Coronamonomania Lives Forever, Part 204

I am in Portugal but the research summaries keep flowing every now and then.

This study describes an interesting approach to identifying issues with the epidemic response.  It is from England, where coroners do reports on certain deaths that the viewed as preventable.  The authors looked at those reports and identified a subset supposedly related to CV-19.  An initial finding was that half of the deaths which supposedly involved CV-19 were not caused by it, but did relate to mitigation measures, like not being able to have in-person care for a health problem.  Astoundingly, one-third of the deaths were due to CV-19 that actually was contracted in a hospital or nursing home following admission for another reason.  Another finding was that some CV-19 deaths were due to failure to follow protocols and communication issues.  (BMJ Article)

This somewhat complex study looked at household transmission, with a focus on trying to understand if the presence of CV-19 on one household member’s hands or on commonly touched surfaces appeared to be associated with higher rates of transmission.  You will recall that early in the epidemic there was discussion about the possibility of transmission occurring from items being touched and virus being able to survive on surfaces.  That route of transmission was largely discarded in favor of airborne transmission being more common.  The authors found that the presence of the virus on hands and surfaces was linked to greater likelihood of transmission.  (Lancet Article)

After a person has CV-19, are they more likely to be hospitalized for another infectious disease?  If so, it might indicate some lasting impact on the immune system.  This extremely large study of those who 50 and over in Denmark found no increased risk of such a hospitalization.  No antibody survey done, so possible they missed large numbers of infected persons.  (Medrxiv Paper)

But this paper on another potential lasting effect of CV-19, cognitive function impairment, finds that compared to persons without a CV-19 infection, those who were infected have a higher rate of cognitive impairment several months later, using some pretty standard functional tests.  (SSRN Paper)

Research from Britain looked at weight gain during the epidemic.  A lot people, myself included, gained weight in this period.  Being female (whatever that means these days), younger, white and having a long-term mental health condition were all associated with greater likelihood of weight gain.  In case you were wondering, notwithstanding propaganda from some sources today, excess weight is not healthy.  (Medrxiv Paper)

It is my belief that some safety issues related to the mRNA vaccines are more attributable to the lipid nanoparticles that are used as carriers than the mRNA sequences they carry.  Those nanoparticles have to be metabolized in some way and they are foreign particles.  This paper from China suggests use of a different formulation of those lipid carriers, which appears to both improve the immune response and have a better safety profile.  (Medrxiv Paper)

I find it laughable that anyone defends masking as a measure to suppress community transmission of a respiratory virus.  There is absolutely zero evidence that it works.  And given that at this point 90% of the US population is estimated to have been infected despite widespread mask mandates for years, I don’t know how anyone could defend the practice.  And a new piece of research suggests it doesn’t even work in a hospital setting.  A hospital took away mandated masks in some wards but kept the policy in others.  There appeared to be no difference in the rate of infections acquired in the hospital setting.  (Mask Paper)