Month: September 2021

SAN FRANCISCO -- The R1 variant is the new strain of COVID-19 researchers are keeping a close eye on. The CDC identified "multiple spike protein mutations" in this variant. "The R.1 variant does carry some mutations that allow it to be less susceptible to the vaccine," said Dr. Joe DeRisi, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF and co-president of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. Derisi's team at Biohub is actively sequencing COVID variants. "The Delta variant has quite a few more additional mutations in the spike protein that allows it to spread faster," DeRisi said when asked how the Delta variant compares with the R.1 variant. The R.1 variant has mutations that were found in the Gamma and Beta variants. "While it does have some of those worrisome mutations it doesn't have any more m...

PENDLETON — Health officials in Umatilla County say they are starting to see COVID-19 cases linked to the Pendleton Round-Up. Umatilla County Public Health Director Joseph Fiumara told county commissioners Monday the county’s case count last week was 550, and Fiumara said he had 151 pending cases from the weekend. So far, there are 44 cases of the illness tied to the Pendleton Round-Up, most from Umatilla County and some from Wallowa County, and his staff will eventually parse out what parts of Round-Up yielded which cases of the virus, he said. The current number of cases associated with Round-Up includes those who got COVID-19 at the event and those who attended while already sick, he said. The Round-Up is a large, annual rodeo that concluded this year on Sept. 25. The rodeo and ...

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The R1 variant is the new strain of COVID-19 researchers are keeping a close eye on. The CDC identified "multiple spike protein mutations" in this variant. "The R.1 variant does carry some mutations that allow it to be less susceptible to the vaccine," said Dr. Joe DeRisi, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF and co-president of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. Dr. Derisi's team at Biohub is actively sequencing COVID variants. RELATED: 'Not the last one:' Health experts weigh in as cases of Mu variant reported across the Bay Area Luz Pena: "How would you compare the Delta variant to the R.1 variant? What's the difference?" Dr. Joe DeRisi: "The Delta variant has quite a few more additional mutations in the spike protein that allows it to spread faster." The R.1 ...

A child died after visiting a Texas splash pad and becoming infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba, city officials revealed Monday.  Arlington officials said the city and Tarrant County Public Health were notified on Sept. 5 that a child had been hospitalized with primary amebic meningoencephalitis -- a rare and often fatal infection caused by the naegleria fowleri ameba.  Naegleria fowleri (cdc.gov) The boy died on Sept. 11. His identity was not released.  After learning of the child's illness, health officials began investigating and closed all of Arlington's public splash pads.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the presence of the amoeba in water samples from the Don Misenhimer Park splash pad on Friday.  NYC MAYOR DE BLASIO GIVES...