We Just Don't Know
Week from Monday 25th September 2023 - Another week of slightly uncomfortable 'LIE-INs" (compared to my own usual early morning standard, anyway):- mornings spent catnapping along with RADIO THREE, maybe a burst of upright "GETTING THINGS DONE" activity, which'll take it out of me for the rest of the day, "COUNTDOWN" and an afternoon murder mystery. I'm starving hungry but I'd just as soon dring tap water. So that's me now...
NOTE TO SELF: When the opportunity presents itself, be on the look out for more music by the Welsh composer GRACE WILLIAMS, who I've just 'discovered', having heard some of her amazing works on the beebwireless...
Now what else is happening in the wacky world of COVID? (the following is mostly gleaned from various articles on the BBC News webbo, but selected, arranged, heavily sub-edited and emphasised by Yours Mintilly).
So that's fun... and that's before I even get started on those home testing kits that DON'T anymore...
NOTE TO SELF: When the opportunity presents itself, be on the look out for more music by the Welsh composer GRACE WILLIAMS, who I've just 'discovered', having heard some of her amazing works on the beebwireless...
Now what else is happening in the wacky world of COVID? (the following is mostly gleaned from various articles on the BBC News webbo, but selected, arranged, heavily sub-edited and emphasised by Yours Mintilly).
"What you need to know about Covid as new variant rises? The number of people in hospital has gone up. Google searches have doubled in a month and booster vaccines have been brought forward because of a new variant. It might all feel a bit 2021. But - these days - how much do we really need to worry about Covid? How many people are catching Covid this autumn is impossible to know for sure. All those drive-in testing sites are long closed and those free boxes of lateral flow tests probably dried up months ago. The Office for National Statistics infection survey, which used to test a random sample of the population, was scrapped back in March. But we do still record the number of people who test positive in hospital across the whole UK, and that figure has been creeping up since the summer.
'What does it tell me about the virus? It tells me it's spreading and it tells me it still has the ability to make people very unwell,' says S_Mc_, an actuary who has studied the data closely since the start of the pandemic.
'We have all built up different levels of immunity over the last four years depending on our vaccine record and contact with the disease. There's probably no two people in the country whose history of vaccinations and Covid exposure are alike," says Mr Mc_. 'So I think it's more difficult to predict what will come next than it has been at any previous point.'... Protection against catching Covid is likely to last just a few months (at best) although data shows protection against severe disease is more long-lasting. In part that is because the virus itself is constantly changing. Previous waves have been driven by different variants which have undergone multiple genetic changes. Those mutations can alter the virus's behaviour - making it spread faster, for example. But crucially they might also make it harder for our immune systems, which have been primed to respond to those older versions, to recognise and fight off. In late 2021, the Omicron variant did just that and infected millions, although that wave did not lead to a huge spike in hospitalisations and deaths...
In August 2023, scientists around the world started tracking the spread of yet another version with a large number of mutations. Just 54 cases of BA.2.86, as it is now called, have been confirmed in the UK. Early lab tests appear to be reassuring - with signs it may be less contagious and immunity dodging than some originally feared... The emergence of BA.2.86 meant a decision was made to bring forward the autumn Covid booster to better protect the most vulnerable this winter. But the new jabs are only available to people over 65 years old (it was the over-50s last year) and those with certain health conditions. That is a tactical decision, says Dr A_F, professor of paediatrics. He explained: 'When younger people who've already had infections and vaccines get Covid [again], they get a cold and a cough and might be off work for a few days. There's no real value in investing a lot of time and effort immunising them again when there are so many other things for the health service to be doing. The reality is then that most under-65s will now end up boosting their immunity not through vaccination, but through catching Covid many times.'... At the very start of the pandemic, we were told that, one day, we would have to learn to live with Covid. The virus is not going away. But perhaps it is starting to become part of the background to our everyday lives.
Long Covid: What is it and what are the symptoms?
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates about 1.5 million people in the UK have 'Long Covid'. Most people who catch Covid don't become severely ill and get better relatively quickly. But some have long-term problems after recovering from the original infection, even if they weren't very ill in the first place.
What are long Covid symptoms?
Long Covid isn't fully understood and there's no internationally-agreed definition - so estimates of how common it is (or what the main symptoms are) vary... Guidance for UK health professionals refers to symptoms that continue for more than 12 weeks which cannot be explained by another cause. According to the NHS, these can include:
- extreme tiredness
- shortness of breath, chest pain or tightness
- problems with memory and concentration ("brain fog")
- changes to taste and smell
- joint pain
But patient surveys suggest a range of other symptoms may also be present, including gut problems, insomnia and vision changes (It is crucial to remember these symptoms can have other causes too). There's a lot of research investigating the potential long-term impact of coronavirus. One study suggests Covid may affect the brain, with a slight shrinkage in size visible after infection. Another suggests some people with long Covid have lung abnormalities. But the significance of these changes and whether they are permanent is unknown...There is currently no standard test.
What causes long Covid? We don't know. It could be that the initial infection sends some people's immune systems into overdrive, meaning they attack not just the virus but their own organs... The virus entering and damaging our cells might explain some symptoms like a loss of smell and taste, while damage to blood vessels could, for example, contribute to heart problems...
'What does it tell me about the virus? It tells me it's spreading and it tells me it still has the ability to make people very unwell,' says S_Mc_, an actuary who has studied the data closely since the start of the pandemic.
'We have all built up different levels of immunity over the last four years depending on our vaccine record and contact with the disease. There's probably no two people in the country whose history of vaccinations and Covid exposure are alike," says Mr Mc_. 'So I think it's more difficult to predict what will come next than it has been at any previous point.'... Protection against catching Covid is likely to last just a few months (at best) although data shows protection against severe disease is more long-lasting. In part that is because the virus itself is constantly changing. Previous waves have been driven by different variants which have undergone multiple genetic changes. Those mutations can alter the virus's behaviour - making it spread faster, for example. But crucially they might also make it harder for our immune systems, which have been primed to respond to those older versions, to recognise and fight off. In late 2021, the Omicron variant did just that and infected millions, although that wave did not lead to a huge spike in hospitalisations and deaths...
In August 2023, scientists around the world started tracking the spread of yet another version with a large number of mutations. Just 54 cases of BA.2.86, as it is now called, have been confirmed in the UK. Early lab tests appear to be reassuring - with signs it may be less contagious and immunity dodging than some originally feared... The emergence of BA.2.86 meant a decision was made to bring forward the autumn Covid booster to better protect the most vulnerable this winter. But the new jabs are only available to people over 65 years old (it was the over-50s last year) and those with certain health conditions. That is a tactical decision, says Dr A_F, professor of paediatrics. He explained: 'When younger people who've already had infections and vaccines get Covid [again], they get a cold and a cough and might be off work for a few days. There's no real value in investing a lot of time and effort immunising them again when there are so many other things for the health service to be doing. The reality is then that most under-65s will now end up boosting their immunity not through vaccination, but through catching Covid many times.'... At the very start of the pandemic, we were told that, one day, we would have to learn to live with Covid. The virus is not going away. But perhaps it is starting to become part of the background to our everyday lives.
Long Covid: What is it and what are the symptoms?
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates about 1.5 million people in the UK have 'Long Covid'. Most people who catch Covid don't become severely ill and get better relatively quickly. But some have long-term problems after recovering from the original infection, even if they weren't very ill in the first place.
What are long Covid symptoms?
Long Covid isn't fully understood and there's no internationally-agreed definition - so estimates of how common it is (or what the main symptoms are) vary... Guidance for UK health professionals refers to symptoms that continue for more than 12 weeks which cannot be explained by another cause. According to the NHS, these can include:
- extreme tiredness
- shortness of breath, chest pain or tightness
- problems with memory and concentration ("brain fog")
- changes to taste and smell
- joint pain
But patient surveys suggest a range of other symptoms may also be present, including gut problems, insomnia and vision changes (It is crucial to remember these symptoms can have other causes too). There's a lot of research investigating the potential long-term impact of coronavirus. One study suggests Covid may affect the brain, with a slight shrinkage in size visible after infection. Another suggests some people with long Covid have lung abnormalities. But the significance of these changes and whether they are permanent is unknown...There is currently no standard test.
What causes long Covid? We don't know. It could be that the initial infection sends some people's immune systems into overdrive, meaning they attack not just the virus but their own organs... The virus entering and damaging our cells might explain some symptoms like a loss of smell and taste, while damage to blood vessels could, for example, contribute to heart problems...
So that's fun... and that's before I even get started on those home testing kits that DON'T anymore...
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