Coronavirus: will immunity rapidly fade or last a lifetime?
https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-...ime-155905
EXCERPT: The COVID vaccines are working. [...] Evidence is also growing that once you’ve been infected, there is a pretty good chance that you will be protected from further infections, or at the very least, have less severe disease. This makes sense, as it’s why your immune system evolved in the first place. ... However, an important question in immunology, when it comes to infectious diseases and vaccines, is: how long protection might last? There are several variables here, from the type of pathogen infecting you, to how bad the initial disease is, to your overall health, and your age. All of this makes predicting what might happen with COVID challenging... (MORE - details)
Psychoactive ingredient in marijuana can stay in breast milk for six WEEKS after giving birth
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic...birth.html
INTRO: The psychoactive ingredient in marijuana can remain in breast milk for up to six weeks after mothers quit using the drug, a new study suggests. Researchers found levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were as high as 5.5 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) two weeks after women gave birth. This is higher than the blood THC level of five ng/mL or higher needed to charge drivers with a DUI (driving under the influence), in some states. By six weeks post-delivery, the THC levels in breast milk had dropped to about two ng/mL, low but still detectable.
The team, from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, says its findings support recommendations from several groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to abstain from pot use during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. 'With the increasing utilization of marijuana in society as a whole, we are seeing more mothers who use marijuana during pregnancy,' said lead author Dr Erica Wymore, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine... (MORE)
Lab Study Suggests Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine Effective Against Variants After Second Dose
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2...2362bd6da5
INTRO: Correspondence published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine provided details of a study suggesting that patients who received a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech still show strong antibody protection against circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2, though that response was lower against the South African variant of the virus.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, was conducted by researchers from Pfizer, BioNTech and the University of Texas Medical Branch, involved the study of 20 samples of blood from 15 volunteers in Pfizer’s phase 3 clinical trial of its vaccine. The samples had been taken 2 or 4 weeks after the patients had received the second dose of the vaccine. The blood samples were then exposed to different SARS-CoV-2 viruses that contained the key mutations found in the U.K. B.1.1.7 variant, Brazilian P.1 variant and South African B.1.351 variants. These were compared to samples exposed to the most common circulating virus.
After exposing blood samples to the viruses, the researchers then examined whether antibodies were successful at neutralizing the viral mutations. After examining the results, the researchers found that the response to the B.1.1.7 and P.1 variants was virtually the same as to the standard virus. The response to the B.1.351 was “robust, but lower,” the researchers wrote.
Although the researchers are clear that the results “must be validated by real-world evidence,” these are nevertheless encouraging signs that the vaccine should remain effective against new versions of Covid-19, albeit potentially not as much as previously thought... (MORE)
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Considering the magnitude of the side effects I experienced from it, it had better offer protection above and beyond the banal variety.
https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-...ime-155905
EXCERPT: The COVID vaccines are working. [...] Evidence is also growing that once you’ve been infected, there is a pretty good chance that you will be protected from further infections, or at the very least, have less severe disease. This makes sense, as it’s why your immune system evolved in the first place. ... However, an important question in immunology, when it comes to infectious diseases and vaccines, is: how long protection might last? There are several variables here, from the type of pathogen infecting you, to how bad the initial disease is, to your overall health, and your age. All of this makes predicting what might happen with COVID challenging... (MORE - details)
Psychoactive ingredient in marijuana can stay in breast milk for six WEEKS after giving birth
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic...birth.html
INTRO: The psychoactive ingredient in marijuana can remain in breast milk for up to six weeks after mothers quit using the drug, a new study suggests. Researchers found levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were as high as 5.5 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) two weeks after women gave birth. This is higher than the blood THC level of five ng/mL or higher needed to charge drivers with a DUI (driving under the influence), in some states. By six weeks post-delivery, the THC levels in breast milk had dropped to about two ng/mL, low but still detectable.
The team, from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, says its findings support recommendations from several groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to abstain from pot use during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. 'With the increasing utilization of marijuana in society as a whole, we are seeing more mothers who use marijuana during pregnancy,' said lead author Dr Erica Wymore, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine... (MORE)
Lab Study Suggests Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine Effective Against Variants After Second Dose
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2...2362bd6da5
INTRO: Correspondence published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine provided details of a study suggesting that patients who received a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech still show strong antibody protection against circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2, though that response was lower against the South African variant of the virus.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, was conducted by researchers from Pfizer, BioNTech and the University of Texas Medical Branch, involved the study of 20 samples of blood from 15 volunteers in Pfizer’s phase 3 clinical trial of its vaccine. The samples had been taken 2 or 4 weeks after the patients had received the second dose of the vaccine. The blood samples were then exposed to different SARS-CoV-2 viruses that contained the key mutations found in the U.K. B.1.1.7 variant, Brazilian P.1 variant and South African B.1.351 variants. These were compared to samples exposed to the most common circulating virus.
After exposing blood samples to the viruses, the researchers then examined whether antibodies were successful at neutralizing the viral mutations. After examining the results, the researchers found that the response to the B.1.1.7 and P.1 variants was virtually the same as to the standard virus. The response to the B.1.351 was “robust, but lower,” the researchers wrote.
Although the researchers are clear that the results “must be validated by real-world evidence,” these are nevertheless encouraging signs that the vaccine should remain effective against new versions of Covid-19, albeit potentially not as much as previously thought... (MORE)
- - - - - -
Considering the magnitude of the side effects I experienced from it, it had better offer protection above and beyond the banal variety.