As we march together through the pandemic, many people are searching for ways to help others. One of the easiest ways to support the surrounding community is to schedule a local blood bank visit and make a donation.

According to the Red Cross, someone in the US needs blood every two seconds. The US requires 38,000 blood donations every day to meet the demand. While almost half of Americans are eligible to give blood, only 2% of the population donates.

Each blood donation saves up to three lives.

Covid-19 patients often require life-saving blood, plasma, and platelet transfusions. But hospitals need blood products for day-to-day patient care. 

Blood products are used during surgery for car accidents and other trauma. Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy often require frequent transfusions. Patients with chronic conditions, like sickle cell anemia, require transfusions throughout their lives. 

In my specialty, Obstetrics, and Gynecology, blood transfusions are sometimes needed to save a pregnant person’s life. Pregnancy conditions like preeclampsia destroy red blood cells and prevent blood from clotting. Conditions like uterine atony, placenta previa, and placental abruption often require mass transfusion protocols to keep mom and baby safe.

The Red Cross reports the US uses 36,000 units of red blood cells, 7,000 units of platelets, and 10,000 units of plasma every day

The reduction in blood donations is an under-reported pandemic side effect. Lockdown forced many blood banks across the country to close or delay donations. Community blood drives were canceled. Blood donations slowed a the same time the high number of critically ill patients due to Covid-19 increased the hospital demand.

The surge in Covid-19 cases last fall struck just as national blood banks hit their traditional donation “slow season” from Thanksgiving through the Holiday Season.

One gift Americans can give is a blood donation. Community involvement is crucial to increase the blood products available to people who need them.

Donating blood is not as scary as it sounds. After booking an appointment, donors will fill out a health history. If the donor meets the designated criteria, a staff member will insert an intravenous line (IV) into a vein. The process lasts about 10 minutes for whole blood donation and longer for plasma and platelet donation.

Most blood banks need all blood types and blood products, including plasma and platelets. Red blood cells (RBCs) help deliver oxygen from the lungs to tissues and organs. Platelets help the blood clot after an injury.

Type O negative blood is in high demand. People with type O blood are known as “universal donors.” Type O negative blood can be used in the highest number of people.

The FDA has released updated guidelines regarding blood donation and Covid-19. The FDA highlights the fact that blood transfusions do not transmit respiratory viruses. There have been “no reported cases of transfusion-transmitted coronavirus, including SARS-CoV-2, worldwide.”

Like The Red Cross and Carter Blood Bank, blood banks have updated blood donation eligibility guidelines for those who have already received a Covid-19 vaccine.

People who received the Pfizer, Moderna, or Janssen/Johnson and Johnson vaccine (or AstraZeneca from countries where it has been approved) may donate blood without delay in most cases. Most blood banks request donors provide the data and name of the vaccine to verify eligibility.

All donors must be in good health and have a normal temperature on the day of donation. People who recovered from a previous Covid-19 infection can also donate 14 days after all symptoms have disappeared. Covid-19 survivors who received monoclonal antibody therapy may donate blood with site-specific restrictions.

Blood banks are still in search of plasma donations from Covid-19 survivors. Plasma contains antibodies which are proteins made by the body to help fight infection. Convalescent plasma from patients who recovered from Covid-19 may have life-saving antibodies. The FDA approved convalescent plasma use for hospitalized Covid-19 patients under an emergency use authorization.

Anyone interested in donating plasma after a Covid-19 infection may sign up here.

The Red Cross and Carter Blood Bank will not accept a donation from those currently quarantine by a health care provider after exposure to Covid-19. Donors should wait until fourteen days after exposure before scheduling.

All blood donations are tested for Covid-19 before being released into the nation’s blood pool.

As the world grinds through the long days of the pandemic, each one of us can do our part. A ten-minute blood donation can save lives.

Any donor willing to help save lives may schedule at the Red Cross here. Carter Blood bank is also accepting donations at various locations across the US. To schedule, click here.

 Let’s make kindness more contagious than the pandemic. 

The post Donating Blood is an Easy Way to Help Out During the Pandemic appeared first on Medika Life.

Pfizer plans to submit these findings to the FDA and request emergency use authorization.

A Phase 3 study included 2,260 US participants. The research detected only 18 cases of Covid-19, and all were in the placebo group. None were in the study participants who received the vaccine.

Until recently, infection rates in children have been low. Children are often asymptomatic carriers but can pass the infection on to parents, teachers, and grandparents. The rise of variants such as B.1.1.7 is changing the way we view Covid-19 in children. A youth sports outbreak in Minneapolis was a wake-up call to public health experts.

February data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association show over 3 million children have contracted Covid-19 resulting in 268 death. A disturbing breakdown of the CDC data shows that 75% of Covid-19 deaths among children of color.

The press release is available for review here.

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The American College of Obgyn and other Women’s health experts agree that Covid-19 vaccines should be offered to pregnant or breastfeeding people. Pregnant women were excluded from the initial Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials. Obstetrician/gynecologists, like me, follow the latest research to help our patients make safe decisions regarding their pregnancy.

The Boston research team published a study titled “Covid-19 vaccine response in pregnant and lactating women” in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG). The paper is consistent with several small studies showing pregnant individuals have a robust immune response after the Covid-19 vaccination and secrete the antibodies into their breast milk.

This study analyzed blood samples and breast milk from 131 women in Boston and the surrounding area. The group included 84 pregnant, 31 lactating, and 16 nonpregnant individuals. The study also included five women who reported a previous SARs-CoV-2 infection. Each participant received the two-dose series of the Pfizer or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine following the FDA-approved protocols.

The research team tested blood and breast milk before vaccination and monitored the antibody response. The scientists compared antibody levels in pregnant women to 37 individuals with a history of natural infection during pregnancy and a cohort of nonpregnant people.

The results indicated a robust blood antibody response in all three groups. While scientists have shown already that moms pass protective antibodies to their baby after a natural Covid-19 infection, this study is important verification that pregnant women also develop an appropriate antibody response after vaccination.

Antibody transfer is good news for babies because a newborn’s immune system is not fully developed. Babies rely on maternal antibodies from blood and breast milk to protect against various infections during the first few months of life.

This study also reinforced encouraging news for lactating people. All the vaccinated mothers had antibodies in the breast milk samples. This finding provides further evidence that vaccinated women pass protective antibodies to their babies. Antibodies are present in breast milk within five to seven days of other viral vaccinations such as Tdap and influenza. Previous research also demonstrated women with a natural Covid-19 infection produce antibodies and secrete them into their breast milk. This study confirms published data from Portland that vaccinated women do too.

The side effects reported in the study were rare and similar in all three groups. The most common symptoms were fever and chills. These side effects are known to be good signs the vaccines are working to trigger an immune response.

This paper adds to the growing body of evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy and lactation. We continue to learn more about the novel coronavirus’s effects on pregnancy, newborns, and Covid-19 immunization in pregnancy.

Current research shows most pregnant people who contract Covid-19 have excellent outcomes but have an increased risk of ICU admission and preterm labor. Based on the known risks of Covid-19 infection in pregnancy, pregnant and lactating people are eligible for any one of the three Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccines.

None of the three FDA-approved vaccines contain a live virus. One cannot catch Covid-19 from the vaccine or spread the disease from the vaccines to a newborn through breastfeeding.

Pregnant patients can be confident knowing the three approved vaccines trigger an immune response to help protect themself and their babies.

Pregnant and lactating individuals are categorized as 1B in most states and1C in others.

To find a Covid-19 vaccine near you, click here.

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A new preprint study from the Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine shows more great news about vaccination during pregnancy. Their research confirmed the first known case of a baby born with detectable protective antibodies after maternal Covid-19 vaccination.

The paper titled “Newborn Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 detected in cord blood after maternal vaccination” follows the clinical course of a pregnant healthcare worker who received the first dose of the Moderna mRNA vaccine. Florida Atlantic University offered all front-line healthcare workers the Moderna mRNA. The mother had no previous known Covid-19 infection. She qualified for and received her vaccination at pregnancy week 36.

The paper titled “Newborn Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 detected in cord blood after maternal vaccination” follows the clinical course of a pregnant healthcare worker who received the first dose of the Moderna mRNA vaccine. Florida Atlantic University offered all front-line healthcare workers the Moderna mRNA. The mother had no previous known Covid-19 infection. She qualified for and received her vaccination at pregnancy week 36.

Three weeks later, she had a spontaneous vaginal delivery at term (39 weeks gestation). After delivery, she received her second dose as per the standard 28-day vaccine process. At the time of birth, the research team tested the healthy female infant’s umbilical cord blood for the presence of Covid-19 antibodies. The results showed a high level of IgG antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

These findings are not surprising. Other vaccines given during pregnancy like Tdap and influenza are known to transmit immunity from mom to baby. Both influenza and Tdap vaccines reduce the risk for newborn babies who are too young to get vaccinated. These vaccines transfer antibodies from mom to baby through the placenta, protecting infants until they are old enough to receive their own vaccinations.

The placenta is the organ inside the uterus that keeps the baby alive. Maternal blood circulates through this internal filtration system allowing the growing baby to get oxygen and nutrients from the mother. The placenta removes carbon dioxide and waste products while also serving as the defense system against invading infections like bacteria and viruses.

This paper is critically important to Obgyns, like me, as it serves as a proof of concept verifying maternal vaccination offers some degree of protection to newborn babies. Improving our maternal vaccination rates can prevent hospitalizations and potentially save lives.

This case report showing maternal antibody transmission to the baby after vaccination comes on top of other news showing antibodies are passed through breast milk. Previous studies confirmed that moms pass protective antibodies to their baby after natural Covid-19 infection and secrete antibodies during lactation.

The United States is now vaccinating 2.5 million people per day and reached the 100 million dose milestone on March 19. At this rate, all adults who want it are on schedule to be vaccinated by the end of May. Pregnant patients need evidence-based, reliable, and actionable information as soon as possible to help make informed decisions about their pregnancies.

Scientists learn more each day to help find answers regarding the novel coronavirus’s effects on pregnant people, newborns, and Covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy. Guideline and recommendations will continue to change and evolve as more data becomes available. Based on current research, we know most pregnant people who contract Covid-19 have excellent outcomes and have an increased risk of ICU admission and preterm labor. 

Pregnant and lactating people are eligible for any of the three Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccines, including the two messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna and the single-dose vaccine from Janssen/Johnson & Johnson. The CDC states, “There is currently no evidence that antibodies formed from COVID-19 vaccination cause any problem with pregnancy, including the development of the placenta.”

To continue to monitor the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccinations, the CDC established the v-safe COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry. Any pregnant person may choose to participate in the registry to help the world gain more knowledge and improve vaccine recommendations.

To join the V-safe pregnancy registry, click here.

Pregnant and lactating individuals are categorized as 1B in most states and1C in others. To find a Covid-19 vaccine near you, click here.

The post Baby Born With Protective Antibodies After Maternal Covid-19 Vaccination appeared first on Medika Life.

The project aims to enroll a diverse group of 75,000 people age 5-80 to identify the number of Texans who have Covid-19 antibodies and track the disease’s progression over time. The data collection assists public officials in making policy decisions by providing a Covid-19 snapshot in real-time. 

Texas CARES published preliminary data on the website dashboard showing that 14% to 24% of Texans have COVID-19 antibodies. Data from the population sample estimates that 27% of Hispanic Texans have COVID-19 antibodies as do 29% of Texans younger than 19.

After exposure to Covid-19, our immune system creates antibodies to help fight disease. Certain specific antibodies appear quickly, while others appear 4-6 weeks after the infection. A positive antibody test is an indicator of a past infection or past exposure. Tracking the number of Texas with positive antibodies can be combined with the number of vaccinated residents to help project a point in time when the state may reach herd immunity. 

Participants in the Texas CARES survey are prescreened with a health survey. Then, they are scheduled for blood testing at a local laboratory collection site. Testing centers are located in Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Brownsville, and El Paso through partnerships with Clinical Pathology Laboratories (CPL) and The University of Texas System. 

Antibody levels are collected over a series of three blood draws over three months, allowing scientists to determine the baseline Covid carrier rate and track antibody conversion over time. Testing Texans over time give scientists insight into the prevalence of Covid-19 exposures and the rate at which residents are developing antibodies. 

The current scientific literature indicates that positive antibodies from a natural infection have some degree of immunity. We do not know how long natural immunity lasts or how much protection natural immunity provides against the growing threat of Covid variants. The scientific evidence is clear that natural immunity provides less protection than antibodies from vaccination.

There are three FDA-approved vaccines for Covid-19. The two messenger RNA vaccines from Moderna and Phizer offer 95% protection against Covid-19. The Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen vaccine offers 72% protection against infection and 86% against severe disease. So far, data indicates these vaccines are effective against the variants arising in Texas. 

The vaccine rollout is improving across the state. Vaccine hubs have ramped up staff to accommodate the increased demand as Texas expanded the eligibility pool to those 50 years old and older. More than half of all Texas seniors have gotten at least one vaccine dose, and 30 percent are now fully vaccinated. Each day thousands more receive their vaccination. 

All three vaccines are highly effective in preventing death. 

The Texas CARES project is still looking for participants in Houston and all over the state. Recruitment is targeting people from a variety of backgrounds to increase the diversity of the data set. Currently, 7,622 people have enrolled with a goal of 75,000.

The Texas CARES project is an opportunity for Texans to pitch in and help. To collect the most accurate information, the survey needs as many participants as possible. 

Texans can sign up to participate in the survey here.

The post Houston Researchers Show 20% Of Texans Have Covid Antibodies appeared first on Medika Life.

A new paper published in the medical journal JAMA offers more encouraging news for pregnant women. Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas published a study titled Pregnancy Outcomes Among Women With and Without Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection.

The results show that 95% of women who tested positive for Covid-19 during pregnancy had no adverse outcomes. Five percent of infected women experienced severe complications such as pneumonia and respiratory distress.

This study also showed a low rate of newborn infections (3%) consistent with our previous reporting. Previously published data from the PRIORITY Study(Pregnancy Coronavirus Outcomes Registry) showed babies born to Covid-19-positive women do well with no increase in negative metrics such as low birth weight, difficulty breathing, apnea, or respiratory infections through the first eight weeks of life.

Based on current scientific understanding of Covid-19 infection in pregnancy, there is no evidence at this time indicating pregnant women are more at risk for severe illness from Covid-19 than the general public. In general, viral infections in pregnancy can lead to poor outcomes in mothers and newborns.

Pregnant women have a suppressed immune system and experience changes in the way the respiratory system functions. These physiological changes are essential but put pregnant women at a higher risk for respiratory problems when they contract other similar viruses such as MERS, SARS, influenza, or pneumonia.

This paper from UTSW adds to the growing body of medical evidence that most women who contract Covid-19 will do well. The authors acknowledge the scientific consensus that viral infections place pregnant women at risk but highlight the low number of sufficiently powered, large-scale studies conducted to accurately assess the specific risks associated with SARS-CoV-2. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in scientific research.

This large urban county health system’s research compared outcomes in 252 SARS-CoV-2-positive and 3,122 negative pregnant women. The data was collected from March 18 through August 22, 2020. The study population included 2,520 Latinx (75%), 619 Black (18%), and 125 White (4%) women. The statistical analysis controlled for variables such as age, parity, body weight, and other medical conditions.

The study found SARS-CoV-2 positivity was more common in Latinx women, accounting for 90% of the cases. Latinx women make up 75% of the 12,000 women delivering at UTSW.

Thirteen women (5%) developed severe respiratory complications requiring interventions, and one patient developed venous thromboembolism.

There was no difference in preterm birth rates, preeclampsia, C-section rates, or stillbirth in women with Covid-19. This data is further supportive evidence that pregnant women who test positive for Covid-19 and their newborn babies have a low risk of developing severe symptoms.

This study also evaluated the placenta for evidence of pathological changes. Scientists have been concerned the viral illness could lead to placental vasculopathy and inflammatory infiltrates. Pathologists studied the placentas of patients infected with Covid-19. This study found the majority were not affected by the virus.

NIH research indicates that in utero mom-to-baby transmission is rare because the placenta is missing key components the virus needs to enter the fetal circulation, namely ACE2 receptors and the TMPRSS2 enzyme. Both the ACE2 receptor and TMPRSS2 are present in the placenta but only in tiny amounts. The low levels likely explain why SARS-CoV-2 is unlikely to cross the placenta from mom to baby.

How do pregnant women protect themselves from Covid-19?

We all must do our part to prevent the spread of the virus. Pregnant women should follow the same global recommendations:

1. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
2. Use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.
3. Avoid touching your face.
4. Practice social distancing.
5. Cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze.
6. Clean your cellphone and household surfaces.
7. Avoid travel.
8. Wear a mask when out in public.
9. Get your flu shot.

Adhikari EH, Moreno W, Zofkie AC, et al. Pregnancy Outcomes Among Women With and Without Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(11):e2029256. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.29256

The post Here Is More Good News for Pregnant Women With Covid-19 appeared first on Medika Life.

This morning my Twitter feed blessed me with an outstanding video from Raven Baxter AKA Raven the Science Maven. Her video provides a fantastic explanation of immunology. The best part is she teaches us through rap music.

She walks us through the various types of antibodies and explains B cells as “B cells know the haters when they see them, so it’s fight night.” And how can you not love a lyric like “NK natural killers makin’ haters going night night”?

Baxter is an American molecular biologist and science communicator. She is a doctoral student at the University of Buffalo and the founder of STEMbassy, an organization dedicated to high-level science and technology discussions in politics, culture, and social issues. She is also the founder of Black In Science Communication.

We need more scientific leaders using social media tools and creative approaches to educate the public.

Science is fun!

Thank you for reminding us Raven the Maven.

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If your old (over 70) and either black, Hispanic, or an indigenous American, your on average 3.3 times more likely to die than a white person. Here is reliable data that breaks down these trends amongst Covid deaths in the US and it makes for interesting reading.

Data below are provided by APM Research labs and includes deaths in the United States through 13 October 2020. You can view their latest analysis of death rates here.

These are the actual documented, nationwide mortality impacts from COVID-19 data (aggregated from all U.S. states and the District of Columbia) for all race groups:

• 1 in 920 Black Americans has died (or 108.4 deaths per 100,000)
• 1 in 1,110 Indigenous Americans has died (or 90.0 deaths per 100,000)
• 1 in 1,360 Latino Americans has died (or 73.5 deaths per 100,000)
• 1 in 1,450 Pacific Islander Americans has died (or 68.9 deaths per 100,000).
• 1 in 1,840 White Americans has died (or 54.4 deaths per 100,000)
• 1 in 2,200 Asian Americans has died (or 45.4 deaths per 100,000)

Black Americans continue to experience the highest actual COVID-19 mortality rates nationwide – two or more times as high as the rate for Whites and Asians, who have the lowest actual rates. If they had died of COVID-19 at the same rate as White Americans, about 21,800 Black, 11,400 Latino, 750 Indigenous, and 65 Pacific Islander Americans would still be alive.

Adjusting the data for age differences in race groups widens the gap in the overall mortality rates between all other groups and Whites, who have the lowest rate. Compared to Whites, the latest U.S. age-adjusted COVID-19 mortality rate for:

• Blacks are 3.2 times as high
• Latinos are 3.2 times as high
• Indigenous people are 3.1 times as high
• Pacific Islanders are 2.4 times as high, and
• Asians are 1.2 times as high.

In attempting to explain these huge differences suggestions of disparities in healthcare, access to care, and generations of racially entrenched discrimination have been proffered. Further complicating the picture are comorbidities, arguably more prominent amongst the disadvantaged classes and America’s staggering obesity figures.

Whilst these arguments no doubt account for a percentage of the differences in mortality between races, they are on their own insufficient to explain this trend. There are a variety of other factors that can influence our risk of coronavirus.

Asia versus the West

If we examine death rates in Asia in comparison to the West, the staggering difference in mortality and infections becomes really apparent. The differences are so pronounced as to lend credence to conspiracy theories that the virus was engineered by the Chinese and is designed to exploit Western genetic traits.

An article appearing in the Washington Post in late May of 2020 highlighted the glaring discrepancies between death rates in Asia and the rest of the world. This gap has only widened in the months since. The graph below shows deaths by country in late May and is provided by John Hopkins.

As of 29 October, America currently sits at Number 9 on the John Hopkins list with 619 Covid deaths per million people, Mexico beats it for 8th place, with a rate of 707 per million. The United Kingdom earns the unenviable honor of the tenth place. You can view the latest global figures from John Hopkins via Statista.

Want to know how Asian countries are fairing six months on? Here is some data drawn from the link above. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll list the country first followed by the number of deaths per million. Philippines: (arguably no longer purely Asian with Spanish and other Western genes spread through the community) 65.8, Indonesia: 50.3, Japan: 13.71, South Korea: 8.91, Malaysia: 7.7, Singapore: 4.79, Chine (Population of 1,397.72 million) 3.39, Thailand: 0.85, Vietnam: 0.36.

Vietnam and Thailand enjoy populations of 96.46 and 69.63 million respectively. Thailand’s most populace city, Bangkok, boasts a population of 10,539,415 people. Looking at the data, it is easy to argue that countries like China may be distorting their figures, but the modern age of social media make widespread outbreaks impossible to cover up.

If you still don’t think these figures indicate an issue, then let me place the listed deaths in the countries above in their proper context, or rather as a percentage of the total recorded global deaths. 13, 895 Asians have died from Covid-19, according to official figures. Note this number intentionally excludes India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Against global deaths of 1,180 898 that converts to a percentage of 0.01177.

In case you still haven’t got it, well over 50% of the world’s population lives in Asia. They should statistically be as, if not slightly more likely, to have incurred equal or higher death rates from Covid as the West. 600 000 rather than the current figure of 13 895. It hasn’t happened, even on the heels of China’s five day holiday to celebrate New Year with millions of Chinese moving between cities. The million-dollar question is why?

This answer is hugely important. It may cast light on aspects of the virus we have to date ignored and even affect our management policies moving forward.

Vectors beyond the scope of pandemic management

We’ve already highlighted America’s obesity and I will examine global trends below. Age is clearly not at issue as Japan boasts the world’s oldest population and yet boasts one of the lowest death rates per million, given its population and the density of its communities. The fact that elderly Asians live with their families exposes them to even more risk than their Western counterparts, isolated in houses, retirement, or care homes.

Obesity

Obesity is a leading risk factor for serious covid-19 illness. According to the World Health Organization;

Just over 4 percent of Japanese people are classified as obese, and less than 5 percent of South Koreans. That compares with 20 percent or more in Western Europe, and 36 percent of people in the United States.

This undoubtedly plays a significant role in morbidity, but keep in mind that other diseases such as diabetes, another noted risk for Covid-19, are rife in countries like Malaysia. According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019, over 18% of adult Malaysians suffer from diabetes, half the population is obese or overweight and over 3 million Malaysians suffer from hypotension. Malaysia boasts a death rate of 7.7 people per million for Covid.

Our Immune systems

Our genes influence our immune responses and hugely so. People with Asian and European ancestry have enormous differences in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotype, genes that control the immune system’s response to a virus. This one single factor, more than any other, may point to the reason for Asia’s hugely low mortality rates.

Westerner’s immune systems may simply be unable to respond to Covid in quite the same way as Asians. Tatsuhiko Kodama of the University of Tokyo said studies had shown that Japanese people’s immune systems tended to react to the novel coronavirus as though they had previous exposure.

It is also worth noting that there are centuries of history of coronaviruses emerging from East Asia. According to Kodama;

“The enigma of lower death rates in East Asia can be explained by the presence of immunity.”

A team of researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in the United States has also pointed out that cross-immunity may have worked for some people. According to a paper released by the American scientific journal Cell, researchers found immune cells that reacted to the new coronavirus from about half of the blood samples collected from 20 people in the United States between 2015 and 2018.

Megan Murray, an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School, has suggested another factor worth exploring is differences in microbiomes — the trillions of bacteria that reside in a person’s gut and play a huge role in the immune response. According to Murray:

“Microbiomes are very different in different places. People eat very different food.”

Strains and Assumptions

Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University suggests the following.

“We are all facing the same bug with the same general arsenal of immune responses. There are differences in testing, reporting, control from country to country. And there are differences in rates of hypertension, chronic lung disease, et cetera, on a country-by-country basis.”

Are we all facing the same bug though? How has Covid mutated on its journey across the globe? Research by a team at Cambridge University showed how the virus mutated as it left East Asia and traveled to Europe, noting the possibility that the initial strain may have been “immunologically or environmentally adapted to a large section of the East Asian population” and needed to mutate to overcome resistance outside that region.

According to a more recent article in August from Science Daily;

The virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, presents at least six strains. Despite its mutations, the virus shows little variability. SARS-CoV-2 mutation rate remains low. Across Europe and Italy, the most widespread is strain G, while the L strain from Wuhan is gradually disappearing.

The Weather

It was initially thought that hotter more temperate climates slowed the virus‘s ability to spread, just as is seen with influenza and with coronaviruses that cause common colds. India cited as an example. The recent flare-up in India and high rates of death in humid and tropical South American countries have shown that weather patterns don’t dramatically affect the virus’s ability to infect a population.

Where does this leave us?

Ten months down the line you’d expect us to have more answers, but the truth is that there is still much about this coronavirus we do not understand. If we can still be having debates on the efficacy of something as simple as a mask and its impact on the spread of the virus, then it’s debatable how long science will take to address these far more complex questions.

Every day that passes in the “void of reliable information” created by Covid is another day that sees death rates climb, conspiracy theories flourish, and general misinformation flood the airwaves and internet. It becomes even more difficult to separate the chaff from fact and a recent publication by a group of Chinese scientists serves as an example in point.

Li-Meng Yan, a Chinese virologist, has been in hiding in the US after claiming that the Chinese authorities knew about the novel coronavirus long before the first cases were officially reported in Wuhan last December. She has also claimed that Covid-19 was created in a Chinese military laboratory and says that the worldwide pandemic is not of natural origin. Fox News and Tucker Carlson irresponsibly abetted Yan by inviting her onto his show to discuss her theory.

Yan and her team published their findings on Zenodo in a report entitled “Unusual Features of the SARS CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route.” Although dismissed by peer review, the report is well constructed and even seasoned virologists have had their work cut out to refute it, some would say with questionable consequences.

So, we’re back to our opening question and although we have identified a few likely candidates to help explain away the massive gap in Covid mortality rates between Asia and the West, we still don’t have any clear and definitive answers. Perhaps our time would be better spent seriously addressing this question. Answers my very well convert into lives spared and science could spare us the unpleasant political ramifications of not definitively burying the conspiratorialists for good.

The post How Your Genes, Race, and Immunity Make You a Target for Covid-19 appeared first on Medika Life.

Yet, a COVID-19 outbreak in May 2020 on a fishing vessel in Seattle may have done the same thing. The vessel had to return to shore 18 days after it had departed because one of the 122 people on board became very sick and needed hospitalization. Prior to departure, all 122 people were tested for COVID infection and for the presence of antibodies. Three people had what was called “neutralizing antibodies,” which means antibodies that inactivate the virus from infection.

They had data on 120 of the 122 crew members of the ship. Of the 117 people without antibodies, 103 tested positive for COVID-19. None of those with the neutralizing antibodies became infected. They did statistical analysis on these findings, and they found that this result had a 0.2% probability of being due to random chance.

Yes, this was a small study on one fishing vessel that had an outbreak. At the same time, it offers me — as a doctor who has been fighting COVID-19 on the front lines — hope that a vaccine that generates a similar neutralizing antibody response can actually work and offer protection against infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Of course, I will need to see the data, and I will not take a vaccine that has been rushed to market. At the same time, this study — with all its limitations — is encouraging to me, and it offers me hope that a good, safe, and effective vaccine will eventually work. In the midst of this pandemic that has so much darkness, we need some good news like this to bring us some light.

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