The biology of coronavirus COVID-19 - including research and treatments

Linked to previous posting on DT's Crowdfunding etc...

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/04/john-james-aids-treatments-covid-pandemic/618679/


https://covidsalon.com/

CovidSalon: Treatment Options
by John S. James, April 17, 2021

An AIDS treatment activist on COVID

Early Treatment: Monoclonal Antibodies Fluvoxamine Famotidine Other

Long COVID Research: Some Treatments to Test Crowdsourcing for a Cure Lab-Test Intensive N of 1 Trials How Long COVID Research Helps Everyone

Resources About This Site

Alert: 4th Wave Threat: A 4th wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is developing now (April 2021). This wave is driven by the variant B.1.1.7, first discovered in the UK and now the dominant virus (leading cause of new infections) in the U.S. This virus is:

• More contagious than previous COVID viruses;
• Maybe more deadly; one recent study found a 61% higher death rate, but two studies published April 12, 2021 did not find worse outcomes (see Treatment News, below); and
• More dangerous to younger and healthier patients in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, and more contagious to children.

Fortunately the vaccines are effective against this variant. For more information search any major news site (such as news.google.com) for B.1.1.7

 

Moved posts

https://www.jpost.com/health-scienc...ld-be-behind-long-terms-covid-symptoms-666799

 

But then surely the vaccines, injecting spike proteins into individuals, could be doing the same thing, altering gene expression?

 

Genetic changes could be behind long-term COVID symptoms
Even those with asymptomatic COVID infections could have long-lasting changes in genetic expression which could be behind long-lasting symptoms in recovered patients.

This really is a complete muddle. This has nothing to do with 'genetic changes'. They are talking about changes in expression of host genes and that simply means that the cells are actively responding to virus in some way - which we have assumed from day one. In fact the general view is that pretty much all symptoms in viral illness are due to cells responding to virus.

 

I can't follow these things very well anymore, but has it not been suggested that the problem in ME is that gene expression gets changed to cope with a viral infection but then gets stuck like that instead of going back to its preinfection state when the virus has gone.

 

Yes, epigenetic changes. This is usually temporary, like with sepsis and burns, but with us its postulated that we get stuck. Why we get stuck has multiple hypotheses. So its not about the genes so much as which ones are off or on, according to these hypotheses. This is reflected in both the miRNA and metabolomic data. Yet we still have not proven a detailed mechanism. Its all still under investigation.

 

Yes, but 'gene expression' just means cells are doing something. It provides no other useful meaning. It is a pretension. If someone says 'altered gene methylation' then that is a bit more specific but gene expression covers everything active - metabolism, immune signalling, salt regulation - everything.

 

Recording of a webinar (in Swedish), hosted by Uppsala University.

ME is mentioned. One of the panelists, Petter Brodin, has done some ME research (I'm not sure if he is still doing it?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRSBwcVkH14

 

Didn't know where else to put this, and it's distinctly stale news, but the BBC News tonight had a report on trained sniffer dogs very successfully picking out people who were wearing clothing which had been worn by a Covid patient. It will be a great help e.g. at airports if most of the people who need to undergo a PCR test can be picked out easily.

 

The sensitivity and specificity of sniffer dogs for something like COVID is poor, I suspect it's promotion, is so that it can be used as a deterrent.

 

The opportunists are out.
https://twitter.com/user/status/1389573799008473088

 

Does anyone know when the virus sticks to something or is on something will it stay on it or can the wind/air/fans blow it off?

Curious also does it stick to things when moving around in the air (not talking about it on facemasks) or only when it falls on things or is directly "sprayed" ?

The CDC writes not to shake your laundry yet that may be different than if on an object and strong air movement, etc.

Reason I'm asking is cause of something happening within feet of my room involving this and other variables. I need to understand what precautions I may need to take. I still haven't been able to get the vaccine and I'll only be able to do the J&J when I do.

 

The Swedish charity Hjärt-Lungfonden ("Heart Lung Foundation") has donated 15.7 million SEK (approx GBP 1.3 million, USD 1.9 million) to covid-19 research.

A complete list of the 30 funded research projects (biomedical focus, yay!) is available here:

Hjärt-Lungfonden delar ut 16 miljoner till forskning om covid-19
https://news.cision.com/se/hjart-lu...-miljoner-till-forskning-om-covid-19,c3333443

Approx 40% of the money goes to Karolinska Institutet:

KI får 6,5 miljoner i anslag till covid-19-forskning
https://nyheter.ki.se/ki-far-65-miljoner-i-anslag-till-covid-19-forskning

(The project I'm most excited for personally is Arthur Fedorowski's study about chronic cardiovascular dysautonomia and POTS. He has seen many POTS patients with ME over the years, and I believe his experience is very valuable in this context.)

 

They have high hopes that less than $2M will go a long way? How disconnected from reality are they? All of it?!

I'd sell them the Brooklyn bridge but first I'll go ahead and build a duplicate all by myself on the odd week-end. Should be done in shortly. That's about as likely to work.

 

Merged thread
The article argues that there is now too much circumstantial evidence pointing to a lab leak to ignore.

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-...oke-wuhan-lab-story-embarrassed-media-1596958

 

Nobody seems to be asking how 9 coronaviruses ended up in a mineshaft, and nowhere else.

 

90,000 bats would shit there every day.
You would find as many viruses wherever there are bats but maybe this was the easiest place to go digging the shit out from.

 

Merged thread - re children being severely affected

It is worrying that there have been 10 children hospitalised in Scotland with covid in the last week. They do not know if some of the new variants are causing more severe disease in children.