The virus swept through a nursery school and an adjacent elementary school in the Milan suburb of Bollate with amazing speed. In a matter of just days, 45 children and 14 staff members had tested positive.
“This demonstrates that the virus has a sort of intelligence. … We can put up all the barriers in the world and imagine that they work, but in the end, it adapts and penetrates them,” lamented Bollate Mayor Francesco Vassallo.
Bollate was the first city in Lombardy, the northern region that has been the epicenter in each of Italy’s three surges, to be sealed off from neighbors because of virus variants that the World Health Organization says are powering another uptick in infections across Europe. The variants also include versions first identified in South Africa and Brazil.
Europe recorded 1 million new COVID-19 cases last week, an increase of 9% from the previous week and a reversal that ended a six-week decline in new infections, WHO said Thursday.
The spread of the variants is driving the increase, but not only,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, citing “also the opening of society, when it is not done in a safe and a controlled manner.”
The variant first found in the U.K. is spreading significantly in 27 European countries monitored by WHO and is dominant in at least 10 countries: Britain, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain and Portugal.
It is up to 50% more transmissible than the virus that surged last spring and again in the fall, making it more adept at thwarting measures that were previously effective, WHO experts warned. Scientists have concluded that it is also more deadly.
“That is why health systems are struggling more now,” Kluge said. “It really is at a tipping point. We have to hold the fort and be very vigilant.”
Image Credit: Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse
Post by Amanda Scott, NA CEO. Follow her on twitter @tantriclens
Thanks to Heinz V. Hoenen. Follow him on twitter: @HeinzVHoenen
News
New mRNA therapy targets drug-resistant pneumonia
Bacteria that multiply on surfaces are a major headache in health care when they gain a foothold on, for example, implants or in catheters. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have found [...]
Current Heart Health Guidelines Are Failing To Catch a Deadly Genetic Killer
New research reveals that standard screening misses most people with a common inherited cholesterol disorder. A Mayo Clinic study reports that current genetic screening guidelines overlook most people who have familial hypercholesterolemia, an inherited disorder that [...]
Scientists Identify the Evolutionary “Purpose” of Consciousness
Summary: Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum explore why consciousness evolved and why different species developed it in distinct ways. By comparing humans with birds, they show that complex awareness may arise through different neural architectures yet [...]
Novel mRNA therapy curbs antibiotic-resistant infections in preclinical lung models
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and collaborators have reported early success with a novel mRNA-based therapy designed to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The findings, published in Nature Biotechnology, show that in [...]
New skin-permeable polymer delivers insulin without needles
A breakthrough zwitterionic polymer slips through the skin’s toughest barriers, carrying insulin deep into tissue and normalizing blood sugar, offering patients a painless alternative to daily injections. A recent study published in the journal Nature examines [...]
Multifunctional Nanogels: A Breakthrough in Antibacterial Strategies
Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern - from human health to crop survival. A new study successfully uses nanogels to target and almost entirely inhibit the bacteria P. Aeruginosa. Recently published in Angewandte Chemie, the study [...]
Nanoflowers rejuvenate old and damaged human cells by replacing their mitochondria
Biomedical researchers at Texas A&M University may have discovered a way to stop or even reverse the decline of cellular energy production—a finding that could have revolutionary effects across medicine. Dr. Akhilesh K. Gaharwar [...]
The Stunning New Push to Protect the Invisible 99% of Life
Scientists worldwide have joined forces to build the first-ever roadmap for conserving Earth’s vast invisible majority—microbes. Their new IUCN Specialist Group reframes conservation by elevating microbial life to the same urgency as plants and [...]
Scientists Find a Way to Help the Brain Clear Alzheimer’s Plaques Naturally
Scientists have discovered that the brain may have a built-in way to fight Alzheimer’s. By activating a protein called Sox9, researchers were able to switch on star-shaped brain cells known as astrocytes and turn them into [...]
Vision can be rebooted in adults with amblyopia, study suggests
Temporarily anesthetizing the retina briefly reverts the activity of the visual system to that observed in early development and enables growth of responses to the amblyopic eye, new research shows. In the common vision [...]
Ultrasound-activated Nanoparticles Kill Liver Cancer and Activate Immune System
A new ultrasound-guided nanotherapy wipes out liver tumors while training the immune system to keep them from coming back. The study, published in Nano Today, introduces a biodegradable nanoparticle system that combines sonodynamic therapy and cell [...]
Magnetic nanoparticles that successfully navigate complex blood vessels may be ready for clinical trials
Every year, 12 million people worldwide suffer a stroke; many die or are permanently impaired. Currently, drugs are administered to dissolve the thrombus that blocks the blood vessel. These drugs spread throughout the entire [...]
Reviving Exhausted T Cells Sparks Powerful Cancer Tumor Elimination
Scientists have discovered how tumors secretly drain the energy from T cells—the immune system’s main cancer fighters—and how blocking that process can bring them back to life. The team found that cancer cells use [...]
Very low LDL-cholesterol correlates to fewer heart problems after stroke
Brigham and Women's Hospital's TIMI Study Group reports that in patients with prior ischemic stroke, very low achieved LDL-cholesterol correlated with fewer major adverse cardiovascular events and fewer recurrent strokes, without an apparent increase [...]
“Great Unified Microscope” Reveals Hidden Micro and Nano Worlds Inside Living Cells
University of Tokyo researchers have created a powerful new microscope that captures both forward- and back-scattered light at once, letting scientists see everything from large cell structures to tiny nanoscale particles in a single shot. Researchers [...]
Breakthrough Alzheimer’s Drug Has a Hidden Problem
Researchers in Japan found that although the Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab successfully removes amyloid plaques from the brain, it does not restore the brain’s waste-clearing system within the first few months of treatment. The study suggests that [...]
