Coronavirus Variant Found in France Can Evade PCR Nasal-Swab Tests:
The French ministry of health and social affairs announced Monday that among a cluster of 79 COVID-19 cases in Brittany, eight patients were infected with the new variant, but several of them tested negative.
[...] The new variant does not yet have a alphanumeric designation. But it's not the first variant that appears able to evade testing. Finnish researchers announced last month that they had identified a strain named Fin-796H with a mutation that made it difficult to detect with some nasal-swab tests, too.
An inability to accurately diagnose infected people could make it harder to curtail the virus's spread at a time when cases across Europe are already spiking.
[...] The standard molecular lab tests — known as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests — hunt for an infection in a swab from a patient's nose, looking for the coronavirus's genetic code.
But according to the French Health Directorate, genetic sequencing revealed that the variant found in Brittany has several mutations on its spike protein that help it evade detection by these diagnostic tests.
Health officials in Brittany eventually confirmed some of the cases caused by the new variant by either testing the patients' blood for antibodies or collecting samples of phlegm the patients coughed up from inside their lungs and running those through a RT-PCR test.
[...] one European diagnostics company, the Novacyt Group, announced Thursday that its PCR tests can successfully detect the new variant.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:11AM (12 children)
Trippin' Joe will spend another $5 trillion to make it all better.
(Score: 5, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:21AM (11 children)
Unfortunately, there's no cure for Biden Derangement Syndrome...you're just going to have to get over it and/or leave the country and/or die, whatever happens first. Here's a 55-gallon drum of Preparation H to help your recovery process!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:42AM (2 children)
Joe Caged Kid Sniffer is causing many progressives to feel buyer's remorse, which was inevitable but still funny. At least with Trump in office, they had someone to unite against. If Joe ages out, Top Cop Kamala takes charge.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:49AM (1 child)
They didn't really expect him to spend the whole $2 trillion on building transgender washrooms, did they?
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @07:56AM
Well, according to the liberal news this is the most pressing problem facing American these days... so, yeah.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:43AM
It's you deranged Democrats who are driving cars into the Capitol now. Nation of Islam... LOL.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @05:42AM
Said by the fool still suffering from a major case of trump derangement syndrome, and Trump's not even in office anymore.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @01:13PM (1 child)
Is 55 gallons going to be enough?
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday April 05 2021, @01:10AM
Probably not, but I'm not made of money =P
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by acid andy on Sunday April 04 2021, @05:04PM (2 children)
Congrats on the +5 Troll, Hazuki! =)
Biden Derangement Syndrome, heh heh heh!
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday April 05 2021, @01:01AM (1 child)
Hypocrites, every last one of them. Massively projecting hypocrites. Throw back in their faces the false charges they level against you, when in their case the charges are very much true, and they *lose their shit.*
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @06:31PM
They are unwilling to condemn white supremacists and literal traitors with their attempted insurrection. They are insane and/or evil.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday April 05 2021, @03:36PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:21AM (20 children)
They're now saying we'll need booster shots and new vaccinations regularly, forever... thanks, China.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:32AM (1 child)
There does seem to be more and more versions (or mutations) popping up, one would think one of them would just remove the competition.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by legont on Sunday April 04 2021, @01:55AM
Not if we keep hurting the strongest one.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @03:00AM (16 children)
Don't forget to thank the large pool of anti-vax people who will breed the new strains.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @07:59AM
I like to think of them as our modern-day Tuskagee volunteers.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @08:39AM
Hey, if you can't hold the chinks responsible, why should you hold me responsible? Are you some sort of a racist?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:28PM (13 children)
It was reported for pfizer that when you get vaccinated you are immunosuppressed for the first week as the early antibodies are being made. If you happen to get infected during that time you are an ideal variant factory.
Do you think it is a coincidence all these variants became a big deal just after vaccinations started last December?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @02:31PM (5 children)
I can't find anyone saying that online. Do you have a link?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @04:04PM
> The largest changes from baseline in laboratory values were transient decreases in lymphocyte counts, which resolved within 1 week after vaccination (Fig. S3) and which were not associated with clinical manifestations.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7583697/ [nih.gov]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @04:09PM (3 children)
In this paper you can see selection for variants only took one day after giving antibodies (in convalescent plasma) to an immunosuppressed covid patient.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03291-y [nature.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by zeigerpuppy on Sunday April 04 2021, @11:20PM (2 children)
a transient decrease in lymphocytes is not equivalent to immunosppresssion.
changes in lymphocyte number are very common in healthy people and usually have little effect on overall immune function, immunosuppression is something quite different...
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday April 05 2021, @01:05AM
In other words, and anitvaxxer making shit up? What about the gene therapy! The Gaetz chip? The Adrenochrome! There is a tower in Toronto that controls people's minds! [youtube.com] Or, over double a half million Americans could die.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @02:53AM
Lymphocytopenia isn't a thing anymore when it is inconvenient for you?
> A low lymphocyte count makes it hard for your body to fight infections. You may get infections caused by viruses, fungi, parasites, or bacteria.
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/lymphocytopenia [nih.gov]
There have already been multiple studies showing increased infections in thst first week, including in the RCT.
> During the first few days after vaccination (before an immune response would be anticipated), vaccinated individuals had a higher odds of testing positive, suggesting that vaccination was being targeted at those at higher risk of disease.
https://khub.net/documents/135939561/430986542/Early+effectiveness+of+COVID+vaccines.pdf/ffd7161c-b255-8e88-c2dc-88979fc2cc1b?t=1614617945615 [khub.net]
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Monday April 05 2021, @02:05AM (5 children)
Not exactly.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/how-they-work.html [cdc.gov]
"It typically takes a few weeks after vaccination for the body to produce T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes. Therefore, it is possible that a person could be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 just before or just after vaccination and then get sick because the vaccine did not have enough time to provide protection."
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @02:55AM (4 children)
Don't know your point.
It is not just ineffective, it increases your risk of infection due to low numbers of white blood cells.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday April 05 2021, @01:28PM (2 children)
So now, you're not only falsely exaggerating that research, you're also falsely claiming the vaccine is ineffective. How about you get some evidence to support your position next time? And quote that evidence right away rather than play the assertion/post-link/get-rebutted-because-the-link-doesn't-show-what-you-claim-it-shows game that drags out the discussion another dozen posts.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @11:54PM (1 child)
Nope, during the first week 25% of healthy people had lymphocytopenia, and as expected more get various infections, including covid, during that week.
This agrees with 50 years of science.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday April 06 2021, @12:44AM
Nope. zeigerpuppy is right, a transient decrease in lymphocytes is not lymphocytopenia. Here's a definition [nih.gov]:
The human body starts with an excess of lymphocytes. So reducing that number is not automatically lymphocytopenia. And as noted, the vaccine doesn't instantly confer resistance, so you can still get covid at the usual chances until that resistance starts to kick in.
Moving on, it's really getting annoying to have this drawn out discussion when you could have just cited and stated accurately what you had at the beginning rather than making these unsustainable claims.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday April 07 2021, @03:44AM
Transient immune suppression is common after any vaccination, and after some infections.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Tork on Monday April 05 2021, @03:39PM
Nah, but then again you lot have been warned about going out maskless during the 4th of july, labor day, halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, trump rallies, etc, so alternative explanations like "you ninnies gave the virus ample opportunities to mutate" is a pretty strong theory as well.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @08:06AM
you say China, but what you should say is "corrupt/totalitarian regime".
shit happens, and I'm pretty sure the Chinese people are no worse with eating wild animals than Indians or Asians in general. Or Africans or Americans or even Europeans (did you hear about the norwegians eating rotten fish?). Interesting that I left out the australians.
anyway. the problem is that some midlevel bureaucrats didn't want to look bad for the bosses, so they decided that doctors speaking out of turn is the same as democracy advocates speaking out of turn, and the proper response is silencing.
that is the biggest problem here.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:30AM (5 children)
Which is why there are anal-swabs, or are they called rectal-swabs? Best result, somewhat uncomfortable swabbing area.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Sunday April 04 2021, @06:40AM (4 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday April 04 2021, @01:24PM (3 children)
It could be that some areas of swabbing just gives better or more testing materials cause that is where the virus likes to hang out. Everything piles up in the end station eventually. So the concentration there could be higher then it is at the start of the system. But then I'm not some MD so it's all guessing on my part.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @02:07PM
The PCR test detects a certain sequence. If the virus mutates that sequence then it doesn't matter how much sample you collect, it will still be negative.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Arik on Sunday April 04 2021, @02:23PM (1 child)
The PCR test, btw, was invented decades ago by the late Kerry Mullis; he had some very interesting comments about Fauci specifically and public health in general before he died however. I believe the gist of one of his comments was that unfortunately voters are not typically prepared to tell the difference between a competent doctor and a Dr Fauci... something like that, going from memory.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @02:25AM
Ah yes, that edited and out-of-context clip that has been circling the net as of late. Fun fact, he was actually talking about Fauci's comments during the AIDS scare of the 90s about how it is caused by HIV. Those are the "lies" Fauci is spreading and refusing to debate in those clips. Mullis instead claimed that AIDS was caused by something else and that the scientists were attributing it to HIV because they "saw it in a microscope." Somewhat ironically, Mullis is the one who did no research or have any expertise on HIV/AIDS beyond his group consulting on an RT-PCR test for HIV.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @12:41AM
Leave it to the French to invent an underground coronavirus variant.
--
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
(Score: 1, Touché) by linkdude64 on Sunday April 04 2021, @03:24AM (3 children)
Better that 100% of people die or starve instead, than .01% get sick with something MUCH WORSE* than a flu.
*Somewhat worse
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @04:24AM (2 children)
France is the set of French living there.
They can't destroy France if the French resist. They used to take to the streets for lesser threats than the existential one they face now.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Arik on Sunday April 04 2021, @06:36AM (1 child)
They've been in the streets for over 2 years at this point. MSM in this country just doesn't notice.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @11:12PM
If by "they" you mean a miniscule subset of the French population, exceeded even by card-carrying Nazis, sure.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @04:21AM (1 child)
With anal swab test.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @08:03AM
+1 happy ending, would do again
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @04:29AM (1 child)
Or will they just sit and collect profits from this one?
How do ya like that rebranding trick by Astra into "Vaxzevria"? sick bastards
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @04:55AM
That's the first I've heard of it, thanks.
(Score: 2, Touché) by kvutza on Sunday April 04 2021, @09:40AM
It does not have anything you can check [dilbert.com].
And it only took thousands of generations [dilbert.com] of the virus.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @01:04PM (6 children)
Is this why hospitals are overrun in New Zealand?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by looorg on Sunday April 04 2021, @01:22PM (5 children)
All these small island nations (New Zealand, Iceland ...) was all heralded in the beginning for how fast they where, how great their tracking was, how fast they gave people shots, testing etc. All things that are a lot easier if you are isolated on your own island instead of being a small part of a gigantic continent. That said if disease comes in it also spreads like wildfire.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @02:04PM (4 children)
Make your home an island.
We disinfect the groceries by buying them only on sunny days and putting them in sunlight on the roof for 90 minutes each side for dry goods and 120 for refrigerated/frozen.
First we were putting them out back but it took too long, the extra boost from being up a couple stories is surprisingly large.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @11:58PM (2 children)
So how does that work for the ice cream?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @01:26AM
It gets rid of the 'rona, keeping our family safe!
(Score: 3, Funny) by shortscreen on Monday April 05 2021, @10:26AM
No doubt it runs down the roof and over the edge where the dog is waiting below with his tongue out.
(Score: 2) by nostyle on Monday April 05 2021, @04:06PM
...because the world needs more Larry Ellisons [businessinsider.com].
--
Full disclosure: I have a friend whose son works there.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @02:41PM (5 children)
let's hope the human immune system works better then pcr tests.
there, however, seem to be indications that covid-19 is rather good at making you sick a second time even if you got it once before and got "over it" without vaccine.
some numbers like ... 30% relapse (reinfection?) 4 month later. this would be world ending (since we're not building hospital like there's no tomorrow and crash coursing nursing for all people with spare time ...) *shrug*.
(Score: 2) by anotherblackhat on Sunday April 04 2021, @05:38PM (3 children)
I heard that 100% of those that had a fatal outcome didn't get re-infected.
Seriously, once (nearly) everyone has either been vaccinated or infected, R0 should drop way below 1.0.
Unless there's a strain which can survive or reinfect most vaccinated people, variants are going to die out too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 04 2021, @07:25PM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday April 05 2021, @01:13AM (1 child)
Smallpox. Polio, except that the CIA fucking fucked it up in the Middle East and now no one trusts the vaccinations anymore there and guess what the fuck's coming back...?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Monday April 05 2021, @06:03PM
Smallpox had no animal carriers. Covid-19 does.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Monday April 05 2021, @10:34AM
Maybe you are thinking of this story about 30% of covid patients who were hospitalized then being admitted a second time. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/18/almost-30-of-covid-patients-in-england-re-admitted-to-hospital-after-discharge-study [theguardian.com]
(Score: 2, Touché) by EJ on Sunday April 04 2021, @03:34PM (3 children)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wG_h3U568w [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @06:21AM (2 children)
Look carefully at your mask and you may find one of these synthetic worms: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BJd4NBEFAkg [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by EJ on Monday April 05 2021, @06:50AM (1 child)
It's 3ish am, and I almost clicked on the recommended links after watching that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @04:00AM
It is all bs.
Or is it?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @12:00AM (4 children)
PCR tests detect virus with the gene fragments, not the shell protein.
How does mutated shell protein block gene fragment detection?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @10:21AM (3 children)
Because the genes are the blueprint for construction the proteins. If the final product is different, it is likely to be a change in the genes that say how to make it.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @06:58PM (2 children)
In that case, it's not the mutated shell hiding the virus from detection, but the mutated genes themselves.
"But according to the French Health Directorate, genetic sequencing revealed that the variant found in Brittany has several mutations on its spike protein that help it evade detection by these diagnostic tests."
Lousy and misleading wording, I would say.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 05 2021, @08:43PM (1 child)
"But according to the French Health Directorate, genetic sequencing revealed that the variant found in Brittany has several mutations on its spike protein that help it evade detection by these diagnostic tests."
The genetic code that controls how the spike protein is made have mutated. This causes the corresponding changes to the spike protein.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @06:36AM
The article does not explain the causal chain: the mutations are genetic changes which cause phenotypic changes in the spike proteins and which also cause difficulty in PCR-based virus detection. A better wording would be,