Politics, Science, and Other Assorted Musings

Quick links News     Diagnostics     Drugs    Devices    Epidemiology/Infection control     Tips     Politics    Feel good du jour     Comic relief     Perspective/Poem     Bits of beauty 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 Op-Ed w Dr. Gregg Gonsalves on 2/14/23 is now freely available:   You can’t mandate the end of a pandemic | GUEST COMMENTARY By Judy Stone and Gregg Gonsalves Recently, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser urged an end to telework, citing the empty offices downtown, the economic engine of the district. The Washington Post soon followed, shortsightedly declaring that it is time federal employees return to the office. Then President Biden decided to go bigger, declaring that he was ending the pandemic emergency protections on May 11 for the entire U.S. After more than three long years, everyone is tired of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it clearly has not yet run its…

Quick links News     Diagnostics     Drugs    Devices    Epidemiology/Infection control     Tips     Politics    Feel good du jour     Comic relief     Perspective/Poem     Bits of beauty 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 2″ of fame–I screwed up my courage to give oral testimony (via Zoom) to MD legislature on abortion shielding bills. Whatever–point is to do whatever we can to stop the wave of hate mongering bills being passed that will limit our rights. There are multiple ways to help. See NOPE, Indivisible, etc., linked below. ~ ~ ~ Help get Dem turnout for Wisconsin Supreme Court election! Because of a deadlocked WI state government, the WI Supreme Court will arbitrate a host of super-important issues such as:  abortion rights, gerrymandered election maps, the governor’s appointment powers – and perhaps even the state’s 2024 presidential election.  With a conservative…

Quick links News     Diagnostics     Drugs    Devices    Epidemiology/Infection control     Tips     Politics    Feel good du jour     Comic relief     Perspective/Poem     Bits of beauty 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  @EricTopol   March 3 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 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2802095… ~ ~ ~ @loscharlos   Mar 1 Study: “#LongCovid is associated with reduced brain oxygen levels, worse performance on cognitive tests Compared to those not infected.. showed a lack of increase in oxygen saturation in an area of the brain normally engaged during one of the tasks” https://uwaterloo.ca/news/long-covid-linked-lower-brain-oxygen-levels-cognitive ~ ~ ~ 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…

Quick links News     Diagnostics     Drugs    Devices    Epidemiology/Infection control     Tips     Politics    Feel good du jour     Comic relief     Perspective/Poem     Bits of beauty 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. New post: A New Tool May Help Reduce The Burden Of Antibiotic Resistant Infections https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2023/02/23/a-new-tool-may-help-reduce-the-burden-of-antibiotic-resistant-infections/?sh=2786860d30be News  Covid: XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant now dominant in all US regions In its new variant estimates today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant is now dominant in the northwestern region, making it the most frequently detected type in all US regions. In the Northeastern, the more transmissible XBB.1.5 makes up nearly all of the samples. -CIDRAP ~ ~ ~ Thanks to saliva, infectious coronavirus particles linger twice as long in drier air Experiments conducted during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic help explain why we tend to get sick when the air is dry. the saliva emitted with them serves as a protective barrier around the virus, especially at low humidity…

Quick links News     Diagnostics     Drugs    Devices    Epidemiology/Infection control     Tips     Politics    Feel good du jour     Comic relief     Perspective/Poem     Bits of beauty 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. New posts: Very happy to have had this OpEd with Dr. Gregg Gonsalves, a long-time AIDS activist, published in the Baltimore Sun: You can’t mandate the end of a pandemic OpEd here https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/op-ed/bs-ed-op-0215-covid-work- return-20230214-nbskbi5jingkfospmqnx32tco4-story.html (Rumor has it that you can bypass the log-in by ctrl-Rt and opening in incognito; I have not tried; if you want, you can send me a request for a pdf. I agreed not to post the OpEd for a month). ~ ~ ~ New Marburg Virus Outbreak Confirmed In Equatorial Guinea https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2023/02/13/new-marburg-virus-outbreak-confirmed-in-equatorial-guinea/?sh=434c02e21529 ~ ~ ~ News  Natural immunity protection by COVID-19 variant For someone previously infected with COVID-19, their risk of hospitalization or death is 88% lower for at least 10 months compared to those who had not been previously infected, The analysis also suggests that the level and…

Quick links News     Diagnostics     Drugs    Devices    Epidemiology/Infection control     Tips     Politics    Feel good du jour     Comic relief     Perspective/Poem     Bits of beauty 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.     News  Could a popular COVID-19 antiviral supercharge the pandemic? Merck & Co.’s molnupiravir appears to be speeding evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Science A widely used COVID-19 drug may be driving the appearance of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, sparking concerns it could prolong and even reinvigorate the pandemic. The drug, molnupiravir, produced by Merck & Co., is designed to kill the virus by inducing mutations in the viral genome. A survey of viral genomes reported in a new preprint, however, suggests some people treated with the drug generate novel viruses that not only remain viable, but spread. “It’s very clear that viable mutant viruses can survive [molnupiravir treatment] and compete [with existing variants],” says virologist William Haseltine,…

Quick links News     Diagnostics     Drugs    Devices    Epidemiology/Infection control     Tips     Politics    Feel good du jour     Comic relief     Perspective/Poem     Bits of beauty 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.         News  In its weekly situation report, WHO said Covid cases have declined 25% over last 4 weeks. However, deaths rose 13%. #Covid deaths have been rising since early Dec, even without adding the more than 72,000 hospital deaths reported from China’s recent surge https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/global-covid-deaths-rise-who-emergency-committee-weighs-covid-status ~ ~ ~ A very important thread on #LongCovid from Hannah Davis: @ahandvanish   Jan 21 I’ve debated for a long time about being public with this, bc it’s heavy & I still haven’t come to terms with it. But I have a rare pre-COVID datapoint so will do it, hoping it helps people: Right before I got COVID, I did neuro testing to see if I had…