Conjunctivitis/Pink Eye Like Symptoms May Be the XBB.1.16 Variant. COVID can Pass to a Baby, Causing Brain Damage and Death in Some Pregnant Women.
XBB.1.16 has jumped to 11% prevalence in NJ
April 7, 2023, India reported 6,155 cases and 11 deaths in the last 24 hours, with a daily positivity rate of 5.63%. On April 1st, there were 3,600 new cases, nearly double what there were a week earlier. There has been a sudden surge in India caused by the new variant, XBB.1.16, also known as Arcturus, and unfortunately, it is once again attacking children. “Not only are we seeing a rapid rise in cases, but we are also noticing new symptoms that were not seen during the earlier waves."
According to Vipin Vashishtha, former convenor of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics and consultant pediatrician at the Mangla Hospital and Research Centre, Bijnor, we “have started getting pediatric COVID cases once again after a gap of six months.” “An infantile phenotype seems to be emerging—treated infants with high fever, cough, and non-purulent itchy conjunctivitis with sticky eyes, not seen in earlier waves."
An "infantile phenotype" refers to the manifestation of a particular set of symptoms in children that are different from those seen in adults. However, this is a pediatric doctor, and it is likely to also occur in adults at an increased rate as well. We have noted this trend with XBB.1.5, but Arcturus (XBB.1.16) is likely taking it to the next level with the additional mutations. In other words, COVID can infect the eyes more easily, and that carries with it more risks.
As always, the health of children is a matter of utmost importance. As the famous quote by Nelson Mandela goes, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." It is our collective responsibility to ensure that children receive the care and protection they need to stay healthy and safe, especially during these challenging times.
Ventilation Improvement Strategies Among K–12 Public Schools — The National School COVID-19 Prevention Study, United States
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a report on ventilation improvement strategies among K-12 public schools. The report states that effective COVID-19 prevention in K-12 schools requires multicomponent prevention strategies in school buildings and school-based transportation, including improving ventilation. Improved ventilation can reduce the concentration of infectious aerosols and the duration of potential exposures. The report also states that improved ventilation is linked to a lower COVID-19 incidence and can offer other health-related benefits such as better measures of respiratory health and reduced allergy symptoms.
Most of the strategies for improving ventilation were low-cost. These included moving activities outside (73.6%), inspecting and validating existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems (70.5%), and opening doors (67.3%) or windows (67.2%) when it was safe to do so. Fewer schools said they replaced or upgraded HVAC systems (38.5%) or used high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration systems in classrooms (28.2%) or eating areas (29.9%).
This is telling us that seventy percent of schools have done almost nothing to improve the situation. The thirty percent that have invested in cleaner air for children aren’t doing enough to prevent transmission. That is the bare minimum. We must upgrade HVAC systems to filter out 99% of pathogens and increase fresh air intake to keep CO2 below 550 ppm. The systems must be automated so that educators are not responsible for monitoring the CO2 levels. The time to act is now.
Case study shows how COVID-19 breached the placenta and caused brain damage in the babies.
The University of Miami Health System and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine published a study on April 6, 2023, showing that COVID-19 infection can breach the placenta and cause brain damage in newborns. The study is titled "Maternal SARS-CoV-2, Placental Changes and Brain Injury in Two Neonates." Although both infants had tested negative for the virus at birth, both showed significantly elevated SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detectable in their blood while admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Holtz Children's Hospital at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. This suggests that COVID crossed the placenta, infecting the babies, and that the immune response was their own. Both infants had seizures from the first day of life and developmental delays, and one infant died at 13 months of age.
“The deceased infant’s brain showed evidence of SARS-CoV-2 by immunofluorescence, with colocalization of the nucleocapsid protein and spike glycoprotein around the nucleus as well as within the cytoplasm. The constellation of clinical findings, placental pathology, and immunohistochemical changes strongly suggests that second-trimester maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection with placentitis triggered an inflammatory response and oxidative stress injury to the fetoplacental unit that affected the fetal brain. The demonstration of SARS-CoV-2 in the deceased infant’s brain also raises the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 infection of the fetal brain directly contributed to ongoing brain injury.”
The autopsy of the baby that died showed that COVID had infiltrated the brain and caused brain damage. This is likely to have occurred to varying degrees for thousands of children. Sadly, the parents and the children won’t know in many cases for years. It is ridiculous to pretend that the risk doesn’t exist when we know that this can happen. The mothers contracted the infection in their second trimesters, and both tested positive for the virus. One woman, who was 20 years old, carried the baby to full term without having any symptoms, while the other was so sick that doctors delivered the baby earlier by caesarian section. The team of researchers from different fields hopes that their research will warn obstetricians and pediatricians about the possible risks of COVID-19 to newborns. We already know that there are many risks associated with each new infection.
COVID was found in the brains of all 26 babies that died of a brain hemorrhage
A study published in Brain on January 16, 2023, says, “We report the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in first- and second trimester fetal brain tissue in association with cortical hemorrhages.”
This research team studied 661 human fetal tissue samples taken between July 2020 and April 2022. In 21 months, COVID was found in the brains of all 26 babies that died of a brain hemorrhage before birth. In comparison, “only two cases of similar hemorrhages in cortical tissue were observed from images of 300 randomly selected samples from a total of 4917 that were collected between September 1999 and December 2019." A larger sample size over a 10-year period only found 2, while a much smaller sample size over 21 months found 26 that were all positive for COVID in their brains.
The samples were received during periods when confirmed COVID cases were at their highest. This could show that exposure to higher viral loads plays a role; otherwise, why would they occur during peak periods? We will need more data to know the answer, but reducing exposure reduces risks. The fact that COVID is infiltrating their brains is extremely concerning. Make every effort to prevent becoming infected with COVID.
Watching NJ Closely as XBB.1.16 Expands to 11% of Sequenced Cases
The evolution continues towards immune suppression and persistent multi-organ infections. Immune suppressive means more likely to be asymptomatic or mild unless or until a secondary infection takes hold. People will be more susceptible to a secondary infection from the second week through weeks 4 and 5 after symptoms start. People won't be aware that they are more susceptible until or unless a secondary infection takes hold because there is a good chance that they will contract an infection from someone who is asymptomatic and then become asymptomatic.
According to Raj Rajnarayanan, who has been tracking the prevalence of variants, New Jersey is seeing XBB.1.16 expand to 11% of sequenced cases. Many of these are being sequenced from incoming flight wastewater testing. It is great that they are detecting it, but we aren’t doing anything about it. Until we take steps to stop unchecked transmission on international flights and stop people from bringing in new variants, they will keep spreading around the world in a few weeks to a couple months. Every day, more people are flying in with this variant and seeding it in their communities.
Top circulating lineages in NJ (#15DayTrends)
XBB.1.5 (53.9%)
XBB.1.16 (11.0%)
XBB.1.9.1 (5.8%)
XBB.2.3 (4.6%)
XBB.1.5.1 (3.9%)
XBB.1.9.2 (3.3%)
Arcturus (XBB.1.16) is at 4.7% in California and 2.8% in New York. XBB.1.16.1 has an even greater growth advantage and is right behind XBB.1.16. There is a very high probability that Arcturus will become the dominant variant in the U.S. and around the world within the next month or so.
Keep in mind that at 11%, it will remain off the radar, but if it doubles every 6- 8 days, then by early to mid May, it will be at over 60% prevalence. India crossed 60% last week, and that is when we see exponential growth really start gaining momentum. Take extra precautions now because these variants are spreading very fast.
It is very important to remain vigilant and take all necessary precautions to protect ourselves, children, pregnant women, immunocompromised individuals, and older adults from these variants.
We Have To Do Better
The Biden administration has not prioritized the installation of CO2 monitoring, ventilation, or filtration in schools, hospitals, or long-term care homes, nor have they implemented policies that provide an early warning of new variants or localized outbreaks. We do not have a vaccine that prevents infection or long term damage. Monoclonal antibody treatments are no longer working.
The public health emergency is not over. COVID is NOT over. COVID is wreaking havoc on millions of families as increasingly more immune-suppressive, organ-infecting, and persistent variants infiltrate schools, hospitals, and our communities.
Despite talking about being on the right side of history, President Biden is failing to take the necessary actions to protect Americans, leaving future generations to bear the consequences of this inaction.
It is crucial that world leaders step up and take immediate action to protect their citizens. We cannot afford to wait any longer.
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