Omicron omicron omicron

So. Many. Headlines. “How worried should we be?” “What scientists know of new Covid variant” “What We Know So Far About Omicron” “What scientists know about the new variant” etc., etc., etc.

The water-cooler version — at the moment*:

Although talking heads on news shows are making assumptions, there just isn’t enough information for smart people to draw any solid conclusions yet. UGA infectious disease expert John Drake, though, gives a good overview in Forbes.

Omicron has more differences than other variants (twice as many as Delta, in fact), notably in the spike protein. That’s what’s got folks worried.

Still, the word to keep repeating: Could. Could. Could.

• Those differences could let it evade the immune system.
• It could be a little more transmissible.
• It could increase the risk of reinfection.
• It could be more deadly — but pretty much only for the unvaccinated.

The good news: Early info says that vaccinated people are mostly protected and only get mild cases. Vaccine makers are confident they can tweak their vaccines to protect against Omicron.

There’s even some good news for the unvaccinated.

The bottom line comes from this Business Insider headline: “The new coronavirus variant, Omicron, raises red flags among scientists — but there are more mysteries than answers about its public threat.”

* GPhA Buzz is sold by weight, not by volume. Some settling of contents may occur.

Beating out “ENOUGH”

Merriam-Webster has chosen “vaccine” as its 2021 Word of the Year.

What better way to spend a weekend than preparing for the future?

Pharmacists! Pharmacy techs! With more booster shots coming, you need to be the best immunizer ever — just like you pinky-promised in your third-grade clubhouse.

Good news: GPhA is offering the hot courses you need in early December, giving you plenty of time to plan.

For TECHNICIANS there’s GPhA’s Immunization Delivery Training for Pharmacy Technicians — a 6.0 hour CE program consisting of both home-study and live training. It’s on Saturday, December 4, from 9:00 am to noon at the GPhA World Headquarters classroom in Sandy Springs. (Of course it’s PTCB-recognized!) Click here for the details and to register now.

For PHARMACISTS we’ve got APhA’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery: A Certificate Program for Pharmacists on Sunday December 5, 8:00am to 5:00pm. It’s part of the 20-hour certificate program (including self-study). That’s also in the GPhA classroom. Get the details and register today.

Remember: Because these are in-person programs, space is limited!

Covid pills: And then there was one

Merck and Pfizer both have antiviral pills to treat Covid-19 in the works. But now a new blow to Merck’s molnupiravir has Pfizer ready to take that market and run with it.

In short, after further testing, it seems that molnupiravir doesn’t cut the risk of hospitalization and death by 48% (for people with a milder version of the disease). Instead, it only cuts that risk by a measly 30 percent.

So instead of betting your life on a coin flip, now you’re betting it on a game of three-card monty.

Pfizer’s ritonavir (aka Paxlovid), on the other hand, showed a 89% efficacy in preventing hospitalization and death … and it’s already got a $5.3 billion deal with the feds.

Lipid test, no blood needed

Monitoring cholesterol is a smart idea, but the test involves getting blood drawn while staring at a wall full of ancient informational posters* and making small talk with an exhausted phlebotomist.

You wouldn’t be reading this if there wasn’t a potential alternative.

Biomedical engineers in China have created a cholesterol-monitoring system that does its work through the skin. As the lead researcher put it, “Just put your hand on, and the system will tell you the cholesterol data.”

Upside: Because “skin cholesterol fluctuates less in a short period of time,” using this device could give more accurate readings.

Down(ish) sides: It’s too big for home use, and it uses reagents that need to be refilled … for now

* “Don’t let the consumption get the best of you! Visit the Arizona territory!”

Today’s “game-changer”

The healthcare provisions of the $1.7 trillion “Build Back Better,” legislative package, at least for Georgia’s poor, and at least according to U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux writing in Georgia Health News.

Brain tumor breakthrough?

Glioblastomas are notoriously hard to treat, but good news (potentially — it’s always potentially): neuro-oncologists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found a treatment they say works. Better yet, it’s not a new drug; it’s a combo of existing medicines: dabrafenib and trametinib.

The drug combination, which blocked an overactive cell-growth signaling pathway, shrank tumors by 50% or more in one-third of 45 patients with hard-to-treat high-grade gliomas, including glioblastomas, the most aggressive brain tumor.

HUGE caveat, though: It only worked on patients with a particular mutation in their tumors (“v600E in the BRAF gene”).

Still, finding a treatment that has such remarkable results even for some glioblastomas is a major breakthrough.

Why use poop when we have CRISPR?

There are good reasons to want to change someone’s gut biome — those bacteria, we’re learning, have wide-ranging effects throughout the body, and replacing them can even treat some conditions.

Downside: That treatment typically involved a fecal microbial transplant, and let’s just say that doesn’t involve a pill.

But what if, mused UC San Francisco biologists, rather than replace the gut bacteria we simply genetically engineered them to become different bacteria. With CRISPR kits just about on sale at Dollar Tree these days, there’s no reason not to try.

So they did. And they did it in a mammal, too.

In the landmark study, published this month in the journal Cell Reports, the researchers were able to remove chunks of genes from the Escherichia coli bacteria living in the guts of mice and change the overall makeup of the bacterial communities populating their digestive systems.

Not only could this be used to create beneficial gut bacteria, it could also be used in cases of food poisoning to reprogram the bad bacteria to behave itself.

Helping bees remember

If you’ve been worried about your bees’ memories — and who isn’t? — good news from British, Chinese, and Finnish scientists. They’ve discovered that bees with more of the Lactobacillus apis bacteria in their guts have better memories.

What’s next? Need I ask? “Further research will be required to determine if and which bacteria species might have the same effect in humans.”