'Coronavirus Reinfection Will Soon Become Our Reality
[...]
Although the coronavirus mutates more slowly than other respiratory viruses, it still evolves dizzyingly fast. No single genetic change can turn a virus invisible to an entire immune system, but successive shifts in the virus's appearance can chip away at its familiarity. Subsequent infections under these circumstances are less about the body forgetting, and more about the virus disguising itself—the difference between a robbery abetted by a faulty security system, and one that succeeds because the burglar was in costume.
"From the body's perspective, that can be a whole different bug," [...]
These evasion tactics seem to play a role in enabling coronaviruses that cause common colds to infiltrate the human population on a regular basis, [...] a preprint study detailing the intricate arms race between human and microbe: Antibodies that could successfully squelch one version of a common-cold coronavirus stick around in people for years, but struggle to extinguish its genetically rejiggered descendants.
"It makes perfect sense[...] "Viruses are going to evolve in a way that [allows] them to continue infecting. Otherwise, they go extinct."
[...] none of the variants yet seems capable of completely eluding a typical immune response to the OG coronavirus or an OG-based vaccine—which is also very good news. It's a hint that, by and large, our immune systems are working as they should. The shots we've developed to protect us from the coronavirus will still dial down our risks of getting seriously sick with COVID-19; vaccine makers will update their recipes to account for the variants. People who are hit naturally with one variant, then another, will probably experience gentler symptoms the second time, if they feel ill at all. (Frequent, symptomatic reinfections with the same variant, by contrast, would forecast a less rosy future.)
The coronavirus [like
the devil?] is very likely here to stay, even after the pandemic officially ends. The virus will continue to have opportunities to evolve; in its myriad forms, it will cross paths with many of us again and again. "Reinfections are probably something we're going to have to get used to," [...] But virus and human will grow accustomed to each other, reaching something of a détente; immunity will, over time, build like a seawall.
Actualizing that reality will require vigilance on our behalf, too. If repeat infections tell us anything, it's that the less the virus mutates, the longer we'll be able to protect ourselves against it. Viruses can't replicate and evolve when they're starved of hosts, and we've long known how to best cut the conduits they travel.'
https://www.theatlan...fection/618128/
'Scientists are urging Americans to upgrade their face coverings. But Amazon, Google and Facebook restrict the sale of medical-grade masks. Critics say the rules are outdated.
It was the Facebook ad for a mask doubling as a hair scrunchie that pushed Dan Castle to despair.
His company, CastleGrade, makes a reusable, high-filtration face mask that has been popular among dentists, teachers and those who work in proximity to others — and willing to pay $44.99.
But he has been unable to sell his wares on Facebook since August, when the company abruptly blocked his ads, citing a policy aimed at ensuring medical-grade masks are reserved for health care workers. Since then, he said, sales have plummeted [...] And yet, he sees ads for nonmedical grade masks all of the time.
"These companies have such a monopoly that you really can't be in business without them," [...] "The policy just doesn't make sense."
Mr. Castle's experiences with Facebook echoed those of other small mask producers who have recently began making N95s and other medical grade masks. Largely shut out by hospital networks, they had hoped to sell their high-filtration products online, where Americans do much of their shopping. But the tech giants have not made it easy, even as scientists have urged the public to upgrade their face coverings to those that can block the tiny pathogens that cause infection.
But some public health experts and mask manufacturers say these rules are outdated, especially given the spread of more infectious coronavirus variants and the abundance of domestically made masks that are gathering dust in warehouses across the country. The restrictions, they say, may hinder the country's ability to limit new infections in the months before vaccinations become more widely available.
"Even though cases are coming down right now, we need people to be wearing high-filtration masks to prevent any sort of super spreading resurgences, particularly with these new variants," [...]
But mask-making behemoths like 3M and Honeywell have drastically increased production to meet the needs of medical workers, and China, which abruptly cut off exports in the early months of the pandemic, is once again flooding the United States with cheaper N95s.
"I'd be happy to sell my masks to health care workers, but right now hospitals aren't exactly banging down my door," said[...]the chief executive of Protective Health Gear, [...] that has a half million unsold N95 masks at its factory.
Facebook and Instagram prohibit advertisements for medical-grade masks but allow a large array of protective gear categorized as nonmedical grade, [...] Such products, Mr. Castle said, would seem to violate basic notions of coronavirus infection control.
[...] Facebook, which owns Instagram, said its prohibitions on the sale of medical masks were based on guidance from federal health authorities and the need to rein in the sale counterfeit masks. [...]
Many mask start-ups have been especially frustrated with Amazon. Unlike the blanket bans imposed by Facebook and Google, Amazon allows a wide range of masks to be sold on its site, but the company's algorithms combined with its seemingly contradictory policies can prove vexing for both buyers and sellers.
[...]
its seemingly contradictory approach to N95 masks — claiming such wares are reserved for medical personnel but then allowing exceptions for masks they have purchased in bulk — is probably an outgrowth of Amazon's bedrock strategy for maintaining consumer loyalty.
"Even if they make next to no money on that mask, it's really about keeping customers happy so they don't go somewhere else,[...] The problem is, if they allow these practices to scale up, it becomes disruptive to anything else that isn't Amazon."
It is hard to overstate the selling power of the tech giants. [...] Breathe99, [...] whose washable face mask filters out 99.6 percent of microscopic particles, said his company had been ailing since Facebook dropped its ads in December, leading to a 50 percent drop in sales. "Because of our cash flow crunch, we can only make small batches of masks but they sell out immediately," [...]
[...] Facebook, Google and Amazon said they had no immediate plans to revise their policies.
'
https://www.nytimes....ale-amazon.html
The Biden administration can help by changing (or at least prompting an immediate review of) that federal guideline about restricting N95 masks to medical workers.
This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 27 February 2021 - 07:53 PM
Help
Mezla PigDog, on 23 February 2021 - 10:28 PM, said:
