Vietnam Detects New Highly Transmissible Coronavirus Variant : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

Vietnam Detects New Highly Transmissible Coronavirus Variant : Coronavirus Updates : NPR Almost the same headline as the previous story from The Hill. Not sure what is up with that.

India’s Covid Surge Hit Young Patients Hard and Fast

India’s Covid Surge Hit Young Patients Hard and Fast This is worrisome. A number of Indian doctors said those hospitalized in the surge have required more oxygen than Covid-19 patients previously needed. They described seeing faster-spreading lung damage and faster-dropping oxygen levels among relatively young patients, and longer recovery times. Covid-19 patients at all age levels have had increased oxygen needs, doctors said, but they were especially surprised to see this in younger patients.

New Variant Posing Threat, as Global Vaccine Drive Falters - The New York Times

New Variant Posing Threat, as Global Vaccine Drive Falters - The New York Times The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offered 88 percent protection against the variant first sampled in India, only a slight drop from the 93 percent protection given against the variant from Britain, Public Health England said. The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine was 60 percent effective against the variant from India, compared to 66 percent effective against the one first seen in Britain. Those are not great odds.

Coronavirus variant B.1.617 first seen in India now in US what to know

Coronavirus variant B.1.617 first seen in India now in US what to know It's here. Nobody seems that worried. It's sometimes called a "double mutant" because it has double the number of mutations as some earlier variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. The concern at firstwas that might make it doubly dangerous. "The good news is, this doesn't appear to be the case. Having both mutations was no worse than having just one," said Dr. Charles Chiu, a professor and expert in viral genomics at the University of California, San Francisco.

Covid variant from India could become dominant in the UK

Covid variant from India could become dominant in the UK: It's arrive in the UK, so I guess we'll soon see what happens to the numbers. When it hits the US I think people will be hesitant to put their masks back on. The realy question I'm pondering is whether B.1.617 will influence the mask-and-vaccine hesitant to change their behavior. Then again, people still smoke.

India’s Scientists Know the Way Out of This Disaster. We Need Modi to Listen.

India’s Scientists Know the Way Out of This Disaster. We Need Modi to Listen. The immediate need is to reduce spread by increased testing and isolation of people who test positive. Several Indian states are under lockdown. This would “flatten the curve,” allowing health care facilities and supplies to regroup. Rapidly enhancing the health care infrastructure will also save lives. India should increase available hospital beds by setting up temporary facilities, mobilize retired doctors and nurses, and strengthen the supply chain for critical medicines and oxygen. At the same time, India cannot allow the pace of vaccinations to slow. It must vaccinate at scale now, aiming to deliver 7.5 million to 10 million doses every day. This will require enhancing vaccine supplies and doubling delivery points. There are only about 50,000 sites where Indians can get vaccines right now; we need many more. Since only 3 percent of these delivery points are in the private sector, this is where capacity can be added. This is a really useful piece that discusses which variants are at large in India. The most prominent variant is now mutating: Global data shows the B.1.617 variant to be diversifying into three sub-lineages. In a preliminary report posted on Sunday, British and Indian scientists found the B.1.617.2 variant in vaccine breakthrough infections in a Delhi hospital.

Black fungus India: COVID patients face rare, deadly fungal infection

Black fungus India: COVID patients face rare, deadly fungal infection: This type of mucormycosis occurs more frequently among patients with diabetes, which is why health experts say cases are spiking in India where one in six people have the chronic disease, according to the International Diabetes Federation Diabetes Atlas published in 2019. “Diabetes is the No. 1 risk factor for this,” Hansoti said. Up to 75% of mucormycosis cases occur among COVID-19 patients with diabetes, she added, with as many as 45% undiagnosed until they show up to the hospital.