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A possible contributor of Long COVID -19 may actually be an abnormally suppressed immune system, and not a hyperactive one, according to a UCLA- led research group. The study, recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
It contradicts what scientists previously believed, which was that an overactive immune response to SARS-CoV-2, often referred to as a "cytokine storm," was the root cause of the perplexing syndrome. Health experts told Fox News this "cytokine storm" is an over-reactive inflammatory response in the infected person that can potentially cause damage to lungs and other organs, possibly creating severe illness or even death....
More at source: Fox News
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Of the 309 people with long COVID studied, the most persistent symptoms were fatigue and shortness of breath (31% and 15%, respectively) in hospitalized persons, and loss of sense of smell (16%) in outpatients.
The incidence and risk factors of Long COVID, and even how to define the syndrome, have remained unclear throughout the pandemic. The researchers sought evaluate its association with demographics and clinical characteristics in order to devise the most effective treatments.
The UCLA researchers studied 1,038 people who were enrolled in the UCLA COVID Ambulatory Program between April 2020 and February 2021. Of those, 309 developed Long COVID. A person was determined to have the syndrome if they reported persistent symptoms on questionnaires 60 or 90 days after infection or hospitalization.
More at source: Science Daily
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Happy Easter! IJCSA Offices will be closed April 17th & 18th
The spirit of Easter is all about hope, love, and joyful living. Your staff and friends at IJCSA are wishing all members and their families have a blessed day!
The United States on Wednesday renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency, allowing millions of Americans to keep getting free tests, vaccines and treatments for at least three more months.
The public health emergency was initially declared in January 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic began. It has been renewed each quarter since and was due to expire on April 16.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in a statement said it was extending the public health emergency and that it will give states 60 days notice prior to termination or expiration.
This could be the last time HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra extends it, policy experts have said.
"We've all had access to coverage and we've been able to tap into the availability of COVID-19 testing, treatments, and vaccines, largely at no cost during the public health emergency, but not all of these items will continue to be free....
More at source: Reuters
By resuming the indoor mask mandate, city officials hope to stave off another surge in hospitalizations and deaths that could accompany the current case increase that appears to be caused by the BA.2 omicron subvariant.
“If we fail to act now, knowing that every previous wave of infections has been followed by a wave of hospitalizations and a wave of deaths, it’ll be too late for many of our residents,” Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said during a briefing Monday.
“We don’t know if the BA.2 variant in Philadelphia will have the kind of impact on hospitalizations and deaths that we saw with the original omicron variant this winter,” Bettigole said. “I suspect that this wave will be smaller than the one we saw in January.”
Hospitalizations may be the key in determining how long the masks will stay on, Bettigole said.
“This is our chance to get ahead of the pandemic, to put our masks on until we have more information on the severity of this variant.”
More at source: Philadelphia Inquirer
A crowd of janitorial workers and supporters marched from Bovard Auditorium to USC Village Thursday in a continued demonstration calling for higher wages and better health care benefits. The protest follows last Thursday’s negotiations with contractor Aramark, which protesters felt did not adequately address the concerns expressed by the Service Employees International Union.
Demonstrators carried a banner that read: “Janitors READY 2 STRIKE,” a sentiment also expressed at SEIU-organized protests that took place March 31 on campus and April 1 at Union Hall while negotiations were ongoing.
More at source: Daily Trojan
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The more contagious omicron BA.2 subvariant now makes up 72% of Covid infections that have undergone genetic sequencing in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
BA.2 became dominant in the U.S. last week, and now appears on track to displace the earlier version of omicron, BA.1. Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Washington state, projected that will happen within the next two weeks.
Though some estimates differ, BA.2 spreads 30% to 80% faster than BA.1., according to data from public health authorities in the U.K. and Denmark.
More at source: CNBC
The FDA and CDC have cleared the way for Americans older than 50 to get a second booster shot—but they don’t quite suggest that everyone in that age group should do so. Like masking and many other pandemic-control measures, a fourth dose (or third, for the J&Jers in the back) is now a matter of personal judgment, even as another wave of COVID cases seems poised to break.
That leaves millions of Americans and their doctors to perform their own risk-benefit analysis. Read: Another COVID wave is looming Or perhaps it’s just a risk analysis. The upsides of a fourth shot are indeed uncertain: The best we can say right now is that its protective effects are probably modest and temporary (with greater benefits for older people). But a modest, temporary boost is still better than nothing—so why not go ahead and get one, just in case? What, if any, risks would that actually entail?
More at source: The Atlantic
The citywide lockdown that will be conducted in two phases will be China’s most extensive since the central city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in late 2019, confined its 11 million people to their homes for 76 days in early 2020. Millions more have been kept in lockdown since then.
Shanghai's Pudong financial district and nearby areas will be locked down from Monday to Friday as mass testing gets underway, the local government said. In the second phase of the lockdown, the vast downtown area west of the Huangpu River that divides the city will start its own five-day lockdown Friday.
Residents will be required to stay home and deliveries will be left at checkpoints to ensure there is no contact with the outside world. Offices and all businesses not considered essential will be closed and public transport suspended.
More at source: Yahoo News
Two new studies are reporting on an ongoing long COVID research project investigating the persistent effects of COVID-19 on cognition in the months after acute disease. The University of Cambridge-led research found many long COVID patients are experiencing significant and measurable memory or concentration impairments even after mild illness.
“Long COVID has received very little attention politically or medically,” said Lucy Cheke, senior author on the new studies. “It urgently needs to be taken more seriously, and cognitive issues are an important part of this. When politicians talk about ‘Living with COVID’ – that is, unmitigated infection, this is something they ignore.”
More at source: News Atlas Health
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