Category: Covid-19

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday became the first country in the world to approve a potentially game-changing COVID-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by U.S.-based Merck (MRK.N) and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, in a boost to the fight against the pandemic.

Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended the drug, molnupiravir, for use in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 and at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such as obesity, older age diabetes, and heart disease.

It will be administered as soon as possible following a positive COVID-19 test and within five days of the onset of symptoms, the regulator said, citing clinical data.

The green light is the first for an oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 and the first for a COVID-19 drug that will be administered widely in the community. U.S. advisers will meet this month to vote on whether molnupiravir should be authorized. read more

Treatments to tackle the pandemic, which has killed more than 5.2 million people worldwide, have so far focused mainly on vaccines. Other options, including Gilead's (GILD.O) infused antiviral remdesivir and generic steroid dexamethasone, are generally only given after a patient has been hospitalised.

Merck's Molnupiravir has been closely watched since data last month showed it could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalised for those most at risk of developing severe COVID-19 when given early in the illness. read more

Molnupiravir, which will be branded as Lagevrio in Britain, is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and is taken twice a day for five days.

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the National Health Service (NHS) in England, said the drug would be administered to patients at higher risk of complications as Britain heads into one of the most challenging winters ever.

A wider rollout will follow if it is clinically and cost effective in reducing hospitalisations and death, he added.

"We are now working across government and the NHS to urgently get this treatment to patients initially through a national study so we can collect more data on how antivirals work in a mostly vaccinated population," UK vaccines minister Maggie Throup told parliament.

PRESSURES

The speedy approval in Britain, which was also the first Western country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, comes as it struggles to tame soaring infections.

Britain has about 40,000 daily cases of COVID-19, according to the latest seven-day average. That is second only to the roughly 74,000 a day in the United States, which has five times more people, and has fuelled criticism of the government's decision to abandon most pandemic-related restrictions

Data released on Wednesday night showed COVID-19 prevalence in England hit its highest level on record last month, led by a high numbers of cases in children and a surge in the south-west of the country. read more

Pressure is growing on the government to implement its "Plan B" aimed at protecting the NHS from unsustainable demands, involving mask mandates, vaccine passes and work-from-home orders.

Many other big economies, including Germany, France and Israel, have either retained some basic COVID-19 measures like mask mandates or reintroduced them in response to rising cases.

The UK government has said its focus remains on administering vaccine boosters and inoculating 12 to 15-year-olds.

"With no compromises on quality, safety and effectiveness, the public can trust that the MHRA has conducted a robust and thorough assessment of the data (on molnupiravir)," MHRA chief June Raine said in a statement.

Last month, Britain agreed a deal with Merck to secure 480,000 courses of molnupiravir.

Professor Penny Ward, an independent pharmaceutical physician, welcomed the approval, but said the NHS needed to outline its plans for rollout and cautioned that supplies were likely to be tight given the strong global demand.

"Comments made by Mr Javid today suggest that it may be made available via a clinical trial, presumably to investigate its effectiveness in vaccinated patients with breakthrough infections, as the original study incorporated unvaccinated adults," she said.

If given to everyone becoming unwell, the nearly half a million courses would not last very long given the more than 40,000 current daily case rate, she said.

TREATMENT RACE

In a separate statement, Merck said it expected to produce 10 million courses of the treatment by the end of this year, with at least 20 million set to be manufactured in 2022.

The U.S. based drugmaker's shares were up 2.1% at $90.54 before the market open.

Pfizer (PFE.N) and Roche (ROG.S) are also racing to develop easy-to-administer antiviral pills for COVID-19. Pfizer last month began a large study of its oral antiviral drug for the prevention of COVID-19 in people exposed to the coronavirus.

Merck's molnupiravir is also being studied in a late-stage trial for preventing infection.

Viral sequencing done so far has shown molnupiravir is effective against all variants of the coronavirus, Merck has said, including the more-infectious Delta, which is responsible for the worldwide surge in hospitalisations and deaths recently.

While it is not yet clear when Merck will deliver doses to Britain, the company has said it is committed to providing timely access to its drug globally with plans for tiered pricing aligned with a country's ability to pay.

Merck is also in talks with generic drugmakers about expanding manufacturing licences to build supply of the treatment.

Antibody cocktails like those from Regeneron (REGN.O) and Eli Lilly (LLY.N) have also been approved for non-hospitalised COVID-19 patients, but have to be given intravenously.

Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Josephine Mason in London; additional reporting by Kate Holton;Editing by Anil D'Silva and Mark Potter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Read the rest here:

Britain approves Merck's COVID-19 pill in world first - Reuters

Can the Packers beat the Chiefs without Aaron Rodgers?

Sports Seriously: Aaron Rodgers will be out this week after testing positive for COVID-19. Andy Nesbitt and Charles Curtis discuss whether Jordan Love can still lead Green Bay to a win Sunday in Kansas City.

Sports Seriously, USA TODAY

Green Bay Packers quarterback and three-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers will miss Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs after testing positive for COVID-19.

Rodgers intimated in August that he had received the vaccine, when he answered a reporter's question with,"Yes, I've been immunized." However, he did not meet the qualifications the NFL and the Players Association have set out for being "fully vaccinated."

As a result of testing positive for COVID-19 this week, Rodgers can't return to the field or team practice facilitiesfor 10 days, even if he is asymptomatic.

Here's what we know at this moment:

NFL.com is reporting Rodgers received homeopathic treatment from his personal doctor before training camp to raise his antibody levels. He thenpetitioned the NFL to have the treatment qualify as equal to the league's approved vaccines.

Rodgers' petition for an exemption was denied.

"Theres guys on the team that havent been vaccinated. I think its a personal decision. Im not going to judge those guys," Rodgers said in August. "Theres guys that have been vaccinated that have contracted COVID. So its an interesting issue."

Star wide receiver Davante Adams and defensive coordinator Joe Barry both missed the team's game against the Arizona Cardinals due to COVID-19.

Allen Lazard, another wide receiver, was forced to sit out five days because he was an unvaccinated close contact of someone who tested positive. He has since been reinstated.

Third-string quarterback Kurt Benkert and cornerback Isaac Yiadomare also on the COVID-19 list.

The NFL will conduct an investigation into whether Rodgers orthe Packers violated any of the league's COVID-19 rules.

Unvaccinated playersare required to wear masks "at all times when inside the Club facility"and are subject to daily PCR testing.

Rodgers has been tested for COVID-19 on a daily basis, a person with knowledge of the situation tells USA TODAY Sports. However,it's unclear whether he has complied with the other regulations, which include not coming within six feet of other unvaccinated players while traveling or eating meals.

Rodgers has not worn amask while speaking to the media at news conferences, which are held inside the team facility.NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said the league is "aware of the current situation in Green Bay and will be reviewing with the Packers."

Rodgers' 10-day quarantine runs through Nov. 13. He could rejoin the team after that, but would not be able to take part in any practices leading up to the Packers' game against the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 14.

Backup quarterback Jordan Love has already been named the starter for this Sunday's game, when the 7-1 Packers take onthe Kansas City Chiefs. It will be his first career regular-season start.

TipicoSportsbook altered the spread a staggering 6.5 pointsto establish the Chiefs as a7.5-point favorite.The over-under total slipped dramatically, too, from 54.5 points to 48.5 points.

View post:

Aaron Rodgers tests positive for COVID-19: What we know about unvaccinated Packers QB - USA TODAY

A medical worker prepares an injection with a dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, at a vaccination centre in Zagreb Fair hall, amid the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Croatia, April 7, 2021. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic

ZAGREB, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Croatia reported on Thursday 6,310 infections of COVID-19 which is the highest daily number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic, the national health authorities said.

At the moment there are 25,628 active COVID-19 cases in a country of around 4 million people, while 1,680 patients require hospital treatment.

In Croatia a bit over 50% of population is fully vaccinated and experts largely blame such a low vaccination rate for the increase in infections in recent weeks.

In neighbouring Slovenia, the authorities also reported the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases, with 4,511 infections. Also in Slovenia just slightly over 50% of its 2 million inhabitants have been fully vaccinated.

Reporting by Igor Ilic;Editing by Alison Williams

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

See original here:

Croatia, Slovenia hit highest number of daily COVID-19 infections - Reuters

CHICAGO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - As the devastating Delta variant surge eases in many regions of the world, scientists are charting when, and where, COVID-19 will transition to an endemic disease in 2022 and beyond, according to Reuters interviews with over a dozen leading disease experts.

They expect that the first countries to emerge from the pandemic will have had some combination of high rates of vaccination and natural immunity among people who were infected with the coronavirus, such as the United States, the UK, Portugal and India. But they warn that SARS-CoV-2 remains an unpredictable virus that is mutating as it spreads through unvaccinated populations.

None would completely rule out what some called a "doomsday scenario," in which the virus mutates to the point that it evades hard-won immunity. Yet they expressed increasing confidence that many countries will have put the worst of the pandemic behind them in the coming year.

"We think between now and the end of 2022, this is the point where we get control over this virus ... where we can significantly reduce severe disease and death," Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist leading the World Health Organization's (WHO) COVID-19 response, told Reuters.

The agency's view is based on work with disease experts who are mapping out the probable course of the pandemic over the next 18 months. By the end of 2022, the WHO aims for 70% of the world's population to be vaccinated.

"If we reach that target, we will be in a very, very different situation epidemiologically," Van Kerkhove said.

In the meantime, she worries about countries lifting COVID precautions prematurely. "It's amazing to me to be seeing, you know, people out on the streets, as if everything is over."

COVID-19 cases and deaths have been declining since August in nearly all regions of the world, according to the WHO's report on Oct. 26.

Europe has been an exception, with Delta wreaking new havoc in countries with low vaccination coverage such as Russia and Romania, as well as places that have lifted mask-wearing requirements. The variant has also contributed to rising infections in countries such as Singapore and China, which have high rates of vaccination but little natural immunity due to much stricter lockdown measures.

The transition is going to be different in each place because it's going to be driven by the amount of immunity in the population from natural infection and of course, vaccine distribution, which is variable ... from county by county to country by country, said Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Several experts said they expect the U.S. Delta wave will wrap up this month, and represent the last major COVID-19 surge.

"We're transitioning from the pandemic phase to the more endemic phase of this virus, where this virus just becomes a persistent menace here in the United States," former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said.

Chris Murray, a leading disease forecaster at the University of Washington, likewise sees the U.S. Delta surge ending in November.

"We'll go into a very modest winter increase" in COVID-19 cases, he said. "If there's no major new variants, then COVID starts to really wind down in April."

Even where cases are spiking as countries drop pandemic restrictions, as in the UK, vaccines appear to be keeping people out of the hospital.

Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London said that for the UK, the "bulk of the pandemic as an emergency is behind us."

'A GRADUAL EVOLUTION'

COVID-19 is still expected to remain a major contributor to illness and death for years to come, much like other endemic illnesses such as malaria.

"Endemic does not mean benign," Van Kerkhove said.

Some experts say the virus will eventually behave more like measles, which still causes outbreaks in populations where vaccination coverage is low.

Others see COVID-19 becoming more a seasonal respiratory disease such as influenza. Or, the virus could become less of a killer, affecting mostly children, but that could take decades, some said.

Imperial College's Ferguson expects above-average deaths in the UK from respiratory disease due to COVID-19 for the next two-to-five years, but said it is unlikely to overwhelm health systems or require social distancing be reimposed.

"It's going to be a gradual evolution," Ferguson said. "We're going to be dealing with this as a more persistent virus."

Trevor Bedford, a computational virologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center who has been tracking the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, sees a milder winter wave in the United States followed by a transition to endemic disease in 2022-2023. He is projecting 50,000 to 100,000 U.S. COVID-19 deaths a year, on top of an estimated 30,000 annual deaths from flu.

The virus will likely continue to mutate, requiring annual booster shots tailored to the latest circulating variants, Bedford said.

If a seasonal COVID scenario plays out, in which the virus circulates in tandem with the flu, both Gottlieb and Murray expect it to have a significant impact on healthcare systems.

"It'll be an issue for hospital planners, like how do you deal with the COVID and flu surges in winter," Murray said. "But the era of ... massive public intervention in people's lives through mandates, that part I believe will be done after this winter surge."

Richard Hatchett, chief executive of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, said with some countries well protected by vaccines while others have virtually none, the world remains vulnerable.

"What keeps me up at night about COVID is the concern that we could have a variant emerge that evades our vaccines and evades immunity from prior infection, Hatchett said. That would be like a new COVID pandemic emerging even while we're still in the old one."

Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Bill Berkrot

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Continued here:

Analysis: Country by country, scientists eye beginning of an end to the COVID-19 pandemic - Reuters

Maine is reporting 692 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and four additional deaths, as the state ramps up vaccinations for elementary-aged schoolchildren.

Since the pandemic began, Maine has logged 106,473 cases of COVID-19, and 1,197 deaths.

But the prospect of immunizing a new group of people, ages 5-11, means that the states overall vaccination rates should climb in the coming weeks, by up to 7 percent, depending on how many parents bring their children in for their shots. Federal regulators gave the final approval Tuesday evening to Pfizers vaccine for ages 5-11, with schoolchildren receiving one-third of the dose that adults get. Pfizer is a two-shot regimen spaced three weeks apart.

Vaccination is one of the best tools we have available to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and ensure children not only stay safe and healthy but can continue participating in the in-person activities that we know are important for their physical and mental health, Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a media briefing on Wednesday.

Some health care providers already were scheduling appointments for younger children on Wednesday, though it will take some time for the rollout to be fully operational at schools and clinics.

Were asking parents for a bit of patience, Shah said. We know youve been waiting so long for your kids to have the chance to get vaccinated. What were asking is you wait just a bit longer while all the pieces come into place.

Some clinics started up as soon as Wednesday, with more expected next week, and many school-based clinics to offer the first shot before Thanksgiving. Vaccinations are available or will soon be available at pharmacies, doctors offices and school-based or community-based clinics.

Naomi Schucker of Gorham said her daughter, 11-year-old Nora Schucker, jumped at the chance to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Shucker accompanied her daughter to the clinic in Falmouth Wednesday afternoon to get the Pfizer shot.

Its too bad she had to wear a mask. Otherwise, you would have seen her grinning from ear to ear, Schucker joked during a phone interview Wednesday evening. She is super happy and thrilled to get the additional protection.

Schucker said that her daughter, a sixth-grader at Gorham Middle School, suffered no adverse reactions to the vaccination.

She has been doing great, Schucker said. The only side effect has been extreme happiness.

This story will be updated.

Invalid username/password.

Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

Previous

Next

Continued here:

Maine reports 692 new cases of COVID-19 and 4 deaths - Press Herald

The possibility of COVID-19 transmission introduces an additional margin when it comes to the choice of means of transport for commuters. Modeling from transportation economics can be used to highlight this choice. We will define the concept of value-of-avoiding-transmission (VAT), which captures the tradeoff between a higher dollar or time cost of transportation and a lower likelihood of disease transmission, perhaps as a result of exposure to a smaller number of travelers, resulting in a lower probability of infection. A central concept in transportation economics is the value-of-travel-time (VOT), which quantifies the well-known tradeoff between saved time and money. More precisely, VOT specifies the amount of money that if a commuter had a choice between paying this amount and enjoying a fixed amount of time-savings during his commute, or paying nothing and receiving no time savings, he would be exactly indifferent between the two options. The similar notion of the value of statistical life (VSL) is used in actuarial studies to quantify the tradeoff between reducing the probability of death and a corresponding reduction in income that makes the agent indifferent7,8. VOT is of central importance in transportation demand modeling, as well as in the costbenefit analysis of related public policies. For example, it was found that travel time and reliability account for 45% of the average social variable cost of travel in the US9.

In the age of COVID-19, there is an additional cost associated with public transportation, namely, an increased probability of exposure to the virus, leading to potential illness and the associated economic costs. When it comes to commuting, these costs can be modeled in a way that is parallel to the costs from potential traffic accidents. Exposure to the virus, just like a traffic accident, occur with some probability in every trip. In addition, just as the probability of an accident increases with congestion, so does the likelihood of infection increase with the number of people using the transportation mode under study. The VAT can be used to monetize the desire to reduce the probability of infection by appropriately adjusting the choice of transportation mode.

Transportation studies have explored the relationship between VOT and income, wealth, age, time constraints, etc. Travel demand modeling typically finds that travel time is an important explanatory economic variable, even more so than the direct economic cost of travel. The standard model is based on Lave10, while more involved theories of VOT build on the optimal time allocation framework11. People in this framework choose how much labor to supply given a constraint that total time devoted to work, leisure, and commuting equals the total time available to them. Since time can be transferred between work and leisure, any marginal savings in travel time can be used to increase labor income. Intuitively, optimization implies that travel time is valued at the after-tax wage rate. The commuters budget constraint can be expressed as

$$x + c le left( {1 - tau } right)w cdot h$$

(1)

while the commuters time constraint gives

where T is the total available time, t is the time spent commuting, h corresponds to hours spent at work under after-tax income, (Y = left( {1 - tau } right)w), and (l) denotes time spent on leisure. Finally, x is the expenditure in goods, and c is the direct cost of transportation. If the worker uses public transit, c would be the public transit fare; if the worker uses private transport, c would be the cost of fuel needed for travel; i.e., the price per gallon times miles travelled divided by miles per gallon (or ({{fuel;price times miles;driven} mathord{left/ {vphantom {{fuel;price times miles;driven} { , fuel;efficiency}}} right. kern-nulldelimiterspace} { , fuel;efficiency}})). Letting V denote the optimal value of the utility function, u, the first-order conditions for this problem yield

$$VOT = frac{{{raise0.7exhbox{${partial V}$} !mathord{left/ {vphantom {{partial V} {partial t}}}right.kern-nulldelimiterspace} !lower0.7exhbox{${partial t}$}}}}{{{raise0.7exhbox{${partial V}$} !mathord{left/ {vphantom {{partial V} {partial h}}}right.kern-nulldelimiterspace} !lower0.7exhbox{${partial h}$}}}} = left( {1 - tau } right)w + frac{{{raise0.7exhbox{${partial u}$} !mathord{left/ {vphantom {{partial u} {partial h}}}right.kern-nulldelimiterspace} !lower0.7exhbox{${partial h}$}} - {raise0.7exhbox{${partial u}$} !mathord{left/ {vphantom {{partial u} {partial t}}}right.kern-nulldelimiterspace} !lower0.7exhbox{${partial t}$}}}}{lambda }$$

(3)

where (lambda) is the marginal utility of money. The VOT increases with the after-tax wage rate and decreases with the marginal utility of money. This leads to a self-selection where commuters with a higher opportunity cost of time will tend to choose faster, generally more expensive modes of transport.

The recent events related to COVID-19 highlight additional constraints and concerns in connection to public transport. As noted in Figs.2, 3, 4 and 5 later in "Data visualization" section, there is evidence that the density of public transportation options is highly correlated with an increased probability of transmission of the virus3,4,5,6. This introduces an additional tradeoff. Increased use of public transport might lead to a higher probability of income loss due to infection and subsequent illness.

Consider a commuter during the COVID-19 era. Every time he uses public transportation, there is a probability, (Pleft( n right)), of contracting the virus. This probability is increasing in the number of passengers, n, since commuter contacteither direct or indirectwith other passengers increases the likelihood of contact with a COVID-19 carrier. Travel time, (tleft( n right)), also increases with n, since higher capacity utilization implies greater delays. The expected utility for a commuter is given by

$$U = Pleft( n right) cdot u^{V} left( {Y - F - L} right) + left[ {1 - Pleft( n right)} right] cdot u^{ - V} left( {Y - F} right) - Cleft( {tleft( n right)} right).$$

(4)

In the above expression, Y is the commuters income, while (u^{V}) and (u^{ - V}) stand for the resulting utilities if the commuter is infected and not infected, respectively, during commuting. Infection can lead to medical expenses and lost income from missed work due to mild or severe symptoms, or, in extreme cases, even to death. We denote the resulting expected income loss by L, and the commuting fare as F. Finally, (Cleft( {tleft( n right)} right)) denotes the opportunity costs of commuting travel-time, where ({{partial C} mathord{left/ {vphantom {{partial C} {partial t}}} right. kern-nulldelimiterspace} {partial t}} > 0). Thus, increased commuting time adds to commuting costs.

The probability of disease transmission will vary across different means of transport. For example, this probability should be close to zero if one drives their own car to work, especially if not carpooling. The probability will increase when using ride-sharing services or traditional taxis since, although the driver might be the only other person present in the vehicle, disease contagion from previous passengers is still possible. In a bus or train, the probability increases with the number of fellow travelers, n.

The model illustrates how infection risk and travel time are linked to commuting density as captured by the number of people, n, using this particular means of transport. The marginal change from an increase in the number of commuters can be decomposed into an increase in (a) the implied risk of infection, and (b) the commuting time. The expected marginal utility of income is defined as8:

$$lambda = P cdot frac{{partial u^{V} }}{partial Y} + left[ {1 - P} right] cdot frac{{partial u^{ - V} }}{partial Y}.$$

(5)

To avoid an exogenous increase in travel time, commuters would be willing to pay (frac{1}{lambda }frac{partial C}{{partial t}}). This is the standard expression for the VOT discussed earlier. The value of an exogenous increase in infection transmission risk is (- frac{1}{lambda }left( {u^{V} - u^{ - V} } right)). The value of choosing a transportation mode that implies a marginal reduction in the number of people commuting, thus resulting in a lower probability of infection, is given by

$$frac{1}{lambda }left[ {left( {u^{V} - u^{ - V} } right) cdot frac{partial P}{{partial n}} + frac{partial C}{{partial t}} cdot frac{partial t}{{partial n}}} right].$$

(6)

In this context, we will refer to (frac{1}{lambda }left( {u^{V} - u^{ - V} } right) cdot frac{partial P}{{partial n}}) as the value-of-avoiding-transmission (VAT). Equation(6) captures the combined value of the reduced risk and reduced travel time that would be afforded by a small reduction in the number of people commuting. This could be, for example, the result of using a different (or less crowded) mode for transport. Equation(6) can provide an interpretation for our empirical work related to the marginal rate of substitution between transportation modes associated with different likelihoods of infection.

Follow this link:

COVID-19 and the value of safe transport in the United States | Scientific Reports - Nature.com

Azita Ghahramani worried she wouldnt survive Covid-19 because of her health conditions, including high blood pressure. So she and her husband, Scott Downing, and their son became hypervigilant. They moved to a remote part of Maine and avoided most social interactions. Even so, all three got Covid-19 in March 2021, possibly from exposure during a family funeral. But it wasnt Ms. Ghahramani who nearly died of the disease; it was her husband.

Despite being in his 50s and an avid tennis player, eating healthfully and having no medical conditions, Mr. Downing ended up in the intensive care unit. Nearly eight months later, he remains out of work on sick leave and only recently started weaning off supplemental oxygen at night.

Ms. Ghahramani is an acquaintance of my family, and her husbands case is a good example of a persistent pandemic issue. Men are much more likely than women to die of Covid-19 and are more likely to be intubated and have long hospitalizations. This disparity in Covid-related deaths has existed since early in the pandemic, before there were any vaccines. Men are also more likely to develop certain rare complications from some Covid-19 vaccines and to experience a faster decline in measures of immunity once vaccinated. The reasons remain unclear.

Historically, women have been largely excluded from medical studies, and health issues that predominantly affect women have been underresearched. This is both morally wrong and medically foolish because it limits physicians ability to deliver optimal care. Rather than ignore sex differences in Covid-19 outcomes, scientists should pay attention to them to better understand the disease and how to treat it.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that in the United States, women account for 45.6 percent of Covid-19 deaths so far and men account for 54.4 percent. (Men make up slightly less than half the U.S. population.) Among Americans ages 65 to 84 the group at highest risk for severe Covid-19 the gap is even larger: 57.9 percent of deaths have occurred among men and 42.1 percent among women. According to the Brookings Institution, at least 65,000 more men than women have died of Covid-19 in the United States. Globally, the death rate has been about 50 percent higher for men.

A July 2021 study found that compared to women, men with Covid-19 had an almost 50 percent higher rate of respiratory intubation and a 22 percent longer hospital stay.

Certain complications from Covid-19 vaccines, though rare, seem to happen more often among men than women. A recent study from Israel on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine showed that the incidence of myocarditis inflammation of the heart muscle was nearly 18 times as high among men as among women over age 16.

There is also evidence that immunity from the Pfizer vaccine wanes more rapidly among men. Another recent study from Israel found that six months after the second dose of the vaccine, levels of antibodies were substantially lower among men than among women. Among men age 65 and older, certain antibody levels after vaccination were 46 percent lower than among vaccinated women of the same age.

What might account for these differences?

Some think the higher Covid-19 death rates among men are due to lower vaccination rates. Just over 50 percent of American men are fully vaccinated, compared to 55 percent of women. However, vaccination rates alone cannot account for all the worse Covid-19 outcomes among men, since the disparities in deaths and other complications predate the availability of the vaccines.

Some researchers suggest that the higher death rate among men is spurious, an unrelated curiosity. Others contend that factors like adherence to mask wearing or underlying health conditions most likely explain the differences. Early on, for example, it was suggested that this sex difference might be traced to higher rates of smoking among men in China, where the disparity was first observed.

Work and other social factors like masking might have a role, though women make up a very high proportion of essential workers and are more likely to hold jobs as home health aides and nursing home caregivers, which can expose them to Covid-19.

There are also biological explanations for differences that must be elucidated or at least deserve further study.

Yale University researchers noted that there are well-established differences in immune responses to infections between men and women. Diseases like tuberculosis are more common among men, for example, and men tend to have higher viral loads of hepatitis C virus and H.I.V. The same researchers found differences in mens and womens immune responses to Covid-19. Men with Covid-19 had higher blood levels of inflammatory proteins that regulate immune responses, for example. This could lead to an overexuberant immune response to the coronavirus.

Other researchers argue that hormonal factors might be at play. Testosterone may tamp down mens immune response, while estrogen may play a role in womens tendency to have more immune B cells, which produce antibodies. Estrogen may inhibit the kind of immune cells that are thought to play a role in myocarditis.

Still, the reasons men seem to fare worse remain mostly a mystery. Much more research is needed to understand it, and there are most likely several factors at play.

The medical community needs to be more open to exploring sex differences in disease. One way to respond to the Covid-19 death-rate disparity now is to target men for vaccines and boosters.

The National Institutes of Health recently awarded $470 million to over 30 institutions to support research into long Covid, another pandemic phenomenon. Much could be gained from an equivalent research effort into the higher rate of Covid-19 deaths, complications and waning immunity among men. Rigorously looking at the differences in Covid-19s toll and discovering the underlying causes is imperative to better understanding this disease as well as other infectious diseases and how to treat it.

Read more from the original source:

Opinion | Covid-19 Deaths Are More Likely Among Men, but Why? - The New York Times

One of eight Latter-day Saint missionaries returning home to Tonga after completing their missions became Tongas first case of COVID-19, sending the country into lockdown even though his second test was negative, according to news reports.

The young man had completed his mission in Africa and was fully vaccinated, according to Sam Penrod, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The returning missionary spent several weeks in New Zealand on his way home and twice tested negative for the virus before he boarded a government-sponsored repatriation flight that carried 215 people to Tonga on Oct. 27.

Proper COVID-19 protocols were followed, said Penrod.

The passengers were tested again when they landed in Tonga and placed in a quarantine hotel. The test for the returning missionary returned a weak positive result, a doctor with the ministry of health told the news site MatangiTonga.to. The returned missionary has remained in quarantine.

The doctor announced today that the returned missionarys second test, taken Monday, was negative.

Tonga effectively closed its border when the pandemic began in March 2020. Many Tongans who were away when the pandemic struck have been unable to return home.

That includes hundreds, perhaps thousands of Latter-day Saint missionaries, who have seen their mission service extend well beyond the normal two years for men and 18 months for women, according to Elder Vaiangina Vai Sikahema, a General Authority Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Some Tongan elders have been on their missions for three years and sisters over two years, he said during the churchs worldwide general conference last month. They wait patiently with the faith for which our people are known.

Latter-day Saints comprise nearly two-thirds of Tongas population of 106,000. The Ministry of Health reported Tuesday that 64% of Tongas eligible adult population is fully vaccinated, and another 25% have received their first dose of vaccines.

About 68% of Tongans ages 12 to 17 have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which became available for teens on Oct. 21, Matangi Tonga reported.

The report of a positive test drove thousands of people to vaccination centers for COVID-19 shots, the news outlet reported.

The countrys intensive care unit capacity for treating severe COVID-19 cases is limited to about five patients, said the Minister of Health, Amelia Tuipulotu.

Another 20 people could be treated at a health center upgraded to care for COVID-19 patients.

Thats why we need over 90% of the eligible population to be vaccinated, she told Matangi Tonga.

The returned missionary is asymptomatic and remains quarantined, Richard Hunter, regional spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ told 1News.

He will be tested again on Friday, said Siale Akauola, the doctor with the ministry of health.

We are happy with this result, which we will test again later this week and confirm, and this is good for his family and this person because the weight of the country must have been on him and the difficulty that he was in, Akauola told MatangiTonga.to.

Despite the weak positive first test and the negative second test, Tonga will maintain the seven-day lockdown that began Tuesday, Tuipulotu said.

The lockdown includes a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. All residents are ordered to stop working and stay inside their homes, except to obtain food, medical supplies or vaccines, or to engage in banking, attend to livestock or respond to emergencies.

Here is the full statement from Penrod, the church spokesman:

A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who had completed his missionary service in Africa, tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Tonga. He was part of a group of eight missionaries who were returning to their home country on a government-sponsored repatriation flight from New Zealand. Proper COVID-19 protocols were followed. The missionary was fully vaccinated and was tested twice before boarding the repatriation flight. While quarantining in Tonga on his arrival, he was retested and tested positive. He remains in quarantine.

Go behind the scenes on whats happening with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members.

Originally posted here:

Returned missionary who was Tongas first COVID-19 case now is negative - Deseret News

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) There were 718 new total COVID-19 cases reported on Tuesday, bringing the states total case count to 155,603, up from Monday (154,885).

While the difference in the total case count reported Tuesday and Monday equals 718, when you add the PCR, or newly confirmed, cases (566) and antigen, or new probable, cases (153), there were 719 new cases.

Eight new COVID-19 death was reported in Tuesdays update from the South Dakota Department of Health.

The death toll from COVID-19 is at 2,249, up from Monday (2,241). The new deaths include four men and four women in the following age ranges: 20-29(1); 70-79 (3); 80+ (4). New deaths were reported in the following counties: Dewey, Hanson, Meade (2), Minnehaha and Pennington (3).

The number of active cases reported on Tuesday is at 5,513, up from Monday (5,483).

Current hospitalizations are at 202, down from Monday (205). Total hospitalizations are at 7,896, up from Monday (7,853).

Total recovered cases are now at 147,841, up from Monday (147,161). The latest seven-day PCR test positivity rate for the state is 13.6% for October 25-31.

The DOH currently reports total tests each day. There have been 1,613,716 total tests reported as of Tuesday, up 5,873 from 1,607,843 total tests reported Monday.

Of South Dakotas 66 counties, 58 are listed as having high or substantial community spread. High community spread is 100 cases or greater per 100,000 or a 10% or greater PCR test positivity rate.

There have been 649 Delta variant cases (B.1.617.2, AY.1-AY.25) detected in South Dakota through sentinel monitoring, an increase of nine over Monday.

There have been 172 cases of the B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant), three cases of P.1. (Gamma variant) and two cases of the B.1.351 (Beta variant).

The DOH announced changes to how it reports vaccinations on the COVID-19 dashboard as of Monday, October 14. It now includes a breakout of how many people have received booster doses. Due to data clean-up efforts, the percentages of people whove received one dose or completed the series have changed.Find the DOH explanation in this story.

As of Tuesday, 67.75% of the population 12-years-old and above has received at least one dose while 58.20% have completed the vaccination series.

There have been 516,461 doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered, 356,193 of the Moderna vaccine and 31,009 doses of the Janssen vaccine.

There have been 163,577 persons who have completed two doses of Moderna. There have been 223,729 persons who have received two doses of Pfizer.

As for booster doses, 47,066 people have received a 3rd Pfizer shot and 15,131 have received a 3rd Moderna dose.

Data from Saturday and Sunday is included in Tuesdays update, according to the South Dakota Department of Health.

Read the rest here:

COVID-19 in South Dakota: 718 total new cases; Death toll rises to 2,249; Active cases at 5,513 - KELOLAND.com

ENCINITAS, Calif. The celebratory chords of a mariachi band filled the community center. On seemingly every surface fresh marigold blossoms glowed a bright orange.

And, in this town just north of San Diego, two types of masks were present at its recent Da de Muertos event: faces painted white and black to resemble skulls as well as the more familiar kind cloth coverings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The virus weve been living alongside for nearly two years has left us grappling with a staggering, unfathomable level of loss. On Monday, the official worldwide death toll from Covid-19 hit five million.

In California, the pandemic has imbued Da de Muertos, the annual tradition also known as Day of the Dead, with particular, painful significance.

Covid-19 has killed more than 32,000 Latinos in California, giving the group the highest death rate of any race or ethnicity in the state.

Naimeh Woodward, president of Encinitas Friends of the Arts, which hosted this weekends Da de Muertos celebration, told me, This year, its really relevant more than ever.

Da de Muertos ceremonies remember and honor the dead, typically around Nov. 1 and 2 All Saints Day and All Souls Day on the Catholic calendar. The holiday, widely celebrated in Mexico, has been gaining popularity across the world and the United States in recent decades, with an extra boost from the 2017 Pixar movie Coco.

At the event in Encinitas, colorful candles, painted skulls, fresh and paper flowers, and framed photographs of smiling faces lined tables. These altars, or ofrendas, are meant to entice departed loved ones to briefly return to the land of the living.

I saw ofrendas adorned with mangos, sweetbreads, cans of Tecate and glass bottles of Coca-Cola. Garlands and bouquets of brilliant marigolds further help attract the spirits.

If you dont put that picture there that means you forget about them, so thats why every year you have to remember them so they can come and bless you, said Beatriz Villarreal, who grew up in Mexico City and M.C.s the Encinitas event. My father loved whiskey and chocolate, so I put a little bottle of whiskey and chocolate.

Latinos make up the largest ethnic group in California (they are 39 percent of the population) but their share of Covid-19 deaths (45 percent) is even higher, particularly among younger age groups. The same is true nationwide.

Sixty-six percent of 18- to 34-year-olds who have died from Covid-19 in California were Latino, though Latinos account for just 45 percent of the population in that age group, according to The Los Angeles Times. By contrast, white Californians make up 30 percent of that age group but 12 percent of its deaths.

There are several reasons: Latinos are more likely to have poor access to medical care, work essential jobs that cant be done remotely and live in crowded, multigenerational homes where the virus can easily spread.

The mortality gap is likely to persist as long as the pandemic does, and may even widen. In recent months, a lower rate of Covid-19 vaccination has emerged among Latinos.

For all communities in California, the toll of the pandemic has been extraordinary, and far more than we could have imagined back in March 2020. Last month, California surpassed 70,000 deaths from Covid-19.

This is a scale of devastation typical in wars and the most horrific of natural disasters. The pandemic has left us with a grief so enormous we will process it for years to come, perhaps on Da de Muertos.

Covered California opens: Open enrollment for the nations largest state-run health insurance marketplace began on Monday, The Associated Press reports.

American Airlines attack: A flight attendant on a plane bound for California was struck by a passenger, leaving her with a concussion and a facial injury.

Transgender rights lawsuit: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to wade into a case involving a transgender man and Mercy San Juan Medical Center near Sacramento, The Associated Press reports.

Vaccine harassment law: A federal judge has thrown out Californias new 30-foot buffer zone designed to restrict protests at coronavirus vaccination sites, The Associated Press reports.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Garcetti aide returns: Ana Guerrero returned to Los Angeles City Hall after being placed on leave for comments she made in a Facebook group, The Los Angeles Times reports.

New Chargers headquarters: The Los Angeles Chargers are planning to construct a headquarters and training facility in El Segundo, The Los Angeles Times reports.

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

Catalytic converter theft: The number of catalytic converters stolen from cars in Fresno County has spiked this year, The Fresno Bee reports.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

When a California pit stop became permanent, they scrambled for a place to buy. Which home would you choose?

Todays tip is from Vicki Rae, a reader who lives in Sonoma. Vicki recommends nearby Sebastopol and Bodega Bay:

In Sebastopol, stock up on handcrafted chocolate truffles at Sonoma Chocolatiers, then meander down Florence Avenue, where whimsical metal sculptures by the artist Patrick Amiot line the street. On to Walker Apples in Graton, a family-owned apple orchard that gives a glimpse of Sonoma County 50 or 100 years ago. Continue over a forested hill to Occidental and then take Coleman Valley Road to Bodega for breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. Quickly stop at Spud Point Crab Company for crab cocktail to go and catch the sunset at Bodega Head. Perfect day.

Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. Well be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

These 12 titles before they leave Netflix in November.

When Gabi Conti went on a date with Daren Johnson at a bar in West Hollywood, she did something pretty unusual for Angelenos: said exactly what she was thinking.

I excused myself to the bathroom and said, If you dont start asking me things to let me know youre interested in me, Im leaving, Conti told The Times.

Johnson found the directness attractive, and upped his game. Later that night, in September 2019, they shared a kiss.

This month, they got married.

Thanks for reading. Ill be back tomorrow. Soumya

P.S. Heres todays Mini Crossword, and a clue: ___ Mahal (3 letters).

Mariel Wamsley and Shelby Knowles contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com.

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.

Continued here:

The Unequal Toll of Covid-19 in California - The New York Times