By Nancy Lepid
(Reuters) – The following novels are a roundup of recent scientific studies on coronavirus and efforts to find a cure and vaccine for covid-19 disease.
The New York variant saves a third worrying change
The increasing Coronavirus variant in New York City has the same E484K mutation found in variants in Brazil and South Africa, with the COVID-19 vaccine and antibody therapy thought to be less effective, as well as a mutation called S477N that made it more rigid. Helps. Cells when it breaks them down. New information has been added to a report posted on MedRaxiv before a peer review on Monday by researchers from the New York State Department of Health. All versions of the circulating variable in New York save the so-called D235G mutation which reduces the effectiveness of neutralizing antibodies. Researchers say the number of viruses spreading in New York State has increased nearly 26-fold in a month. The combination of E484K or S477N with the D253G mutation that can escape immunity, and the increased number of Covid-19 cases associated with these types, offers more surveillance variants, they said. (https://bit.ly/2ZYX0JM)
Vaccinating the elderly protects most years of life
Preferring the elderly for COVID-19 vaccination saves not only most lives, but most years of life, a new study suggests. Considering age and health risks, the authors calculated the potential survivors of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, Germany, and South Korea and increased that number by the lifespan of those vaccines. Joshua Goldstein, president of the University of California, Berkeley, said patients’ risk of dying from COVID-19 increases rapidly with age – at a rate of about 11% per year compared to the rest of their lifetime. Without vaccinations, the number of deaths in COVID-19 is so high compared to younger groups in the oldest age groups that protecting older groups, in fact, saves more years of life. “Prior to this study, there was a suspicion that there would be a slightly intermediate age – not too old and not too young – that would increase the benefit of the vaccine in terms of saving years of a person’s life.” Goldstein said in a statement. Instead, vaccinating a 90-year-old in the United States saves twice as many years as vaccinating a 75-year-old, and six times more than vaccinating a 50-year-old, his team said in action Thursday. USA National Academy of Sciences. (https://bit.ly/2Pd0TZh)
Full personal protective devices can make the wearer sick
Operating essential protective devices (PPE) in operating rooms and in intensive care units can make wearers sick, a small study confirms. The researchers said the findings help explain the reports made by physicians of difficulty breathing, headaches and mental retardation by wearing a full protective suit, the researchers said. Of the eight surgeons who volunteered for the study, PPE impaired breathing, resulting in low blood levels of carbon dioxide and low levels of oxygen oxygen. “After two hours, about 8% carbon dioxide was found in the PPE mask in the air, which is 260 times higher than the atmospheric levels (0.03%),” said Dr. Vin Lewis of Wales at Cardiff’s University Hospital Spital. The changes were significantly greater than those observed with standard operating operating room wear, his team noted in the British Journal Surf Surgery on Saturday and found brain blood flow, shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, nausea, mental impairment, fatigue, and headaches. All three surgeons experienced headaches related to altered blood flow in the large arteries of the brain. “These findings were seen in young, healthy, physicians, raising the question of what might arise in mature professionals with co-existing medical problems or in anyone working beyond the two-hour limit of this study.” (https://bit.ly/2MEd9kM)
Epidemics and waste plastics are threatening the planet
Researchers warn that the COVID-19 epidemic is the result of unexplained levels of biomedical plastic waste. Worldwide, approximately 4.4 billion single-used facemasks are produced and released every day. Of the people alone, epidemic-related plastic waste amounted to about 1.6 million tons per day during the past year, according to a report in the journal Helion. Plastics in bottles of masks, gloves, aprons and sanitizers, especially in developing countries, are greatly affecting the capacity of waste management facilities, said Ansikak Bains, study co-founder at Cavevent University in Nigeria. Studies have shown that new coronaviruses can survive on the surface of plastics for days, but “the overwhelming existence of effective waste management facilities in developing countries suggests that a large percentage of single-use plastic waste generated may end up in open dump sites,” Benson said. The report urges governments and policymakers to prioritize effective waste management of these contaminated plastics and to develop “strong” defense strategies for sterilization and disinfection of surgical gowns and masks. (https://bit.ly/3bSijlO)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser for a Reuters graphic on growth vaccines.
(Reporting by Nancy Lepid and Christine Soares; Editing by Bill Burkerot)
