Psst, wanna buy some PPE?

Do you sell or use PPE? You might be able to get a good wholesale deal right now — some suppliers are “stuck with a glut” of the stuff, some of which will never be used or could expire. Start with your current supplier and you might find some great deals to be had … before the next rush.

A rare death in Georgia

The CDC has confirmed that a person in Georgia has died of melioidosis — the second death and fourth case to show up recently in the U.S. The cases (in Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, and Texas) are related, but the agency hasn’t yet figured out how.

The CDC shared it believes what most likely caused the cases was an imported product such as a food, drink, medicine, personal care, or cleaning item.

Bumpy start for schools

School has just started in Georgia, and already school districts are reporting hundreds of Covid infections.

More than 166 in Gwinnett County, 213 in DeKalb, 91 cases among students and staff in Fulton (and that’s before school even started), 80 in Newton … you get the picture.

Parents … what can we say? They’re protesting school mask mandates.

On a related note, there’s today’s Long Read: “‘This Is Really Scary’: Kids Struggle With Long Covid“:

Lingering physical, mental and neurological symptoms are affecting children as well as adults, including many who had mild reactions to the initial coronavirus infection.

When the algae’s in bloom

Here’s a good reason to wear a mask if you live on the coast: toxic algae blooms. Apparently the “toxic” part is airborne, but your standard Covid mask can filter out 90 percent or more of the bad stuff. So next time you hear about red tides, blue-green algae (or, really, any other color when it’s talking about water), think about masking up.

J&J beats Delta

The Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine is effective against the Delta variant of Covid-19, a new, large study out of South Africa shows. It’s “71% effective against hospitalization and as much as 96% effective against death.”

Shine a light on it

Not something you would expect, but that’s why it’s news: Shining light on burns can help them heal faster.

It’s photobiomodulation (rhymes with “Transylvania Station”) and it’s been used for a while to treat various conditions, usually inflammation, by using lasers, broad-spectrum lights, or LEDs.

Now biologists at the University of Buffalo have found that it can work on third-degree burns, helping them heal faster.

It’s all about one protein: TGF‐beta 1, which can trigger cell growth and division, and is itself triggered by light. (Specifically, a near-infrared, continuous-wave 810 nm laser, turned on an off to keep skin temperature below 45° C — since you asked.)

The treatment triggered TGF‐beta 1, which stimulated various cell types involved in healing, including fibroblasts (the main connective tissue cells of the body that play an important role in tissue repair) and macrophages (immune cells that lower inflammation, clean cell debris and fight infection).

Tapeworm treatment vs. Covid

The latest drug that might help treat Covid-19 is (drumroll, please) … a tapeworm treatment. Yep, chemists from the Worm Institute in California created a salicylanilide-based compound they say acts as an antiviral and an anti-inflammatory. Unlike the version used to treat tapeworms, though, their creation (dubbed “No. 11”) is able to “pass beyond the gut and be absorbed into the bloodstream—and without the worrisome toxicity.”

It works, they say, by preventing the virus from depositing its genetic material into other cells:

“It blocks the viral material from getting out of the endosome, and it just gets degraded. This process does not allow new viral particles to be made as readily.”

A gel for skin cancer

Sure, surgery works for basal cell carcinoma — works very well, in fact. But there’s always a risk of infection, plus there’s scarring, and it’s worse for the people who get a bunch of the carcinomas.

But now there’s another option, courtesy of dermatologists at Stanford: An HDACi called remetinostat that, when used as a gel, seems to work pretty well against carcinomas.

Of 33 tumors analyzed, over two-thirds showed at least some response to the gel with approximately half of the tumors completely disappearing. On average, the measured diameter of the tumors decreased by 62% and none of the patients reported any significant adverse side effects from the treatment.

You know the manta, of course: Further studies are needed. Till then, just avoid the sun.

Who’ll get it bad?

Some people get seriously ill with Covid-19, others are completely asymptomatic. Is there any way to predict who will be who?

Biochemists at the Medical University of South Carolina have found a marker: the lipid sphingosine.

If you’ve got higher levels of sphingosine, you’re more likely to be asymptomatic. It’s really that simple:

Overall, there is a 99% probability of correctly determining which patients, who have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, will develop disease symptoms versus remain asymptomatic, using blood levels of sphingosine.

Testing for lipids isn’t cheap or easy, though. Good news: It is easy to test for a protein called acid ceramidase (AC), which is involved in sphingosine production. Those same researchers confirmed that yes, higher AC levels meant higher sphingosine levels.

I’ll only cut back when I’m told to

Old people are willing to cut down on the number of meds they take — so found a study by those shifty Danes — but they’d rather hear the idea from their physicians. Only about a third said they wanted to try stopping one of their meds, but when the doctor suggested it, 87 percent were on board.