Scary stuff to get you back into masks and under government control, or just another round of a week’s vacation being somewhat miserable? Eh, rum should fix it
COVID hospitalizations in the U.S. have spiked 16.1% in the past week as a new “escaped” variant of the virus has continued to sweep across the country.
XBB.1.5— dubbed ‘Kraken’ by Canadian biology professor Dr. Ryan Gregory and his following in the Twitterverse—is the most transmissible COVID variant yet, according to the World Health Organization.
A risk assessment is currently being drawn up for the new mutant strain by WHO’s technical advisory group on virus evolution, Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for COVID-19 response at the authority, said on Wednesday.
XBB.1.5 began alarming scientists at the tail end of last year after the number of Kraken cases in the U.S. rose from 1% of all cases at the start of December to 41% just three weeks later.
That’s a lot. Here’s what really interested me in this article
Dr. Allison Arwady, the Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner, said in a press conference on Tuesday that Kraken “basically just a combination of two of the earlier subtypes, two variants” from the Omicron strain.
She added that although XBB.1.5 is a new mutation its symptoms have not hugely changed because it is a descendant of the variant that was discovered in mid-2020.
Arwady explained: “We’re seeing more people actually just have cold-like symptoms”—such as a runny nose, sore throat, cough and congestion—“but are less likely to have those flu-like, really feeling very sick [symptoms such as] the high fevers.”
This is especially the case in people who are fully up to date on vaccines or who have preexisting immunity built up from having a COVID infection in the past.
More widely, the CDC’s COVID symptoms to look out for are fever or chills, difficulty breathing, fatigue, body aches and headaches, loss in taste or smell, nausea, and diarrhea.
Saturday, December 31, I woke up with a stuffy nose, sore throat (mild and annoying), and stuffed up ear, all on the left side. Seemed more like a sinus infection. By about mid-day, I started to feel more and more wonky, really phlegmy, left work early. Stopped to get some food, got home, took my temperature. 99.6. That is very high for me, since I usually run in the high 96’s to mid-97’s. I did go back down to mid=98’s, and was pretty much around that for many days. I had a stuffy nose, but, never so bad that I couldn’t breathe out of one side of my nose. My throat was a little dry, but, did not hurt, nothing that liquids didn’t take care of. But, damn, I was low energy. The only coughing came from buildup from sniffling. No dry coughs like you’d get from COVID. No chest congestion. I couldn’t smell anything, but, that happens with colds, which also means taste is lessened. No body aches, did have head pressure, but, no headache. No nausea or gastrointestinal issues.
It was like having a mild cold with a fever and tired. No chills. Weird. Was it Kraken? All but one of the home tests came back positive. Test day after the positive was clear. A test at clinic on Monday, along with an RSV test (because symptoms were weird) also came back negative. I know two coworkers had the same things, and did not come back with positive tests. Is it evading tests? Or just a cold with a fever? Which didn’t really drop back to my normal till Friday. Still a bit fuzzy in the head, though. Wearing contacts does not help.
Dr. Raj Rajnarayanan, assistant dean of research and associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Ark., previously told Fortune that the best form of protection from mutations is to get a booster vaccination.
Speaking following the Omicron spawn BA.2.75, dubbed Centaurus, Rajnarayanan confirmed that escaped mutations such as Centaurus and Kraken are “immune evasive” to some extent—but won’t be able to defy all of the human body’s resistance.
So, get a booster that Kraken will mostly ignore.
Did you take any ivermectin or hydroclorquine?
Nope. Just lots of Alka Seltzer cold pills and Alleve. Sleep and OJ.
Alka-Seltzer Cold has always been by go to for upper resp gunk.
I find it works best for clearing my nose up, allows me to sleep. Other stuff gives me boughts of insomnia
“Mostly” may be accurate. Don’t get boosted and take your chances. Your probability of dying is low in either case, just lower with the booster.
Those with comorbidities should certainly consider it.
Viruses mutate. RNA viruses mutate rapidly. Most mutations offer no advantage to the virus and are either carried along in the viral genome or reduce their infectivity. The occasional mutation offers an advantage, often increasing the affinity for a host binding site, e.g., ACE-2 receptor, increasing the reproduction rate once inside the mammalian cells or decreasing the recognition by neutralizing antibodies and immune cells (either from prior exposures or immunizations), increasing the inherent stability of the viral particles (making it more heat resistant, more resistant to drying, etc). When you have billions of hosts infected with a rapidly mutating virus there is the opportunity for “selection” of a more infective variant. We have to hope it doesn’t mutate to more deadly variants. Recall that out of nowhere, the H1N1 1918 influenza variant killed some 50 million humans worldwide and was especially lethal to the young.
Job #1 for a virus is to reproduce. They don’t eat, breathe, metabolize, use energy, think, respond to stimuli – they’re largely RNA or DNA wrapped in a thin-candy shell. Hold it, that’s an M&M. Viruses have an outer coat of specific proteins, some lipid. They’re essentially an unliving infective particle. To reproduce, they hijack the biochemical machinery of living cells.
The infected host forms antibodies to the viral coat proteins and specialized immune cells recognize the viral proteins on infected host cells. Immunizations stimulate the production of antibodies in anticipation of being exposed to a particular virus. If the viral coat protein changes from mutation, so does the recognition by antibodies from previous variants. It’s why we have no vaccines against several other viruses like HIV, common cold, influenza, Lassa, West Nile, Hep C, etc.
The
virusviral Mr Dowd wrote:My darling bride — of 43 years, 7 months and 20 days — was fully vaccinated, twice ‘regular’ boosted, plus once specific Omicron boosted, and she still contracted the virus and still brought it home to me. She’s a registered nurse, and employed the standard hospital protocols.
Mr Dana,
Vaccinated people are 3-6 fold less likely to die from Covid than the unvaccinated. And it would make sense that the booster shots decrease the likelihood of serious illness. We’re happy your symptoms were mild. My wife’s dentist died from Covid a year ago.
Last summer Covid went through our vaccinated family and extended family with few symptoms. I have several co-morbidities – a perfect candidate for severe Covid – but have been spared the worst of it. Was it the vaccine? Don’t know.
I was boosted with the latest bivalent version two months ago, as was my bride of 50 years, 11 months, 7 days. (I know, I can’t believe she stuck around either). We had family over on Xmas Eve, two who a few days later reported positive for Covid. We did not. Nor did our recently boosted sons, daughter-in-law and grandchildren who were there. Both who reported positive were vaccinated but with comorbities as well – symptoms were like bad colds they said – congestion, low fever, malaise and hebetude.
In our area, influenza A and strep throat are prevalent.
We also spent hours in the airport Christmas night with thousands of the “great unwashed”, stranded by Southwest Airlines, but again no Covid for us! Masking appeared to on just a few percent of travelers. Our flight was canceled after being delayed a few hours, but it seems our luggage may have made the trip and came home almost a week later!
Does this mean we were protected from catching XBB.1.5. Unknown, but it’s clear that the vaccines reduce the likelihood of dying from Covid and likely hospitalizations as well.
All your fans here at the Cove implore you to get another booster.
And another.
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=247709
#BelieveTheLie
#TrustUs
Bwaha! Lolgf
In which Mr Dowd tells the truth:
That’s exactly correct: you don’t know, and nobody can know.
Last summer was prevalently Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, though unless you were specifically tested for variant, you don’t know that, either. BA.4 and BA.5 were already reported to produce milder symptoms, so you can’t know if your symptoms were what they were because the vaccines helped you, or otherwise.
Mr Dana is correct. Sample size within a family is too small to tell us much. Since most cases are not tracked there is no good way to know.
The early clinical trials showed conclusively that the vaccines were effective in preventing infections at least in the short term.
On the other hand, we do have a good idea of Covid deaths. Few are dying at home without anyone knowing.
The unvaccinated are dying at a rate a several fold greater than the vaccinated. That may not always be the case, though. New variants may be less affected by the current vaccines. The unvaccinated may be more likely to contract and die from older variants still circulating but at lower prevalence.
Some conservatives claim that the vaccines are more dangerous than Covid-19 but that appears untrue. Or that the vaccines cause Covid.
Rimjob, all your buddies here at the Cove implore you to get another booster.
And then get another.
https://truthpress.com/news/cdc-finally-releases-vaers-safety-monitoring-analyses-for-covid-vaccines/
#TrustUs
#WeKnowWhatWeAreDoing
Bwaha! Lolgf
Does this mean we were protected from catching XBB.1.5. Unknown, but it’s clear that the vaccines reduce the likelihood of dying from Covid and likely hospitalizations as well.
Bull & Shit, should be your pronouns. You state, stupidly, that you don’t know if the fake non-vaccines will protect you from catching XBB.1.5 (You just love typing out those cute Covid codes) then turn around and definitively state they will reduce the “likelihood of dying” from it and hospitalizations from it. You’re a fucking moron. And that’s not a likelihood, it’s a fact.
dowd is the type of moron brave enough to inject unknown substances into his fat fukin body but scared shitless and wears a mask to breathe air. Nonsense.
What I can’t understand about fools like dowd and h is they lived through the last 3 years of government and medical lies and aren’t the least but suspicious about the shit the same people are spoon feeding them now. It really is amazing how so many people willingly want to be butt fucked as long as their party is doing the fucking. Morons!
Lucifer,
You don’t know what you’re talking about, but I repeat myself.
And so much gay symbolism from you, but then you’re a fireman so it’s to be expected.
Brandon,
Good analysis and reasoning. I am not sure what the liberals are getting out of all this, but it has nothing to do with good medical care. Keep your powder dry.
Football player collapses, basketball player collapses, soccer player collapses, tennis player collapses….all got the clot shot….
So yes the unvaccinated are the problem here????
Good point, more evidence where well-conditioned, world class athletes collapsed from heart issues…
Loyola Marymount University star senior forward Hank Gathers sprints down the court during a West Coast Conference tournament game, leaps and catches an alley-oop pass, slams down an emphatic dunk, and, after jogging back to midcourt, collapses to the floor. Although he briefly regains consciousness, he is rushed to a hospital, where he dies. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced,” Loyola Marymount coach Paul Westhead tells the media.
An elite athlete in Florida was diagnosed with a rare heart disease after collapsing during a UF basketball game. Keyontae Johnson, 21, contracted the coronavirus in August and then passed all physical tests to play college ball. When Johnson collapsed on the court, the sports world held its breath. The Gainesville Sun reported doctors diagnosed Johnson with myocarditis.
Detroit Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes was jogging back to the huddle after a play when he suffered a heart attack in front of more than 50,000 fans during a game against the Chicago Bears. He collapsed and never regained consciousness.
St. Louis Blues defenseman Chris Pronger collapsed on the ice after a slap shot to the chest left him with an irregular heartbeat. He lost consciousness for about 30 seconds and was quickly aided by medical personnel. The team doctor later said Pronger’s heart had stopped briefly but quickly returned to normal, Helene Elliott reported for the LA Times. The incident occurred during a playoff game against the Detroit Red Wings. He said he was cleared to play the following game.
Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester was reaching for a drink of water on the bench after finishing his shift on the ice when he slumped over and lost consciousness briefly, Insider’s Kelly McLaughlin previously reported. Bouwmeester, then 36, was revived by medical staff and hospitalized. He didn’t appear to have taken any egregious hits or head injury prior to the incident, and the cause of his collapse was initially reported as a cardiac event.
Marc-Vivien Foé, a 28-year-old veteran of Cameroon’s national soccer team, fatally collapsed while jogging across the field in the second half of a match against Colombia at the FIFA Confederations Cup. Foé died after medical staff spent more than 30 minutes attempting to revive him on the side of the pitch, according to the Guardian.
Following Foé’s death, two other international soccer players died of cardiac events on the field. Hungarian striker Miklós Fehér, 24, died during a match in Portugal, according to ESPN. An autopsy later found Fehér also had heart disease.
Spanish midfielder Antonio Puerta, 22, suffered a cardiac arrest mid-game and died from related complications three days later in the hospital, Reuters reported.
During Denmark’s opening match against Finland in the UEFA Euros, Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field and was later hospitalized for cardiac arrest. Medics immediately resuscitated Eriksen, then 29, who had stopped breathing and didn’t have a pulse, Insider’s Barnaby Lane previously reported.
University of Nebraska Michael DiBiase died during a tournament in Texas from heart disease.
NW Missouri State football player Derringer Cade collapsed and died during the fourth quarter of a game against Southwest Baptist and couldn’t be revived. Again, heart problems.
Alex Marquez, who started the match for his G.D. Tourizense side in a Portuguese third-division match against Carapinheirense. But just seven minutes into the first half, Marquez suffered cardiac arrest and lost consciousness. The 20-year old died on the way to the hospital.
Gyorgy Kolonics was a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Hungary and was preparing to compete in his fifth Olympic games. Kolonics was training in Budapest when he reportedly became unresponsive in his canoe and was unable to be resuscitated. Heart problems appear to be behind the death of Kolonics.
Celtics forward Reggie Lewis, practicing at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, suffered sudden cardiac death on the basketball court at the age of 27 years old.
Marathoner Ryan Shay was trying to qualify for the US Olympic team in the marathon. At 5 1/2 miles into the race, Shay collapsed and was rushed to a hospital, where he died before the race finished. An autopsy later found that Shay had died from complications associated with an irregular heartbeat.
In fact several dozen marathoners have dropped dead from cardiac events while racing.
These deaths, collapses and heart attacks occurred before the Covid-19 vaccines were available.
As interesting as these anecdotes are, they prompted a search in the scientific literature.
Surprisingly, it appears that Covid-19 infection causes more myocarditis overall than does the Covid-19 vaccine. Vaccination reduces the probability of myocarditis in individuals who subsequently contract Covid. In males under 40 the effect is less clear.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9439633/pdf/cir-146-743.pdf
So for the last 3 years (at least) the NIH and the .gov has been lying to you about everything from ivermectin to masks, from vaccines that don’t protect from the disease to the origin of Wuhan flu but you still insist upon using them as your appeal to authority?
I bet you believe men can get pregnant, pedo joe got 81 million votes and Epstein killed himself.
Lucifer,
This has confused Mr Dana before as well. Pubmed compiles the articles but does not sponsor, conduct the research, write the articles or approve them. NCBI is the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
YOU are confused that you’ve been lied to about ivermectin, masks, vaccines, the origin of Covid by … well… everyone.
One needs a uterus to get pregnant. President Biden did receive 81 million votes.
Who do you think killed Epstein?
As usual you lie then deny the lies. The left is all lies. You say I’ve been lied to? You have bought into every lie they tell you AND STILL DO even when the truth has been slowly revealed. Your willing blindness makes me laugh. Fool.
How the fuck do I know? I’m a fireman not a cop. But it would be nice if his death got investigated. I guess too many democommies are involved just like the lack of investigation of his “customers”. You democommies got pull. Steal elections, murder women at the Capitol, burn down cities, riot, cause drug crime and more with open borders, have Hunter laundering money for the biden crime family and nary an audit or investigation to be seen.
Now some may see corruption, I see pull! Powerful, uncompromising PULL!
The nih paper is crap. So many holes that you could drain pasta.
Brandon,
PubMed just compiles articles. But just because the article is published and peer reviewed does not mean it is worth two cents. The publisher is the one who might be shaping a narrative, just as with the climate change lies.