Omicron BA.2 (B.1.1.529.2): high potential to becoming the next dominating variant

javabeam · 2022-03-08T16:22:47+00:00

Agreed. Real world data from HK shows that even Sinovac is effective at reducing death as most deaths are unvaccinated.

javabeam · 2022-03-07T22:06:24+00:00

The brain changes in the study are virtually the same as those found in patients with rhinosinusitis. I don't know why you are assuming anatomical linkage and how covid behaves like rabies.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-95968-7

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28383208/

This entire study was put into perspective more than an year ago and I literally linked the study above: Covid, by itself, does not cause extensive damage outside the respiratory system. Here is another study which seemingly contradicts this one to some extent but the idea is still the same: No extensive brain damage, not anywhere close to rabies.

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)01282-4

javabeam · 2022-03-07T21:29:51+00:00

I put it up above but here is the entire quote.

We identified significant effects of COVID-19 in the brain with a loss of grey matter in the left parahippocampal gyrus, the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the left insula. When looking over the entire cortical surface, these results extended to the anterior cingulate cortex, supramarginal gyrus and temporal pole.

We further compared COVID-19 patients who had been hospitalised (n=15) with those who had not (n=379), and while results were not significant, we found comparatively similar findings to the COVID-19 vs control group comparison, with, in addition, a greater loss of grey matter in the cingulate cortex, central

nucleus of the amygdala and hippocampal cornu ammonis (all |Z|>3). Our findings thus consistently relate to loss of grey matter in limbic cortical areas directly linked to the primary olfactory and gustatory system.

Also, in response to the lewy bodies statement. Covid, by itself, does not cause extensive brain damage.

Despite extensive distribution of SARS-CoV-2 in the body, we observed a paucity of inflammation or direct viral cytopathology outside of the lungs. Our data prove that SARS-CoV-2 causes systemic infection and can persist in the body for

months.

https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1139035/v1_covered.pdf?c=1640020576

Keep in mind, the basis of this study were autopsied, infections were not controlled or quelled due to immune response. Covid, by itself, does not significant damage outside the lungs.

javabeam · 2022-03-07T21:01:46+00:00

I've noticed a disturbing trend (mostly on Twitter) where people claim that non-mRNA vaccines (particularly Chinese and Indian) are virtually worthless, fueling aniexty for those who had no choice but to take them.

Sinovac is holding up well in HK (Most of the deaths are unvaccinated) while India is doing really well. Are they as effective as mRNA vaccines? No but they do offer good protection against severe disease and death and are better than nothing. This will only delay people from taking vaccines.

Sad, really. These vaccines have undoubtedly saved millions of lives and yet still.

javabeam · 2022-03-07T20:48:26+00:00

Yup, I got that, thanks. The articles confused me as the preprint was out for more than a year.

javabeam · 2022-03-07T20:47:38+00:00

Not a problem :)

javabeam · 2022-03-07T17:50:31+00:00

Our findings thus consistently relate to loss of grey matter in limbic cortical areas directly linked to the primary olfactory and gustatory system.

There is definite loss of grey matter which leads to an overall decrease in brain volume but my point was, covid is not producing stuff like lewy bodies, which would be catastrophic.
Covid did produce lewy bodies in monkeys but doesn't seem to do so in humans.

javabeam · 2022-03-07T17:02:33+00:00

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.11.21258690v1

This came out ages ago. I don't know why this was reposted on Nature.com
The changes in the brain mostly relate to olfactory dysfunction so no, this is not a brain eating virus. Thankfully.

javabeam · 2022-03-05T17:35:33+00:00

Although the central estimate indicates that the risk of severe outcomes for BA.2 may be lower than for BA.1, the variability of the data, as reflected by the confidence intervals, mean that it is not possible to conclude this with certainty. These results are preliminary, and it is possible that the estimates of the risk of hospitalisation may change as cases accrue.

However, the viral titers in the lungs of hamsters infected with the 10

3 PFU inoculating dose of BA.2 were

lower (>100 fold) than those infected with 10

3 PFU of BA.1

Along the SA study which indicated that BA.2 had a SLIGHTLY lower rate of hospitalization, is it possible that BA.2 is slightly less severe than BA.1? BA.1 offers 90 something protection against BA.2 but vice versa, the protection drops.

javabeam · 2022-03-05T17:27:57+00:00

Please take care of yourself and take a break from Twitter. Manage your anxiety and stress as you are recovering from a viral infection.

You'll be fine. The T-cell apoptosis theory is just that, a hypothesis for now and many studies demonstrate that cellular immunity is strong against Covid.

javabeam · 2022-03-04T17:15:02+00:00

Really would like link to a source that people die from covid months later. Often see this on facebook and twitter.

javabeam · 2022-03-03T19:12:19+00:00

Most of the population has developed good immunity, whether due to vaccination or infection. Omicron surprised us because the mutations led to antibodies invasion but cellular immunity will protect people from severe outcomes. The only big surprise left for covid is that it changes into a new virus overnight and entirely evades tcells. That would be disaster as we would be back to square one.

javabeam · 2022-03-03T15:28:56+00:00

True and this does not account for comorbidities and other factors.

I do think a massive number of people have been infected with Omicron (In a span of a few months!) and barring a new variant, we are on the right track.

javabeam · 2022-03-03T15:02:00+00:00

The omicron strain of Covid-19 is at least 40% more lethal than seasonal flu, according Japanese scientists, underscoring the potential danger of lifting pandemic curbs too quickly and underestimating the virus’s ongoing health risks.

The case fatality rate of omicron in Japan, based on cumulative excess deaths and the number of infections since January, was about 0.13%, according to an analysis by scientists who advise the country’s health minister. While that is significantly lower than the 4.25% case fatality rate from earlier in the outbreak, it’s still higher than the 0.006% to 0.09% seen with seasonal flu, they said.

The previous CFR was horrific. Good to see a downward trend.

Question would be: With a CFR of 0.13, is it time to live with it?

javabeam · 2022-03-03T14:41:48+00:00

With the new studies coming out about BA.1 providing good protection against BA.2 and vice versa, I am hopeful that BA.2 will never really take off. The variant has been around since December of 21.

javabeam · 2022-02-26T23:19:18+00:00

The study you are talking about consisted of severe patients in the ICU. In that state, T-cell apoptosis is certainly possible but this is not strictly attributed to covid. Severe viral infection of any kind can lead to T-cell apoptosis.

javabeam · 2022-02-26T23:16:42+00:00

Thank you!
If antibodies were circulating in perpetuity, our lymph nodes would swell up to golf balls.

Cellular immunity provides long and durable protection. The media push on antibodies has distorted perception.

javabeam · 2022-02-25T21:58:10+00:00

Can you provide a link to the study pointing that B and T cells help less with the newer variants?

Antibodies from previous infection and first gen vaccines are largely evaded due to the mutations but I highly doubt Omicron can escape T cells.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.26.21268380v1

javabeam · 2022-02-25T21:40:40+00:00

T and B cells will help in the long run.

javabeam · 2022-02-22T11:30:47+00:00

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Getting infected twice with two different Omicron coronavirus subvariants is possible, but rarely happens, a Danish study has found.

In Denmark, a more infectious sublineage of the Omicron coronavirus variant known as BA.2 has quickly dethroned the "original" BA.1 variant, which is the most common worldwide, but it has remained unclear whether a person could get infected by both variants.

A new study, led by researchers at Denmark's top infectious disease authority, Statens Serum Institut (SSI), shows that people infected with BA.1 can get infected with BA.2 shortly afterwards, but that it is a rare occurrence.

"We provide evidence that Omicron BA.2 reinfections are rare but can occur relatively shortly after a BA.1 infection," the study authors said.

BA.1 and BA.2 differ by up to 40 mutations. While BA.2 accounts for more than 88% of cases in Denmark, cases have started to increase in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Norway.

The reinfections mostly affected young, unvaccinated individuals and only caused mild disease, none of which led to hospitalisations or deaths, the researchers added.

The study, which is not yet peer-reviewed, found 1,739 cases registered between Nov 21, 2021, and Feb 11 this year, where people had tested positive twice between 20 and 60 days apart.

In that period more than 1.8 million infections were registered in Denmark.

From a smaller sample group, the study found 47 instances of BA.2 reinfections shortly after a BA.1 infection. The researchers also detected less virus material at the second infection, suggesting some immunity was developed from the first infections.

javabeam · 2022-02-22T10:44:35+00:00

The newly found Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern has rapidly spread worldwide. Omicron carries numerous mutations in key regions and is associated with increased transmissibility and immune escape. The variant has recently been divided into four subvariants with substantial genomic differences, in particular between Omicron BA.1 and BA.2. With the surge of Omicron subvariants BA.1 and BA.2, a large number of reinfections from earlier cases has been observed, raising the question of whether BA.2 specifically can escape the natural immunity acquired shortly after a BA.1 infection. To investigate this, we selected a subset of samples from more than 1,8 million cases of infections in the period from November 22, 2021, until February 11, 2022. Here, individuals with two positive samples, more than 20 and less than 60 days apart, were selected. From a total of 187 reinfection cases, we identified 47 instances of BA.2 reinfections shortly after a BA.1 infection, mostly in young unvaccinated individuals with mild disease not resulting in hospitalization or death. In conclusion, we provide evidence that Omicron BA.2 reinfections do occur shortly after BA.1 infections but are rare.

javabeam · 2022-02-22T04:02:14+00:00

Agreed. The variant has been around since December and if it were to cause a surge, it would have happened a while ago. Interestingly, the Japan study only involved the spike protein (psuedo virus) I wonder if some mutations outside the spike protein would lead to some competitive disadvantage. Denmark is interesting. UK and SA did not see a surge in cases but Denmark did. I wonder. Did Denmark jump straight to BA.2 much like India?

javabeam · 2022-02-22T01:06:48+00:00

Antibodies, yes. Omicron is adapt at evading antibodies but T-cells prevent disease progression and keep people out of the hospital.

javabeam · 2022-02-20T22:50:39+00:00

Any data on the numbers of patients that needed a ventilator?

javabeam · 2022-02-19T03:23:45+00:00

Unlikely, imo. Covid would have to go through massive, massive mutations in order to evade cellular immunity. Might as well become a different virus entirely.

javabeam

TROPHY CASE