New covid variant becoming dominant: KP.2

[Muse]

This should get you past the paywall for 14 days, i.e. until May 27, 2024:

There’s a New Covid Variant. What Will That Mean for Spring and Summer?

Experts are closely watching KP.2, now the leading variant.

www.nytimes.com

Tip: a lot of the comments are really good. I especially like this one...

Nick L
Rhode Island
May 11
The virus will continue to evolve very quickly. Evolutionary pressures insure future mutations will be both more transmissible and immune evasive.

The virus will be with us indefinitely. We long ago lost the chance to contain it because too many people refused masks and vaccination.

The virus will not become milder. The only evolutionary pressure is to spread more efficiently. There is no selection pressure on virulence one way or another except some traits that make a virus more transmissible also make infection more severe.

There are many clinical studies showing the latest viral variants are as deadly as ever if not more so:

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1601788/v1

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34244-2

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00722-z

Repeat infections do not get easier but are more severe with 2-3 times greater risk each time:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36357676/

Prior infection can give some partial immunity to some but for others causes long term damage to the immune system increasing risk from future infections:

https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/covid-19-study-suggests-long-term-damage-immune-system

To stay healthy we need to continue with regular boosters but most of all wear masks in crowded indoor spaces during times of high transmission.

The virus doesn’t care what people believe. As Neil deGrasse Tyson said, ‘The good thing about science is that it’s true, whether or not you believe it.’

8 Replies 120 Recommend

 

[Muse]

Here's another interesting comment to the article linked in the OP:


Federalist
CaliforniaMay 10
I am not as worried about a new covid strain as I am about bird flu. So far the data from all known cases worldwide says that the disease has been 52% fatal. With the H5N1 bird flu virus spreading nationwide in cattle herds, it is only a matter of time until it spreads into pigs. Since pigs carry human adapted influenza viruses then there will inevitably be recombination (recombination plus mutations is why we always have new flu strains each year) and this will generate new viruses with new combinations. When one virus by random chance obtains the necessary combination of genes then the new viral strain will infect people in contact with pigs and spread rapidly through the human population. Because so many people refuse influenza vaccination and refuse to mask, it is inevitable the spread will be nationwide.
3 Replies73 Recommend

 

[Greenman]

That's going to be messy, but will solve the housing shortage and be a big help in lowering CO2 emissions.
Dyeing from the flue is going to suck on a galactic scale.

 

[pete6032]

This should get you past the paywall for 14 days, i.e. until May 27, 2024:

There’s a New Covid Variant. What Will That Mean for Spring and Summer?

Experts are closely watching KP.2, now the leading variant.

www.nytimes.com

Tip: a lot of the comments are really good. I especially like this one...

Nick L
Rhode Island
May 11
The virus will continue to evolve very quickly. Evolutionary pressures insure future mutations will be both more transmissible and immune evasive.

The virus will be with us indefinitely. We long ago lost the chance to contain it because too many people refused masks and vaccination.

The virus will not become milder. The only evolutionary pressure is to spread more efficiently. There is no selection pressure on virulence one way or another except some traits that make a virus more transmissible also make infection more severe.

There are many clinical studies showing the latest viral variants are as deadly as ever if not more so:

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1601788/v1

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34244-2

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00722-z

Repeat infections do not get easier but are more severe with 2-3 times greater risk each time:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36357676/

Prior infection can give some partial immunity to some but for others causes long term damage to the immune system increasing risk from future infections:

https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/covid-19-study-suggests-long-term-damage-immune-system

To stay healthy we need to continue with regular boosters but most of all wear masks in crowded indoor spaces during times of high transmission.

The virus doesn’t care what people believe. As Neil deGrasse Tyson said, ‘The good thing about science is that it’s true, whether or not you believe it.’

8 Replies 120 Recommend

So you posted an article in which scientists from the CDC say that this new variant is not a concern, but your favorite comments from the comment section are the ones that are most alarmist about the virus?

 

[K1052]

Here's another interesting comment to the article linked in the OP:


Federalist
CaliforniaMay 10
I am not as worried about a new covid strain as I am about bird flu. So far the data from all known cases worldwide says that the disease has been 52% fatal. With the H5N1 bird flu virus spreading nationwide in cattle herds, it is only a matter of time until it spreads into pigs. Since pigs carry human adapted influenza viruses then there will inevitably be recombination (recombination plus mutations is why we always have new flu strains each year) and this will generate new viruses with new combinations. When one virus by random chance obtains the necessary combination of genes then the new viral strain will infect people in contact with pigs and spread rapidly through the human population. Because so many people refuse influenza vaccination and refuse to mask, it is inevitable the spread will be nationwide.
3 Replies73 Recommend

Well if the vaccine refusers don't want their H5N1 shots if that becomes an actual acute problem then more for me.

 

[herm0016]

The virus will be with us indefinitely. We long ago lost the chance to contain it because too many people refused masks and vaccination.

Uh, no. it was never just going to go away with masks and vaccines.

 

[Muse]

So you posted an article in which scientists from the CDC say that this new variant is not a concern, but your favorite comments from the comment section are the ones that are most alarmist about the virus?

WRONG! Nowhere in the article is it said that it's not a concern. Covid IS a concern. Any so called "scientist" who says it isn't is not to be trusted, and I certainly do not trust you. I don't consider those comments alarmist, they are informed and in the case of the first, replete with links to professional studies.

Death rates are still elevated. Long covid is a thing. You can have an asymptomatic case and suffer a life-long disability. If you get covid multiple times you can be worn down. Disregard it at your own peril... and that of others.

 

[Muse]

Uh, no. it was never just going to go away with masks and vaccines.

He didn't say it would "just go away," he said we had a "chance to contain it."

With far wider mass vaccination and mask wearing the bell curve could have been way suppressed and the health care systems not stretched to the limit with patients lining the walls, cadaver trucks in the streets and mass graves.

 

[pete6032]

Nowhere in the article is it said that it's not a concern.

I don’t want to say that we already know everything about KP.2,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Healthcare System. “But at this time, I’m not seeing any major indications of anything ominous.

 

[Muse]

Sure, I had just read that. But that cannot be interpreted to mean that this KP.2 variant is "not a concern." That's bullshit.

 

[Greenman]

WRONG! Nowhere in the article is it said that it's not a concern. Covid IS a concern. Any so called "scientist" who says it isn't is not to be trusted, and I certainly do not trust you. I don't consider those comments alarmist, they are informed and in the case of the first, replete with links to professional studies.

Death rates are still elevated. Long covid is a thing. You can have an asymptomatic case and suffer a life-long disability. If you get covid multiple times you can be worn down. Disregard it at your own peril... and that of others.

So your faith in science is based on it agreeing with what you're afraid of?

 

[Muse]

So your faith in science is based on it agreeing with what you're afraid of?

That's a straight up insult and bullshit and you know it.

 

[herm0016]

a non-zero chance. like many things in life.

He didn't say it would "just go away," he said we had a "chance to contain it."

With far wider mass vaccination and mask wearing the bell curve could have been way suppressed and the health care systems not stretched to the limit with patients lining the walls, cadaver trucks in the streets and mass graves.

 

[Greenman]

That's a straight up insult and bullshit and you know it.

I'm sorry you feel that way, but you stated "Covid IS a concern. Any so called "scientist" who says it isn't is not to be trusted". That sounds faith based to me. I guess if we're looking at the broad picture covid is a "concern", but it's the same concern as the flue. Old people and those with depressed immune systems are who should be concerned and taking steps to avoid exposure, the rest of us have to live with the fact that we might get sick.

 

[brianmanahan]

this makes me feel better about deciding to live like a hermit for the rest of my life

 

[MrSquished]

unsubscribe from that rag

 

[Torn Mind]

He didn't say it would "just go away," he said we had a "chance to contain it."

With far wider mass vaccination and mask wearing the bell curve could have been way suppressed and the health care systems not stretched to the limit with patients lining the walls, cadaver trucks in the streets and mass graves.

There was no chance to contain it.

Data recording lag was already a few months behind and the system requires economic activity to function.
And there's also the herd culling motive to consider.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Still not getting boosted...

What a load of alarmist shit.

 

[pete6032]

Still not getting boosted...

What a load of alarmist shit.

I will get any booster that's available. I'm no fan of being sick.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Ok.

 

[Sukhoi]

Just for everyone's reference, when you go in a grocery store in Berkeley there's still around 25% of the customers still masking. It's a special group of people in that city.

 

[brianmanahan]

i still wear my mask into stores around town. my grandma would kill me if she found out i didn't, she's only left her house a few times in 4 years.

 

[nakedfrog]

Just for everyone's reference, when you go in a grocery store in Berkeley there's still around 25% of the customers still masking. It's a special group of people in that city.

Oh gods, that's terrible, may I offer you an egg in this trying time?

 

[Charmonium]

Before anyone goes back to Lysol-ing their groceries, I think we need to keep in mind the fact that viruses are very, very simple creatures. So simple in fact that one can legitimately debate whether or not they're even alive - since, by definition, they can only replicate in a live host.

It's also worth noting that viruses have been around since we were little more than bacteria floating in a pond. When they infect bacteria, they're called "phages." So over the millennia, virtually every form of life has had to develop defenses.

In fact, when covid came on the scene it was noted that some people of East Asian descent had markers in their DNA that indicated a prolonged battle between humans and a very similar virus.

Also, despite what the comment noted, transmissibility tends to NOT go hand in hand with virulence since a dead host is a useless host.

And finally, contrary to what was previously believed, our immune systems seem to be able to target core as well shell proteins. I'm not sure if vaccines have transitioned to including core proteins yet, but if not, it's likely they will. And with mRNA based vaccines, we can force our bodies to make antibodies to virtually any protein.

The problem with covid, like the common cold virus, is that even infection with the live virus doesn't result in long-lasting immunity, unlike with most viruses.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Nick L
Rhode Island
May 1

... The virus will not become milder. The only evolutionary pressure is to spread more efficiently. There is no selection pressure on virulence one way or another except some traits that make a virus more transmissible also make infection more severe. ...

I do not think this is true. From a virus's perspective, killing your host is never a good idea. Much better to infect in a way that keeps the host alive for as long as possible. Doing so certainly provides more time to transmit yourself to other potential hosts. Even better if outward symptoms can be minimized. It seems to me that the same "evolutionary pressures" that lead to more efficient transmissibity will also lead to less virulence.