Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
This is the same technology that has been used for years to engineer E. coli to produce insulin and other hormones such as hGH.
Close, but not quite the same technology. With insulin or other proteins, the protein product's gene was inserted into bacteria, and grown up in large scale culture. Then it was isolated from the bacteria and purified, before injection into humans.

This new method uses the recombinant Staph. epidermidis bacteria to colonize the skin of mice, not the purified melanoma proteins purified after growing in culture. These engineered skin bacteria, expressing tumor antigens from melanoma, were found to induce a T cell immune response in mice, that was capable of rejecting transplanted melanoma tumor cells in these mice. If something similar happens in humans, it will be a big breakthrough.

This is a new and different technique. It's not said in these abstracts, but purified tumor antigen proteins like this were probably already tested in mice. Injected this way, they could generate an immune response directed against the protein molecules, but was not effective against tumor cells.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp9563
Abstract
Certain bacterial colonists induce a highly specific T cell response. A hallmark of this encounter is that adaptive immunity develops preemptively, in the absence of an infection. However, the functional properties of colonist-induced T cells are not well defined, limiting our ability to understand anticommensal immunity and harness it therapeutically. We addressed both challenges by engineering the skin bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis to express tumor antigens anchored to secreted or cell-surface proteins. Upon colonization, engineered S. epidermidis elicits tumor-specific T cells that circulate, infiltrate local and metastatic lesions, and exert cytotoxic activity. Thus, the immune response to a skin colonist can promote cellular immunity at a distal site and can be redirected against a target of therapeutic interest by expressing a target-derived antigen in a commensal.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh3884
Abstract
Human health relies on carefully tailored communication between the immune system and commensal microbiota, a diverse community of microorganisms that naturally reside in tissues. Several commensal bacteria trigger antigen-specific T cell responses, which help control tissue homeostasis. Could such interactions be harnessed therapeutically, by engineering symbionts to prime immunity against designated targets? On page 203 of this issue, Chen et al. test this hypothesis by customizing the skin commensal Staphylococcus epidermidis to express a foreign antigen borne by melanoma cells. Upon colonization of mouse skin, these bacteria substantially bolstered organism-wide, T cell–driven attack of resulting tumors. The findings highlight the broader potential of microbiota-induced immunity toward host defense and open new doors to customized commensal bacteria therapies against a myriad of human diseases.
 
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Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
It will be very interesting to see how the FDA responds to this. In the past, they were interested in techniques like this, but they were understandably wary of introducing any live organism that had the potential of becoming pathogenic in humans, especially those who might have impaired immune responses due to cancer.

If a pharmaceutical company develops this process as a therapeutic treatment, it will be up to them to come up with data good enough to satisfy the FDA that this method is safe to use in cancer patients. That may very well be tougher than showing this immunization method is effective against melanoma.
 
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GO-NAD!

GO-NAD!

Audioholic Spartan
The 20th century saw an increase in human knowledge orders of magnitude greater than all previous centuries combined. It's ironic that the 21st century, with unprecedented access to verifiable facts, has seen a renaissance in the belief in bull$hit.

Fewer Canadians believe in value of childhood vaccines, according to new global report - The Globe and Mail

Fewer Canadians believe in the importance of childhood vaccines compared to before the pandemic, according to a new Unicef report that warns about the growing threat of preventable infectious diseases because of lagging vaccination uptake.

While most Canadians – 82 per cent – still say vaccines are important during childhood, that number has dropped 8.2 percentage points since before the onset of COVID-19, the Unicef report found.

The reduced confidence in vaccines comes as 67 million children around the world missed out on vaccination during the pandemic, which is already being linked to an upswing in cases of measles and polio, according to the report.

“It’s a disturbing trend,” said David Morley, president and CEO of Unicef Canada. “There’s a risk that more children are going to die who don’t have to die because those levels of vaccine hesitancy are going up.”

Around the world, the spread of vaccine-preventable illness is on the rise and is leading to severe outcomes, particularly in low-income countries. The Unicef report found that in 2022, cases of measles around the world doubled from the year before. And there was an eight-fold increase in the number of children paralyzed from polio around the world from 2019 to 2021 compared with the previous three-year period


During the pandemic, regular access to vaccines has been disrupted around the world as a result of closings of health care facilities or need for staff to divert resources to COVID-19 responses. While many countries, including Canada, are now focusing efforts on catch-up programs to make up for lagging vaccine-coverage rates, protection against some infectious diseases remains too low.

For instance, data released from Public Health Ontario in February found that even after a catch-up program, only 23 per cent of 12-year-olds were fully vaccinated against human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical and other forms of cancer.

Mr. Morley said that the proliferation of disinformation around vaccines during the pandemic appears to be leading to lower levels of confidence and more hesitancy, which is an added challenge for bringing coverage rates back to pre-COVID levels.

“Catch-up programs, they don’t always work if people don’t want to be caught up,” he said.

Gilla Shapiro, member of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said there are other factors that Canada needs to look at to improve vaccine uptake.


For instance, one long-standing issue has been the lack of a comprehensive vaccine registry that can help health officials understand where gaps in coverage exist and tailor programs accordingly, she said.

And in order to improve vaccine confidence, health officials need to develop a better understanding of why it may be waning in certain communities and develop programs that can work on a micro level for individual communities, she said. One such strategy that has appeared to work well during the pandemic is the use of mobile vaccination clinics that travel to COVID-19 hotspots, making the process of vaccination convenient for a wide variety of individuals.

“To increase confidence, it is vital to understand why, what works and for who,” said Dr. Shapiro, who is also a clinical and health psychologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

The Unicef report found that while vaccination uptake has dropped around the world during the pandemic, the worst effects are being experienced in some of the poorest, marginalized areas.

Children who live in remote areas or in urban slums that are hard to reach by vaccination programs are typically least likely to have received a single vaccination dose. For many of those children, their mothers haven’t been able to go to school and aren’t given a say in family decisions.

Unicef is calling on governments around the world to redouble efforts to improve vaccine confidence and uptake by investing in a number of initiatives, including better funding for immunization delivery and primary care, and investment in more female health workers and local manufacturing.

Mr. Morley said that it will be hard work to improve vaccine uptake and that no one solution is the answer. But he added that trusted community leaders who can connect with marginalized individuals, including those who may not trust the medical system, represent one critical aspect to improving public confidence in vaccines.
 
GO-NAD!

GO-NAD!

Audioholic Spartan
Florida surgeon general altered key findings in study on Covid-19 vaccine safety - POLITICO
The newly released draft of the eight-page study, provided by the Florida Department of Health, indicates that it initially stated that there was no significant risk associated with the Covid-19 vaccines for young men. But “Dr. L’s Edits,” as the document is titled, reveal that Ladapo replaced that language to say that men between 18 and 39 years old are at high risk of heart illness from two Covid vaccines that use mRNA technology.
Italics mine
 
M

Mr._Clark

Audioholic Samurai
Minor edits are one thing, but these appear to be major revisions.

>>>Yet the researchers who viewed a copy of the edits said Ladapo removed an important analysis that would have contradicted his recommendation. Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, called Ladapo’s changes “really troubling.”<<<
 
cpp

cpp

Audioholic Ninja
Minor edits are one thing, but these appear to be major revisions.

>>>Yet the researchers who viewed a copy of the edits said Ladapo removed an important analysis that would have contradicted his recommendation. Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, called Ladapo’s changes “really troubling.”<<<
What does one expect from DeathSantis key head doctor
 
M

Mr._Clark

Audioholic Samurai
Another paper about the Racoon Dog DNA samples was published. The gist of it seems to be that the data from the environmental samples is not conclusive. Of course, by itself, this doesn't mean that the virus did not jump to humans at the market (or elsewhere), or that the virus was created in a lab, etc.


Here's a snip from the paper itself.

>>>[T]he results described here suggest that the utility of these
metagenomic analyses does not extend to indicating whether
animals at the market were actually infected by virus. For instance,
the presence of 1 in∼200,000,000 sequencing reads mapping to SARS-CoV-2
in a single sample containing raccoon dog genetic material does not
suggest raccoon dogs were infected, given that material from
many other species including fish is far more consistently co-mingled
with SARS-CoV-2. . . .

The major limitation of the samples is that they were all col-
lected on January-1-2020 or later, which is well after the first
human SARS-CoV-2 infections in Wuhan. The lateness of the
sampling relative to the origin of the outbreak limits the conclu-
sions that can be drawn.<<<

 
M

Mr._Clark

Audioholic Samurai
I guy I know told me the other day that after getting COVID in 2020 he lost his ability remember what anything tastes like. If he eats something, a few minutes later he cannot remember the taste. It’s as if he is tasting everything for the first time whenever he eats.

Prior to COVID he didn’t have this issue. He didn’t mention any other memory issues so I’m assuming it’s limited to taste.

He had a relatively mild case of COVID and he’s about 40 years old without any risk factors (as far as I know).

It seems to me there’s a lot we still don’t know about this virus
 
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TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I guy I know told me the other day that after getting COVID in 2020 he lost his ability remember what anything tastes like. If he eats something, a few minutes later he cannot remember the taste. It’s as if he is tasting everything for the first time whenever he eats.

Prior to COVID he didn’t have this issue. He didn’t mention any other memory issues so I’m assuming it’s limited to taste.

He had a relatively mild case of COVID and he’s about 40 years old without any risk factors (as far as I know).

It seems to me there’s a lot we still don’t know about this virus
Well we know about this problem.

The virus attacks the Olfactory nerves, which are the first right and left cranial nerves. They transmit smell. It is actually smell via the first cranial nerves that gives the CNS a sense of taste. Taste buds only sense sweet, bitter and salt. This is transmitted via the twelfth cranial nerves.

We have known since early in the pandemic, that it is generally via the first (olfactory) nerves that the virus gains access to the brain. (CNS). Form there it can create numerous problems in addition to alteration of smell and taste. It is especially common for it to involve the lobes of the posterior fossa which contain the visual cortex. So visual sequalae are also common.

Recovery is variable. These symptoms are absolute evidence of CNS involvement from infection from the virus.

Unfortunately recovery is often far from complete. CNS involvement is one of the principal identified causes of long Covid. More worrying, some cases have been documented to show progressive neurological involvement over time.

There is legitimate concern that one of the long term consequences of this pandemic may be a significant increase in dementia among those who have had CNS involvement. Only time will tell, but I think most think this is a significant concern and is being looked for, and will be over the coming years.
 
D

Dude#1279435

Audioholic Spartan
I remember when Ingraham had that Canadian trucker on spouting covid conspiracies. The trucker died. Sometime later Faux announced his death. :(
 
GO-NAD!

GO-NAD!

Audioholic Spartan
The Nova Scotia government just released some COVID stats. Over the past year, 404 Nova Scotians died from Covid - 371 were over 70 years old, 31 were between 50 and 69. Just 2 were under 50.

Over the same period, 70 people died from influenza. So clearly, Covid is still not "just the flu".
 
Trell

Trell

Audioholic Spartan
The Nova Scotia government just released some COVID stats. Over the past year, 404 Nova Scotians died from Covid - 371 were over 70 years old, 31 were between 50 and 69. Just 2 were under 50.

Over the same period, 70 people died from influenza. So clearly, Covid is still not "just the flu".
Were there any information about vaccination rate?
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
The Nova Scotia government just released some COVID stats. Over the past year, 404 Nova Scotians died from Covid - 371 were over 70 years old, 31 were between 50 and 69. Just 2 were under 50.

Over the same period, 70 people died from influenza. So clearly, Covid is still not "just the flu".
No, it is a super-duper flu. ;) :D

ps.
at least that province keeps statistics, unlike Florida most likely. :D
 
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