5,948 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2022
    1. 2022-02-21

    2. Dr. Deepti Gurdasani. (2022, February 21). Did anyone hear any mention of long COVID, an illness affecting 1.3 million people, of whom 500,000 have had this for more than a year during the briefing? Are we just going to pretend it doesn’t exist? [Tweet]. @dgurdasani1. https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1495839416262311938

    3. Did anyone hear any mention of long COVID, an illness affecting 1.3 million people, of whom 500,000 have had this for more than a year during the briefing? Are we just going to pretend it doesn't exist?
    1. 2022-02-09

    2. Mus, P. D. (n.d.). What Is the Difference between Pandemic and Endemic? Boston University. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/difference-between-pandemic-and-endemic/

    3. Before leaving the house, we’ve all gotten used to double-checking that we have four essential items: phone, keys, wallet, mask. After two exhausting years of living in a pandemic, grabbing a mask (or two) on the way out the door has become a routine part of our mental checklist.  But at this point in the pandemic, many people are wondering if it’s safe to ditch mask-wearing in schools, offices, and other indoor places, or if COVID-19 will ever fade away. According to BU epidemiologist Ellie Murray, the answer is complicated—and very much depends on the actions we take collectively. Even if COVID-19 transitions from a pandemic to an endemic disease—where infections occur in seasonal or predictable cycles, like the flu—that does not necessarily mean we’ll be mask-free or that vaccinations will no longer be needed. To move from a pandemic to endemic, says Murray, a BU School of Public Health assistant professor of epidemiology, the world needs “to have some predictable sense of where that disease is going to go next.” COVID-19, she says, will likely remain prevalent for the foreseeable future, but we have the public health tools—like testing and masking—to continually monitor and manage it. In this video, Murray explains the difference between pandemic and endemic, how we might learn to live with COVID-19 in the future, and why she sees reason to be optimistic.
    4. What Is the Difference between Pandemic and Endemic?
    1. 2022-02-12

    2. Cornelius Roemer. (2022, February 12). Fantastic work by @UKHSA comparing serial intervals of BA.1, BA.2 and Delta as published in the most recent technical briefing. BA.2 seems to have even shorter serial interval than BA.1 This could help explain different relative growth rates of BA.2 vs BA.1 in different countries https://t.co/Gch94Ew8CX [Tweet]. @CorneliusRoemer. https://twitter.com/CorneliusRoemer/status/1492434232664375304

    3. Fantastic work by @UKHSA comparing serial intervals of BA.1, BA.2 and Delta as published in the most recent technical briefing. BA.2 seems to have even shorter serial interval than BA.1 This could help explain different relative growth rates of BA.2 vs BA.1 in different countries
    1. 2022-02-17

    2. Meaghan Kall. (2022, February 17). BA.2 risk assessment New this week is upgrading Immune Evasion—Amber 🟨 from low to moderate that BA.2 is antigentically different to BA.1 Unsurprising given the mutation profile, with BA.2 slightly more immune evasive than BA.1 on neuts studies https://t.co/n6DWtiRaNH [Tweet]. @kallmemeg. https://twitter.com/kallmemeg/status/1494100170195312646

    3. BA.2 risk assessment New this week is upgrading Immune Evasion - Amber from low to moderate that BA.2 is antigentically different to BA.1 Unsurprising given the mutation profile, with BA.2 *slightly* more immune evasive than BA.1 on neuts studies
    1. 2022-02-09

    2. Altarawneh, H. N., Chemaitelly, H., Hasan, M. R., Ayoub, H. H., Qassim, S., AlMukdad, S., Coyle, P., Yassine, H. M., Al-Khatib, H. A., Benslimane, F. M., Al-Kanaani, Z., Al-Kuwari, E., Jeremijenko, A., Kaleeckal, A. H., Latif, A. N., Shaik, R. M., Abdul-Rahim, H. F., Nasrallah, G. K., Al-Kuwari, M. G., … Abu-Raddad, L. J. (2022). Protection against the Omicron Variant from Previous SARS-CoV-2 Infection. New England Journal of Medicine, 0(0), null. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2200133

    3. Overall, in a national database study in Qatar, we found that the effectiveness of previous infection in preventing reinfection with the alpha, beta, and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 was robust (at approximately 90%), findings that confirmed earlier estimates.1-3 Such protection against reinfection with the omicron variant was lower (approximately 60%) but still considerable. In addition, the protection of previous infection against hospitalization or death caused by reinfection appeared to be robust, regardless of variant.
    4. 10.1056/NEJMc2200133
    5. Protection against the Omicron Variant from Previous SARS-CoV-2 Infection
    1. 2022-01-07

    2. Freja Kirsebom. (2022, January 7). Today we publish our latest analysis where we stratify by age to investigate vaccine effectiveness (VE) against Omicron in adults aged 65 years and older in England. Https://t.co/y73uto6kll 1/14 [Tweet]. @freja_kirsebom. https://twitter.com/freja_kirsebom/status/1479528228079509516

    3. Today we publish our latest analysis where we stratify by age to investigate vaccine effectiveness (VE) against Omicron in adults aged 65 years and older in England. https://twitter.com/UKHSA/status/1479526192428503044… 1/14
    1. 2021-12-27

    2. Lyngse, F. P., Mortensen, L. H., Denwood, M. J., Christiansen, L. E., Møller, C. H., Skov, R. L., Spiess, K., Fomsgaard, A., Lassaunière, M. M., Rasmussen, M., Stegger, M., Nielsen, C., Sieber, R. N., Cohen, A. S., Møller, F. T., Overvad, M., Mølbak, K., Krause, T. G., & Kirkeby, C. T. (2021). SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC Transmission in Danish Households (p. 2021.12.27.21268278). medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.27.21268278

    3. The Omicron variant of concern (VOC) is a rapidly spreading variant of SARS-CoV-2 that is likely to overtake the previously dominant Delta VOC in many countries by the end of 2021.We estimated the transmission dynamics following the spread of Omicron VOC within Danish households during December 2021. We used data from Danish registers to estimate the household secondary attack rate (SAR).Among 11,937 households (2,225 with the Omicron VOC), we identified 6,397 secondary infections during a 1-7 day follow-up period. The SAR was 31% and 21% in households with the Omicron and Delta VOC, respectively. We found an increased transmission for unvaccinated individuals, and a reduced transmission for booster-vaccinated individuals, compared to fully vaccinated individuals. Comparing households infected with the Omicron to Delta VOC, we found an 1.17 (95%-CI: 0.99-1.38) times higher SAR for unvaccinated, 2.61 times (95%-CI: 2.34-2.90) higher for fully vaccinated and 3.66 (95%-CI: 2.65-5.05) times higher for booster-vaccinated individuals, demonstrating strong evidence of immune evasiveness of the Omicron VOC.Our findings confirm that the rapid spread of the Omicron VOC primarily can be ascribed to the immune evasiveness rather than an inherent increase in the basic transmissibility.
    4. 10.1101/2021.12.27.21268278
    5. SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VOC Transmission in Danish Households
    1. 2022-02-18

    2. Dr Ellie Murray, ScD 🇨🇦. (2022, February 18). If you have a little one who’s getting a vaccine soon but feeling a bit scared, this new book from @JanZauzmer is quite cute & might help them preview the experience. #VaccinesSaveLives https://t.co/MRngUYWsOJ [Tweet]. @EpiEllie. https://twitter.com/EpiEllie/status/1494695602248200198

    3. If you have a little one who’s getting a vaccine soon but feeling a bit scared, this new book from @JanZauzmer is quite cute & might help them preview the experience. #VaccinesSaveLives
    1. 2022-01-13

    2. Eric Feigl-Ding. (2022, January 13). WATCH📺—Despite 97.5% of all adults in England🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 with antibodies to #COVID19 (via vax/infection)–hospitalizations still surging. Why? Because variants like #Omicron are adapting. Need multivalent vax, plus ➡️N95 & ventilation are agnostic to variants—Key! Https://t.co/gDNRJIWojX [Tweet]. @DrEricDing. https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1481732793482813443

    3. 5) Even if #Omicron is slightly milder in adults (but 20% more severe in kids), total hospitalization drop is not that much compared to Delta (which is already well known to be 2-3x more severe than Wuhan). We are somehow letting “it’s mild” mentality keep endangering folks.
    4. ) Booster campaign in UK likely are bringing cases and hospitalizations down slowly. But bending it takes time. And remember - even when cases peak— we are only ad 50% of the wave. The other 50% is experienced on the way down. And hospitalizations will keep going for a while.
    5. 3) And we need to be honest also that vaccine boosters wane too. This figure in French from UK data shows that even boosters wane against highly evasive #Omicron 10 weeks after a booster shot -VE down to 45% for symptomatic. We need new multivalent vaccines & masks & ventilation.
    6. 2) Boosters are critical, yes, but we need a higher sea wall of protection that can handle virus evolution & adaption. That’s why premium masks & ventilation & air disinfection key. Special thanks to @theosanderson for the animation. Data via @ONS. https://ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveyantibodyandvaccinationdatafortheuk/13january2022
    7. WATCH—Despite 97.5% of all adults in England with antibodies to #COVID19 (via vax/infection)–hospitalizations still surging. Why? Because variants like #Omicron are adapting. Need multivalent vax, plus N95 & ventilation are agnostic to variants—key!
    1. 2022-02-15

    2. Halasa, N. B. (2022). Effectiveness of Maternal Vaccination with mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine During Pregnancy Against COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization in Infants Aged 6 Months—17 States, July 2021–January 2022. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 71. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7107e3

    3. 10.15585/mmwr.mm7107e3external icon.
    4. What is already known about this topic? COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is recommended to prevent severe illness and death in pregnant women. Infants are at risk for COVID-19–associated complications, including respiratory failure and other life-threatening complications. What is added by this report? Effectiveness of maternal completion of a 2-dose primary mRNA COVID-19 vaccination series during pregnancy against COVID-19 hospitalization among infants aged <6 months was 61% (95% CI = 31% to 78%). Effectiveness of completion of the primary COVID-19 vaccine series early and later in pregnancy was 32% (95% CI = –43% to 68%) and 80% (95% CI = 55% to 91%), respectively. What are the implications for public health practice? Completion of a 2-dose mRNA COVID-19 vaccination series during pregnancy might help prevent COVID-19 hospitalization among infants aged <6 months.
    5. Effectiveness of Maternal Vaccination with mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine During Pregnancy Against COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization in Infants Aged <6 Months — 17 States, July 2021–January 2022
    1. 2022-02-14

    2. Yang, M. (2022, February 14). Arkansas jail’s ivermectin experiments recall historical medical abuse of imprisoned minorities. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/14/arkansas-prison-covid-19-ivermectin-experiment-minorities-medical-abuse

    3. The exploitation reflects America’s longstanding history of medically abusing vulnerable communities of color
    4. Arkansas jail’s ivermectin experiments recall historical medical abuse of imprisoned minorities
    1. 2022-02-16

    2. Spinney, L. (2022). Pandemics disable people—The history lesson that policymakers ignore. Nature, 602(7897), 383–385. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00414-x

    3. 10.1038/d41586-022-00414-x
    4. Influenza, polio and more have shown that infections can change lives even decades later. Why the complacency over possible long-term effects of COVID-19?
    5. Pandemics disable people — the history lesson that policymakers ignore
    1. 2021-12

    2. COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates and Vaccine Uptake. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2022, from https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/14946/covid-19-vaccination-mandates-and-vaccine-uptake

    3. We evaluate the impact of government mandated proof of vaccination requirements for access to public venues and non-essential businesses on COVID-19 vaccine uptake. We find that the announcement of a mandate is associated with a rapid and significant surge in new vaccinations (more than 60% increase in weekly first doses) using the variation in the timing of these measures across Canadian provinces in a differencein-differences approach. Time-series analysis for each province and for France, Italy and Germany corroborates this finding, and we estimate cumulative gains of up to 5 percentage points in provincial vaccination rates and 790,000 or more first doses for Canada as a whole as of October 31, 2021 (5 to 13 weeks after the provincial mandate announcements). We also find large vaccination gains in France (3 to 5 mln first doses), Italy (around 6 mln) and Germany (around 3.5 mln) 11 to 16 weeks after the proof of vaccination mandate announcements.
    4. IZA DP No. 14946: COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates and Vaccine Uptake
    1. 2022-02-16

    2. Alastair Grant. (2022, February 16). Samples likely to be BA.2 (SGT positive in TaqPath data) now make up 34% of COVID cases in England. The proportion has roughly doubled in a week. That represents a growth in absolute numbers of BA.2, even if overall infections are falling at the same rate as reported cases https://t.co/LNr5baChby [Tweet]. @AlastairGrant4. https://twitter.com/AlastairGrant4/status/1493880986660225024

    3. At regional level, BA.2 cases are highest in South West England (although a relatively small sample), followed by London, SE and East of England. But it is now increasing in all regions Numbers are spread fairly evenly across age groups.
    4. Samples likely to be BA.2 (SGT positive in TaqPath data) now make up 34% of COVID cases in England. The proportion has roughly doubled in a week. That represents a growth in absolute numbers of BA.2, even if overall infections are falling at the same rate as reported cases
    1. 2022-02-14

    2. How cherry-picking science became the center of the anti-mask movement. (2022, February 14). Gothamist. https://gothamist.com

    3. Masks are the most visible reminders that we are still in a pandemic, and the debate over their use and other public health measures has been present since March 2020, largely along partisan lines.
    4. Masks work, even for kids. But sometimes science isn't enough.
    1. 2022-02-15

    2. Yamasoba, D., Kimura, I., Nasser, H., Morioka, Y., Nao, N., Ito, J., Uriu, K., Tsuda, M., Zahradnik, J., Shirakawa, K., Suzuki, R., Kishimoto, M., Kosugi, Y., Kobiyama, K., Hara, T., Toyoda, M., Tanaka, Y. L., Butlertanaka, E. P., Shimizu, R., … Sato, K. (2022). Virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 variant (p. 2022.02.14.480335). bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.14.480335

    3. Soon after the emergence and global spread of a new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron lineage, BA.1, another Omicron lineage, BA.2, has initiated outcompeting BA.1. Statistical analysis shows that the effective reproduction number of BA.2 is 1.4-fold higher than that of BA.1. Neutralisation experiments show that the vaccine-induced humoral immunity fails to function against BA.2 like BA.1, and notably, the antigenicity of BA.2 is different from BA.1. Cell culture experiments show that BA.2 is more replicative in human nasal epithelial cells and more fusogenic than BA.1. Furthermore, infection experiments using hamsters show that BA.2 is more pathogenic than BA.1. Our multiscale investigations suggest that the risk of BA.2 for global health is potentially higher than that of BA.1.
    4. 10.1101/2022.02.14.480335
    5. Virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 variant
    1. 2021-12-30

    2. Ali Ellebedy. (2021, December 30). We need those who are adept at #SciComm to explain that “Omicron” is sufficiently different from the original strain that was used to make the vaccine. Therefore, the definition of “fully vaccinated” will have to be updated, but that does not mean that the vaccines have failed. [Tweet]. @TheBcellArtist. https://twitter.com/TheBcellArtist/status/1476649138691444740

    3. We need those who are adept at #SciComm to explain that "Omicron" is sufficiently different from the original strain that was used to make the vaccine. Therefore, the definition of "fully vaccinated" will have to be updated, but that does not mean that the vaccines have failed.
    1. 2022-01-10

    2. Deepti Gurdasani. (2022, January 10). Lots of people dismissing links between COVID-19 and all-cause diabetes. An association that’s been shown in multiple studies- whether this increase is due to more diabetes or SARS2 precipitating diabetic keto-acidosis allowing these to be diagnosed is not known. A brief look👇 [Tweet]. @dgurdasani1. https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1480546865812840450

    3. Lots of people dismissing links between COVID-19 and all-cause diabetes. An association that's been shown in multiple studies- whether this increase is due to more diabetes or SARS2 precipitating diabetic keto-acidosis allowing these to be diagnosed is not known. A brief look
    1. 2021-12-31

    2. Hause, A. M. (2021). COVID-19 Vaccine Safety in Children Aged 5–11 Years—United States, November 3–December 19, 2021. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm705152a1

    3. 10.15585/mmwr.mm705152a1external icon.
    4. What is already known about this topic? In preauthorization trials for Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) COVID-19 vaccine, vaccinated children aged 5–11 years reported mild to moderately severe local and systemic reactions; no serious vaccination-related events were noted. What is added by this report? After authorization of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5–11 years during October 2021, and administration of approximately 8 million doses, local and systemic reactions after vaccination were commonly reported to VAERS and v-safe for vaccinated children aged 5–11 years. Serious adverse events were rarely reported. What are the implications for public health practice?? Parents and guardians of children aged 5–11 years should be advised that local and systemic reactions are expected after vaccination with Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and are more common after the second dose.
    5. COVID-19 Vaccine Safety in Children Aged 5–11 Years — United States, November 3–December 19, 2021
    1. 2022-01-05

    2. Kevin Courtney #NEU💝NHS. (2022, January 5). Ventilation isn’t just for Covid.... ...It’s for Education This study looks at the impact of CO2 not just as a marker of pollution but as a pollutant in itself. It shows that as CO2 rises above 700/800 ppm cognitive function begins to be impaired https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/27662232/4892924.pdf?sequence=1&fbclid=IwAR2kWIHIJfssa_sw72MD6W1hnkDvSm4bikK5FOLxwQxhjYLEYjfPCfzXz3E [Tweet]. @cyclingkev. https://twitter.com/cyclingkev/status/1478778857536860170

    3. But surely, we should be investing in ventilation so that children do not have to be in classrooms where their cognitive function is impaired by poor ventilation?
    4. The Government have distributed CO2 monitors but say that schools should take action to improve ventilation where CO2 readings are consistently higher than 1500 ppm - and aren't funding actions that could be taken.
    5. It says Cognitive function scores were: - 15% lower for a moderate CO2 day (~ 945 ppm) and - 50% lower on a day with CO2 concentrations of ~1,400 ppm - than on days where CO2 levels were between 500 & 700 ppm.
    6. Ventilation isn't just for Covid.... ...it's for Education This study looks at the impact of CO2 not just as a marker of pollution but as a pollutant in itself. It shows that as CO2 rises above 700/800 ppm cognitive function begins to be impaired https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/27662232/4892924.pdf?sequence=1&fbclid=IwAR2kWIHIJfssa_sw72MD6W1hnkDvSm4bikK5FOLxwQxhjYLEYjfPCfzXz3E