COVID-19 Outbreak Information Updates (Reboot) [over 150.000,000 US cases (est.), 6,422,520 US hospitilizations, 1,148,691 US deaths.] (11 Viewers)

[brandon8283]

This spike protein is ESSENTIAL to the mRNA virus and its ability to infect AND the spike protein RNA( the "code" that builds the spike ) is SET...in that if just ONE letter alters, its no longer producing the "spike" it needs to infect cells. So while mutations happen, its almost as if the portion of the RNA t( the code ) hat builds the spike is OFF LIMITS to mutations.

And the current mRNA vaccines target the spike protein to effectively render it useless.

Crazy to think, but a virus KNOWS what it ABSOLUTELY CANNOT alter for if it did, would possibly make it inert.

There's a lot of misconceptions about how mutations work in this thread. This is another one that should be cleared up.

Mutations are random. The virus isn't "protecting" a certain part of its RNA. Just like mutations happen in your cells randomly, they happen in the virus randomly. The random mutations may be helpful and would be selected for, but the vast majority of mutations are not helpful to the organism and and are selected against.

So, for example, if a random mutation occurred that caused the spike protein in the virus to stop working, guess what would happen? That virus would not be able to infect a cell and would quickly die without passing on its newly mutated RNA. This could have happened multiple times by now for all we know, but because those mutations do not allow the virus to infect any hosts, they don't replicate, and this mutation is not passed on.

However, a mutation like the one in the UK that gives the new variant an advantage that allows it to infect a host cell faster would be selected for and would allow the new variant to rapidly spread. That is what seems to have happened there.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Side note. There is work being done on a universal flu vaccine. Only caught part of it on 60 minutes.

Saw this in a Netflix documentary Pandemic prior to this actual pandemic. It’s worth a watch.

 

[bclemms]

My mom lost a 1st and 2nd cousin today. Dad is doing much better but step mom is not doing so hot and her twin sister went to the hospital this morning. Friends dad is still on a vent in ICU and is no longer responsive. Every single one of them thought it was an overblown flu made up by the media and dared the virus with their actions.

Meanwhile, my dad is trying to blame catching covid on masks on social. Ironic part, he had a 3 month supply of food and home items stored in February because he was so concerned before the virus was made political.

 

[SaintJ]

I know that many people in prison are non-violent offenders. I am 100% in favor of vaccinating corrections officers very early in the process. The Louisiana plan from two months ago did not include criminal inmates in the early wave of vaccinations. The numbers have not changed much since then. I would be ok with non-violent offenders, over whatever cutoff age is set, or with pre-existing conditions, being vaccinated on schedule with the rest of the population.

My god, we had a reasonable comment and now a thoughtful response.

Is there some kind of hall of fame for this?

 

[SaintJ]

My mom lost a 1st and 2nd cousin today. Dad is doing much better but step mom is not doing so hot and her twin sister went to the hospital this morning. Friends dad is still on a vent in ICU and is no longer responsive. Every single one of them thought it was an overblown flu made up by the media and dared the virus with their actions.

Meanwhile, my dad is trying to blame catching covid on masks on social. Ironic part, he had a 3 month supply of food and home items stored in February because he was so concerned before the virus was made political.

Sorry to hear, man. Just so sorry.

 

[SaintJ]

For now, we can dream.

Epidemiologist looks to the past to predict second post-pandemic 'roaring 20s'

Dr Nicholas Christakis says once pandemics end, often there is a period in which people seek out extensive social interactions

www.theguardian.com

I've always had this informal belief (there are probably entire books on it, for all I know, as I've never had an original thought in my life) that the Black Death made the Renaissance possible, because what kind of God destroys his people so cruelly. There was an opening for secularism in the wealthiest part of Europe and they took it and ran with it. The papacy still had tremendous power, but the spell was finally broken.

This won't be severe enough, but as long as there is the possibility that in the aftermath a couple of women find me attractive, I'll take it.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I've always had this informal belief (there are probably entire books on it, for all I know, as I've never had an original thought in my life) that the Black Death made the Renaissance possible, because what kind of God destroys his people so cruelly. There was an opening for secularism in the wealthiest part of Europe and they took it and ran with it. The papacy still had tremendous power, but the spell was finally broken.

This won't be severe enough, but as long as there is the possibility that in the aftermath a couple of women find me attractive, I'll take it.

The real question is do you want them to find you attractive at the same time?

2884 can give more detail, but I always heard that it was the deMedicis trading across the Mediterranean that spurred the Renaissance- and the deMedicis were inextricably linked to the papacy
(And then, of course, the printing press was a big engine)
But yes humanism was an outgrowth of this time
And yet so was Lutheranism and the other Protestant sects

if I were to analogize (and I will)
The Plague tilled the soil
The Renaissance planted the seed
Falling monarchies provided the sunlight
but the flowering of secularism was the industrial revolution

 

[bonnjer]

Vitamin D deficiency aggravates COVID-19: systematic review and meta-analysis

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2020.1841090?journalCode=bfsn20&

 

[bonnjer]

NIH neuroscientists isolate promising mini antibodies against COVID-19 from a llama

National Institutes of Health researchers have isolated a set of promising, tiny antibodies, or "nanobodies," against SARS-CoV-2 that were produced by a llama named Cormac. Preliminary results suggest that at least one of these nanobodies, called NIH-CoVnb-112, could prevent infections and...

www.eurekalert.org

 

[hockey2112]

Ironic part, he had a 3 month supply of food and home items stored in February because he was so concerned before the virus was made political.

Reminds me of a good friend of mine in my neighborhood. He was the one who kind of put me on to the idea of stocking up on supplies back in late Feb/early March. He took it very seriously... not afraid, just very prepared. This past weekend, he told me "well, it's kind of just a flu". Like your dad, his change in demeanor/opinion is 100% politically motivated. I just nodded, said "hmm", and changed the subject.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Yeah, I'm quoting myself, but I wanted to share an update. This post was 10 days ago and I've been experiencing my neighbor's wife's COVID situation through his text updates. He can't visit the hospital, so he gets regular updates via his wife's nurses. After she was moved to ICU she was put on a ventilator, sedatives and BP meds to name a few. It looked grim at that point, but they were able to stabilize her so that her body could go to work. They gradually decreased the percentage of the vent while keeping her O2 saturation level at around 93-95%. At one point they took her off the vent (but kept the tube in) for a little while, but put her back on after she didn't respond favorably. Yesterday, they took her off the vent and as of this morning she's been breathing on her own with just a cannula tube. He was able to have a brief video chat with her. Last night she had a good night and is breathing on her own. Nurse said she had some delirium from the sedatives that are still in her system. This is common in ICU patients. Vitals are looking good.

Watching this from the sidelines has been stressful. We're praying she has turned the corner, but it was like there was this tipping point that it could have gone either way. I know others, here, have similar first-hand accounts and can relate. For some, it's nothing or "just the flu" but for many, this is a bad mofo.

Well, I have better news than BClemms. My neighbor returned home from the hospital, yesterday. Her husband is now on nursing duty. I spoke to him before I left for work, today and he said while she can't tend to her own basic functions by herself (he's experiencing having to move the dead weight of an adult) she's pointing out honey-do's he needs to attend to. I smiled at him and said, yep, she's back. And isn't it wonderful.

She also told him that if anyone asks how horrible this is, tell them that it is indeed horrible and then multiply it by ten.

 

[sammymvpknight]

Vitamin D deficiency aggravates COVID-19: systematic review and meta-analysis

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2020.1841090?journalCode=bfsn20&

This is very important for African Americans who are at incredibly high risk for Vitamin D deficiency.

 

[SaintJ]

The real question is do you want them to find you attractive at the same time?

Would happily settle for sequentially.

 

[superchuck500]

I’m in the panhandle this week. Holy crap - they’re lucky it’s sunny here.

 

[bclemms]

I’m in the panhandle this week. Holy crap - they’re lucky it’s sunny here.

Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska or Idaho?