b117 or b.1.1.1.7 mutation
D614G mutation
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/world/covid-mutation.html
Evidence Builds That an Early Mutation Made the Pandemic Harder to Stop
Scientists were initially skeptical that a mutation made the coronavirus more contagious. But new research has changed many of their minds.
What to Know About the Covid Antibody Drugs That Could Help Many
Here’s information about who these therapies can help, how much they cost and how to find out if you can get them where you live.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/23/health/coronavirus-antibody-drugs.html
Lilly’s neutralizing antibody bamlanivimab
Regeneron’s Casirivimab and Imdevimab Antibody Cocktail
Sequence Variants in TAAR5 & Other Loci Affect Human Odor Perception & Naming https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31343-9 A variant in TAAR5 affects the perception of fish odor. Interesting to consider in relation to pseudogenization of the olfactory receptors
While about half of human odorant receptors are thought to be pseudogenes with loss-of-function, the Decode Genetics folks show that some sequence variants in odorant receptor genes are not
loss-of-function.
D614G mutation
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/world/covid-mutation.html
Evidence Builds That an Early Mutation Made the Pandemic Harder to Stop
Scientists were initially skeptical that a mutation made the coronavirus more contagious. But new research has changed many of their minds.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/09/world/covid-19-coronavirus-live-updates QT:{{”
The Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency authorization of a Covid-19 treatment made by the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly that was given to Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, when he was infected with the coronavirus.
The authorization, announced on Monday, applies only to people newly infected with the virus, and the agency said it should not be used in hospitalized patients. The treatment is approved for people 12 and older who have tested positive and are at risk for developing a severe form of Covid-19 or being hospitalized for the condition. That includes people who are over 65 and obese, the agency said — a key group that early studies have shown can benefit the most from the treatment.
Eli Lilly said that its treatment, called bamlanivimab, should be administered as soon as possible after a positive test, and within 10 days of developing symptoms.
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bamlanivimab
anosmia & sniff tests
QT:{{”
While it’s well established that the primary way people get infected with COVID-19 is from inhaling aerosol droplets, Kennedy said there is emerging evidence it’s “a lot easier” for the virus to get a grip on our internal system when it enters through the nasal passage versus the mouth.
That’s because the nasal passage tissue is rich in cells that have a certain receptor the virus attaches to.
“There’s more cells in the upper airway in the nasal passages that have high levels of receptor expression,” Kennedy explained. “So the virus is more likely to find the cell to infect, and it’s easier for the virus to infect cells sort of in the upper airway in the nasal passages than it is down in the lungs.”
….
It’s evident the nose and our sense of smell hold many answers to understanding COVID-19. It’s now clear a loss of sense of smell, known as anosmia, is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19. Valentina Parma, chair of the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research, said her organization’s data seems to show that anosmia is a better indicator of COVID-19 than fever.
…
For this reason, she’s an advocate of objective tests to measure sense of smell, such as sniff tests. To that end, her organization has developed an online smell and sniff test which can be completed by people by using scents in their own home, such as banana or shampoo. “}}
mRNA-1273 is their candidate
https://www.genengnews.com/news/moderna-covid-19-vaccine-shows-immunogenicity-in-older-patients
linkstream2 microblog 