US man becomes first to get coronavirus twice - with the second time being more severe

US scientists have reported the country’s first case of Covid-19 reinfection, heightening concerns that exposure to the virus may not guarantee total immunity.

A study published by The Lancet showed that a 25-year-old man from Nevada was infected with two distinct variants of Sars-CoV-2 within a 48-day span.

The patient’s second infection was more severe, the researchers at the University of Nevada said, resulting in hospitalisation with oxygen support.

At least four other reinfection cases have been confirmed globally – in Belgium, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Ecuador – though scientists have suggested the true figure is likely to be much higher.

Professor Mark Pandori, lead author of the US study, warned there are “still many unknowns” about the virus and the immune system’s response.

“But our findings signal that a previous Sars-CoV-2 infection may not necessarily protect against future infection,” he added.

The study comes just hours after Donald Trump claimed that he was immune and could no longer catch the virus following his recovery from Covid-19, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans.

The Nevada patient was first infected with the virus in April but did not display any serious disease outcomes, the researchers said.

“But our findings signal that a previous Sars-CoV-2 infection may not necessarily protect against future infection,” he added.

The study comes just hours after Donald Trump claimed that he was immune and could no longer catch the virus following his recovery from Covid-19, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans.

The Nevada patient was first infected with the virus in April but did not display any serious disease outcomes, the researchers said.

In June, he experienced severe Covid-19 symptoms, including fever, cough and nausea, and was later hospitalised before tests confirmed a second positive diagnosis.

Genome sequencing of the patient’s virus samples displayed significant genetic differences, implying he had been infected by two distinct versions of Sars-CoV-2.

The US case is the second confirmed example, after the Ecuador study, where reinfection has resulted in a more serious disease outcome.

The patients from Belgium, the Netherlands and Hong Kong did not display worse symptoms after being infected for a second time.

“We need more research to understand how long immunity may last for people exposed to Sars-CoV-2 and why some of these second infections, while rare, are presenting as more severe,” Prof Pandori said.

The authors of the study suggest the Nevada patient may have encountered a very high dose of the virus or a more virulent strain for the second infection, generating a heightened immune reaction.

“So far, we’ve only seen a handful of reinfection cases, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more, especially as many cases of Covid-19 are asymptomatic,” Prof Pandori added.

Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said that reinfection was to be expected in some people as a result of waning immunity levels.

“Given the fact that to date over 37 million people have had the infection we would have expected to have heard of many more incidents,” he added.

But he warned that the findings were “very concerning both from the point of view of the very short time between the two infections and the fact that the second illness was more severe than the first”.

“Until this and one other recent report from Ecuador I, for one, assumed that any second infection was likely after only a few months and then most likely to be less severe, at least in otherwise immune-competent individuals.

“Nevertheless, repeat infections do occur with different strains and I suspect many more will be found over coming months as immunity declines in individuals after infection.” These developments could hold significant implications for the effectiveness of any future vaccines, though experts say there would need to be many more cases of reinfection for these fears to be justified. “It is too early to say for certain what the implications of these findings are for any immunisation programme,” said Prof Hunter. “But these findings reinforce the point that we still do not know enough about the immune response to this infection.” Many remain optimistic that a vaccine will be able to provide some form of immunity against the virus, though it remains unclear how long this would last for. Brendan Wren, a professor of microbial pathogenesis at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told The Independent: “The fact that there are so many cases and so few reinfections would suggest there’s an appropriate immune response out there which we can capture with a vaccine. That should give us hope.” Akiko Iwasaki, a professor of immunobiology and molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale University, said the emergence of reinfection cases presented an opportunity for the scientific community to “understand better” how the body’s immune system works in response to the virus. “This information is key to understanding which vaccines are capable of crossing that threshold to confer individual and herd immunity,” she said. Source: Independent

UN Human Cost of Disasters report blames climate crisis for catastrophic 2000-2019 period:- 7,348

Twice as many disasters worldwide as climate crisis worsens

UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction accuses governments of not doing enough to prevent climate hazards and calls for better preparation for looming disasters.

It seems climate change is largely to blame for a near doubling of natural disasters in the past 20 years.

This picture taken and released by the Vietnam News Agency on October 8, 2020

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said on Monday that a total of 7,348 major disaster events had occurred between 2000 and 2019, claiming 1.23 million lives, affecting 4.2 billion people and costing the global economy some $2.97 trillion.

The figure far outstrips the 4,212 major natural disasters recorded between 1980 and 1999, the UN office said in a new report entitled "The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019."

The sharp increase was mostly attributable to a rise in climate-related disasters, including extreme weather events like floods, drought and storms, the report said.

Extreme heat is proving especially deadly.

"We are wilfully destructive," UNDRR chief Mami Mizutori told reporters in a virtual briefing. 

"That is the only conclusion one can come to when reviewing disaster events over the last 20 years."

Scotland could ban single-use plastic next year

PLASTIC straws and food containers could be banned in Scotland in a bid to rid the country of millions of pieces of damaging waste.

The Scottish Government has called for the public to have their say on whether to ban or curtail the sale of single-use plastic items which are damaging to the environment.

Items at risk of restrictions include plastic plates, straws, cutlery, balloon sticks, polystyrene food and drink containers. An estimated 300 million plastic straws, 276 million pieces of plastic cutlery, 50 million plastic plates and 66 million polystyrene food containers are used annually in Scotland.

Single-use plastic could be banned in Scotland from next year

Products made from oxo-degradable plastics, that break down to micro-plastic pollution and negatively affect the recycling of conventional plastic, could also be banned.

Any complete ban or restrictions "including on the supply or manufacture of single-use plastics" could come into effect as soon as next year, the Scottish Government has suggested.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: "There is no longer any doubt that plastic waste is having a hugely damaging impact on our oceans, rivers and land ecosystems.

"We must act now to reduce our reliance on single-use plastic and drive forward a move towards more sustainable, environmentally-friendly alternatives.

"Failure to do so is a dereliction of our duty to our children, who will inherit a natural world polluted by the plastics we have thrown away for the sake of convenience."

She added: "This government is committed to tackling this problem. We were the first country in the UK to ban plastic-stemmed cotton buds and plans are well under way for a deposit return scheme in Scotland.

"The proposals published today will take us further – keeping pace with the environmental standards of our European partners and reaffirming our position as a world-leader in the circular economy."

Single-use plastics are the ones most commonly found washed up on European beaches and were identified in the EU Single Plastics Directive as contributing the majority share of litter found in the marine environment.

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: "Plastic is by far the most commonly used material in today’s single-use culture.

"There are clear benefits in use, of flexibility and durability, but plastic also causes significant damage when it leaks into our natural environment, including our rivers, lochs and seas.

"The consultation offers an opportunity to protect wildlife and prevent the heartbreaking scenes we see all too often in TV documentaries like Blue Planet 2.

"We hope people will also take this opportunity to adopt more sustainable solutions, such as reusable alternatives, to these single-use items."

Source: The Herald