"COVID is back" only in the sense that media+govts are talking about it again. It never went away.
Just because you hadn't been hearing the word doesn't mean it wasn't being spoken about, knowingly or otherwise.
While the aforementioned entities don't suffer symptoms or illnesses that necessitate explanation, they do discuss delays, worker shortages, supply chain disruption, etc.
On the other hand, an individual must use euphemisms like allergies, summer cold, under the weather, out sick, fatigue, brain fog, diabetes, autoimmune disease, cancer, natural causes, etc, to gloss over new or ongoing health issues.
I wonder how N95s are holding up in places like kitchens with a lot of oily aerosols flying around -- that seems like an environment where the R or P rating would be better
The count of antibodies for the OG strain is ~20x that of the newer strains, and even though XBB.1.5 was targeted. Also it's antibody count is roughly similar with BA.2.86.
Since VE against infection is related to the number of antibodies, it's not likely to protect much.
To me the bigger issue is why? A couple of reasons come to mind:
Imprinting -- we are now producing antibodies to the OG strain no matter what is presented as long as it's related.
Inherent immune evasiveness of the new strains -- Are these strains inherently more evasive, implying at least this gen of shots will longer protect
It could also be a combination of these.
It implies we really need to focus on cutting down transmission as much as possible (#ZeroCovid) using respirators/air-cleaning/distancing, in addition to focusing on anti-virals to help the already infected.
>SARS-CoV-2 is a protean virus. It seems designed to reinfect a previously infected host, changing its outer coat as well as some of its properties.
>We all remember Omicron and how it swept the world that had already experienced several waves of Covid cases. There were so many changes in the outer spike protein of Omicron that previous infections did little to protect from new infections. How much previous infection protects from disease still remains in question.
>BA.2… contained 54 amino acid mutations from the original Wuhan virus. The cause for concern with BA.2.86 is that it contains 41 amino acid mutations on top of the BA.2 mutations, totaling 95 mutations from the Wuhan virus.
>BA.2.86 is likely a common descendant of one of the original Omicron variants, BA.2, [?and a more recent variant, XBB?]. In the spike protein of BA.2.86, we see 60 amino acid mutations, including substitutions and deletions. For context, the Alpha variant, which fueled the second-largest surge of cases in the United States behind the initial Omicron surge, contained just ten spike amino acid mutations. Dr. Eric Topol describes BA.2.86 as "Omicron Squared."
>…the updated Covid vaccine set to be released this fall is designed to protect against the XBB.1.5 variant, but not BA.2.86. The hope is that the vaccine will protect against BA.2.86 should it widely circulate, but it would be unsurprising if the variant evaded booster protection, given the degree to which BA.2.86 is mutated in the spike is extreme.
Surely we aren't still assuming only those with symptoms are sick and/or can transmit.
So then, is there widespread access to testing that can be done anytime, anywhere, to ensure we catch the absolute glut of a-, presymptomatic, and maybe even persistent cases?
I think we'd best have a conversation about mask efficacy in the context of time-to-infection, viral load and other highly-speculative estimations that have been proffered over the course of the pandemic thus far.
You cannot build a rock-solid scientific model on top of such things.
Who gets happy when they are stuck in some environmental viral stew (e.g., hospital, medical office) for some time and then have to wait out the critical incubation period and comes out the other side unscathed because they wore a respirator/N95/mask?
I do! :mastohappy: :dance_cool_doge: :monkeydance: :acnhisabelledance: 💃
The Kimberly-Clark duckbill N95 in small (54066) seems to fit excellent on my 3 and 5yo; 1yo's head is almost as big as 3, so expect it'll fit well, too
These are the first ones that seem to fit well enough to bother with a DIY qualitative fit test -- hoping to do one soon 🤞
Downside is the straps. They're good on first wear, but stretch enough that I assume fit will be worse, hence. There might be space on the edges of the 'bill' to staple on some new ones, though; might test a few hacks
To all propagand... er... “journal”ists whom it may concern,
I-NoLonger-GAF what “health officials” think isn't “concerning”, or any other opinion they have about the risks/threats that infectious diseases don't pose. Let's be real: after the past three years, they've proven they're all ‘officious’ and no ‘health’.
Y’all I just had to metaphorically duke it out with #UWMedicine re not taking off my mask for the required pre-op bacterial swab of my nose and throat.
After telling them 3 ways they could keep me safe and collect the swab, a worker finally piped up that they are bringing back MASKS FOR EVERYONE in all their medical facilities starting October 1. So I’ll be returning for the swab, then, and they are going to let me bring my air purifier, too.
The alleged problem:
“...there is a confluence of factors that are driving physicians out of hospitals, and this is negatively affecting Albertans’ access to timely, acute care.”
The proposed solution:
“Match alternative relationship plan rates to current fee-for-service billing in Alberta; Incent after-hours care; Provide competitive rates for physician availability; Address and remove further compensation reductions.”
• How long have we been sounding the alarm that this was the inevitable outcome of LetErRip™?
• Is there so much denial even among physicians/hospitalists in Alberta that they may be swayed by the promise of money rather than a safe workplace?
At least no one can deny that #measles is airborne and that airborne precautions prevent it. Want to kill several birds with one stone in an age of immunodysregulation and vaccine evasion? #WearAMask (#WearARespirator)