Category: Corona Virus

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Memphis ERs at critical advisory again, long wait times: What to know - Commercial Appeal

GENEVA

The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that holiday gatherings and the spread of the most prominent coronavirus variant globally led to increased transmission of COVID-19 last month.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December, while hospital admissions during the month jumped 42% in nearly 50 countries mostly in Europe and the Americas that shared such trend information.

Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable, the WHO director-general told reporters from the agencys headquarters in Geneva.

He said it was certain that cases were on the rise in other places that havent been reporting, calling on governments to keep up surveillance and provide continued access to treatments and vaccines.

Tedros said the JN.1 variant was now predominant in the world. It is an Omicron variant, so current vaccines should still provide some protection.

Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead at the WHO for COVID-19, cited an increase in respiratory diseases across the globe not just because of the coronavirus but also because of flu, rhinovirus and pneumonia.

We expect those trends to continue into January through the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere, she said, while noting increases in COVID-19 in the Southern Hemisphere, where its now summer.

Although bouts of coughs, sniffling, fever and fatigue in the winter are nothing new, Van Kerkhove said this year, in particular, we are seeing co-circulation of many different types of pathogens.

WHO officials recommend that people get vaccinated when possible, wear masks and make sure indoor areas are well-ventilated.

The vaccines may not stop you being infected, but the vaccines are certainly reducing significantly your chance of being hospitalized or dying, said Dr. Michael Ryan, head of emergencies at the WHO.

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Nearly 10000 COVID deaths globally last month, fueled by holiday gatherings, new variant - Los Angeles Times

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An RNA-Seq analysis of coronavirus in the skin of the Pangolin | Scientific Reports - Nature.com

E. LANSING, MI -- The Gym 24/7 Fitness in Alma closed in March of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic swept through Michigan.

Despite an executive order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that required gyms, fitness centers and many other public-facing businesses to close, The Gym reopened in early May.

We have the ability to open up, so were going to open up, owner Randy Clark said in a video posted to Facebook.

Alma police were there before the morning was out, telling them they would need to close. The Gyms owners filed a lawsuit, setting up a GoFundMe request titled Help Us Fight Government Tyranny.

The Gyms case was one of two heard Wednesday by the Michigan Supreme Court concerning whether businesses forced to close or restrict operations in the first months of the pandemic deserved to be compensated.

We have said over and over at every stage of this litigation that the government can take, said Philip Ellison, an attorney representing The Gym, but if theyre going to take, they have to pay.

The second case was filed by Mount Clemens Recreational Bowl, Inc., KMI Inc. and Mirage Catering, Inc., which operate bars, restaurants and catering businesses in Macomb County.

The court wont decide whether the state is liable for damages, but whether the plaintiffs will have the opportunity to present evidence of their losses and scrutinize the states rationales for the shut down.

The Court of Claims found that The Gyms case could go forward, but the state Court of Appeals overturned that decision, finding that there is no allegation or evidence that the Gym suffered a total loss or the complete elimination or obliteration of value because of the executive orders, that the relatively short duration of the closures pushed against a ruling that they had been an unjust taking of The Gyms property and that the governments interest in preventing the spread of COVID was a compelling one.

The appellate court also noted that to the best of our knowledge, every federal court and state appellate court that has addressed a takings claim stemming from the governments closure of a business as a safeguard against the spread of COVID-19 has rejected the claim.

The case of the Macomb County businesses was summarily dismissed on the basis of the decision in The Gym case.

Arguing in front of the state Supreme Court on Wednesday, Michigan Solicitor General Ann Sherman emphasized the powers granted to the state in a situation like the COVID pandemic.

When the state acts out of necessity to protect against a grave threat to public health, its not a taking, and it removes these inquiries from the takings analysis, she said. Its not surprising that nearly every court nationwide has rejected the novel theory of taking in the context of COVID-19. Michigans departure from this wisdom would make it a national outlier.

But Justice David Viviano pressed Sherman on why the governments determination that the closures were necessary shouldnt be subject to review by a court.

What if the government said it was an emergency, but it wasnt? he asked. Or maybe it was initially but then it stopped but then the regulations continued for years and years and years? Does the government just get to show up and say it was an emergency, and therefore youre out of luck?

Justin Majewski, an attorney representing the three Macomb County businesses, argued that, under federal law, the determination of what constitutes an unjust taking relies heavily on the specific facts of a case and the specific burdens placed on a private property rights.

Rejecting his clients case based on the ruling in The Gyms lawsuit goes against that, he said.

But Sherman reiterated the argument that there is no right for a business to continue operating when the state has acted and exercised its police power in a grave emergency,

No amount of discovery would change that conclusion as a matter of law, she said.

The Court will rule on both cases prior to the end of its term on July 31.

Read more at MLive:

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Former Beaumont CEO John Fox received $10 million exit package after Spectrum merger

Why a Michigan company of Native soldiers fought for a country that denied them citizenship

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Should Michigan have to repay businesses forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic? - MLive.com

A study published in the journal Scientific Reports explains that pangolin's vulnerability to coronavirus infection might be due to their innate gene pseudogenization.

Study: An RNA-Seq analysis of coronavirus in the skin of the Pangolin. Image Credit:Makabas/ Shutterstock

Pangolins are 30 100 cm long anteaters found in Africa and Asia. Populations of all eight species of pangolin are decreasing in these two continents. Four pangolin species from Africa are now "endangered" or "vulnerable"; three species from East Asia are "critically endangered"; and one species from India is "endangered."

The greatest obstacle to pangolin conservation is the high susceptibility and frequent mortality of captive pangolins due to infections. The pseudogenization of immune system genes in the pangolin genome is believed to be the main contributing factor to high infection susceptibility. These pseudogenes are interferon Epsilon (IFNE), interferon-induced with helicase C domain 1, cyclic GMP-AMP synthase, stimulator of interferon genes, Toll-like receptor 5, and Toll-like receptor 11.

The scientists of the current study have previously analyzed brain and lung samples from a Malayan pangolin and detected a coronavirus infection that was closely related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of the most recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In the current study, scientists conducted RNA-Seq analysis of the pangolin skin tissue to understand the transcriptional antiviral response in pangolin skin, particularly in the context of interferon Epsilon(IFNE)-deficiency, which is a unique immune feature of pangolin.

They compared the expressions of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between coronavirus-infected pangolin skin and healthy pangolin skin. They also compared these DEGs with those found in coronavirus-infected human lungs because a corresponding dataset for coronavirus-infected human skin was unavailable. As humans and pangolins are mammals, the scientists expected some similarities in immune responses between human lungs and pangolin skin.

Endogenous retrovirus genes are the remnants of once infectious exogenous retroviruses that became fixed in human or other animals' genomes. They can modulate the innate immune system and facilitate antiviral immune responses through various mechanisms. In this study, the scientists also evaluated how endogenous retrovirus gene expression in pangolin responds to coronavirus infection, particularly in the context of IFNE deficiency.

The scientists identified pangolin coronavirus RNA in the skin of Malayan pangolin. This virus is closely related to another pangolin coronavirus MP789, isolated from the Guangdong pangolin. Since both pangolins were kept at the Guangdong Wildlife Rescue Center, the scientists believe both coronaviruses originated from the same source.

The comparative analysis of DEGs between pangolin skin and human lung identified 2,835 pangolin skin-specific DEGs, 1,527 human lung-specific DEGs, and 366 shared DEGs. Three enriched pathways were identified in the pangolin skin-specific DEGS. These pathways were malaria andStaphylococcus aureusinfection pathways (upregulated) and arachidonic acid metabolism pathways (downregulated). The malaria pathway was also upregulated in the human lungs.

Previous studies have shown that malaria pathways are upregulated after SARS-CoV-2 infection and that anti-malarial drugs can suppress SARS-CoV-2 replication. Similarly, arachidonic acid pathways are known to have inhibitory effects on coronavirus replication. Thus, the findings of comparative analysis indicate that both the malaria pathway and arachidonic acid pathway can serve as potential targets to control coronavirus infection in pangolins.

Further pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the most significantly upregulated pathways in the pangolin skin were the COVID-19 pathway, immunity and inflammation (except IFN) pathways, cell proliferation pathways, and coagulation pathways. These findings are consistent with that observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected humans. In contrast, no enrichment in IFN-specific pathways was observed in the infected skin. It could be related to natural IFNE deficiency in pangolins.

High levels of expression of many endogenous retrovirus genes were observed in healthy pangolin skin samples. This could be beneficial for pangolins in terms of boosting innate immune responses in the absence of IFNE responses. However, in coronavirus-infected skin samples, a downregulation of these genes was observed. This suggests that pangolin coronavirus may suppress endogenous retrovirus gene expression to support viral replication.

The study detects replicating coronavirus in the skin of Malayan pangolin and provides transcriptomic landscapes of the host immune response to coronavirus infection. The study also finds that the pathways downstream of the lost immune system genes are not upregulated in response to the infection. This highlights that the pseudogenization of key immune system-related genes can significantly modulate pangolin's antiviral responses and make them susceptible to coronavirus infection.

Continued here:

Pangolins' genetic makeup linked to increased coronavirus susceptibility - News-Medical.Net

A new study suggests once developed, having a universal vaccine in advance of the next coronavirus epidemic/pandemic can save up to 7 million hospitalizations and 2 million deaths even when it is the only intervention being implemented and its efficacy is as low as 10%.

NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- What if scientists had developed a universal coronavirus vaccine in the years prior to 2020 so that it was available at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? A universal coronavirus vaccine targets parts of the virus that are common to either many or all coronaviruses, thereby offering some degree of protection against a range of strains. A new study suggests if such a vaccine were available at the start of the pandemic, it could have saved millions of lives, prevented suffering, and saved billions of dollars in direct medical and other costs until the strain-specific (i.e., SARS-CoV-2) vaccine went through the entire development, testing, and emergency use authorization process that lasted 10 months.

In the study, researchers from the Public Health Informatics, Computational and Operations Research (PHICOR) group, the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), and the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) show that having a universal vaccine at the start of the pandemic would have had substantial health and economic benefits under almost all scenarios tested. The study will go live Jan. 11 at 9 a.m. in the Lancet's eClinicalMedicine: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(23)00546-1/fulltext

In order to determine the value of investing in developing and stockpiling a universal coronavirus vaccine, the team developed a computational model that simulated the entire U.S. population, the introduction and spread of a novel coronavirus like SARS-CoV-2 in 2020 and the resulting health (e.g., infections, hospitalizations) and economic (e.g., direct medical costs, productivity losses) outcomes. The experiments simulated what would happen if a universal coronavirus vaccine was available at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vaccinating with a universal coronavirus vaccine as a standalone intervention (e.g., no face mask use or social distancing) was cost-saving even when its efficacy was as low as 10% and only 10% of the U.S. population received the vaccine. For example, when a universal coronavirus vaccine has 10% efficacy, vaccinating a quarter of the U.S. population within two months of the start of the pandemic averts an average of 14.6 million infections and saves over $27 billion in direct medical costs. Such low vaccine coverage at the start of the pandemic could occur if a vaccine were only made available to certain high-risk subpopulations (e.g., 65 years and older, those with weakened immune systems, frontline workers), similar to the approach when mRNA vaccines became available in December 2020.

"COVID-19 was the third major and serious coronavirus epidemic or pandemic following SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012, thus, we should anticipate a fourth coronavirus outbreak within the next decade or so," says Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, dean of Baylor's National School of Tropical Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. "A universal vaccine is cost-effective and cost-saving and a priority for advancement."

A universal coronavirus vaccine was also shown to be highly cost-effective even if a more specific and more efficacious vaccine came to market. For example, the study shows if it takes four months or longer for a strain-specific vaccine to reach the market, using a universal vaccine was still cost-saving. In a scenario where a strain-specific vaccine has 90% efficacy but is unavailable for two months after the start of the pandemic, the results from the model show that vaccinating only 10% of the population with a universal vaccine that has 10% efficacy at the start of the pandemic can save over $2 billion in societal costs (e.g., direct medical costs and productivity losses from absenteeism). Given the time required to develop a strain-specific vaccine during a pandemic to match circulating strains of the virus, this highlights the importance of having a universal vaccine readily available as a stopgap.

"Our study shows the importance of giving as many people as possible in a population at least some degree of immune protection as soon as possible," explains Bruce Y. Lee, MD, MBA, executive director of PHICOR and professor at CUNY SPH. "Having a universal vaccine developed, stockpiled, and ready to go in the event of a pandemic could be a game-changer even if a more specific vaccine could be developedthree to four months later."

Generally, results from the model found that a universal vaccine would end up saving money if the cost to get a person vaccinated (e.g., cost of the vaccine itself, distribution, administration, storage, research, and development) is as high as $10,390 from a societal perspective.

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation proposal number 2054858, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) via grant 1R01HS028165-01, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences as part of the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study network under grants R01GM127512 and 3R01GM127512-01A1S1, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health via award number U54TR004279, the National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P01AI172725, and by the City University of New York (CUNY) in support of the Pandemic Response Institute (PRI). Statements in the manuscript do not necessarily represent the official views of, or imply endorsement by, the National Institute of Health, AHRQ, the US Department of Health and Human Services, CUNY, or the PRI.

About CUNY SPH

CUNY SPH is committed to teaching, research, and service that creates a healthier New York City and helps promote equitable, efficient, and evidence-based solutions to pressing health problems facing cities around the world.

About PHICOR

Since 2007, PHICOR (www.PHICOR.org) has been developing computational methods, models, and tools to help decision makers better understand and address complex systems in health and public health. Follow @PHICORTeam on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter for updates.

About PRI

In coordination with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM), the PRI works with New Yorkers in communities in each of the five boroughs to develop locally tailored health solutions, information and resources to develop greater resilience to the adverse consequences of public health emergencies.

About BCMBCM (www.bcm.edu) in Houston is recognized as a health sciences university and is known for excellence in education, research and patient care. Located in the Texas Medical Center, Baylor has affiliations with seven teaching hospitals and jointly owns and operates Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, part of CHI St. Luke's Health. Follow Baylor College of Medicine on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/BaylorCollegeOfMedicine) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/BCMHouston).

About Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine DevelopmentTexas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development is one of the leading vaccine development centers in the world. Established in Washington DC as the Sabin Vaccine Institute Product Development Partnership (PDP) in the year 2000 and after relocating to the Texas Medical Center in 2011, it rebranded as Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development. For the past two decades it has acquired an international reputation as a non-profit PDP, advancing vaccines for poverty-related neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and emerging infectious diseases of pandemic importance. In addition, it builds and strengthens capacity for vaccine development locally and with foreign nations and leads global efforts to guide and influence vaccine policy and advocacy through "vaccine diplomacy" as an international bridge for peace and vaccine development capacity.

Media contact: Sarah Rebbert [emailprotected]

SOURCE CUNY SPH

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A UNIVERSAL CORONAVIRUS VACCINE COULD SAVE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IF READY BEFORE NEXT ... - PR Newswire

19:07 (IST), Jan 1

'We are people of action': Haryana CM laments over 2 years of Covid

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar admitted that Covid has affected the developmental works and the public could have been served better if there was no Covid, adding that the BJP are people of action. "Whether it is an election year or not, it does not matter so much for us because we are people of action and do our work continuously. If we have troubles, they are due to Covid. Because our two years were wasted in that, less work was done. The public could not be served as much as they should have been," said Manohar Lal Khattar. "But the way Covid has been tackled under the leadership of PM Modi across the country is also a big achievement and we will continue to serve the public. In the upcoming election, the BJP will become the most influential party across the country," he added. (ANI)

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Covid Cases in India Live Updates: India reports three more deaths in 24-hour period - Times of India

The worlds greatest mystery started with the worlds smallest change. Probably in the autumn of 2019, almost certainly in China, a few unremarkable atoms on a hitherto unremarkable virus altered and a human became infected with a new coronavirus.

That human infected others. Those others infected more. Until, four years ago, an infectious disease website uploaded a message. Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed pneumonia China (HU).

In the years since, no virus has been so closely watched. We now know how it spreads, how it kills, how the position of those fateful atoms allows it to infect us. What we dont know, still, is how that first infection happened.

Even as the pandemic recedes, the argument about its origins rages and has become one of

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What caused Covid? Why we may never know truth about lab leak theory - The Times

On Sunday, India reported the highest number of COVID cases in a day in the past 227 days or over seven months.

The Union Health Ministry on Monday said that India has reported 636 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total active cases to 4,394. In the last 24 hours, three new fatalities - two from Kerala and one from Tamil Nadu - have been recorded.

On Sunday, India reported the highest number of COVID cases in a day in the past 227 days or over seven months.

Daily case numbers, which had dropped to double digits until December 5, have risen again following the emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions. India reported a total of 145 cases of COVID-19 subvariant JN.1 till December 28.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) classified JN.1 as a variant of interest and as distinct from its parent lineage, BA.2.86.

At the height of the pandemic, daily figures were in lakhs. Since the pandemic's onset in early 2020, over 4.5 crore people have been infected and more than 5.3 lakh lives have been lostnationwide.

On Sunday, Maharashtra recorded 131 fresh COVID-19 cases after testing 12,405 samples at a positivity rate of 1.05 per cent, the state health department said. No fatalities are reported.

A day earlier, the state had logged 172 COVID-19 infections.

Out of 8,76,33,748 laboratory samples tested until Sunday (since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020), 81,72,836 have tested positive for COVID-19, as per the health department.

Maharashtra has so far reported 29 cases of JN.1 sub-variant of Omicron till Sunday. District-wise distribution is Pune 15, Thane 5, Beed 3, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 2 and one each in Kolhapur, Akola, Sindhudurg and Nashik.

Maharashtra has seen 137 COVID-19 fatalities since January 1, 2023. While 70.80 per cent of these deaths have occurred in individuals above 60 years of age, 84 per cent of the deceased had comorbidities, and 16 per cent didn't have any comorbidity.

On the other hand, Kerala reported 2,282 new COVID cases during last week, marking a 24% decrease from the week before when the tally of reported cases was 3,018. This suggests that the surge may have already peaked after lasting for around four weeks.

While Karnataka recorded 922 new COVID cases, alomost a three-fold jump from the 309 cases reported from the week earlier.

The other states where JN.1 cases have been detected are -- 36 in Gujarat, four each in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, two from Telangana and one from Delhi.

Also read:WHO warns of co-circulation of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses. Should India worry?

Also read:Was SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 engineered as a bio weapon? Here's what Indian scientists say

Originally posted here:

Covid update: India reports 636 new cases, 3 deaths in last 24 hours; nearly 4,400 active cases - Business Today

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Respiratory virus activity is high and rising across the United States, CDC data shows - KITV Honolulu