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Stanford scientists detect new COVID variant in California as U.S. moves to tighten vaccine access (www.sfchronicle.com)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

First identified as a driving force behind a major surge in cases across China last month, the NB.1.8.1 variant has been reported in international travelers screened at airports in Washington, Virginia, New York and California. In California, scientists at the Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory confirmed the state’s first known infection on April 17, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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[+] pelespirit -8 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Stupid question time. Was this what the people in hospitals were experiencing from covid? I remember people talking about amputating and such. This all sounds similar, but I never knew anyone closely that contracted it to this degree.

Signs and symptoms

The majority of the infected experienced only the typical flu symptoms of sore throat, headache, and fever, especially during the first wave.[199] However, during the second wave, the disease was much more serious, often complicated by bacterial pneumonia, which was often the cause of death.[199] This more serious type would cause heliotrope cyanosis to develop, whereby the skin would first develop two mahogany spots over the cheekbones which would then over a few hours color the entire face blue, followed by black coloration first in the extremities and then the limbs and the torso.[199] Death would follow within hours or days due to the lungs being filled with fluids.[199] Other signs and symptoms reported included spontaneous mouth and nosebleeds, miscarriages for pregnant women, a peculiar smell, teeth and hair falling out, delirium, dizziness, insomnia, loss of hearing or smell, and impaired vision.[199] One observer wrote, "One of the most striking of the complications was hemorrhage from mucous membranes, especially from the nose, stomach, and intestine. Bleeding from the ears and petechial hemorrhages in the skin also occurred".[200]

The majority of deaths were from bacterial pneumonia,[201][202][203] a common secondary infection associated with influenza. This pneumonia was itself caused by common upper respiratory-tract bacteria, which were able to get into the lungs via the damaged bronchial tubes.[204] The virus also killed people directly by causing massive hemorrhages and edema in the lungs.[203] Modern analysis has shown the virus to be particularly deadly because in animal trials it triggers an overreaction of the body's immune system (cytokine storm).[79] The strong immune reactions of young adults were postulated to have ravaged the body, whereas the weaker immune reactions of children and middle-aged adults resulted in fewer deaths.[205]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#Signs_and_symptoms

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Your link is about the Spanish Flu, which was the 1918-1920 epidemic. Covid is a different disease altogether.

[–] pelespirit -1 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I know that, but are the symptoms similar? I remember the amputations and the lung issues.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Different symptoms/mechanisms.

Spanish flu killed young healthy adults; the weak and elderly were actually safer. That virus triggered a cytokine storm - an overreaction of the immune system - that slagged the patient's body as collateral damage, like a twisted game of "stop hitting yourself." The stronger your immune system, the harder you'd hit yourself.

SARS-CoV-2 followed the normal pattern, and hit the weak and elderly harder. Admittedly, the original strain was a wildcard, and did take down some healthy 30yos at random while others never showed symptoms. It also tended to provoke micro-clots throughout the body, rather than hemorrhages.

Omicron evolved to target the upper airway rather than the lungs, which is the main reason why COVID is so much less lethal these days. I'm not sure how Spanish flu evolved, but I don't think it was an issue of the tissue it targeted as much as some immune pathway it hijacked.

[–] pelespirit 2 points 2 days ago

Thanks for explaining it, that helped. I think it was the amputations and people dying quickly once they hit a certain stage that made it seem similar. I guess if you're extremities aren't getting flow for whatever reason, you'll have amputations and stuff.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago

despite the apparent symptoms, they are not related:

Spanish Flu was caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus, which is an orthomyxovirus.

COVID-19 was caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which is a coronavirus, a completely different virus family.

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