
Coronavirus Tidbits #238 3/26/23
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.
Reminder, Resilience: One Family's Story... is increasingly pertinent, as some of our politicians shift rightward. All proceeds go to Holocaust education.
Available here.
My latest post:
Women And Leadership In Global Health—Where Do We Stand Now?
News
Paxlovid reduces Long Covid:
nirmatrelvir use in the acute phase (n = 35 717) was associated with reduced risk of PCC, including reduced risk of 10 of 13 post–acute sequelae in various organ systems, as well as reduced risk of post–acute death and post–acute hospitalization. Nirmatrelvir was associated with reduced risk of PCC in people who were unvaccinated, vaccinated, and boosted, and in people with primary SARS-CoV-2 infection and reinfection.
people who got treated with Paxlovid had 26% reduced risk of developing Long Covid
Paxlovid use was also associated with 47% reduced risk of post-acute death and 24% reduced risk of post-acute hospitalization
The reduced risk of #LongCovid was evident in people who were Unvaccinated Vaccinated Boosted and in people with Primary SARS-CoV-2 infection & Reinfection
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2802878
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4 ways to reduce the likelihood of Long Covid:
"Novid," aka never get Covid.
Metformin => 42% reduction of Long Covid with a 2-week course.
Vaccination was associated with an overall 43% reduction of Long Covid.
Paxlovid was associated with a 26% reduction of Long Covid.
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/preventing-long-covid?
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COVID-origins study links raccoon dogs to Wuhan market:
Some scientists say the analysis provides new evidence supporting the hypothesis that the virus that causes COVID-19 spilled over from an animal — but falls short of definitive proof.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00827-2
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Nice article on LDN for #LongCovid: Treatment
Docs Are Prescribing Addiction Drug Off-Label #LowDoseNaltrexone #LDN – Rolling Stone
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Addressing the Long-Term Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Families
Report from the National Academy of Sciences:
Download Free PDF or https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/26809
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Polio:
Global polio alert expanded:
In the U.S., CDC updated the pediatric and adult polio vaccination schedules in February 2023.
The inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is recommended within four weeks of travel. Various IPV-containing vaccines are available at most health clinics and community pharmacies.
https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/2023/03/23/global-polio-alert-expanded
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Mosquito borne diseases in Latin America increase:
...Although dengue and chikungunya are endemic in most countries of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, in the current summer season, increased transmission and expansion of chikungunya cases have been observed beyond historical areas of transmission. Furthermore, 2023 is showing intense dengue transmission. In addition, higher transmission rates are expected in the coming months in the southern hemisphere, due to weather conditions favourable for the proliferation of mosquitoes.
There have been 2.8 million dengue cases reported in the Americas in 2022, which represents over a two-fold increase when compared to the 1.2 million cases reported in 2021. The same increasing trend has been observed for chikungunya, with a high incidence of meningoencephalitis possibly associated to chikungunya reported by Paraguay, which is of further concern....
https://worldhealthorganization.cmail20.com/t/d-e-zhujkz-tjhlldntd-jj/
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Outbreak of highly resistant Pseudomonas linked to eye drops grows
involves a carbapenem-resistant P aeruginosa (CRPA) strain carrying the Verona integron-mediated metallo-beta-lactamase (VIM) and Guiana extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (GES) genes. Multiple types of infections, including eye infections, have been reported. Of the 68 patients identified by the CDC and state and local health departments as of March 14, 37 were linked to four healthcare facilities. Three patients have died, eight have experienced vision loss, and four have had an eye surgically removed.
CDC testing identified the presence of VIM-GES-CRPA isolates in opened bottles,
CDC is advising the public and healthcare providers to stop using EzriCare and Delsam Pharma's Artificial Tears pending further investigation and guidance and is urging anyone who has used the products and has signs and symptoms of an eye infection to seek care immediately.
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Other:
PALL OF SUSPICION
The National Institutes of Health’s “China initiative” has upended hundreds of lives and destroyed scores of academic careers.
Science BYJEFFREY MERVIS 23 MAR 2023
A version of this story appeared in Science, Vol 379, Issue 6638.Download PDF
For decades, Chinese-born U.S. faculty members were applauded for working with colleagues in China, and their universities cited the rich payoff from closer ties to the emerging scientific giant. But those institutions did an about-face after they began to receive emails in late 2018 from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The emails asked some 100 institutions to investigate allegations that one or more of their faculty had violated NIH policies designed to ensure federal funds were being spent properly. Most commonly, NIH claimed a researcher was using part of a grant to do work in China through an undisclosed affiliation with a Chinese institution. Four years later, 103 of those scientists—some 42% of the 246 targeted in the letters, most of them tenured faculty members—had lost their jobs....
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Autism increasing in US
(CDC), about 4% of 8-year-old boys and 1% of 8-year-old girls, have autism in the U.S.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03-autism-climb-highs-california.html
the rate rose faster for children of color than for white kids. The new estimates suggest that about 3% of Black, Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander children have an autism diagnosis, compared with about 2% of white kids. [likely due to better dx]
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03-autism-common-black-hispanic-kids.html
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US drug supply chain holds federal agencies to account
A lack of transparency in the US pharmaceutical supply chain has limited the government's ability to predict and address the nation's rising number of critical drug shortages, according to a new report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
shortages peaked at 295 at the end of 2022,
Government lacks list of single-source drugs
In addition to a lack of visibility into the supply chain, economic causes and continued US overreliance on foreign and geographically concentrated sources for drugs and their raw materials can all contribute to supply scarcity.
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Internet Archive:
In an emphatic 47-page opinion, federal judge John G. Koeltl found the Internet Archive infringed the copyrights of four plaintiff publishers by scanning and lending their books under a legally contested practice known as CDL (controlled digital lending). And after three years of contentious legal wrangling, the case wasn’t even close.
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent last of testing.
Drugs and Vaccines:
China has approved an mRNA Covid vaccine —its first.
The homegrown shot is a crucial tool that China has been lacking — a vaccine based on a technology considered among the most effective the world has to offer
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Moderna rebuked over plan to hike COVID vaccine to $130
Moderna's chief executive on Wednesday defended the US company's plan to quadruple the price of its lifesaving COVID vaccine to as much as $130 per dose as soon as government stockpiles run out.
Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders lashed out at the price hike, denouncing the "unprecedented level of corporate greed" in the pharmaceutical industry. "And that is certainly true with Moderna," Sanders said.
Moderna has so far charged between about $15 and $26 for doses of its vaccine, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The US government subsidized $1.7 billion of Moderna's research at the start of the pandemic and then purchased $10 billion worth of vaccine, Sanders said at a Senate hearing where the company's CEO Stephane Bancel was testifying.
Sanders said Moderna was "thanking the taxpayers of the United States" by more than quadrupling the vaccine's price "at a time when it costs less than $3 to manufacture."
https://medicalxpress.com/
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Devices and Masks:
I saw this sign & thought it was quite beautiful pic.twitter.com/Sy7mba9mXu
— Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD (@MVGutierrezMD) March 24, 2023
Epidemiology/Infection control:
RT @VikiLovesFACS
Israel: 48,868 babies followed for first 120 days of life. Does being born after a #CovidVaccine booster in #pregnancy protect against hospitalisation for COVID?
Yes! With 53% effectiveness compared to two doses only.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023
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Tips, general reading for public:
Ventilate.
Mask.
Vax.
Politics:
Covid:
Once the Covid-19 emergency order is lifted, new restrictions proposed by the White House will make it harder for many to access the medications on which they depend, like buprenorphine (Suboxone), Adderall, Xanax
https://newrepublic.com/article/171018/biden-telemedicine-adderall-buphenorphine-restrictions
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26% of parents lied about child's COVID status
and flouted public health rules.
the most common untruth was “not telling someone who was going to spend time with their child that they knew or suspected the child had COVID-19.”
52.4% of those who lied said they exposed others to their ill child because they wanted to exercise their parental autonomy,
46% wanted their child's life to feel normal
44% said they didn't want to miss a fun event to stay home
10.1% told others that their child was vaccinated when they weren't
Abortion/reproduction:
"What possible objection could [Trump/Fox/GOP] possibly have to this Jewish billionaire Holocaust survivor?"
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) March 23, 2023
On today's @MehdiHasanShow I debunked the new (and very antisemitic + dangerous) myth on the right that Alvin Bragg is a 'Soros DA'. He isn't.pic.twitter.com/Bx3aEm9fAU
A record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship, a 32% increase over the 1,858 unique titles targeted in 2021.
58% of the reported book challenges targeted books and materials in school libraries, classroom libraries or school curricula; 41% of book challenges targeted materials in public libraries.
“The record number of book challenges we’re reporting today are not the result of a parent filing authentic requests for reconsideration. Overwhelmingly, we’re seeing groups and individuals at library board meetings demand the removal of long lists of books obtained from organized censorship groups who share these lists on social media."
- Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom
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Guns:
LGBTQ:
42% of homeless youth are LGBTQ+. https://t.co/bpnaK37dE5
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GOP/TFG:
The #MAGABudgetDisaster would roll back $400 billion in Veterans healthcare.
— Skyleigh Heinen (@Sky_Lee_1) March 20, 2023
They don’t care about Veterans, they have always used as political props while taking away our care. pic.twitter.com/MewAffBfKF
Greed:
How Cigna Saves Millions by Having Its Doctors Reject Claims Without Reading Them
1 doc denied 60,000 claims/month
Over a period of two months last year, Cigna doctors denied over 300,000 requests for payments using this method, spending an average of 1.2 seconds on each case,
Cigna covers or administers health care plans for 18 million people.
Cigna estimated that only 5% of people would appeal a denial resulting from a PXDX review.
https://www.propublica.org/article/cigna-pxdx-medical-health-insurance-rejection-claims?
Florida:
"A Florida charter school principal has been forced to resign after a parent complained sixth graders were exposed to pornography during a lesson...that included Michelangelo’s “David”." abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/p
The school supposedly offers "a content-rich classical education in the liberal arts and sciences" ... apparently except Renaissance statues.
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look at how references to race and racism have been removed from these Florida classroom materials prepared by Studies Weekly in an attempt to comply with a DeSantis policy restricting discussion of race https://t.co/akk7ZHdOyA pic.twitter.com/xiqUYpxJjU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 25, 2023
https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-te
One publisher created multiple versions of its social studies material, softening or eliminating references to race — even in the story of Rosa Parks — as it sought to gain approval in Floridahttps://t.co/0jRuHUOmox pic.twitter.com/yc9or5DzNq
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 16, 2023
Missouri lawmakers move to strip public library funding in retaliation over book ban lawsuit
https://nordot.app/1012044056118394880
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Cops raided Afroman’s home, then sued him for using footage in music videos https://arstechnica.com/?p=1926613
suing HIM for invasion of privacy and emotional distress after he used footage of their mangled raid in his music videos
theguardian.com/us-news/2023/m
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A Utah parent says the Bible contains porn and should be removed from school libraries. Here’s their full challenge. The parent writes that the book should be considered indecent under Utah’s new book banning law, after seeing the other titles that have been pulled.
“Incest, onanism, bestiality, prostitution, genital mutilation, fellatio, dildos, rape, and even infanticide,” the parent wrote in their request, listing topics they found concerning in the religious text. “You’ll no doubt find that the Bible, under Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1227, has ‘no serious values for minors’ because it’s pornographic by our new definition.” https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2023
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Wisconsin:
India:
The main opposition leader in the world's biggest democracy, Rahul Gandhi, has been sentenced to years in prison for criticizing the authoritarian dear leader
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65048602
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Russia/Ukraine:
#Norway, #Sweden, #Finland, and #Denmark struck a deal to run their 200+ advanced fighter jets as a single fleet, creating a new headache for #Russia:
https://www.businessinsider.com/norway-sweden-finland-denmark-fighter-jets-one-fleet-2023-3
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International Criminal Court issues warrant of arrest for Putin.
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Iran:
Feel good du jour:
Comic relief:
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. pic.twitter.com/NPnvUUZ3iH
— Gabriele Corno (@Gabriele_Corno) March 25, 2023
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Nothing to see here. Only a seagull riding another seagull, mid-flight pic.twitter.com/TG6J7d97aq
— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) March 24, 2023
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https://twitter.com/ModelAyshaMirza/status/1637668604752658432?s=20
Perspective/Poem
Chat GPT in the voice of Shakespeare:
Here it is all together: pic.twitter.com/GqvkITjhxq
— Dan Miller (@danmiller999) March 17, 2023
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I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) March 19, 2023
—James Baldwin pic.twitter.com/k1bkvBbXmW
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among the books consigned to the flames in 1933 were the works of the nineteenth century Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, who in 1822 penned the prophetic words, “Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too.”
Bits of beauty:

