[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Malankazooie, on 22 May 2022 - 04:13 PM, said:

Monkeypox . . . what up? Are we in that phase of the end times where we are beset by plagues?

Complete with lesions, pustules, scars... and there's a vaccine that seems to work but it has nasty side effects (temporary though I think?) and leaves a scar (Mark of the Beast oh no!... mark of the... monkey?). If it actually has mutated to be more contagious it's a concern. Might be spreading through sexual or skin-on-skin contact (or could just be from the close proximity involved...). Also, syphilis has been surging... with covid at least having sex outside with a P100 mask on seemed relatively safe. Though with monkeypox skin-to-skin contagion is only supposed to happen if they rub their lesions against you... or their saliva gets on you. So can you get it from receiving oral sex without a condom or dental dam (etc.)?...

[Aptorian]

Dude, you don't have to make everything be so mysterious or scary. The cure is the ordinary small pox vaccine, that millions of people already have.

I got the small pox vaccine back in 1999 when I went to Africa. You get a little round scar on your arm. That's it. It's preferable to looking like the surface of the moon.

[Tsundoku]

Can't say I ever had the smallpox vaccine.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Aptorian, on 22 May 2022 - 07:37 PM, said:

Dude, you don't have to make everything be so mysterious or scary. The cure is the ordinary small pox vaccine, that millions of people already have.

I got the small pox vaccine back in 1999 when I went to Africa. You get a little round scar on your arm. That's it. It's preferable to looking like the surface of the moon.

... good luck getting Trump supporters to take a vaccine that has unpleasant side effects. Though perhaps it will be even easier to spot them with pustules (or scars from pustules) all over their faces....


From Nature:

'[...] has alarmed scientists — and sent them racing for answers.

"It's eye-opening to see this kind of spread," [...] says [...] an epidemiologist [...] who has studied monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for more than a decade.

[...] rapid spread is what has scientists on high alert.

[...] distinctive fluid-filled lesions on the face, hands and feet [...]

[...] exactly how much the strain causing the current outbreaks differs from the one in western Africa — and whether the viruses popping up in various countries are linked to one another — remains unknown.

Answers to those questions could help determine if the sudden uptick in cases stems from a mutation that allows this monkeypox virus to transmit more readily than those of the past'

Monkeypox goes global: why scientists are on alert (nature.com)

And fwiw:

'Biden says "everybody" should be concerned about spread of monkeypox'

Biden says 'everybody' should be concerned about spread of monkeypox

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 22 May 2022 - 08:01 PM

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Azath Vitr (D, on 22 May 2022 - 08:01 PM, said:

Aptorian, on 22 May 2022 - 07:37 PM, said:

Dude, you don't have to make everything be so mysterious or scary. The cure is the ordinary small pox vaccine, that millions of people already have.

I got the small pox vaccine back in 1999 when I went to Africa. You get a little round scar on your arm. That's it. It's preferable to looking like the surface of the moon.

... good luck getting Trump supporters to take a vaccine that has unpleasant side effects. Though perhaps it will be even easier to spot them with pustules (or scars from pustules) all over their faces....


From Nature:

'[...] has alarmed scientists — and sent them racing for answers.

"It's eye-opening to see this kind of spread," [...] says [...] an epidemiologist [...] who has studied monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for more than a decade.

[...] rapid spread is what has scientists on high alert.

[...] distinctive fluid-filled lesions on the face, hands and feet [...]

[...] exactly how much the strain causing the current outbreaks differs from the one in western Africa — and whether the viruses popping up in various countries are linked to one another — remains unknown.

Answers to those questions could help determine if the sudden uptick in cases stems from a mutation that allows this monkeypox virus to transmit more readily than those of the past'

Monkeypox goes global: why scientists are on alert (nature.com)

And fwiw:

'Biden says "everybody" should be concerned about spread of monkeypox'

Biden says 'everybody' should be concerned about spread of monkeypox

By "everybody", he meant Everett "Everybody" Smith, the man with the Guinness record for worst immune system.

[Mezla PigDog]

Azath Vitr (D, on 22 May 2022 - 06:12 PM, said:

Malankazooie, on 22 May 2022 - 04:13 PM, said:

Monkeypox . . . what up? Are we in that phase of the end times where we are beset by plagues?

Complete with lesions, pustules, scars... and there's a vaccine that seems to work but it has nasty side effects (temporary though I think?) and leaves a scar (Mark of the Beast oh no!... mark of the... monkey?). If it actually has mutated to be more contagious it's a concern. Might be spreading through sexual or skin-on-skin contact (or could just be from the close proximity involved...). Also, syphilis has been surging... with covid at least having sex outside with a P100 mask on seemed relatively safe. Though with monkeypox skin-to-skin contagion is only supposed to happen if they rub their lesions against you... or their saliva gets on you. So can you get it from receiving oral sex without a condom or dental dam (etc.)?...

It's not remotely sexually transmitted. It's transmitted the same way as chickenpox.

I'll be curious to see how this goes or what has driven it. The most important thing at this stage is that it doesn't get stigmatised as being in a particular community as that will hamper the reaction to it. It's A Sin is on UK Netflix if anyone needs an education (and a good cry).

[QuickTidal]

Mezla PigDog, on 24 May 2022 - 06:57 AM, said:

Azath Vitr (D, on 22 May 2022 - 06:12 PM, said:

Malankazooie, on 22 May 2022 - 04:13 PM, said:

Monkeypox . . . what up? Are we in that phase of the end times where we are beset by plagues?

Complete with lesions, pustules, scars... and there's a vaccine that seems to work but it has nasty side effects (temporary though I think?) and leaves a scar (Mark of the Beast oh no!... mark of the... monkey?). If it actually has mutated to be more contagious it's a concern. Might be spreading through sexual or skin-on-skin contact (or could just be from the close proximity involved...). Also, syphilis has been surging... with covid at least having sex outside with a P100 mask on seemed relatively safe. Though with monkeypox skin-to-skin contagion is only supposed to happen if they rub their lesions against you... or their saliva gets on you. So can you get it from receiving oral sex without a condom or dental dam (etc.)?...

It's not remotely sexually transmitted. It's transmitted the same way as chickenpox.

It's transited by bodily fluids though....which you can transmit sexually from any number of acts.

It's not transmitted exclusively sexually as a virus...but in this 2022 outbreak (it's actually been around since the 70's I think?) it does seem to be primarily spreading through sex. Shrug.

[Mezla PigDog]

It's not transmitted by bodily fluids. It is present in the fluid secreted from the spots, which isn't a 'bodily fluid' per se. So similar to chickenpox when a child is in the spotty phase before they all scab over, if someone touches a spot on another person or bedding/towels that have touched the spots, then touches one of their own fluid membranes, then it can be transmitted.

This is a really important phenomena in fighting infectious diseases because people are awful. If you give anyone a fraction of an inch to link it to something 'taboo' or stigmatised and you are on the back foot getting on top of an outbreak from day 0.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Mezla PigDog, on 24 May 2022 - 01:29 PM, said:

It's not transmitted by bodily fluids. It is present in the fluid secreted from the spots, which isn't a 'bodily fluid' per se. So similar to chickenpox when a child is in the spotty phase before they all scab over, if someone touches a spot on another person or bedding/towels that have touched the spots, then touches one of their own fluid membranes, then it can be transmitted.

This is a really important phenomena in fighting infectious diseases because people are awful. If you give anyone a fraction of an inch to link it to something 'taboo' or stigmatised and you are on the back foot getting on top of an outbreak from day 0.

Then how does it get into 'respiratory droplets'? Are there lesions in the mouth/nose? Seems like it would then be mixing with bodily fluids....

'Human-to-human transmission is thought to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required. Other human-to-human methods of transmission include direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, and indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated clothing or linens.'

Transmission | Monkeypox | Poxvirus | CDC

[QuickTidal]

Mezla PigDog, on 24 May 2022 - 01:29 PM, said:

It's not transmitted by bodily fluids. It is present in the fluid secreted from the spots, which isn't a 'bodily fluid' per se. So similar to chickenpox when a child is in the spotty phase before they all scab over, if someone touches a spot on another person or bedding/towels that have touched the spots, then touches one of their own fluid membranes, then it can be transmitted.

This is a really important phenomena in fighting infectious diseases because people are awful. If you give anyone a fraction of an inch to link it to something 'taboo' or stigmatised and you are on the back foot getting on top of an outbreak from day 0.

Right, but then it can be transmitted though sex the same way that herpes can, no? Like this is how people get genital herpes.

[Mezla PigDog]

Missing the point! It's a communicable infection. Same as many infections. Just because something can be caught whilst having sex does not mean it's primary route of infection is sexually transmitted. Infectious diseases tend to be caught in close proximity to infectious people and you can't have sex with someone from far away. That does not make most infections sexually transmitted.

I've been working in HIV diagnostics for a long time and this hits a nerve because more people died than needed to due to the stigma of it being primarily in the gay male community.

[QuickTidal]

Mezla PigDog, on 24 May 2022 - 03:37 PM, said:

Missing the point! It's a communicable infection. Same as many infections. Just because something can be caught whilst having sex does not mean it's primary route of infection is sexually transmitted. Infectious diseases tend to be caught in close proximity to infectious people and you can't have sex with someone from far away. That does not make most infections sexually transmitted.

I've been working in HIV diagnostics for a long time and this hits a nerve because more people died than needed to due to the stigma of it being primarily in the gay male community.

Fair enough. Not trying to argue with you about it, just that a lot of the reports do seem to indicate sexual transmission as primary right now for the outbreaks.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'A large U.S. study looking at whether vaccination protects against long covid showed the shots have only a slight protective effect: Being vaccinated appeared to reduce the risk of lung and blood clot disorders, but did little to protect against most other symptoms.

[...] only a slightly reduced risk of getting long covid — 15 percent overall. The greatest benefit appeared to be in reducing blood clotting and lung complications. But there was no difference between the vaccinated and unvaccinated when it came to longer-term risks of neurological issues, gastrointestinal symptoms, kidney failure and other conditions.'

Coronavirus vaccines may not prevent many symptoms of long covid, study suggests - The Washington Post

'Compared to the control group of people without evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, people who were not hospitalized during the first 30 days of BTI [breakthrough infection] exhibited an increased risk of death (HR = 1.29 [= 29% higher]

[...] The risk of having at least one post-acute sequela [long covid symptom] was evident in non-hospitalized people (HR = 1.25 [= 25% higher risk ...]

[Controlling for] Health characteristics included prior history of anxiety, cancer, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, peripheral artery disease, dementia, depression, type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and measures of estimated glomerular filtration rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and body mass index (BMI).

[...]

Risk of post-acute sequelae in people with breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to the contemporary control group by acute phase care setting



'

Long COVID after breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection | Nature Medicine

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Non-hospitalized COVID-19 "long haulers" continue to experience neurologic symptoms, fatigue, and compromised quality of life 14.8 months after initial infection.

[...]

77% were vaccinated for SARS-CoV-2. Overall, there was no significant change in the frequency of most neurologic symptoms between first and follow-up evaluations, including "brain fog" (81 vs. 71%), numbness/tingling (69 vs. 65%), headache (67 vs. 54%), dizziness (50 vs. 54%), blurred vision (34 vs. 44%), tinnitus (33 vs. 42%), and fatigue (87 vs. 81%). However, dysgeusia and anosmia decreased overall (63 vs. 27%, 58 vs. 21%, both p < 0.001). Conversely, heart rate and blood pressure variation (35 vs. 56%, p = 0.01) and gastrointestinal symptoms (27 vs. 48%, p = 0.04) increased at follow-up. Patients reported improvements in their recovery, cognitive function, and fatigue, but quality of life measures remained lower than the US normative population (p < 0.001). SARS-CoV-2 vaccination did not have a positive or detrimental impact on cognitive function or fatigue.'

Evolution of neurologic symptoms in non-hospitalized COVID-19 "long haulers" - PubMed (nih.gov)

These long covid studies should really do more to measure severity, not just frequency. It's alarming that the frequency of neurological symptoms doesn't significantly decrease (for those with bad enough cases to go to a long covid clinic---and it's worth bearing in that that study was relatively small), but slightly reassuring that patients report self-perceived improvements in cognitive function and fatigue (by how much though? what do more objective measures indicate?).


'new research shows that an omicron infection is a poor substitute for a vaccine. In a study published last week in the journal Nature, researchers looked at immune responses in mice and humans after infection with different variants. They found that an omicron infection provided little shielding against other versions of the virus.

"Omicron by itself sweeping through the world is not going to induce a very robust immune status protective against other variants in the future if you are not vaccinated," [...]

As for BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5, these new subvariants appear to dodge some of the immunity generated by BA.1 and BA.2.

[...] That will likely fuel more Covid-19 cases throughout the summer.

[...]

"Even slight changes to omicron in these new variants seem to be sufficient to actually circumvent this neutralizing activity,"'

B.A.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5: Meet the new omicron subvariants - Vox

So the new subvariants do evade immunity provided by BA.2, implying new waves may be imminent in the UK and much of Europe? But it's not clear yet whether BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 provide post-infection immunity against each other?... US BA.2.12.1 wave could be followed by BA.4, then BA.5 (or vice versa)?...

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'The U.S. has wasted over 82 million Covid vaccine doses'

The U.S. has wasted over 82 million Covid vaccine doses

... many of which could have gone to people who wanted an additional booster but weren't officially allowed to get one and so didn't.


'SARS-CoV-2 Actively Infects And Kills Lymphoid Cells

Much of the public discussion surrounding [...] infection has focused on the interactions between the [...] spike protein and cellular ACE2 receptors. [...] In a recent paper published by the journal Nature, scientists describe a new target for the [...] virus that is independent of ACE2 receptors—our T cells. [...]

[...] Lymphocytes are the fundamental defense cells of our adaptive immune system. They consist of natural killer cells, T cells, and B cells. When any of these cells are reduced, it can inhibit our body's ability to protect itself from viruses. [...]

[...] lymphocytes are known to contain very few, if any, ACE2 receptors. How then, could SARS-CoV-2 have such a profound effect on T cells?

[...] it will be interesting to discover exactly how this virus attacks and dismantles one of our key defense systems.'

SARS-CoV-2 Actively Infects And Kills Lymphoid Cells

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 06 June 2022 - 07:55 PM

[Gorefest]

Interesting observation if true, but not sure how concerning that really is. All severe viral infections cause lymphoid cell death, even the flu if you get it bad enough. This article makes it sound as if Sars-Cov-2 is specifically targeting and killing your immune cells as a new thing to worry about, whereas it is only demonstrated in a small subsection of severely ill patients and can only be replicated in an in vitro model system with unclear relevance to the actual disease process. Bit sensationalist.

[ArchieVist]

Looks like the monthlong Erikson/Esslemont book tour through France has been interrupted because Erikson picked up Covid.

Translated by Google from his French publisher's Facebook page.

June 8

Quote

The Tour is now in Paris, hosted from 7pm in a superb reception room of the town hall of the 5th by Le Nuage Vert! Ian Cameron Esslemont will reveal some secrets of the Malaza universe and will dedicate Dancer's Lament, 1st essential volume of the prequel series to The Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson... 😉 Steven Erikson will unfortunately be absent due to Covid but all his books bought on site can be signed by him in about ten days. 😉

June 10

Quote

Today's Lyon stage is unfortunately cancelled by Trollune following Steven Erikson's Covid.

Get well, Steve!

*****UPDATE******
The tour is back on.
June 14

Quote

The tour resumes with the entire team for its final stretch! Meet Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont in a few minutes at the Actes Sud Bookstore in Arles!

This post has been edited by ArchieVist: 14 June 2022 - 06:14 PM

[Malankazooie]

Been awhile since I thought of this topic, but stuff always comes back around, don't it just? So Fauci got covid and that's causing a ruckus. And a bigger kicker than that, Justin Bieber has partial facial paralysis, which some are attributing to the covid vaccine.

[Puck]

After two and a half years I may or may not have joined the exalted club of those who have had Covid... I've nothing but symptoms to go on (fatigue, foggy brain, throat feeling funny, shortness of breath, migraine for days) and those intergrated so smoothly into my standard malaises of (severe) headaches and allergic asthma I chucked it up to the weather making me feel funny for several days. And when on day six of symptoms my foggy, stubborn brain got the idea to do a test, two of those quick home tests came out negative, so it's still up in the air (you only get the proper test here atm when the home one was positive and/or you've got very obvious symptoms). But it just makes too much sense, especially the clustering and duration of symptoms, which is unusual.

Now, do I annoy my GP about getting a proper test? Does it make sense a week after first symptoms, or do I just take another two or three days off work just to be sure I can't transmit it in case it is the 'Rona?

This post has been edited by Puck: 02 July 2022 - 09:20 PM

[Mezla PigDog]

I'd go on symptoms, Puck. If you feel too sick to work, then don't. If you feel well enough then continue. You have tested negative, there isn't a lot more that you can do. In the UK there are a lot of people with symptoms who are testing negative - it could easily be another 'cold' virus. These people in my social circle are putting masks on and going about their business and hoping for the best but not visiting people they know are vulnerable until symptoms pass.

The pandemic 'vibe' and testing options lead us all to massively overthink every cold-like symptom.