delta and now Omicron.

From what the science folks are saying, it looks like you won't get it as bad if you already had it (maybe, probably), or the vaccine (with the booster).  But it sure seems that most of us will get it one way or another.

[maddmaxx ★]

8 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

Can I get covid a second time?

yes

covid don't care anymore.

[Prophet Zacharia]

20 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

yes

covid don't care anymore.

Presumably you can get it a third time. I’m hoping my wife’s immunity from her October infection will hold until she can get her booster. And my booster immunity holds until the January spike ends.

[Randomguy]

5 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

I’m hoping my wife’s immunity from her October infection will hold until she can get her booster. And my booster immunity holds until the January spike ends.

Yeah, this.  I may have been boosted a month early.

I mostly just don't want to give Covid to my parents when I visit Ohio.  Presumably, people are playing faster and looser with masks avoidance and vaccine avoidance in Ohio vs. where I am now.

[Prophet Zacharia]

24 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

I mostly just don't want to give Covid to my parents

Test just before you leave. PCR tests are free and pretty easy to get most places. Turnover time is back to near 72 hours now, for places like Walgreens, but probably much faster in an airport (although probably not free there).

[Road Runner]

I saw an "expert" recently on TV say that in the long run, Covid will remain with us and we will deal with it like we do the flu.  He said the virus will likely weaken to a less deadly form.  As with any living thing, it is a matter of survival.  It is not in the overall best interest of the virus to kill off its hosts.  

[Prophet Zacharia]

16 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

It is not in the overall best interest of the virus to kill off its hosts.  

It needs to keep it’s host alive long enough to be spread to others, but by the end of the day Covid doesn’t care if it’s host recovers or not.

[Road Runner]

1 minute ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

It needs to keep it’s host alive long enough to be spread to others, but by the end of the day Covid doesn’t care if it’s host recovers or not.

I was just paraphrasing what the "expert" said.  

The flu also had a super deadly strain, even worse than Covid, that occurred in 1918.  That deadly strain disappeared, but the flu in its current milder forms may be with us forever.  

[maddmaxx ★]

28 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I was just paraphrasing what the "expert" said.  

The flu also had a super deadly strain, even worse than Covid, that occurred in 1918.  That deadly strain disappeared, but the flu in its current milder forms may be with us forever.  

Until it figures out how to generate a new very nasty mutation.  

It may be here forever, but will we?

[Randomguy]

27 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I was just paraphrasing what the "expert" said.  

The flu also had a super deadly strain, even worse than Covid, that occurred in 1918.  That deadly strain disappeared, but the flu in its current milder forms may be with us forever.  

Yeah, but that was not the first instance of the flu, certainly.  Maybe we have yet to see the "deadly" version of covid.  Cheery thoughts for Wednesday, yes?

[Wilbur ★]

16 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

Until it figures out how to generate a new very nasty mutation.  

It may be here forever, but will we?

Nothing is forever. 

[maddmaxx ★]

12 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Nothing is forever. 

That must be why everyone is giving up then.

[MoseySusan]

1 hour ago, Road Runner said:

I was just paraphrasing what the "expert" said.  

The flu also had a super deadly strain, even worse than Covid, that occurred in 1918.  That deadly strain disappeared, but the flu in its current milder forms may be with us forever.  

My brother said he had Covid in October of 2019. Lots of people had it, and doctors were calling it the flu. 

[maddmaxx ★]

5 hours ago, MoseySusan said:

My brother said he had Covid in October of 2019. Lots of people had it, and doctors were calling it the flu. 

Yep.  That's what people say.