Another slow day on the news front, but not as slow as yesterday. Monkeypox is still out there and, now, so is Marburg. Two cases have been identified in Ghana, the first time Marburg has appeared there. Marburg is a relation of Ebola, and got its name from the University of Marburg in Germany where it was first studied. There is no vaccine nor is there any treatment for Marburg, making it almost as deadly as Ebola. The fatality rate ranges from 24 percent to 88 percent. It can spread to humans from infected animals including bats. Marburg was the name of our first family dog. Yes, he was named after the virus just as current family dog Lassa is named after a different virus.
It seems that 70 percent of Americans 50 and older who got a first booster have not yet gotten a second. It might be time. A study just published in Nature found that BA.5 is four times as resistant to mRNA vaccines as earlier Omicron subvariants. The BA.5 wave is looking worse in the South, just as summer waves in 2020 and 2021 did. As to how high the wave is, a scientist at the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation says, "We estimate that for every reported case there are 7 unreported." Other scientists say there may be 10 more unreported.
On the vaccine front, I read something I had not thought about--the suggestion that too much tailoring of vaccines to fight new variants could allow older variants to reappear. What if the vaccines have been changed enough that they no longer work against Alpha, Beta, and friends? While I cannot address that medically, it's worth pondering philosophically.
Dr. Fauci says it is "very likely" he will retire by the end of POTUS's first term in office, in other words, before January 2025. He does not expect to stay until the coronavirus is eradicated because, he said, "I think we're going to be living with this" for years to come. "Are we there yet?" may become a rhetorical question. On Friday, POTUS extended the covid-19 public health emergency.
Cases in India are the highest they have been since February 20. Most covid-based restrictions have been lifted. Two billion vaccinations have been given. Eighty percent are the AstraZeneca vaccine made in India. The others in use are Covaxin and Corbevax, both made in India, and Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.
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