#virologi

[mindblowingscience]

A type of flu virus that used to sicken people every year hasn't been spotted anywhere on Earth since March 2020. As such, experts have advised that the apparently extinct viruses be removed from next year's flu vaccines. The now-extinct viruses were a branch of the influenza B family tree known as the Yamagata lineage. Scientists first reported the apparent disappearance of Yamagata viruses in 2021. At that time, experts speculated that precautions taken to stop the spread of COVID-19 — such as masking and social distancing — had not only driven the overall number of flu cases to historic lows but may have completely snuffed out this type of flu virus. 

Continue Reading.

#Science #Health #Biology #Virology #Vaccines #Flu

[scienza-magia]

Non solo Omicron anche le varianti Cerberus e Gryphon

I virologi tornano alla carica: "Nuove varianti del Covid molto contagiose, state attenti". Dopo alcune settimane di rallentamento tornano a crescere i casi di Covid-19, spinti dalle nuove sottovarianti di Omicron Bq.1 e Bq.1.1, note con i nomi Cerberus, a cui si aggiunge Gryphon, in aumento. «Queste nuove varianti attualmente in circolazione e già presenti in Italia hanno dimostrato un indice di trasmissibilità superiore a 15, per cui ogni persona è in grado di infettarne almeno 15». Lo sottolinea Massimo Andreoni, direttore scientifico della Società italiana di malattie infettive e tropicali, dal XXI congresso nazionale Simit, in corso a Roma.

«Il numero dei casi sta aumentando, l’Rt è vicino a 1. Stiamo assistendo a un incremento delle ospedalizzazioni e anche dei decessi - fa il punto - Si tratta di un insieme di elementi che ci preoccupano e ci devono indurre a tenere alta la guardia». Secondo Andreoni, «ad oggi possiamo ipotizzare con ragionevolezza che le prossime vacanze natalizie, a differenza degli ultimi due anni, potranno essere affrontate con maggiore serenità. Vi sarà comunque il rischio di un incremento dei contagi, che sarà opportuno fronteggiare con il ricorso a quei mezzi di contenimento indispensabili per la limitazione della diffusione del virus. Inoltre è fondamentale ribadire l’importanza della vaccinazione e dei richiami vaccinali con la nuova somministrazione bivalente, che protegge soprattutto i soggetti più fragili dalla malattia grave, coprendo anche la variante Omicron». Non solo. «Abbiamo constatato che l’immunità da vaccino o da malattia non è particolarmente duratura, quindi il richiamo periodico è necessario - rimarca - anche nei giovani, in quanto solo immunizzando un’ampia porzione di popolazione sarà possibile limitare la diffusione del virus e combattere la pandemia». Attenzione anche agli effetti del Covid sull’antibiotico-resistenza. «Nei pazienti ricoverati per Covid-19 in terapia intensiva, una delle più frequenti cause di decesso è stata una seconda infezione causata da batteri multiresistenti agli antibiotici acquisita in ospedale - spiega Marco Falcone, segretario Simit - Si è verificato con frequenza quel fenomeno denominato come sinergismo microbico, per cui l’infezione batterica si è sovrapposta all’infezione virale già esistente». «Oggi non abbiamo un’emergenza Covid nei ricoveri, ma vi sono diversi pazienti fragili, per età o per comorbidità, che se si infettano - avverte l’infettivologo - possono sviluppare una malattia grave, con il rischio di contrarre anche un’infezione batterica a livello polmonare: questo organo, infatti, già indebolito dal virus Sars-CoV-2, è maggiormente suscettibile a ulteriori infezioni di tipo batterico. A ciò si aggiunge il dato preoccupante per cui l’Italia ha il tasso di antibiotico-resistenza più elevato in Europa dopo la Grecia. Questo problema è particolarmente diffuso negli ospedali, ma il 20-25% di questi batteri si trova già in comunità e può essere alimentato da un uso distorto di antibiotici». Read the full article

#antibiotico-resistenza #cerberus #coronavirus #covid #gryphon #omicron #Sars-CoV-2 #sottovarianti #vaccino #variante #virologi

[lighterium]

I like to think Mario has a psychology minor just because of this Part in super mario adventures

#super mario adventures #mario bros #mario #personally i think he has a Virology major #and did patient care #and a psychology minor

[violent138]

Companies that hire Gotham grads: "What do you mean you finished all your work? Didn't I just give it to you?"

Gothamite: "Oh it was easy, it's all in the report. If you have any more questions, I'll be in the break room, testing out the new explosive I made while I was waiting."

Manager: "Yeah sure, you've earned a brea-- wait what?"

#The most productive city on earth okay #I stand by this #Even the looniest of them (Joker) has a working knowledge of virology and biochemistry and routinely makes use of it #Who knows maybe Tweedle Dee and Dum could pass a candidacy exam for a economics or political PhD (idk how this stuff works lol) #HC that Gotham labs are guarded better than most banks in Metropolis #batman #dc comics #textpost #only in gotham

[intersectionalpraxis]

"Dr David Teachey, from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said: “Although most children with Covid-19 do not have severe disease, our study shows that there may be other effects of SARS-CoV-2 that are worthy of investigation."

"Blood vessels are channels that carry essential nutrients, like oxygen, to all the organs in the body. They also carry waste products away."

"In the brain, damage to vessels could lead to inflammation, while in the limbs, reduced blood flow could lead to ‘Covid toe’, it added."

"The rare side effect of Covid can affect people of any age, although reports suggest children and teens suffer more that adults."

"Dr David, added: "We should continue testing for and monitoring children with SARS-CoV-2 so that we can better understand how the virus affects them in both the short and long term.”

Here is the link to the original study [the article above was also first published a little more than several months ago]:

#current events #current news #covid #long covid #covid 19 #covid isn't over #covid19 #pandemic #wear a mask #covid is airborne #mask up #public health #education #healthcare #medicine #virology #hematology

[prokopetz]

What does "eclipse phase" mean in your description of the slug-eating JRPG? Does it describe some sort of a "until game over" hidden timer?

(With reference to this post here.)

"Eclipse phase" is a term used by some virologists to describe the period after a living cell has been infected by a virus, but before the cell exhibits any behavioural changes. Some of the sneakier viruses are notable for their exceptionally long eclipse phases, whereby an infected cell may continue to perform its normal function for months or years before suddenly switching to viral replication mode in response to some environmental trigger.

#science #biology #virology #nomenclature

[beakers-and-telescopes]

New Deep Ocean Virus Discovered

Life on Earth can be found even in the harshest of environments.  But wherever there is life, you can find regulators of that life- and by that, I mean viruses.  A group of researchers at the Ocean University of China have isolated a new virus from sediment collected from the Mariana Trench, some 8,900 meters below sea level.  This is the deepest discovered virus ever.

The virus in question is a bacteriophage- one that infects and replicates inside bacteria.  Bacteriophages are thought to be the most abundant life forms on the planet (that is, if you even consider them to be alive.  But that’s for a whole other post).  This bacteriophage infects bacteria in the phylum Halomonas, which can be found in deep sea sediments or in hydrothermal vents (Fun fact: one member of this phylum, Halomonas titanicae, was isolated from the ruins of the titanic, and helps to decompose materials such as shipwrecks on the seafloor).  

When the researchers analyzed this new bacteriophage, they realized that it is part of an entirely unknown viral family that has been lurking in the depths of the ocean.  Now, they will investigate the molecular machinery that defines interactions between deep sea viruses and their hosts, as well as continuing to look for new viruses in the most extreme of environments.

#science #stem #stemblr #science side of tumblr #biology #medicine #virology #marine virology #oceans #mariana trench #marine biology

[gillianthecat]

#virus #virology #the great debate #microbiology #biology #life #philosophy #poll #tumblr polls #my polls #hw lb #gillianthecat goes back to school

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Welcome to me trying to convince myself to revise for my exams by inserting my lecture material into six of crows quotes

Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to determine a gene’s function?”

“Knock it out?” asked Inej.

“Modify it?” said Jesper.

“Molecular tools?” suggested Nina.

“You’re all horrible,” said Matthias.

Kaz rolled his eyes. “The easiest way to discover a gene’s function is infect it with a virus. You change its behaviour and you can compare it to what it used to do. The Rous virus is going to do that job for us,”

#new au unlocked? #Kaz The overdramatic biomed student? #grishaverse #six of crows #leigh bardugo #crooked kingdom #inej ghafa #kaz brekker #nina zenik #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #matthias helvar #kanej #wesper #helnik #biomedicine #biology #biomedical science #biomed student #virology #virus #au #revision #six of crows au

[mindblowingscience]

A new study has revealed for the first time the vital role carbon dioxide (CO2) plays in determining the lifespan of airborne viruses—namely SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It clearly showed keeping CO2 levels in check helps to reduce virus survival, and therefore the risk of infection. The research, led by the University of Bristol and published today in Nature Communications, shows how CO2 is a major factor in prolonging the life of SARS-CoV-2 variants present in tiny droplets circulating in the atmosphere. Lead author Dr. Allen Haddrell, Senior Research Associate in Aerosol Science at the University's School of Chemistry, said, "We knew SARS-CoV-2, like other viruses, spreads through the air we breathe. But this study represents a huge breakthrough in our understanding of exactly how and why that happens, and crucially, what can be done to stop it.

Continue Reading.

#Virus #virology #Biology #medicine #CO2 #carbon dioxide #science #stem

[ratohet]

Teeheeee

#darkwing duck #drake mallard #negaduck #jim starling #negawing #the sillies #did good on the virology exam so im sharing the sillies

[great-and-small]

saw in your bio you’re researching infectious reptile diseases—that sounds cool as hell! which diseases specifically?

My research is in herpesviruses! I can’t give you the exact species I’m studying, but my interest is in how herpes viruses have been evolving alongside reptiles as well as mammals for millions of years.

Even among some very crafty pathogens, herpes stands out as the single most cunning family of viruses in the world (imo at least). They can evade immune systems, control populations, and basically bend ecosystems to their will. All without having the presence of mind to “intend” to do any of that. Herpes viruses are insanely interesting

#herpes #viruses #biology #virology

[preservationofnormalcy]

[I am in a nature preserve in rural Louisiana. A small ranger station-like structure in the middle of the wetlands welcomes me through chain link fences as my driver signals his approach, and as I exit my vehicle, a man steps out of the station.

He is heavy-set, tall, a little overweight but in that working-man sort of way where his strength is evident. He’s wearing a white labcoat over a colorful shirt and jeans, with messy hair and old school mutton chops. I can’t decide if he’s going for a vintage look or just doesn’t want to deal with his facial hair. Huge hands clap together once as I walk up to the building, and he smiles.]

Meghan] Mr McCollough?

Jethro] Please, please ma’am, call me Jethro. Please, come in.

[The first room seems typical of what I would expect a station in the middle of the swamplands to look - a cot, couches, radios and locked long glass-paneled cabinets with guns. A large metal door on one end leads me into the next room, and this one is different. Computers, rows and rows of filing cabinets, and haphazard piles of paperwork on a laboratory benchtop that yield to clean, colored tape-zoned areas holding glassware, boxes of “Vacutainer” tubes, plastic racks. A well-used benchtop centrifuge in the sun-bleached cream and baby blue colors of equipment from the 80s holds tubes of separated liquid – clear on top, a strip of white, and deep red at the bottom. Another metal door on the opposite side leads further into the building. He gestures to a somewhat empty table with a chair on either side.

Jethro’s accent is slight but noticeable, quiet but gregarious. He doesn’t sit yet, but fumbles with a kettle and a hot plate.]

J] Don’t get many visitors out here. Pardon the mess. Tea?

M] Oh. Please, actually.

J] Yes, ma’am. The people above my head tell me you’re here to ask questions.

M] That’s right. I saw the, uh… immunization posters in the Virginia site I toured.

J] Oh, sure. That’s been routine for decades, now. Since they were developed in the 50s. Lots of progress, of course, but always lots to do. Half the issue’s the paperwork, you know. But, uh, yeah.

M] Does everyone get immunized?

J] If I had my way, yes. That’d be the right way to do it. But no, it’s only really required for so-called high risk zones, that’s what they decided.

[He gives me a wry smile over his shoulder.]

J] This here’s a high risk zone, ma’am. But…you won’t be here long enough for it to matter.

M] …here’s hoping. Umm. I had a list of questions.

J] Top of the list is probably “Jesus H, they’re real?”

[He laughs briefly at his own joke.]

M] …my work is more about the efficacy and efficiency of the Office’s divisions, departments, and programs. But yeah, kind of.

[He pours the hot water into two teacups, and hands me one, sitting on the opposite side of the table. His cup looks comically small in his large hands.]

J] Get the feeling you’ll be asking that a lot in the next months.

M] I do too. Let me see… what is the objective of the… Abnormal Virology Department?

J] So our mission statement is about the research, control, and prevention of diseases – viral diseases specifically, but other stuff comes up, but y’know, that’s another story – uh, diseases that fall outside the Office’s definition of “normal,” and our big goals hopefully are curative or preventative treatments for those diseases. It’s a tall order.

M] And… lycanthropy is a virus, like the flu?

J] I mean, as much as any virus is like another. Each one’s unique, even the flu subtypes, but yeah. If I may use some jargon,

[He pauses with a hint of eagerness for affirmation before continuing.]

J] It's a lysogenic virus, so if you get infected, it integrates into the host genome, more like, uh, I guess herpesvirus is one most people would know. Once you get it, you got it for life because it hides in your DNA. Like herpesviruses too, you have lytic phases too, where it becomes active again, it emerges out of the genome based on cues from environmental pressures or host conditions. Like the phase of the moon, you know, which is kind of unique. When it’s not actively causing disease, when it’s just sitting in your genome at these sequence specific integration sites across the chromosomes, it also screws with normal gene regulation. The sites it sits down, you get dysregulation of normal transcription, you start growing more body hair, eyes change color. Where the virus integrates is a little different across host genetic backgrounds, think like ancestries; do you know SNPs?

[He clears his throat.]

Anyway, that lysogenic, passive phase is why we need the boosters, it’s laying low, immune cells don’t see anything to protect against, and it preferentially hides out in memory B cells, some lymphocytes, and that also kind of messes up a normal immune response. Which is why you have the immunoglobulin in the shot too, but that’s getting into the weeds. Because if you don’t have a way for the immune system to stop it quickly when it decides to jump out of the genome again, then, of course, you have the active phase, which… you can guess about that.

M] How successful would you say the treatments are?

J] It’s pretty good, especially given this stuff is almost the same as we were using mid-century. If you have a healthy immune system, if you’re vaccinated at least a few weeks before exposure, so you have your standard immune repertoire ready to go, and then they’re exposed – assuming the inoculum isn’t, you know, that can be pretty high sometimes – then they probably won’t “catch it,” so to speak, it’s neutralized and doesn’t integrate into the genome, so you don’t have a permanent case of it. We can also suppress symptoms with treatments for those with especially bad cases. Treatment’s kinda heavy, with the administration and the side effects; not like you’re just popping a pill under your tongue; but once it’s taken hold, there’s no, uh, no real cure.

[Jethro is quiet for a moment, taking a glance out the window as he drinks.]

J] … listen, ma’am. I’m biased. I got a personal stake in all this. I’m kind of a lab guy, sure, but sometimes I go out there and actually… you know. I’m the boots on the ground here too. And I don’t carry the big guns like the guys in Security do, no, I’m here giving out shots to kids and families. There’s communities in this country, whole towns out in the swamps or up in the hollers that are majority-infected. They live with it, they make do. And they have a chance at that, at life, because of us. Hard to quantify, of course. If you’re looking for hard numbers, I can try and find ‘em–

[He gestures to the filing cabinets.]

J] If you got a week or two.

M] We can… coordinate records later. But we’ve successfully eradicated things like… you know, smallpox. Can we eradicate things like lycanthropy?

[He gives me a strange, wary look and picks up a plastic knife from the table, oddly stirring his drink. I take a sip of mine.]

J] I’d be careful, talking like that. Lotta people don’t just think they’re sick, they- we’re talking about people. People with a condition, sure, but the minute you start talking about eradicating is when we start having camps again.

M] … again?

J] There’s rural areas in this country that the Office hasn’t been in for decades. We aren’t welcome.

M] Can I ask what happened?

[Jethro takes a deep breath.]

J] In ‘55, the United States rolled out its polio vaccine program. Of course, the Office used the infrastructure, hustle and bustle of the whole thing as a cover for our own lycanthropic treatment programs. We, and when I say “we,” I mean the Office in general of course. I wasn’t even a pup then. But a couple Office research groups, the Wagner lab, they’d done deep research into the condition, validated a few hypotheses, and they were ready to pilot the production of a vaccine. They just needed plasma. From infected hosts.

M] … I think I see.

J] Yeah. Yeah, back then infected folks were basically ignored unless they were in legal trouble. Legal personhood hadn't been extended to lycanthropes yet.

M] Legal personhood?

J] Ask Ferd about that when you get back to Virginia. Unfortunately, that plasma was taken from… people who didn’t volunteer. Inmates at first, murderers. But scaling up collection, then it came from people who stole some cows, and then people who were even just accused of things. When the Wagner people showed the shot was actually working, the Office needed a lot more to even think about rolling it out everywhere it was needed, and people weren’t really volunteering, so…

[He sighs.]

J] We shouldn’t have been surprised when a lot of communities then rejected us after that. Word travels fast, and the symbol–

[He taps the OPN crest on his badge.]

J] –became the mark of the Beast. Figuratively. It’s been decades getting to the point where we can help people, and pardon my bragging, ma’am, but it’s people like me who are the reason why we can. Part scientist, part… social worker, I guess.

[The phone rings, and Jethro slides over on his rolling chair to answer it. He seems immediately worried, and after a moment of conversation he hangs up and rubs his face.]

J] Real sorry ma’am, gonna have to cut this short. I know you had a long trip. Maybe I can meet you somewhere that ain’t so out of the way.

M] Oh. That’s okay, Jethro. Um. How’s next Saturday?

[He rolls over to a calendar on the wall. July 2021.]

J] No… no, I’ll be needing a day or two off ‘round then. For the… weather.

M] …I think I see. I’ll call you, we can finish over the phone.

J] Probably for the best, ma’am. If you’ll excuse me, I got an emergency downstate. Small outbreak just confirmed, got some of that social work to do.

M] Should I be worried?

[He grins, throwing his labcoat onto a chair and pulling a dirty jumpsuit out of a pile.]

J] Hell no, ma’am. We’re professionals. Ain’t gonna be any rowdy gators causing any trouble.

M] …gat–

J] I trust you’ll see yourself out, ma’am.

(Buy the poster here!)

#HUGE thanks to my good friend for editing the virology stuff #and giving his perspective #office for the preservation of normalcy #werewolves #lycanthropy #lycanthrope #interview

[intersectionalpraxis]

"Experts warn that lax regulations could also see the virus spread to US pig farms, with serious consequences for human health."

"Fears are growing that the H5N1 outbreak among cattle in the United States could have been caused by contaminated animal feed."

"In contrast to Britain and Europe, American farmers are still allowed to feed cattle and other farm animals ground-up waste from other animals including birds."

"Dairy cows across six US states – and at least one farm worker – have become infected with the highly pathogenic virus, which has already killed millions of animals across the globe since 2021."

"Experts are unsure but fear it could be the poultry litter feed used in the US that has passed the virus to cattle."

“In the US, the feeding of poultry litter to beef cows is a known factor in the cause of botulism in cattle, and is a risk in the case of H5N1,” said Dr Steve Van Winden, Associate Professor in Population Medicine at the Royal Veterinary College."

"Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist and fellow at the Pirbright Institute agreed: “This latest case wouldn’t be the first time there have been concerns H5N1 could be moving through different mammals via contaminated feed,” citing the outbreak of avian flu in cats in Poland last year, which experts suspected might have been transmitted through mink byproducts used in raw cat food."

"At present, the WHO has said the risk to humans is considered low, but that surveillance efforts must be kept up."

#current events #current news #global news #cows #bird flu #avian flu #h5n1 #pandemic #virus #healthcare #mask up #wear a mask #virology #united states #bird flu outbreaks #world news

[prokopetz]

Meet the TikTokker who's going viral by incorporating himself into your nuclear DNA.

#science #virology #tiktok #memes #wordplay #puns

[krystal-prisms]

Hot take: virology is the quantum mechanics of biology

We don't know exactly what is happening or why and how it's happening but we sure know stuff is happening

#my bs #science #biology #virology #viruses #physics #quantum mechanics