Tulane Outbreak – September 3, 2021

Past Infection May Better Protect Against Delta Than Vaccine, but … – MedPageToday

A prior infection from COVID-19 was more protective than vaccine-induced immunity in reducing the risk of infection and symptomatic illness from the Delta variant, according to a retrospective observational study from Israel.

Has Delta Peaked? – NYT

Since the pandemic began, Covid has often followed a regular — if mysterious — cycle. In one country after another, the number of new cases has often surged for roughly two months before starting to fall. The Delta variant, despite its intense contagiousness, has followed this pattern.

U.S. ‘keeping a very close eye’ on Mu variant, Fauci says – Washington Post

A coronavirus variant known as Mu — which was designated by the World Health Organization as a “variant of interest” earlier this week — is not an “immediate threat” to the United States, according to Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s top infectious-disease expert.

‘It’s soul-draining’: Health workers deployed to Covid hot zones are overwhelmed by deaths among the unvaccinated – STAT

Louisiana is currently experiencing one of the worst Covid outbreaks in the world. Only 38% of the population here is fully vaccinated. STAT went inside the Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge to see how the hospital is coping with this latest surge of patients, 1.5 years into the pandemic.

Massive randomized study is proof that surgical masks limit coronavirus spread, authors say – Washington Post

The authors of a study based on an enormous randomized research project in Bangladesh say their results offer the best evidence yet that widespread wearing of surgical masks can limit the spread of the coronavirus in communities.

Doctors dismayed by patients who fear coronavirus vaccines but clamor for unproven ivermectin – Washington Post

Oklahoma doctor Matthew Payne regularly encounters covid-19 patients in his hospital who say they had feared coronavirus vaccines and thought they had found a safer approach — taking ivermectin, a medicine long used to kill parasites in animals and humans.

Vaccine Headlines

Fauci: ‘Dramatic Data’ From Israel Support COVID-19 Boosters – MedPageToday

Researchers have found that, even with the country’s very high vaccination rate, “we see new PCR-positive infections and new severe COVID cases in fully vaccinated people during the Delta wave in Israel from June 1 up to August 1. So clearly, Delta is dominant, and is responsible for new cases, including severe disease,” said Fauci, who is also director of the NIAID.

CDC Warns Against Off-Label Use Of COVID Vaccine – NPR

Some Americans are already lining up for COVID-19 booster shots, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that administering doses of the vaccine in ways that aren’t OK’d by the federal government could put health care providers at risk of lawsuits and leave patients with unexpected bills.

COVID-19 study quantifies antibody response to Pfizer, Moderna vaccines – Jerusalem Post

A new study out of the University of Virginia School of Medicine shows that antibody levels in recipients of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine were slightly higher than recipients of the Pfizer vaccine.

Israel’s COVID-19 boosters are preventing infections, new studies suggest – Science

Israel’s nationwide campaign to provide its population with COVID-19 vaccine boosters appears to benefit recipients. A third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine significantly lowers the risk of infection, according to two new studies.

Take Another Look at the Spacing Between COVID Vaccine Doses – MedPageToday

When most Americans showed up to get their first dose of an mRNA vaccine, they were sternly warned that they must schedule a second dose within a month. In my case, I politely explained that I would come back for my second dose at 3 months. The scheduler got flustered and treated me like I was a fugitive of the law. But a growing body of evidence over the last several months has shown that a longer interval provides better immunity in the long-term. It may even eliminate the need for a booster shot that’s now being recommended.

Moderna Seeks U.S. Authorization for Covid Booster Shot – Bloomberg

Moderna Inc. said that it had filed initial data with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for clearance of a third-dose booster of its Covid-19 vaccine, adding fuel to a debate over the need for additional shots.

India’s DNA COVID vaccine is a world first – more are coming – Nature

India has approved a new COVID vaccine that uses circular strands of DNA to prime the immune system against the virus SARS-CoV-2. Researchers have welcomed news of the first DNA vaccine for people to receive approval anywhere in the world, and say many other DNA vaccines may soon be hot on its heels.

Clinical Considerations

Fibromyalgia: A New Feature of Long COVID? – MedPageToday

Among patients who developed post-acute COVID-19 — so-called “long COVID” — almost one-third reported clinical features of fibromyalgia, Italian researchers reported.

Rogue antibodies involved in almost one-fifth of COVID deaths – Nature

Antibodies that turn against elements of our own immune defences are a key driver of severe illness and death following SARS-CoV-2 infection in some people, according to a large international study. These rogue antibodies, known as autoantibodies, are also present in a small proportion of healthy, uninfected individuals — and their prevalence increases with age, which may help to explain why elderly people are at higher risk of severe COVID-19.

Painless, Silent Organ Damage Seen in Covid ‘Long Hauler’ Study – Bloomberg

Kidney damage is painless and silent, and it’s the latest ailment to be identified afflicting a large swath of Covid-19 survivors. Injury to the blood-filtering organ can occur among people who recover from the coronavirus at home, and escalates with the severity of Covid, a study found. Even non-hospitalized patients with no renal problems have almost a twofold higher risk of developing end-stage kidney disease, compared with someone who never had Covid.

Official Reporting for September 3, 2021

World Health Organization

Weekly Epi Update August 24, 2021 (latest release)

New Cases: 335,430

Confirmed Cases: 218,580,734

Deaths: 4,534,755

Johns Hopkins

Confirmed Cases: 219,146,085
Deaths: 4,543,531

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Total cases: 39,488,866 (+171,123 New Cases)
Total deaths: 641,725 (+1,328 New Deaths)

Science and Tech

Inside Pfizer’s labs, ‘variant hunters’ race to stay ahead of the pandemic’s next twist – STAT

Delta was tearing its way through India and, as the death toll climbed higher, so did the anxiety inside Pfizer’s lab north of New York City. The Covid-19 variant was threatening to undo their work from the past breakneck year, by rendering their acclaimed vaccine ineffective.

Psychological and Sociological Impact

The Cost of Compassion Fatigue During COVID – MedPageToday

When I like to think of compassion fatigue, I think we throw a lot of terms around, we use, like, burnout and moral fatigue and we use them all kind of interchangeably and they’re quite different actually, but compassion fatigue itself is really like the cost of caring for someone.

Georgia professors are quitting over their universities’ lax mask rules: ‘This is a matter of life and death’ – Washington Post

After more than a year of working from home, lecturer Cornelia Lambert was days away from returning to the University of North Georgia to teach a seminar on the history of infectious diseases when she began having second thoughts.

Published Research

Airborne transmission of respiratory viruses – Science

Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories

How ‘America’s Frontline Doctors’ Sold Access to Bogus COVID-19 Treatments—and Left Patients in the Lurch – Time Magazine

Mike says he was struggling with COVID-19 when he felt his breathing getting worse. He did not want to go to the Veterans Affairs hospital near his home, where he believed doctors might put him on a ventilator. And he knew they would not prescribe the treatment he really wanted: a drug called ivermectin.

Misinformation on Facebook got six times more clicks than factual news during the 2020 election, study says – Washington Post

A new study of user behavior on Facebook around the 2020 election is likely to bolster critics’ long-standing arguments that the company’s algorithms fuel the spread of misinformation over more trustworthy sources.

Coping with COVID

ABBA reunites after nearly 40 years to announce new album, digital concert – NBC News

There is a video!