New on the bivalent BA.5 vaccine booster immune response in people
No better neutralizing antibody response to BA.5 than the original vaccine (WT)
biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Sadly, I've found almost ALL of these biases in the ID/IPC/PH groups we've been relying on to inform &/or lead our pandemic response.

OK, so it seems that the case for vaccinating u5s is due be reviewed shortly...many are of the view that only 'vulnerable' need this...
At the same time, the offer to vaccinate 5-11s is now gone for kids turning 5 since September, so they face a 7 year wait whilst being exposed

PICU day 3 update - weaned from BIPAP 👏🏻👏🏻 and her first non-Popsicle food in a week brought to you by my amazing ECR colleagues who (very) generously sent us some food delivery $. Super grateful for all of you during this terrible time ❤️

At the time of writing it seems very likely that Rishi Sunak will become prime minister today. Some thoughts on what we might expect from him seem appropriate. A thread…..

6/ Here's a good summary of the biases most of us are prey to with respect to COVID:

essaysyoudidntwanttoread.home.blog/2022/10/09/why…

Another reminder, some of you have short memories....I will not ever forget that Sunak leaned into anti trans policies when he wanted to be elected the first time

New update from Yunlong Richard Cao: confirms extreme immune evasion by Omicron BQ.1.1 and XBB: near zero neutralizing antibody immunity 7.5 months after 3xSinovac vaccination+BA.1 breakthrough infection. Higher neutralizing titers expected after mRNA vaccination & bivalent booster.

Tracking the 2022 #EbolaOutbreakUG with #opendata in real-time.
I activated a new surveillance monitoring by enriching the ECDC with data from bulletins shared by Ministry of Health- Uganda

👉 GitHub repository that I will update and enrich with new data: github.com/fbranda/ebola

In the absence of mandates for mask protections, I find it difficult to blame the average individual for not wearing one. OTOH I find it very easy to put the blame where it belongs: on public health institutions that are messaging that individuals are safe without them.

Sunak will do full-on neoliberalism. There will be what he will call collateral damage and which I will call devastated families, businesses and communities collapsing under the burden of debt payments he’ll be piling on them, just because he can.

Vaccines and pharmaceutical interventions are failure prone emergency parachutes- not a plane. Infection prevention- respirators, HEPA, GUV, are the plane. If the plane fails, you can try that dodgy parachute, it's loads better than relying on your body's natural flying ability.

On the child's first day back at school, the pupil at the desk next to them said 'sorry, I know you're trying not to catch it, but I've got covid, and they made me come to school.'

A short update on how waning immunity and immune evasion by convergent mutants BQ.1.1 and XBB stack together. Data suggest that most serum obtained ~7.5 months after BA.1 breakthrough infection would hardly neutralize BQ.1.1 and XBB. (NT50 of 20 is the lower limit of our assay)