WORRISOME—#COVID19 mutation becomes more concerning. The coronavirus can mutate swiftly in one person’s body.

New case study: #SARSCoV2 “resurged again & again in the body of an infected man, eventually killing him while showing fast-paced evolution”. 🧵
nature.com/articles/d4158…
2) doctors “followed the course of #COVID19 in a 45-year-old man with autoimmune disorder, who was on immunosuppressants.”

➡️ Roughly 40 days after he first tested positive, follow-up tests indicated that virus was dwindling — but it surged back, *despite antiviral treatment*.
3) “The man’s infection subsided and then returned 2x more before he died, five months after his first #COVID19 diagnosis.

“Genomic 🧬 analysis showed that the man had not been infected multiple times. Instead, the virus had lingered and **quickly mutated in his body**.”
4) we don’t know for sure what this means for vaccine, but virus can gain mutations by allowing it to replicate over and over. there is something known as “passaging”—usually serially in animals—allowing accumulate mutations quickly—could be good/bad. This case in 1 person though
5) In another news, a widespread mutation of #SARSCoV2 called N439K has the potential to **evade the immune response** that some people mount after infection. (Thomson et al. doi.org/fhnp; 2020).... nature.com/articles/d4158…
6) “researchers found the mutation could hinder (read: block) the activity of potent neutralizing antibodies that block the virus.”

➡️ Among the neutralizing antibodies obstructed were those in the blood of people who had recovered from #COVID19.

This could affect reinfection.
7) And worse, mutation N439K even inhibited neutralizing antibodies from “manufactured ‘monoclonal antibodies’ that are being developed into treatments”!

➡️ Basically this mutation could maybe thwart synthetic antibodies in Renegeron & Eli Lily drugs that Trump & Christie used.
8) Folks—not making any of this stuff up! It’s all from a Nature news summary!

Scroll down to:

“11 November — A coronavirus mutation could weaken antibodies’ power”
nature.com/articles/d4158…
9) All this affects not only the drugs, but also reinfection and possibly the vaccine (no data yet). But we do know reinfection can happen — officially 25 confirmed cases via virus 🧬 comparison. And 572 more suspected reinfections according to @BNODesk: bnonews.com/index.php/2020…

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More from @DrEricDing

18 Nov
BREAKING—Updated results from Pfizer said it’s #COVID19 vaccine is 95% effective (vs 90% in previous early results) and had no serious side effects. 94% effective in older adults. Of 170 cases, 162 in placebo. Of 10 severe, 9 in placebo. This is HUGE!! nytimes.com/2020/11/18/hea…
2) If the F.D.A. authorizes the two-dose vaccine, Pfizer has said that it could have up to 50 million doses available by the end of the year, and up to 1.3 billion by the end of next year.
3) However, only about half of its supply will go to the United States this year, or enough for about 12.5 million people — a sliver of the American population of 330 million
Read 8 tweets
18 Nov
📍BEST RAPID ANTIGEN TEST. This is the super awesome, very accurate, cheap $5, rapid antigen Abbott PanBio #COVID19 test used to find active infectious virus (& recommended by the renowned @michaelmina_lab).

SO WHAT’S THE DAMN PROBLEM?

➡️It’s not FDA approved in US yet. 🧵
2) it is very useful for rapidly finding and isolating contagious #COVID19 cases.

📌For patients suspected of current COVID-19 infection.

📌High performance rapid test enables immediate treatment or isolation measures to minimize transmission. Image
3) 📌Patient-friendly nasal or nasopharyngeal sample collection types.

📌Accessible, large-scale testing helps contain the virus spread.

(FYI: I do *not* own any Abbott stock/equity, nor compensated in any way. I have not spoken to anyone from Abbott).
globalpointofcare.abbott/en/product-det… Image
Read 13 tweets
17 Nov
Sobering—“Within a few weeks, COVID-19 will be the single leading cause of death on a daily basis in the United States” once we hit 2000 deaths a day. #COVID19
2) US epidemic. Not going so well:

➡️ 8 US states had more new cases/capita than any country

➡️ If US States were countries: 15 of the top 20 worst hit would be US States.

But still no mask mandates is ~40% of all states.

(Figures by my FAS team. HT @euromaestro) #COVID19 Image
3) And I agree that #COVID19 could be likely the largest mass casualty event on US soil. Though one could argue the European invasion of North America that killed 9/10 Native Americans might be close.
Read 4 tweets
16 Nov
BREAKING—Sweden 🇸🇪 imposing further bans on public events. Prime Minister: "It's going to get worse. I'll say it again. It's going to get worse. Take responsibility to stop the spread of infection. Don't have dinners. Don't have parties. Cancel.” #COVID19 thelocal.se/20201116/break…
2) This is a dramatic shift in tone from Sweden before. Sweden epidemic surge is just too hot now. Higher than its neighbors, despite previous predictions of greater herd immunity. Didn’t pan out. Image
3) here was Sweden’s bold and arrogant proclamation previously. 🤔 ImageImageImage
Read 6 tweets
16 Nov
BREAKING—Moderna just announced its experimental coronavirus vaccine is nearly 95% effective at preventing illness, including severe cases, in preliminary analysis. And of 11 observed severe cases, all were in the placebo group. Positive news. #COVID19 washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11…
2) Moderna’s vaccine is being co-developed with Fauci’s NIAID institute, and being tested in 30,000 people. Of the 95 cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, 90 were in the group that received the placebo.
3) “ There were 11 severe cases reported — all in people who received the placebo. With cases of covid-19 confined almost exclusively to trial participants receiving a placebo, that sends a strong signal that the vaccine is effective at thwarting the virus.
Read 7 tweets
16 Nov
Oh hell.

📌38% of U.S. residents say they plan to gather in groups of >=10 people this holiday season.

📌Nearly 33% said they would not require friends or family to wear masks at Thanksgiving gatherings

📌25% would not practice social distancing. thehill.com/homenews/news/…
2) We are gonna have this happen after Thanksgiving. Huge parties, and deaths among those who didn’t even attend the original party. None of the 7 who died went to this Maine wedding. forbes.com/sites/victoria…
3) this is why I’m begging everyone—don’t gather. Or only do it outside. Please folks.
Read 4 tweets

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