New Variant 'IHU' Identified In France, May Have 46 Mutations

Exactly!

 

Ireland is often regarded as a shithole, and so are parts of Scotland. I hear France can be shitholey, and Romania, and certainly Russia.

Shitholery has NOTHING to do with the particular shade of the inabitants skin. Such a weird perspective, and frankly I find it bloody offensive - that anything thinks in those terms.

 

He/she is addressing the SHITHOLERY - which is BEHAVIOUR. It has nothing at all to do with race. That YOU think it's about race, says something about you that it appears you lack the insight to recognise.

Sorry, but you're walking on the fightin' side of me here.

 

Good .. hold their feet to the fire.

It's urgently ****ing needed!

 

Color of one's skin always on your mind, good grief.

 

Yes, Pollycy, IHU has been in the mainstream media.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...0-2-ihu-identified-france-what-it/9101249002/
https://www.deseret.com/coronavirus/2022/1/5/22868378/ihu-variant-symptoms-new-covid-19-what-we-know
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-ihu-variant-interest-not-threat-who/

No, Omicron doesn't have only 37 mutations, but rather, 50. It has more mutations than IHU. It's the other way around. And the scariest part is that Omicron got 36 of these mutations, in its spike protein. Other mutations are often less consequential if they are not in the spike protein.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12/16/omicron-variant-mutations-covid/

The reason IHU is not being spoken of as much, is that it isn't spreading like wildfire. Look at this. While both variants, Omicron and IHU, entered France pretty much at the same time in the same early December week, IHU never went above... 12 documented cases. Never budged. Omicron on the other hand is sprouting 335,000 new French cases PER DAY!!! What do you think is most concerning, 12 cases in a month, or 355,000 per day and counting???

Having mutations doesn't mean a variant will automatically acquire an advantage. There's been literally several hundred thousand mutations. Most fizzle.

No, Pollycy, there is no need to go ballistic on conspiracy theories about the "mainstream media." If you claim that you praise my opinion (and I thank you for that), then do know that one of the most important points of my posting here, is to combat the excessive mixing of politics into a virological, biological, epidemiological, public health fact of life: the Covid-19 pandemic.

Of course Omicron has attracted much more attention: it's because it is now suspected that its reproduction number makes it THE most infectious virus ever known to humankind, as there is now the idea that the speed with which this variant spread through South Africa makes of it a virus that is more infectious than the, up to then, undisputed number one, measles.

IHU is not showing the same stamina, which is why it isn't attracting as much attention. We found a handful of cases. Several variants that initially looked scary, did not thrive, a good example being Lambda.

If IHU does become a threat, then we'll talk more about it.

IHU is not an official scientific denomination. It just stands for the institute in France where it was spotted. The WHO has not given it a Variant of Concern denomination because, well, infecting 12 people and not going anywhere else (no other country has found it) in a month doesn't inspire enough concern. The official denomination is B.1.640.2.

Relax, Pollycy. I'm not worried about IHU.

Can some other variant in the future combine the HUGE infectiousness of Omicron with the lethality of Delta? Yes. Let's hope it doesn't happen. But IHU doesn't appear to be that doomsday variant at all.

So, your take actually puzzles me. What did you want the mainstream media to do? Make a problem out of a non-problem? That would be wrong, no? So, the relative silence (which is not absolute like I just showed to you in the beginning of this post) about a variant that so far has managed to infect 12 people in one country in one month, is actually appropriate, for a change.

Please, let's try to keep politics out of Covid-19. This is not a "mainstream media" issue. It's a public health issue (and yes, I know that public health is inherently political, but just up to a certain degree; we don't need to add all sorts of partisan and ideological overtones to it), and the more we consider it as such, the better we'll be able to fight it off, which is something we have been profoundly inept in doing, precisely because we have allowed politics to get so mixed into it.

 

Maybe I am a ****-eyed optimist, but I am hoping that omicron means that covid is learning that dead people don't cough or sneeze and the seriously ill can't travel far and infect new populations for it. Isn't it to the evolutionary advantage of viruses not to be lethal, not to leave its host bedbound and immobile? That is the genius of cold viruses, isn't it?

For a late Christmas gift, Center, you could just reply with a 'YES!, That is precisely what is happening with covid, it is learning to co-exist with its hosts!'
No need to wrap this gift. Just cut and paste the pre-edited reply below, convince us all of your sincerity and certitude!

 

Yeah, it's not because of their race, it's because we're ganking their vaccines so soy sipping Melbourners can have their third shot before they get their first.

 

Yes, this is also possible, and I've mentioned it before.
It seems like having an infection with less lethal Omicron protects against having an infection with more lethal Delta, and I've called it a blessing in disguise.
Yes, it makes evolutionary sense.
But it doesn't mean another variant can't hit us with a more lethal combination even if it is against evolutionary sense. Remember, for a long time, Wuhan to Alpha to Delta worked in the opposite sense of the evolutionary advantage. Viruses often weaken in lethality with time for the reasons you outlined, but not always.
But yes, sure, let's be optimistic. We surely can use a dose of optimism.
But I wouldn't sing Victory prematurely. This pandemic has demonstrated those who repeatedly declared its end, to be wrong. I warned against it wave after wave. Any time the virus seemed to recede, there were those who yelled Victory, until the virus threw us another curveball.
Omicron being milder is encouraging but this is not over yet.

 

Thank you yet again, Dr. Center, for coming to the fore and defusing my apprehensions. I jumped the gun, and I won't try to rationalize having done so. When I came across the news about "IHU", "Pi", or whatever exactly this variant is, I thought (prematurely), "Oh, NO! Another 'Omicron-esque' variation (or worse) hits Europe from Africa, and in a matter of days we'll be off to the races -- again!"

It is a jarring thing, though, to learn that Omicron does have, as you say, a "reproduction number makes it THE most infectious virus ever known to humankind." And, it is alarming to see how the mounting number of COVID cases (of all 'flavors') continues filling hospitals all over the country. But, I'll take your word for it that "IHU" is not a thing to be concerned about at this point, and actually, I already feel relieved -- especially as I must head off to my doctor's office this morning for a blood-draw as part of a periodic checkup, etc.

As a last point, I do indeed agree that nothing about this virus or its variants should be viewed through either a political lens or a 'racial' one -- although, in this country at least, it has been, almost from the very beginning, by both 'sides'... and I won't rehash all that. A Democrat is as likely to contract the disease as a Republican, and, a new variant can develop in South America or Southeast Asia as easily as it can in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Some parts of the world do seem more likely to spawn diseases than others, though, and political/economic considerations aside, I feel that it is a responsibility of we, the 'rich' nations, to go in and 'clean-up' those parts of the lesser-developed world at our expense, in the best interests of the entire human race. None of us wants to live in an already overcrowded 'Skinner-box' where we confront a new disease and its variations every few months.... Again, Dr. Center, thank you very much for your invaluable expertise in sorting the 'sheep' from the 'goats' in all this.

 

Sorry I jumped down your throat mate and when it comes to generating viruses Australia/ Papua has developed some doozies
https://www1.health.gov.au/internet...ontent/cda-pubs-cdi-1998-cdi2206-cdi2206a.htm

Lyssavirus

Hendra Virus

Murray Valley Encephalitis

Ross River Virus

Barmah Forest Virus

apparently there are a group of pigs in the Torres Strait acting like, well guinea pigs to detect for Japanese encephalitis - who knew?
https://www1.health.gov.au/internet...ontent/cda-pubs-cdi-1998-cdi2206-cdi2206a.htm
Of all of the above the one that is most concerning is Hendra - we are just lucky it never became an airborne virus - it is transmitted usually through contact with blood but the fatality rate is over 50% in humans and nearly 75% in horses

 

I liked the gift well enough to hold on to, but I have to say the wrapping paper had torn, and the ribbon looked a bit threadbare. You could have made it look prettier.

 

It's perfectly OK... I flew off the handle about this "IHU" thing, probably because like a lot of other folks, I've gotten pretty fatigued with getting spun-up with news about one dreadful 'virus' thing after another. If Dr. Center says it's no 'biggie', then I'm content, for now.

It's funny how you can come to trust someone like Dr. Center, who I don't know except from contact in this Forum, more than the 'talking head' experts, like Dr. Fauci, Dr. Walensky, and "Tedros" at the WHO.

Down under in Aussie-land, I'd probably be more worried about coconut crabs than anything else! I heard a story today about how one of them bit a golf club head off... and I'm hoping for Australia's sake that they don't carry viruses, too! Link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ub-clean-half-golf-game-Christmas-Island.html

. "Ah-choo!"

 

Well, this is not supposed to be prettier. It's an ugly thing. Having witnessed first hand the devastation this virus inflicts on patients and families, I'm not always in the mood for a lighter, sarcastic, or humoristic approach, sorry.

 

Your "idea" is as much of a pipe dream as the thought just about everyone would step up for the vaccine. What you see happening to businesses that are "places with faces" even if there are no restrictions should tell you "let 'er rip" is an unworkable strategy if people worry about catching covid.

 

the reality is, if countries get attacked every time they release that they have discovered something like this, in the future, countries will be tight-lipped or just not do the testing

 

How exciting--we get to read your take on "the left." You come across like one of the talking heads on tv.

If everyone in the U.S. had been vaccinated, we would have had fewer infections.

The unvaccinated are a pain the the arse, particularly those who take few if any precautions against spreading covid. They're filling up our hospitals and preventing people from getting care for other diseases.

More about "the left."

The unvaccinated are more likely to catch and spread covid regardless of the variant.

If you're not going to get vaccinated, how about you STAY HOME and not expose other people?

 

Presently, in my province Quebec, unvaxinated account for roughly 10% of the adult population, but they account for more than 30% of ICU patients.

 

It's like that (or worse) down here in the States, too!

A lot of us who are Conservatives and right-wingers do support the right of people not to be vaccinated -- BUT -- if they decide to go unvaxxed, then they should stay away from where others congregate, and, if they become infected with COVID, they should true enough to their heart-felt convictions to AVOID CLOGGING UP THE HOSPITALS!

They should just 'tough it out' and treat themselves at home, because nearly all of the unvaxxers believe that COVID is no 'big deal' at worst, and probably just a load of propaganda and nonsense at best. So -- there's no reason to get concerned in any event... right?

 

But vaccinated people spread the virus. That's the point. What difference does it make if a vaccinated person spreads the virus or an unvaccinated person spreads the virus? In fact, the vaccinated spread the virus more than the unvaccinated do. You won't allow an unvaccinated person into an 80,000 seat football stadium so, who spreads the virus more? Joe Schmoe watching the game at home on his TV or the 80,000 fully vaccinated fans all seated together at the football stadium? How about those cruise ships? Who is spreading the virus more, the unvaccinated who weren't allowed on the cruise or the hundreds of thousands of vaccinated allowed on the cruise? Think about it for a minute before answering instead of just quoting lefty dogma pre-programmed into your head.

https://news.yahoo.com/every-u-cruise-passengers-coronavirus-190844990.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

 

Yeah! They are out on Christmas Island - on the mainland we are more worried about sharks in the water hazard lols!
https://www.foxsports.com.au/golf/s...t/news-story/221546492003031f546a6de795a3ce5e

Most of our viruses are mosquito borne but we do have some issues that come with being tropical - Melioidosis is one and the other is a huge level of Rheumatic Heart Disease - mostly among our First Nation people. But again because these are not airborne they pose less of a problem. The levels of RHD are a shame on our country

 

So? If vaccination stops admission to ICU (NEVER pleasant) and prevents death then it is worth it for reducing the stress on the healthcare system

Bottom line has ALWAYS been reducing the stress on the healthcare system - slowing the spread and protecting your loved ones is also great but this is about not crashing a system we rely on to keep us alive

Sadly many are listening to only part of the message

 

We need to follow the cdc suggestions

 

There was no way this was going to not circulate.

 

I thought the bottom line has always been about saving lives and moderating the effects this virus has on human beings.