Seeking good info about XBB.1.5 SARS-CoV-2

[Christy (Christy Hemphill)]

It is time once again to sort out fact from hysteria and spin in the media when it comes to COVID reporting.

What is the real deal with the newest variant, XBB.1.5 SARS-CoV-2?

Should we be approaching anything differently? What conventional advice no longer applies?

Help us out, medical people.

[jpm (Phil McCurdy)]

I can’t add much that was in the article. It appears cellular immunity is what keeps you from severe disease, and while the vaccine or prior infection may not provide a big boost in neutralizing antibodies that are effective at prevention, they should help prevent against death and hospitalization. As this variant appears yet more contagious, I think taking the same precautions is justified.
It seems like the amount of anti-vax and ant-science posts on facebook have gone up recently on my feed. So much deceptive wording and misinformation is out there. I see articles that say stuff like,”vaccinated people are getting more infections than non-vaccinated” which is going to be the case of course, when the majority of people have been vaccinated. Sort of like saying “sober people get in more auto accidents than drunks” which I am sure is true.

[Mervin_Bitikofer]

This is only anecdotal of course, and so no substitute for real data … but a nurse at church this last Sunday said that while she’s seeing both vaxxed and non-vaxxed that come down with ____ (latest flue bug or COVID or whatever…) she’s observed that it’s the non-vaxxed (or no flu-shot) folks that tend to look more like “death on a cracker” (her phrase -not mine.) The vaxxed ones recover quickly.

She also observed that all the anti-vax lies that people have been spoon-fed by now has bled over into flu shot attitudes too - as in folks who used to have no problems with other regular shots, are more and more opting out of those too.

[jpm (Phil McCurdy)]

That seems to be the experience here too. We have had several at church with bad cases of flu around Christmas. I am tempted to say “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes” but alas, our bible study group is studying James 3 this week, and I see where control of my tongue (and my heart) is something I need help with.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Not me, much of the time. At least not my internal voice, and sometimes my filter gets porous.

[Christy (Christy Hemphill)]

I read this morning about a probable change in vaccine guidance, that going forward it won’t matter so much whether you got the orginal ones and what brand, it will be more like flu shots.

The FDA considers a major shift in the nation's COVID vaccine strategy

[T_aquaticus]

XBB.1.5 seems to bind to ACE2 receptors better than it’s XBB ancestors. This would make it more infectious than its XBB ancestors.

Variant-watchers noticed XBB.1.5 in late 2022, thanks to a rarely seen amino-acid change, called F486P, in the spike protein. Experiments from Cao’s lab suggest that the mutation improves the variant’s ability to attach to the human ACE2 receptor, which SARS-CoV-2 uses to invade cells1. Importantly, the mutation doesn’t seem to erode XBB’s prowess at eluding antibodies. The results were posted to the bioRxiv preprint server on 5 January and have not yet been peer reviewed. “XBB really sucks at ACE2 binding,” says Cao, and the F486P change present in XBB.1.5 helps to surmount that shortcoming.
Coronavirus variant XBB.1.5 rises in the United States — is it a global threat?

From what I am seeing, XBB.1.5 doesn’t seem to be highly virulent, but given the high transmissibility it is being watched. From the same nature article:

But as global immunity to the subvariant builds, XBB.1.5 won’t stand still, he says. “We are going to see a lot of new mutations that we have never seen before.”

I’m not seeing anyone calling for a change in public health policies. I’m also not hearing of big surges in our local hospitals like we did in previous surges. As of right now it is looking like it has for the last 2 or 3 months.

[Christy (Christy Hemphill)]

@T_aquaticus

I’m not seeing anyone calling for a change in public health policies.

Yes, I was referencing a change in vaccine guidance. Up until now, if you were unvaccinated, you were supposed to get the spaced two dose original COVID vaccine, then the bivalent booster after the recommended amount of time. They are saying they might move to where it doesn’t really matter what vaccine series you’ve had or haven’t had, you would just get a seasonal shot.

[SkovandOfMitaze (Mi)]

Some good news for me is that the CEO and COO of the company I work with are very pro vaccine despite being pretty far right winged in everything else and since I’m in the Bible Belt of America in a very red state I ended up being like 13 out of 200 employees to get fully vaccinated and we were told that since we are fully vaccinated and have had the boosters if we get Covid we can get up to 3 weeks of paid leave that does not come out of our personal or sick time. But those that are not vaccinated the time comes out of their personal time or sick time. For my plant that I’m in they also said that during this time if we want to we can work at the single person stations to help eliminate contact with others. So even though it’s one of the more physical jobs, it’s relaxing to me because I basically work all day and the closest person is about 100 feet away. Additionally those of us vaccinated can do 12 hours of overtime a week to sanitize the work area and we have first pick for OT work if we want it. So for me it’s all great news.

[Kendel]

Your COO and CEO recognize that a healthy work force is good for business; ths work gets done, there is less strain on staffing; paying people regular wages rather thanOT for covering for sick coworkers; less strain on insurance, if you have it, so less likly to increase the company’s premium, etc…
It’s not political; it’s economic,