Coronavirus expert Mark Denison shares COVID-19 research and insights – Vanderbilt University
One of the world’s foremost experts on coronaviruses, Dr. Mark R. Denison, shared his research and insights into COVID-19 during a webinar on Dec. 14. Hosted by Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, more than 1,700 alumni, students, faculty, staff and community members joined the live virtual presentation, which highlighted Denison’s lab and the vital role it has played in battling COVID-19. Denison is the Edward Claiborne Stahlman Chair in Pediatric Physiology and Cell Metabolism, professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt University and director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
‘What Real Friends Do’: How to Navigate Tough Conversations About COVID-19 – NPR
As it gets colder, and harder to gather outdoors, some of Kenzie Billings’ conversations with her loved ones are feeling a bit more fraught. “It’s felt frustrating at times. You know, you can feel energy from people in terms of wanting to be together,” the 29-year-old from Portland, Ore., says.
Ron Klain Saw it Coming – The Atlantic
It is a truism in journalism that predicting the future is perilous, mainly because it hasn’t happened yet. So when we publish articles that, over time, prove their prescience, attention ought to be paid.
People Thought Covid-19 Was Relatively Harmless for Younger Adults. They Were Wrong. – NYT
New research shows that July may have been the deadliest month for young adults in modern American history.
How Effective Is the Mask You’re Wearing? You May Know Soon – NYT
More than 100,000 varieties of face masks are currently for sale. They come in silk, cotton and synthetics; with filters and without; over-the-head and over-the-ears. They have sparkles and sunflowers; friendly greetings and insults; cartoon characters and teeny reindeer. What they don’t have is a label that shows how well they block infectious particles, an omission that has frustrated public health officials during the coronavirus pandemic. Those experts note that there is a big range in the effectiveness of various designs, and some barely filter out particles at all.
Vaccine Headlines
Hospitals Discover a Surprise in Their Vaccine Deliveries: Extra Doses – NYT
Pharmacists have found that they can squeeze an additional dose from some of the glass vials that were supposed to contain five doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Alaska Health Worker Had a Serious Allergic Reaction After Pfizer’s Vaccine – NYT
The person had no history of allergies. Two similar reactions happened last week in Britain.
The U.S. and Pfizer are negotiating a deal for more vaccine doses next year. – NYT
The Trump administration is negotiating a deal to use its power to free up supplies of raw materials to help Pfizer produce tens of millions of additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine for Americans in the first half of next year, people familiar with the situation said.
Clinical Considerations
Do Patients With Rheumatic Diseases Have Increased Risk of Severe COVID-19? – MedPageToday
The goal of this study was to examine the epidemiological characteristics associated with severe COVID-19 and mortality in patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.
Official Reporting for December 17, 2020
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update December 14, 2020
Confirmed Cases: 72 196 732
Deaths: 1 630 521
ECDC
Confirmed Cases: 71 503 614
Deaths: 1 612 833
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 74,167,013
Deaths: 1,648,091
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 16,519,668 (+201,776 New Cases)
Total deaths: 302,992 (+2,960 New Deaths)
Surveillance Headlines
UNITED STATES
Texas: Houston Doctor Expects Another Coronavirus Surge After Christmas – NPR
North Carolina: Thanksgiving COVID-19 surge pushes N.C. hospitalizations to another record high – NC News
EUROPE
Europe set to approve COVID-19 vaccine in Christmas week – Reuters
Sweden: Failed to protect elderly in COVID pandemic, commission finds – Reuters
UK: England Keeps Looser Holiday Covid Rules Even as Cases Surge – Bloomberg
ASIA
Indonesia: Younger People Get Vaccines First in Indonesia’s Unusual Rollout – Bloomberg
LATIN AMERICA
Brazil: Brazil has the world’s second-highest coronavirus death toll – Washington Post
Science and Tech
People who recover from COVID-19 sometimes later test positive for SARS-CoV-2, suggesting their immune systems could not ward off a second attack by the coronavirus or that they have a lingering infection. A study now hints at a different explanation in which the virus hides in an unexpected place. The work, only reported in a preprint, suggests the pandemic pathogen takes a page from HIV and other retroviruses and integrates its genetic code—but, importantly, just parts of it—into people’s chromosomes. The phenomenon, if true and frequent, could have profound implications that range from false signals of active infection to misleading results from COVID-19 treatment studies. [Related, Study One, Study Two, Study Three]
Early data suggest wearables can catch some cases of Covid-19 before symptoms emerge – STAT
The results of several ambitious studies testing wearables as early predictors of for Covid-19 are in — and they suggest that data from devices including Apple Watches, Fitbits, and Oura smart rings may be useful for flagging some infections in people before they even feel ill.
Endothelial Cell Targeting Could Help Fight COVID-19 Symptoms – Technology Networks
For Covid-19 patients with serious lung disease, targeting endothelial cells – cells that comprise the blood vessel wall which regulate oxygen exchange between airways and the bloodstream – may be a novel approach to restoring normal lung function. This hypothesis stems from a study by researchers in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University and published in mBio, the leading journal for the American Society for Microbiology.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
None Today
Published Research
All-Cause Excess Mortality and COVID-19–Related Mortality Among US Adults Aged 25-44 Years, March-July 2020 – JAMA
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Real Progress Is Possible On Vaccine Hesitancy – Kaiser Family News
There is a lot to be very worried about when it comes to vaccine hesitancy, but there are also reasons to be optimistic. The shares of hesitant groups that appear totally dug in are relatively modest for a new vaccine people have not seen administered safely in their communities, and many of the reasons people are reluctant to get vaccinated are remediable if they get more information from sources they trust.\
Coping in 2020
Healthcare Workers Go Viral by Dancing to Lizzo to Celebrate COVID-19 Vaccine Arrival – mom.com
Things I find on Reddit…
This one was titled “Vegan Facemask”
