Humans live in a fundamentally social world. The behavior and judgments from friends, colleagues, television hosts and social media feeds drive our purchase decisions, induce lifestyle changes, and determine voting preferences. People tend to be more sensitive to social information when they are unsure about their own beliefs, and assign more weight to social information when its source is highly confident. However, little is known about the relative impact of the confidence of self and others on social information use, and how they jointly shape social transmission. Here we show with two incentivized decision-making experiments that the confidence of others had a substantially larger impact on social information use than people’s own confidence. In tasks involving perceptual decisions (experiment 1; N=203) and US election predictions (experiment 2; N=213), participants could adjust their initial judgments upon observing judgments of others and were rewarded for accuracy. Adjustments were most strongly impacted by the confidence of others, particularly when participants’ own confidence was low. Furthermore, confidence also affected adjustment heuristics: confident others prompted participants to compromise more often, rather than to stick with their initial judgments. Our results highlight how giving more weight on the confidence of others can be a double-edged sword: it can accelerate learning when confidence is related to accuracy, but it also leaves people vulnerable to sources who confidently share misinformation.

Conformist social influence is a double-edged sword when it comes to vaccine promotion. On the one hand, social influence may increase vaccine uptake by reassuring the hesitant about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine; on the other, people may forgo the cost of vaccination when the majority is already vaccinated – giving rise to a public goods dilemma. Here, we examine whether available information on the percentage of double-vaccinated people affects COVID-19 vaccination intention among unvaccinated people in Turkey. In an online experiment, we divided participants (n = 1013) into low, intermediate, and high social influence conditions, reflecting the government’s vaccine promotion messages. We found that social influence did not predict COVID-19 vaccination intention, but psychological reactance and collectivism did. People with higher reactance (intolerance of others telling one what to do and being sceptical of consensus views) had lower vaccination intention, whilst people with higher collectivism (how much a person considers group benefits over individual success) had higher vaccination intention. Our findings suggest that advertising the percentage of double-vaccinated people is not sufficient to trigger a cascade of others getting themselves vaccinated. Diverse promotion strategies reflecting the heterogeneity of individual attitudes could be more effective.

Individuals oftentimes lack personal control over risks and depend on powerful others to manage a risk for them. This lack of control could lead individuals to derive risk evaluations from beliefs about the trustworthiness of powerful others, which might explain the vital effect of trust on risk perception. Three studies (total N = 1,961) provide evidence for the proposed moderation of the trust-risk association by personal control in diverse contexts (i.e., COVID-19, meat consumption, and climate change). In line with the assertion that risk evaluations can be derived from beliefs about others being willing and able to avert a risk, Study 2 and 3 show that beliefs in the benevolence of powerful others but no other trustees or trust attributions drive the effects of trust on risk perceptions depending on personal control. The findings remained significant when partialling out the effects of potential confounding variables, such as perceived knowledge, the affect heuristic, responsibility diffusion, and political orientation. Unlike previous research, perceived knowledge did not moderate the association of trust with risk perceptions. Moreover, the data indicate that trust in powerful others managing a risk can partially backfire in people who lack personal control by indirectly thwarting behavioral risk responses and policy support for managing the risk. The present findings highlight that trust attributions can serve as information for evaluating risks that are beyond an individual’s sense of control.

Omicron viruses can be divided into two major groups, referred to as PANGO lineages BA.1 and BA.2 or @nextstrain clades 21K and 21L. The vast majority of globally sequenced Omicron have been 21K (~630k) compared a small minority of 21L (~18k), but 21L is gaining ground. 1/15

Vaccines that reduce infection & disease are needed to combat the pandemic. Here, @tianyangmao @BenIsraelow et al. describe our new mucosal booster strategy, Prime and Spike, to induce such immunity via nasal delivery of unadjuvanted spike vaccine (1/) https://biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.24.477597v1

The boundaries of responsible behavior are less clear than they once were.

Two years into a pandemic that turned us all into amateur virologists, we’ve learned that the best-spreading coronavirus variant will outcompete any slowpokes. But something curious happened with Omicron: The more transmissible version didn’t take off first. The virus that the world came to know as Omicron — and that ignited outbreaks in countries around the world — is just one lineage that made up the broader Omicron grouping. It’s known officially as BA.1. For some time, its sister viruses, including one named BA.2, didn’t seem to be doing much.

Can you test negative for COVID but still have it? This is why it seems to take so long for a rapid test to turn positive.

Delayed dosing intervals are a strategy to immunize a greater proportion of the population. In an observational study, we compared humoral and cellular responses in health care workers receiving two doses of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine at standard (3- to 6-week) and delayed (8- to 16-week) intervals. In the delayed-interval group, anti-receptor-binding domain antibody titers were significantly enhanced compared to the standard-interval group. The 50% plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT50) and PRNT90 titers against wild-type (ancestral) severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Alpha, Beta and Delta variants were higher in the delayed-interval group. Spike-specific polyfunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing interferon-γ and interleukin-2 were comparable between the two groups. Here, we show that the strategy of delaying second doses of mRNA vaccination may lead to enhanced humoral immune responses, including improved virus neutralization against wild-type and variant SARS-CoV-2 viruses. This finding has potentially important implications as vaccine implementation continues across a greater proportion of the global population.

In this study, I ask why, despite historically high rates of participation in childhood vaccination campaigns, large numbers of US parents are now planning to refuse or delay getting Covid-19 vaccines for their children. Combining insights from the theory of moral panics with pre-pandemic research on parents who refuse vaccines, I argue that to understand the high levels of concern about Covid-19 vaccines for children, we need a theory of “moral calms.” Drawing on interviews with 80 mothers of young children whose vaccine decisions I have tracked since 2018, I find that early public health and media messaging created a “moral calm” around children and Covid-19. These messages led many mothers—particularly mothers who perceived their families as “naturally healthy”—to see their children as being at low risk of contracting, transmitting, and suffering serious consequences from Covid-19. As a result, many mothers came to see Covid-19 vaccines as unnecessary, even if they had previously vaccinated their children. Seeing vaccines as unnecessary then made mothers more susceptible to misinformation about Covid-19 vaccine risks and ultimately weakened their desire to vaccinate their children as soon as possible. I conclude that moral calms can, ironically, lay the groundwork for moral panics. By weakening people’s concerns about a larger threat, they facilitate efforts to raise concerns about other smaller or nonexistent threats. I discuss how the theory of moral calms may help to explain other moral panics, and I consider the implications of these findings for efforts to reduce or prevent vaccine refusal.

A new study has compared the amount of inaccurate COVID-19 information online early in the pandemic to the amount of misinformation about other health issues.The authors describe the abundance of COVID-19 misinformation as entirely predictable, based on the inaccuracy of other health information.An expert suggested to Medical News Today that people seeking information are considering more than just the reliability of the source.

Elderly individuals are at high risk for severe COVID-19. Due to modest vaccine responses compared to younger individuals and the time elapsed since prioritized vaccinations, the emerging immune-evasive Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is a particular concern for the elderly. Here we longitudinally determined SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing serum activity against different variants in a cohort of 37 individuals with a median age of 82 years. Participants were followed for 10 months after an initial two-dose BNT162b2 vaccination and up to 4.5 months after a BNT162b2 booster. Detectable Omicron-neutralizing activity was nearly absent after two vaccinations but elicited in 89% of individuals by the booster immunization. Neutralizing titers against the Wu01, Delta, and Omicron variants showed similar post-boost declines and 81% of individuals maintained detectable activity against Omicron. Our study demonstrates the mRNA booster effectiveness in inducing anti-Omicron activity and provides critical information on vaccine response durability in the highly vulnerable elderly population.

Nuvaxovid is similar to flu jab and may have reduced side-effects, which could persuade vaccine holdouts

Latest COVID data from the Office for National Statistics shows the rate for all reinfections has increased since early December 2021 - likely driven by the rapid spread of the new variant.

"It’s not against the rules to be disagreeable or wrong."

One important objection to vaccination programmes involving coercive measures such as re-strictions on unvaccinated people’s access to public space, or even nudging, is that they are paternalistic. We believe this objection is weaker than is often assumed. We defend this belief by: 1) introducing a novel distinction between individual and collective paternalism; 2) showing that, across a range of circumstances, vaccination programmes involve collective, not individu-al, paternalism; and 3) arguing that collective paternalism is not wrong for the reasons that, arguably, individual paternalism is.

Chris Bail's diagnosis of the major social media platforms, in his book “Breaking the Social Media Prism,” is correct. Social media platforms are wicked environments that promote distorted maps of where users stand in relation to others' opinions. We propose that a more detailed distinction between behavioral and informative interventions could benefit Bail’s proposed and future solutions. Informative interventions are needed within wicked environments in order for behavioral interventions to work as intended. Only the combination of both intervention types can enable people to navigate these environments effectively.

The emergence of the Covid19 pandemic has caused the shutdown of university activities on campus in the UK. There has been a migration of learning, teaching and assessment (LTA) into online virtual environments. This in turn resulted in a spike in cyber-attacks across educational businesses, as they seemed more vulnerable due to inadequate security systems that would facilitate online learning. In this research, the impact of the corona virus pandemic on the security behavior of academic businesses is uncovered. This is done by comparing the pre-pandemic annual cyber security survey with the peak and post-pandemic survey, i.e., 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. Findings from this research demonstrate that the pandemic brought about a rise in cyber-attack, which made universities prioritize security, and add defensive measures to ease online learning. Overall, the post-pandemic statistics suggests that educational businesses have improved their systems with adequate security measures, which makes the migration to online learning safe. That said, cyber attackers are innovative and will continue to impose a threat to these institutions. Therefore, improving security systems is a continuous process even when the pandemic put under control significantly or even eradicated.

Facemasks have become integral to everyday life. We propose that exposure to facemasks with a solidarity-related cultural symbol can activate cultural values such as mutual trust and increase corresponding interpersonal perceptions, thereby enhancing collective resilience in the Covid-19 pandemic. In three (two of which preregistered) studies, we examined whether exposure to facemasks with a solidarity-related cultural symbol predicts positive interpersonal perceptions, and whether this depends on death awareness. Across studies, exposure to facemasks with a cultural symbol (either pride flag or National Health Service) increased positive interpersonal perceptions, an index of solidarity, in people for whom this symbol represents a meaningful social identity. This was found whether participants were reminded of death, a neutral experience, or a negative experience. Importantly, in Study 3, exposure to facemasks with a solidarity-related cultural symbol (vs. surgical) led to greater increases in positive interpersonal perceptions when death awareness was high. Together, our findings suggest that wearing facemasks with a cultural symbol that relates to solidarity can be a vehicle for shaping people’s personality impressions of others. Applied directions for the activation of people’s social identities via facemask selection to promote collective resilience in the Covid-19 pandemic are discussed.

The Covid-19 pandemic is an unforeseen occurrence that took the world by storm. Governments and businesses were unprepared, hence the large-scale impact it continuously has on the planet. It has permanently revolutionised how we live, work and interact with technology. With this new way of living, businesses and governments had to adapt to a new form of survival, and so did cybercriminals; there was a surge in cyber threats due to our newfound dependence on technology. This paper emphasises the common types of cyber threats and the targeted industries. These attacks were more successful because people were uneasy and desperate, which gave the criminals more incentive to attack businesses. To avoid being a cyber target, I have provided recommendations against future threats.

Authorities reintroduce requirement a week after government relaxed restrictions

One of the puzzles of the pandemic economy is the ongoing labor shortage, with business owners struggling to find workers amid the so-called "Great Resignation." But new research points to another — and more troubling — factor that helps explain the nation's shrinking workforce: long COVID. 

Going to say this again because it's important. Case-control studies to determine prevalence of long COVID are completely flawed science, but are often presented as being scientifically robust. This is not how we can define clinical syndromes or their prevalence! A thread.

Another 13 people in Queensland have died from COVID and 8,580 new cases have been recorded, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says.

The US federal government will no longer require hospitals to report the number of people who die from COVID-19 every day, according to new guidelines from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Cases will increase today. The way that cases are counted is changing. A short thread. https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/whats-new/record/af008739-ffa3-47b8-8efc-ef109f2cfbdd

Have tried to now visually illustrate an earlier thread I wrote about why prevalence estimates based on comparisons of 'any symptom' between infected cases, and matched controls will yield underestimates for long COVID. I've done a toy example below here, to show this

The ever-evolving landscape of Covid-19 vaccines shifted again on Monday, with Moderna winning full approval for its jab from the Food and Drug Administration, and Novavax submitting a long-awaited application to the agency for an emergency use authorization for its vaccine.

The variant’s rapid spread, different vaccine strategies and varying levels of immunity worldwide make the pandemic’s future difficult to model.

Got Omicron? You are not alone! See our thread on what we know so far [1/11] #ScienceUpFirst

Majority (54%) now say they want all restrictions to end – increase of 15-points since early January

Patients with the omicron variant of covid-19 shed virus for longer after symptoms emerge, show data from Japan, potentially jeopardising hopes that the period of isolation for people testing positive could be shortened.Preliminary data from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases—which conducts disease surveillance in Japan—suggest that the amount of viral RNA is highest three to six days after diagnosis or symptom onset.1

“We are really working day and night” to figure out long Covid, one researcher said.

Thank goodness we didn’t hold off on opening up to see what Omicron was capable of. We had to have Christmas. And there were national cabinet agreements. Anyway, how could we have known? Or this is what we expected? I forget.

Experts said the recent omicron variant surge will happen again

As the first vehicles from the trucker convoy started appearing on Ottawa streets, some Twitter users shared a particular photo: a pickup truck with a confederate flag flying from the bed. Now, as the convoy descends on Ottawa with the stated aim of opposing all COVID-19 mandates, anti-hate experts allege those with white nationalist and Islamophobic views don’t just represent the fringes of the movement but are among the organizers of the convoy.

There is now a rich body of knowledge on acute COVID-19, but much less is known about the risk factors, clinical presentation, duration and management of persistent or new symptoms following recovery from initial infection, often termed long COVID1. Post-infection follow-up data show that a significant proportion of hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients experience persistent symptoms and organ dysfunction2,3,4.

For those with underlying medical conditions, the latest pandemic wave has still posed a threat.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection elicits an antibody response that targets several viral proteins including spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N); S is the major target of neutralizing antibodies. Here, we assess levels of anti-N binding antibodies and anti-S neutralizing antibodies in unvaccinated children compared with unvaccinated older adults following infection. Specifically, we examine neutralization and anti-N binding by sera collected up to 52 weeks following SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and compare these to a cohort of adults, including older adults, most of whom had mild infections that did not require hospitalization. Neutralizing antibody titers were lower in children than adults early after infection, but by 6 months titers were similar between age groups. The neutralizing activity of the children’s sera decreased modestly from one to six months; a pattern that was not significantly different from that observed in adults. However, infection of children induced much lower levels of anti-N antibodies than in adults, and levels of these anti-N antibodies decreased more rapidly in children than in adults, including older adults. These results highlight age-related differences in the antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 proteins and, as vaccines for children are introduced, may provide comparator data for the longevity of infection-elicited and vaccination-induced neutralizing antibody responses.

The Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was initially identified in November of 2021 in South Africa and Botswana as well as in a sample from a traveler from South Africa in Hong Kong1,2. Since then, B.1.1.529 has been detected globally. This variant seems to be at least equally infectious than B.1.617.2 (Delta), has already caused super spreader events3 and has outcompeted Delta within weeks in several countries and metropolitan areas. B.1.1.529 hosts an unprecedented number of mutations in its spike gene and early reports have provided evidence for extensive immune escape and reduced vaccine effectiveness2,4–6. Here, we investigated the neutralizing and binding activity of sera from convalescent, mRNA double vaccinated, mRNA boosted, convalescent double vaccinated, and convalescent boosted individuals against wild type, B.1.351 and B.1.1.529 SARS-CoV-2 isolates. Neutralizing activity of sera from convalescent and double vaccinated participants was undetectable to very low against B.1.1.529 while neutralizing activity of sera from individuals who had been exposed to spike three or four times was maintained, albeit at significantly reduced levels. Binding to the B.1.1.529 receptor binding domain (RBD) and N-terminal domain (NTD) was reduced in convalescent not vaccinated individuals, but was mostly retained in vaccinated individuals.

The highly transmissible omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is of mounting concern globally. The omicron variant carries a large number of spike mutations, including at least 15 mutations in the receptor-binding domain, which is a major target of neutralizing antibodies.1 To assess the potential susceptibility of this variant to the mRNA-1273 vaccine, neutralization of the omicron variant by serum samples obtained from vaccinated recipients was compared with neutralization of the prototypical D614G variant and the beta (B.1.351) and delta (B.1.617.2) variants. In a pilot study, neutralization of the omicron variant after the primary two-dose regimen of the mRNA-1273 vaccine was lower than that of the D614G and beta variants but increased substantially after a booster dose of the mRNA-1273 vaccine (Figs. S1 through S3 in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this letter at NEJM.org).

New data show that vaccines still protect against a spinoff of the Omicron variant, a welcome sign as the world keeps a close eye on the latest coronavirus iteration.

Here is a relatively simple way of giving people important context about the number of deaths and ICU hospitalisations with Covid between vaccinated and unvaccinated people

What is already known about this topic? COVID-19 surges have stressed hospital systems and negatively affected health care and public health infrastructures and national critical functions. What is added by this report? The conditions of hospital strain during July 2020–July 2021, which included the presence of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, predicted that intensive care unit bed use at 75% capacity is associated with an estimated additional 12,000 excess deaths 2 weeks later. As hospitals exceed 100% ICU bed capacity, 80,000 excess deaths would be expected 2 weeks later. What are the implications for public health practice? State, local, tribal, and territorial leaders could evaluate ways to reduce strain on public health and health care infrastructures, including implementing interventions to reduce overall disease prevalence such as vaccination and other prevention strategies, and ways to expand or enhance capacity during times of high disease prevalence.

Online phenomena like echo chambers and belief polarisation are believed to be driven by humans’ penchant to selectively expose themselves to attitudinally congenial content. However, if like-minded content were the only predictor of online behaviour, heated debate and flaming on the Internet would hardly occur. Research has overlooked how online behaviour changes when people are given an opportunity to reply to dissenters, potentially turning a preference for attitudinally congenial information into a preference for uncongenial information. Three main experiments consistently show that in a discussion forum setting where users can respond to earlier posts, larger conflict between user attitude and post attitude predicts higher likelihood to respond. The effect of conflict on response behaviour is shaped by the attitudinal composition of the forum, and it also predicts subsequent polarisation of users’ attitudes. These results suggest that belief polarisation on social media can be driven by conflict rather than congeniality.

A booster dose of a covid-19 jab other than CoronaVac significantly increased antibodies in those who had received two doses of the Chinese vaccine, a study funded by Brazil's Ministry of Health has found

Many animal species are susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and could act as reservoirs; however, transmission in free-living animals has not been documented. White-tailed deer, the predominant cervid in North America, are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and experimentally infected fawns can transmit the virus. To test the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 is circulating in deer, 283 retropharyngeal lymph node (RPLN) samples collected from 151 free-living and 132 captive deer in Iowa from April 2020 through January of 2021 were assayed for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Ninety-four of the 283 (33.2%) deer samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA as assessed by RT-PCR. Notably, following the November 2020 peak of human cases in Iowa, and coinciding with the onset of winter and the peak deer hunting season, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 80 of 97 (82.5%) RPLN samples collected over a 7-wk period. Whole genome sequencing of all 94 positive RPLN samples identified 12 SARS-CoV-2 lineages, with B.1.2 (n = 51; 54.5%) and B.1.311 (n = 19; 20%) accounting for ∼75% of all samples. The geographic distribution and nesting of clusters of deer and human lineages strongly suggest multiple human-to-deer transmission events followed by subsequent deer-to-deer spread. These discoveries have important implications for the long-term persistence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Our findings highlight an urgent need for a robust and proactive “One Health” approach to obtain enhanced understanding of the ecology, molecular evolution, and dissemination of SARS-CoV-2.

Latest evidence is limited but reassuring

Citizen-generated counter speech is a promising way to fight hate speech and promote peaceful, non-polarized discourse. However, there is a lack of large-scale longitudinal studies of its effectiveness for reducing hate speech. To this end, we perform an exploratory analysis of the effectiveness of counter speech using several different macro- and micro-level measures to analyze 180,000 political conversations that took place on German Twitter over four years. We report on the dynamic interactions of hate and counter speech over time and provide insights into whether, as in ‘classic’ bullying situations, organized efforts are more effective than independent individuals in steering online discourse. Taken together, our results build a multifaceted picture of the dynamics of hate and counter speech online. While we make no causal claims due to the complexity of discourse dynamics, our findings suggest that organized hate speech is associated with changes in public discourse and that counter speech—especially when organized—may help curb hateful rhetoric in online discourse.

Since last summer, the conservative campaign against vaccination has claimed thousands of lives for no ethically justifiable purpose.

Coronavirus infections in England were at their highest ever rate in early January this year, with an estimated one in 23 people infected, the ongoing REACT-1 monitoring study has reported.1Findings from Imperial College London and Ipsos Mori covering 5-20 January show that the prevalence in England was 4.41%. This is more than three times the prevalence in the previous round of the survey in December, when one in 70 had the virus.Infections reached a peak around 5 January before levelling off from mid-January, but they were still at extremely high levels. Schoolchildren have shown a rise in prevalence after returning to school this month.The study authors said that they observed “unprecedented” levels of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in England in January 2022, with almost complete replacement of the delta variant by omicron. They warned that the increase in the prevalence of infection in children could pose a risk to adults despite the current decline among adults.

Populist parties and actors now govern various countries around the world. Often elected by the public in times of crises and over the perceived failure of ‘the elites’, the question stands as to how populist governments actually perform once elected, especially in times of crisis. Using the pandemic shock in the form of the COVID-19 crises, our paper poses the question of how populist governments handle the pandemic. We answer this question by introducing a theoretical framework according to which populist governments (1) enact less far-reaching policy measures to counter the pandemic and (2) lower the effort of citizens to counter the pandemic, so that populist governed countries are (3) hit worse by the pandemic. We test these propositions in a sample of 42 countries with weekly data from 2020. Employing econometric models, we find empirical support for our propositions and ultimately conclude that excess mortality in populist governed countries exceeds the excess mortality of non-populist countries by 8 percentage points (i.e., 98%). Our findings have important implications for the assessment of populist government performance in general, as well as counter-pandemic measures in particular, by providing evidence that opportunistic and inadequate policy responses, spreading misinformation and downplaying the pandemic are strongly related to increases in COVID-19 mortality.

Background: Rapid transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has led to the highestever recorded case incidence levels in many countries around the world.Methods: The REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission-1 (REACT-1) study hasbeen characterising the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus using RT-PCR test results fromself-administered throat and nose swabs from randomly-selected participants in England atages 5 years and over, approximately monthly since May 2020. Round 17 data were collectedbetween 5 and 20 January 2022 and provide data on the temporal, socio-demographic andgeographical spread of the virus, viral loads and viral genome sequence data for positiveswabs.Results: From 100,607 valid tests in round 17, weighted prevalence of swab positivity was4.41% (95% credible interval [CrI], 4.25% to 4.56%), which is over three-fold higher than inDecember 2021 in England. Of 1,406 sequenced positive swabs to 16 January 2022, 1392(99.0%) were Omicron including 6 (0.43%) cases of BA.2 sub-lineage and only 14 (1.0%) wereDelta. Within round 17, prevalence was decreasing overall (R=0.95, 95% CrI, 0.92, 0.97) butincreasing in children aged 5 to 17 years (R=1.13, 95% CrI, 1.09, 1.18). Those 75 years andolder had a swab-positivity prevalence of 2.43% (95% CI, 2.13%, 2.77%) reflecting a highlevel of infection among a highly vulnerable group. Among the 3,582 swab-positiveindividuals reporting whether or not they had had previous infection, 2,315 (64.6%)reported confirmed previous COVID-19. Risks of infection were increased amongessential/key workers (other than healthcare or care home workers) with mutually adjustedOdds Ratio (OR) of 1.14 (95% CI, 1.04, 1.25), people living in large compared to single-personhouseholds (6+ household size OR 1.66; 95% CI, 1.38, 2.01), those living in urban vs ruralareas (OR 1.24, 95% CI, 1.13, 1.35) and those living in the most vs least deprived areas (OR1.33, 95% CI, 1.19, 1.48).Conclusions: We observed unprecedented levels of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in England inJanuary 2022 and almost complete replacement of Delta by Omicron. The increase in theprevalence of infection with Omicron among children (aged 5 to 17 years) during January

Covid cases in schools have doubled in a fortnight, meaning infections are no longer falling across the country.

Police told to detain activists trivialising the Holocaust in acts to be classified as ‘secondary antisemitism’

SARS-CoV-2 has intricate mechanisms for initiating infection, immune evasion/suppression and replication that depend on the structure and dynamics of its constituent proteins. Many protein structures have been solved, but far less is known about their relevant conformational changes. To address this challenge, over a million citizen scientists banded together through the Folding@home distributed computing project to create the first exascale computer and simulate 0.1 seconds of the viral proteome. Our adaptive sampling simulations predict dramatic opening of the apo spike complex, far beyond that seen experimentally, explaining and predicting the existence of ‘cryptic’ epitopes. Different spike variants modulate the probabilities of open versus closed structures, balancing receptor binding and immune evasion. We also discover dramatic conformational changes across the proteome, which reveal over 50 ‘cryptic’ pockets that expand targeting options for the design of antivirals. All data and models are freely available online, providing a quantitative structural atlas.

BackgroundEngland has experienced a third wave of the COVID-19 epidemic since the end of May, 2021, coinciding with the rapid spread of the delta (B.1.617.2) variant, despite high levels of vaccination among adults. Vaccination rates (single dose) in England are lower among children aged 16–17 years and 12–15 years, whose vaccination in England commenced in August and September, 2021, respectively. We aimed to analyse the underlying dynamics driving patterns in SARS-CoV-2 prevalence during September, 2021, in England.MethodsThe REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission-1 (REACT-1) study, which commenced data collection in May, 2020, involves a series of random cross-sectional surveys in the general population of England aged 5 years and older. Using RT-PCR swab positivity data from 100 527 participants with valid throat and nose swabs in round 14 of REACT-1 (Sept 9–27, 2021), we estimated community-based prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and vaccine effectiveness against infection by combining round 14 data with data from round 13 (June 24 to July 12, 2021; n=172 862).FindingsDuring September, 2021, we estimated a mean RT-PCR positivity rate of 0·83% (95% CrI 0·76–0·89), with a reproduction number (R) overall of 1·03 (95% CrI 0·94–1·14). Among the 475 (62·2%) of 764 sequenced positive swabs, all were of the delta variant; 22 (4·63%; 95% CI 3·07–6·91) included the Tyr145His mutation in the spike protein associated with the AY.4 sublineage, and there was one Glu484Lys mutation. Age, region, key worker status, and household size jointly contributed to the risk of swab positivity. The highest weighted prevalence was observed among children aged 5–12 years, at 2·32% (95% CrI 1·96–2·73) and those aged 13–17 years, at 2·55% (2·11–3·08). The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic grew in those aged 5–11 years, with an R of 1·42 (95% CrI 1·18–1·68), but declined in those aged 18–54 years, with an R of 0·81 (0·68–0·97). At ages 18–64 years, the adjusted vaccine effectiveness against infection was 62·8% (95% CI 49·3–72·7) after two doses compared to unvaccinated people, for all vaccines combined, 44·8% (22·5–60·7) for the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 (Oxford–AstraZeneca) vaccine, and 71·3% (56·6–81·0) for the BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) vaccine. In individuals aged 18 years and older, the weighted prevalence of swab positivity was 0·35% (95% CrI 0·31–0·40) if the second dose was administered up to 3 months before their swab but 0·55% (0·50–0·61) for those who received their second dose 3–6 months before their swab, compared to 1·76% (1·60–1·95) among unvaccinated individuals.InterpretationIn September, 2021, at the start of the autumn school term in England, infections were increasing exponentially in children aged 5–17 years, at a time when vaccination rates were low in this age group. In adults, compared to those who received their second dose less than 3 months ago, the higher prevalence of swab positivity at 3–6 months following two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine suggests an increased risk of breakthrough infections during this period. The vaccination programme needs to reach children as well as unvaccinated and partially vaccinated adults to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission and associated disruptions to work and education.

Low levels of certain antibodies found to be more common in those who go on to develop long Covid

Ideology is a central concept in political psychology. Here, we synthesize the scholarly debate's major themes. We first examine the ways in which ideology has been operationalized and discuss its prevalence (or lack thereof) in the mass public. This is followed by a discussion of the top-down and bottom-up forces that shape citizens' ideology. Top down processes include: political elites and socialization. Bottom-up processes range from political values, basic human values and personality to biology and genetics. Finally, we outline steps that we would welcome in the next generation of research on political ideology. These include fundamental questions about the causal relationship between different bottom-up factors and a call for more attention to measurement of key constructs and of open science practices in the study of political ideology. We hope this chapter inspires others and sets the stage for the next generation of research on political ideology.

OpenAlex catalogues hundreds of millions of scientific documents and charts connections between them.

The first crop of antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 is promising. But new drugs will be needed to counter the looming threat of resistance.

With many of the last COVID-19 restrictions soon coming to an end, there are whispers that the worst of the pandemic may be over. But for those whose COVID-19 symptoms remain months after their initial infection, that hope feels much further away.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the practical and legal complexities associated with tele-homeworking in the context of the UK Equality Law. First, the paper provides a background to the recent growth of tele-homeworking as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, outlining the tenets of the UK Equality Act 2010 and referring to additional legislation pertinent to the ensuing discussion. Second, illustrative case law relevant to the UK Equality Law is put forward to demonstrate the potential challenges that employers and employees might encounter with continued and longer-term tele-homeworking arrangements. Third, the paper outlines implications for employers and human resource managers in terms of policies and practices that might shape the nature of the employment relationship. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a review of the literature and an examination of UK case law applicable to tele-homeworking, taking into consideration equality, diversity and inclusion concerns in the workplace. Findings Remote working can be beneficial to both employers and employees. However, there are a number of significant concerns surrounding the management of tele-homeworkers in the aftermath of the pandemic that can act as a stimulus for legal disputes around discrimination, infringement of human rights and breach of contract claims. Several policy implications surface from the analysis that relate to equality and fair treatment associated with both current and future work arrangements. Originality/value The paper is significant in offering legal insights into how the UK Equality Law relates to the complexities associated with the management of tele-homeworkers. The study also highlights how return-to-office undertakings might need to consider wider legal issues. COVID-19 and its repercussions have demanded the reorganisation of work, which can give rise to a greater possibility of legal challenges and the study highlights the importance of employers undertaking an evaluation of their equality practices and complying with the legal framework.

The National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN) is a super-network that connects and represents disabled staff networks at organisations across the United Kingdom. NADSN has been very concerned about the development of national policy up to this time and for moving out of the COVID-19 lockdown stage as national policy has been silent in relation to disabled staff apart from in presenting a narrow, medicalised view. We have structured this paper within a social model of disability and the sentiments expressed in the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) in considering the current issues and setting out our 12 recommendations. This paper discusses NADSN's observations about the lived experiences of Disabled people during COVID-19. Secondly, it moves to outline COVID-19 and the changing workplace. The paper then moves to a broad discussion concerning safe working practices and policies as we move out of lockdown and beyond.

Objectives: The immunologic profile and opportunistic viral DNA increase were monitored in Italianpatients with COVID-19 in order to identify markers of disease severity.Methods: A total of 104 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 were evaluated in the study. Of them, 42/104(40.4%) were hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU) and 62/104(59.6%) in a sub-intensive care unit(SICU). Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Parvovirus B19 and HumanHerpesvirus 6 virus reactivations were determined by real-time PCR, and lymphocyte subpopulationcounts were determined by flow cytometry.Results: Among opportunistic viruses, only EBV was consistently detected. EBV DNA was observed in 40/42 (95.2%) of the ICU patients and in 51/61 (83.6%) of the SICU patients. Comparing the two groups ofpatients, the EBV DNA median level among ICU patients was significantly higher than that observed inSICU patients. In parallel, a significant reduction of CD8 T cell and NK count in ICU patients as comparedwith SICU patients was observed (p < 0.05). In contrast, B cell count was significantly increased in ICUpatients (p = 0.0172).Conclusions: A correlation between reduced CD8+ T cells and NK counts, EBV DNA levels and COVID-19severity was observed. Other opportunistic viral infections were not observed. The relationship betweenEBV load and COVID-19 severity should be further evaluated in longitudinal studies.

In this paper, the fourth in a series of white papers, we provide a summary of the discussions and future directions that came from the topical meeting that focused on model construction with social media data. A particularly interesting aspect of this meeting was, in our view, discussion of the different disciplines’ requirements and approaches to modeling and the different considerations that are used to assess model fit.

Data on viral levels point to immune evasion as a cause of the variant’s transmissibility.

Senior Government advisers are cautiously optimistic that the UK has passed the ‘test’ of Omicron but scientists are clear that global vaccination rates need to be higher for the pandemic to be declared a thing of the past

An Israeli government advisory panel has recommended offering a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose to all adults, on condition that at least five months have passed since they received the third or recovered from the illness, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

We analyzed the differences in viral environmental stability between the SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain and all variants of concern (VOCs). On plastic and skin surfaces, Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants exhibited more than two-fold longer survival than the Wuhan strain and maintained infectivity for more than 16 h on skin surfaces. The high environmental stability of these VOCs could increase the risk of contact transmission and contribute to their spread.

While vaccinations are vital to managing pandemics, attitudes toward vaccines are not uniformly positive. During the COVID-19 vaccines development and enrollment phase, we studied the temporal dynamics of COVID-19 vaccination intention in relation to attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and the pandemic, vaccination in general, and social norms and trust. The data are derived from a longitudinal survey study with Dutch participants (N = 744; six measurements between December 2020 – May 2021) and analyzed with vector-autoregression network analyses. While cross-sectional results indicated that vaccination intention was relatively strongly related to attitudes toward the vaccines, results from temporal analyses showed that vaccination intention mainly predicted and was not predicted by other vaccination-related variables. Vaccination intention thus influences other variables but barely vice versa. This underlines the challenge of stimulating uptake of new vaccines developed during pandemics, and the importance of examining directions of effects in research into vaccination intention.

As the WHO Executive Board resumes talks this week on a much-discussed Pandemic Accord, and other preparedness measures, three noted infectious disease experts chart a course for “eliminating” SARS-COV2 – warning that will take more sustained global coordination and determination than what has been seen so far.

Exhaled respiratory droplets and aerosols can carry infectious viruses and are an important mode of transmission for COVID-19. Recent studies have been successful in detecting airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA in indoor settings using active sampling methods. The cost, size, and maintenance of these samplers, however, limit their long-term monitoring ability in high-risk transmission areas. As an alternative, passive samplers can be small, lightweight, and inexpensive and do not require electrical power or maintenance for continual operation. Integration of passive samplers into wearable designs can be used to better understand personal exposure to the respiratory virus. This study evaluated the use of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based passive sampler to assess personal exposure to aerosol and droplet SARS-CoV-2. The rate of uptake of virus-laden aerosol on PDMS was determined in lab-based rotating drum experiments to estimate time-weighted averaged airborne viral concentrations from passive sampler viral loading. The passive sampler was then embedded in a wearable clip design and distributed to community members across Connecticut to surveil personal SARS-CoV-2 exposure. The virus was detected on clips worn by five of the 62 participants (8%) with personal exposure ranging from 4 to 112 copies of SARS-CoV-2 RNA/m3, predominantly in indoor restaurant settings. Our findings demonstrate that PDMS-based passive samplers may serve as a useful exposure assessment tool for airborne viral exposure in real-world high-risk settings and provide avenues for early detection of potential cases and guidance on site-specific infection control protocols that preempt community transmission.

Face coverings are a key component of preventive health measure strategies to mitigate the spread of respiratory illnesses. In this study five groups of masks were investigated that are of particular relevance to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: re-usable, fabric two-layer and multi-layer masks, disposable procedure/surgical masks, KN95 and N95 filtering facepiece respirators. Experimental work focussed on the particle penetration through mask materials as a function of particle diameter, and the total inward leakage protection performance of the mask system. Geometric mean fabric protection factors varied from 1.78 to 144.5 for the fabric two-layer and KN95 materials, corresponding to overall filtration efficiencies of 43.8% and 99.3% using a flow rate of 17 L/min, equivalent to a breathing expiration rate for a person in a sedentary or standing position conversing with another individual. Geometric mean total inward leakage protection factors for the 2-layer, multi-layer and procedure masks were <2.3, while 6.2 was achieved for the KN95 masks. The highest values were measured for the N95 group at 165.7. Mask performance is dominated by face seal leakage. Despite the additional filtering layers added to cloth masks, and the higher filtration efficiency of the materials used in disposable procedure and KN95 masks, the total inward leakage protection factor was only marginally improved. N95 FFRs were the only mask group investigated that provided not only high filtration efficiency but high total inward leakage protection, and remain the best option to protect individuals from exposure to aerosol in high risk settings. The Mask Quality Factor and total inward leakage performance are very useful to determine the best options for masking. However, it is highly recommended that testing is undertaken on prospective products, or guidance is sought from impartial authorities, to confirm they meet any implied standards.

Robert Malone claims to have invented mRNA technology. Why is he trying so hard to undermine its use?

A month ago, Dr. Robert Malone announced the “Defeat the Mandates” rally on Joe Rogan’s podcast, to be held this Sunday. I sensed many echoes of Jenny McCarthy’s 2008 “Green Our Vaccines” rally, although what’s different is even more disturbing than the antivaccine misinformation that’s the same.

Black Americans who were initially hesitant about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine were more likely than whites to warm up to the idea as the pandemic wore on and to view vaccines as necessary for protection, a new study has found.

Hospitality, leisure and travel firms feel impact of Covid variant in January

In an updated self-controlled case series analysis of 42,200,614 people aged 13 years or more, we evaluate the association between COVID-19 vaccination and myocarditis, stratified by age and sex, including 10,978,507 people receiving a third vaccine dose. Myocarditis risk was increased during 1-28 days following a third dose of BNT162b2 (IRR 2.02, 95%CI 1.40, 2.91). Associations were strongest in males younger than 40 years for all vaccine types with an additional 3 (95%CI 1, 5) and 12 (95% CI 1,17) events per million estimated in the 1-28 days following a first dose of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273, respectively; 14 (95%CI 8, 17), 12 (95%CI 1, 7) and 101 (95%CI 95, 104) additional events following a second dose of ChAdOx1, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273, respectively; and 13 (95%CI 7, 15) additional events following a third dose of BNT162b2, compared with 7 (95%CI 2, 11) additional events following COVID-19 infection. An association between COVID-19 infection and myocarditis was observed in all ages for both sexes but was substantially higher in those older than 40 years. These findings have important implications for public health and vaccination policy.

We’ve been tracking retractions of papers about COVID-19 as part of our database. Here’s a running list, which will be updated as needed. (For some context on these figures, see this post, our letter in Accountability in Research and the last section of this Nature news article. Also see a note about the terminology regarding preprint servers at the end.)

Florida governor Ron DeSantis and politicians in Texas say research does not support mask mandates. Many studies show they are wrong

ObjectiveTo identify the content of and engagement with vaccine misinformation from Russian trolls on Twitter.MethodsTroll tweets (N = 1959) obtained from Twitter in 2020 were coded for vaccine misinformation (α = 0.77–0.97). Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariable negative binomial regressions were applied to estimate robust incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95 %CI) of vaccine misinformation associations with tweet characteristics and engagement (i.e., replies, likes, retweets).ResultsMisinformation about personal dangers (43.0%), civil liberty violations (20.2%), and vaccine conspiracies (18.6%) were common. More misinformation tweets used anti-vaccination language (97.3% vs. 13.2%) and referenced symptoms (37.4% vs. 0.5%) than non-misinformation tweets. Fewer misinformation tweets referenced credible sources (14.0% vs. 19.5%), were formatted as headlines (39.2% vs. 77.0%), and mentioned specific vaccines (11.3% vs. 36.1%, all p < 0.01) than non-misinformation tweets. Personal dangers misinformation had 83% lower rate of retweets (95 %CI 0.04–0.66). Civil liberties misinformation had significantly higher rate of replies (IRR: 7.65, 95 %CI 1.06–55.46), but lower overall engagement (IRR: 0.38, 95 %CI 0.16–0.88) than non-misinformation tweets.ConclusionsStrategies used to promote vaccine misinformation provide insight into the nature of vaccine misinformation online and public responses. Our findings suggest a need to explore influences on whether users reject or entertain online vaccine misinformation.

The Vax Divide: The mandates may not spur on die-hard vaccination opponents but there is a theory that they could provide 'a way out' for moderate anti-vaxxers

The heart has played a central role in COVID-19 since the beginning. Cardiovascular conditions are among the highest risk factors for hospitalization. A significant number of patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infections have signs of heart damage, and many recover from infection with lasting cardiovascular injury.

Objective To assess the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on hospital admission rates and mortality outcomes for childhood respiratory infections, severe invasive infections, and vaccine preventable disease in England.Design Population based observational study of 19 common childhood respiratory, severe invasive, and vaccine preventable infections, comparing hospital admission rates and mortality outcomes before and after the onset of the pandemic in England.Setting Hospital admission data from every NHS hospital in England from 1 March 2017 to 30 June 2021 with record linkage to national mortality data.Population Children aged 0-14 years admitted to an NHS hospital with a selected childhood infection from 1 March 2017 to 30 June 2021.Main outcome measures For each infection, numbers of hospital admissions every month from 1 March 2017 to 30 June 2021, percentage changes in the number of hospital admissions before and after 1 March 2020, and adjusted odds ratios to compare 60 day case fatality outcomes before and after 1 March 2020.Results After 1 March 2020, substantial and sustained reductions in hospital admissions were found for all but one of the 19 infective conditions studied. Among the respiratory infections, the greatest percentage reductions were for influenza (mean annual number admitted between 1 March 2017 and 29 February 2020 was 5379 and number of children admitted from 1 March 2020 to 28 February 2021 was 304, 94% reduction, 95% confidence interval 89% to 97%), and bronchiolitis (from 51 655 to 9423, 82% reduction, 95% confidence interval 79% to 84%). Among the severe invasive infections, the greatest reduction was for meningitis (50% reduction, 47% to 52%). For the vaccine preventable infections, reductions ranged from 53% (32% to 68%) for mumps to 90% (80% to 95%) for measles. Reductions were seen across all demographic subgroups and in children with underlying comorbidities. Corresponding decreases were also found for the absolute numbers of 60 day case fatalities, although the proportion of children admitted for pneumonia who died within 60 days increased (age-sex adjusted odds ratio 1.71, 95% confidence interval 1.43 to 2.05). More recent data indicate that some respiratory infections increased to higher levels than usual after May 2021.Conclusions During the covid-19 pandemic, a range of behavioural changes (adoption of non-pharmacological interventions) and societal strategies (school closures, lockdowns, and restricted travel) were used to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, which also reduced admissions for common and severe childhood infections. Continued monitoring of these infections is required as social restrictions evolve.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the complex relationship between science and policy. Policymakers have had to make decisions at speed in conditions of uncertainty, implementing policies that have had profound consequences for people's lives. Yet this process has sometimes been characterised by fragmentation, opacity and a disconnect between evidence and policy. In the United Kingdom, concerns about the secrecy that initially surrounded this process led to the creation of Independent SAGE, an unofficial group of scientists from different disciplines that came together to ask policy-relevant questions, review the evolving evidence, and make evidence-based recommendations. The group took a public health approach with a population perspective, worked in a holistic transdisciplinary way, and were committed to public engagement. In this paper, we review the lessons learned during its first year. These include the importance of learning from local expertise, the value of learning from other countries, the role of civil society as a critical friend to government, finding appropriate relationships between science and policy, and recognising the necessity of viewing issues through an equity lens.

Importance  Adverse events (AEs) after placebo treatment are common in randomized clinical drug trials. Systematic evidence regarding these nocebo responses in vaccine trials is important for COVID-19 vaccination worldwide especially because concern about AEs is reported to be a reason for vaccination hesitancy.Objective  To compare the frequencies of AEs reported in the placebo groups of COVID-19 vaccine trials with those reported in the vaccine groups.Data Sources  For this systematic review and meta-analysis, the Medline (PubMed) and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases were searched systematically using medical subheading terms and free-text keywords for trials of COVID-19 vaccines published up to July 14, 2021.Study Selection  Randomized clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines that investigated adults aged 16 years or older were selected if they assessed solicited AEs within 7 days of injection, included an inert placebo arm, and provided AE reports for both the vaccine and placebo groups separately. Full texts were reviewed for eligibility by 2 independent reviewers.Data Extraction and Synthesis  Data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by 2 reviewers, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guideline and using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Meta-analyses were based on random-effects models.Main Outcomes and Measures  The primary outcomes were the proportions of placebo recipients reporting overall, systemic, and local (injection-site) AEs as well as logarithmic odds ratios (ORs) to evaluate group differences. Outcomes were tested for significance using z tests with 95% CIs.Results  Twelve articles with AE reports for 45 380 participants (22 578 placebo recipients and 22 802 vaccine recipients) were analyzed. After the first dose, 35.2% (95% CI, 26.7%-43.7%) of placebo recipients experienced systemic AEs, with headache (19.3%; 95% CI, 13.6%-25.1%) and fatigue (16.7%; 95% CI, 9.8%-23.6%) being most common. After the second dose, 31.8% (95% CI, 28.7%-35.0%) of placebo recipients reported systemic AEs. The ratio between placebo and vaccine arms showed that nocebo responses accounted for 76.0% of systemic AEs after the first COVID-19 vaccine dose and for 51.8% after the second dose. Significantly more vaccine recipients reported AEs, but the group difference for systemic AEs was small after the first dose (OR, −0.47; 95% CI, −0.54 to −0.40; P < .001; standardized mean difference, −0.26; 95% CI, −0.30 to −0.22) and large after the second dose (OR, −1.36; 95% CI, −1.86 to −0.86; P < .001; standardized mean difference, −0.75; 95% CI, −1.03 to −0.47).Conclusions and Relevance  In this systematic review and meta-analysis, significantly more AEs were reported in vaccine groups compared with placebo groups, but the rates of reported AEs in the placebo arms were still substantial. Public vaccination programs should consider these high rates of AEs in placebo arms.

Die Inzidenz ist hoch wie nie. Doch der Coronavirus-Experte Christian Drosten von der Charité Berlin macht Hoffnung: Das Änderungspotenzial von Sars-Cov-2 ist grundsätzlich begrenzt, sagt er.

A new study adds to growing evidence that there is no connection between Covid-19 vaccinations and a reduced chance of conceiving.Rather, couples in the study had slightly lower chances of conception if the male partner had been infected with the coronavirus within 60 days -- which offers even more reason to get vaccinated against Covid-19, since the illness could affect male fertility in the short term, according to the study, published Thursday in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Germany compared with previous years.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSBased on data from the multicenter German Diabetes Prospective Follow-up Registry, we analyzed the incidence of type 1 diabetes per 100,000 patient-years in children and adolescents from 1 January 2020 through 30 June 2021. Using Poisson regression models, expected incidences for 2020/21 were estimated based on the data from 2011 to 2019 and compared with observed incidences in 2020/21 by estimating incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% CIs.RESULTSFrom 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2021, 5,162 children and adolescents with new-onset type 1 diabetes in Germany were registered. The observed incidence in 2020/21 was significantly higher than the expected incidence (24.4 [95% CI 23.6–25.2] vs. 21.2 [20.5–21.9]; IRR 1.15 [1.10–1.20]; P < 0.001). IRRs were significantly elevated in June 2020 (IRR 1.43 [1.07–1.90]; P = 0.003), July 2020 (IRR 1.48 [1.12–1.96]; P < 0.001), March 2021 (IRR 1.29 [1.01–1.65]; P = 0.028), and June 2021 (IRR 1.39 [1.04–1.85]; P = 0.010).CONCLUSIONSA significant increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes in children was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a delay in the peak incidence of type 1 diabetes by ∼3 months after the peak COVID-19 incidence and also after pandemic containment measures. The underlying causes are yet unknown. However, indirect rather than direct effects of the pandemic are more likely to be the cause.

Norfolk and Waveney CCG pilot will care for up to 15 patients who are not well enough to be sent home

Omicron may have affected risk in England, but other factors could include vaccination and severity of previous infection

What that means for public health

The initial United States government response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was marked by a frequent disconnect between government policies and the recommendations of scientific experts. A disinformation campaign from the Trump White House convinced many Americans that COVID-19 injuries and its death toll were exaggerated, leading many to ignore public health recommendations (1). Those who dismissed the severity of COVID-19 were more likely to shun face masks and ignore recommendations to socially distance from non–household members (2). Such individuals were more likely Republicans than Democrats by a wide margin (2), and under a flag of health or medical freedom, an outright defiance of masks and social distancing came to symbolize allegiance to President Trump (1). This contributed to the rampant spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, which have taken the lives of one-half million Americans (1). Misguided ideologies from populist regimes in Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and Tanzania bear varying degrees of resemblance to health freedom and contribute to the global COVID-19 death toll (3). Here, I explore the anti-science movement in America, emphasizing our unique historical connections to health and medical freedom.

Analysis: Experts say when the rules are relaxed there tends to be a gradual erosion of protective behaviours

As its been getting increasing attention recently, I'm going to write a short thread on what we currently know about BA.2. -what is BA.2? -what is BA.2 doing currently? -Should we be concerned about it?

Recent studies indicate that COVID-19 infection can lead to serious neurological consequences in a small percentage of individuals. However, in the months following acute illness, many more suffer from fatigue, low motivation, disturbed mood, poor sleep and cognitive symptoms, colloquially referred to as ‘brain fog’. But what about individuals who had asymptomatic to moderate COVID-19 and reported no concerns after recovering from COVID-19? Here, we examined a wide range of cognitive functions critical for daily life (including sustained attention, memory, motor control, planning, semantic reasoning, mental rotation and spatial–visual attention) in people who had previously suffered from COVID-19 but were not significantly different from a control group on self-reported fatigue, forgetfulness, sleep abnormality, motivation, depression, anxiety and personality profile. Reassuringly, COVID-19 survivors performed well in most abilities tested, including working memory, executive function, planning and mental rotation. However, they displayed significantly worse episodic memory (up to 6 months post-infection) and greater decline in vigilance with time on task (for up to 9 months). Overall, the results show that specific chronic cognitive changes following COVID-19 are evident on objective testing even amongst those who do not report a greater symptom burden. Importantly, in the sample tested here, these were not significantly different from normal after 6–9 months, demonstrating evidence of recovery over time.

How are digital technologies changing the way people interact with information?  What technologies are there that can fabricate and detect misinformation?  And what role does technology have to play in creating a better information environment? The online information environment (PDF) report addresses these questions, providing an overview of how the internet has changed, and continues to change, the way society engages with scientific information, and how it may be affecting people’s decision-making behaviour – from taking up vaccines to responding to evidence on climate change. It highlights key challenges for creating a healthy online information environment and makes a series of recommendations for policymakers, academics, and online platforms.

While "eye-popping," the spike in pediatric cases is a reflection of the widespread transmission of Covid-19's omicron variant.

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Jan. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, and SK bioscience, Co. Limited, a vaccine business subsidiary of Korea-based SK Group, today announced that South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has approved a Biologics License Application (BLA) from SK bioscience for Nuvaxovid™ COVID-19 Vaccine (recombinant, adjuvanted) for active immunization in individuals 18 years of age and older for the prevention of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. Nuvaxovid™, Novavax' COVID-19 vaccine also known as NVX-CoV2373, is the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for commercial use in South Korea and will be manufactured and marketed in the country by SK bioscience. "Novavax is proud to bring our COVID-19 vaccine to South Korea at a critical time in the pandemic as both the Delta and Omicron variants have taken hold," said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax. "We thank our partners at SK bioscience for their commitment to this public health challenge and the MFDS for its thorough assessment of our data as we look forward to helping address major obstacles to controlling the pandemic through the additional option of our protein-based vaccine." SK bioscience has an advance purchase agreement with the South Korean government to supply 40 million doses of Novavax' vaccine. The companies also recently announced expanded collaboration and license agreements that are expected to increase manufacturing capacity and provide SK bioscience with additional non-exclusive territories. Novavax' vaccine also recently received conditional marketing authorization (CMA) in the European Union and emergency use listing (EUL) from the World Health Organization (WHO) under the brand name Nuvaxovid. The Novavax/Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. vaccine (brand name, Covovax™) recently received emergency use authorization (EUA) in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as WHO EUL. Together, the WHO EULs for the vaccine from both companies reflect the potential opportunity for authorization in over 170 countries. The vaccine is also currently under review by multiple additional regulatory agencies worldwide and the company expects to receive additional worldwide authorizations in the first half of 2022. This includes the submission of its complete chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) data package to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the end of 2021. The company expects to submit a request for EUA for the vaccine in the U.S. after one month in accordance with guidance from the FDA regarding submission of all EUA vaccines.

SARS-CoV-2 has been found capable of inducing prolonged pathologies collectively referred to as Long-COVID. To better understand this biology, we compared the short- and long-term systemic responses in the golden hamster following either SARS-CoV-2 or influenza A virus (IAV) infection. While SARS-CoV-2 exceeded IAV in its capacity to cause injury to the lung and kidney, the most significant changes were observed in the olfactory bulb (OB) and olfactory epithelium (OE) where inflammation was visible beyond one month post SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite a lack of detectable virus, OB/OE demonstrated microglial and T cell activation, proinflammatory cytokine production, and interferon responses that correlated with behavioral changes. These findings could be corroborated through sequencing of individuals who recovered from COVID-19, as sustained inflammation in OB/OE tissue remained evident months beyond disease resolution. These data highlight a molecular mechanism for persistent COVID-19 symptomology and characterize a small animal model to develop future therapeutics.

Schools ​and nurseries up and down the country have been struggling with high absence rates, and a poor supply of tests only make​s things worse.

COPENHAGEN, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The pandemic has blocked Novak Djokovic's march to tennis history, so the 34-year-old may be pinning his hopes on a cure for COVID to get his hands on another glorious grand slam before time runs out.

As the nation reaches the deadliest stage of the entire coronavirus pandemic, the protective effects of the vaccine remain clear

Island nation set to impose lockdown next week after virus escaped from quarantine centre

COVID-19 cases have surged around the world lately leaving more people than ever infected with the virus. This has raised a lot of questions about immunity against future COVID infections and whether positive cases really get something of a “grace period” post-COVID where they’re extra protected. Swipe to close Let’s break down some of the facts and unknowns around COVID-19 immunity.

AbstractObjectivesTo estimate the burden and severity of suspected reinfection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).MethodsA retrospective cohort of members of Kaiser Permanente Southern California with PCR-positive SARS-CoV-2 infection between 1st March 2020 and 31st October 2020 was followed through electronic health records for subsequent positive SARS-CoV-2 tests (suspected reinfection) ≥90 days after initial infection, through 31st January 2021. Incidence of suspected reinfection was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the association of suspected reinfection with demographic and clinical characteristics, hospitalization, and date of initial infection.ResultsThe cohort of 75 149 was predominantly Hispanic (49 648/75 149, 66.1%) and included slightly more females than males (39 736, 52.9%), with few immunocompromised patients (953, 1.3%); 315 suspected reinfections were identified, with a cumulative incidence at 270 days of 0.8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.7–1.0%). Hospitalization was more common at suspected reinfection (36/315, 11.4%) than initial infection (4094/75 149, 5.4%). Suspected reinfection rates were higher in females (1.0%, CI 0.8–1.2% versus 0.7%, CI 0.5–0.9%, p 0.002) and immunocompromised patients (2.1%, CI 1.0–4.2% versus 0.8%, CI 0.7–1.0%, p 0.004), and lower in children than adults (0.2%, CI 0.1–0.4% versus 0.9%, CI 0.7–1.0%, p 0.023). Patients hospitalized at initial infection were more likely to have suspected reinfection (1.2%, CI 0.6–1.7% versus 0.8%, CI 0.7–1.0%, p 0.030), as were those with initial infections later in 2020 (150-day incidence 0.4%, CI 0.2–0.5% September–October versus 0.2%, CI 0.1–0.3% March–May and 0.3%, CI 0.2–0.3% June–August, p 0.008). In an adjusted Cox proportional hazards model, being female (hazard ratio (HR) 1.44, CI 1.14–1.81), adult (age 18–39, HR 2.71, CI 1.38–5.31, age 40–59 HR 2.22, CI 1.12–4.41, age ≥60 HR 2.52, CI 1.23–5.17 versus <18 years), immunocompromised (HR 2.48, CI 1.31–4.68), hospitalized (HR 1.60, CI 1.07–2.38), and initially infected later in 2020 (HR 2.26, CI 1.38–3.71 September–October versus March–May) were significant independent predictors of suspected reinfection.ConclusionsReinfection with SARS-CoV-2 is uncommon, with suspected reinfections more likely in women, adults, immunocompromised subjects, and those previously hospitalized for coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). This suggests a need for continued precautions and vaccination in patients with COVID-19 to prevent reinfection.

Widespread human SARS-CoV-2 infections pose a constant risk for virus transmission to animals. Here, we serologically investigated 1000 cattle samples collected in late 2021 in Germany. Eleven sera tested antibody-positive, indicating that cattle may be occasionally infected by contact to SARS-CoV-2-positive keepers, but there is no indication of further spreading.

How do you solve a problem like bad information?

Mask-wearing is associated with a significant reduction in COVID-19 transmission and factors other than mandates contributed to the global uptake of mask-wearing in 2020, new research has found.

South Korea on Thursday received its first supply of Pfizer's antiviral COVID-19 pills to treat patients with mild or moderate symptoms.

It was a landmark hearing for Ontario. Four doctors —  Rochagne Kilian, Mary O’Connor, Mark Trozzi and Patrick Phillips — had been scheduled to appear to fight legal proceedings brought by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) late last year.Trozzi, O’Connor and Kilian have been accused by the CPSO of failing to comply with investigations into allegations they issued false medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine. Phillips, the CPSO says, is threatening to re-release a tranche of confidential documents on Twitter.

COVID-19 mRNA vaccine immunogenicity and effectiveness are well established in adolescents.1 However, the effect of vaccination on multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C),2 a severe complication associated with SARS-CoV-2,3 has not yet been described. Summer 2021 in France was marked by both a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant, with a peak in August 2021, and by the recommendation of the French Public Health Agency to vaccinate children aged 12 years or older. We estimated the risk of MIS-C among adolescents by COVID-19 vaccination status during September 2021 and October 2021.

Objectives: The immunological and inflammatory changes following acute COVID-19 are hugely variable. Persistent clinical symptoms following resolution of initial infection, termed long COVID, are also hugely variable, but association with immunological changes has not been described. We investigate changing immunological parameters in convalescent COVID-19 and interrogate their potential relationships with persistent symptoms.Methods: We performed paired immunophenotyping at initial SARS-CoV-2 infection and convalescence (n=40, median 68 days) and validated findings in 71 further patients at median 101 days convalescence. Results were compared to 40 pre-pandemic controls. Fatigue and exercise tolerance were assessed as cardinal features of long COVID using the Chalder Fatigue Scale and 6-minute-walk test. The relationships between these clinical outcomes and convalescent immunological results were investigated.Results: We identify persistent expansion of intermediate monocytes, effector CD8+, activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and reduced naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells at 68 days, with activated CD8+ T cells remaining increased at 101 days. Patients >60 years also demonstrate reduced naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and expanded activated CD4+ T cells at 101 days. Ill-health, fatigue, and reduced exercise tolerance were common in this cohort. These symptoms were not associated with immune cell populations or circulating inflammatory cytokines.Conclusion: We demonstrate myeloid recovery but persistent T cell abnormalities in convalescent COVID-19 patients more than three months after initial infection. These changes are more marked with age and are independent of ongoing subjective ill-health, fatigue and reduced exercise tolerance.

COVID’s winter surge holds a deeper lesson about the perils of interpreting data without a full appreciation of the context.

Researchers concluded vaccine hesitancy is associated with being less oriented toward the future, and more likely to choose a smaller reward today than wait for a better one later

CDC is working with jurisdictions to provide more information on the demographic characteristics of vaccinated people. These demographic data represent the geographic areas that contributed data and might differ by populations prioritized within each jurisdiction’s vaccination phase. Therefore, these data may not be generalizable to the entire US population. Percentage displayed in the charts below represent the percent of people vaccinated within each demographic group for whom demographic information was available. The completeness of demographic information reported directly to CDC varies by sex, age group, and race/ethnicity. Detailed information on the completeness can be found in each chart.

Worldwide, vaccine hesitancy is proving to be a stumbling block to securing much needed protection against the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Now, researchers from Japan have uncovered specific factors that influence attitudes about vaccines, which is valuable knowledge for combating vaccine hesitancy.

Yesterday’s decision hinges on a new and alarming embrace of the right-wing crusade against vaccination.

El conocimiento científico en la pandemia cambia en cuestión de semanas. Algunos temas se olvidan y otros se recuperan de manera cíclica. Cinco meses después del primer estudio, ¿qué ha pasado con la hipótesis de la inmunidad cruzada? Trabajos recientes despejan dudas sobre su papel en la lucha contra la covid-19, todavía rodeado de especulaciones.

ultiple sclerosis, a progressive disease that affects 2.8 million people worldwide and for which there is no definitive cure, is likely caused by infection with the Epstein-Barr virus, according to a study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers. Their findings were published today online in Science.