
Coronavirus Tidbits #235 March 5, 2023
Announcements:
First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I'm getting.
Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don't be shy about that.
News
Heart attacks, strokes and other major adverse outcomes doubled
in people post-Covid at 1 year compared with matched uninfected controls #LongCovid, replicating previous reports
Study: “#LongCovid is associated with reduced brain oxygen levels,
COVID-related brain changes may lead to long-term fatigue
MRI revealed abnormal structural changes in the thalamus, the part of the brain responsible for relaying motor and sensory signals and regulating sleep and wakefulness. The changes have been correlated with physical fatigue severity, fatigue-related daily functional impairment, and daytime sleepiness, the authors noted.
The shape deformations and reduced volumes of the thalamus and other areas of the brain overlapped with the changes seen in the MS patients and were tied to impaired short-term memory.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(23)00051-2/fulltext
Interview w Ashish Jha on end of Public Health Emergency
worth a read, although I disagree w him on things like masking.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/
Avian Flu:
Polio:
New cases in Israel
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Jeremy Farrar, WHO Chief Scientist (via Kai Kupferschmidt):
Drug shortages:
BCG, used to treat bladder cancer, is unavailable.
Now, dire shortages of Albuterol, an inhaler used for asthma.
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent last of testing.
Drugs and Vaccines:
Not enough data to support multiple annual #COVID boosters, U.S. CDC advisers say
Researchers from the University of Adelaide report improvement in a #LongCOVID #POTS patient after treatment with plasmapheresis, which removes antibodies from the blood. The article is behind a paywall, but here’s the link for anyone interested: amjmed.com/article/S0002-
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A thread on Sildenafil for Long Covid:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1591421633226592257.html
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'COVID rebound' is common, even in untreated patients
"COVID rebound," in which evidence of the illness disappears and then returns days or weeks later, is surprisingly common—whether or not patients are given the antiviral Paxlovid.
medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03-c
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FDA Panel Backs Pfizer's RSV Vaccine for Older Adults
with certain misgivings, both about efficacy and 2 cases of Guillain Barre...Because currently, no vaccines exist to protect against RSV infection. According to data from the CDC, an estimated 177,000 older adults in the U.S. were hospitalized due to RSV infections in 2017 alone, and 14,000 died.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/vaccines/103317?
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Devices:
Viewpoint: COVID-19 and Airborne Transmission: Science Rejected, Lives Lost. Can Society Do Better?
The international group of scientists who successfully lobbied the World Health Organization to recognize the airborne transmission of COVID-19 have published four key steps needed to avoid similar critical mistakes in the future.
https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciad068/7034152?login=false
Epidemiology/Infection control:
Study shows COVID-19 rates were likely forty-times higher than CDC estimates
About 17% of study participants reported being infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 dominant period. This equates to 44 million cases, which is much higher than the 1.8 million cases estimated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during that period.
When the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections was analyzed according to sociodemographic factors, adults between the ages of 18 and 24 had a higher incidence of infections, as did non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic adults. The prevalence of infections also varied according to income and education levels, with groups with lower income and lower education having a higher incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Approximately 21.5% of the patients who had SARS-CoV-2 infection four weeks before the survey reported experiencing long COVID symptoms. This estimate was higher than the 18.9% estimate for long COVID incidence reported by the Household Pulse Survey.
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Massive surge in hospitalizations of babies and young kids due to COVID recorded in 2nd year of pandemic
"In the second year of the pandemic, hospitalizations due to COVID-19 skyrocketed more than 600 per cent among children aged 0-4 compared to the previous year, according to new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)."
Tips, general reading for public:
Ventilate.
Mask.
Vax.
Politics:
Covid:
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Abortion/Reproduction:
Walgreens is bending to the will of Republican Christo-fascists & agreeing not to send mifepristone to Kansas & West Virginia.
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Texas Is Trying to Scrub Abortion From Its Internet
Last week, Texas introduced a bill that would make it illegal for internet service providers to let users access information about how to get abortion pills. The bill, called the Women and Child Safety Act, would also criminalize creating, editing, or hosting a website that helps people seek abortions.
If the bill passes, internet service providers (ISPs) will be forced to block websites “operated by or on behalf of an abortion provider or abortion fund.” ISPs would also have to filter any website that helps people who “provide or aid or abet elective abortions” in almost any way, including raising money.
Book bans:
Environment:
Revealed: the US is averaging one chemical accident every two days
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Fox/Rupert Murdoch:
Guns:
Tennessee gives trans youth 1 year to detransition. The state also banned drag performances
These cry bullies love to talk about the constitution. KK
The 14th Amendment
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law
Florida Republicans Hope to Enshrine a Right to Religious Discrimination
A Florida defamation bill shrouds a right for conservative Christians to pursue their anti-social civic agenda under the guise of a free speech protection.
https://newrepublic.com/maz/article/170862/florida-defamation-law-religious-discrimination
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Iowa:
Mississippi:
Mississippi residents might get back the ability to enact public policy through statewide ballot initiatives, but people would be banned from using the process to change abortion laws.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03-mississippi-renew-abortion.html?
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New York:
South Carolina:
Feel good du jour:
Breaking News:
— Goodable (@Goodable) March 2, 2023
The USS Chancellorsville has just been renamed after Robert Smalls, who was born into slavery, stole a confederate steamship, sailed his family to freedom, then went back, bought his former slave master's home, and was elected to Congress five times. pic.twitter.com/htxvaB56dL
During the Civil War, an enslaved African-American taught himself to read, commandeered a ship, rescued the enslaved crew, then sailed them all to freedom. Then, he came back, bought his former master’s home and was elected to Congress.
Robert Smalls was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He grew up working on the docks, and because of his knowledge of boats, the Confederate army forced him to steer a steamship.
The night before his planned escape, Smalls asked the captain if he could bring his family on board. He told them it was just for a visit. The white captain agreed — as long as they left before curfew.
That night, Smalls hatched his plan. Not only was he going to escape, but he was going to deliver the boat to Union forces. It meant escaping, avoiding detection, sailing through the Confederate harbor, and convincing Union forces he was on their side.
That night, other enslaved crew members had their families hide on a nearby ship. When the white crew had gone ashore, Smalls put on the captain’s uniform, lifted anchor, picked up the other families, and set sail — right through enemy waters!
Smalls made it through all five confederate harbors. Because it was dark and Smalls was wearing the captain’s uniform, no one suspected a thing. When he approached the Union fleet, he replaced the confederate flag with a white bed sheet, hoping they wouldn’t fire.
Miraculously, despite the thick fog, the Union Navy was able to see the white flag. Smalls surrendered the ship along with the weapons, ammunition, confederate maps, and the captain’s code book. He had just handed the Union army a goldmine.
After gaining his freedom, Smalls was awarded prize money for delivering the steamship to Union Forces. He continued to serve in the Union Navy until the end of the war.
By the end of the war, Smalls had taught himself to read and write. And thanks to his prize money, he went back and bought his former master’s house. Then, he bought another building and turned it into a school for African-American children.
After escaping from the south, rescuing several families, and becoming a war hero, Smalls decided it was time to break another barrier. He ran for US Congress and won - not just once but five times, representing South Carolina in the House of Representatives.
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I have a new hero. pic.twitter.com/VuoHTsCCEA
— jim rose circus (@jimrosecircus1) February 24, 2023
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She was called to the animal clinic to see if a dog they found was hers..
— Good News Dog (@goodnewsdog) February 27, 2023
Safe to say it was ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ZKxQj47bHq
Comic relief:
Hilarious thread by Dr. Elinne Becket on Twitter, begins with this, then many suggestions and photos:
Read in entirety here: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1630806917085032450.html
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"OK, I've run the numbers. We can't afford to keep the dog" pic.twitter.com/kqZjz0U9BA
— Paul Bronks (@SlenderSherbet) March 3, 2023
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"Do I like it? It's shit, Donna" pic.twitter.com/Q5MUWPNSOs
— Paul Bronks (@SlenderSherbet) March 1, 2023
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https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1632026904990498817?s=20
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https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1631043295836028931?s=20
Perspective/Poem
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@enirenberg@med-mastodon.com Feb 28
Recently @DrPaulOffit was confronted by a man who accused him of making vaccines for money.
— The Real Truther (@thereal_truther) February 27, 2023
* Watch his response. *
Don't miss the end for the ultimate MIC DROP. 👊#vaccineswork pic.twitter.com/xnW4lsqPD3
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The message Jimmy Carter left in Voyager 1, the most distant human-made object from Earth, is breathtaking. pic.twitter.com/MNJn7MHHBZ
— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) February 24, 2023
Bits of beauty:

