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COVID-19: New Variant's 50 Mutations Make It Different From Original Virus, NIH Director Says COVID-19: New Variant's 50 Mutations Make It Different From Original Virus, NIH Director Says
Covid-19: New Variant's 50 Mutations Make It Different From Original Virus, NIH Director Says Why are scientists so concerned about the new strain of COVID-19? Simply stated, when it comes to Omicron, it's all about the sheer numbers -- as in the number of mutations. "The main thing that has us focused on this and has caused us to be sort of 24-7 on Zoom calls the last four days is that it has so many mutations," Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), said Sunday morning, Nov. 28 on CNN. "Omicron has more than 50 variants that make it different from the original virus, including more than 30 that are in the spike protein." The spike proteins …

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by Joe Lombardi
News
COVID-19: New 'Delta Plus' Variant Being Carefully Monitored, CDC Director Says COVID-19: New 'Delta Plus' Variant Being Carefully Monitored, CDC Director Says
Covid-19: New 'Delta Plus' Variant Being Carefully Monitored, CDC Director Says The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the new COVID-19 variant, "Delta plus," is being carefully monitored by health officials.  CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky discussed the new strain in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Oct. 24.  When asked if she is worried about "Delta plus," which is surging in the United Kingdom, Walensky said the agency is following the genomic sequencing of the variant "very carefully." "It is a variant of the delta variant," she said. "It has several mutations on the spike protein that we have …

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by Nicole Valinote
Lifestyle
COVID-19: Link Shown Between Severity, Death From Virus And Smoking, New Study Reveals COVID-19: Link Shown Between Severity, Death From Virus And Smoking, New Study Reveals
Covid-19: Link Shown Between Severity, Death From Virus And Smoking, New Study Reveals A new study has found a strong link between smoking cigarettes and severe outcomes from COVID-19 infection. According to a report from News Medical, researchers for the UK Biobank study looked at "primary care records, COVID-19 test results, hospital admissions data and death certificates" to search for associations between smoking and hospitalizations and death from COVID-19.  The news site reported that 59 percent of participants have never smoked, 37 percent were former smokers and 4 percent were smokers.  The study found that current smokers were 80 percent more likely to be …

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by Nicole Valinote
News
COVID-19: Study Reveals Who's Most At Risk For Breakthrough Infections COVID-19: Study Reveals Who's Most At Risk For Breakthrough Infections
Covid-19: Study Reveals Who's Most At Risk For Breakthrough Infections Researchers have identified groups of vaccinated people who may be the most at risk for suffering severe outcomes from COVID-19 breakthrough infections. According to a report from Medical News Today, the study looked at more than 6 million people who have received one or two doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom.  One of the paper's co-authors, Dr. Aziz Sheikh, said only a small number of the more than 5 million people who received two vaccine doses remained at risk for COVID-19 hospitalization and death after being vaccinated. "We saw relatively few deaths in individuals wh…

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by Nicole Valinote
News
COVID-19: Cape Cod Cluster Among Vaccinated Led To Mask Shift; 'The War Has Changed' CDC Says COVID-19: Cape Cod Cluster Among Vaccinated Led To Mask Shift; 'The War Has Changed' CDC Says
Covid-19: Cape Cod Cluster Among Vaccinated Led To Mask Shift; 'The War Has Changed' CDC Says A cluster of hundreds of COVID-19 cases on Cape Cod, many involving vaccinated people, prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to change its policy on mask-wearing this week. The July 4th outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts showed that vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant could spread the virus. A total of nearly 900 infections have been linked to the cluster. The high viral load of the Delta variant, which was first discovered in India late last year, makes it possible for vaccinated who become infected through breakthrough cases to spread the virus i…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
COVID-19: Delta Variant As Contagious As Chickenpox, Internal CDC Document Says COVID-19: Delta Variant As Contagious As Chickenpox, Internal CDC Document Says
Covid-19: Delta Variant As Contagious As Chickenpox, Internal CDC Document Says The Delta variant, which now accounts for about 85 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the United States, is as contagious as chickenpox, according to internal documents by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). Details of those documents were reported on Friday, July 30 by both The Washington Post and New York Times. The high viral load of the Delta variant makes it possible for vaccinated who become infected through breakthrough cases to spread the virus in some cases, the CDC now says. “We have studies that have now shown that even on the first swab on somebody with a…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
COVID-19: Unvaccinated Woman Dies After Contracting Two Strains At Same Time, Scientists Say COVID-19: Unvaccinated Woman Dies After Contracting Two Strains At Same Time, Scientists Say
Covid-19: Unvaccinated Woman Dies After Contracting Two Strains At Same Time, Scientists Say Scientists are warning that it's possible to contract two COVID-19 strains at the same time following the death of an unvaccinated woman who was infected by different variants. The woman, age 90, was admitted to a Belgium hospital to treat injuries from a fall and tested positive for COVID that day, according to a report by the European Congress on Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. Though she did not display symptoms when admitted and displayed good oxygen saturation, she quickly developed rapidly worsening respiratory problems and died less than a week later. When resp…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
COVID-19: New Variant May Be More Resistant To Vaccines Than Other Strains, Scientists Say COVID-19: New Variant May Be More Resistant To Vaccines Than Other Strains, Scientists Say
Covid-19: New Variant May Be More Resistant To Vaccines Than Other Strains, Scientists Say A new strain of the COVID-19 virus may be more resistant to vaccines than other variants, scientists are now warning. The C.37 strain, known as the Lambda variant, was first identified in Peru in December 2020, when it accounted for less than one percent of new cases. It now accounts for about 80 percent of new infections in Peru and has spread to about 27 countries in the last month, according to a report in the Financial Times. The World Health Organization said the strain carries a number of mutations that may have prompted potential increased transmissibility or possible increased resi…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
COVID-19: Vaccinated Hudson Valley Resident Tests Positive For Delta Variant COVID-19: Vaccinated Hudson Valley Resident Tests Positive For Delta Variant
Covid-19: Vaccinated Hudson Valley Resident Tests Positive For Delta Variant A vaccinated New York resident has tested positive for the Delta strain of COVID-19. The positive result in the Hudson Valley resident was confirmed Monday, June 28 in Ulster County. The strain, first detected in India in December 2020, now makes up 90 percent of new cases in the United Kingdom and 20 percent of new cases in the United States. Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said word came from the New York State Health Department and that the person has recovered. "This incident is a critical reminder that while we have made great strides in fighting this virus, we are not out of the wo…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
COVID-19: There Could Be Some Long-Term Loss Of Brain Tissue From Virus, New Study Says COVID-19: There Could Be Some Long-Term Loss Of Brain Tissue From Virus, New Study Says
Covid-19: There Could Be Some Long-Term Loss Of Brain Tissue From Virus, New Study Says There could be some long-term loss of brain tissue from COVID-19 that would have some lingering consequences, according to a brand-new study. That loss of brain tissue may explain why COVID patients lost their sense of smell, according to the study, which was conducted in the United Kingdom. "They looked at people who had had MRI scans of their brains in the past three years and they looked at how many developed COVID and about 300 people, a little over 300 people developed COVID," said former Food and Drug Administration Director Dr. Scott Gottlieb on CBS-TV's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, …

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by Joe Lombardi
News
COVID-19: Delta Variant's Symptoms Different, More Dangerous Than Original Virus, Doctors Say COVID-19: Delta Variant's Symptoms Different, More Dangerous Than Original Virus, Doctors Say
Covid-19: Delta Variant's Symptoms Different, More Dangerous Than Original Virus, Doctors Say The Delta variant of COVID-19, by far the most contagious strain during the entire pandemic, has different and more dangerous symptoms than the original virus, doctors are now warning. The strain, first detected in India in December 2020, now makes up 90 percent of new cases in the United Kingdom and 10 percent of new cases in the United States. Doctors in China told state-run television that their patients who have the Delta strain, known as B.1.617.2, are becoming sicker and their conditions are worsening at a faster rate, according to The New York Times. Around 12 percent of Delta varia…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
COVID-19: CDC Issues New Travel Guidance For Americans COVID-19: CDC Issues New Travel Guidance For Americans
Covid-19: CDC Issues New Travel Guidance For Americans The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has issued new COVID-19 travel guidance for Americans. The guidance "better differentiate countries with severe outbreak situations" from those where the virus is "sustained, but controlled." The CDC has grouped countries into four levels, with those in Level 4, the highest threat level. In those countries, there have been 500 cases for every 100,000 residents in the last 28 days. Brazil and India are among the Level 4 countries. The CDC is advising Americans to avoid traveling to Level 4 countries. Those in Level 3, with a high…

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by Joe Lombardi