Replies to post #451022 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[blackhawks]

Out sick the pustules were when this concept was taught:

Where does the phrase association is not causation come from?

Bard

The phrase "association is not causation" is a common adage in statistics and epidemiology. It means that just because two things are associated with each other, it does not mean that one causes the other. For example, there is an association between ice cream sales and drownings, but this does not mean that ice cream causes drownings. In fact, the real cause of drownings is hot weather, which leads to more people swimming and more ice cream sales.

The phrase "association is not causation" is often attributed to the 19th century English statistician Francis Galton, but it is likely that he did not coin it. The earliest known use of the phrase is in a 1924 paper by the American statistician W. Edwards Deming.

The phrase is important because it reminds us that correlation does not equal causation. Just because two things are associated does not mean that one causes the other. There could be other factors at play that are causing the association.

It is important to be aware of the phrase "association is not causation" when interpreting data. If we see an association between two variables, we should not jump to the conclusion that one causes the other. We need to do more research to rule out other possible explanations for the association.

Here are some examples of associations that are not causation:

There is an association between ice cream sales and drownings.
There is an association between education level and income.
There is an association between smoking and lung cancer.

In each of these cases, there could be other factors at play that are causing the association. For example, the association between ice cream sales and drownings could be caused by hot weather. The association between education level and income could be caused by family background or social class. The association between smoking and lung cancer could be caused by genetics or other factors.

It is important to do more research to rule out other possible explanations for an association before concluding that one variable causes the other.

Sources
cedwardpitt.com/tag/dementia/

[fuagf]

A Comprehensive Review of mRNA Vaccines

This content first posted here:
dropdeadfred, Fearmongering, disinformation and misinformation about mRMA vaccines. Basically that is all you have given us. And thus far you remain regrettably unrepentant. In this area at least you are a destructively dangerous Luddite. A dangerously irresponsible Luddite destined to remain pushing your barrel uphill with fellow Luddites while the rest of the world passes you by. That is, unless you change your attitude and perspective. See here excerpts of an article from the same source (a huge performance improvement on your usual reprobate sources, will say) as you used that time:
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172751669

"Many anti-vaccination assholes are still blaming any death they can justify, in their pitiful little minds, on covid vaccinations. Death we know has many causes. These lying pricks don't even care whether or not the victim has been vaccinated. The pustules get satisfaction from inferring any unexplained (at the time of death) death was vaccine related."

Related: Out sick the pustules were when this concept was taught:
Where does the phrase association is not causation come from?
Bard
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=172577954

A Comprehensive Review of mRNA Vaccines

Vrinda Gote,1,* Pradeep Kumar Bolla, 2,* Nagavendra Kommineni, 3 Arun Butreddy,4
Pavan Kumar Nukala,5 Sushesh Srivatsa Palakurthi,6 and Wahid Khan7

Jie Chen, Academic Editor
Author information Article notes Copyright and License information PMC Disclaimer
Associated Data
Data Availability Statement

Abstract

mRNA vaccines have been demonstrated as a powerful alternative to traditional conventional vaccines because of their high potency, safety and efficacy, capacity for rapid clinical development, and potential for rapid, low-cost manufacturing. These vaccines have progressed from being a mere curiosity to emerging as COVID-19 pandemic vaccine front-runners. The advancements in the field of nanotechnology for developing delivery vehicles for mRNA vaccines are highly significant. In this review we have summarized each and every aspect of the mRNA vaccine. The article describes the mRNA structure, its pharmacological function of immunity induction, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), and the upstream, downstream, and formulation process of mRNA vaccine manufacturing. Additionally, mRNA vaccines in clinical trials are also described. A deep dive into the future perspectives of mRNA vaccines, such as its freeze-drying, delivery systems, and LNPs targeting antigen-presenting cells and dendritic cells, are also summarized.

Keywords: mRNA structure, mRNA vaccine immune response, mRNA vaccines clinical trials, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), cationic lipids, ionizable lipids, PEGylated lipids, lyophilized mRNA vaccines, adjuvants, antigen presentation, self-amplifying mRNA vaccines, safety, efficacy, acceptance
Go to:

1. Introduction

Vaccinations are the most effective boon for humanity for preventing the spread of infectious diseases. The impact of vaccination on the economic viability of the healthcare system is extremely large, since it lowers the treatment costs of infectious diseases. Additionally, vaccines also aid in reducing the impact and risk of outbreaks [1,2]. The wider role of vaccination in public health and safety and its extended effects on economies was reiterated and seen during the COVID-19 pandemic [2]. Successful vaccination campaigns have eradicated life-threatening infectious diseases including smallpox and polio and attempted to tackle COVID-19. The WHO estimates that vaccines prevent 2–3 million deaths each year from pertussis, tetanus, influenza, and measles [3]. Vaccines have progressed from utilizing inactivated and attenuated pathogens to subunits containing pathogen components for triggering the immune response. Important milestones in vaccine research are the development of recombinant viral-vector vaccines, virus-like particle vaccines, conjugated polysaccharide- or protein-based vaccines, and toxoid vaccines. However, the most important and a key milestone was the development of mRNA vaccines, because of its rapid development and approval for the COVID-19 pandemic and its mRNA technology producing the desired vaccine antigen intracellularly.

We are currently in the era of mRNA vaccinations, because the groundwork research has already been laid more than three decades ago [4,5]. Although the early efforts in the 1990s to produce an effective in vitro transcribed (IVT) mRNA vaccine in animal models’ epitope presentation were effective [6,7], mRNA vaccines and therapeutics were not developed, as they were not validated until the late 1900s. Over the past decade, key technological innovations and extensive research in improving overall mRNA quality by (i) improving its stability by introducing capping, tailing, point mutations, and effective purification techniques, (ii) improving mRNA delivery by introducing lipid nanoparticles, and (iii) reducing its immunogenicity by introducing modified nucleotides, has resulted in its widespread use as a vaccine. mRNA vaccines have several important advantages as compared to the traditional vaccines including live and attenuated pathogens, subunit-based, and DNA-based vaccines. These include (i) safety, as mRNA does not integrate with the host DNA and is non-infectious; (ii) efficacy, as modifications in the mRNA structure can make the vaccine more stable and effective, with reduced immunogenicity; and (iii) manufacturing and scaleup efficiency, as mRNA vaccines are produced in a cell-free environment, hence allowing rapid, scalable, and cost-effective production. For example, a 5 L bioreactor can produce a million doses of mRNA vaccine in a single reaction [8]. Additionally, mRNA vaccines have the provision to code for multiple antigens, thus strengthening the immune response against some resilient pathogens [9].

The efficacy of this vaccine technology was realized when mRNA vaccines were developed and approved by Pfizer–BioNTech for the COVID-19 pandemic. These vaccines were developed in a record-breaking time of less than a year after the world was gripped with the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, causing hospitalizations and death. This unprecedented development of Spikevax® (Moderna) and Comirnaty® (Pfizer–BioNTech) and their widespread vaccination to millions of people helped to control the COVID-19 outbreak. The development, approval, and manufacturing capabilities demonstrated by the makers of these vaccines has validated the mRNA platform as a safe and effective tool for vaccination. Additionally, this has also stimulated substantial interest in the scientific community to explore mRNA as a prophylactic vaccine tool. In this review, we have summarized the basics of mRNA vaccines including its mRNA structure and its pharmacological effect, mRNA structure modifications, and explained how mRNA vaccines elicit the desired immune response in the host. The review also explains the importance of lipid-based systems such as lipid nanoparticles for mRNA vaccine delivery. The article takes a deep dive into the structural components and the function of lipid nanoparticles. Recent developments in second-generation mRNA vaccines and the current clinical trials for the same are also described in detail.

Go to: 2. The Pharmacology of mRNA Vaccines

2.1. mRNA Structure

[...]

6. Secondgeneration mRNA Vaccines

The second-generation vaccines are the ones developed after improving some of the inefficiencies and enhancing the safety, efficacy, storage, and handling of the former humble first-generation mRNA vaccines. The changes involve making the vaccines stable at room temperatures and reduce the requirement of a cold chain for their storage and transportation, while maintaining the same efficacy and safety. Other changes involve finding more potent and ligand-targeted nanocarriers which can have a better safety and mRNA delivery efficacy profile. Additionally, immense research about exploring various RNA-based molecules for use as vaccines including self-amplifying RNA is ongoing. This section highlights the second generation of mRNA vaccines which can be seen developing in the near future.

[...]

7.2. Safety

Overall, the current mRNA vaccines have promising safety profiles as demonstrated in clinical trials and post-approval real population data. These vaccines have only mild or moderate adverse events as seen in clinical trials. However, there have been some scattered safety incidents that require further optimization of mRNA vaccines and all its components. For instance, CureVac’s protamine-based rabies vaccine, CV7201, caused adverse effects in 78% of participants [29]. This resulted in CureVac adopting LNPs as their primary and preferred delivery vehicle for their next rabies candidate, CV7202 [155]. As with most medications, the adverse reactions to mRNA vaccines have often increased and escalated with dose. For example, in Phase I trials of Moderna’s influenza H10N8 vaccine, adverse events were observed from the 400 µg. Hence, they continued with a lower dose of up to 100 µg [156]. In Phase I trials of CV7202, a 5 µg dose had a high reactogenicity; hence, 1 µg was the highest dose administered to the subjects.

Mild anaphylactic

Anaphylaxis is a potentially life threatening, severe allergic reaction and should always be treated as a medical emergency. Adrenaline (epinephrine) is the first line treatment for anaphylaxis.
P - Anaphylaxis occurs after exposure to an allergen (usually to foods, insects or medicines), to which a person is allergic. Not all people with allergies are at risk of anaphylaxis.
https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/about-allergy/anaphylaxis[url][/url][tag]insert-text-here[/tag]

reactions have been seen in 4.7 per million COVID-19 vaccinations, with 2.5 per million vaccinations with the Moderna vaccine and 2.2 per million with Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine [157]. These are significantly higher than what is typically seen with traditional vaccines [158]. Scientists have proposed that this allergic response can be attributed to pre-existing antibodies that the patients have against the PEGylated lipids which are used in LNPs. These antibodies can be formed in the body in response to the presence of PEG in many consumer products, such as toothpastes and shampoos. Although PEG is safe, it is rumored to activate humoral immunity in a subset of the population in a T cell-independent manner. It does this by directly crosslinking the B cell receptor and introducing IgM production [159]. Anti-PEG antibodies are reported in 40% of the population, which can accelerate and heighten the risk of allergic reactions and impede vaccine efficacy [160]. The CDC recommends that mRNA vaccines should not be given to people with a history of allergic response to the Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. Since some components of mRNA vaccine formulations can cause allergic reactions in a fraction of the population, the formulation components should be re-engineered for enhanced safety profiles.


[...]

8. Conclusions

Decades of development and research in mRNA design and its delivery technology have made mRNA vaccines an astonishing tool for combating pandemics and existing infectious diseases. The first two mRNA vaccines to combat SARS-CoV-2 were developed at an unexpected rate. These vaccines have exceeded expectations and laid a strong foundation and essential groundwork for the future of mRNA vaccines. It is evident from the plethora of clinical trials for mRNA vaccines that these can be head-to-head or even replace the conventional vaccine platform in the near future. mRNA technology has the potential for the development of more effective vaccines against persistent and challenging pathogens and treat various cancers in the near future. Nevertheless, advancement in mRNA delivery technologies will be required for more effective, safer, and cold-chain-free mRNA vaccines, having the capacity to vaccinate billions of populations across boundaries. Further research on how the mRNA vaccines impact innate immune responses needs to be investigated. The abundance of positive safety and efficacy data for the approved mRNA vaccines, together with a proven path for regulatory approval, lights a hope within the scientific community that mRNA therapeutics indeed have an immense potential to transform modern biotherapeutic approaches to vaccination, protein replacement therapy, and cancer immunotherapy [35].

Acknowledgments...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9917162/