Posts Tagged ‘pandemia’
The innocents and Epistasis
28
Dec
Much was said in an ironic tone about possible genetic variations
due to the pandemic, the phenomenon exists, although it rarely occurs when there is an interaction of genes to influence some characteristic of the species, the classic case was studied by Bateson and Punnett, who studied a type of crest that appears in chickens, and is determined by two independent genes (which is equivalent to two pairs of alleles), of course this is not the case with vaccines, just to clarify the scientific question.
The innocence lies in understanding the virus mutation as capable of inducing or influencing a human genetic mutation, of course our immune system is affected, as studies try to correlate HIV with the omicron variant, but this does not mean any human genetic mutation so far.
However, epistasis has been important to study the omicron variant, in this case the virus and not the vaccine, according to a BBC News report, Professor Ed Feill, professor of microbial evolution at the University of Bath, England: “If the variant has more mutations, this does not mean that it is more dangerous, more transmissible or more capable of evading the effect of vaccines”, and many premature conclusions about this variant do not have a solid scientific basis.
The confusion is that the virus undergoes variations, but it is unfounded to imagine that these mutations affect the human genetic code, says the professor: “as a virus evolves, it can accumulate a group of mutations that, in turn, can create a variant”, “… and to detect the new variants: “ scientists track the genomic sequence of the virus”, and in this case, epistasis studies are essential to detect variants.
American evolutionary biologist Jesse Bloom, in a recent article in The New York Times, called attention to the alpha variant that has a mutation called N501Y, which is associated with the capacity for infection.
It is important to understand that the omicron variant is not completely deciphered, precisely because of its number of mutations in its epistasis, which is more difficult to detect and understand: “this opens up more evolutionary space for this”, said Feil in the article, and so the research has to observe combinations that have not been seen before.
Neither innocence to claim that there is some human genetic mutation, nor innocence to claim that the omicron variable is controlled because it offers “less danger”.
WHO has a classification of variants into “concern” and “interest” as per the table above.
Care must continue and the omicron variant
27
Dec
Protocols and care continue to be essential to prevent the transmission
of the coronavirus, this is what any level of government or health officials says, all over the world and also in our country, therefore, all people, including those who are vaccinated, must continue with all individual and collective prevention measures.
The numbers in the country have fallen, although there is already a manifestation of collective and parallel transmission of the new H3N2 flu virus, but cases of community transmission (that which did not come from abroad) of the omicron variant is already manifested in several regions of the country ,
Chosen by Nature magazine as one of the 10 most influential scientists in 2021, Brazilian Tulio de Oliveira was head of the team that discovered the omicron variant, and said that punishments to countries when new variants are identified, such as restrictions and closures on borders, discourage scientists to publish the facts to avoid these punishments.
According to an interview given to a Brazilian portal, Oliveira said that “I think it is important to act quickly and scientific transparency”, he said. “Because this helps prepare hospitals and the world. We have the super transmissible variant, the omicron, but the hospitals were prepared. We are not having the hospitals completely filled, the oxygen has been prepared, so mortality is low,” he explained while denouncing the political influence that can affect scientific dissemination.
Cases are still few, but they can grow, scientists are unanimous in stating that the transmissibility of the omicron variant is large, in Brazil there are 56 suspected cases in 9 municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, in several states such as São Paulo, there are already cases of community transmission, and the alert from the health departments is still small, but they monitor it.
The symptoms are similar to a cold with sore throat, runny nose and headache, but this does not mean that mild covid always occurs, there will be severe cases.
The ability of omicron to bully vaccinates means that there is a greater potential to reach more people than the delta variant, and it is not yet known what will happen to the elderly, most cases in the UK, for example, are under 40 years old.
New wave pandemic and flu
20
Dec
Europe increased restrictions due to the advance of Covid-19,
the new omicron strain is already prevalent in infections, Denmark banned agglomerations sites and the Netherlands decreed a new lockdown, the United Kingdom is already studying the resumption of movement restrictions and several European countries have resumed these measures.
There are already community cases in Brazil, that is, infections in people who have not had recent trips abroad, but seeing the external crisis, the concern must remain, and the vaccine passport, a source of crisis between the government and the judicial area, is important to maintain a barrier to the spread of the variant, which promises to be fast creating a new pandemic wave.
The H3N2 flu virus is already in 10 states in Brazil, its symptoms are: cough, nasal congestion, fever and muscle pain, but it can be confused with other diseases including covid. responsible for the infection, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, one of the most affected by the flu, there are 20 thousand infections and 5 deaths, Alagoas and Bahia also registered deaths.
Although the flu vaccine does not work for this new strain, it is important to take it because it increases immunity, as they were designed for H3N2, but the variant present in Brazil called Darwin escapes this immunity.
Although there is controversy about these data, they seem exaggerated, the Ministry of Health reported that 67.9 million doses of the flu vaccine were applied in the country, this would represent a vaccination coverage of 71.2% of the target audience of the campaign.
Another recent case that was a crisis between the government and the judicial area is the application of the Pfizer vaccine to children, the least vaccinated part of the population, approved and recommended by doctors. in a legal imbroglio because the STF went into recess.
New pandemic with the same virus
13
Dec
Although the data is not yet definitive, and sometimes contradictory,
as is the case with the Pfizer vaccine, it is certain that the protective efficacy against the new omicron variant is very small, in the order of 10 to 20% of cases and there are vaccines that it has no efficacy at all, probably because the labs say nothing.
Regarding Pfizer, the United Kingdom Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) said last Friday (12/10) that “These initial estimates should be treated with caution, but indicate that a few months after the second dose there is a higher risk of getting the omicron variant compared to the Delta,” said Mary Ramsay, head of immunization at the UKHSA, to the CNN newspaper.
In the same news, the newspaper indicates that when the booster dose is made with the Pfizer vaccine, the efficacy increases 70% for those who initially received AstraZeneca and 75% for those who received the Pfizer vaccine, but the laboratories of both work accelerated to a new vaccine that fights the strain.
The WHO declares that the data are still insufficient to establish the clinical picture of the severity caused by omicrons, even though many data so far indicate that the cases in Africa and Europe where the symptoms are “mild to moderate”, it is necessary to deepen the analysis and studies to understand what the variant causes in those infected.
The number of deaths registered on Saturday in Brazil was less than 100, but 9 states and the Federal District did not send data, while there is already an increase in infections and deaths in the states of Ceará, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Sergipe, community transmission of the omicron variant had its first case in São Paulo, it is considered community based when the patient has no recent history of traveling abroad.
What to do in the face of the seriousness of the situation and the imminence of a new pandemic, it is a fact that we are all tired of the restrictions and the advancement of social and economic difficulties, but life must be a value greater than any other difficulty and so care must be resumed and maintained as appropriate.
The WHO says that we are more prepared, in fact, but both the health system and the population are tired by the redoubled efforts during the pandemic and this situation must also be analyzed, creating mechanisms so that people are less pressured and can somehow overflow energy and maintain social, personal and economic balance.
New Pandemic and Community
06
Dec
Even in the case of the same virus, it is a new pandemic, the new 
variant called omega by the WHO has to circumvent vaccines, we knew this already from other infectious diseases, if not eradicated the disease can return and in this case the variants manifest increasingly complex a new of infection spreads.
Many activists, scientists and also the WHO defended that a more equitable distribution of vaccines around the world would help combat covid 19, so the third dose (necessary, but in another step) was taken from vaccines that could be donated to poorer countries , like most African countries, the sociologist Mbembe’s Necropolitics from Cameroon reminds us of this, choosing who should die, but in this case it implies a global Necropolitics, as without a coimmunity the Pandemic returns.
The word coimmunity coined by Sloterdijk was thought in a broader sense, long before the pandemic, it makes sense now that we look at a global problem.
The good news is that even though it can infect people who have already been vaccinated, the infection is less serious if already vaccinated, according to Brazilian geneticist Salmo Raskin, director of the Genetika Laboratory in Paraná, it was already clear that the variant was not subject to initial infection, both infected. as vaccinated they are not immune to this omega strain.
The number of infections grows in Europe, according to data from Reuters, every three days there is a million new cases being registered, which in total since the beginning of the pandemic has surpassed 75 million infected, the number of deaths is also growing: Italy registered 43 deaths, the numerous countries that continue to fall are Russia and Ukraine, but it is noteworthy that they were the first to grow in infections and the numbers are still high.
Even so, there are protests against new restrictions measures due to the new wave, Germany had a demonstration this weekend.
The problem in Europe is not yet the omega variant, but the low rate of vaccination, called vaccine hesitation, and they still say it is a global phenomenon, however in many countries vaccination is progressing, in Brazil we are already close to 80% vaccinated although it does not give immunity to the omega variant, it reduces its lethality.
In Brazil, several year-end festivities have been canceled, and protective measures must be taken urgently.
New variant and concern in Europe
29
Nov
The new variant of the covid-19 virus, called omicron by the
WHO, is already present on three continents and the trend is to reach everyone in Brazil, both the director-president of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa, Brazil), Antonio Barra Torres, and the director of the Butantan Institute state that it is inevitable that it will arrive in the country.
The variant is the B.1.1.529 strain and was identified for the first time in South Africa on November 9, according to WHO information, where 100 cases of the variant were identified, especially in the populous province of Gauteng, but it has already spread. by Botswana, eSwatini (former Swaziland), Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe, countries that Brazil closed the border.
In Brazil, a passenger on a flight that passed through South Africa tested positive last Saturday 11/27 and disembarked in Guarulhos (SP), the other passengers are also being monitored, it is still not possible to identify whether the contagion was due to the new strain.
What is known for now is that the variant can affect contagion and lethality rates, but the genetic sequencing may still take a few more days to complete, director Tulio de Oliveira of the Center for Epidemic Responses and Innovations at the University of KwaZulu -Natal, stated that this variant is “an unusual constellation of mutations”, while the delta variant had only two mutations, for example, in relation to the original coronavirus strain.
Meanwhile, the number of deaths is growing again in Europe (see graph), the average of deaths reached the highest level since February 2021, when the continent started to recover, for every million inhabitants the rate is 5.2 daily deaths on average from the new coronavirus in the last 7 days.
With the new strain and variants it is necessary to resume care, wait for studies on the strain and the effectiveness of vaccines, Pfizer has already announced that it must have changes to ensure immunity.
We reached 70% of the complete vaccination in Brazil, but with the new strain it is not possible to assert total immunity.
Note: Today (29/11) Australia has suspended the reopening and Japan has closed its borders.
Covid alert and Christmas parties
22
Nov
Europe is once again concerned about Covid’s infection rates,
when everything seemed to be moving towards a happy end-of-the-year outcome, the arrival of winter, little vaccination and doubts about vaccines even by health professionals, made the indexes grow again.
Last Thursday, Germany registered a daily record of 50,000 new infections in 24 hours, in Russia 40,000 cases, Eastern European nations: Slovenia, Croatia, Georgia, Slovakia and Lithuania have the highest rates of new cases of the disease, too in France and the United Kingdom the number of cases is growing (picture).
Portugal, which has the highest vaccination rate, close to 90%, will resume preventive measures such as the use of masks, in Austria and the Netherlands there are lockdown measures, the protests against this new restriction measure provoked a confrontation with the police in the weekend.
In an interview given to the BBC, Hans Kluge, WHO regional director said there could be 500,000 new deaths in Europe by March if measures are not taken.
We are in a hot climate, the moving average of cases and deaths in Brazil is decreasing, but the parties and a certain relaxation in preventive measures are worrying, there are no measures in any part of the country concerned with a possible new one, where it seems distant, but remember the 2019 carnival when there were some signs and we didn’t worry, the consequences came in March of that year.
Measures in shopping malls, supermarkets, concerts and sports squares are totally relaxed and we will only know the consequences at the beginning of 2022, even if only preventive, these measures can help prevent a new outbreak that would leave the country even more in despair, what we observe is a concern only with liberation, the election year is approaching and no one wants to take unpopular measures, but health should come first, even in relation to the economy already in crisis.
If we’re going to pay to see it, the cost could be high.
The pandemic is not over
15
Nov
It is sad and distressing, but the pandemic is not over, Europe
is very concerned about covid-19 and in Brazil, where the numbers have not yet dropped from 260 deaths a day, and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation of Brazil (Fiocruz) registered a increase in children in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) with records higher than Covid 19.
While cases are on the rise in countries like Germany, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Russia set a new record for infection and deaths last week (It has only 34% of the population vaccinated), concern is growing over the arrival winter, and in Austria the government decreed a lockdown for unvaccinated people.
In Russia the measure taken was a national recess from October 30th to November 7, in Germany the director of virology at the Charite hospital in Berlin emphasized: “We have a real emergency now” as the country has registered almost 40,000 cases of covid , the biggest since the beginning of the pandemic, and made an alarming prediction, 100,000 people could die.
In Brazil, although moving at a slower pace than in the previous period of vaccine vaccination, the number is increasing and in many places there is a demand for people who did not come for the second dose. close to 59% of the Brazilian population is fully immunized and almost 80% have already received the first dose.
Seven Brazilian States are on the rise after a sharp fall in the previous month: Santa Catarina, Pará, Roraima, Rondônia, Bahia, Ceará and Piauí, a case that drew attention was Serrana (Brazil), where the São Paulo government carried out a mass vaccination trying to make the model city for vaccination, there were 563 cases in the last month and such a high number (the city has 45,644 inhabitants) did not have a clear explanation (see photo, official data from the municipal health Departament).
The end of the year parties are approaching and the concern is with the surveillance that does not exist in public spaces (concerts, shopping malls, supermarkets, etc.) and a flare-up of the disease would not only bring a worsening of health, but would extend the social crisis that is already affecting unbearable levels, there are no measures around this aggravation, the rise in prices is there.
Another worrying factor is now the psychological health of the population subjected to high stress and constant pressure of concern about the disease without clear policies, it is already possible to observe a large number of people with changes: anguish, tension, depression and antisocial attitudes, overcoming the crisis will require a lot of public efforts.
It is easy to observe in the markets and in daily consumption an increase in alcoholism and use of medicines, the end of the year parties could improve this aspect, but the social crisis does not help, the parties should be modest or in non-Christmas parties where the exaggeration and Drinks allow you to tap into the energies contained in the pandemic.
Because Covid 19 is not over
08
Nov
Last Thursday (11/04) Hans Kluge, WHO director for Europe,
said 53 countries in the region are facing “a real threat of the resurgence of COVID-19” and encouraged governments in the region to take urgent action, in China the government even advised the population to stock up on food, the new wave is due to the delta variant.
In Germany, 66.5% of the population is fully vaccinated, but according to the RKI (Robert Rock Institute, responsible for the control of infectious diseases), there are more than 3 million people over 60 years old who have not been vaccinated and The risk is high, and last Friday it registered just 37,000 infections, a record number, while Russia registered 40,735 new cases and 1192 deaths related to the virus last Friday, according to the government’s own data.
France, Holland, Italy and England record high infections, Portugal has a high despite having the highest vaccination rate in the world (almost 90%) and only Spain did not have high infections.
In China, the outbreak, which is still small in number, affected several regions of the country, and the government even advised the population to stock up on food.
Brazil has 58.2% of the population fully vaccinated, while 76.3% have already taken at least one dose, the safety margin is still small for a general release that has already taken place, there is no more temperature control and agglomerations. worryingly, the country is still in the range of 300 daily deaths, and over 11,000 infections.
Vaccination continues, the country received this Sunday 1.1 million doses of vaccine against Covid 19 at Viracopos airport, despite some currents criticizing the quality of the vaccine, there are no scientific criteria for this criticism.
The ministry said the number by the weekend was 122.3 million people immunized, and the target population is 177 million people.
The additional dose for elderly groups, the so-called “third dose” reached 8.9 million additional doses, according to the Ministry of Health.
Looking at the European scenario, it is good not to relax and we must continue the full vaccination schedule, only one dose does not guarantee immunity, even in the case of Janssen, a booster dose is being applied.
The cry of the afflicted
04
Nov
In many moments of personal difficulties, world conflicts and natural
tragedies, there is always an apparent cry of despair and pain, but our time is a silent cry for those who lose their reason for living, the pandemic has also caused many anguish, loneliness and despair.
The famous pcitura Norwegian Edvard Munch’s The scream represents an androgynous figure in a moment of deep anguish and despair, with the Oslo fjord at sunset in the background, characterizes well what affliction means in our time, in addition to misery and lack of solidarity , the anguish and anxiety of the figure may be the author’s own, the phrase written at the top of the painting: “it could only have been painted by a madman”, analyzed by the Oslo National Museum concluded that it was the author’s.
The aspect of anxiety would remain veiled, were it not for this analysis, since the author stated on one occasion: “I have suffered a deep feeling of anxiety that I have tried to express in my art”, and this reflects our contemporary fears.
GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) is one of the symptoms of this condition, which can also be bipolar or some other type of lack of control, this type was generically called Neurotic Anxiety, but there are two others: Realistic and Moral.
Realistic anxiety refers to the fear of something existing in the outside world, so a pandemic or a natural catastrophe (hurricane, earthquakes, sudden changes in climate, etc.) is basically a kind of fear of something real happening but that puts us in a different adrenaline.
Moral is the one that refers to the feeling of guilt, which triggers a fear of being punished, and this leads to a situation of conflict in the interior, so the person loses sensitive aspects of their interior: the unconscious threatening to enter the conscious what it means in practice a loss of self-control.
But the afflicted are also the helpless, the abandoned and the rejected by society, the various types of prejudices on which current controversies are born.
In the Christian reading, the text of Matthew (5:4) although some translations put as “afflicted”, the translation we prefer here: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted!”, because beyond the aspect of “sickness “there is structural evil and social evil that push many people into this state, and blaming them just means adding to any kind of “affliction” the neurotic anxiety that is born of a disproportionate sense of guilt, and this is the great kind of current social pressure.
But what would be the comfort the bible speaks of, the comfort of those who believe is that the only evil they should fear is the soul, so contrary to what many moralistic interpretations say, it is a balanced morality and without the exaggeration of guilt that it leads to an inner state without this kind of anxiety.
