The Omicron

On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron. It is associated with substantial ability to evade immunity from prior infection. But many important questions about this variant's severity remain unanswered.

Omicron has more than 30 mutations in the spike protein targeted by COVID-19 vaccines. H655Y (Histidine at position 655 substituted by Tyrosine; first detected in Brazil) was previously shown to confer escape from human monoclonal antibodies. Another mutation borrowed from Gamma variant, N679K, may also increase infectivity.

Cases in US: 

California man who returned from South Africa mild (was fully vaccinated)

Minnesota man who recently traveled to NYC for a 3-day anime festival - mild (was fully vaccinated)

New York already had cases by that time one of which was a traveler returning from South Africa, 10 cases identified by December 5

Nebraska man who brought it from Nigeria and passed it to 5 other people, only one of whom was vaccinated

Wisconsin man tested positive for Omicron after a recent trip to South Africa 

The 1st Hawaii case is a 65 with no history of travel outside state who already had COVID-19 before. 

A middle-aged woman who recently traveled from South Africa became both New Jersey and Georgia’s first confirmed case after seeking care for moderate symptoms at an emergency room. 

640 deaths since Omicron dominant in South Africa

1st death confirmed in UK on Dec. 13 2021

REFERENCES

Juliet R.C. Pulliam, Cari van Schalkwyk, Nevashan Govender, Anne von Gottberg, Cheryl Cohen, Michelle J. Groome, Jonathan Dushoff, Koleka Mlisana, Harry Moultrie Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa  medRxiv 2021.11.11.21266068; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.11.21266068 

Rapp M, Shapiro L, Frank J. Contributions of single-particle cryoelectron microscopy toward fighting COVID-19. Trends in biochemical sciences.:S0968-0004.

Liu L., et al. Potent neutralizing antibodies against multiple epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 spike. Nature. 2020;584:450–456.

August 12

When we thought COVID-19 was over, as more individuals were vaccinated against the deadly virus, the fourth wave of the pandemic struck, fueling a rise in breakthrough infections. 

We have documented several cases of fatal breakthrough infections. Publishing it is not easy because of many biases. 

Science has been always linked to the politics of society. Current political polarization hinders not only effective COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures but also impedes research on side effects of vaccines and fatal breakthrough infections in healthy individuals. Social media fuels the divide encouraging toxic discussion, favoring rude and disrespectful comments. 

Publishing bias is another issue since scientific journals prefer to publish positive results discriminating against negative or null results. 

But we have many documented cases from the COVID-back-to-normal study and information about other COVID victims from genealogy and other sources. Let the truth be told. 

REFERENCES

Berkessel J, Ebert T, Gebauer J, Jonsson T, Oishi S. Pandemics Initially Spread Among People of High (not Low) Social Status: Evidence from COVID-19 and the Spanish Flu. PsyArXiv, 12 Jan. 2021. [example of using genealogy sites for medical research]

Gabashvili IS. Community-Based Phenotypic Study of Safety, Tolerability, Reactogenicity and Immunogenicity of Emergency-Use-Authorized Vaccines Against COVID-19 and Viral Shedding Potential of Post-Vaccination Infections: Protocol for an Ambispective study. medRxiv. 2021 Jun 1. medRxiv 2021.06.28.21256779; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.28.21256779

Laughter as Medicine

The pandemics is not over, but should we pause the jokes? Research shows, we shouldn't, as humor makes us feel better.  

Language learning is hard, so we made it soft, said Duolingo in their April 1st announcement of a new product - toilet papers that turns your bathroom into a classroom. “The average human spends 14 minutes every day sitting on a toilet, - explained Duolingo, - Yet, our work shows that it only takes 5 minutes a day to learn a new language. Our learning scientists have systematically engineered a new bottom-up approach to language acquisition.” 

Toilet humor is not my favorite kind of joke … But it’s a solid number two.

In 2020, coronavirus jokes  - including jokes about toilet paper - were spreading almost as fact as the virus itself.  Such a response is not new - as seen from the art associated with the cholera pandemics and other cataclysmic events. Humor, especially the self-enhancing style (vs self-defeating type), was shown to positively correlate with engagement in protective behaviors and negatively correlate with stress and hopelessness. 

Laughter is used therapeutically in health care. According to experts in humor physiology or "gelotology," by aiding ventilation and clearing mucosal plugs, laughter can help those afflicted with chronic obstructive lung disease. It can increase arterial and venous circulation, causing an increased movement of oxygen to tissues. 

Fortunately, not everybody today was as boring as Google. Consumer electronics company Monoprice advertised their new sit-squat desk to "boost productivity by improving comfort and well-being through posture and proper leg day routines”. There were jokes from emergency medicine physicians (on the left), programmers (stack overflow limiting copy-paste of code), furniture and food companies (smoup - new soup and smoothie food), journalists (digging new Suez2 canal), policemen (new drone-mounted dachshund dog squad), and military. You can find a few more on reddit megatrend. 

Laugh your way to better health.

REFERENCES

Olah AR, Hempelmann CF. Humor in the age of coronavirus: a recapitulation and a call to action. HUMOR. 2021 Mar 17.

Olah AR, Ford TE. Humor styles predict emotional and behavioral responses to COVID-19. HUMOR. 2021 Mar 22.

Sebba-Elran T. A pandemic of jokes? The Israeli Covid meme and the construction of a collective response to risk. HUMOR. 2021 Mar 22.

Chiodo CP, Broughton KK, Michalski MP. Caution: wit and humor during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chłopicki W, Brzozowska D. Sophisticated humor against Covid: the Polish case. HUMOR. 2021 Mar 22.

Kao A. April Fool's Day and the Medicinal Value of Humor. AMA Journal of Ethics. 2000 Apr 1;2(4):34.

Sebba-Elran T. A pandemic of jokes? The Israeli Covid meme and the construction of a collective response to risk. HUMOR. 2021 Mar 22.