https://archive.ph/S4mlH

https://archive.ph/qjWQI

https://voices.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/VOICESpost2600014

Feels like covid in late 2019/early 2020. I’m half expecting to read some Reddit post from some guy in a major city saying that he has some weird cold and his doctor told him not to go outside but he’s unable to test so he’s unsure what it is. Of course I said the same thing about bird flu last year and that has yet to pop off. The difference of course being that hantavirus has confirmed human-to-human transmission, bird flu never did.

Thoughts? Are you preparing for covid 2? Think it’ll fizzle out?

Early human embryonic cells may be vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A University of California, Riverside study reports that cells in the earliest stages of human development could be susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, offering new insight into how the virus interacts with developing human tissues and why that may matter for pregnancy research.

Using a "disease-in-a-dish" laboratory model of early human embryonic development, researchers Ann Song and Prue Talbot examined how different cell types respond to exposure to artificial SARS-CoV-2–like particles. They found that multiple early embryonic cell types can be infected, but susceptibility varies significantly. Cells destined to become the ectoderm — the layer that eventually forms the skin and nervous system — were by far the most vulnerable.

"Ectodermal cells were about 23 times more susceptible to infection than undifferentiated embryonic stem cells and six times more susceptible than mesodermal cells," said Song, a doctoral student in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology and the first author of the study published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. Mesodermal cells are the middle layer of embryonic stem cells that differentiate into essential tissues.

The heightened vulnerability appears to be driven by several biological features. The researchers found ectoderm cells show elevated activity of TMPRSS2, a protein that helps the virus enter cells. In addition, these cells have a thinner glycocalyx, a protective sugar coating, making it easier for the virus to bind to the ACE2 receptor — a membrane-bound protein that acts as the primary entry point for the SARS-CoV-2 virus — on the cell surface.

"Together, these factors create conditions that strongly favor viral attachment and entry and highlight how certain early cell types may be particularly permissive to infection," said Talbot, a professor of the graduate division and Song's advisor.

"Our findings highlight urgent need for clinical studies to monitor the long-term neurological and developmental health of infants born to mothers who were infected with COVID-19 during early pregnancy," she said.

The study was conducted using experimental models rather than in pregnant individuals. The findings do not demonstrate that embryos are infected during real pregnancies, but they do show that, in principle, very early developmental stages could be biologically susceptible to the virus.

The results provide insight into the first weeks of human development (weeks 1–4), a period that is difficult to study directly. Because the ectoderm gives rise to the brain and nervous system, its high susceptibility raises important questions about potential developmental risks. If infection were to occur during this stage, it could contribute to neurodevelopmental delays or structural abnormalities.

"This study gives us a clearer picture of how SARS-CoV-2 can interact with human cells at the earliest stages of life," Talbot said. "Further research will be needed to understand the real-world implications."

Several next generation Covid vaccines are now advancing into mid- or late-stage trials. So this month, I have started a new section—a watchlist of featured vaccines that are both at more advanced stages of development, and reporting ongoing recent progress. I highlight 3 vaccines in particular—from Japan, South Korea, and the US—with a further 6 included in the watchlist. I hope this focus on advancing vaccines will make the progress in next generation vaccines clearer. The post begins there.

#Doctors share why it’s still important to take the virus seriously.

#Key Points

• COVID still causes significant hospitalizations and deaths despite declining severe impact rates.
• Re-infections increase risk for certain health issues.
• Annual vaccination is key to preventing severe disease and reducing long COVID risk.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID was associated with an estimated 290,000 to 450,000 hospitalizations and between 34,000 and 53,000 deaths between July 2024 and July 2025, the most recent year that data is available. These stats show just how much the virus is still impacting us.

For comparison, here's how the flu impacted people in 2024-2025 Which was a more severe flu season than normal:

CDC estimates there were 51 million influenza (flu)-related illnesses, 23 million medical visits, 710,000 hospitalizations and 45,000 deaths during the 2024-2025 flu season. Based on CDC criteria, the severity of the 2024-2025 season was high.

The estimated flu-related illnesses and medical visits are higher than the 2017-2018 season, the last high severity flu season. Estimated hospitalizations are the same as 2017-2018, while estimated deaths are lower.

I guess this is the new normal. Double the amount of severe respiratory disease than before, and little to no seasonality.

https://aatishb.com/maskmath/

Found this interactive "Mask Math" site with info on how effective masking can be under different circumstances.

From in the Comments:

• Applegate has a chronic autoimmune condition (MS)
• Kimmel has narcolepsy which is also autoimmune in mechanism
• Kimmel has a daughter with tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect

Just spinning that roulette wheel and making funnies.

Thanks to ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆ @yogthos@lemmy.ml for this one, I saw posted here. Wasn't expecting to see a comic so perfectly nail it.

Edit: Aaaand now I see that this was basically posted yesterday, but as a link to the xcancel thread about it. So I guess here's the direct link to the comic at least.

I don't know how to share the images themselves, I think SDF Lemmy's image hosting is still broken, but it's very cute and well-cited.

"Wearing a mask is the easiest way to make a direct, positive impact on your community"

Thought this might spur some decent discussion. Lots of libs in the comments but a few good points made.

A vaccine called GBP511 has begun clinical testing in Australia. Pioneered by UW Medicine researchers, it is intended to protect against COVID-19 and related coronaviruses — including some that haven’t yet jumped to humans. South Korean pharmaceutical company SK bioscience is bringing the vaccine to trial.

This is from the tech reviewer at dongknows.com. On a personal note I want to do Hyrox but I'm afraid of catching covid or anything else from other participants. These places & events where people will show up regardless if they're sick or not (think vacations) are very dangerous.

Lol, this came out in Aug 2024. Dunno how I missed it.

https://gcsurplus.ca/ also know as a Government of Canada Surplus, sells respirators at a cost of 1 CAD per box (which contain 50 respirators) they will ship (only to canadian addresses) free.