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Maharashtra has recorded 91 cases of the new FLiRT COVID-19 variants, which also accounts for more than a third of cases in the US. However, there is no cause for worry as of now, a top expert said on Sunday.
The new set of variants dubbed FLiRT, majorly includes KP.1.1, and KP.2 strains. These are named based on the technical names for their mutations, one of which includes the letters "F" and "L", and another of which includes the letters "R" and "T".
Genome sequencing of March and April showed that Maharashtra has 91 cases of KP.2 Pune (51), Thane (20), Amravati (7) Aurangabad (7), Solapur (2), Ahmednagar (1), Nashik (1), Latur (1), and Sangli (1).
"What we see now, is the result of genome sequencing of the last two months, that is March and April. So, there is no cause of concern immediately as out of the 91 cases, not a single death, hospitalisation, or severe disease has been reported," infectious disease expert Dr Ishwar Gilada, told IANS. "Even the test positivity rate is around 1%," he added.
Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, Maharashtras genome sequencing coordinator, said that KP.2 has become the predominant COVID-19 strain in the state. However, there hasnt been a corresponding increase in hospitalisations or severe cases, The Times of India reported.
FLiRT variants come from the lineage of the highly transmissible and immune system-evading Omicron. First identified globally in January, KP.2 is a descendant of Omicrons JN.1. According to the data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, KP.2 accounted for about one in four or 25% of new sequenced cases in the country in the last weeks of April.
Similar to previous variants, the symptoms typically include a sore throat, runny nose, congestion, tiredness, fever (with or without chills), headache, muscle pain, and sometimes loss of taste or smell.
"COVID has not gone away, but it is not creating any havoc. It is not creating any hospitalisation or deaths, and it is much milder than the flu. So, it should not be considered a separate disease. It should be considered like the flu and we can call it Covi-flu," said Dr Gilada, Consultant in Infectious Diseases Unison Medicare and Research Centre, Mumbai. However, he called for proper whole genome sequencing.
"Though the variant will become prominent in numbers, it is not causing a surge in demand for oxygen, beds, ICUs, or ventilators, and there are also no deaths. So, I think we should not be worried and concentrate on other emerging health problems," he said.
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The above article has been published from a wire agency with minimal modifications to the headline and text.
Is the new COVID-19 variant, FLiRT, that has resulted in a spike in cases in the US, UK, South Korea, and is now in India a cause of concern?
So far, India has reported 250 cases. Most cases are being attributed to two variants KP.2 and KP1.1 - which are descendants of the Omicron JN.1. which spread globally over the winter last year. They can evade immunity from vaccines and previous infections.
According to Dr Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant, pulmonology and critical care, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, the FLiRT Covid-19 variants, particularly KP.2, are considered more infectious than earlier Omicron variants. Listen in to him.
FLiRT is a sub-variant of the Omicron lineage with new mutations. It is characterised by its ability to evade immunity from vaccines and previous infections. Its symptoms are similar to those of earlier variants, including fever, cough, fatigue and digestive issues with a heightened transmission rate. FLiRT demands stringent precautions.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that there are currently no indicators suggesting that KP.2 would cause more severe illness than other strains.
Like Omicron and Pirola, this strain mainly affects the upper respiratory tract. Those affected report fever or chills, cough, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, headache, muscle aches, difficulty breathing, fatigue, loss of taste or smell, brain fog, feeling less wakeful and aware, gastro-intestinal symptoms, including upset stomach, mild diarrhoea and vomitting.
Hospitalization rates for patients with these symptoms are not higher than usual.
Yes it does. Particularly KP.2 is considered more infectious than earlier Omicron variants. The heightened transmission rate of FLiRT variants demands stringent precautions. The FLiRT variants can spread easily through respiratory droplets, posing risks to all, especially the unvaccinated and those with compromised immunity.
What are preventive methods?
Stay up-to-date with Covid-19 vaccines, including boosters, to reduce the risk of severe illness. Use well-fitting respirators like N95s or KN95s in indoor public settings, especially in areas with high transmission rates. Increase air flow and filtration in indoor spaces to reduce the concentration of virus particles. Use rapid antigen tests if you have been part of a gathering or been exposed to someone with Covid-19. Isolate if positive and stay at home to avoid spread.
It is important to follow these prevention strategies besides hand hygiene and social distancing to provide the best protection against Covid-19 and its evolving variants. Staying informed about local transmission levels and following public health guidance can help reduce the impact of the FLiRT variant.
How prone are the elderly to infection?
Senior citizens are particularly prone to severe illness due to various factors such as age-related physiological changes, decreased immune function, and the presence of comorbidities. Research indicates that adults aged 60 and older, especially those with pre-existing medical conditions like heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, or cancer, are more likely to experience severe and potentially fatal Covid-19 infections compared to other age groups. The most vulnerable group continues to be people who are 65 and older, pregnant women or immunocompromised.
What about those who have received earlier versions of the vaccine?
While the FLiRT variant may lead to breakthrough infections and partial evasion of the immune systems defences, older vaccines can continue to offer substantial protection against severe illness, hospitalisation and mortality. Studies suggest that although vaccines may not entirely prevent infection, they significantly reduce viral loads, leading to milder symptoms and lower transmission rates.
This article has been reviewed according to ScienceX's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
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The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in millions of deaths. Despite an unparalleled collaborative research effort that led to effective vaccines and therapies being produced in record-breaking time, a complete understanding of the structure and lifecycle of the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 is still lacking.
Scientists used the biolabs and the SPB/SFX instrument at the European XFEL to study the main protease, or Mpro, of the virus to understand how it protects itself from oxidative damage. The results add key knowledge to our understanding of the workings of SARS-CoV-2 and the field of viral biology.
The paper is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Between January 2020 and March 2023, over six million people died as a result of the respiratory disease COVID-19, and several hundred million were infected. The disease is caused by SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus.
"Coronaviruses are a group of RNA viruses that cause illnesses and diseases in mammals and birds," explains European XFEL scientist Richard Bean. "However, despite their significant relevance for global human health, there is still a lot to learn about the structure and function of coronaviruses in general and SARS-CoV-2 in particular."
In response to the outbreak of the pandemic, scientists and scientific organizations around the globe poured efforts into studying the structure, dynamics, and function of SARS-CoV-2 in search of vaccines and therapies. Due to its central role in the replication cycle of the virus, the main proteasean enzyme that liberates newly made pieces of the virus from one anothersoon emerged as a key antiviral drug target.
The main protease, or Mpro, is particularly attractive for drug development because it plays a central role in viral replication, and also because it is quite different from all human proteins. This allows therapies to specifically target the virus while minimizing side effects that might harm patients. Previous drug discovery programs targeting other viruses have succeeded using viral protease inhibitors, making a successful outcome in the case of SARS-CoV-2 more likely.
"While the height of the COVID-19 pandemic may have passed, there is still a lot of value in studying the SARS-CoV-2 virus," says Thomas Lane from the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL) in Hamburg. "COVID continues to present a significant health threat worldwide. Given the persistence of this virus and the possible emergence of future pathogenic coronaviruses, it is imperative we develop a deeper understanding of Mpro and its role in viral function."
In a recent experiment at the SPB/SFX instrument at the European XFEL, Lane and colleagues used the intense X-ray beam to study Mpro. Several previous structural studies focusing on Mpro have highlighted a number of peculiarities.
"Firstly, the protein forms a 3D structure known as a dimer when it is found in high concentrations," explains European XFEL scientist Robin Schubert, who was involved in the experiment. "This structural habit seems to directly influence its activitybut we don't know precisely why this is important for the virus." Alongside key insights into the 3D structure, recent studies have also hinted at the importance of cellular oxygen levels for protease activity.
"It seems that even mild exposure to oxygen decreases Mpro's activity," explains Patrick Reinke, also from CFEL. Indeed, in the presence of sufficient oxygen, turnover ceases altogether. But this process is reversibleif the oxygen is removed, the enzyme reactivates itself, suggesting the system has evolved protective mechanisms to survive in an oxidative environment.
"Oxidative stress has been shown to regulate the function of other viruses, such as HIV," Reinke adds. "It has been suggested that structural changes in the protease let it escape oxidative damage in oxygen-rich environments. However, we're still unsure of how these protective mechanisms impact viral fitness."
To better understand how structural changes protect the protein from oxygen damage, the team used the European XFEL's powerful X-ray beam to reveal the structure of Mpro after it had been exposed to oxygen. They discovered a structural rearrangement of Mpro in which a bond forms between two cysteine residues: the active site cysteine C145 and a distal cysteine C117.
To accomplish this, the team produced large amounts of Mpro over the course of several months in the biolabs at European XFEL and turned it into microcrystals, some of which were grown in the presence of oxygen. Finally, the microcrystals were sent flying in front of the European XFEL beam at the SPB/SFX instrument using a liquid jet.
Such small crystals are impossible to study using traditional light sources because the amount of radiation needed to generate enough data from the crystals would destroy them. The X-rays pulses produced by the European XFEL, however, are so powerful and short that they can be used to capture an image of the protein crystal before it has time to disintegrate.
"Our results show that the active site cysteine, which conducts the enzyme's chemistry, can sneakily hide itself from oxidative damage," says Schubert. Typically, oxidation can irreversibly damage cysteines.
Upon oxidation, however, Mpro protects its most important cysteine by forming what is known as a "disulfide bond," which buries it in the core of the protein structure. Then, if moved back into a safe, low-oxygen environment, the disulfide bond can break, revealing the active cysteine, which resumes its original function.
"The experiments performed at the European XFEL reveal a picture of the protein in its hidden disulfide state, confirming it exists and uncovering how it works," says Schubert.
"Mpro exhibits an unusually rich set of oxidation modifications, and our experiment adds a key piece to that story," says Lane. The scientists are excited about what their data indicate and about their next steps. "Mpro is a linchpin of coronavirus biology and the premier target for anti-COVID-19 small-molecule therapeutics.
"The enzyme's function has been shown to be regulated via both dimerization and oxidation, and it's clear that these regulatory mechanisms are biophysically correlated. While our structures provide mechanistic insight into these properties of Mpro, we must now understand how regulation based on oxidative stress or protein concentration impact viral fitness. This will provide deeper insight into viral biology and hopefully open new opportunities to disrupt that biology with life-preserving medicines."
More information: Patrick Y. A. Reinke et al, SARS-CoV-2 Mpro responds to oxidation by forming disulfide and NOS/SONOS bonds, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48109-3
Journal information: Nature Communications
Provided by European XFEL
[Source]
Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was expected to be released on May 13 after spending four years behind bars for documenting the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, but her current status remains unknown.
Key points:
Zhang's videos documented crowded hospitals, empty streets and interviews with Wuhan residents in lockdown.
Her content countered the Chinese government's official narrative of how it was handling the coronavirus outbreak.
Detained in May 2020, she was charged with the vague offense of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble."
Reports of hunger strikes, force-feeding and a dramatic weight loss during her imprisonment sparked concerns about Zhang's health over the years.
The details:
Trending on NextShark: New documentary remembers how incarcerated Japanese Americans lived in WWII
Zhang, a former lawyer, traveled from Shanghai to Wuhan to document events as COVID-19 took over the city in early 2020. She posted unfiltered reports on Chinese social media, as well as YouTube, which is banned in China.
Her reports, which offered a rare glimpse into the early extent of the outbreak, eventually gained traction. She also wrote essays critical of the Chinese government response.
Zhang's family and rights groups were expecting her release on May 13 based on a court verdict they obtained. But as of Monday evening, advocates lamented that there had been no confirmation whether she was able to walk free.
Activist Jane Wang, who heads the U.K.-based Free Zhang Zhan campaign, expressed concerns about Zhang's condition.
Zhang Zhan should have regained her freedom. We should have heard from her or her family by now. Instead, we are left wondering where she is, how she is doing physically and mentally, whats happened to her family and what the future holds for her:
Zhang's family has reportedly faced pressure from authorities to remain silent, adding to the uncertainty surrounding her situation.
Trending on NextShark: COVID-19 whistleblower's status unknown after 4-year prison term
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Background of the selected articles
The current study selected 58 articles for the SLR. Five themes were developed based on the thematic analysis from the predetermined research questions: the link between solar activity and pandemic outbreaks, regional area, climate and weather, the relationship between temperature and humidity, and government disinfection action guidelines. Among the articles retrieved between 2000 and 2022; two were published in 2010, one in 2011, four in 2013, three in 2014, two in 2015, six in 2016 and 2017, respectively, one in 2018, six in 2019, twelve in 2020, eight in 2021, and seven in 2022.
Numerous scientists have investigated the relationship between solar activities and pandemic outbreaks over the years ([43]; A [27, 44, 45].). Nuclear fusions from solar activities have resulted in minimum and maximum solar sunspots. Maximum solar activities are characterised by a high number of sunspots and elevated solar flare frequency and coronal mass injections. Minimum solar sunspot occurrences are identified by low interplanetary magnetic field values entering the earth [1].
A diminished magnetic field was suggested to be conducive for viruses and bacteria to mutate, hence the onset of pandemics. Nonetheless, Hoyle and Wickramasinghe [46] reported that the link between solar activity and pandemic outbreaks is only speculative. The literature noted that the data recorded between 1930 and 1970 demonstrated that virus transmissions and pandemic occurrences were coincidental. Moreover, no pandemic cases were reported in 1979, when minimum solar activity was recorded [47].
Chandra Wickramasinghe et al. [48] suggested a significant relationship between pandemic outbreaks and solar activities as several grand solar minima, including Sporer (14501550AD), Mounder (16501700AD), and Dalton (18001830) minimums, were recorded coinciding with global pandemics of diseases, such as smallpox, the English sweat, plague, and cholera pandemics. Furthermore, since the Dalton minimum, which recorded minimum sunspots, studies from 2002 to 2015 have documented the reappearance of previous pandemics. For example, influenza subtype H1N1 1918/1919 episodically returned in 2009, especially in India, China, and other Asian countries. Zika virus, which first appeared in 1950, flared and became endemic in 2015, transmitted sporadically, specifically in African countries. Similarly, SARS-CoV was first recorded in China in 2002 and emerged as an outbreak, MERS-CoV, in middle east countries a decade later, in 2012.
In 2020, the World Data Centre Sunspot Index and Long-term Solar Observations (http://sidc.be) confirmed that a new solar activity was initiated in December 2019, during which a novel coronavirus pandemic also occurred, and present a same as the previous hypothesis. Nevertheless, a higher number of pandemic outbreaks were documented during low minimum solar activities, including Ebola (1976), H5N1 (Nipah) (19671968), H1N1 (2009), and COVID-19 (2019current). Furthermore, Wickramasinghe and Qu [49] reported that since 1918 or 1919, more devastating and recurrent pandemics tend to occur, particularly after a century. Consequently, within 100years, a sudden surge of influenza was recorded, and novel influenza was hypothesised to emerge.
Figure4 demonstrates that low minimum solar activity significantly reduced before 2020, hence substantiating the claim that pandemic events are closely related to solar activities. Moreover, numerous studies (i.e. [43], Chandra [46,47,48]) reported that during solar minimums, new viruses could penetrate the surfaces of the earth and high solar radiation would result in lower infection rates, supporting the hypothesis mentioned above.
The number of sunspots in the last 13years. Note: The yellow curve indicates the daily sunspot number and the 20102021 delineated curve illustrates the minimum solar activity recorded (source: http://sidc.be/silso)
In early December 2019, Wuhan, China, was reported as the centre of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak [50]. Chinese health authorities immediately investigated and controlled the spread of the disease. Nevertheless, by late January 2020, the WHO announced that COVID-19 was a global public health emergency. The upgrade was due to the rapid rise in confirmed cases, which were no longer limited to Wuhan [28]. The disease had spread to 24 other countries, which were mainly in the northern hemisphere, particularly the European and Western Pacific regions, such as France, United Kingdom, Spain, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia [51, 52]. The migration or movement of humans was the leading agent in the spread of COVID-19, resulting in an almost worldwide COVID-19 pandemic [53].
The first hotspots of the epidemic outspread introduced by the Asian and Western Pacific regions possessed similar winter climates with an average temperature and humidity rate of 511C and 4779%. Consequently, several publications reviewed in the current study associated the COVID-19 outbreak with regional climates (i.e. [1, 29, 54, 55]) instead of its close connection to China. This review also discussed the effects of a range of specific climatological variables on the transmission and epidemiology of COVID-19 in regional climatic conditions.
America and Europe documented the highest COVID-19 cases, outnumbering the number reported in Asia [19] and on the 2nd of December 2020, the United States of America (USA) reported the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 infections, with over 13,234,551 cases and 264,808 mortalities (DaS [56].). The cases in the USA began emerging in March 2020 and peaked in late November 2020, during the wintertime in the northern hemisphere (December to March) [53]. Figure5 demonstrates the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in several country which represent comparison two phase of summer and one phase of winter. Most of these countries tend to increase of COVID cases close to winter season. Then, it can be worsening on phase two of summer due to do not under control of human movement although the normal trend it is presenting during winter phase.
The evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic from the 15th of February 2020 to the 2nd of December 2020 (Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus)
The coronavirus spread aggressively across the European region, which recorded the second highest COVID-19 confirmed cases after America. At the end of 2020, WHO reported 19,071,275 Covid-19 cases in the area, where France documented 2,183,275 cases, the European country with the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by the United Kingdom (1,629,661 cases) and Spain (1,652,801 cases) [19]. Europe is also located in the northern hemisphere and possesses a temperate climate.
The spatial and temporal transmission patterns of coronavirus infection in the European region were similar to America and the Eastern Mediterranean, where the winter season increased COVID-19 cases. Typically, winter in Europe occurs at the beginning of October and ends in March. Hardy et al. [57] also stated that temperature commonly drops below freezing (approximately 1C) when snow accumulates between December to mid-March, resulting in an extreme environment. Figure 5 indicates that COVID-19 cases peaked in October when the temperature became colder [21]. Similarly, the cases were the highest in the middle of the year in Australia and South Asian countries, such as India, that experience winter and monsoon, respectively, during the period.
In African regions, the outbreak of COVID-19 escalated rapidly from June to October before falling from October to March, as summer in South Africa generally occurs from November to March, while winter from June to August. Nevertheless, heavy rainfall generally transpires during summer, hence the warm and humid conditions in South Africa and Namibia during summer, while the opposite happens during winter (cold and dry). Consequently, the outbreak in the region recorded an increasing trend during winter and subsided during the summer, supporting the report by Gunthe et al. [58]. Novel coronavirus disease presents unique and grave challenges in Africa, as it has for the rest of the world. However, the infrastructure and resources have limitations for Africa countries facing COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of other diseases [59].
Conclusively, seasonal and regional climate patterns were associated with COVID-19 outbreaks globally. According to Kraemer et al. [60], they used real-time mobility data in Wuhan and early measurement presented a positive correlation between human mobility and spread of COVID-19 cases. However, after the implementation of control measures, this correlation dropped and growth rates became negative in most locations, although shifts in the demographics of reported cases were still indicative of local chains of transmission outside of Wuhan.
The term weather represents the changes in the environment that occur daily and in a short period, while climate is defined as atmospheric changes happening over a long time (over 3 months) in specific regions. Consequently, different locations would experience varying climates. Numerous reports suggested climate and weather variabilities as the main drivers that sped or slowed the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide [44, 61,62,63].
From a meteorological perspective, a favourable environment has led to the continued existence of the COVID-19 virus in the atmosphere [64]. Studies demonstrated that various meteorological conditions, such as the rate of relative humidity (i.e. [28]), precipitation (i.e. [65]), temperature (i.e. [66]), and wind speed factors (i.e. [54]), were the crucial components that contributed to the dynamic response of the pandemic, influencing either the mitigation or exacerbation of novel coronavirus transmission. In other words, the environment was considered the medium for spreading the disease when other health considerations were put aside. Consequently, new opinions, knowledge, and findings are published and shared to increase awareness, thus encouraging preventive measures within the public.
The coronavirus could survive in temperatures under 30C with a relative humidity of less than 80% [67], suggesting that high temperatures and lower relative humidity contributed to the elicitation of COVID-19 cases [18, 51, 58, 68]. Lagtayi et al. [7] highlighted temperature as a critical factor, evidently from the increased transmission rate of MERS-Cov in African states with a warm and dry climate. Similarly, the highest COVID-19 cases were recorded in dry temperate regions, especially in western Europe (France and Spain), China, and the USA, while the countries nearer to the equator were less affected. Nevertheless, the temperature factor relative to viral infections depends on the protein available in the viruses. According to Chen and Shakhnovich [69], there is a good correlation between decreasing temperature and the growth of proteins in virus. Consequently, preventive measures that take advantage of conducive environments for specific viruses are challenging.
Precipitation also correlates with influenza [43]. A report demonstrated that regions with at least 150mm of monthly precipitation threshold level experienced fewer cases than regions with lower precipitation rates. According to Martins et al. [70], influenza and COVID-19 can be affected by climate, where virus can be spread through the respiratory especially during rainfall season. The daily spread of Covid-19 cases in tropical countries, which receive high precipitation levels, are far less than in temperate countries [27]. Likewise, high cases of COVID-19 were reported during the monsoon season (mid-year) in India during which high rainfall is recorded [71]. Moreover, the majority of the population in these regions has lower vitamin D levels, which may contribute to weakened immune responses during certain seasons [27].
Rainfall increases the relative atmospheric humidity, which is unfavourable to the coronaviruses as its transmission requires dry and cold weather. Moreover, several reports hypothesised that rain could wash away viruses on object surfaces, which is still questioned. Most people prefer staying home on rainy days, allowing less transmission or close contact. Conversely, [72] exhibited that precipitation did not significantly impact COVID-19 infectiousness in Oslo, Norway due the location in northern hemisphere which are during winter season presenting so cold.
Cokun et al. [54] and Wu et al. [29] claimed that wind could strongly correlate with the rate of COVID-19 transmission. Atmospheric instability (turbulent occurrences) leads to increased wind speed and reduces the dispersion of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in the environment and among humans. An investigation performed in 55 cities in Italy during the COVID-19 outbreak proved that the areas with low wind movement (stable atmospheric conditions) possessed a higher correlation coefficient and exceeded the threshold value of the safe level of PM2.5 and PM10. Resultantly, more individuals were recorded infected with the disease in the regions. As mentioned in Martins et al. [70] the COVID-19 can be affected by climate and the virus can be spread through respiratory which is the virus moving in the wind movement.
Climatic parameters, such as temperature and humidity, were investigated as the crucial factors in the epidemiology of the respiratory virus survival and transmission of COVID-19 ([61]; S [73, 74].). The rising number of confirmed cases indicated the strong transmission ability of COVID-19 and was related to meteorological parameters. Furthermore, several studies found that the disease transmission was associated with the temperature and humidity of the environment [55, 64, 68, 75], while other investigations have examined and reviewed environmental factors that could influence the epidemiological aspects of Covid-19.
Generally, increased COVID-19 cases and deaths corresponded with temperature, humidity, and viral transmission and mortality. Various studies reported that colder and dryer environments favoured COVID-19 epidemiologically [45, 76, 77]. As example tropical region, the observations indicated that the summer (middle of year) and rainy seasons (end of the year) could effectively diminish the transmission and mortality from COVID-19. High precipitation statistically increases relative air humidity, which is unfavourable for the survival of coronavirus, which prefers dry and cold conditions [32, 34, 78, 79]. Consequently, warmer conditions could reduce COVID-19 transmission. A 1C increase in the temperature recorded a decrease in confirmed cases by 8% increase [45].
Several reports established that the minimum, maximum, and average temperature and humidity correlated with COVID-19 occurrence and mortality [55, 80, 81]. The lowest and highest temperatures of 24 and 27.3C and a humidity between 76 and 91% were conducive to spreading the virulence agents. The propagation of the disease peaked at the average temperature of 26C and humidity of 55% before gradually decreasing with elevated temperature and humidity [78].
Researchers are still divided on the effects of temperature and humidity on coronavirus transmission. Xu et al. [26] confirmed that COVID-19 cases gradually increased with higher temperature and lower humidity, indicating that the virus was actively transmitted in warm and dry conditions. Nevertheless, several reports stated that the spread of COVID-19 was negatively correlated with temperature and humidity [10, 29, 63]. The conflicting findings require further investigation. Moreover, other factors, such as population density, elderly population, cultural aspects, and health interventions, might potentially influence the epidemiology of the disease and necessitate research.
The COVID-19 is a severe health threat that is still spreading worldwide. The epidemiology of the SAR-CoV-2 virus might be affected by several factors, including meteorological conditions (temperature and humidity), population density, and healthcare quality, that permit it to spread rapidly [16, 17]. Nevertheless, in 2020, no effective pharmaceutical interventions or vaccines were available for the diagnosis, treatment, and epidemic prevention against COVID-19 [73, 82]. Consequently, after 2020 the governments globally have designed and executed non-pharmacological public health measures, such as lockdown, travel bans, social distancing, quarantine, public place closure, and public health actions, to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections and several studies have reported on the effects of these plans [13, 83].
The COVID-19 is mainly spread via respiratory droplets from an infected persons mouth or nose to another in close contact [84]. Accordingly, WHO and most governments worldwide have recommended wearing facemasks in public areas to curb the transmission of COVID-19. The facemasks would prevent individuals from breathing COVID-19-contaminated air [85]. Furthermore, the masks could hinder the transmission of the virus from an infected person as the exhaled air is trapped in droplets collected on the masks, suspending it in the atmosphere for longer. The WHO also recommended adopting a proper hand hygiene routine to prevent transmission and employing protective equipment, such as gloves and body covers, especially for health workers [86].
Besides wearing protective equipment, social distancing was also employed to control the Covid-19 outbreak [74, 87]. Social distancing hinders the human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus in the form of droplets from the mouth and nose, as evidenced by the report from Sun and Zhai [88]. Conversely, Nair & Selvaraj [89] demonstrated that social distancing was less effective in communities and cultures where gatherings are the norm. Nonetheless, the issue could be addressed by educating the public and implementing social distancing policies, such as working from home and any form of plague treatment.
Infected persons, individuals who had contact with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients, and persons living in areas with high transmission rates were recommended to undergo quarantine by WHO. The quarantine could be implemented voluntarily or legally enforced by authorities and applicable to individuals, groups, or communities (community containment) [90]. A person under mandatory quarantine must stay in a place for a recommended 14-day period, based on the estimated incubation period of the SARS-CoV-2 [19, 91]. According to Stasi et al. [92], 14-days period for mandatory quarantine it is presenting a clinical improvement after they found 5-day group and 10-day group can be decrease number of patient whose getting effect of COVID-19 from 64 to 54% respectively. This also proven by Ahmadi et al. [43] and Foad et al. [93], quarantining could reduce the transmission of COVID-19.
Lockdown and travel bans, especially in China, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, reduced the infection rate and the correlation of domestic air traffic with COVID-19 cases [17]. The observations were supported by Sun & Zhai [88] and Sun et al. [94], who noted that travel restrictions diminished the number of COVID-19 reports by 75.70% compared to baseline scenarios without restrictions. Furthermore, example in Malaysia, lockdowns improved the air quality of polluted areas especially in primarily at main cities [95]. As additional, Martins et al. [70] measure the Human Development Index (HDI) with the specific of socio-economic variables as income, education and health. In their study, the income and education levels are the main relevant factors that affect the socio-economic.
A mandatory lockdown is an area under movement control as a preventive measure to stop the coronavirus from spreading to other areas. Numerous governments worldwide enforced the policy to restrict public movements outside their homes during the pandemic. Resultantly, human-to-human transmission of the virus was effectively reduced. The lockdown and movement control order were also suggested for individuals aged 80 and above or with low or compromised immunities, as these groups possess a higher risk of contracting the disease [44].
Governments still enforced movement orders even after the introduction of vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, and Sinovac, as the vaccines only protect high-risk individuals from the worst effects of COVID-19. Consequently, in most countries, after receiving the first vaccine dose, individuals were allowed to resume life as normal but were still required to follow the standard operating procedures (SOP) outlined by the government.
The government attempted to balance preventing COVID-19 spread and recovering economic activities, for example, local businesses, maritime traders, shipping activities, oil and gas production and economic trades [22, 96]. Nonetheless, the COVID-19 cases demonstrated an increasing trend during the summer due to the higher number of people travelling and on vacation, primarily to alleviate stress from lockdowns. Several new variants were discovered, including the Delta and Omicron strains, which spread in countries such as the USA and the United Kingdom. The high number of COVID-19 cases prompted the WHO to suggest booster doses to ensure full protection.
As mentioned in this manuscript, the COVID-19 still uncertain for any kind factors that can be affected on spreading of this virus. However, regarding many sources of COVID-19 study, the further assessment on this factor need to be continue to be sure, that we ready to facing probably in 10years projection of solar minimum phase can be held in same situation for another pandemic.
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Claim:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention faked 99% of reported deaths from COVID-19.
On May 14, 2024, a rumor went viral on X, claiming that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention faked 99% of reported deaths from COVID-19. As of this writing, the post had gained more than 107,500 views, 2,900 comments and 5,400 reactions.
(X user @iluminatibot)
The post linked to an articlefrom a site called Slay News with the headline "CDC Faked 99% of Reported 'Covid Deaths,' Data Shows" from August 2023. It read:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has just quietly published new data that reveals a staggering 99% of reported "Covid deaths" were not actually caused by the virus.
Recent data from the CDC reveals a troubling statistic showing that most recorded fatalities that were blanket-blamed on Covid were actually caused by something else.
According to the CDC's Covid dashboard, just 1.7% of the 324 "Covid deaths" registered in the week ending August 19 had the coronavirus as the primary cause of death.
Alarmingly, the vast majority of people who were labeled as so-called "Covid deaths" actually died of other causes such as cancer and heart disease.
"According to the CDC's own data, 99 percent of 'Covid deaths' have been faked," the article said.
In short, because the viral rumor misrepresents the CDC's data on COVID-19 deaths, we have rated this claim as "False."
According to the CDC's website, for the week ending on Aug. 19, 2023, COVID-19 accounted for 1.6% of all U.S. fatalities. However, that does not imply that 99% of the reported COVID-19 deaths were unrelated to the virus, as the number reflected COVID-19 deaths as a percentage of deaths from all causes.
(www.covid.cdc.gov)
The same claim was debunked by AP News and PolitiFactin 2023. The AP reported that in August 2023 the rumor was spread through online posts citing a Daily Mail article as proof, which was later updated to reflect what the numbers actually showed:
A correction added to the Daily Mail article notes that "an earlier version of this article claimed 99 percent of Covid deaths in the past week were not primarily caused by the virus." It then describes how the actual data was calculated and states that the article has been amended to reflect this. The headline of the article was also updated to read: "Covid to blame for just 1% of weekly deaths from all causes across the US, CDC data shows."
Scott Pauley, a spokesperson for the CDC, told The Associated Press that the Daily Mail article now accurately reflects the agency's data and that the CDC has been in touch with the publication about this issue.
It's not the first time we've investigated a CDC-related rumor. In September 2023, we debunked a claim that the CDC said Americans who received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were at higher risk of infection from new variants of the virus than those who were unvaccinated. In April 2020 we investigated whether the CDC's guidelines for listing COVID-19 on death certificates in the absence of a test were resulting in a case overcount.
Bergman, Frank. "CDC Faked 99% of Reported 'Covid Deaths,' Data Shows." Slay News, 30 Aug. 2023, https://slaynews.com/news/cdc-faked-99-reported-covid-deaths-data-shows/.
CDC. "COVID Data Tracker." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Mar. 2020, https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker.
"CDC Data Does Not Show That 99% of COVID-19 Deaths Were Due to Other Causes." AP News, 30 Aug. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-deaths-99-percent-cdc-data-828332813362.
O'Rourke, Ciara. "Misinterpretation of COVID-19 Data Leads to Misinformation." @politifact, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/oct/05/viral-image/misinterpretation-of-cdc-covid-19-data-leads-to-mi/. Accessed 14 May 2024.
Palma, Bethania. "Are CDC Guidelines for Reporting COVID-19 Deaths Inflating Numbers?" Snopes, 20 Apr. 2020, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/cdc-guidelines-covid19/.
Wrona, Aleksandra. "CDC Says Vaccinated Americans Have Higher Risk of Infection than Unvaccinated?" Snopes, 5 Sept. 2023, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/cdc-risk-assessment-summary-covid-vaccine/.
An unusual surge in flu viruses detected at wastewater treatment plants in California and other parts of the country is raising concerns among some experts that H5N1 bird flu may be spreading farther and faster than health officers initially thought.
In the last several weeks, wastewater surveillance at 59 of 190 U.S. municipal and regional sewage plants has revealed an out-of-season spike in influenza A flu viruses a category that also includes H5N1.
The testing which is intended to monitor the prevalence of normal flu viruses that affect humans has also shown a moderate to high upward trend at 40 sites across California, including San Francisco, Oakland and San Diego. Almost every city tested in the Bay Area shows moderate to high increases of type A viruses.
Alexandria Boehm, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and principal investigator and program director for WastewaterSCAN an infectious disease monitoring network run by researchers at labs at Stanford, Emory University and Alphabet Inc.s life sciences research organization was careful to note that an increase in human influenza A virus in wastewater does not necessarily mean that bird flu is present. However, it does raise that question.
Some experts fear that H5N1 is essentially flying under the radar, spreading undetected among birds, livestock and possibly humans, and say the increase in positive test results at sewage plants could be an indication of this. They worry that if the virus continues to spread among livestock, there is a greater risk that the virus will mutate in a way that makes it more of a threat to humans.
There seems to be an outbreak throughout California, and, as far as I know, they havent reported any infected cows in that state yet, said Marc Johnson, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri, referring to the cluster of yellow and orange dots on the WastewaterSCAN map.
Johnson is among a number of experts urging the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to test specifically for H5N1 and to make those results public.
Avian flu has been positively identified in 42 cattle herds across nine states, suggesting its spread has been somewhat limited. However, the wastewater surveillance testing shows a surge in flu viruses in 23 states, including some that have seen outbreaks at dairy farms.
Boehm said they have testing in 41 states; not all states participate in the WastewaterSCAN academic program.
So far, there have been no reported herds infected in California, which is the nations largest milk producer. The state supplies roughly 20% of the nations milk, is home to about 1,300 dairy farms and has an estimated 1.7 million dairy cows.
Most human influenza viruses are seasonal, arriving in the fall and disappearing by early spring. Therefore, finding the virus in wastewater during these periods is what wed expect when you have more influenza cases in hospitals, more hospitalizations, more emergency department visits, said Boehm, the Stanford professor.
What weve noticed this year is that after influenza season, there was a fraction of the wastewater treatment plants we survey, that when we looked closely at them at the end of April, there were increases, she said, including some really obvious ones such as two in Amarillo, Texas, where they knew H5N1 had been detected in dairy cattle nearby.
The team contacted the local public health department and got permission to test for bird flu virus. It was a match. So, too, was the wastewater from a Dallas plant.
Boehm said the finding suggests that the increases they are observing at these other sites 59 of the 190 that they track might also be avian flu.
She said the sites they are looking at deal with municipal, not agricultural, wastewater, so theyre not getting farm runoff.
Instead, at least in the case of Amarillo, its probably from permitted dairy processing centers places that were making cheese or yogurt ... that had a permit to discharge into the waste stream.
Whats causing the upward trend at other sites is not clear. But if the uptick is the result of bird-flu infected dairy getting into the municipal waste stream and since milk is generally trucked from dairies to processing centers the source of infection is probably not too far away. These positive sites provide a geographical flag for public health officials to take a closer look. (The CDC has said that pasteurization of milk kills the virus.)
Johnson, who developed an H5N1 assay to test wastewater in Missouri, was asked by federal officials to withhold using the test for fear it could add to the confusion.
This is the perfect example of why it makes sense, to test specifically for H5N1 in wastewater, he said. Because then you would know whether this is really H5, because no matter where its coming from, if its showing up in California, thats saying something.
Johnson said if the tests show its H5N1, there could be infected cows in California.
The CDC monitors roughly 600 sites, and what we are seeing is very localized increases that are out of season for seasonal flu, said Amy Kirby, senior service fellow in the Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch at the CDC.
She said that when they see those increases, they go in for a deeper look.
In an interview on Friday, she said she was unable to provide more information, because the agency was finalizing that data and checking it to make sure its correct.
Tom Skinner, a CDC spokesman, said that data will be available on the agencys avian flu dashboard Tuesday. He said in an email that some of the sites theyve looked at are in California, but declined to add more information until after the agency has posted its own dashboard.
To some researchers, the spike in viruses found in wastewater is a call to action.
I think we have a good opportunity here to kind of prepare in case of the worst case scenario, said John Dennehy, a virologist at the City University of New Yorks Graduate Center. Now, we know its there. We know it hasnt jumped into humans yet, but can we muster the public health infrastructure to prepare in advance if this should jump over from cows into humans? Whether it is coming from milk? Or some other means?
It was in Dennehys laboratory that New York Citys coronavirus wastewater test was developed.
Dennehy and his colleague, Denis Nash distinguished professor of epidemiology and executive director of City University of New Yorks Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health said its only been since about 2020 that researchers have been using wastewater surveillance to monitor public health.
Its now seen as a first line method of surveillance gathering information about outbreaks of flu, polio, rhinoviruses and other diseases. But its largely been driven by academics and local agencies.
In the case of bird flu, a more centralized, or organized, system of monitoring and messaging is required, they said.
I think the important thing here is that CDC should be describing whats going on with influenza A in wastewater, said Nash. Its great that academics are doing it. We all are stepping in because it often seems like the government is a little bit delayed or just not engaged. But really, the CDC should be leading this.
Calls to wastewater treatment centers in Santa Cruz and Oakland went unreturned. A query to an official at UC Davis wastewater treatment center, which shows an uptick, also went unanswered.
Theres no solid evidence that bird flu is spreading among people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday amid an outbreak of the virus in dairy cows.
New data from 189 of the agencys wastewater sampling sites showed that as of May 4, an influenza A virus had been detected at higher-than-average levels in a handful of sites across the country, including in Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois and Kansas.
The bird flu currently circulating in cows, called H5N1, is a type of influenza A.
Just one site, in Saline County, Kansas, showed notably high levels of flu virus for this time of the year. Four herds in Kansas tested positive in April, the CDC said.
Its unclear whether the Kansas wastewater samples were limited to human waste or whether they included runoff water from farms. Its also unclear whether the high levels of virus in the wastewater indicate infections in humans, cows, birds or other animals. There hasnt been any unusual uptick in flu-like illnesses in recent weeks, the CDC said.
Wed really like to understand what might be driving that influenza A increase during what we consider the lower transmission season for influenza A, said Jonathan Yoder, deputy director of the CDCs division of infectious disease readiness and innovation.
A representative from one of Saline Countys major hospitals didnt respond to a request for comment.
Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease expert and an associate professor of medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine in North Carolina, said the new CDC data is actually pretty reassuring.
Were in the middle of May, he said, when there isnt naturally a lot of flu. Wolfe said he isnt seeing any uptick in flu-like illnesses in his medical practice.
As of Tuesday, 42 herds in nine states Kansas, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas had been affected.
The agency is monitoring 260 people who have been exposed to infected dairy cows for flu-like symptoms. Thirty-three people have been tested for the virus. So far just one person a dairy farm worker in Texas has been diagnosed with bird flu connected to the dairy cow outbreak. He developed a severe case of conjunctivitis, or pinkeye, and has recovered.
Erika Edwards is a health and medical news writer and reporter for NBC News and "TODAY."
Researchers who sequenced viruses from wastewater samples from 10 Texas cities found H5N1 avian flu virus in 9 of them, sometimes at levels that rivaled seasonal flu.
In other developments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in updates on its response to H5N1 outbreaks in cattle said experiments in ferrets began last week.
A team from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center detailed their whole-virome sequencing findings in a new preprint study.
With many questions still unanswered about how the virus is spreading in dairy cows and how widely the virus is circulating, scientists are increasingly eyeing wastewater sampling as a key surveillance tool.
The group reported H5N1 in wastewater from March 4 to April 25. They said 19 of 23 monitored wastewater sites had at least one detection event and that, over time, H5N1 became the dominant serotype. They did not name the 10 cities they monitored, and the findings have yet to be peer-reviewed.
On X, Mike Tisza, PhD, the first author of the study and assistant professor of virology and microbiology at Baylor, said it's still not clear where the viruses came from, but the evidence tilts toward an animal source, because the researchers didn't see any mutations with known links to human adaptation.
He added that the network in Texas appears to be the only one using the wastewater sequencing technology, but that H5N1 is probably present in wastewater in other areas. If the virus becomes more of a problem, Tisza said wastewater sequencing may be the best way to identify new adaptive mutations.
In a May 10 response update, the CDC said more than 260 people have so far been monitored for H5N1 symptoms following exposure to infected or potentially infected animals. Of at least 33 who had flulike symptoms, no additional human cases have been reported beyond an initial case in a Texas dairy worker who had conjunctivitis.
The CDC said it is still in talks with multiple states about state-led field epidemiologic investigations.
Meanwhile, the group said it is moving ahead with scientific work to better characterize the virus, Last week it experimentally infected ferrets with the virus that infected the Texas dairy worker to assess disease severity and transmission under different contact scenarios. Scientists often use ferrets as a model to assess flu viruses because they get sick and transmit them similar to people.
Results are expected in about 3 weeks, and the CDC said experimental infection of various cell lines will follow.
In other developments:
