Covid -19 Updates in Brief, Part # 15

It looks that  human being will keep fighting  against corona virus  for rest of their lives. New corona variants are threatening our lives. Scientists and researchers are working day and night to find some solutions and ways to be safe from corona virus. They share their findings in news papers. sipraworld4all.com is trying to bring these Covid-19 updates to the public.

“Covid-19 Updates in Brief. Part # 13 ‘ covered a period from February 15, 2022 to February 28, 2022.  Part # 14 will cover from March 01, 2022 to March 15, 2022.

 Covid-19 Updates:

• There is a new Covid-19 vaccine developed by Sanofi & GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK) claimed to offer  100 % protection against hospitalization  in a phase 3 study. According to GSK , phase 3 primary series trial looked at results of two doses of the Sanofi-GSK vaccine given to people. During the study time frame, the given vaccine had 100 % protection against sever disease and hospitalization.
•  in the result of Russian’s  invasion of Ukraine. some experts are predicting a potential spike in Covid-19 cases in Europe as thousands of Ukraine refugees are entering in other countries of Europe. Ukraine has relatively low vaccination rate , refuges are travelling in trains and buses all together .Some experts do not expect the Ukraine’s refugee ‘s migration to cause a worldwide increase in  Covid-19 cases. Let us be hopeful for results.
• Kapil Gupta, PhD. senior research associate in biochemistry at the University of Bristol, U.K. discovered that the coronavirus can develop gradually and naturally in different cell types of our body and change in order to suit its immunity inside a person with the infection. He added that SARS-CoV-2  , like other viruses, hide out in our bodies, making it difficult to get rid of it entirely.
• New research show how Covid-19 can be dangerous especially for pregnant women. Maternal deaths rose 14 % during the pandemic. Pregnancy can create unique stressors on the body , including a compromised immune system.
• In some experts’ opinion  some seniors will have difficulties to adjust themselves to post Covid world after 2 years of isolation. Many older adults are still fearful of the disease and not ready to jump into social life. Experts suggested that senior should attend small gatherings.
• Experts are worried that Covid-19 pandemic has created negative feeling of loneliness, which is tied to a number of mental and physical health issues.
• several oral antiviral treatments for Covid-19 are presently under studies. Merck is granted emergency use authorization for  daily  use of their drug ” Molnupiravir ”  which reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from Covid-19 by 50 %.
• “Deltamicron ”  variant combines genes of Delta and Omicron. In France, 3 persons contracted  a version of  SARS-CoV-2 that has a combination of an Omicron spike protein and  body of Delta variant.
• A  two shots course of mRNA vaccine or one shot of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine is less effective against Omicron variant.
• Expert’s data so far indicates that mRNA vaccines  provide most protection against infection and hospitalization.( CDC recommendations).

source: healthline.com

• The BA.2 subvariant  of Omicron, or the ” stealth” variant, is more transmittable than previously dominant BA.1 subvariant  in several countries. Recent studies show that BA.2 has advantage over BA.1 due to its increased transmissibility.
• The BA.2 variant has better ability to evade immunity than BA.1, making it spreading rapidly.
• Although BA.2  is more contagious than BA.1, clinical data do not show any significant difference in disease severity.
• According to new data released by Pfizer-BioNTech, the covid-19 vaccine is only 12 % effective against Omicron infections in children  aged 5-11 years.
• Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline are requesting for full approval for their Covid-19 vaccine.
• Above both vaccines use older technology than the mRNA vaccines are using.
• As above vaccines do not need to be stored at extremely low temperature, experts are hoping these could help worldwide.
• Searchers from University of Oregon measured the quantity of virus particles in the air , released by 11 students with Covid-19 during their activities. The researchers found that filtration,  higher ventilation and humidity level decreased the amount of virus particles in the air’

source: medicalnewstoday.com