Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Thursday January 13 2022, @04:32AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-hope-it's-only-the-legs-half dept.

Omicron May Infect Half of Europeans Within Weeks, WHO Says:

More than half of Europe's population could become infected with omicron within weeks at current transmission speeds, a World Health Organization official said.

The fast-spreading variant represents a "west-to-east tsunami sweeping the region," Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said in a briefing Tuesday.

He cited the Institute for Metrics and Health Assessment forecast that most Europeans could take it within the next six to eight weeks. The latest Covid surge has resulted in fewer symptomatic cases and lower death rates than in previous waves, fueling optimism that the pandemic may subside.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday January 13 2022, @02:57PM (3 children)

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 13 2022, @02:57PM (#1212416) Journal

    Even then "asymptomatic" is not actually correct. It just means the acute symptoms weren't bad enough that you sought treatment.

    You're right, though, that the acute symptoms aren't a valid predictor of the long term symptoms. Consider that nail you carelessly kicked while barefoot. Truely a minor problem. As long as your tetanus vaccine is up to date. (Well, these days it's *usually* a minor problem anyway, as there's a lot less tetanus virus living in the soil than there used to be...but not always.)

    --
    Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 13 2022, @09:57PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 13 2022, @09:57PM (#1212531)

    The C. tetani bacteria is still just as common and dangerous today without vaccination as it ever was. This means that the more minor your injury, the more dangerous it can be because you may neglect to seek care. Everyone knows about nails, but not all will suspect the dirty cut on their hand they got while gardening roses. Another fact that I thought was mindblowing when I first heard it was that the tetanus vaccines do not immunize you against the bacteria. Instead it immunizes you against the neurotoxin it releases because your body handles the bacteria on its own but cannot develop natural immunity to the neurotoxin.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 13 2022, @10:32PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 13 2022, @10:32PM (#1212537)

      The thing with Clostridia is, they are soil bacteria. They evolved to live in the soil, not in living things, and their toxins evolved to turn an occasional animal into fertilizer for that soil.
      You might say their feeding strategy is much nearer to carnivorous plants, than to regular pathogenic bacteria.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridia [wikipedia.org]

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 14 2022, @12:41AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 14 2022, @12:41AM (#1212554)

    Hi, I assume you're posting in good faith. Thank you. Please note that you're mistaken because "symptom" means the patient noticed.

    Asymptomatic does not mean "didn't seek treatment", it means "didn't notice any symptoms."

    The "long term symptoms" as you call them, are not symptoms of COVID-19, but of PASC, a different disease.

    See this https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=47132&page=1&cid=1212370#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] which is correct (thanks to that AC, who isn't me)