Scientists May Have Stumbled Onto Source Of Severe Covid

Medical Xpress: Scientists Flag Previously Overlooked Type Of Immune Cell As Suspected Source Of Severe COVID-19
Stanford Medicine investigators have implicated a type of immune cell known as an interstitial macrophage in the critical transition from a merely bothersome COVID-19 case to a potentially deadly one. Interstitial macrophages are situated deep in the lungs, ordinarily protecting that precious organ by, among other things, engorging viruses, bacteria, fungi and dust particles that make their way down our airways. But it's these very cells, the researchers have shown in a study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, that of all known types of cells composing lung tissue are most susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2. (Stanford University, 4/10)

The Independent: Scientist Discover Another Tell-Tale Sign Of Long Covid 
Findings from the largest UK study of patients admitted to hospital with coronavirus show that long Covid leads to ongoing inflammation which can be detected in the blood. In an analysis of more than 650 people who had been in hospital with severe Covid-19, patients with prolonged symptoms showed evidence of their immune system being activated. (Massey, 4/9)

CIDRAP: Bernie Sanders Calls For $1 Billion For Long-COVID Moonshot
Sen Bernie Sanders, Ind.-VT, who chairs the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee, yesterday released a draft of proposed long-COVID moonshot legislation, which would earmark $1 billion for long-COVID research over the next decade. Sanders said the time is overdue for Congress to treat long COVID as the public health emergency that it is. "Congress must act now to ensure a treatment is found for this terrible disease that affects millions of Americans and their families," he said. "Far too many patients with Long COVID have struggled to get their symptoms taken seriously." (Schnirring, 4/10)

ABC News: 12-Year-Old Describes 4-Year Battle With Long COVID
Theo Huot de Saint-Albin was a 9-year-old elementary school student when he first contracted COVID-19 in July 2020, near the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Four years later, as much of the world has moved on from the pandemic and resumed normal life, Theo, now nearly a teenager, is still battling the effects of long COVID. "What happened directly after COVID-19 was worse than my actual COVID-19," Theo, now in seventh grade, told "Good Morning America." (Kindelan, 4/10)

The Washington Post: They’re Young And Athletic. They’re Also Ill With A Condition Called POTS. 
First described more than 150 years ago, the syndrome has proliferated since the coronavirus pandemic. Before 2020, 1 million to 3 million people suffered from POTS in the United States, researchers estimate. Precise numbers are difficult to come by because the condition encompasses a spectrum of symptoms, and many people have still never heard of it. Recent studies suggest 2 to 14 percent of people infected with the coronavirus may go on to develop POTS. (Cha, 4/10)

On social distancing and quarantines —

Politico: Newsom Orders State Workers Back Into The Office As Pandemic Eases
Gov. Gavin Newsom is setting a government-wide requirement that state employees work from the office two days a week starting in June, according to a memo his cabinet secretary sent to top state officials on Wednesday and shared exclusively with POLITICO. The directive is a significant policy shift for the administration, which from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic has allowed leaders of the state’s roughly 150 agencies, departments and offices to set their own remote work policies for the state’s 240,000 workers. (Venteicher, 4/10)

CIDRAP: Repeat COVID Testing May Be Better Strategy Than Quarantine, Daycare Study Finds 
Serial COVID-19 testing of 50,000 children in 714 German daycare facilities over 1 year didn't result in increased infections and averted 7 to 20 days of post-exposure quarantine per child, according to a study published today in Pediatrics. (Van Beusekom, 4/10)