COVID Times - News Shorts for May 14, 2020

FDA Issues Alert on Accuracy of Allergen Test - FDA issued an alert that they have data that suggests potential inaccurate results from using the Abbott ID NOW point-of-care test to diagnose COVID-19. Specifically, the test may return false negative results. FDA has received 15 adverse event reports about the Abbott ID NOW device that suggest some users are receiving inaccurate negative results.  Of course, false negatives are worse than false positives in that someone has the infection but is told they don't.

CDC Report on High Infection Rate Following a Choir Practice - Following a 2.5-hour choir practice attended by 61 persons, including a symptomatic index patient, 32 confirmed and 20 probable secondary COVID-19 cases occurred (attack rate = 53.3% to 86.7%); three patients were hospitalized, and two died. Transmission was likely facilitated by close proximity (within 6 feet) during practice and augmented by the act of singing.

Why Bats Can Carry Bad Viruses and Not Get Sick - Super Immunity - “Instead of killing bat cells as the virus does with human cells, the MERS coronavirus enters a long-term relationship with the host, maintained by the bat’s unique ‘super’ immune system,” 

The Virus Can Also Infect Cats, Minks, and Ferrets - This article discusses the virus's protein pike structure, but states that "Cats, ferrets and minks are also susceptible: In order to infect a cell, features of the spike protein must bind with a receptor on the host cell’s surface, and cats have a receptor binding site that closely matches that of humans."

COVID Virus's Cellular Targets Are In More Than Just Respiratory System - The COVID-19 "virus's  “spike” protein binds to a receptor on human cells known as angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Another human protein, an enzyme called TMPRSS2, helps to activate the coronavirus spike protein, to allow for cell entry."  Epithelium cells that line the airway have these receptors, and so this is the primary means of infection.  But these cell types are found in other parts of the body including the intestines.  This is the reason we see a wide variety of symptoms, including that "approximately one third of COVID-19 patients experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, and the fact that the virus often can be detected in stool samples ."  

Unfortunately for men, they have a higher concentration of ACE2 in their blood.

How Does COVID-19 Become Deadly - A lot of news articles have detailed the "cytokine storm”. that occurs after an infection starts.  "This storm is an over-activation of white blood cells, which release too-great amounts of cytokines – inflammation-stimulating molecules – into the blood."  "The rapidly increased cytokines attract an excess of immune cells such as lymphocytes and neutrophils, resulting in an infiltration of these cells into lung tissue and thus cause lung injury".

Hot Dog Sales are Up - "American households continue to turn to hot dogs as a convenient and kid-friendly solution with many more at-home meal occasions. The week ending May 3 marked the ninth week of multi-digit year-over-year sales gains for hot dogs vs. a nearly flat performance in 2019." 

Farmers' Markets Are Busy, But They Endure Higher Operating Costs  - Farmers' Markets have done an excellent job at providing a safe shopping experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their higher costs of operations have severely cut into profitability.