Roland Emmerich in talks to direct

After a bit of a hiatus, the writers are back to teasing the next season.

First, from Japan, comes news of “A previously unknown virus that can infect humans” they’ve named “Yezo.” It’s transmitted by tick bites. It’s “a new type of orthonairovirus, a class of nairovirus, that includes pathogens such as the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus.”

And then there’s the cheery news that by melting permafrost, climate change “could release radioactive waste and awaken sleeping viruses.” (That from a study by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.)

Because Arctic microbes have evolved to survive subzero temperatures with minimal access to nutrients or water, many are capable of coming back to life even after thousands of years in a deep freeze.

J&J gets into the booster game

The company requested an emergency use authorization for booster shots of its Covid-19 vaccine for people 18 and older.

Arthritis vaccine breakthrough (maybe)

Rheumatoid arthritis may not be curable, but a vaccine could be on the way.

Medical researchers at the University of Toledo (in Ohio, not Spain) thought a protein called “14-3-3 zeta” might be the trigger. But it turned out to be the opposite; removing it caused severe early onset.

Well then. So they switched gears and “developed a protein-based vaccine using purified 14-3-3 zeta protein grown in a bacterial cell.” Bingo.

They found the vaccine promoted a strong and immediate — but long-lasting — response from the body’s innate immune system, providing protection against the disease.

“Much to our happy surprise, the rheumatoid arthritis totally disappeared in animals that received a vaccine. Sometimes there is no better way than serendipity.”

Saving you a click

The question, posed by the University of Michigan: “When blood pressure needs more control, what’s better: An additional drug or more of the same?”

The answer in most cases: “[P]atients have a better chance of sticking to their medication regimen if their doctor maximizes the dosage of one of the drugs they’re already taking.”

Adding a new medication “has a very slim advantage over increasing the dose of an existing medication,” but the risks of interactions and side effects more than balances that out.

AZ pushes non-vaccine

Vaccines give long-term protection from Covid. Antivirals can help once you’ve been exposed. In between — well, that’s where AstraZeneca hopes it’s new drug, AZD7442, will fit. It’s just asked for emergency use authorization from the FDA.

AZD7442 can prevent Covid for a shorter time than vaccines (although tests may show it lasts longer), and the company hopes it can grab a piece of the market that it lost when its Covid vaccine didn’t pass muster.

The antibody therapy called AZD7442 could protect people who do not have a strong enough immune response to COVID-19 vaccines or to supplement a vaccination course for those, such as military personnel, who need to booster their protection further, AstraZeneca has said.

So if you’re planning a trip to, say, Florida, this could be an extra boost … just in case.

Speaking of Covid prevention…

The latest study finds that the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine “dropped to 47% from 88% six months after the second dose.” However…

The analysis showed that the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing hospitalization and death remained high at 90% for at least six months, even against the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.

Cannabinoids cornucopia

We pretty much know that cannabis has some therapeutic effects, but details have been scarce — research has been pretty much prohibited … until recently. Now Aussie pharmacology researchers are starting to fill in the blanks.

While THC and CBD get all the attention, they isolated some of the other cannabinoids in marijuana — and they found three that reduced seizures in mice.

One of these cannabinoids, cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), is the “mother of all cannabinoids”, as it is the precursor molecule to the creation of better-known cannabinoids, like cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

So it’s possible that marijuana is chock full of useful chemicals, and it’s only THC that gives lawmakers headaches.

“The cannabinoid acids are abundant in cannabis but have received much less scientific attention. We are just beginning to understand their therapeutic potential.”

Captain Obvious hangs out with Scrooge McDuck

“Higher levels of education and higher income mean better health for older adults.”

Say it ain’t so

Could … could the Chinese have lied about when Covid-19 first appeared? Or maybe it was just a happy coincidence that…

Chinese labs in Wuhan purchased an increased quantity of coronavirus testing equipment several months before the first virus case was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2019.

(As much fun as it is to point the finger, it is also possible the lab was simply doing more virology research — research that eventually led to the SARS-CoV-2 virus escaping in December after all. But that isn’t nearly as interesting.)

Back, I say! Step back!

Tracking the spread of a cough, a group of Canadian and U.S. researchers found that without masks “more than 70 percent of airborne particles pass the two metres threshold within […] 30 seconds. By contrast, less than 1 percent of particles cross the two-metre mark if masks are worn.”

The Long Read: Worth Sharing With Patients edition

“Why prescription drugs can work differently for different people” by the head of UConn’s Department of Pharmacy Practice.