Category: Corona Virus

Over the past month, global COVID-19 cases rose slightly, with a steady drop in deaths from the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest monthly update.

However, the group cautioned about interpreting the data, given that less than half of countries reported their COVID metrics during the latest reporting period, which covers December 11, 2023, to January 7.

"According to estimates obtained from wastewater surveillance, clinical detection of cases underestimates the real burden from 2 to 19-fold," the WHO said.

In the final week of 2023, the JN.1 variant made up 65.5% of sequences, up sharply from 24.8% the month before.

In its analysis of regional trends, the WHO said cases rose in two regions. Numbers were up sharply in the South East Asia region, with a more modest increase in the Western Pacific region. In South East Asia, countries reporting some of the highest increases were India and Indonesia. JN.1, part of the BA.2.86 family, became dominant in India in the first week of January.

Meanwhile, in the Western Pacific region, Malaysia and Singapore reported the biggest case rises. Information on Malaysia's health ministry website show that cases in the current wave peaked just before Christmas and are declining steadily. Singapore's health ministry data show a similar pattern.

Deaths declined or remained stable across five of WHO's regions, with only South East Asia reporting a rise, which was sharp. The region's highest numbers were from India, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The WHO closely monitors hospitalizations and intensive care unit (ICU) indicators to look for any changes in illness severity. Very few countries regularly report their hospitalizations and ICU admissions for COVID. Of 22 countries that do, 36% saw a 20% or more rise in hospitalizations over the past month, which included Indonesia, Malta, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Greece, Singapore, the United States, and Ireland.

And of 18 countries regularly reporting ICU data, 44% reflected a rise of 20% or more in admissions for COVID. They include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Estonia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Greece, and the Czech Republic.

As part of severity monitoring, the group also tracks ICU-to-hospitalization and death-to-hospitalization ratios, which it said are still subject to the same incomplete reporting constraints. The WHO said ICU-to-hospitalization ratios have been decreasing since the peak in July 2021, with a stable trend in recent weeks.

The death-to-hospitalization ratio has also been declining since July 2021, and since January 2023 has remained under 0.15. "This is an encouraging trend indicating a lower mortality risk among hospitalized individuals," the WHO said. It said multiple factors may be responsible, including infection- or vaccine-derived immunity, earlier diagnosis and treatment, and reduced strain on health systems.

Also, the WHO included a caveat that it's not possible to saybased on ratio tracking-if the newer SARS-CoV-2 variants are less virulent.

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Latest global COVID snapshot shows rising cases, drop in deaths - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Get the latest COVID-19 news from infectious diseases expert Mark Rupp, MD, including COVID-19 case rates, types of variants circulating and vaccine updates.

There are currently more than 20,361 patients hospitalized in the United States per week, with 14% of those being ICU patients. The most recent data on the test positivity rate is from the week ending January 13, which was 11.8%. When test positivity is above 5%, transmission is considered uncontrolled.

Since many are using home tests that are not reported through public health or are not testing at all, the official case counts underestimate the actual prevalence of COVID-19.

Currently, the dominant variant nationwide is JN.1, with 61.6% of cases, followed by HV.1, with 14.8% of cases, and JD.1.1, with 4.1% of cases. "The original omicron variant is gone now," says Dr. Rupp. "Currently subvariants of omicron are circulating, including EG.5, XBB.1.16.6, and FL.1.5.1."

In the week ending January 13, 2024, there were 6,638 COVID-19 tests performed in Nebraska, with 767 positive results. This is a 11.6% positivity rate, down 2% from the week prior.

When you receive a COVID-19 test, you won't find out which variant caused your infection. That's because COVID-19 tests only detect the presence of the virus they don't determine the variant.

Genomic sequencing looks at the genetic code of the virus to determine which variant caused the infection.Sequencing results are used by public health experts to understand variant trends in the community.

The best way to prevent new variants is to slow the spread of the virus. The great news is that these proven public health strategies continue to work against new variants as well.

"We have a lot of disease out there. People should continue to be careful," Dr. Rupp says. "Get the bivalent booster, try to avoid high-risk settings. If you can't, then I think you should wear a mask."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone 6 months and older get updated COVID-19 vaccines this fall.Vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19-related hospitalization and death.

Our pharmacies offer COVID-19 vaccines on a walk-in basis. View which vaccines are available at each location.

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What COVID-19 variants are going around in January 2024? - Nebraska Medicine

Covid-19 and influenza cases are rising in Chicago and around the country, causing some strain on local hospitals.

At the University of Chicago Medical Center, "We've seen a progressive rise over the past two months, with ever increasing cases, both in the clinics, in our employees and in hospitalized patients, said Dr. Emily Landon, the centers executive medical director for infection prevention and control. It was similar to what we were seeing at the peak of last year.

That, plus the patients with flu, its just really rough right now, added Landon, who currently has Covid-19. Landon came down with the sickness despite taking extra precautions for her rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease.

According to data from the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), as expected, test positivity cases began to increase in the fall, from about 6% positivity throughout October to a peak of 12% positivity by the end of December. That same week, about 1,013 people were admitted to the hospital for Covid-19 complications an increase of about 700 people from October.

In the midst of cold and flu season, Covid-19 is leading hospital admissions for respiratory viruses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Meanwhile, test positivity for Covid-19 cases sits at 8.3% as of Jan. 26. After remaining relatively stable at about 6%, throughout October (up from 2% to 4% over the summer), it started to increase in November. The rate of positive tests peaked the week of Dec. 29, with 12% positivity. (Landon noted that test positivity rate can be unreliable, given that only patients exhibiting respiratory symptoms are tested.)

Regarding patients symptoms, Landon said the hospital is seeing a lot of congestion, lots of sore throats, a lot of co-infection with group A strep, as well as influenza cases.

Were also seeing people who arent testing positive for any of those, and who have just some other virus, making people feel pretty sick and miserable, she added.

According to CDC data, the most prevalent strain of the virus for most of the Midwest is JN.1, a subvariant of Omicron first detected by the World Health Organization in August. It is not said to be any more severe than previous iterations of the virus.

Nearby, Provident Hospital is seeing a similar surge in Covid-19 and flu cases.

This year is the first year in the past few where weve had a true influenza season, said Dr. Jonathan Martin, an infectious disease physician with Cook County Health. Influenza cases have been going up after the holidays.

He added that Provident is also seeing people present with exacerbations of a chronic condition, like asthma or kidney disease.

Per the citys most recent Influenza and Respiratory Virus Weekly Surveillance Report, for the week ending Jan. 13, Chicagos test positivity rate was 9.9%.

Per city reports, more than 20 cases of influenza-associated ICU hospitalizations occurred every week for the last four weeks. Thats more than half of the 174 influenza-associated ICU hospitalizations that have been reported since Oct. 1.

This latest surge, health officials say, is due in part to the low number of vaccinated Americans. Per city data, only 13.8% of Chicagoans have received the most recent booster, which arrived at local pharmacies in September.

The most recent boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax are all expected to help lower the chances of serious illness and hospitalization from JN.1.

CDPH still recommends vaccination as the best way to protect against infection, and encourages all Chicagoans six months and older to get their annual influenza shot and the updated Covid-19 booster.

Landon said that going forward, people should expect to get a new Covid-19 vaccine yearly, like the influenza vaccine.

As for RSV, though the CDPH reports that activity is decreasing, the CDC recommends RSV vaccines for adults ages 60 and older and people who are 32 to 26 weeks pregnant. An RSV-preventative antibody is also recommended for infants and some young children.

Health officials are also urging masking.

I would recommend wearing a mask in public right now for almost anybody, especially if youre a high-risk person, said Landon.

In September, the U. of C. Medicine re-implemented its mask requirement for all health care workers any time theyre interacting with a patient. Its also screening people when they enter the hospital and tracking exposures within the hospital.

Provident is requiring masking of patients and visitors when they enter an exam room or are waiting to be seen by a provider.

"I would recommend if anyone has any questions or concerns if they do have Covid, to go get tested, to wear a mask if they're on their way to be tested and to stay home from work until you feel better, Martin said.

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Covid-19 and flu cases surge locally, RSV on the decline - Hyde Park Herald

In a recent longitudinal study published in Scientific Reports, researchers from Brazil investigated the potential association between dynapenia (loss of muscle strength and power) with functional outcomes in patients with long coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

They found that in patients with long COVID, low handgrip strength (HGS) is associated with worse functional outcomes. They further suggested the potential use of low HGS to indicate functional impairment in long COVID patients.

Study:Low handgrip strength is associated with worse functional outcomes in long COVID. Image Credit:Ralf Liebhold/Shutterstock.com

Long COVID, characterized by persistent symptoms after infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-VoV-2), poses a significant public health challenge. Symptoms include post-exertional malaise, fatigue, and neurocognitive and gastrointestinal issues.

The estimated global prevalence of the condition is 43%, with an even higher prevalence in hospitalized individuals. Vulnerable populations, including middle-aged, female, Hispanic/Latino, and economically constrained groups, are at a higher risk of developing the disease.

Despite its impact, long COVID lacks a consensus definition and a standard biomarker or diagnostic tool. This often leads to potential underdiagnosis, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).

HGS is an indicator of dynapenia and is shown to be associated with various health outcomes, including cognitive disabilities, bone mineral density, depression, functional health, and mortality. In acute COVID-19, decreased HGS is an independent risk factor.

Using HGS as a simple, low-cost indicator could aid in identifying functional impairment, especially in LMICs lacking complex assessment tools.

Researchers in the present study aimed to investigate if individuals with a persistently low HGS after hospital discharge (following severe COVID-19 in early 2020) showed greater respiratory and functional impairments at 120 days.

The present longitudinal study was conducted at a hospital in Brazil from April to October 2020. It followed unvaccinated, adult COVID-19 patients of both sexes who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) during hospitalization. A total of 113 patients with a mean age of 48 years were included in the study, 54% of whom were female.

At the 120-day (D120) follow-up post-hospitalization, participants underwent assessments including functional capacity test, body composition, HGS, pulmonary function test, and respiratory muscle strength (RMS).

HGS and dynapenia (defined as HGS<30 Kgf for males and<20 Kgf for females) were measured using a hand-held digital dynamometer. Spirometry assessed pulmonary function, and RMS was evaluated with a digital manometer.

Outcomes were measured in terms of forced vital capacity (FEV), forced expiratory capacity at the first second of exhalation (FEV1), maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP), and maximum expiratory pressure (MEP).

Functional capacity was assessed using the 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and body composition was determined through bioimpedance analysis.

Data were recorded electronically and analyzed for associations between HGS, respiratory function, and functional capacity. Statistical analysis included the ShapiroWilk test, MannWhitney test, Chi-square test, Spearman's test, and a regression model.

Out of the 113 long COVID patients, 22% exhibited dynapenia at D120 post-acute severe disease. Dynapenic individuals had lower muscle mass, reduced HGS, higher rates of intensive care unit admission and invasive ventilation during hospitalization, and higher BMI.

A greater proportion of dynapenic individuals showed a history of smoking and diabetes. Additionally, muscle mass between day one and D120 of dynapenic individuals was found to be reduced significantly (30.7 kg to 19.9 kg, p<0.001).

Dynapenia was also associated with worse respiratory function (FEV1, FVC, MIP, MEP), significantly diminished walking distance and a lower percentage of predicted walking distance on the 6MWT. Correlation and regression analyses confirmed the association between HGS and functional outcomes, independent of age.

The study's limitations include a relatively small sample size and a short-term follow-up, preventing comprehensive longitudinal comparisons of HGS and other functional outcomes.

Additionally, the single-center design and the specific timeframe of individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the early 2020s may limit the direct applicability of the results to individuals infected with more recent virus variants and with long-term health outcomes.

In conclusion, low HGS in long COVID patients, indicative of dynapenia, is linked to adverse health outcomes such as changes in pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, and exercise capacity.

A simple, cost-effective HGS measurement can be a practical biomarker for functional impairment in outpatient and primary care settings.

Recognizing dynapenia's association with in-hospital outcomes months later enables timely patient stratification and risk prevention, potentially reducing comorbidities, delaying functional decline, improving prognosis, and expediting the return to daily activities.

This approach is particularly relevant for LMICs, enhancing healthcare accessibility, facilitating early screening, and managing long-term COVID patients.

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The association between handgrip strength and functional outcomes in long COVID-19 - News-Medical.Net

When SARS-CoV-2 enters the human body, the virus spike protein binds to a cell, allowing the virus to infiltrate and begin replicating.

A new study from Tulane University, conducted in partnership with Florida International University and published in Protein Science, has identified a protein that may be the glue that helps COVIDs spike protein stick.

The study found that a small piece of a proteoglycan called perlecan LG3 a protein most commonly found in blood vessels and the brain readily formed a stable bond with the COVID spike protein and perhaps enhanced the virus ability to bind with cells.

Recent studies have identified proteoglycans as potential key factors in COVID infections. By identifying key interactions between perlecan LG3 and SARS-CoV-2, this study may open the door for new forms of treatment, said co-corresponding author Dr. Gregory Bix, director of Tulane University School of Medicines Clinical Neuroscience Research Center.

The takeaway is this major extracellular matrix proteoglycan found in blood vessels throughout the body most likely plays a significant role in how the virus sticks to and infects cells, said Bix, who has studied perlecan for 25 years as a treatment for cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke and dementia. Perhaps this explains COVIDs impact on the vascular system and the brain, but LG3 seems to act as a sort of bridge for the virus.

Using molecular modeling simulations, the study found that LG3 displayed a high affinity stable interaction with the COVID spike proteins receptor-binding domain, the area that attaches to host cells. This attraction was confirmed using surface plasmon resonance instruments, which use electrons to measure interactions and affinity between molecules.

One prominent type of hydrogen bond found between the COVID spike protein and a host cell only appeared in the study when LG3 was present, suggesting that LG3 may enhance COVIDs ability to bind to a cell.

Further studies are needed to determine if these binding interactions can be affected by mutations in various strains of COVID.

Bix also hopes these findings can lead to new forms of COVID prevention or treatment.

Can decoy pieces of perlecan prevent the virus from binding to cells? Can antibodies block this interaction between LG3 and the spike protein? Theres still so many theories and so much we dont know, Bix said. Continuing to understand how the virus infects cells is critical, especially when you have an ever-evolving virus.

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Study: This protein may be the 'glue' that helps COVID virus stick | Tulane University News - Tulane University

Over 700 million people were infected and almost seven million died, making SARS-CoV-2 the most devastating pandemic of the 21st century. Vaccines and medication against Covid-19 have been able to mitigate the course of the disease in many people and contain the pandemic. However, the danger of further outbreaks has not been averted. The virus is constantly mutating, which enables it to infect human cells and multiply more and more effectively. In addition, it is developing a variety of strategies against the human immune system in a "molecular arms race". A team led by researchers from the University of Gttingen has now discovered various "protective switches" in the coronavirus that shield it from attacks by the immune system. The results were published in Nature Communications.

The researchers identified two previously unknown chemical protective switches in the virus's main "protease" a crucial protein of the coronavirus. The most important drug against Covid-19, called Paxlovid, targets this protein. The virus uses its main protease to cut out the other virus proteins in our infected cells, thus driving its own replication. It uses the amino acid cysteine to do this. "From a chemical point of view, this could be an Achilles heel for the coronavirus, as cysteines can be destroyed by highly reactive oxygen radicals, which our immune system uses to fight viruses," explains Professor Kai Tittmann, Molecular Enzymology Research Group at Gttingen University, who led and coordinated the study.

The protective switches mean the virus's main protease is protected against the immune system's bombardment by oxygen radicals: the protein is stabilized by one cysteine forming a disulfide with an adjacent cysteine via two sulfur atoms. This prevents the cysteine from being destroyed. At the same time, a bridge known as SONOS connects three parts of the protein between sulfur atoms (S), oxygen atoms (O), and a nitrogen atom (N). This prevents radicals from damaging its three-dimensional structure. Tittmann says: "It is fascinating to see how chemically elegant and effective the coronavirus is in defending itself against the immune system. Interestingly, a coronavirus discovered earlier severe acute respiratory syndrome, also known as SARS-CoV-1 which triggered the 2002 to 2004 outbreak, also has these protective switches. This is the first time this has been shown."

Despite this scientific first, the researchers were not satisfied with just discovering "protective switches". With the chemical blueprint to hand, they set about searching for molecules that can bind precisely to the "protective switches", therefore inhibiting the virus's main protease. They identified such molecules not only in the test tube, but also in infected cells.

This type of molecule opens up the potential for new therapeutic interventions which will stop coronaviruses in their tracks."

Lisa-Marie Funk, first author of the study, Gttingen University's Molecular Enzymology research group

The study was made possible by funding from the Covid-19 Research Network Lower Saxony (COFONI) and the German Research Foundation (DFG). This interdisciplinary study involved researchers from the Faculty of Biology and Psychology, and the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Gttingen, the University Medical Center Gttingen (UMG), the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, the Hannover Medical School and the Universities of Dsseldorf, Hamburg and Lbeck.

Source:

Journal reference:

Funk, L.-M., et al. (2024). Multiple redox switches of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease in vitro provide opportunities for drug design. Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44621-0.

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Researchers discover "protective switches" that shield the coronavirus from immune system attacks - News-Medical.Net

In a recent study published in Communications Biology, a team of scientists investigated how type 2 diabetes and genetic susceptibility to the disease impacted the severity of and mortality risk associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using data from the United Kingdom (U.K.) Biobank.

Study:Type 2 diabetes and its genetic susceptibility are associated with increased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in UK Biobank. Image Credit:PeopleImages.com - Yuri A/Shutterstock.com

Despite widespread vaccination across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic continues, albeit in a less virulent form, with new variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

SARS-CoV-2 infections have been found to manifest in a wide range of symptoms, from asymptomatic to severe cases involving acute respiratory distress, pneumonia, and death.

A significant number of COVID-19 cases are also known to progress into post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, commonly known as long coronavirus disease (long COVID).

Extensive research also indicates that clinical factors such as age, smoking behavior, and the presence of comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and respiratory diseases are risk factors for severe COVID-19.

Genome-wide association studies have also shown that genetic variants linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, lung disease, and those involved in immune mechanisms are associated with a higher risk of severe SARS-CoV-2 infections.

In the present study, the scientists used U.K. Biobank data to investigate whether type 2 diabetes and polygenic risk scores for type 2 diabetes were associated with increased severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections and a higher COVID-19 mortality rate.

Additionally, they examined the effect of vaccinations on this association and evaluated the impact of numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the recently emerged Omicron variants.

The polygenic risk scores for type 2 diabetes from the genome-wide association study summary statistics obtained from the U.K. Biobank were first used to determine the genetic predisposition for type 2 diabetes.

Here, to account for the confounding impact of body mass index (BMI) on type 2 diabetes, the researchers included BMI as a covariate while calculating the type 2 diabetes polygenic risk scores in the genome-wide association study.

Subsequently, they used the proportional odds models to determine whether type 2 diabetes and the genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes were associated with increased severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

They also examined how type 2 diabetes or the genetic risk for type 2 diabetes impacted survival time when the individual was infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Furthermore, the impact on survival time was reexamined with respect to vaccination status and for a wide range of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Lastly, the researchers also examined whether mortality rates were significantly different between three groups COVID-19, type 2 diabetes, and genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes using a stratified survivor analysis.

The findings indicated that type 2 diabetes, as well as polygenic risk scores for type 2 diabetes, were associated with increased COVID-19 severity. The mortality rate was also found to be higher for individuals with type 2 diabetes or a genetic predisposition to it.

Based on the time of infection, the mortality rate for type 2 diabetes patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 was two to seven times higher than for those who did not have SARS-CoV-2 infections.

The rate of fatalities was also found to be higher for the early SARS-CoV-2 variants, with the fatality risk decreasing across Alpha, EU1, and Delta variants to the Omicron variants.

Furthermore, vaccinated type 2 diabetes patients had a significantly lower risk of severe SARS-CoV-2 infections than non-vaccinated ones.

The association between polygenic risk scores for type 2 diabetes and increased risk of severe COVID-19 also indicates an interplay between the genetic factors underlying type 2 diabetes and COVID-19, providing potential research avenues to explore to understand the novel genetic factors that are linked to severe SARS-CoV-2 infections.

To summarize, the study examined the relationship between type 2 diabetes or the polygenic risk scores for type 2 diabetes and the odds of developing severe COVID-19.

The findings suggested that individuals who have either the genetic predisposition for or have type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of severe SARS-CoV-2 infections and a higher risk of mortality due to COVID-19.

However, COVID-19 vaccinations were found to decrease the risk of severe COVID-19 and mortality in these groups.

Journal reference:

Lee, A., Seo, J., Park, S., Cho, Y., Kim, G., Li, J., Liang, L., Park, T., & Chung, W. (2024). Type 2 diabetes and its genetic susceptibility are associated with increased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in UK Biobank. Communications Biology, 7(1), 122. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003024057991. https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-05799-1

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UK Biobank research reveals significant impact of type 2 diabetes on COVID-19 outcomes - News-Medical.Net

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Sex and COVID

From work to school to socializing, COVID-19 has impacted just about every part of our livesand now Boston University research has shown that also includes what happens in the bedroom. A study of more than 2,000 cisgender women found the coronavirus disease can impair sexual function, with long COVID having an especially detrimental effect.

If youre sick with COVID, youre probably less interested in sex and maybe your body is less prepared to have sex, says Amelia M. Stanton, a BU College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences. But what might be surprising to some folks is that long COVID symptoms really may have a physiological and psychological impact on sexual well-being for women.

Although previous research has investigated the effect of the pandemic on peoples sex livesparticularly in menStanton says this is the first study to highlight long COVIDs fallout on sexual health in women. An expert on sexual and mental health, she helped lead the study with researchers from Middlebury College, McLean Hospital, and the University of Vermont. The findings were recently published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

To figure out COVIDs impact on intimacy, Stanton and her colleagues conducted an online survey. Roughly half of the women taking part had reported never having had COVID, the rest said theyd tested positive. Participants were quizzed using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), an established tool that measures factors like arousal and satisfaction with questions such as, Over the past 4 weeks, how often did you feel sexual desire? Only women whod had sex in the previous month were included in the results.

Among those whod had COVID, levels of desire, arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction were all lower than in those who hadnt; orgasm and pain scores werent significantly different between the two groups. But while women in the COVID group were still classed within the indexs functional range, participants with long COVID had an average FSFI full scale score in the dysfunctional range, according to the researchers. They found women with long COVIDa broad condition with cognitive and physical symptoms that linger for weeks, sometimes months, after an initial infectionhad markedly worse arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and pain scores.

I hope its validating. If women type in sex long COVID, something will come up now, says Stanton, who is also a clinical health psychologist at The Fenway Institute, a Boston clinic focused on the health of sexual and gender minorities. Sex, sexuality, and sexual function are still relatively taboo subjects. But this offers something patients can bring to their providers and say, This is going on for me, and maybe create an open dialogue around sex.

In their paper, Stanton and her colleagues say the results suggest that COVID-19 infection may be associated with impairment of both cognitive and physiological aspects of sexual function. Just as the body and mind might take some time to get back to firing on all cylinders when it comes to work, study, and exercise, the same may apply to sex. They also speculate that wider societal changes caused by the pandemic may be a factor, with fewer social events and kids hanging around at home more reducing opportunities for shared or solo sexual activities.

While a COVID infection might impact womens sexual health, previous BU research has found vaccination does not cause infertility, reduce pregnancy chances, or have a significant impact on menstruation.

COVID-19 vaccination in either partner is unrelated to fertility among couples trying to conceive through intercourse, Amelia Wesselink, an SPH research assistant professor of epidemiology, told The Brink in 2022 when discussing her study on vaccines and fertility. That same research did, however, find that men whod tested positive for COVID within the past 60 days had reduced fertility.

Stanton is the principal investigator of BUs Sexual, Reproductive, and Mental Health Disparities Programan effort to explore sexual and mental health in minoritized and marginalized populationsand says possible future routes for the latest project would be to expand the studys sexual and gender minority diversity, talk to women for their qualitative experiences, and design tools to help providers better support their patients.

Im an interventionist, so I always think about intervention design as a next step, says Stanton. In other research, shes working to develop new approaches clinicians can use to talk about sex with their patients, as well as studying how to improve sexual well-being and mental health in low-resource communities.

I always encourage providers to initiate conversations about sex, says Stanton. If they have someone whos coming in for long COVID, maybe ask, How are you doing sexually? Asking that one question could open the door for people to say, You know, Ive been ashamed to say that this is going on, and I really need help. Any way we can iterate to folks that there is hope and there are strategiesyour symptoms are meaningful and relevant, and theyre important to talk about.

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Having COVID-19 and Long COVID Can Impact Women's Sex Lives - Boston University

Your immune system may be getting smarter every time you encounter COVID-19, a new study suggests. After getting vaccinated and infected, the immune system generates broader defenses against the virus, including against new variants.

In a paper published Jan. 19 in Science Immunology, researchers in South Korea compared immune cells in the lab from people with a variety of vaccine and infection histories throughout the different Omicron waves, which began in late 2021 with BA.1. People who had been vaccinated with the original Pfizer-BioNTech series and then got infected with any Omicron variant showed good levels of memory immune cellscalled T cellsthat defended not only against the variants causing the infection, but also related ones in the Omicron family that came later. For example, people who were vaccinated with three doses of the original COVID-19 shot and then got infected with the BA.2 variant generated T cells that could target not just BA.2 but also BA.4/5 and XBB viruses, which didnt emerge until later.

This is evidence of cross adaptation between the virus and human beings overall, says Dr. Eui-Cheol Shin, professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and senior author of the paper. It also means we are on the way to an endemic era for COVID-19.

Shin and his team found that the T cellswhich are more durable than antibodies and are designed to retain memory of the viruses they encountergenerated against Omicron variants recognized the parts of the virus that remained conserved, as opposed to portions that had changed among the different variants. This, in part, helps people to not get as sick from reinfections.

Read More: How Long Does It Take To Get COVID-19?

The fact that the immune system is able to concentrate on these consistent parts of the virus could be an encouraging sign that the virus is evolving in a way to co-exist with humans, says Shin. Theres precedent for viruses becoming endemic in this way, since a handful of coronaviruses that started off as deadly now cause the common cold.

He and his team also found encouraging signs that the immune system may be gaining an edge over the virus. After you get a vaccine for any virus, immune cells tend to look for that version of the virus and are slower to generate defenses against different variants, making it easier for future versions of the virus to escape detection. Researchers thought COVID-19 vaccines would suffer a similar fate. People vaccinated with the initial two doses and booster shot of the vaccine that targeted the original virus, for example, were expected to generate weaker responses against future variants.

But Shin and his team found that people vaccinated with the original shot who then got infected with BA.2 still generated strong T-cell responses.

The study only includes data through the XBB wave. But Shin says he expects that the most recent vaccine, which targets XBB, would likely provide similar protection against the latest variants XBB and JN.1.

Reinfections aren't entirely benign. Other studies have shown that multiple bouts with the virus could raise the risk of long-term harm to the body in the form of Long COVID, which remains difficult to diagnose and treat.

Still, these findings suggest that the immune system is evolving to mitigate some of the more severe effects of COVID-19 infectionsat least within the Omicron family of viruses. Its not clear if and when SARS-CoV-2 might make a big genetic leap beyond Omicron, but for now, the combination of vaccines and natural infections is creating a hybrid immunity that seems to be keeping the virus under control for vaccinated people.

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How COVID-19 Vaccines and Infections Are Tweaking Our Immunity - TIME

American scientists applied to engineer coronaviruses with remarkable similarities to SARS-CoV-2 at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2018, just one year before the pandemics outbreak, according to newly released internal documents.

The 2018 grant proposal and related documents obtained by the watchdog group U.S. Right to Know through a Freedom of Information request reveal that an American virologist working with the Wuhan lab planned to engineer a virus that resembles SARS-CoV-2 as part of a U.S.-China research collaboration called DEFUSE. The research project was to be led by EcoHealth Alliance, a New York City-based research nonprofit that received funding from the NIH and routed that funding to the Wuhan lab to perform gain-of-function research on coronaviruses in bats.

While the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ultimately rejected this particular funding request, the application shows that American scientists and their counterparts in China were particularly interested in researching coronaviruses with striking similarities to the one that eventually emerged as a global pandemic that claimed millions of lives. An EcoHealth Alliance spokesperson said in a statement that the research outlined in the proposal never took place.

Gilles Demaneuf, a New Zealand data scientist who has studied the mathematical probability of each of the Covid origin theories, told National Review that data and predictions are now piling up to suggest that the release of SARS-CoV-2 was a research accident.

The new information still does not prove a lab-created virus, Demaneuf said. But it is a significant step in that direction.

In the DEFUSE proposal, scientists laid out plans to insert furin cleavage sites at the S1/S2 junction of the spike protein, sites that are relatively unique to SARS-CoV-2, and made the virus more transmissible to humans. U.S. scientists also planned to assemble synthetic viruses in six segments, the documents show, using the restriction enzymes BsaI and BsmBI. Used to stitch DNA fragments together, the enzymes have been key factors in determining the legitimacy of the lab-leak theory. Although both enzymes can occur naturally, BsaI and BsmBI are also enzymes regularly used in genetic engineering, and scientists have estimated that the chance of an enzyme pattern similar to that of SARS-CoV-2 would have less than a 1 percent chance of occurring naturally.

Our preprint found strong evidence suggesting SARS-CoV-2 was assembled with a known lab protocol, adding weight to the theory SARS-CoV-2 originated as a lab construct, Alex Washburne, a co-author of a preprint studying Covids origin, said.

Newly released documents offer further evidence that the virus may have been genetically manipulated, contradicting the belief that SARS-CoV-2 was spread by an infected mammal at Huanan Seafood Market in China.

The FBI and U.S. Energy Department both agree that the pandemic most likely was the result of a lab leak.

There is no zero remaining room for reasonable doubt that EcoHealth and its associates caused the pandemic. The match between the evidence provided by the genome sequence and the evidence provided by the FOIA release is remarkable, Rutgers University professor Richard Ebright told the U.S. Sun. It elevates the evidence provided by the genome sequence from the level of noteworthy to the level of smoking gun. The 2018 EcoHealth proposal provided step-by-step plans for construction of a virus having the sequence and properties of the virus that emerged a year later in Wuhan: SARS-CoV-2.

The new information comes days after Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee obtained U.S. Department of Health and Human Services documents proving that Chinese researchers in Beijing sequenced the Covid virus structure in a U.S. database run by the National Institutes of Health a full two weeks before sharing the sequence with the world. Chinese officials in those first weeks described the outbreak as a viral disease of unknown cause.

In response to the release of documents, Daszak, the EcoHealth Alliance president, wrote on X that he and his colleagues had the misfortune of predicting the Covid pandemic.

Rather than taking these prescient ideas seriously, weve had 4 yrs of attacks, he wrote.

An EcoHealth Alliance spokesperson also denied that the research the organization funded at the Wuhan lab qualifies as gain-of-function research under the NIHs definition, which requires that the virus being researched has been shown to be infectious to humans. Several prominent scientists, including Ebright, have argued that the NIH narrowed its definition of gain-of-function research in a rhetorical effort to ensure that the research that was conducted at the WIV would fall outside of it.

The research conducted by EcoHealth Alliance at the WIV epitomizes the definition of gain-of-function research, which involves working with enhanced potential pandemic pathogen (PPP) or those pathogens resulting from the enhancement of the transmissibility and/or virulence of a pathogen, Ebright previously told NR.

Editors Note:This article has been updated to reflect a statement from EcoHealth Alliance.

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U.S., Chinese Researchers Wanted to Engineer Virus Similar to Covid One Year before Pandemic Outbreak, Internal Docs Show - National Review