Category: Covid-19

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Important differences in how the nasal cells of young and elderly people respond to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, could explain why children typically experience milder COVID-19 symptoms, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL and the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

The study, published in Nature Microbiology, focused on the early effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the cells first targeted by the viruses, the human nasal epithelial cells (NECs).

These cells were donated from healthy participants from Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), University College London Hospital (UCLH) and the Royal Free Hospital, including children (0-11 years), adults (3050 years) and, for the first time, the elderly (over 70 years).

The cells were then cultured using specialized techniques, allowing them to regrow into the different types of cells you originally find in the nose. Using single-cell RNA sequencing techniques that enable scientists to identify the unique genetic networks and functions of thousands of individual cells, the team identified 24 distinct epithelial cell types. Cultures from each age group were then either mock infected or infected with SARS-CoV-2.

The researchers found that, after three days, the NECs of children responded quickly to SARS-CoV-2 by increasing interferon (the body's first line of anti-viral defense)restricting viral replication. However, this early anti-viral effect became less pronounced with age.

The researchers also found that NECs from elderly individuals not only produced more infectious virus particles, but also experienced increased cell shedding and damage.

The strong antiviral response in the NECs of children could explain why younger people typically experience milder symptoms. In contrast, the increased damage and higher viral replication found in NECs from elderly individuals could be linked to the greater severity of disease observed in older adults.

Project lead, Dr. Claire Smith (Associate Professor at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health), said, "Our research reveals how the type of cells we have in our nose changes with age, and how this affects our ability to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection. This could be crucial in developing effective anti-viral treatments tailored to different age groups, especially for the elderly who are at higher risk of severe COVID-19."

Co-Senior author, Dr. Kerstin Meyer (Wellcome Sanger Institute), said, "By carrying out SARS-CoV-2 infections of epithelial cells in vitro and studying the responses with single cell sequencing, we get a much more detailed understanding of the viral infection kinetics and see big differences in the innate immune response between cell types."

Children infected with SARS-CoV-2 rarely progress to respiratory failure, but the risk of mortality in infected people over the age of 85 remains high, despite vaccination and improving treatment options.

The research underscores the importance of considering age as a critical factor in both research and treatment of infectious diseases.

Co-senior author, Dr. Marko Nikolic (UCL Division of Medicine), said, "It is fascinating that when we take away immune cells from nasal samples, and are only left with nasal epithelial cells grown in a dish, we are still able to identify age-specific differences in our body's response to the SARS-CoV-2 between the young and elderly to explain why children are generally protected from severe COVID-19."

Dr. Smith added, "Understanding the cellular differences at the initiation of infection is just the beginning. We now hope to investigate the long-term implications of these cellular changes and test therapeutic interventions using our unique cell culture model. This 'gold-standard' system is only possible with the support of our funders and the willingness of participants to provide their samples."

The team suggest that future research should consider how aging impacts the body's response to other viral infections.

More information: Age-specific nasal epithelial responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection, Nature Microbiology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-024-01658-1

Journal information: Nature Microbiology

See the rest here:

Specific nasal cells found to protect against COVID-19 in children - Medical Xpress

This article was originally published by HCPLive.

A new analysis of data from the Pediatric COVID-19 United States Registry revealed children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at risk of severe disease with SARS-CoV-2 infection.1

According to the registry-based analysis, approximately one-third of children with SCD required hospitalization with nearly half of the children with SCD who were hospitalized requiring supplemental oxygen.

Model of Sickled Cells | image credit: Sebastian Kaulitzki - stock.adobe.com

Our results indicate that a higher proportion of hospitalized children with SCD and COVID-19 had severe infection requiring supplemental oxygen compared to the general population, a finding that has been showing in other viral illnesses, particularly influenza, wrote the investigative team led by Aleksandra S. Dain, MD, division of hematology, department of pediatrics at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

Adults with SCD are known to be at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2-related complications, including hospitalization, compared with a healthy population.2 Its exact mechanism remains unknown, but research has cited pre-existing end-organ damage as a potential cause. Hospitalization and mortality in SCD are often comparable to non-SCD populations with similar comorbidities.

Among children, those with underlying comorbidities and those who develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) experience elevated morbidity and mortality secondary to SARS-CoV-2 infection.3 Reports suggest SCD is a risk for severe COVID-19 and hospitalization, but limitations of these findings include single-center populations or a lack of non-SCD comparators.

In this registry-based analysis, Dain and colleagues sought to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of both acute COVID-19 and MIS-C in pediatric patients with SCD and compare these findings with other populations.1

The Pediatric COVID-19 US Registry involved surveillance of pediatric COVID-19 cases diagnosed between March 2020 and April 2021. Eligible cases were individuals 21 years of age diagnosed with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Hospitalizations, including intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, were documented.

Overall, the registry included 13,140 patients, and the primary analysis used 10,974 children with complete study data. Investigators identified a total of 263 patients with SCD. The study population had a median age of 12 years, and 140 (53%) patients were male.

Among those with SCD, 91 (35%) patients were hospitalized due to COVID-19, compared with 114 (34%) in the immune-compromised group and 1485 (14%) in the general pediatric populations. Notably, significantly fewer hospitalized patients with SCD required ICU care (18%) compared with the immune-compromised (32%; P = .016) and general pediatric groups (35%; P = .001).

In children who were hospitalized, those in the SCD cohort demonstrated the highest proportion of patients requiring supplemental oxygen (45%) compared with the immune-compromised (37%) and general pediatric (35%) cohorts. However, the between-group differences were not statistically significant (P = .17).

A total of 4 hospitalized (4.4%) patients with SCD in the cohort were diagnosed with MIS-C, compared with 2 (1.75%) and 288 (19.4%) in the hospitalized immune-compromised and general pediatric groups, respectively. All those with SCD or immune-compromised required ICU admission, compared with two-thirds of general pediatric patients.

Despite the COVID-19 global public health emergency ending, Dain and colleagues indicated that SARS-CoV-2 infection remains a persistent and relevant respiratory pathogen, particularly for those with SCD.

The opportunity remains to protect vulnerable patients, including those with SCD, through optimization of vaccination and supportive care, they wrote.

References

Originally posted here:

Children With Sickle Cell Disease Experience Severe COVID-19 Infection - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) in England had a seven times greater risk of hospitalization and a fourfold increased risk of death from COVID-19 in 2022 than did the general population, according to a study of almost 12 million people in the European nation.

The elevated risk of both COVID-19 hospitalization and death among MS patients was observed even in those who had received at least three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, the researchers found.

We hope that these findings raise awareness that the threat of COVID-19 is still very real for many, and that vaccine boosters are inadequate to protect this clinically vulnerable group, Jennifer Quint, PhD, the study lead at the Imperial College London, said in a press release.

With new variants constantly emerging, people living with MS should be considered an important high-risk group for COVID-19 hospitalization and death for which additional preventive measures and multilayered public health protections are urgently needed, Quint added.

The teams findings will be presented later this month at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024), in Barcelona, Spain.

Most disease-modifying therapies approved for MS are designed to suppress or modulate the immune system and reduce the inflammatory attacks that target and damage the brain and spinal cord.

However, suppressing the immune system, particularly with therapies that deplete antibody-producing immune B-cells, can increase the risk of infections and reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.

To assess the impact of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus among people with compromised immune systems, researchers in England launched the INFORM study (ISRCTN53375662).

A recent analysis of INFORM data showed that immunocompromised individuals faced a markedly higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 outcomes than did the general population. Still, the virus impact on people with MS who were not considered immunocompromised was not specifically investigated.

To find out more, Quint and colleagues conducted a study, sponsored by AstraZeneca, that explored the risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 among vaccinated individuals with MS in England in 2022.

The researchers collected electronic data from a random sample of 25% of people, ages 12 and older, registered with the countrys National Health Service (NHS).

Of the 11,990,730 people included, 16,350 0.1% of the total were diagnosed with MS. About half of the general population (51%), and more than three-quarters of MS patients (79%), received at least three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine before the beginning of 2022.

During the study period, there were 20,910 hospitalizations and 4,810 deaths caused by COVID-19 in the general population. Among MS patients, there were 215 COVID-19-related hospitalizations and 25 deaths.

These data corresponded to a higher incidence of hospitalizations among MS patients than the general population (1.28 vs. 0.24 per 100 person-years). Likewise, the incidence of deaths was also higher in MS patients (0.14 vs. 0.06 per 100 person-years). Person-years account for the total number of patients and the amount of time each patient spent in the study.

After adjusting for age and sex, MS patients had a seven times higher risk of hospitalization and a fourfold higher risk of death due to COVID-19 compared with the general population, the researchers found.

MS should be considered an important high-risk group for COVID-19 hospitalization and death for which preventive interventions in addition to vaccination are urgently needed.

The team noted that the study did not assess how underlying illness and level of MS disability may have influenced the results, nor did the work examine the effect of disease-modifying therapies, prior infections, the time since the last vaccination, and the type of vaccination.

Still, the researchers believe that MS should be considered an important high-risk group for COVID-19 hospitalization and death for which preventive interventions in addition to vaccination are urgently needed, they wrote in the study abstract.

Quint noted that MS itself is not a risk factor for COVID-19 but some treatments can increase the likelihood of patients becoming infected.

Having multiple sclerosis in itself doesnt increase the risk of getting COVID-19, rather its the taking of immune modifying medicine such as B-cell depletion therapies that can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines by preventing the immune system from mounting a robust protective response, Quint said.

She added, however, that some MS-specific factors, such as having underlying conditions or higher levels of disability can contribute to poor outcomes.

As a result, even after repeated doses of COVID-19 vaccines, some individuals with MS remain at high risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19, Quinn said.

See the rest here:

COVID-19 found to increase hospitalization, death risk in MS: Study - Multiple Sclerosis News Today

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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many families worried about the long-term effects posed by the SARS-COV-2 virus. Now, researchers from Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that a SARS-COV-2 infection likely does not increase the risk of asthma development in pediatric patients. The findings were published today in the journalPediatrics.

Respiratory viral infections early in life are risk factors for asthma. Since the SARS-COV-2 virus can cause severe lung inflammation and prolonged respiratory symptoms in certain patients, many families were concerned whether COVID-19 might trigger an asthma diagnosis in their children. CHOP established a team to further evaluate these concerns.

More than four years have passed since initial infections were reported in the United States, with testing for COVID-19 performed frequently at the beginning of the pandemic. These circumstances made for the perfect set of circumstances for a large retrospective cohort study.

During the early days of the pandemic, we could isolate the effects of COVID-19 from other viruses and follow these patients long enough to observe the onset of asthma, said first study author James P. Senter, MD, MPH, an attending physician in the Department of Pediatrics at CHOP. We were also testing so frequently that we had a built-in control group to compare asthma symptoms and whether COVID-19 was a critical factor.

Subscribe to Technology Networks daily newsletter, delivering breaking science news straight to your inbox every day.

The analysis found that testing positive for SARS-COV-2 had no significant effect on the likelihood of a new asthma diagnosis. However, children with known risk factors for developing pediatric asthma, such as race, food allergies, allergic rhinitis (or hay fever), and preterm birth were more likely to associate with new SARS-COV-2 diagnoses.

Since the study focused solely on pediatric patients, not adult patients, more research will need to be done to assess patients at different ages and at longer intervals to further confirm there is no relationship between SARS-COV-2 and the development of asthma. Although new variants have emerged since the study was conducted, many of the fundamental elements of the original virus, which seem to reduce the allergic response produced in infected patients, have remained intact in current variants.

This well-powered study reaffirms risk factors we know contribute to asthma development and provides clinically useful information to pediatricians and providers on the absence of risk of developing asthma as a result of COVID-19, said senior study authorDavid A. Hill, MD, PhD, an attending physician with theDivision of Allergy and Immunologyat CHOP. We are hopeful that this study will put to rest an outstanding question on the minds of many their families.

Reference:Senter JP, Aisenberg LK, Dudley JW, et al. COVID-19 and asthma onset in children. Pediatrics. 2024:e2023064615. doi: 10.1542/peds.2023-064615

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Researchers Find No Link Between COVID-19 and Increased Asthma Risk - Technology Networks

NEW YORK (AP) The biggest races, routines and games for many of this generations Olympic athletes were contested in front of mostly empty stands, largely devoid of coaches to help them out or friends and family to cheer them on.

That was three years ago at the COVID-19 Summer Olympics and two years ago at the COVID-19 Winter Olympics. Now that theyre preparing for the Paris Olympics that begin in July and a return to something that feels normal the Americans heading back to the Games know they can never take for granted the screaming fans and a hug from Mom or Dad.

I think its super important to be able to share these massive moments with people you care about, said BMX rider Alise Willoughby, who has been to the last three Olympics.

Willoughby and about 100 other U.S. athletes are doing interviews and photo shoots this week at the Team USA media summit at a hotel in Times Square an event that itself was made impossible in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

One topic of conversation this week is how grateful the bikers, rowers, gymnasts and the rest are to be past the days of contact tracing, quarantines and daily swabbing or spitting for COVID-19 tests inside the so-called Olympic bubble.

In Paris, there will be celebrations with relatives and one-on-one contact with coaches, most of whom were not allowed into the venues three years ago. The USA House a traditional stop for athletes to wind down and kick back, especially after theyre done competing will be doing brisk business once again.

Mostly, athletes are looking forward to the chance to soak in the feeling from the crowd, an element sorely missing in the cavernous and largely unfilled venues in Tokyo.

Ill be able to see the audiences emotions. I want to build that with them and I can tailor my routines to that, said American rhythmic gymnast Evita Griskenas, who plans French music to accompany one routine and All-American number for another, all with the goal of getting fans caught up in the moment.

Griskenas said she already feels a different vibe. Preparing for the Olympics in Tokyo Games that were initially delayed by a year, then held in an atmosphere nobody quite recognized became a largely solitary, and joyless, affair.

It turned into training in my basement and throwing things outside, she said.

This year, a different experience awaits, and some athletes are even looking forward to a crowd rooting against them because, hey, at least its a crowd.

The boys have been saying, We want to play France in, like, the semifinals, rugby player Perry Baker said. You just visualize how big that can be, and how fun that can be. Their crowd. Our crowd. We live for those moments.

With crowds, naturally, come other issues that were mostly set on the sideline in 2021. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the much-touted opening ceremony scheduled for the Seine River could be moved to the Stade de France if the security threat is deemed too high.

Asked what she thought of that possibility, Nicole Deal, the chief of security for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said other than her main goal athlete safety she wants to provide the best experience for the athletes.

Security is an underpinning and a foundation. Were not the main show, Deal said.

With two of the next five Olympics set to come to the U.S. Los Angeles hosts in 2028 and Salt Lake City is a virtual lock for the Winter Games in 2034 Olympic leaders know theres a lot riding on Paris. This return to normal, they hope, will bring more Americans back to watching the Olympics in person, online and on TV.

Prime-time ratings in Tokyo were 42% lower than the previous Summer Games, in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and 50% below the Games before that, in London in 2012. There were a number of reasons for that including the increasingly fragmented viewing audience, the rise of streaming services and the 13-hour time difference between New York and Japan.

But also: COVID-19.

Even for those who were back home, it wasnt the most important thing going on for us at that time, USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said of the renewed possibilities presented by the first COVID-19-free Games since 2018. This is about an opportunity to really focus on this incredible thing called Olympic and Paralympic sport. It brings us together almost like nothing else.

The way things went in Tokyo took some of the luster away from what was nearly a perfect experience for indoor volleyball player Jordyn Poulter. Yes, she won a gold medal in her first Olympics, three years ago. Yes, it was a once-in-a-lifetime type of triumph. Still, there was something missing.

Not being able to relish in that moment with friends and family in that immediate time its something that Im looking forward to in this next one, she said.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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Paris-bound Olympians look forward to a post-COVID Games with fans in the stands - The Associated Press

MISSOULA The Missoula Quilters Guild will host their quilt show at the Missoula County Fairgrounds for the first time since 2018.

Over 100 members will display their work quilts they designed around the theme of solar eclipse.

The quilt show had a long hiatus due to COVID-19 and is being relaunched this year where over 300 handmade quilts will be on display.

Marcene Coburn, one of the organizers of the show says it is a great opportunity for the members to show their diverse skills.

Theres a lot of time, a lot of love that goes into every quilt whether its for the show or a gift for someones baby its an amazing thing and we all put a lot of time and energy and love into them, said Coburn.

What we all get to do is make a quilt, put in for the theme category our own what we view as the eclipse," Coburn continued. "So youll see at the show a lot of different things and different peoples view of what the eclipse looks like.

The Missoula Quilt Show will be at the Missoula Fairgrounds on Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27, 2024, beginning at 10 a.m. on both days.

See the rest here:

Missoula Quilters' Guild gets ready for first show since COVID-19 - KPAX News

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In the 30 days after COVID-19 infection, total sperm count, sperm concentration, total sperm motility (movement), and progressive motility were significantly reduced in a cohort of Chinese men, with the most severe effects in those with moderate to high fever, researchers from Sichuan Provincial Maternity and Child Health Care Hospitalreport in Scientific Reports.

The researchers tracked semen quality in 58 men for up to 109 days after COVID-19 diagnosis and used a linear mixed-effects model to analyze semen parameters at different time points before and after infection. They noted that previous studies suggest that angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) facilitates SARS-CoV-2 entry into testicular cells, where it leads to testes injury and impairs sperm production.

While there was no significant difference in semen volume before or after COVID-19 diagnosis, median total sperm count and concentration were lower after infection. Total sperm motility and progressive motility were significantly lower after diagnosis, and the percentage of non-moving sperm was higher.

Rates of sperm survival and normal sperm form decreased, with greater head defects but similar numbers of sperm with neck, mid-piece, or tail defects. No differences were noted in the number of round cells, anti-sperm antibodies, semen liquefaction time, or viscosity before or after COVID-19 infection.

Fever severity during SARS-CoV-2 infection may constitute the main influencing factor in reducing semen parameters in patients after recovery, but the effect is reversible.

The greatest drop in sperm count and concentration occurred within 30days, followed by a gradual recovery and normalization by 90 days. The percentage of normal sperm fell, and the percentage of sperm with head defects significantly increased from 30 to 60 days, followed by recovery. An initial drop in sperm survival returned to baseline by 30 days.

Patients with a moderate or high fever saw a statistically significant decline in semen parameters, while those with a mild fever did not.

"Fever severity during SARS-CoV-2 infection may constitute the main influencing factor in reducing semen parameters in patients after recovery, but the effect is reversible," the study authors concluded.

Read more here:

Analysis spotlights sperm defects in month after COVID infection, but not at 90 days - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

CLAIM

COVID-19 vaccines will cause a massive tsunami of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths due to immune escape; Immune dysregulation in vaccinated people is turning COVID-19 into a more chronic disease that we call long COVID

DETAILS

Misleading: Contrary to Vanden Bossches argument, both vaccine- and infection-induced immunity exert selective pressure that drives viral evolution. However, no evidence indicates that COVID-19 vaccines are major drivers in the evolution of new SARS-CoV-2 variants nor that they will lead to more dangerous variants. Inadequate support: Long COVID is a condition that results from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Studies strongly suggest that vaccination reduces, not increases, the risk of developing long COVID.

KEY TAKE AWAY

Immunity from either COVID-19 vaccination or from infection, exerts selective pressure on a virus and can drive viral evolution, potentially leading to new variants. However, not vaccinating and allowing the virus to spread freely carries the risk of severe disease and death and would also increase the virus opportunities to mutate. COVID-19 vaccines, while imperfect, help reduce the spread of the virus and the risk of severe illness and death.

The conspiracy outlet InfoWars wrote about the interview in an article titled Virologist Warns Imminent New COVID Crisis Among Vaccinated Will Cause Chaos & Collapse Society that circulated widely on Instagram. One tweet sharing the InfoWars headline received almost 400,000 views.

The claims made during the interview date back to 2021. Then, Science Feedback and others debunked similar predictions by Vanden Bossche, which havent come true. Below, we will analyze several of the misleading and unsupported claims made by Vanden Bossche.

Mass vaccination at the peak of a pandemic has been pushing the selection of more infectious variants; the booster shots have primarily been accelerating the immune escape of the virus

Vanden Bossche claimed that mass vaccination when virus circulation is high causes the SARS-CoV-2 virus to evolve into more dangerous variants that escape from the immune response. He argued that the vaccines imperfect protection creates an opportunity for breakthrough infections and viral evolution, similar to how using suboptimal doses of antibiotics can contribute to the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

However, no evidence indicates that COVID-19 vaccines have been major drivers in the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, as earlier reviews by Science Feedback and others explained.

Viruses evolve constantly by acquiring genetic changes called mutations. These mutations occur each time the virus makes copies of itself (replication) during infection. There is no question that vaccine-induced immunity puts selective pressure on the virus and contributes to its evolution[1]. But so does immunity from infection. The difference that vaccination also helps reduce the risk of infection and severe illness, thus lowering virus circulation and its chance to replicate.

Therefore, contrary to Vanden Bossches implication, withholding vaccination wouldnt prevent new variants from arising[2]. In fact, widespread virus circulation in the early stages of the pandemic resulted in multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants that emerged before COVID-19 vaccines were available[3].

Despite waning immunity, COVID-19 vaccines still help reduce the spread of the virus[4]. By reducing the likelihood of infection and long illness, the vaccines also limit the opportunities for the virus to mutate, as virologists told Science Feedback in an earlier review.

Vanden Bossche also didnt take into account that COVID-19 vaccines can and have been reformulated to better match emerging variants, which reduces immune escape and improves vaccine protection.

Immune dysregulation in vaccinated people is changing the pathology of SARS-CoV-2 from an acute disease to a more chronic disease that we call long COVID

Based on the argument that COVID-19 vaccines cause immune dysregulation, Vanden Bossche predicted more and more cases of more and more serious long COVID in highly vaccinated countries. This effect would supposedly become apparent in the next coming weeks.

Its not the first time that Vanden Bossche has predicted COVID-19 vaccination would cause mortality rates to dramatically increase. In 2021, he predicted this event would occur in just a few weeks. Studies havent borne this out: vaccinated people dont have a greater risk of all-cause or COVID-19 mortality compared to unvaccinated people[5,6].

The claim that COVID-19 vaccines increase the risk of developing long COVID also isnt new, as Science Feedback and other fact-checking organizations documented. However, this claim contradicts evidence from scientific studies showing that long COVID is typically associated with infection, not vaccination.

Long COVID refers to a wide range of symptoms some people develop after SARS-CoV-2 infection. These symptoms include fatigue, difficulty breathing, and cognitive deficits that can persist for weeks, months, or years after infection.

While cases of persistent symptoms resembling long COVID have also been reported following COVID-19 vaccination[7-9], whether COVID-19 vaccines cause these symptoms is still unclear.

A spokesperson from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told FactCheck.org that to date, no unusual or unexpected patterns of long-lasting symptoms or health problems following vaccination have been linked to vaccination by COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring systems.

The Paul Ehrlich Institute in Germany issued a similar statement based on data from the European Medicines Agencys adverse reaction database. This suggests that long-term health complications after COVID-19 vaccination are uncommon.

Further contradicting Vanden Bossches claim, compelling evidence from published studies suggests that COVID-19 vaccination actually reduces the likelihood of developing long COVID in adults[8], children, and adolescents[11].

Moreover, getting more doses of vaccine is associated with lower risk of developing long COVID[12,13].

For example, one study published in The BMJ in November 2023 evaluated symptoms in roughly 600,000 people with long COVID who had previously received zero, one, two, or three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and in Sweden[13]. The study reported that one vaccine dose was associated with a 21% lower risk of long COVID compared to unvaccinated people. However, two and three doses further reduced the risk to 59% and 73%, respectively.

This possible protective effect of vaccination against long COVID might also have implications in terms of mortality.

One 2024 study published in Nature Communications evaluating long-term symptoms in over one million people in Hong Kong showed that unvaccinated people had the greatest risk of post-infection complications, including cardiovascular diseases and mortality. The more COVID-19 vaccine doses people received, the less likely they were to experience long-term problems after infection[14].

Some studies suggest that vaccinating people who already developed long COVID might also relieve symptoms. However, the data in this regard is less clear, as some patients reported improvements, but others reported no change or even a worsening in their symptoms[15-17].

Overall, the findings from published studies arent consistent with Vanden Bossches claim that COVID-19 vaccination leads to worse disease and long COVID. On the contrary, they show that vaccinated people are less likely to develop severe disease and long COVID compared to unvaccinated people.

People need to take anti-virals prophylactically; Ivermectin is the only antiviral that is cost-effective, that is widely available [] and that is safe. There is simply no alternative

During the interview, Vanden Bossche argued, without providing any supporting evidence, that people who start to show symptoms will pass out in 24 hours. He claimed the only way to prevent a dramatic loss of lives due to the collapse of the immune system would be to avoid SARS-CoV-2 infection by taking the antiparasitic drug ivermectin before developing any symptoms, in other words, as a preventative.

But Vanden Bossches proposed use of ivermectin isnt supported by scientific evidence. A March 2024 review of randomized controlled trials by the Cochrane Library explicitly stated, No trial investigated ivermectin to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection[18].

Ivermectin received much public attention in the early stages of the pandemic owing to preliminary evidence suggesting that it might help treat COVID-19. However, robust clinical trials conducted since then showed no benefit from ivermectin in improving recovery or in reducing COVID-19 severity and mortality[19-23], as Science Feedback explained in earlier reviews.

Due to the lack of reliable scientific evidence suggesting that ivermectin is beneficial to COVID-19 patients, public health agencies including the World Health Organization, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) dont recommend using it to treat or prevent COVID-19.

Vanden Bossche also claimed that public health authorities would eventually issue ivermectin mandates and suggested that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had already changed its position towards ivermectin in recent days.

This may be a reference to a civil suit against the FDA, which argued that the agency overstepped its bounds with a consumer advisory warning people not to take ivermectin for COVID-19.

Many interpreted this statement to mean that the FDA changed its position on ivermectin. Science Feedback reviewed this claim at the time, and found it to be inaccurate. While the FDA acknowledged doctors legal right to prescribe ivermectin off-label, it hasnt approved the drug for use in COVID-19 patients, nor has it changed its recommendation of not using ivermectin to treat COVID-19.

However, this lawsuit was settled in August 2023. Considering that Vanden Bossche said in recent days, he might instead refer to another lawsuit that the FDA agreed to settle in March 2024. Some claimed that the court had ruled the FDAs advisory broke the law, proving that ivermectin is an effective COVID-19 treatment. But the court didnt find such a thing. It was the agency that agreed to remove the advisory and related social media posts. This outcome also had no bearing on whether ivermectin is effective for COVID-19.

Simian virus promoter should not have been used in COVID-19 vaccines; theoretically, it could accelerate of course the development of cancer

While Vanden Bossche correctly acknowledged that only DNA remnants of a simian virus were found in the vaccine, he claimed that the sequence identified could potentially integrate into the human genome.

The claim is likely based on an April 2023 preprint by McKernan et al. that measured the level of residual DNA present in vials of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines from several lots used in Canada[23]. The preprint claimed it found a DNA sequence from the simian virus SV40 in the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Because SV40 has been shown to cause cancer in hamsters[24,25], the preprints findings led to viral claims that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine might alter peoples DNA and cause cancer. Science Feedback reviewed this claim and found it to be unsubstantiated.

Small amounts of residual DNA can remain in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines because manufacturing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine involves using recombinant DNA in bacteria to mass produce the genetic material for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

But the fact that vaccines contain residual amounts of DNA doesnt represent a safety issue in itself. People encounter much higher levels of foreign DNA every day through the food we eat and the microorganisms we are exposed to.

The preprint didnt show that the specific fragments identified integrated into the genome or caused harm. There is also no other evidence suggesting that fragments or even the full SV40 increases the risk or accelerates the development of cancer in humans. Moreover, the vials analyzed in the preprint were of unknown provenance as they were sent to McKernan and colleagues anonymously, raising questions about sample integrity.

In a statement for an earlier review, Health Canada told Science Feedback that [a]ny claims that the presence of the SV40 promoter enhancer sequence is linked to an increased risk of cancer are unfounded. The agency pointed out that the presence of fragments of the SV40 promoter isnt the same as the presence of the whole virus. It added that this fragment is inactive, has no functional role, and was measured to be consistently below the limit required by Health Canada and other international regulators.

Vanden Bossches predictions of a massive tsunami of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths due to immune escape leading to long COVID are unsupported. No evidence suggests that COVID-19 vaccination is a primary driver of SARS-CoV-2 evolving into more dangerous variants. There is also no evidence indicating that COVID-19 vaccination causes or increases the risk of long COVID. On the contrary, long COVID is a known complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which multiple studies suggest vaccination might help reduce.

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Virologist Geert Vanden Bossche makes unsupported prediction that mass COVID-19 vaccination will cause an ... - Health Feedback

Shanghai

Two years ago, the Shanghai International Circuit hosted a COVID-19 hospital, but this weekend it will stage Formula One once more as the sport returns to China for the first time since the pandemic.

Adding to the excitement of fans, they will see Shanghai native Zhou Guanyu drive at his home track in Formula One for the first time.

"I'm extremely excited, in these 5,000 years of (Chinese) history there has only been one Zhou Guanyu," said fan Wang Xiaotian.

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Pride and hype as F1 roars back to China after COVID-19 absence - The Japan Times

The CEO of a California biotech company, Decision Diagnostics, claimed to have a finger-prick test that could detect Covid-19 and used multiple fake identities to pump up the companys stock price, authorities said. The CEO, Keith Berman, was sentenced on Friday to seven years in prison for the fraud that led to $28 million in investor losses, according to the Department of Justice.

He pleaded guilty in December to securities fraud, wire fraud, and obstruction of an official proceeding.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Keith Berman gave people false hope that his biotech company had developed a rapid blood test to detect COVID-19. But there was no such test. Berman defrauded investors to profit from the pandemic, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, said in a statement on Friday.

Authorities said Berman, 70, made numerous false statements to investors, even claiming that he didnt pay himself as the CEO of Decision Diagnostics, despite using $360,000 of company funds to pay for live chats on webcams with people in foreign countries. He did this as the companys faced serious financial difficulties, according to the indictment.

In the scheme detailed in the complaint, Berman hatched a plan in March 2020 to use the pandemic to solve the Westlake Village, Calif.-biotechs financial problems. He adopted a fake name, Matthew Steinmann, to pose as a friend of his to pretend to talk with investors. Using the alias, Berman also posted fake messages about the biotech firm to investors on message boards to gin up enthusiasm and artificially pump up the companys stock price.

He used other aliases, such as plutonium and plutoniumimplosion, to refute allegations on the online message boards Investors Hub (iHUB) and Investors Hangout that it was Berman himself was making misleading claims about the biotech company. He even denied in one post that he was Berman, the indictment says. And while using the plutoniumimposion name, he said he was a Decision Diagnostic investor of 20 years. Regulators said Berman posted over 1,000 messages on the iHUB message board to pump up the stock price.

Officials said Berman claimed in March 2020 to have a Korean vendor who could develop a Covid-19 test to detect the virus in blood or saliva and published press releases touting the break-through and new screening methodology. Berman said his test would shorten the schedule for development of Covid tests and that they would be ready to go to market in summer 2020. In reality, the company didnt have a test and hadnt taken any steps to get government approval or waivers that would be required before a test could be offered to human beings, the indictment states. All the while, the vendor Berman claimed to be working with kept telling him that his test method was unlikely to be scientifically viable.

The case has a similar theme to the $10 billion fraud involving Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes, who was sentenced in 2022 to 11 years in prison. Holmes claimed to investors to be making progress on a blood-sugar test that only needed a drop of blood to work.

In Bermans case, authorities said he heard from a vendor that his method of testing for coronavirus wasnt possible, but days later Berman published a press release saying that the vendor had successfully validated a test that could detect the virus in a blood sample. Berman kept it up throughout March and April in 2020, and the companys stock price soared 1500% before the SEC suspended trading.

Berman then lied to the SEC and federal law enforcement about using the fake names and posting messages, the indictment states. He continued using the plutoniumimplosion alias to threaten people who may have complained about the biotech company to the SEC, warning them about knock knock day. He said officials would show up at the homes of those who complained about the company to arrest them. Berman later used the Matthew Steinmann alias to recruit another person on a message board to write a letter to the SEC on his behalf, calling an SEC attorney Fredo, the neer-do-well brother of the Michael Corleone character in The Godfather films, the indictment says.

Bermans lawyer, Kevin Collins, wrote in court papers thatBerman had put in a genuine effort toward making a Covid blood test, but he made mistakes, acknowledging that Berman misstated the status of his project to raise funds.

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Biotech CEO who relied on multiple aliases sentenced to 7 years in prison for Theranos-like $28 million fraud involving ... - Fortune