But XBB.1.16 may not be just another run-of-the-mill Omicron. Dr. Vipin Vashishtha—a pediatrician in India and former head of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Immunization—tweeted Thursday that pediatric cases of COVID are on the increase for the first time in six months, and that “an infantile phenotype seems emerging.”
The symptoms he’s now seeing among children:
- High fever
- Cough
- “Itchy” conjunctivitis—or pink eye—without pus, but with “sticky eyes”
The latter symptom hasn’t been seen in earlier COVID waves, he noted.
XBB.1.16 is a recombinant of two descendants of so-called “stealth Omicron” BA.2. A preprint study updated Sunday from scientists at the University of Tokyo suggests that it spreads about 1.17 to 1.27 times more efficiently than relatives XBB.1 and XBB.1.5, also known as "Kraken," which currently dominates U.S. cases.
XBB.1.16’s increased ability to outpace other variants suggest that it “will spread worldwide in the near future,” researchers wrote, adding that the variant is “robustly resistant” to antibodies from a variety of COVID variants, including “stealth Omicron” BA.2 and BA.5, which surged globally last summer.
That means it could cause cases to rise again, even in areas that have recently seen increased COVID infections—especially if those infections stemmed from either BA.2, BA.5, or their descendants.
New variants may not always cause “waves” of cases anymore. That’s because a continual parade of new Omicron variants creates a baseline of infections that remains “unsustainably high,” Gregory says.
So what’s the fucking end result of all this? A permanent state of disability in humans in general? We’re just…gonna be worse now, as a species, than we were a generation ago? And a higher mortality rate among susceptible populations to boot?
People think I'm cynical or hyperbolic, but I really don't think a significant chunk of the population not taking covid seriously will still be here in ten years.
:inshallah-script:
I mean, I'd prefer if all my friends and family weren't dead. Manufacturing Consent works and they manufactured the fuck out of this thing. Death to the bastards that did so, but zero covid is class struggle and I'd prefer if my class wasn't annihilated.
lmao yea just doing a bit
or the people taking it seriously
masks don't stop infection if everyone else is baremouthed. In that case the best they can do is reduce viral load, and thus intensity, of the infection. But they can't prevent the infection.
Reducing the viral load by 99.97% is pretty cool, though.
Sure, but I didn't just mean people that aren't masking. If you're wearing a mask at a convention or a concert or something, you're still not really taking it seriously. It sucks, but we're at a point where living the status quo is gonna get you killed. Gotta start thinking about the future; Covid, Climate Change, Fascist oppression, Supply Chain instabilities, it's all gonna start requiring planning for the future in more ways than just wearing a mask. Like I said, it's Class Struggle.
Edit: What's that quote about leftists not believing their own warnings about the fash? It's that. Shit IS going down. We are in a Class War. And they are killing us.
Yeah I agree. But most people still need to work, and don't have the ability to truly take COVID seriously.
I know. But covid doesn't care. :sadness-abysmal:
That all sounds about right, yeah.
:agony-limitless:
:yea:
I was just wondering that... I guess we are going to have a higher baseline disability and mortality rate as a species for the near future?
Yes, until better vaccines are developed/approved.
Excess deaths rates are anywhere from 10% to 30% above pre-pandemic times depending on the country, are a lot higher than official covid cases, yet rise and fall throughout the year along with covid cases.
Lol this is the only thing I have hope for anymore :doomer: . Would love to have vaccines that actually prevent transmission, and even then, that seems like it has a lot of hurdles to overcome and breakthroughs to be made.
They got a new vaccine to give mucosal immunity in hamsters, it's not hopeless. But the world clearly doesn't have the will to try and eliminate the damn virus.
A replacement for measles.