Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
News on disease control
News (1) to (4) / Interviewee : Lin Xiaoxu (American virology expert) / Consolidated by Liu Jingye / https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/12/18/n13445254.htm
News (1)
Kind of nutrient may inhibit the Omicron variant? You often drink
Image : Studies have found that the catechin EGCG in green tea can inhibit the replication of novel coronavirus (covi). (Shutterstock)
In a short period of time, the number of infections of the Omicron variant (Covi29) rose rapidly. Scientists have discovered that the two mutations in the nucleocapsid protein of Covi29 are more conducive to the replication of the virus in the human body but research has also found that some ingredients in green tea seem to be able to destroy the favorable conditions for this virus to replicate.
Dr. Lin Xiaoxu (Sean Lin), an American virologist and former director of the U.S. Army Research Institute's Department of Virology, analyzed the mutation of the nucleocapsid protein of Covi29 and what components of green tea can inhibit virus replication. The following is the essence of Lin Xiaoxu’s interview:
News (2)
Omicron's special mutation strengthens virus replication and reduces human immunity
In the past, we all paid attention to the mutation of the mutant virus on the spike protein, because it can most affect the effect of the vaccine. However, the mutation of the nucleocapsid protein is also very important but people often ignore it.
The nucleocapsid protein is a protein wrapped on the RNA of the new coronavirus. It can promote the assembly of the new coronavirus through a method called "liquid-liquid phase separation".
Image : The mutation of the mutant virus in the nucleocapsid protein is also crucial. (Health 1+1 / Epoch Times)
A study in the scientific journal Nature pointed out that if two major mutations, R203K and G204R, appear on the nucleocapsid protein of the new coronavirus, it can promote "liquid-liquid separation" and promote virus assembly. In addition, it can inhibit antiviral substances.
Now, Covi29 has such a special mutation, which enables the virus to assemble and replicate, which is a key mutation for the virus to form offspring.
This mutation on the nucleocapsid protein can also effectively inhibit the production of interferon by the human immune system. Interferon is an important mechanism for the body to fight the virus. It is equivalent to the mutation of Covi29 and has the ability to destroy the immune system.
Image : The Omicron variant has two major mutations in the nucleocapsid protein, allowing the virus to replicate favorably. (Health 1+1 / Epoch Times)
News (3)
Scientifically proven: Green tea catechins can fight against covi variants and many viruses
The research published in the journal Nature also mentioned another discovery. The catechin EGCG in green tea can inhibit the nucleocapsid protein from entering the "liquid-liquid phase separation" and inhibit the replication of covi.
Another study on Cell & Bioscience showed that the catechins in green tea can fight against a variety of virus variants, including the Beta variant (Covi17) in South Africa, the Alpha variant (Covi51) in the United Kingdom, the D614G variant that has spread around the world, and the New York, USA variants and so on. This study, published in August of this year, was to infuse green tea for 30 seconds, shake it for 5-6 times, filter and dilute it to obtain a green tea solution. Researchers found that the higher the concentration of green tea, the stronger the ability to inhibit covi and various variant viruses.
Image : The higher the concentration of green tea, the stronger the ability to inhibit covi and various variant viruses. (Health 1+1 / Epoch Times)
Researchers have done further research on the catechins isolated from green tea. Catechin is divided into 4 types: epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), catechin gallate (ECG), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).
These four catechins can inhibit virus replication, but EC has the worst effect and EGCG has the best effect. The study also found that before and during the infection, catechin EGCG can inhibit the replication of covi. Regardless of the concentration of 50μM or 100μM, EGCG can inhibit the virus to about 30%, and it is effective against Alpha and Beta variants.
However, if EGCG is used 6 hours after infection, the effect of suppressing the virus will be lost.
Image : EGCG can suppress the virus to about 30%, and it is effective against Alpha and Beta variants. (Health 1+1 / Epoch Times)
Although this study did not add the Delta variant to the analysis, it at least shows that EGCG is effective in inhibiting different covi variants.
Not only covi, the catechin EGCG also has an inhibitory effect on many viruses. British Journal of Pharmacology summarizes the viruses that catechin EGCG can inhibit include HIV, hepatitis B virus, enterovirus, influenza virus, etc.
News (4)
Chinese medicine also believes that drinking tea can detoxify
The above-mentioned researches are all aimed at green tea extracts. It does not mean that drinking green tea will definitely inhibit Covi29. However, drinking green tea can be considered a healthy habit.
Speaking of which, in fact, humans have a long history of drinking tea. Traditional Chinese medicine in ancient China has discovered that tea made from tea has detoxification, healing and antibacterial effects, and what we just talked about is the empirical research of western medicine, which is to disassemble the ingredients of tea to see the effect of a certain ingredient. After step-by-step research and experimentation, it has confirmed the role of the "catechin" in green tea in inhibiting viruses.
This is an interesting difference between Chinese medicine and Western medicine.
Western medicine thinks that the theory put forward by Chinese medicine thousands of years ago cannot be so rash. It needs one ingredient, one ingredient, one experiment, and one experiment to verify it. Both have their strengths.
I personally appreciate Chinese medicine. Because I had asthma when I was young and I was cured by Chinese medicine. An old Chinese doctor in Fuzhou especially emphasized that he would wake up on time at midnight every day and eat the juice of bitter grapefruit. As a result, after taking it for a while, my asthma got better. There is a very subtle thing about Chinese medicine, which is to explore life and matter from another angle.
News (5)
WHO: Omicron may not be milder than other covi strains
Image : Daily Mail
World Health Organization (WHO) Chief scientist Swaminathan pointed out on 20 December 2021 that it is premature to say that the Omicron variant (Covi29) is milder than other covi strains.
The number of critically ill patients infected with Covi29 may still be too large to "overwhelm" the medical system.
Soumya Swaminathan told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, "...if there is nothing to do, it is not wise to think that this is a mild variant that will not cause severe illness, because I think that with this variant the number of strains continues to increase, and the medical systems of various countries will be under great pressure.”
She also said that the so-called Omicron is relatively mild seems to be based on the initial data from some parts of South Africa, but with the increase in vaccination rates, these data can give a misleading impression. (Central News Agency)
News (6)
WHO: vaccinated and survivors are not immune to Omicron
Reporter : Zhang Ting / Editor : Li Yuan / https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/12/20/n13449209.htm
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros said on Monday (20 December 2021) that Covi29 spreads faster than the Delta variant (Covi72) and is causing infections in people who have been vaccinated or who have recovered from covid.
"There is now consistent evidence that Omicron is spreading significantly faster than the Delta variant," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing on Monday. "Moreover, people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or who have recovered from COVID-19. More likely to be infected or be infected again."
The WHO's remarks echo the findings of Imperial College London. The study showed that compared with other covi variants such as Covi72, Covi29 has a higher risk of reinfection by more than 5 times, and there is no indication that it is milder.
WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan told reporters in Geneva on Monday that it is “unwise to conclude from early evidence that Omicron is a milder variant than the previous one. ".
"As the numbers rise, all health systems will be under tension," Swaminathan said.
WHO officials said that other forms of immunization can prevent infection and disease.
It has always been hoped that T cells, the second pillar of the immune response, can prevent serious diseases by attacking infected human cells.
WHO expert Abdi Mahamud said, "Although we have seen a decrease in neutralizing antibodies, almost all preliminary analyses have shown that T cell-mediated immunity is still intact. This is what we really needed."
However, Swaminatan emphasized that little is known about how to deal with Covi29 detected only in November 2021, "Of course there is a challenge. Many monoclonal antibodies are not suitable for Omicron."
News (7)
Pfizer: The covid pandemic may extend to 2024
Reporter : Chen Ting / Editor : Ye Ziwei / https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/12/18/n13445051.htm
Pfizer said on Friday (17 December 2021) that the covid pandemic may not end until 2024. Pfizer also said that the company's low-dose vaccine for children aged 2 to 4 years produced a weaker immune response than expected.
Pfizer’s Chief Scientific Officer, Mikael Dolsten, said in a report to investors that Pfizer expects that in the next one or two years, certain areas will continue to maintain a pandemic, and at the same time, some areas will transition into “local areas”. "Endemic" has fewer cases and is easy to manage.
The company predicts that by 2024, the disease should be transformed into an "endemic disease" on a global scale.
"When and how it happens will depend on the evolution of the disease, how society effectively deploys vaccines and therapies, and distributes them fairly in places with low vaccination rates," Dustin said. "The emergence of new variants may also affect pandemics. How to continue to develop."
Pfizer has developed a covi vaccine in cooperation with the German company BioNTech. It is expected to produce 4 billion doses next year, with revenue of 31 billion U.S. dollars.
Pfizer has also developed an experimental antiviral drug called Paxlovid, which in a clinical trial reduced hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk groups by nearly 90%.
According to Refinitiv data, three analysts estimate that its sales next year will be between 15 billion and 25 billion U.S. dollars.
Before Covi29 appeared, American infectious disease scientist Anthony Fauci predicted that in 2022, the pandemic would end in the United States.
In the United States, Pfizer vaccine is authorized for use in people 5 years and older. But Pfizer said on Friday that its study of children aged 2 to 4 found that two doses of 3 micrograms of the vaccine did not produce the same immune response.
However, Pfizer said that the 3 microgram dose did produce a similar immune response in children aged 6 to 24 months.
Next, Pfizer will test the effects of three doses of treatment in these two age groups and older children.
Pfizer said that it does not expect this delay to change the timeline for authorization applications in the second quarter of 2022.
Pfizer and BioNTech are also developing customized vaccines for Covi29. The highly transmissible Covi29 has been discovered in more than 77 countries.
News (8)
Study: Moderna vaccine is more likely to cause heart inflammation
Reporter : Xu Jian / Editor : Lin Yan / https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/12/19/n13446725.htm
On 16 December 2021, a study in the British Medical Journal showed that Moderna’s covi vaccine and Pfizer vaccine may cause heart inflammation (myocarditis or myocardial pericarditis), and Moderna is four times more likely to cause heart inflammation than Pfizer.
According to the report, although Pfizer and Moderna vaccines based on mRNA technology have achieved amazing scientific success and saved countless lives, there is no drug in history that has no adverse effects at all.
This study analyzed Denmark's national register, which covers nearly 85% of Danes, or 4.9 million people 12 years of age and older. These registers show the country’s population data on vaccinations, hospitalizations, and laboratory test results of blood samples. It was found that “vaccination (Moderna vaccine) is associated with a significant increase in the risk of myocarditis or myocarditis in the Danes”.
Researchers from the Danish National Serum Institute stated that the risk of heart disease caused by the Moderna vaccine is mainly concentrated in the "12-39-year-old population."
The study found that of the 3.5 million people who received Pfizer, 48 people developed myocarditis or pericarditis within 28 days (54% were males, 56% were second vaccinations), and the incidence rate was 1.4 per 100,000 vaccinated people (Or about 1 case per 71,400 people).
After 500,000 people were vaccinated with Moderna vaccine, 21 people developed myocarditis or pericarditis (76% were males, 86% were second vaccinations), and the overall incidence rate was 4.2 per 100,000 vaccinators. (Or about 1 case per 23,800 people))
This study confirms the research reports of other countries. For example, studies from Israel and the United States have shown that Moderna or Pfizer vaccines based on mRNA will increase the risk of myocarditis or myocardial pericarditis.
CNBC reported last month that Europe will open the Moderna vaccination for teenagers in July this year. However, some countries such as Finland and Sweden have suspended vaccination for young people under the age of 30 due to the expansion of myocarditis.
Moderna Medical Director Paul Burton admitted that compared with people who received Pfizer vaccine, young men under the age of 30 who received the Moderna vaccine had relatively higher cases of myocarditis. Citing data from French men aged 12 to 29, he showed that after vaccination with Moderna vaccine, there were an average of 13.3 cases of myocarditis per 100,000 people; while the average number of Pfizer vaccines was only 2.7 cases per 100,000 people.
In June 2021, the CDC in the United States also stated that after vaccination with Pfizer vaccine and Modena vaccine, some people had myocarditis and pericarditis, which may be related to the vaccine. According to a detailed report issued by the CDC on 31 May, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) shows that nearly 800 Americans have reported heart inflammation after receiving the mRNA vaccine.
The CDC said on 16 December 2021 that children between 5 and 11 years old in the United States had reported 8 cases of myocarditis after being vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech.
News (9) to (13) / http://www.minhangshi.com/m/h5/detail/10349253
News (9)
China's domestically produced anti-covid drug is here! Can it effectively deal with Covi29?
According to CCTV News, on 8 December 2021, China’s first anti-covid specific drug-ambavirumab/romisvirimab combination therapy specific drug was approved by the China Food and Drug Administration, which signifies that China owns the first fully self-developed and proven effective anti-covid antibody specific drug was officially launched.
News (10)
How to use China's first anti-covid antibody specific drug? How effective is it?
Clinical trial data show that the combination therapy of ambavirumab/romisvirimab can reduce the hospitalization rate and mortality of high-risk new crown outpatients by 80%, and the main effect is treatment. At the same time, antibodies can stay in the human body for 9 to 12 months, and also have a certain effect on preventing infection. This is currently the best treatment data among the specific anti-coronavirus drugs in the world.
Zhang Linqi, professor of Tsinghua University School of Medicine and director of the Global Health and Infectious Diseases Research Center, is a leader in the research and development team of this specific drug. Zhang Linqi said that antibodies are a natural weapon of the human body. They "find a needle in a haystack" and screened out two antibodies that have strong blocking power against covi, and let them work together.It works immediately after being injected into the body".
News (11)
Special drugs go abroad to accept global clinical trials
After the development of specific drugs, when Zhang Linqi's team wanted to further conduct Phase II and Phase III clinical studies, due to proper epidemic prevention measures, it was difficult to find new coronavirus patients in China that could be used for research. In December 2020, based on the results of the first phase of clinical research conducted in China, Zhang Linqi and the others applied to participate in a global leading clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
According to international practice, the organizers divided the covid patients into two groups. One group received the treatment of the ambasavir monoclonal antibody/romisvirimab covi antibody specific drug, and the other group received only a placebo instillation and strict treatment. According to the principle of randomization, double-blind, and control, the international clinical phase II and phase III trials of this specific drug are carried out. During 28 days, the hospitalization and death of the patients were compared and observed.
On 3 December 2021, after rigorous comparative testing, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced all clinical data on the covi antibody specific drug for ambasavirumab/rotamisvirimab combination therapy. In the third phase of the clinical trial, compared with placebo, the combination therapy of ambavirumab/romisvirimab can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death of high-risk new coronary outpatients by 80%.
Zhang Linqi: The results are actually very exciting. It is not easy to achieve an effect of 80% when multiple variants of multiple races and multiple variants are prevalent in many regions of the world.
News (12)
Can the special medicine deal with Covi29?
With the development of specific drugs by scientists around the world, the mutation of the new coronavirus is also continuing. Since November of this year, Omi Keron, a mutant strain of the new crown virus, has attracted intense attention. In the face of the menacing Omi Keron, can China's special medicine effectively deal with it?
Zhang Linqi: Our evaluation found that one of the antibodies maintained its activity and the other antibody lost part of its activity. However, because we are a combo box, the two antibodies added together still retain the ability to neutralize Covi29. Therefore, we have great confidence in the inhibitory ability of our antibody drugs against emerging viruses.
News (13)
When will the special medicine be fully introduced to the market?
Although the new drug has been approved for marketing, there is no definite time for it to be fully marketed. Zhang Linqi said that relevant departments and corresponding technical teams are pushing the process around the clock.
In the future, Zhang Linqi and the R&D team will, with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, further explore the entire virus-antibody interaction mechanism, virus mutation rules, and mine "spare tire antibodies" so that specific drugs playing their role can be effective, broad-spectrum, and durable.
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