CORONA Main Coronavirus thread

[psychgirl]

Referring to the post up thread which discusses antihistamines.
The online and frontline Covid doctors had famotidine and antihistamines in their protocol list a long time ago.

It’s interesting how long it takes for the “rest of the scientific naysayers” to finally catch up lol.
We still have the Famotidine bottles left from when DH had Covid pneumonia!

I also keep Benedryl stocked but now I’m working on adding in other antihistamines as I go along.

(We both use them anyway, so no harm no foul)

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

Referring to the post up thread which discusses antihistamines.
The online and frontline Covid doctors had famotidine and antihistamines in their protocol list a long time ago.

It’s interesting how long it takes for the “rest of the scientific naysayers” to finally catch up lol.
We still have the Famotidine bottles left from when DH had Covid pneumonia!

I also keep Benedryl stocked but now I’m working on adding in other antihistamines as I go along.

(We both use them anyway, so no harm no foul)

Agree!

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

Top Ten Quotes from the NYT Fauci Interview ⋆ Brownstone Institute

The New York Times published a long piece containing some startling admissions, claims, and defenses from Anthony Fauci, the face of lockdowns and mandates.

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(fair use applies)


Top Ten Quotes from the NYT Fauci Interview
By Jeffrey A. TuckerJeffrey A. Tucker
April 26, 2023

Billed as the most in-depth interview yet, the New York Times published a very long piece that contains some rather startling admissions, claims, and defenses from Anthony Fauci, the face of lockdowns and shot mandates.

The author and interviewer is David Wallace-Wells, who before (and now after) Covid specialized in writing about climate change, invokes every predictable trope. So there was a sense in which this interview was a lovefest between the two. Still it netted some interesting results.

Here are my top-ten picks of Fauci quotes.

1. Fauci: “Something clearly went wrong. And I don’t know exactly what it was. But the reason we know it went wrong is that we are the richest country in the world, and on a per-capita basis we’ve done worse than virtually all other countries.”

This seems promising but one quickly realizes that there is an axiom among the people responsible for lockdowns. They were completely correct in their thinking. The problem was not enough centralization, prior planning, or resources. Also there was too much disinformation and non-compliance, leading to a low vaccine uptake compared with other countries. The vaccines are the miracle and the greatest achievement of the pandemic, a point on which they admit no argument.

This is also the conclusion of a thing called The Covid Crisis Group (funded mostly by the Charles Koch and Rockefeller Foundations) which has released the new book Lessons from the Covid War: An Investigative Report. There is no PDF. You have to buy it. The lead author is the well-known fixer Philip Zelikow, who wrote the 9-11 Commission report. Included among the team is none other than Carter Mecher, who bears more responsibility for school closings than anyone else. Also there is Rajeev Venkayya, the one-time Bush administration official who is widely credited with having invented the very concept of lockdowns.

It’s their story and they are sticking to it.

2. Fauci on vaccine mandates: “Man, I think, almost paradoxically, you had people who were on the fence about getting vaccinated thinking, why are they forcing me to do this? And that sometimes-beautiful independent streak in our country becomes counterproductive. And you have that smoldering anti-science feeling, a divisiveness that’s palpable politically in this country.”

If you didn’t think you needed the vaccine or didn’t trust it, Fauci proclaims that you are responsible for divisiveness and anti-science feeling. The “independent streak” is called freedom, which for him is the real problem. The lesson for next time? Hard to know. Maybe he thinks the mandates should have been enforced with more energy.

3. Fauci on the economics of the lockdowns: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not an economic organization. The surgeon general is not an economist. So we looked at it from a purely public-health standpoint. It was for other people to make broader assessments — people whose positions include but aren’t exclusively about public health. Those people have to make the decisions about the balance between the potential negative consequences of something versus the benefits of something.”

There we go with the great divide between public health and real life, as if one does not impact the other. Public health cared not for economics – the science of human cooperation – and, sadly, the economists were too often unschooled on public health. The compartmentalization of speciality fields played into the haphazard totalitarianism we experienced.

4. Fauci on why he is not responsible for anything: “when people say, ‘Fauci shut down the economy’ — it wasn’t Fauci. The C.D.C. was the organization that made those recommendations. I happened to be perceived as the personification of the recommendations. But show me a school that I shut down and show me a factory that I shut down. Never. I never did. I gave a public-health recommendation that echoed the C.D.C.’s recommendation, and people made a decision based on that. But I never criticized the people who had to make the decisions one way or the other.

He was merely deferring to a giant bureaucracy where no one takes responsibility either!

5. Fauci on how they should have locked down earlier: “We were not fully appreciative of the fact that we were dealing with a highly, highly transmissible virus that was clearly spread by ways that were unprecedented and unexperienced by us. And so it fooled us in the beginning and confused us about the need for masks and the need for ventilation and the need for inhibition of social interaction.” Should they have shut down in February 2020? “We should have, probably, if we knew what we know now.”

Inexperienced in a textbook respiratory virus? It’s because they thought it was a bioweapon that could be handled like AIDS. Masks were the condoms. Lockdowns were the behavioral changes. Minimizing of cases was the metric of success. On every point, they were wrong. Plus they didn’t even learn from the AIDS experience. It wasn’t the vaccines that cooled the crisis. It was the therapeutics innovated in clinical experience. Instead, Fauci shut down all efforts at early treatment to wait for the vaccines. Having done it earlier would have been even worse!

6. Fauci on the effectiveness of masking: “From a broad public-health standpoint, at the population level, masks work at the margins — maybe 10 percent. But for an individual who religiously wears a mask, a well-fitted KN95 or N95, it’s not at the margin. It really does work. But I think anything that instigated or intensified the culture wars just made things worse. And I have to be honest with you, David, when it comes to masking, I don’t know.”

He doesn’t know. At least he admits it. And yet the CDC is still suing for the legal right to impose masking on the whole population whoever it wants.

7. Fauci on not understanding the virus: “Herd immunity is based on two premises: one, that the virus doesn’t change, and two, that when you get infected or vaccinated, the durability of protection is measured in decades, if not a lifetime. With SARS-CoV-2, we thought protection against infection was going to be measured in a long period of time. And we found out — wait a minute, protection against infection, and against severe disease, is measured in months, not decades. No. 2, the virus that you got infected with in January 2020 is very different from the virus that you’re going to get infected with in 2021 and 2022.”

To be clear, nothing about herd immunity requires lifetime immunity and it certainly is not premised on unchanging virus. Indeed, it is astonishing that he claims they had no idea the virus would mutate. It’s an established reality that such widespread and mostly non-deadly pathogens like this mutate, which is precisely why they cannot be eradicated through vaccination. Why must anyone have to explain virus basics to Fauci of all people?

8. Fauci on the huge age gradient of medically significant risk: “Did we say that the elderly were much more vulnerable? Yes. Did we say it over and over and over again? Yes, yes, yes. But somehow or other, the general public didn’t get that feeling that the vulnerable are really, really heavily weighted toward the elderly. Like 85 percent of the hospitalizations are there.”

In fact, their solution was to shut down the whole of society for a virus that was mostly if not entirely a danger to the aged and sick. And to justify that, they absolutely did obscure the risk gradient, which is why most everyone was running around like their hair was on fire. The attempt was precisely to create population fear and panic, as Fauci said many times in private.

9. Fauci on whether the NIH funded the lab that leaked the virus. “ Now you’re saying things that are a little bit troublesome to me. That I need to go to bed tonight worrying that N.I.H.-funded research was responsible for pandemic origins…. Well, I sleep fine. I sleep fine. And remember, this work was done in order to be able to help prepare us for the next outbreak. This work was not conceived by me as I was having my omelet in the morning. It is a grant that was put before peer review of independent scientists whose main role is to try to get data to protect the health and safety of the American public and the world. And it was judged that this type of research was important.”

Once again, if the NIH had anything to do with funding the research that led to the virus, he is not responsible for that either. It was those pesky independent scientists. He has again thrown colleagues under the bus.

10. Fauci on gain-of-function research: “Some want to pass a law: All gain-of-function should be stopped. But if all gain-of-function stops, you will have no vaccines for flu. You will have no vaccines for any of the other diseases, because all of that manipulates a virus or a pathogen to gain a certain function to be able to make a vaccine.”

That’s a very hard claim. I asked ChatGPT about that and it quickly spat out the following:

“No, the flu vaccine does not require gain-of-function research. The development of flu vaccines typically involves studying the behavior of the virus and its strains, identifying the most common strains and predicting which one will be most prevalent in the upcoming season. The vaccine is then developed using inactivated or attenuated versions of the virus, which do not require gain-of-function research. Gain-of-function research, which involves genetically modifying viruses to make them more infectious or deadly, is sometimes used for studying the flu virus, but it is not required for the creation of flu vaccines.”​

If not for the flu vaccine, what is gain-of-function’s purpose? The creation of bioweapons and vaccines to confound them? The track record of this looks awful.

Fauci and his friends keep trying to close the book on the Covid epoch. They have settled on the messaging and are doing everything possible to tie it all up in a bow in hopes that everyone will move on. The mainstream media wants to move on too. Everyone guilty for the wreckage wants to do the same, particularly the elites in every sector that pushed for and celebrated the mass violation of human rights.

They are wrong. The book is not closed and will not be until we get honest answers.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

Long COVID: Cedars-Sinai Researchers Find COVID-19 Vaccine Produces Antibodies Far Longer Than Expected

Findings show people with long COVID-19 respond differently to COVID-19 vaccines. A new study by investigators from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai suggests long COVID-19 might be caused by a dysfunction of the immune system. The study, published in the journal BMC Infectious Disease

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Long COVID: Cedars-Sinai Researchers Find COVID-19 Vaccine Produces Antibodies Far Longer Than Expected
By Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
April 27, 2023

Findings show people with long COVID-19 respond differently to COVID-19 vaccines.

A new study by investigators from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai suggests long COVID-19 might be caused by a dysfunction of the immune system.

The study, published in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases, found that after people with long COVID-19 received the COVID-19 vaccine, they produced antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19 for months longer than expected.

When a person has an infection, the immune system typically responds by making antibodies that block germs from entering cells. Vaccines imitate an infection so that the body’s immune system knows to release certain antibodies when it comes across a virus. In both cases, the immune system eventually stops creating antibodies when the suspected infection is gone.

“There’s general consensus that some level of aberrant immune response happens in long COVID-19, and this study adds to the evidence to suggest this is true,” said Catherine Le, MD, co-director of the Cedars-Sinai COVID-19 Recovery Program and a senior author of the study.

Long COVID-19, a condition in which people experience COVID-19-related symptoms three months or more after initial infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, is estimated to affect 65 million people worldwide. Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction such as confusion and forgetfulness. Some symptoms can have debilitating effects.

To study the immune response of people with long COVID-19, investigators analyzed blood samples from 245 people diagnosed with long COVID-19 and 86 people who had COVID-19 and fully recovered. All the study participants had received either one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine regimen.

“We examined one part of the immune system response, the production of antibodies, which is mediated by immune cells called B-cells,” Le explained.

Specifically, the investigators looked at two types of antibodies that attack the virus that causes COVID-19. One of these is called the spike protein antibody, which attacks a protein on the exterior of the virus. The other is the nucleocapsid antibody, which attacks the part of the virus that allows it to replicate.

The investigators found that people who were diagnosed with long COVID-19 produced higher levels of spike protein and nucleocapsid antibodies than people without long COVID-19. Eight weeks after receiving a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, antibody levels in people without long COVID-19 began to decrease, as was expected. People with long COVID-19, however, continued to have elevated antibody levels, especially of nucleocapsid antibodies.

“What you would expect after getting a COVID-19 vaccination is a jump in your spike protein antibody levels, but you wouldn’t expect a significant increase in nucleocapsid antibody levels,” said Susan Cheng, MD, MPH, the Erika J. Glazer Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health and Population Science, director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute, and a senior author of the study. “You would also expect these levels to eventually decrease and not persist for so long after vaccination.”

Although this study shows that long COVID-19 affects the immune system, it’s too soon to draw firm conclusions from these findings, according to the study’s authors.

“Theoretically, the production of these antibodies could mean that people are more protected from infection,” Le said. “We also need to investigate if the elevated immune response corresponds with severity or number of long COVID-19 symptoms.”

Investigators are continuing to study blood samples from people with long COVID-19. They are hoping to identify a measurable molecule that could be used to diagnose long COVID-19 and better understand the biological processes that cause it.

Reference: “Post-COVID-19 conditions alter a person’s immune response” by Sandy Joung, Brittany Weber, Min Wu, Yunxian Liu, Amber B. Tang, Matthew Driver, Sarah Sternbach, Timothy Wynter, Amy Hoang, Denisse Barajas, Yu Hung Kao, Briana Khuu, Michelle Bravo, Hibah Masoom, Teresa Tran, Nancy Sun, Patrick G. Botting, Brian L. Claggett, John C. Prostko, Edwin C. Frias, James L. Stewart, Jackie Robertson, Alan C. Kwan, Mariam Torossian, Isabel Pedraza, Carina Sterling, Caroline Goldzweig, Jillian Oft, Rachel Zabner, Justyna Fert-Bober, Joseph E. Ebinger, Kimia Sobhani, Susan Cheng and Catherine N. Le, 16 February 2023, BMC Infectious Diseases.
DOI: 10.1186/s12879-023-08060-y

Other Cedars-Sinai investigators who worked on the study include Sandy Joung; Min Wu; Yunxian Liu, PhD; Matthew Driver; Sarah Sternbach; Timothy Wynter; Amy Hoang; Denisse Barajas; Yu Hung Kao; Briana Khuu; Michelle Bravo; Hibah Masoom; Teresa Tran; Nancy Sun; Patrick G. Botting; Jackie Robertson; Alan C. Kwan, MD; Mariam Torossian, MD; Isabel Pedraza, MD; Carina Sterling, NP; Caroline Goldzweig, MD; Jillian Oft, MD; Rachel Zabner, MD; Justyna Fert-Bober, PhD; Joseph E. Ebinger, MD; and Kimia Sobhani, PhD.

Funding: The study was funded by Cedars-Sinai, the Erika J. Glazer Family Foundation, Sapient Bioanalytics, LLC, and the National Institutes of Health (award numbers K23-HL153888 and R01-HL131532).

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

A Dangerous Connection Unveiled: Long COVID & Physical Inactivity

According to researchers, fatigue, breathlessness, and other symptoms that may persist for months post-recovery from the infection can both encourage a sedentary lifestyle and become more frequent as a result of inactivity. The link between physical inactivity and lingering symptoms of COVID-19 i

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A Dangerous Connection Unveiled: Long COVID & Physical Inactivity
By São Paulo Research Foundation
April 27, 2023

According to researchers, fatigue, breathlessness, and other symptoms that may persist for months post-recovery from the infection can both encourage a sedentary lifestyle and become more frequent as a result of inactivity.

The link between physical inactivity and lingering symptoms of COVID-19 is becoming increasingly evident. A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil and published in Scientific Reports shows that individuals who have survived COVID-19 and still experience at least one persistent symptom are 57% more likely to lead a sedentary lifestyle. Furthermore, the study found that if a person has five or more ongoing effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection, their odds of being physically inactive increase by 138%.

“Although this was a cross-sectional study, the findings underscore the importance of discussing and encouraging physical activity at all times, including during the pandemic,” said Hamilton Roschel, last author of the study and one of the coordinators of USP’s Applied Physiology and Nutrition Research Group.

The study, which was funded by FAPESP, is one of the first in evaluating the impact of physical activity on the condition known as long COVID. Long COVID is characterized by symptoms that persist for a minimum of two months after the resolution of the coronavirus infection and cannot be attributed to any other health issues.

According to a December 2020 editorial in Nature Medicine, early reports indicated that around three out of every four patients hospitalized because of COVID-19 had at least one persistent symptom six months after discharge.

Methods

In the study, the researchers analyzed data collected by the HCFMUSP COVID-19 Study Group at Hospital das Clínicas (HC), the hospital complex run by USP’s Medical School (FM-USP). A total of 614 survivors of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 with an average age of 56 were included in the investigation.

The patients were hospitalized between March and August 2020, and a follow-up protocol was implemented between October 2020 and April 2021 (6-11 months after discharge). They were examined and interviewed to find out how physically active they were and to assess other lifestyle items. They were also asked to report whether they had ten symptoms associated with long COVID, such as fatigue, breathlessness, severe muscle pain, taste and smell loss, and memory impairment, among others.

Participants were classified as physically inactive if they reported less than 150 minutes of at least moderately intense exercise per week, in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. “In our case, exercise included housework and walking, as well as sports,” Roschel said.

The more symptoms, the more sedentarism

The researchers performed a number of statistical analyses in search of correlations between symptoms of long COVID and physical inactivity.

Sixty percent of the participants were considered physically inactive, a higher proportion than those found for most regions by the Brazilian Health Ministry in a nationwide survey (Vigitel) conducted in 2020.

Comorbidities were also significant: 37% were smokers, 58% had high blood pressure, 35% had diabetes and 17% were obese. “These are risk factors for severe COVID-19. They were expected to be frequent in the study because all the participants had been hospitalized,” Roschel said, adding that 55% had required intensive care and 37% had been intubated.

When they adjusted the results for confounding factors (variables that may affect others in a way that produces spurious or distorted associations), the researchers still found that the presence of at least one persistent symptom was associated with 57% higher odds of sedentarism. “The more symptoms, the higher the likelihood of physical inactivity,” Roschel said. When five or more symptoms were reported, the odds of physical activity rose 138%.

Certain sequelae associated with long COVID correlated very closely with physical inactivity, he added. In the adjusted statistical models, the highest correlations were with breathlessness (132%) and fatigue (101%).

“It makes sense to assume that people with this condition experience more difficulty to maintain an active routine,” he said. “But it’s also plausible that people with a sedentary lifestyle are more subject to these long-term symptoms after recovering from an acute infection. Our study doesn’t allow us to infer causality.”

Associations and hypotheses

In the article, the authors say physical inactivity “itself may be considered a persistent symptom among COVID-19 survivors”. This hypothesis has also been raised by other research groups. A Dutch paper cited in the article describes a study in which 239 recovering patients reported walking significantly less six months after the onset of symptoms than before they contracted the disease.

Roschel also believes, based on other research, that sedentarism may theoretically heighten the risk of long COVID. A study conducted in 2021 and also led by him found that hospitalized COVID-19 patients with more muscle strength and mass (hence probably less sedentary) tended to stay in the hospital for less time.

In a later study, the same researchers found that patients who lost more muscle mass during hospitalization for COVID-19 were more likely to develop persistent symptoms of the disease, while also pointing to a probable correlation with higher post-acute COVID healthcare costs.

A study conducted in the United States in 2020 analyzed the prior history of physical activity for 48,440 COVID-19 patients and found the risk of hospitalization, admission to the ICU, and death to be highest among those who were consistently inactive.

“Our latest study added information by describing specific correlations between physical inactivity and persistent symptoms of COVID-19. Future research should investigate this association in order to understand the underlying causes,” Roschel said.

The connection may be a two-way street in which sedentarism favors long COVID and people with long COVID tend to avoid exercise.

“From a practical standpoint, the importance of physical activity during the pandemic is clearly demonstrated,” Roschel said. There are cases in which people who have recovered from the disease should follow medical advice as to the precautions required when undertaking physical exercise, but an active lifestyle should be encouraged as a matter of public health, he stressed. Sedentarism accounts for 9% of all-cause deaths worldwide.

Reference: “Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 associates with physical inactivity in a cohort of COVID-19 survivors” by Saulo Gil, Bruno Gualano, Adriana Ladeira de Araújo, Gersiel Nascimento de Oliveira Júnior, Rodolfo Furlan Damiano, Fabio Pinna, Marta Imamura, Vanderson Rocha, Esper Kallas, Linamara Rizzo Batistella, Orestes V. Forlenza, Carlos R. R. de Carvalho, Geraldo Filho Busatto, Hamilton Roschel and HCFMUSP COVID-19 Study Group, 5 January 2023, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26888-3

The study was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

BRACE Yourself: Unexpected Ineffectiveness of BCG Vaccine Against COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers

The international BRACE trial, investigating the BCG vaccine's efficacy against COVID-19, has found it does not reduce healthcare workers' risk of contracting the disease. Future studies will explore the vaccine's influence on other infections and COVID-19 vaccine responses. A world-leading inter

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BRACE Yourself: Unexpected Ineffectiveness of BCG Vaccine Against COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers
By Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
April 27, 2023

The international BRACE trial, investigating the BCG vaccine’s efficacy against COVID-19, has found it does not reduce healthcare workers’ risk of contracting the disease. Future studies will explore the vaccine’s influence on other infections and COVID-19 vaccine responses.

A world-leading international trial into the immune-boosting benefits of the tuberculosis vaccine, BCG, has found it does not protect healthcare workers against COVID-19.

The BRACE trial, led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, to test whether the BCG vaccine could protect healthcare workers against SARS-CoV-2 in the first six months after vaccination found it didn’t reduce the risk of developing COVID-19 among those on the pandemic frontline.

BCG was originally developed to prevent tuberculosis and is still given to over 130 million babies worldwide each year for that purpose.

The BRACE trial was built on previous research, which showed BCG also boosted ‘front-line’ immunity in infants and protected against respiratory infections in adolescents and adults. It was hoped the vaccine could be repurposed to buy crucial time in a pandemic like COVID-19 until disease-specific vaccines were developed and tested.

The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and based on the second stage of the BRACE randomized controlled trial, involved 3988 of the almost 7000 healthcare workers who signed up across 36 sites in Australia, the Netherlands, UK, Spain, and Brazil. UMC Utrecht in the Netherlands, University of Exeter in the UK, and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil helped to oversee the international arms of the trial.

The risk of symptomatic COVID-19 was 14.7 percent in the BCG group and 12.3 percent in the placebo group during the first six months after joining the trial. The research could not determine whether the vaccine reduced hospitalizations or death due to the low number of participants with severe COVID-19.

Murdoch Children’s and the University of Melbourne Professor Nigel Curtis, Chief Principal Investigator of BRACE, said symptomatic COVID-19 being observed slightly more frequently in the BCG group might be explained by stronger immune responses induced by the vaccine.

“When we analyzed the immune cells from our healthcare workers, we saw that the BCG vaccine altered the immune response to COVID-19,” he said.

“Symptoms reflect the immune system working hard to fight the virus. A stronger response induced by BCG could be beneficial in killing the virus more rapidly and protecting against progression to more severe disease. There was some evidence of this in trial participants over the age of 60, in whom COVID-19 symptoms were shorter in the BCG-vaccinated group.”

Professor Curtis said because COVID-19 vaccines had been developed and rolled out at lightning speed and healthcare workers prioritized, less participants were recruited than originally envisioned. As a result, lower case numbers meant the team was unable to investigate whether BCG protected against hospitalization and death from COVID-19, he said.

A Murdoch Children’s led study, published in Clinical & Translational Immunology last year using blood samples from BRACE participants, also showed that the BCG vaccine did provide an immune response consistent with protection against severe COVID-19.

University of Exeter Professor John Campbell, who led the UK arm of BRACE, said the trial represented an important opportunity to test the potential of the BCG vaccine.

“The findings raise important questions about how BCG can modify the course of different viral illnesses and allows us to develop a fuller understanding of whether the vaccine can provide protection against a range of infections other than its main target, tuberculosis,” he said.

Oswaldo Cruz Foundation’s Dr. Julio Croda said the majority of COVID-19 symptomatic cases were recorded in the Brazil trial arm.

“This demonstrates the high burden of the disease in Brazil during the entire pandemic,” he said. Although BCG does not protect against symptomatic COVID-19, we will also use the data to assess whether BCG protects healthcare workers for latent tuberculosis infection. An open question, especially for populations at high risk of acquiring the disease.”

Professor Curtis said trials of this size and complexity normally took about eight to 12 months to organize and recruit, but BRACE was able to start within three weeks due to the dedicated researchers and support teams at the Murdoch Children’s, together with generous philanthropic support.

“This trial highlights the importance of large-scale randomized controlled trials to test hypotheses and evaluate the effectiveness of new or repurposed drugs or vaccines,” he said. The importance of this was highlighted early in the pandemic by The Director General of the World Health Organization Tedros Ghebreyesus who stressed the need for the BCG vaccine to be given only in the context of clinical trials.”

Professor Curtis said trial data analysis was ongoing with further results on the effect of BCG expected later this year, including the impact of the vaccine on other infections, such as respiratory illnesses, and the effect on COVID-19 vaccine responses. The trial team is also using blood samples collected from participants to discover biomarkers for COVID-19 risk.

Reference: “Randomized Trial of BCG Vaccine to Protect against Covid-19 in Health Care Workers” by Laure F. Pittet, Ph.D., Nicole L. Messina, Ph.D., Francesca Orsini, M.Sc., Cecilia L. Moore, Ph.D., Veronica Abruzzo, M.Clin.Epi., Simone Barry, Ph.D., Rhian Bonnici, B.Sc., Marc Bonten, Ph.D., John Campbell, M.D., Julio Croda, Ph.D., Margareth Dalcolmo, Ph.D., Kaya Gardiner, M.P.H., Grace Gell, B.Sc., Susie Germano, B.Sc., Adriano Gomes-Silva, Ph.D., Casey Goodall, B.Eng., Amanda Gwee, Ph.D., Tenaya Jamieson, M.Sc., Bruno Jardim, M.Sc., Tobias R. Kollmann, Ph.D., Marcus V.G. Lacerda, Ph.D., Katherine J. Lee, Ph.D., Michaela Lucas, M.D., David J. Lynn, Ph.D., Laurens Manning, Ph.D., Helen S. Marshall, M.D., Ellie McDonald, Ph.D., Craig F. Munns, Ph.D., Suellen Nicholson, B.Sc., Abby O’Connell, Ph.D., Roberto D. de Oliveira, Ph.D., Susan Perlen, Ph.D., Kirsten P. Perrett, Ph.D., Cristina Prat-Aymerich, Ph.D., Peter C. Richmond, M.B., B.S., Jesus Rodriguez-Baño, Ph.D., Glauce dos Santos, M.Sc., Patricia V. da Silva, Ph.D., Jia Wei Teo, B.Sc., Paola Villanueva, B.Med.Sc., Adilia Warris, Ph.D., Nicholas J. Wood, Ph.D., Andrew Davidson, M.D. and Nigel Curtis, Ph.D. for the BRACE Trial Consortium Group, 27 April 2023, New England Journal of Medicine.
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2212616

BRACE trial donations included a $AU18 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $AU700,000 from Sarah and Lachlan Murdoch, $AU400,000 from The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, $AU1.5 million from The Minderoo Foundation, $AU200,000 from the South Australian Government and $AU250,000 from UK Peter Sowerby Foundation.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1651773745336295425

View: https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1651773745336295425


Chief Nerd@TheChiefNerd
10:22 PM · Apr 27, 2023
3.5M Views


NEW – ABC News Censors Robert F. Kennedy Jr During His Primetime Interview, Citing 'False Claims' About Vaccines

"During our conversation Kennedy made false claims about the COVID-19 vaccines...We've used our editorial judgement and not included extended portions of that exchange in our interview."

[video at link - 4 min 52 sec]

~~~~~~~

You can also see the video here:

4 min 52 sec

NEW – ABC News Censors Robert F. Kennedy Jr During His Primetime Interview

"During our conversation Kennedy made false claims about the COVID-19 vaccines...We've used our editorial judgement and not included extended portions of that exchange in our interview."

rumble.com

Here's the part at the end of the interview where the reporter admits to editing the interview:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPEJufEOLh0
36 seconds


Bobby Kennedy responds on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1652034575554453506

View: https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1652034575554453506


Robert F. Kennedy Jr @RobertKennedyJr
3:38 PM · Apr 28, 2023

47 USC 315 makes it illegal for TV networks to censor Presidential candidates but Thursday, ABC showed its contempt for the law, democracy, and its audience by cutting most of the content of my interview with host Linsey Davis leaving only cherry-picked snippets and a defamatory disclaimer. Offering no evidence, @ABC justified this act of censorship by falsely asserting that I made "false claims." In truth, Davis engaged me in a lively, informative, and mutually respectful debate on the government’s Covid countermeasures. I’m happy to supply citations to support every statement I made during that exchange. I'm certain that ABC’s decision to censor came as a shock to Linsey as well. Instead of journalism, the public saw a hatchet job. Instead of information, they got defamation and unsheathed Pharma propaganda. Americans deserve to hear the full interview so they can make up their own minds. How can democracy function without a free and unbiased press? As President, I will free FCC from its corporate captors and force the agency to follow the law by revoking the licenses of networks that put the mercantile ambitions of advertisers ahead of the public interest. #Kennedy24

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

A negative and imho biased article on Dr. Ladapo, our great surgeon general here in FL and by extension DeSantis.

Florida surgeon general appointed by DeSantis cut data from a COVID-19 vaccine safety study

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has drawn previous scrutiny over his resistance to COVID-19 mandates for vaccines and masks.

news.yahoo.com

(fair use applies)


Florida surgeon general appointed by DeSantis cut data from a COVID-19 vaccine safety study
Associated Press,Sarah Gray
Mon, April 24, 2023, 8:18 PM EDT

• Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo cut data from a COVID-19 vaccine safety study, per multiple reports.
• Ladapo was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021 to head the Florida Department of Health.
• He has drawn intense scrutiny over his resistance to COVID-19 mandates for vaccines and masks.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — An analysis that was the basis of a highly criticized recommendation from Florida's surgeon general cautioning young men against getting the COVID-19 vaccine omitted information that showed catching the virus could increase the risk of a cardiac-related death much more than getting the mRNA shot, according to drafts of the analysis obtained by the Tampa Bay Times.

The nonbinding recommendation made by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo last fall ran counter to the advice provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ladapo, a Harvard-trained medical doctor who was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021 to head the Florida Department of Health, has drawn intense scrutiny over his shared resistance with the Republican governor to COVID-19 mandates for vaccines and masks, and other health policies endorsed by the federal government.

The early drafts of the analysis obtained by the Times through a records request showed that catching COVID-19 could increase the chances of a cardiac-related death much more than getting the vaccine, but that information was missing from the final version put out by the Florida Department of Health last October.

Ladapo said that the risk of men ages 18 to 39 having cardiac complications outweighed the benefits of getting the mRNA vaccine.

Several weeks after the Tampa Bay Times report, Politico published a draft showing Ladapo's notes. The document titled "Dr. L's Edits" shows where the language was changed.

Matt Hitchings, an infectious disease epidemiologist and professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, told the Times that it seems that sections of the analysis were omitted because they did not fit the narrative the surgeon general wanted to push.

"This is a grave violation of research integrity," Hitchings said. "(The vaccine) has done a lot to advance the health of people of Florida and he's encouraging people to mistrust it."

In a statement on Twitter posted Saturday in response to the Times' story, Ladapo said, "It's not only unfortunate that COVID has corrupted scientists' ability to think clearly about epidemiology but also sad that people rush to defend a vaccine that has shown increased cardiovascular risk in multiple studies."

In a statement to Politico Ladapo said: "To say that I 'removed an analysis' for a particular outcome is an implicit denial of the fact that the public has been the recipient of biased data and interpretations since the beginning of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine campaign. I have never been afraid of disagreement with peers or media."

Last year, Ladapo released guidance recommending against vaccinations for healthy children, contradicting federal public health leaders whose advice says all kids should get the shots. In response, the American Academy of Pediatrics and its Florida chapter issued written statements reiterating support for vaccinating eligible children ages 5 and older against COVID-19.

DeSantis, who is contemplating a GOP presidential bid, also has requested that a grand jury be convened to investigate any wrongdoing with respect to the COVID-19 vaccines. DeSantis' request argues that pharmaceutical companies had a financial interest in creating a climate in which people believed that getting a coronavirus vaccine would ensure they couldn't spread the virus to others.

The Florida Supreme Court agreed to the request last December.

Florida Surgeon General Faces Criticism Over mRNA Vaccines Survey Editing

Critics say Ladapo make unethical edits to a vaccine study.

www.theepochtimes.com

(fair use applies)


Florida Surgeon General Faces Criticism Over mRNA Vaccines Survey Editing
The study focused on the risk of MRNA vaccines to young men
Matt McGregor
April 28, 2023

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is facing criticism after a public record request showed that he had edited a state-commissioned study (pdf) on messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccinations.

According to critics in the medical field, his edits suggest that he was trying to exaggerate the risk of cardiac death from mRNA vaccines in males 18 to 39.

Ladapo reported the data to show that there was a sharp increase in heart-related deaths among young men in that age range and recommended they not get the vaccine, which contradicted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) stance on the vaccines.

Ladapo based this recommendation not only on the Florida study but also studies from Scandinavia, England, and the rest of the United States.

“There are a number of studies that are indicating that these vaccines, mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular and cardiac events. And we just added to that with another one,” Ladapo said, adding that the Florida study was “not definitive,” but consistent with the other studies.

Since their rollout, Ladapo has questioned the safety and efficacy of the vaccines and has been critical of policies mandating them to the ire of federal public health agencies and media that promote the “safe and effective” narrative.

In Politico, Matt Hitchings, an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, called his edits “a lie.”

“To say this — based on what we’ve seen, and how this analysis was made — it’s a lie,” Hitchings said.

Hitchings, who disagreed with the findings in the initial study, said there was political motivation behind his Ladapo’s changes.

“Key information was withheld from the public that would have allowed them or other experts to interpret this in context,” Hitchings said.

Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said his edits were “troubling.”

“He took out stuff that didn’t support his position,” Salmon said. “That’s really a problem.”

Dr. Harvey Risch, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, who’s sided with Ladapo on his assessment of the vaccines, disagreed with the criticism, calling Ladapo “an honest broker and thus trustworthy in his methods and conclusions.”

“I’m not seeing any issues of substance here,” Risch said.

Ladapo Responds to Criticism

Ladapo responded to the criticism on Twitter stating, “PhD-trained physician revises report based on his scientific expertise = ‘scandalous altering of results.’ Fauci enthusiasts are terrified and will do anything to divert attention from the risks of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines—especially cardiac deaths. Truth will prevail.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health told The Epoch Times that, given the high level of immunity, there’s no reason to continue administering the COVID-19 vaccine to healthy people.

“Americans know this, and uptake has been abysmal, despite the harmful cajoling from the CDC, FDA, and public health officials over the past two years,” the spokesperson said. “The State Surgeon General stands by his guidance recommending against their use.”

Ladapo said in a statement to The Epoch Times, “Based on overwhelming studies of adverse side effects associated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, from both international and domestic researchers, I determined that analyses of DOH [Department of Health] surveillance data would be worthwhile—especially since the federal government and Big Pharma continue to misrepresent risks associated with these vaccines. It is distinctly harmful to allow pharmaceutical companies and politics to dictate health guidance without concern for the negative impacts experienced firsthand in their communities.”

On the criticized changes to the study, Ladapo said it’s a normal part of the process to make “revisions and refinements.”

“I have the appropriate expertise and training to make these decisions, and all revisions were appropriate,” Ladapo said. “To say that I ‘removed an analysis’ for a particular outcome is an implicit denial of the fact that the public has been the recipient of biased data and interpretations since the beginning of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine campaign. I have never been afraid of disagreement with peers or media.”

Zachary Stieber and Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

CDC to stop tracking Covid levels in communities

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to stop tracking the spread of Covid in communities across the U.S., the agency said Friday.

news.yahoo.com

(fair use applies)


CDC to stop tracking Covid levels in communities
Erika Edwards - NBC News
Fri, April 28, 2023, 8:34 PM EDT

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to stop tracking the spread of Covid in communities across the U.S., the agency said Friday.

Moving forward, the CDC is expected to rely more heavily on Covid-related hospitalizations, according to two people familiar with the plans — much like it does to track the spread of the flu.

The agency has been using a color-coded system since February 2022 to indicate high, medium or low transmission of Covid, county by county.

But as reported cases have steadily fallen and availability of rapid, at-home tests has risen, it has become difficult to get an accurate view of how much virus is circulating.

The CDC is expected to announce the new tracking system within the coming weeks. The news was first reported by CNN.

The CDC said the move away from tracking community level transmission is tied to the May 11 expiration of the national public health emergency.

"With the end of the public health emergency, CDC will no longer get the same data. We are working to update the measure used to convey the risk of Covid-19 in communities based on data that will be available," a CDC spokesperson wrote in an email. "Our priority remains providing the information necessary to protect the nation's public health."

Even in areas with low levels of spread, the CDC recommends staying up to date with Covid vaccinations. Last week, the agency signed off on a second round of booster shots for people ages 65 and older.

According to the CDC's tracker, the average number of weekly cases has been falling steadily since early January. As of April 26, the weekly average was 88,330 cases.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

'Dehumanizing': Experts rip California pilot program testing COVID-sniffing dogs on schoolchildren

Faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than antigen tests, public health official says, but high false positive rate. "May be traumatizing" for some kids, doctor warns.

justthenews.com

(fair use applies)


'Dehumanizing': Experts rip California pilot program testing COVID-sniffing dogs on schoolchildren
Faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than antigen tests, public health official says, but high false positive rate. "May be traumatizing" for some kids, doctor warns.
By Greg Piper
Updated: April 28, 2023 - 11:48pm

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) wants to bring airport screening procedures to public schools in the Golden State — not to search for weapons, narcotics or explosion-prone batteries, but for an endemic virus that poses little risk to children.

Researchers affiliated with the department and Kaiser Permanente shared the results of their dog-sniffing pilot program to detect COVID-19 in 27 unnamed "volunteer schools" in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics Monday.

The screenings may raise civil liberties and medical privacy concerns, according to California doctors who reviewed the research and questioned the tangible benefit of COVID screenings in 2023 versus the risks of routine, compelled interactions with canines.

The paper also illustrates the growing divergence between the U.S. and the rest of the world on managing COVID infections.

The U.K. National Health Service Thursday shuttered its COVID track-and-trace app, with 31 million downloads and nearly 2 million resulting self-isolations, "after months of declining use," the Evening Standard reported. The government credited high immunity and vaccinations and better access to treatments.

Brown University's Pandemic Center and Center for Mobility Analysis for Pandemic Prevention Strategies, by contrast, is hosting a seminar Friday on "digital contact tracing systems to better prepare ourselves for the next pandemic."

CDPH sponsors an "effective" statewide antigen testing program that nonetheless "requires personnel, testing resources, and sample collection and generates medical waste," the JAMA Pediatrics paper says. "Scent-trained dogs are a strategy for rapid, noninvasive, low-cost, and environmentally responsible COVID-19 screening."

The pooches' ability to consistently identify infected students and staff was underwhelming, however. They reported false positives more than four times as often (383) as they "accurately signaled" infections (85) based on nearly 4,000 "paired" antigen screenings. The false negative rate was much lower: 18 missed infections, compared to 3,411 confirmed negatives.

The research has a federal connection. The CDC Foundation, created by Congress but independent of the agency, "provided funding to Early Alert Canines for the purchase and care of the 2 dogs trained, to support the handlers and trainers, and for other expenses," the paper's disclosures state.

Two of the authors appeared on the CDC Foundation podcast Contagious Conversations last summer. Carol Glaser, assistant deputy director in the Office of the State Public Health Laboratory Director, praised the pilot for taking away less time from teachers and exempting children from "that invasive nasal swab" while reducing plastic waste from tests. The students and staff "absolutely love the dogs," she said.

"During the pandemic, I never had to asymptomatically test even during hospital work," University of California, San Francisco epidemiologist Vinay Prasad wrote in his newsletter Monday. "No dog ever smelled me."

When future generations look at the infection fatality rate, "they may think we are actually insane," he added, calling the pilot "dehumanizing" to kids.

Stanford University health policy professor Jay Bhattacharya, who emphasizes the "thousand-fold" difference in COVID mortality between elderly and young, told Just the News the study reminded him of a "smart toilet" proposal by Stanford radiology and urology faculty to individually identify infected people through bowel movements in public places.

"I do not think it is a good idea that passing a dog’s sniff test should be a precondition for people to participate in their regular activities, especially children," he wrote in an email, which "may be traumatizing for some and certainly a violation of basic civil rights in many cases."

The study appears to be popular, however, with scientists who favor ongoing COVID mitigation regardless of near-universal natural and vaccine-acquired immunity. "Imagine this at all schools and work places!" Queens University emeritus professor of infectious diseases Dick Zoutman tweeted. "What a great way to start your day!"

CDPH and Kaiser Permanente researchers said the dogs went through two months of scent training to achieve "greater than 95% sensitivity and specificity for detection of the virus" and were then sent on 50 school visits in April and May 2022. They sniffed more than 1,500 participants, 89% of them students.

Participants were spaced six feet apart and handlers led the dogs to sniff their ankles and feet for "volatile organic compounds." Dogs would sit if they detected infection, though "participants faced away from the dogs" to protect confidentiality. Testing only took "a matter of seconds."

The sensitivity and specificity percentages fell compared to lab results, which the researchers blamed on factors including noise, wind and smells. The study was limited by "the low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 during the study period."

The goal is to launch "large-scale" dog-sniffing confirmed by antigen testing only on initial positives, which researchers expect will reduce antigen testing by 85%. Once "modifications" are made, the program can be rolled out widely for COVID but also other pathogens.

The paper has drawn only one formal response. University of Southern California dermatologist Binh Ngo noted the references "do not characterize the volatile organic compounds emitted by the skin surface of Covid infected individuals," specify whether the compounds are COVID-specific or detail "the time and cost to train a dog to the necessary level to perform these examinations."

UCSF's Prasad questioned whether the sniff-screenings could really be confidential. If the dog sits down by a child, even classmates facing away "will still know ... kids will look around" and notice when someone disappears from school during the day.

"I think for the purpose it was intended — to screen kids so that the pretest probability was higher before they conducted a more accurate antigen test — it's a moderate success," Stanford's Bhattacharya told Just the News. "But that's a very narrow standard to judge."

The "marginal benefit" of scaling up in the midst of high immunity "is very low," and "zero-covid policies to stop disease spread at all costs do not make sense," the Great Barrington Declaration coauthor said.

CDPH and corresponding author Glaser did not respond to Just the News queries. The California Department of Education directed Just the News to CDPH and did not answer what involvement if any it would have with a broader program.

The CDC Foundation emphasized to Just the News the project started in fall 2021, "when we were still learning more about this virus," and ended last fall. The dogs have a track record with detecting other diseases and offer "a more rapid, less invasive, lower-cost option" than antigen tests.

"Importantly, this program adds to the knowledge base for alternative testing for future emergency responses or virus detection," it said, without answering what benefit it offers against steadily less dangerous COVID variants to a low-risk population that can get vaccinated and boosted.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

For some long COVID patients, exercise is bad medicine

They used to run marathons. Now, taking a shower is exhausting. But for these patients—who have one of the most debilitating symptoms of long COVID—hope may be on the horizon.

www.nationalgeographic.com

For some long COVID patients, exercise is bad medicine
They used to run marathons. Now, taking a shower is exhausting. But for these patients—who have one of the most debilitating symptoms of long COVID—hope may be on the horizon.
By Kaelyn Lynch
Published April 27, 2023

Exercise will make you feel better, right? Not for many long COVID patients.

New research points to a dysfunctional nervous system—and veins unable to move blood efficiently to the heart. Exercise, even the basics (above), can leave some confined to bed for days.

How do you treat it? Read the full story to find out.

~~~~~~~~

Unfortunately the rest of this article is behind a paywall and I can't find it anywhere else. I did find the authors twitter and here are some of her comments about it (and lots of requests in the comments for her to find a way to get this out without the paywall). FYI the abbreviations are as follows: LC = Long Covid, PEM = Post-exertional malaise and ME/CFS = encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1651697526616244225

View: https://twitter.com/kaelyn_lynch/status/1651697526616244225

Kaelyn Lynch@kaelyn_lynch
5:19 PM · Apr 27, 2023

For @NatGeo, I wrote about post-exertional malaise—one of the most debilitating symptoms of long COVID and ME/CFS—and how it upends the notion of exercise as a universal medicine.

This is a complex and nuanced topic—this story just scratches at the surface, and I hope to write much more about it. But the takeaway is: Exercise should not just be a blanket prescription for p/w LC. In many cases, not only will it not help, it may harm.

Not all exercise is created equal, and there are some forms of rehabilitation by great researchers like @PutrinoLab that can be beneficial. There are also many different phenotypes of LC, some of which can benefit from exercise.

But doctors + researchers need to know how to recognize and screen for PEM, which affects many, if not most, of LC patients. It's hard—PEM flips everything we've been taught about the positive effects of movement on its head—but necessary to truly "do no harm."

Thanks to @BijalPTrivedi for the assignment and deft edits, and most of all to everyone who spoke to me for this story. Even if your name didn't appear, you made an impact on my reporting.




If you are interested in this topic, here are some follow up links I found:

https://www.cell.com/trends/endocrinology-metabolism/fulltext/S1043-2760(23)00055-3

Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations - Nature Reviews Microbiology

Long COVID is an often debilitating illness of severe symptoms that can develop during or following COVID-19. In this Review, Davis, McCorkell, Vogel and Topol explore our knowledge of long COVID and highlight key findings, including potential mechanisms, the overlap with other conditions and...

www.nature.com

Also see the next two posts, since they are more for the layperson I will post those entire articles, not just the links.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

Understanding ME/CFS and Long COVID as Post-Viral Conditions - Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine

Understanding ME/CFS and Long COVID as Post-Viral Conditions By Susan Carr, Senior Writer Susan Carr: I’ve read that pre-COVID-19, you and some of your Stanford colleagues thought that it might take a pandemic for the scientific community to take myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue...

www.improvediagnosis.org

(fair use applies)


Understanding ME/CFS and Long COVID as Post-Viral Conditions
By Susan Carr, Senior Writer
January 2022

The experience of patients whose COVID-19 symptoms persist for four weeks or more—Long COVID or post-COVID syndrome—has led to renewed interest in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (MF/CFS), an illness with symptoms similar to Long COVID. Both conditions involve uncertainty regarding diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis and are subject to ongoing research. Organizations worldwide, including the National Institutes of Health in the United States, are exploring the possible connections between Long COVID, ME/CFS, and other similar conditions.

To better understand ME/CFS and its connection to Long COVID, Susan Carr, Senior Writer for ImproveDx, recently talked with Jaime Seltzer. In a plenary session at the 14th annual Diagnostic Error in Medicine conference, Seltzer explored the similarities and differences between Long COVID, ME/CFS, and other conditions that a viral infection may trigger. Seltzer, diagnosed with ME/CFS in 2015, is Director of Scientific and Medical Outreach at #MEAction, an international nonprofit focused on education, research, and advocacy for people with ME/CFS. She also consults on several research projects at Stanford University, including some with Professor Ronald Davis, PhD, director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center and ME/CFS researcher, whose son, Whitney, is severely ill with ME/CFS.

Background

Perhaps as many as 2 million or more Americans have ME/CFS, although most of them have not been diagnosed, according to a report published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2015. The IOM undertook the report to reevaluate diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS and develop a process for updating those criteria based on new research.

Patients and clinicians will benefit from an increased understanding of ME/CFS and Long COVID and the relationship between the two illnesses, which are considered in many cases to be post-viral conditions triggered by infection. In the 2015 report, the IOM proposed a shortlist of symptoms that indicate a diagnosis of ME/CFS (see sidebar). Those symptoms are similar but not identical to symptoms of Long COVID. Clinicians and researchers point out that listening carefully to patients and distinct discerning symptoms are important to identify COVID patients who have developed ME/CFS. In addition to physicians and other clinical researchers, patients, and advocacy organizations actively seek effective treatments for both conditions. They have found that recognizing and treating them promptly can be advantageous.

Susan Carr: I’ve read that pre-COVID-19, you and some of your Stanford colleagues thought that it might take a pandemic for the scientific community to take myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome seriously. Please explain the connection.

Jaime Seltzer: Yes, that hypothesis about a pandemic was mentioned in a Time magazine article published in October 2020. Having had difficulty gaining adequate support for our work, we wondered out loud what it would take for ME/CFS to be taken seriously by our funding agencies, and Ron said, “Well, it would take a pandemic.”

I was horrified, but I knew he was right. Infectious diseases can trigger chronic diseases like ME/CFS. Given the number of people who would become ill during a pandemic, it seemed inevitable that a true pandemic would dramatically increase the number of people living with ME/CFS.

Carr: Is there a history of increased diagnosis of chronic disease following pandemics?

Seltzer: We've seen pockets of ME/CFS and other, often post-viral diseases develop following other outbreaks. We might say these diseases are often triggered by viral infection rather than “caused,” per se because susceptibility can be hereditary.

I estimated on Twitter in April 2020 that COVID could double the number of people with ME/CFS. Unfortunately, it appears I was off by half or more. Studies show that 25% to more than 30% of COVID-19 patients experience long-term symptoms, many or most of which also occur with ME/CFS. The New York Times is currently reporting 46 million reported cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. alone.

Some people with persistent symptoms will gradually get better, but many will be chronically ill for the rest of their lives. Yet, I see little acknowledgment that COVID will lead to permanent disability. As a society, we don’t do well with the idea of “sick forever.” You're supposed to die or recover; that's what our culture can accept.

Carr: So, are you saying that COVID-19 can lead to ME/CFS? How do Long COVID and ME/CFS relate, and what are the implications for diagnosis?

Seltzer: I would say that Long COVID is a complex mix of symptoms that can indicate various diseases and syndromes. Some Long COVID patients have an ME/CFS-like set of symptoms that look like ME/CFS to an experienced clinician—whether they would meet the diagnostic criteria or not is another question. Based on the Patient-Led Research Collaborative research, I estimate that about 75% of Long COVID patients show signs of ME/CFS. The other 25% may have specific damage to an organ or organ system from the virus itself or another disease triggered by infection. Some people have co-morbidities strongly associated with ME/CFS, like postural tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, a kind of dysautonomia, but those may also occur on their own.

We’ve learned from ME/CFS that people with post-infectious syndromes may have a better chance of recovery and improvement early in the disease. People who promptly begin a treatment called pacing—being active when able and resting when tired—may have a better chance of getting better.

There is great value in advocacy groups of people with chronic diseases working together, but for clinical purposes, figuring out what's up with each patient on an individual level matters. I can't emphasize that enough. For example, it’s crucial that patients with post-exertional malaise (PEM), the cardinal symptom of ME/CFS and common with Long COVID, be identified and treated accordingly. If not, they may be prescribed “graded exercise,” a gradual intensification of physical exercise that worsens them. Graded exercise therapy has been removed from recommendations from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control and, in the United Kingdom, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, or NICE, in recent years, as we have grown to understand that exertional intolerance is a distinct characteristic of the disease.

Because the ME/CFS community understands PEM and the potential for COVID to cause it, #MEAction developed a campaign early in the pandemic called #StopRestPace and worked hard to raise awareness about appropriate treatment. Pacing activity is the best strategy for preventing post-exertional malaise.

Carr: How important is post-exertional malaise to the diagnosis of ME/CFS? Is it difficult to recognize?

Seltzer: Once clinicians learn how to recognize the way patients describe symptoms of PEM, I don’t think they will miss a patient with ME/CFS again. Healthy people, including some clinicians, may attempt to connect pathological symptoms to something they have experienced as healthy individuals. Post-exertional malaise is different from feeling more tired than usual after exercising. In the context of ME/CFS and now Long COVID, malaise is a symptom that means feeling ill. Patients may even describe shock-like symptoms—lowered heart rate or blood pressure, decreased core body temperature—after exertion. PEM is not just feeling more tired or achy than normal after exertion, and it’s important to understand the difference.

I hope Long COVID will result in more people gaining an interest in really understanding these often-post-viral diseases. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel for Long COVID; with the research that’s been done on ME/CFS, we have a great starting point for diagnosis and treatment.

Carr: ME/CFS is often described as a condition that primarily affects women, especially white women of privilege. Do you think that’s an accurate representation?

Seltzer: One of my quests is to spread the word about ME/CFS to clinicians who serve Black communities. Community-based studies show that Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) are slightly more likely to have ME/CFS than whites, but the diagnosis is practically barred for them because of bias and limited access. COVID has disproportionately affected BIPOC populations, so we should expect to see Long COVID and ME/CFS among those patients, too. Privileged white women are the ones who end up with a diagnosis because they have the time, money, and support to reach a diagnosis that is prohibitively inaccessible to many others. If they have a patient with fibromyalgia who also experiences PEM, they should consider adding ME/CFS to the differential diagnosis.

We have a long-standing problem in health care with disparities. In addition to working on racial justice and health equity, the key is to recognize that disabled folks are not some group of “others.” They are our friends, family, co-workers, and the people with whom we go to school and church. They're not strangers. They are us and we should take care of our own.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

The ME/CFS and Long-COVID PEM Studies: Exercise, Recovery and Symptoms - Health Rising

Three studies on post-exertional malaise in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and one on ME/CFS and long COVID have recently popped up. In this blog, we cover them all. The Distinctive Symptom – PEM (Not Fatigue) That “fatigue” in “chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)” – boy, has that ever muddied...

www.healthrising.org

(fair use applies)


The ME/CFS and Long-COVID PEM Studies: Exercise, Recovery and Symptoms
Cort Johnson
April 17, 2023

Three studies on post-exertional malaise in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and one on ME/CFS and long COVID have recently popped up. In this blog, we cover them all.

The Distinctive Symptom – PEM (Not Fatigue)

Exercise Intolerance; i.e. post-exertional malaise – the key symptom in ME/CFS.

That “fatigue” in “chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)” – boy, has that ever muddied the waters. Just about everyone, whether healthy or not, experiences fatigue – and regularly. The symptom is so universal that the use of it to describe ME/CFS allowed – and still allows – people to treat it like it’s nothing.

People who have it, though, know that fatigue was never it. While the fatigue in ME/CFS is simply enormous, what makes the disease so different is in the inability to exert oneself, even in a mild way, without negative consequences. Symptoms – including fatigue – worsen, and new symptoms pop up. Get into a nice strong PEM state, and things really go haywire – people retreat to dark spaces, isolate themselves, their ability to process information takes a hike, gut problems can get worse, and of course, they feel more fatigue and often more pain.

Since PEM is the distinguishing symptom of ME/CFS, we really should be able to know it, describe it, and make it distinguishable. Drug companies, after all, need to have confidence that they have an ME/CFS patient, and not some other type of patient, in their trials. If they have to use symptoms to do that, they’re going to have good measures of the distinguishing symptom in ME/CFS – PEM.

Some work has been done on that by (who else?) Lenny Jason. Lenny Jason’s DePaul Questionnaire contained a PEM subscale which contained 5 symptoms that participants rated according to how severe they were and how frequently they occurred:

• A dead, heavy feeling after exercise
• Muscle weakness even after resting
• Next day soreness after everyday activities
• Mentally tired after the slightest effort
• Physically drained after mild activity.

In 2018, Jason and company added four additional questions that addressed how long the symptoms lasted, and one which asked if the person had reduced their activity levels to avoid PEM. Jason then used the PEM subscale to see if it could differentiate people with ME/CFS from people with two other highly fatiguing diseases: multiple sclerosis and post-polio syndrome (PPS). (Note that both of these diseases could be considered post-infectious diseases.)

In, “A Brief Questionnaire to Assess Post-Exertional Malaise”, the Jason group reported that the subscale was able to correctly identify 80% of the ME/CFS, MS, and PPS patients.

In the present study, Workwell Foundation researchers took their slant at the problem. Who better to assess PEM than Workwell? They regularly, after all, employ the greatest stressor of all – exercise – in their 2-day exercise tests in research studies and for disability. A past exercise study found that assessing four symptom categories (fatigue, pain, immune, and sleep-related) accurately classified 92% of ME/CFS 164 patients and 88% of healthy controls.

That was a good step forward, but Workwell wanted more. They wanted to be able to come up with a questionnaire a doctor could very quickly use in their office to determine whether a person experiences PEM, and therefore, likely has ME/CFS.

Workwell used two cardiopulmonary exercise tests to assess PEM in ME/CFS.

A Simple Diagnostic for PEM?

The study which, included 49 people with ME/CFS and 10 sedentary but healthy controls, assessed their symptoms for up to a week after the exercise.

• Cardiopulmonary symptoms
• Cognitive dysfunction
• Cold limbs
• Decrease in function
• Fatigue
• Flu-like symptoms
• Gastrointestinal disturbance
• Headache
• Increase in sensitivity
• Light-headedness
• Mood disturbance
• Muscle/joint pain
• Neurologic symptoms
• Pain
• Positive feelings mood
• Sleep disturbances
• Temperature control
• Tingling
• Weakness.

While the study was small, the results were fascinating in what they may tell us about ME/CFS and the effects of exertion.

First Exercise Test and the Next Day

Cognition was impaired in about 30% of ME/CFS patients but not in any healthy controls. Twenty-four hours later, PEM was clearly creeping in as 40% of ME/CFS patients experienced cognitive dysfunction while no healthy controls did. Fatigue was very common (@80%) in the ME/CFS patients but was much less frequent in the healthy controls (37-20%), despite their general lack of physical activity.

Muscle and joint pain was interesting, as it charted with the “burn” healthy people can experience after exercise. It was almost nil directly after exercise in the healthy controls, climbed for the next couple of days, and then disappeared completely by the end of the week. It was present in ME/CFS (38%), climbed the second day (57%), then stayed at about 40%.

Second Exercise Test and the Next Day

For the first time, a decrease in function was seen. Thirty-five percent of patients report decreased functioning 24 hours later, but no healthy controls do. Fatigue is actually heading downwards in both the healthy controls and, surprisingly enough, in the ME/CFS patients. Both groups experienced higher rates of fatigue 24 hours after the first exercise test (@ 80% for ME/CFS; 27% for HCs) than the second (63%, 9%). (I don’t know if these are statistically significant).

Twenty-four hours after the second exercise test, it appears that some adaptation has occurred, at least in some patients, as “only” 63% of ME/CFS patients report fatigue. Still, while most of the ME/CFS patients report fatigue, only 9% of the HCs now do – they are almost all over it. The same was true of weakness; over time, weakness actually declined in ME/CFS from 37% after the first test to 21% after the second test, but weakness is not present at all in the HCs 24 hours after exercise.

For the first time, sleep disturbances pop up (37% in ME/CFS vs 0% in HCs). Cognition gets whacked – not in everyone or even in most people with ME/CFS (33%) – but not at all in the healthy controls (0%).

Seven Days Later

Workwell does not measure the “second-day effect”, where some people report symptoms really ramp up, but they do assess symptoms after 7 days. Things are, in general, getting better. Fatigue continues to lower a bit – now 59% of ME/CFS patients are experiencing it, but get this – zero healthy controls are reporting experiencing fatigue. Muscle/joint pain and pain overall have remained pretty stable in the ME/CFS patients (39%, 33%) but have also completely disappeared in the healthy controls (0%).

Overall Symptom Reports

Looking at whether a symptom has been reported by a person at some point, it was clear that the symptoms in people with ME/CFS popped in and out over time as the percentage of symptoms reported at least once typically far exceeded those reported during any one of the exercise days.

Ninety-six percent of ME/CFS patients (vs 55% of HCs) reported increased fatigue by the end of the study. Muscle/joint pain showed a similar pattern (86 vs 36%), but the key findings are still to come. What Workwell wants are discriminating factors, though, and that’s what is next.

Discriminating Factors

Symptoms like reduced functioning, cognitive problems, sleep issues, lack of positive affect and headaches after exercise made the ME/CFS patients stand out.

Workwell was primarily after symptoms that could discriminate the PEM ME/CFS patients’ experience from the healthy controls; i.e. symptoms that were common in PEM but almost rarely produced by exercise in healthy but sedentary controls. Fatigue and muscle/joint pain wouldn’t do it – they occur too frequently after exercise in everyone.

Some healthy controls may still feel some fatigue or muscle pain, but they never experienced problems with functioning. Not one HC has reported a drop in functioning, yet 61% of ME/CFS patients reported they did. The pattern is similar – far more people with ME/CFS experience headaches (57 vs 9%), pain (53 vs 9%), sleep disturbance (57 vs 9%), lightheadedness (50-18%), weakness (55-18%), and far fewer experience positive feelings/positive mood. Remarkably, while only 18% of people with ME/CFS reported experiencing positive feelings at some point, 73% of healthy controls do.

The researchers were able to track how discriminating the symptoms were as the exercise test proceeded. The more the ME/CFS patients exercised, and the longer Workwell tracked symptoms, the easier it was to differentiate people with ME/CFS vs the healthy controls.

First Exercise Test

First, the researchers found experiencing any two of the following symptoms 24 hours after the first exercise test was highly discriminating (AUC – 898; Specificity – .818; Sensitivity – .878).

• Cognitive Dysfunction
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Pain
• Absence of Positive Feelings/Positive Mood.

Twenty-four hours after the 2nd exercise test, any two of this larger set of symptoms more highly discriminated ME/CFS. (AUC -.927, Specificity – 992, Sensitivity – .861)

• Cognitive Dysfunction
• Decrease in Function
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Pain
• Absence of Positive Feelings/Positive Mood • Sleep Disturbances.

Finally, symptoms found a week after the exercise stressor produced a veritable lock on an ME/CFS diagnosis. With the healthy controls fully recovered, but with many of the ME/CFS patients still suffering from PEM, presence of any one of the following symptoms produced the highest degree of certainty yet that a person with ME/CFS was present. (AUC-949, Specificity – 1.000, Sensitivity – .895). I don’t know if you can get a much better example of the long-lasting effects of PEM after exercise.

Cognitive Dysfunction​

Decrease in Function​

Fatigue​

Muscle/Joint Pain​

Pain​

Sleep Disturbances.​

​

Reduced Functioning and Lack of Positive Feelings After Exercise

Exercise tended to improve the healthy, sedentary controls’ moods. Not so in ME/CFS, where few reported positive feelings and almost 30% reported a mood disturbance.

Functioning, or the lack of it, is the key problem in ME/CFS. Komaroff’s stunning 1996 study found that functioning was significantly worse in ME/CFS than in serious diseases like heart failure, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. A 2019 survey found that “reduced stamina and functional ability” was the most common consequence (99.4%!) of ME/CFS, yet the authors pointed out that functioning as a criterion has never received its due either in the research or the medical realm.

Reduced functioning only explicitly showed up in ME/CFS criteria after 2017 and sixty to 98% of medical records of ME/CFS patients fail to even mention problems with functioning. Doctors tend to underestimate the extent of a patient’s disability by two-thirds. Most clearly still don’t get it about functioning and ME/CFS.

A couple of exercise studies that have assessed how exercise affects functioning show declines in the number of steps, decreased activity, increased number of naps, and reduced cognitive abilities.

It was notable, given the well-known emotional benefits of exercise (i.e., the “runner’s high”) and its ability to increase energy levels and feelings of well-being – even in people with depression – that few people with ME/CFS experienced that. The healthy controls did – 73% of them reported feeling more positive, but only 18% of ME/CFS patients did. Meanwhile, 29% reported feeling symptoms associated with a mood disturbance while none of the healthy controls did.

A Personal Experience

One wonders what would have shown up if the survey had been extended one more day in order to get in the day two hit after exercise. I kept an eye on my symptoms after a double-espresso-powered day that required an extraordinary amount of walking (11,600 steps!) and some substantial driving. The range of symptoms I went through was remarkable.

• Day 1- I felt little pain but felt fatigued and weak, and so I rested. The most interesting symptom was that I could not take in or enjoy nature.
• Day 2 – The next day, I had lots of burning muscle pain, and felt edgy, but my mind felt sharp. I was able to enjoy nature again – it was like it suddenly clicked back into focus. Still fatigued, I walked a little and was a little fluey by the end of the day.
• Day 3 – Despite resting for two days, day 3 was in some ways my worst day. My burning muscle pain was worse, I had heart palpitations during the day, and my mental sharpness was gone, I had difficulty concentrating, some dizziness, and the fluey feeling kicked in during the afternoon again.

A Simple Diagnostic For PEM Indeed…

In the end, the authors proposed that if a doctor asked someone if they experienced increased fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, lack of positive feelings/mood, or a decrease in function after exercise, and the person answered yes to two of those symptoms, the doctor could safely assume that they have ME/CFS.

Well, you might say maybe those are just the background symptoms of ME/CFS. Maybe after a week, people with ME/CFS are back to baseline? The next Workwell study answered that question.

[continued next post]

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

[continued from post above]

The Recovery from Exercise Study

Recovery was rapid in the healthy controls and most recovered within a day. It took two weeks for the average ME/CFS patient to recover.

Besides Jared and Staci Stevens from Workwell, “Recovery from Exercise in Persons with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)” also included Maureen Hanson, John Chia, and Susan Levine.

Involving 80 people with ME/CFS and 64 healthy but not physically active controls, this 2-day cardiopulmonary exercise test study assessed how long it took to recover from these short, but intense, bicycle exercise tests. It’s a good question. These studies are almost never done unless you are in a research study or are attempting to get disability. It’s good to know if you’re going to have to sacrifice your body either for science or to get some financial security.

This study simply followed the participants until their symptoms returned to baseline; i.e. to the same level that was present prior to the exercise tests. They used something called the Specific Symptom Questionnaire and asked for free text inputs as well.

The study showed that most of the sedentary controls not only recovered in two days but many reported they recovered in one day, and some even stated they recovered that day

Not so with the ME/CFS patients. It took them, on average, about two weeks to recover from the 2-day CPET. Around 7–8% of people had a prolonged recovery of 1–2 months, and one person, who was not included in the study because he was such an outlier, reported that he felt he had not recovered a year later. Interestingly, he had been in the low-symptom group. Workwell says their data shows them that a very small percentage of ME subjects feel that they never recover.

The answer, then, to the question, “Am I going to sacrifice my body to science (if you’re in a research study) or in order to help secure my financial future”, is no. You’re going to take a hit, but unless you’re a very rare patient, you will get back to baseline.

The authors called the “decay rate of fatigue and PEM symptoms” in ME/CFS extremely prolonged, and suggested that they responded to the exercise as if they were already “overtrained”; i.e. had already exhausted their reserves.

This helps explain why graded exercise doesn’t work – patients are asked to exercise again while they are still recovering. “Small wonder”, the authors wrote, “that graded exercise therapy has fallen into disfavor in the ME/CFS community.”

Indeed, the symptom surveys sent out before they got to the exercise facility indicated that 2/3rds of the ME/CFS participants were already considered to be in the high-symptom group. They proposed that even while at rest at home, people with ME/CFS “constantly live in the long tail of the recovery response”; i.e. they suffer from “constant and persistent PEM”.

Most interestingly, the time to recovery was not associated with symptom severity; i.e. the patients with more severe symptoms did not necessarily take longer to recover. The authors noted the concerns regarding recovery from these quite short, but intense, exercise stressors but stated their surveys suggest that most people recover within 2 weeks,

Both the post-exertional malaise (PEM) studies noted the potential applicability of their findings to long COVID – and what do you know – up popped a long-COVID/ME/CFS PEM study.

Post-exertional Malaise – A Key Symptom in ME/CFS and Long COVID?

With few exceptions, the PEM in long COVID looked just like the PEM found in ME/CFS.

The “Post-exertional malaise among people with long COVID compared to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)” study was a collaboration between the Bateman Horne Center (BHC) in Salt Lake City (Suzanne Vernon, Lucinda Bateman) and Derya Unutmaz’s research group at the Jackson Labs. Given that PEM is the defining characteristic of ME/CFS – the term was actually created by the ME/CFS community – it’s obviously quite important to determine how present it is in long COVID. This is the first study I know of that’s looked at this crucial aspect of long COVID in detail.

The study assessed the responses to an online questionnaire given to long-COVID and ME/CFS patients at the Bateman Horne Center. (The fact that 80 long-COVID responses (out of potentially several hundred) were received indicates that the BHC has seen many long-COVID patients.)

The mystery regarding the incidence of PEM in long COVID was quickly solved: all but one person stated they experienced PEM i.e.; they almost all agreed that they “experienced an unusual worsening of symptoms after minimal physical or mental exertion, which can persist for 24 hours or more after the exertion”. When asked how long the symptoms lasted,, the answers were the same for the ME/CFS and long-COVID patients (several days).

The PEM the long-COVID patients experienced, however, was worse than that experienced by the ME/CFS patients. The authors suggested that this was because people with ME/CFS had learned over time how to avoid it better.

When it came to the specific symptoms the participants experienced, both groups reported that fatigue, muscle and joint pain, infection and immune reaction, neurologic and gastrointestinal symptoms, and orthostatic intolerance all worsened. The long-COVID group, though, reported significantly more sleepiness, respiratory issues, depression and anxiety, irregular body temperature, and excessive thirst.

Conclusions

Post-exertional malaise (PEM) is finally starting to get the recognition it deserves. It’s ME/CFS’s ability to inhibit functioning, after all, that makes it so particularly devastating, and post-exertional malaise – the uproar of symptoms that occurs after even mild exertion – has, thus far, only been documented in it – and now long COVID. It’s the existence of PEM that makes ME/CFS so different from other diseases. Within the morass of other common systems (fatigue, pain, cognitive problems, sleep problems) found in ME/CFS, it’s PEM that provides clarity about this disease.

Three studies recently took a closer look at PEM in ME/CFS, and one did in long COVID. They indicate that two short, but intense, physical exercise stressors (exercise tests) provoke a standard suite of symptoms across ME/CFS compared to healthy but sedentary controls.

While it appears that some symptoms (cardiovascular, neurological, temperature issues, etc.) are not particularly provoked by exercise, all the major symptoms of ME/CFS (fatigue, reduced functioning, gut problems, sleep issues, muscle/joint pain) are.

A distinctive enough symptom set was found that if a doctor asked someone if they experienced increased fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, lack of positive feelings/mood, or a decrease in function after exercise, and that person answered yes to two of those symptoms – the doctor could safely assume that they’re experiencing PEM – and therefore have ME/CFS.

The recovery after exercise study indicated that ME/CFS patients, on average, took two weeks to recover. A small portion (7-8%) took up to two months to recover and one patient reported he was not recovered after a year. Workwell, which has done hundreds of these tests, reports these “never-recover” patients are “exceptionally rare”. The healthy but sedentary controls, on the other hand, recovered within two days, and many reported they’d recovered within one day.

The authors called the “decay rate of fatigue and PEM symptoms” in ME/CFS extremely prolonged and suggested that people with ME/CFS responded to the exercise as if they were already “overtrained”; i.e. had already exhausted their energy reserves. Interestingly, people with more severe symptoms did not tend to take longer to recover.

Finally, the incidence and symptoms associated with post-exertional malaise (PEM) in long-COVID patients appear to be nearly identical to those found in ME/CFS patients, with the proviso that PEM symptoms appear to be more severe in long COVID. That may be because long-COVID patients have not learned how to handle their PEM as well as people with ME/CFS.

Documenting that PEM is a key signature in long COVID is vitally important as PEM was little known outside the ME/CFS community prior to long COVID, and it hasn’t received the study it needs. High rates of PEM in long COVID will hopefully pave the way for more recognition and study of this unusual yet fundamental symptom – and that should benefit everyone.

The Gist

• It’s the existence of post-exertional malaise – an eruption of symptoms after mild exertion – that makes ME/CFS so different from other diseases. Within the morass of other common systems (fatigue, pain, cognitive problems, sleep problems) found in it, it’s PEM that provides clarity.
• Both the most distinctive (who else talks about PEM?) and most fundamental of symptoms in ME/CFS, PEM needs to be carefully distinguished, measured, and associated with biological findings – and ultimately used in clinical trials.
• It’s the presence of PEM, after all, that hampers functionality – the key problem in ME/CFS. The devastating impact this disease has on functioning was made clear in a 1996 study that found that functionality was significantly lower in ME/CFS than in heart failure, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes.
• Most doctor reports, though, don’t even mention functionality and most doctors dramatically underestimate (by 2/3rds) how impaired their ME/CFS patients are.
• Three studies recently took a closer look at PEM in ME/CFS, and one did in long COVID. The first indicated that two short but intense physical exercise stressors (exercise tests) provoke a standard suite of symptoms across ME/CFS compared to healthy but sedentary controls.
• While it appears that some symptoms (cardiovascular, neurological, temperature issues, etc.) are not particularly provoked by exercise, all the major symptoms of ME/CFS (fatigue, reduced functioning, gut problems, sleep issues, muscle/joint pain) are.
• A distinctive enough symptom set was found that if a doctor asked someone if they experienced increased fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, lack of positive feelings/mood, or a decrease in function after exercise, and that person answered yes to two of those symptoms, the doctor could safely assume that they’re experiencing PEM – and therefore have ME/CFS.
• The recovery after exercise study indicated that ME/CFS patients, on average, took two weeks to recover. A small portion (7-8%) took up to two months to recover, and one patient reported he was not recovered after a year. Workwell, which has done hundreds of these tests, reports these “never-recover” patients are “exceptionally rare”. The healthy but sedentary controls, on the other hand, recovered within two days and many reported they’d recovered within one day.
• The authors called the “decay rate of fatigue and PEM symptoms” in ME/CFS extremely prolonged and suggested that people with ME/CFS responded to the exercise as if they were already “overtrained”; i.e. had already exhausted their energy reserves. Interestingly, people with more severe symptoms did not tend to take longer to recover.
• Finally, the incidence and symptoms associated with post-exertional malaise (PEM) in long-COVID patients appear to be nearly identical to those found in ME/CFS, with the proviso that PEM symptoms appear to be more severe in long COVID. That may be because long-COVID patients have not learned how to handle their PEM as well as people with ME/CFS.
• Documenting that PEM is a key symptom in long COVID is vitally important as PEM was little known outside the ME/CFS community prior to long COVID, and needs more study. The ubiquitousness of PEM found in long COVID should pave the way for more study of this unusual yet fundamental symptom.

 

[BUBBAHOTEPT]

Referring to the post up thread which discusses antihistamines.
The online and frontline Covid doctors had famotidine and antihistamines in their protocol list a long time ago.

It’s interesting how long it takes for the “rest of the scientific naysayers” to finally catch up lol.
We still have the Famotidine bottles left from when DH had Covid pneumonia!

I also keep Benedryl stocked but now I’m working on adding in other antihistamines as I go along.

(We both use them anyway, so no harm no foul)

Thanks!

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

UK sees record sickness and zero productivity growth in 2022

Britain saw a record number of working days lost due to short-term sickness last year and zero annual growth in economic output per hour worked in the final quarter of 2022, according to official data released on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

(fair use applies)


UK sees record sickness and zero productivity growth in 2022
By David Milliken
April 26, 20237:57 AM EDTLast Updated 4 days ago

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Britain saw a record number of working days lost due to short-term sickness last year and zero annual growth in economic output per hour worked in the final quarter of 2022, according to official data released on Wednesday.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics highlight the challenges facing Britain as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well its long-term struggle with productivity which has weighed on living standards for years.

British workers took 185.6 million days off work due to sickness or injury in 2022. This was more than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic itself, when fewer sick days were recorded as millions of workers were on furlough and lockdown restrictions reduced exposure to minor illnesses.

The record partly reflects the growth in Britain's workforce over recent years, but even measured as a percentage of hours worked, the sickness rate was the highest since 2004, with 2.6% of hours lost due to sickness or injury, up from 1.9% in 2019.

The rise in the percentage of days lost to sickness reverses a long-term downward trend in ONS data going back to 1995.

Minor illnesses accounted for 29% of days lost, while respiratory conditions accounted for 8% of days lost - up from 4% in 2019 - and 'other' conditions, which include COVID-19, diabetes and a range of others - rose to 24% from 14%.

Sickness absence was most common among workers in the care sector and related personal services roles.

Previous ONS data has shown a big rise too in long-term sickness among working-age people outside the job market. A record 28.7% of people classed as 'economically inactive' in the three months to February 2023 said they were long-term sick, the most since these records began in 1993.

Separate ONS figures on Wednesday showed continued weakness in productivity at work, seen by most economists as the biggest long-term challenge to living standards in Britain.

Output per hour worked was unchanged between the final quarters of 2021 and 2022. Since 2019 it has risen by 2.1%, reflecting a 1.6% fall in the average number of hours each person works and a 0.5% rise in output.

Earlier this year, the Bank of England forecast a weak outlook for productivity in Britain, with growth in output per hour worked averaging 0.25% a year over the next three years, down from 0.75% between 2010 and 2019 and 2% in the decade before the 2008 financial crisis.

Weak business investment, greater trade barriers due to Brexit and deficiencies in employee and management skills are among the reasons economists give for the poor performance.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

COVID will eventually evade Paxlovid, former White House advisor Deborah Birx says

She worries that the virus' evolution is outpacing U.S. development of vaccines and treatments—and that it could soon render popular antiviral Paxlovid useless.

fortune.com

(Fair use applies)


COVID will eventually evade one of the few treatments for those infected and could cause deaths to ‘easily double,’ former White House advisor Deborah Birx says
BY Erin Prater
April 29, 2023, 6:00 AM EDT

COVID will evolve to evade popular antiviral treatment Paxlovid, a critical line of defense for the unvaccinated and those at risk of severe disease and death from the virus—of this, Deborah Birx is certain.

During her time as White House COVID response coordinator under former President Donald Trump, from March 2020 through January 2021, Birx oversaw the development and widespread distribution of COVID tests, treatments, and vaccines. American innovation in combating COVID, however, slowed to a crawl after the initial hurried push—and it leaves her frustrated and worried about the future, as the virus continues to evolve to pick off COVID treatments and chip away at the protection vaccines provide.

“I’ve been really upset that the federal government has not prioritized next-generation vaccines that are more durable, next-generation monoclonals, and long-acting monoclonals,” Birx told Fortune in an interview at the magazine’s Brainstorm Health conference, held earlier this week in Marina del Rey, Calif.

Omicron is mutating to bypass the initial arsenal of weapons developed for use against it. Already, its changes have rendered every universal monoclonal antibody treatment—administered to people at high risk of hospitalization and death—useless. Eventually, it will take down Paxlovid, too, Birx says.

She added: “If we lose Paxlovid, we could easily double the number of deaths,” which currently sit at just over 1,000 per week, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

‘We’ve lost ground’

As the U.S. COVID public health emergency (PHE)—slated to end May 11—draws to a close, Birx is concerned that apathy has overtaken common sense. She says she’s more concerned about the lack of progress on vaccines and therapeutics than she is about the government declaring an end to the COVID crisis.

“If they were ending the PHE and I could say, ‘Okay, we now have three therapeutics, we have better monoclonals, we have a more durable vaccine’—instead, we’ve lost ground in therapies for those who are vulnerable,” she said.

Thus, the end of the PHE is not a victory, she maintains—far from it.

“Right now, we’re just accepting that 270,000 Americans died last year,” she said. “Two-hundred and seventy thousand. We’re going to easily lose over 100,000 this year. That, to me, is not success.”

Birx continued: “You don’t want to back yourself into controlling the pandemic because all the vulnerable Americans have died. That’s not how you win in public health.”

Annual summer and winter surges

As for the future of the pandemic, nothing is certain. Birx points out that wastewater levels of the virus are virtually the same as they were a year ago, and that every year so far we’ve seen seasonal surges—signaling that the virus is now seasonal, like the flu.

When it comes to COVID, “we’ll have a summer surge, and we’ll have a winter surge,” she said, adding that recent surges have become less dramatic due to a high level of population immunity.

It remains to be seen whether COVID becomes more deadly, she says. Omicron has become so highly transmissible that it’s virtually stuck in evolutionary stasis, with each major new variant incredibly similar to the previous. To get unstuck, sometimes viruses will evolve to become less infectious but more severe—”so it’s just a matter of tracking it.”

Americans have accepted repeat infections, Birx says—and while such frequent infections have helped blunt spikes in cases, they also bring along with them a “high level of long COVID.”

She called for wastewater monitoring at every American embassy overseas. Such testing, she asserts, would give scientists an idea of how COVID, the flu, RSV, and adenovirus are circulating globally—and allow them to better prepare for surges to come.

New York ‘wouldn’t have happened’ with better planning

We’ve missed the mark before, and without proper surveillance, we could miss it again, Birx warns. Case in point: The nation’s pandemic preparedness plan “failed immediately”—in the first week of the pandemic, she says—when those involved didn’t realize that COVID could be transmitted by asymptomatic carriers.

Early in the pandemic, the bulk of those hospitalized were 50 and older. But “there’s never been a pandemic that only infects certain age groups,” she said. Just because those under 50 generally weren’t hospitalized didn’t mean they weren’t being infected. “You had to know there was a spectrum of disease and a lot of asymptomatic spread.”

When Birx joined the White House COVID response team in early March 2020, COVID testing was only available in public health labs. She gathered private companies in a hurried push to develop and manufacture tests that could be made widely available, an effort that took six weeks.

“Imagine if we had done that in the end of December, beginning of January,” she said. “New York and all of those fatalities wouldn’t have happened, because we would have seen it at the very beginning.”

‘We’re not ready’ for the next pandemic

As for the next pandemic—whether it’s a future evolution of COVID, the bird flu, or something different entirely—Birx says the U.S. is unprepared—and is perhaps even less prepared than it was on the eve of COVID-19. In large part, that’s due to the lack of involvement of private companies in governmental pandemic planning—and a rapid-onset amnesia of lessons learned over the past three years.

When she called on private companies for assistance shortly after assuming her position, they stepped in and saved the day, she says—and countless American lives. The companies missed out on revenue when they diverted supplies to safety net hospitals that paid less, rearranged their supply chains, “and dropped all pretense of competition and just helped.”

“The group that saved Americans was the private sector,” she said. “To not have the private sector at the table makes certain that we’re not going to be prepared.”

Birx called for researchers to be more cautious when conducting lab experiments with viruses like COVID and the bird flu. At the moment, bird flu doesn’t easily infect humans—a trait that prevented coronaviruses SARS and MERS from becoming larger problems in the early 2000s.

But all that could change if researchers modify the bird flu to easily adapt to humans—a move that, in case of a lab leak, could put humans permanently at risk, she says.

As for whether the COVID pandemic started with a lab leak in China or an animal-to-human spill-over event in the Wuhan wet market or elsewhere, Birx doubts we’ll ever have enough data to say definitively.

We can—and should—guard against both scenarios, going forward, she maintains.

“We ought to be putting systems in place to prevent lab leaks,” she said, “and we should be putting systems in place to prevent leaks from wet markets.”

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

COVID-19 News: Forget About XBB.1.16 Variant, Experts And The General Public Should Be More Worried About The XBB.2.3 Variant And Its Spawns! - Thailand Medical News

COVID-19 News: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are emerging. These novel strains have the potential to cause significant changes in the virus's transmissibility, severity, and immune evasion capabilities. While the XBB.1.16 variant recently...

www.thailandmedical.news

(fair use applies)


COVID-19 News: Forget About XBB.1.16 Variant, Experts And The General Public Should Be More Worried About The XBB.2.3 Variant And Its Spawns
Thailand Medical News
April 30, 2023

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are emerging. These novel strains have the potential to cause significant changes in the virus's transmissibility, severity, and immune evasion capabilities.

While the XBB.1.16 variant recently caught the attention of health experts and the mainstream media worldwide, a lesser-known XBB.2.3 variant warrants a closer look as it poses an even more significant threat to global health.

The XBB.2.3 sub-lineage most probably originated also in India but was found spreading in miniscule amounts also in Europe about the same time in late mid- January 2023.

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

The XBB.2.3 sub-lineage is defined by the spike mutations S:P521S and S:S486P but also spots a number of other mutations on its ORF proteins.

XBB.2 clusters with S:S486P · Issue #1603 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

There appear to be 2 distinct XBB.2 clusters with S:S486P. But with 19 and 13 sequences each it's not entirely clear what to do about them at this point. Cluster 1 with 13 sequences to date has T23...

github.com

The XBB.2.3 sub-lineage spots a reversion back to reference (T) 16342:C->T (ORF1b:959S) mutation. 16342 was the defining mutation of BA.2.10 (ancestor to BJ.1 which donated part of XBB)

XBB.2 with S:F486P,S:P521S - 11 sequences USA, India as 25-01-23 · Issue #1535 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

I have found another XBB.2 which gained S:F486P, it is just two sequences but worth monitoring it also cause it has another spike mutation S:P521S plus other AA mutations and notablySequen the reve...

github.com

The XBB.2.3 Variant: A Greater Cause for Concern

The current onslaughts by the XBB.1.16 variant seems to be causing more issues in those vulnerable groups (ie the aged, the obese, the immunocompromised and those with existing comorbidities or certain genetic makeups) irrespective of immunity of vaccine status as covered by various COVID-19 News reports. An Indian study has also shown that it does drive disease severity with about 25.7 of all those infected typically requiring hospitalization of which 33.8 percent of those will end up requiring supplemental oxygen.

Indian Study Shows That XBB.1.16 Does Increase Risk For Disease Severity Contrary To Claims By Clueless ‘Experts’ Or Stupid Health Authorities! - Thailand Medical News

COVID-19 News: A new study by Indian scientists from the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College and Sassoon General Hospitals-Pune, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Pune and the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology-Pune that focused on...

www.thailandmedical.news

The XBB.2.3 variant has already been found in more than 47 countries including the United States and Thailand and while the XBB.1.16 variant for now is stealing the ‘limelight’ by become the prevailing variant in many countries, the XBB2.3 variant and its spawns are like to displace the XBB.1.16 variant in about 6 to 8 weeks’ time.

covSPECTRUM PangoLineage=XBB.2.3*

Experts and the general public should be more concerned about the XBB.2.3 variant and its spawns as they are demonstrating several concerning attributes:

Increased Transmissibility: The XBB.2.3 variant has a higher transmission rate than the XBB.1.16 strain, allowing it to spread more rapidly among populations. This could lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases, putting additional strain on healthcare systems worldwide. This increased transmissibility is due to enhanced binding to the ACE2 due to the new spike mutations found on it.

Enhanced Immune Evasion: The XBB.2.3 variant exhibits even greater immune evasiveness than the XBB.1.16 variant and has the potential to evade all forms of immunity including those conferred by the existing boosters or by previous infections.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1652472758163460096

View: https://twitter.com/RajlabN/status/1652472758163460096/photo/1


Potential for Severe Disease: Preliminary data is indicating that indicating that XBB.2.3 variant may lead to more severe cases of COVID-19 as it also evades the last defending immunity conferred by T cells in the human host. Along with that, there are yet to be proven speculations that it will also cause damage to the T cells, even far worse than in HIV infections.

Are The Spawns From The XBB.2.3 Sub-lineage Aka The 'Trans Variant' Such As XBB.2.3.2, XBB.2.3.5 Evolving To Cause T Cell Damage Similar To HIV? - Thailand Medical News

COVID-19 News: Many from a small segment of the general population who are still smart enough to be paying attention to what is developing in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic are more engrossed in the XBB.1.16 sub-lineage (Arcturus) and some of its newer spawns such: -XBB.1.16.1 (defining...

www.thailandmedical.news

We can expect to see not only more opportunistic secondary infections contributing to disease severity and also more long-term issues and a possibly rise in mortality rates. Further urgent research is required to confirm our hypothesis and speculation.

Uncertainty Around Vaccine Efficacy: Again, preliminary data suggests that current vaccines and boosters may provide reduced or no protection against the XBB.2.3 variant. While vaccine manufacturers are working to adapt their formulations, it is unclear how long it will take for updated vaccines to become available.

XBB.2.3 Rapidly Evolving And Spawning More Worrisome Sub-lineages Like XBB.2.3.2, XBB.2.3.4, XBB.2.3.5 etc

The XBB.2.3 variant is also one of the most volatile variants that seems to be aggressively and rapidly evolving to not only evade all forms of immunity and also to develop antiviral resistance to various molecules but also seems to gaining traction to be more pathogenic and virulent.

To date, it has spawned various sub-lineages spotting worrisome spike and N protein mutations and with mutations also on the various ORF proteins that are concerned with immune suppression and also impairment of various host cellular functions.

While we have so far the XBB.2.3.1, XBB.2.3.2, XBB.2.3.4, XBB.2.3.5 and XBB.2.3.6 sub-lineages, more are emerging including spawns from these newer sub-lineages themselves.

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

There are still many more XBB.2.3 sub-lineages still emerging and are being monitored.

Another XBB.2.3+S:G184V with orf1a:P1786L (451 seqs, 33 countries) · Issue #1945 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

I'd like to propose a side branch of XBB.2.3.2. sub-lineage of: XBB.2.3 mutations on top of XBB.2.3: S:G184V(G22113T, same as XBB.2.3.2), Orf1a:P1786L(C5622T) GISAID query: C5622T,G22113T,G6536A No...

github.com

New XBB.2.3 + nsp2_A357S + nsp3_T1004I · Issue #1911 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

By VirologiaHUCA Description Sub-lineage of: XBB.2.3 Earliest sequence: 2023-02-27 Most recent sequence: 2023-03-13 Countries circulating: Spain (5 Asturias) Written description In XBB.2.3 variants...

github.com

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

Some of the newer XBB.2.3 spawns like XBB.2.3.6 are also giving rise to newer sub-lineages with interesting mutations on it.

XBB.2.3.6 with N:T165I in Singapore and Shanghai(5 seqs) · Issue #1931 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

XBB.2.3.6 is defined by N:T166I, and in April, a sub-lineage containing N:T165I right next to N:T166I raised my concern. sub-lineage of :XBB.2.3.6 mutations on top of XBB.2.3.6: T22843C, C7105T, C1...

github.com

Addressing the Threat of the XBB.2.3 Variant

Given the potentially severe consequences of the XBB.2.3 variant, it is crucial for governments and health organizations worldwide to act swiftly to contain its spread. Recommended actions include:

Enhanced Surveillance: Health authorities should intensify genomic sequencing efforts to detect and monitor the XBB.2.3 variant, as well as any other emerging strains.

Rapid Vaccine Adaptation: Vaccine manufacturers must prioritize the development of updated vaccines that effectively target the XBB.2.3 variant.

Reinforcing Public Health Measures: Public health measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand hygiene remain crucial to mitigating the spread of COVID-19, including the XBB.2.3 variant.

Other emerging XBB Variants.

There are also many other new XBB sub-lineages that are rapidly emerging are also of concern such as the XBB.2.4, The XBB.3, XBB.4, XBB.8 etc but they have yet to demonstrate increasing growth and potential of prevalence but never the less, we are going to see constant COVID-19 onslaughts around the world with the XBB.1.16 now heading the current ones which be followed by the XBB.2.3 and its spawns and thereafter something else for sure. COVID-19 is far from over. Also, narratives that the newer sub-lineages are mild, or that we are now in an endemic phase or that we have to learn to live with the virus are all from the mouths of health authorities who are clueless and hate to admit that they have failed miserably to contain the virus.

Conclusion

While the XBB.1.16 variant has garnered significant attention, it is the XBB.2.3 variant that poses a more significant threat to global health. The potential consequences of this new strain underscore the importance of proactive and coordinated efforts to contain its spread. As the pandemic continues to evolve, staying informed about emerging variants and responding with appropriate strategies is essential to safeguard public health and ultimately bring an end to the COVID-19 crisis.

 

[155 arty]

COVID-19 News: Forget About XBB.1.16 Variant, Experts And The General Public Should Be More Worried About The XBB.2.3 Variant And Its Spawns! - Thailand Medical News

COVID-19 News: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are emerging. These novel strains have the potential to cause significant changes in the virus's transmissibility, severity, and immune evasion capabilities. While the XBB.1.16 variant recently...

www.thailandmedical.news

(fair use applies)


COVID-19 News: Forget About XBB.1.16 Variant, Experts And The General Public Should Be More Worried About The XBB.2.3 Variant And Its Spawns
Thailand Medical News
April 30, 2023

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are emerging. These novel strains have the potential to cause significant changes in the virus's transmissibility, severity, and immune evasion capabilities.

While the XBB.1.16 variant recently caught the attention of health experts and the mainstream media worldwide, a lesser-known XBB.2.3 variant warrants a closer look as it poses an even more significant threat to global health.

The XBB.2.3 sub-lineage most probably originated also in India but was found spreading in miniscule amounts also in Europe about the same time in late mid- January 2023.

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

The XBB.2.3 sub-lineage is defined by the spike mutations S:P521S and S:S486P but also spots a number of other mutations on its ORF proteins.

XBB.2 clusters with S:S486P · Issue #1603 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

There appear to be 2 distinct XBB.2 clusters with S:S486P. But with 19 and 13 sequences each it's not entirely clear what to do about them at this point. Cluster 1 with 13 sequences to date has T23...

github.com

The XBB.2.3 sub-lineage spots a reversion back to reference (T) 16342:C->T (ORF1b:959S) mutation. 16342 was the defining mutation of BA.2.10 (ancestor to BJ.1 which donated part of XBB)

XBB.2 with S:F486P,S:P521S - 11 sequences USA, India as 25-01-23 · Issue #1535 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

I have found another XBB.2 which gained S:F486P, it is just two sequences but worth monitoring it also cause it has another spike mutation S:P521S plus other AA mutations and notablySequen the reve...

github.com

The XBB.2.3 Variant: A Greater Cause for Concern

The current onslaughts by the XBB.1.16 variant seems to be causing more issues in those vulnerable groups (ie the aged, the obese, the immunocompromised and those with existing comorbidities or certain genetic makeups) irrespective of immunity of vaccine status as covered by various COVID-19 News reports. An Indian study has also shown that it does drive disease severity with about 25.7 of all those infected typically requiring hospitalization of which 33.8 percent of those will end up requiring supplemental oxygen.

Indian Study Shows That XBB.1.16 Does Increase Risk For Disease Severity Contrary To Claims By Clueless ‘Experts’ Or Stupid Health Authorities! - Thailand Medical News

COVID-19 News: A new study by Indian scientists from the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College and Sassoon General Hospitals-Pune, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Pune and the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology-Pune that focused on...

www.thailandmedical.news

The XBB.2.3 variant has already been found in more than 47 countries including the United States and Thailand and while the XBB.1.16 variant for now is stealing the ‘limelight’ by become the prevailing variant in many countries, the XBB2.3 variant and its spawns are like to displace the XBB.1.16 variant in about 6 to 8 weeks’ time.

covSPECTRUM PangoLineage=XBB.2.3*

Experts and the general public should be more concerned about the XBB.2.3 variant and its spawns as they are demonstrating several concerning attributes:

Increased Transmissibility: The XBB.2.3 variant has a higher transmission rate than the XBB.1.16 strain, allowing it to spread more rapidly among populations. This could lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases, putting additional strain on healthcare systems worldwide. This increased transmissibility is due to enhanced binding to the ACE2 due to the new spike mutations found on it.

Enhanced Immune Evasion: The XBB.2.3 variant exhibits even greater immune evasiveness than the XBB.1.16 variant and has the potential to evade all forms of immunity including those conferred by the existing boosters or by previous infections.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1652472758163460096

View: https://twitter.com/RajlabN/status/1652472758163460096/photo/1


Potential for Severe Disease: Preliminary data is indicating that indicating that XBB.2.3 variant may lead to more severe cases of COVID-19 as it also evades the last defending immunity conferred by T cells in the human host. Along with that, there are yet to be proven speculations that it will also cause damage to the T cells, even far worse than in HIV infections.

Are The Spawns From The XBB.2.3 Sub-lineage Aka The 'Trans Variant' Such As XBB.2.3.2, XBB.2.3.5 Evolving To Cause T Cell Damage Similar To HIV? - Thailand Medical News

COVID-19 News: Many from a small segment of the general population who are still smart enough to be paying attention to what is developing in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic are more engrossed in the XBB.1.16 sub-lineage (Arcturus) and some of its newer spawns such: -XBB.1.16.1 (defining...

www.thailandmedical.news

We can expect to see not only more opportunistic secondary infections contributing to disease severity and also more long-term issues and a possibly rise in mortality rates. Further urgent research is required to confirm our hypothesis and speculation.

Uncertainty Around Vaccine Efficacy: Again, preliminary data suggests that current vaccines and boosters may provide reduced or no protection against the XBB.2.3 variant. While vaccine manufacturers are working to adapt their formulations, it is unclear how long it will take for updated vaccines to become available.

XBB.2.3 Rapidly Evolving And Spawning More Worrisome Sub-lineages Like XBB.2.3.2, XBB.2.3.4, XBB.2.3.5 etc

The XBB.2.3 variant is also one of the most volatile variants that seems to be aggressively and rapidly evolving to not only evade all forms of immunity and also to develop antiviral resistance to various molecules but also seems to gaining traction to be more pathogenic and virulent.

To date, it has spawned various sub-lineages spotting worrisome spike and N protein mutations and with mutations also on the various ORF proteins that are concerned with immune suppression and also impairment of various host cellular functions.

While we have so far the XBB.2.3.1, XBB.2.3.2, XBB.2.3.4, XBB.2.3.5 and XBB.2.3.6 sub-lineages, more are emerging including spawns from these newer sub-lineages themselves.

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

There are still many more XBB.2.3 sub-lineages still emerging and are being monitored.

Another XBB.2.3+S:G184V with orf1a:P1786L (451 seqs, 33 countries) · Issue #1945 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

I'd like to propose a side branch of XBB.2.3.2. sub-lineage of: XBB.2.3 mutations on top of XBB.2.3: S:G184V(G22113T, same as XBB.2.3.2), Orf1a:P1786L(C5622T) GISAID query: C5622T,G22113T,G6536A No...

github.com

New XBB.2.3 + nsp2_A357S + nsp3_T1004I · Issue #1911 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

By VirologiaHUCA Description Sub-lineage of: XBB.2.3 Earliest sequence: 2023-02-27 Most recent sequence: 2023-03-13 Countries circulating: Spain (5 Asturias) Written description In XBB.2.3 variants...

github.com

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

covSPECTRUM

covSPECTRUM is an interactive platform aiming to help scientists investigate and identify variants of SARS-CoV-2.

cov-spectrum.org

Some of the newer XBB.2.3 spawns like XBB.2.3.6 are also giving rise to newer sub-lineages with interesting mutations on it.

XBB.2.3.6 with N:T165I in Singapore and Shanghai(5 seqs) · Issue #1931 · cov-lineages/pango-designation

XBB.2.3.6 is defined by N:T166I, and in April, a sub-lineage containing N:T165I right next to N:T166I raised my concern. sub-lineage of :XBB.2.3.6 mutations on top of XBB.2.3.6: T22843C, C7105T, C1...

github.com

Addressing the Threat of the XBB.2.3 Variant

Given the potentially severe consequences of the XBB.2.3 variant, it is crucial for governments and health organizations worldwide to act swiftly to contain its spread. Recommended actions include:

Enhanced Surveillance: Health authorities should intensify genomic sequencing efforts to detect and monitor the XBB.2.3 variant, as well as any other emerging strains.

Rapid Vaccine Adaptation: Vaccine manufacturers must prioritize the development of updated vaccines that effectively target the XBB.2.3 variant.

Reinforcing Public Health Measures: Public health measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand hygiene remain crucial to mitigating the spread of COVID-19, including the XBB.2.3 variant.

Other emerging XBB Variants.

There are also many other new XBB sub-lineages that are rapidly emerging are also of concern such as the XBB.2.4, The XBB.3, XBB.4, XBB.8 etc but they have yet to demonstrate increasing growth and potential of prevalence but never the less, we are going to see constant COVID-19 onslaughts around the world with the XBB.1.16 now heading the current ones which be followed by the XBB.2.3 and its spawns and thereafter something else for sure. COVID-19 is far from over. Also, narratives that the newer sub-lineages are mild, or that we are now in an endemic phase or that we have to learn to live with the virus are all from the mouths of health authorities who are clueless and hate to admit that they have failed miserably to contain the virus.

Conclusion

While the XBB.1.16 variant has garnered significant attention, it is the XBB.2.3 variant that poses a more significant threat to global health. The potential consequences of this new strain underscore the importance of proactive and coordinated efforts to contain its spread. As the pandemic continues to evolve, staying informed about emerging variants and responding with appropriate strategies is essential to safeguard public health and ultimately bring an end to the COVID-19 crisis.

Engineered to mutate ,spread faster and be more lethal ...hang them all !!!

 

[Tristan]

Dr. John Campbell discusses the possibility of using Cannabidiol (CBD) for the treatment of Coronavirus - with a strong positive result. (Note: taking the type of cannibis that gets people high doesn't work...)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz4fn2QFO_A

rt: 21:36

Well worth the watch, IMO.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

Chinese who reported on COVID to be released after 3 years

Chinese authorities are preparing to release a man who disappeared three years ago after publicizing videos of overcrowded hospitals and bodies during the COVID-19 outbreak. That's according to his relative and another person familiar with his case. Fang Bin and other members of the public who...

apnews.com

(fair use applies)


Chinese who reported on COVID to be released after 3 years
By KANIS LEUNG and HUIZHONG WU
yesterday

HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese authorities were preparing Sunday to release a man who disappeared three years ago after publicizing videos of overcrowded hospitals and bodies during the COVID-19 outbreak, a relative and another person familiar with his case said.

Fang Bin and other members of the public who were dubbed citizen journalists posted details of the pandemic in early 2020 on the internet and social media, embarrassing Chinese officials who faced criticism for failing to control the outbreak. The last video Fang, a seller of traditional Chinese clothing, posted on Twitter was of a piece of paper reading, “All citizens resist, hand power back to the people.”

Fang’s case is part of Beijing’s crackdown on criticism of China’s early handling of the pandemic, as the ruling Communist Party seeks to control the narrative of the country.

He was scheduled to be released Sunday, according to two people who did not want to be identified for fear of government retribution. One of them said Fang was sentenced to three years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a vague charge traditionally used against political dissidents.

The Associated Press could not independently confirm his release and could not confirm the details with the authorities.

Two offices of Wuhan’s public security bureau did not provide a phone number of their information office or answer any questions. Phone calls to a court that reportedly sentenced Fang rang unanswered on Sunday afternoon. A woman from another court that had reportedly handled Fang’s appeal said she was not authorized to answer questions.

In early 2020, the initial COVID outbreak devastated the city of Wuhan, home to 11 million residents, in central China’s Hubei province. Under a 76-day lockdown, its streets were deserted for months, apart from ambulances and security personnel.

At that time, a small number of citizen journalists tried to tell their stories and those of others with smart phones and social media accounts, defying the Communist Party’s tightly policed monopoly on information. Although their movement was small, the scale was unprecedented in any previous major disease outbreak or disaster in China.

But the information they posed soon got them into trouble. Fang and another citizen journalist, Chen Qiushi, disappeared in February.

Chen in September 2021 resurfaced on his friend’s live video feed on YouTube, saying he had suffered from depression. But he did not provide details about his disappearance.

Another citizen journalist, Zhang Zhan, who also had reported on the early stage of the outbreak, was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of picking fights and provoking trouble in December 2020. About eight months later, her lawyer said she was in ill health after staging a long-running hunger strike.

 

[Zoner]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1652763878521032704

View: https://twitter.com/thechiefnerd/status/1652763878521032704?s=46&t=3tI5WE6O8oGyVGBfPhpefA

 

[Zoner]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1653154664030797824

View: https://twitter.com/naturallyftw/status/1653154664030797824?s=46&t=h0ScxCkyHHr0ijU57UQzlA

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

US to lift most federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates next week

The Biden administration will end the last remaining federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements next week when the national public health emergency for the coronavirus ends. Vaccine requirements for federal workers and federal contractors, as well as foreign air travelers to the U.S., will end May...

apnews.com

(fair use applies)


US to lift most federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates next week
By ZEKE MILLER
today

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will end most of the last remaining federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements next week when the national public health emergency for the coronavirus ends, the White House said Monday.

Vaccine requirements for federal workers and federal contractors, as well as foreign air travelers to the U.S., will end May 11. The government is also beginning the process of lifting shot requirements for Head Start educators, healthcare workers, and noncitizens at U.S. land borders.

The requirements are among the last vestiges of some of the more coercive measures taken by the federal government to promote vaccination as the deadly virus raged, and their end marks the latest display of how President Joe Biden’s administration is moving to treat COVID-19 as a routine, endemic illness.

“While I believe that these vaccine mandates had a tremendous beneficial impact, we are now at a point where we think that it makes a lot of sense to pull these requirements down,” White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told The Associated Press on Monday.

Deeply polarizing at the time and the subject of numerous legal challenges — many of which were successful — the vaccination requirements were imposed by Biden in successive waves in late 2022 as the nation’s vaccination rate plateaued even amid the emergence of new, more transmissible variants of COVID-19.

More than 100 million people at one time were covered by Biden’s sweeping mandates, which he announced on Sept. 9, 2021, as the delta variant of the virus was sickening more people than at any time up to that point in the pandemic. Biden had ruled out such requirements before taking office that January, but came to embrace them to change the behavior of what he viewed to be a stubborn slice of the public that refused to be inoculated, saying they jeopardized the lives of others and the nation’s economic recovery.

“We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” Biden said at the time. The unvaccinated minority “can cause a lot of damage, and they are.”

Federal courts and Congress have already rolled back Biden’s vaccine requirements for large employers and military servicemembers.

Mandates remain for many employees of the National Institutes of Health, Indian Health Service and Department of Veterans Affairs — which implemented their own requirements for healthcare staff and others independent of the White House — will remain while those agencies review their own requirements, the administration said.

Over 1.13 million people in the U.S. have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began more than three years ago, including 1,052 people in the week ending April 26, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was the lowest weekly death toll from the virus since March 2020.

“COVID continues to be a problem,” Jha said. “But our healthcare system or public health resources are far more able to respond to the threat that COVID poses to our country and do so in a way that does not cause problems with access to care for Americans.”

He added, “Some of these emergency powers are just not necessary in the same way anymore.”

More than 270 million people in the U.S., or just over 81% of the population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC.

For more than a year, U.S. health officials have been eyeing a long-term response to COVID-19 that is more similar to the approach to influenza, with updated shots yearly targeted at the latest strains of the virus — particularly for the most vulnerable. But fewer than 56 million people in the U.S., or 17% of the population, have received a dose of the updated bivalent boosters that became available in September 2022 and provide better protection against the omicron variants that remain in circulation.

“We don’t have a national mandate for flu vaccines in the same way, and yet we see pretty good uptake of flu vaccines,” Jha said. “The goal here really is to continue to encourage people to get vaccinated, but I don’t think mandates are going to be necessary for getting Americans vaccinated against COVID in the future.”

While federal mandates are ending, Jha predicted that some employers, especially medical facilities, may decide to maintain their COVID-19 vaccination requirements. He noted that the hospital where he practices has had a flu vaccine requirement for employees for 20 years.

Jha dismissed concerns that the ending of the international traveler vaccination requirement would increase the risk of a new variant from overseas entering the U.S. Biden has already rolled back virus testing requirements for both American citizens and foreign travelers to the U.S.

Jha said the U.S. was already protected by a traveler genomic surveillance program, which, for instance, tests for different virus strains in aircraft wastewater.

“We think that we are much more able to identify if a new variant shows up in the United States and respond effectively,” he said. “And I think that’s what makes the need for a vaccine mandate for travelers less necessary right now.”

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

Wisconsin Supreme Court won't order ivermectin use for COVID

Wisconsin's conservative-controlled Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a hospital could not be forced to give a deworming drug to a patient with COVID-19, saying a county judge did not cite a legal basis for ordering the facility to administer ivermectin. Ivermectin became popular among...

news.yahoo.com

(fair use applies)


Wisconsin Supreme Court won't order ivermectin use for COVID
HARM VENHUIZEN
Tue, May 2, 2023, 12:48 PM EDT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's conservative-controlled Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a hospital could not be forced to give a deworming drug to a patient with COVID-19, saying a county judge did not cite a legal basis for ordering the facility to administer ivermectin.

Ivermectin became popular among conservatives after commentators and even some far-right doctors held up the antiparasitic drug as a miracle cure for the coronavirus and other illnesses. But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved it for use in treating COVID-19 and warns that misusing ivermectin can be harmful, even fatal.

The Wisconsin lawsuit is one of dozens filed across the country seeking to force hospitals to administer ivermectin for COVID-19. The drug is commonly used in cattle and also approved for human use to fight parasites and certain skin conditions. But some members of online alternative medicine groups have reported self-administering highly concentrated, veterinary grade ivermectin to treat illnesses. The FDA warns that self-administering the drug, especially in doses intended for animals, can be lethal.

In Tuesday's ruling, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 6-1 in favor of Aurora Health Care, with three liberals and three conservatives in support and only conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley dissenting.

The decision upholds an appeal court’s ruling against Allen Gahl, who sued Aurora in October 2021 when doctors refused to treat his uncle, John Zingsheim, with ivermectin. Gahl was authorized to make medical decisions for Zingsheim and had researched the drug online after Zingsheim was put on a ventilator to treat COVID-19 complications.

Gahl obtained a prescription for ivermectin from a retired doctor who had never met Zingsheim or his medical team, but hospital staff said the drug did not meet their standards and refused to administer it. None of the information in the complaint Gahl subsequently filed against the hospital came directly from medical professionals, according to court documents.

The Waukesha County Circuit Court ordered hospital staff to give Zingsheim the drug but later modified its decision to say Gahl would have to provide the drug himself, as well as a doctor to administer it. An appeals court overturned that decision after Aurora’s attorneys argued a judge could not force a medical provider to give treatment they had determined to be substandard. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in January.

“We do not know what viable legal claim the circuit court thought Gahl had presented,” Justice Ann Walsh Bradley said in the court's opinion.

Gahl was represented by the Amos Center for Justice, a conservative Wisconsin law firm that has brought litigation against ballot drop boxes and promotes conspiracy theories about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines on its website. His attorney, Karen Mueller, did not immediately return a voicemail Tuesday seeking comment.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

Major US Agency to Keep COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Despite White House Announcement

A major federal agency is keeping its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place even as most agencies are ending their vaccination requirements. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is retaining its mandate, Secretary Denis McDonough said in a message to employees reviewed by The Epoch Times. The...

www.ntd.com

(fair use applies)


Major US Agency to Keep COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Despite White House Announcement
By Zachary Stieber - Epoch Times
May 2, 2023

A major federal agency is keeping its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place even as most agencies are ending their vaccination requirements.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is retaining its mandate, Secretary Denis McDonough said in a message to employees reviewed by The Epoch Times.

The White House’s announcement that many mandates are ending “will not impact” the VA, McDonough said. “To ensure the safety of Veterans and our colleagues, VA health care personnel will still be required to be vaccinated at this time,” he told workers.

“As we transition to this new phase of our response to the pandemic, the vaccine (including booster shots) remains the best way to protect you, your families, your colleagues, and Veterans from COVID-19.”

A VA spokesperson declined to provide any data consulted when choosing to keep the mandate in place.

The VA’s website claims that vaccines “help protect you from getting severe illness” and “offer good protection against most COVID-19 variants,” pointing in part to observational data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that indicate the vaccines provide poor protection against symptomatic infection and transient shielding against hospitalization.

No clinical trial efficacy data has been made public for updated shots from Moderna and Pfizer, and none of the vaccines prevent infection or transmission.

The VA is the second-largest federal agency, employing nearly 400,000 people.

The VA was the first U.S. agency to mandate vaccination for its workers.

“We’re mandating vaccines for Title 38 employees because it’s the best way to keep veterans safe, especially as the Delta variant spreads across the country,” McDonough, an appointee of President Joe Biden, said in a statement on July 26, 2021.

The mandate was later expanded to most Veterans Health Administration employees and volunteers. It covers personnel such as psychologists, pharmacists, housekeepers, social workers, volunteers, and contractors.

“Effectively, this means that any Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employee, volunteer, or contractor who works in VHA facilities, visits VHA facilities, or provides direct care to those we serve will still be subject to the vaccine requirement at this time,” McDonough said on Monday.

The mandate does not cover employees deemed to be VA health care personnel.

Mandates imposed by two other agencies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Indian Health Service, are also remaining in place while the agencies review the requirements, the Biden administration said.

The NIH did not return requests for comment, and the health service declined to provide more details.

Most of the administration’s mandates are ending on May 12, the White House said this week. That includes mandates for federal workers and contractors imposed by Biden that were struck down by courts as likely illegal, a mandate for foreign travelers arriving by air, and the requirement that some foreigners arriving by land present proof of vaccination.

Biden had ruled out such requirements before taking office but later claimed that not enough people were getting vaccinated. The mandates were imposed after evidence began emerging that indicated the protection bestowed by the vaccines waned over time, and officials have since cleared multiple booster shots in a bid to restore the flailing protection.

Over 1.13 million people in the United States have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began more than three years ago, including 1,052 people in the week ending April 26, according to the CDC. That was the lowest weekly death toll from the virus since March 2020.

“While I believe that these vaccine mandates had a tremendous beneficial impact, we are now at a point where we think that it makes a lot of sense to pull these requirements down,” White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said.

Critics decried statements from White House officials regarding the lifting of the mandates.

“They’re patting themselves on the back for unnecessarily coercing people to get a medical product they may not have wanted or stood to benefit from. It didn’t even protect others,” Dr. Tracy Hoeg, a U.S. epidemiologist, said on Twitter.

More than 270 million people in the United States, or just over 81 percent of the population, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC. But booster uptake has been low, as has receipt of vaccines among children, the last population for whom vaccines were authorized.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

CDC opens probe after 35 test positive for covid following CDC conference

(fair use applies)


CDC opens probe after 35 test positive for covid following CDC conference
Lena H. Sun, Dan Diamond - The Washington Post
10 hrs ago

Disease detectives at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are probing a new outbreak: the roughly three-dozen coronavirus cases linked to their own annual conference last week.

“CDC is working with the Georgia Department of Health to conduct a rapid epidemiological assessment of confirmed COVID-19 cases that appear to be connected to the 2023 EIS Conference to determine transmission patterns,” CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said in an email.

Nordlund said the CDC reported the cases to state health officials who have authority over the location where the conference occurred. Attendees said many people at the gathering did not mask, socially distance or take other precautions that the CDC had recommended earlier in the pandemic.

Fewer than 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported across the United States last week — the lowest levels in nearly two years. But public health experts have cautioned that the vast majority of cases are not being tracked, with many Americans testing at home, if at all, and opting not to report the results. The virus also remains on pace to be one of the top 10 causes of death this year, with fatalities concentrated among older and immunocompromised individuals.

Experts said an outbreak of coronavirus cases at a CDC conference — the first time the meeting of disease detectives was held in person in four years — illustrates the persistence of an evolving virus. The four-day conference for epidemic intelligence service officers and alumni, held near CDC headquarters in Atlanta last week, drew about 2,000 attendees who were likely to be fully vaccinated.

“This is, unfortunately, the new normal,” Jay Varma, an infectious-disease expert at Weill Cornell Medicine, wrote in a text message. “While it is unsettling to see widespread COVID-19 transmission at CDC’s premier public health conference, it’s probably the clearest example yet” of the global situation.

Varma added that individuals and organizations should continue to take coronavirus precautions to protect themselves and the most vulnerable as needed. “I hope that organizers of large conferences, especially for health professionals, should, at a minimum, make high-quality masks as abundant and available as toilet paper and ensure that there is adequate ventilation and/or disinfection of air,” he wrote.

Nordlund said about 35 people linked to the conference had reported testing positive as of Tuesday.

“Conducting a rapid investigation now will help understand transmission that occurred and assist in refining future public health guidance as we move out of the public health emergency and to the next phase of COVID-19 surveillance and response,” she wrote. “Whenever there are large gatherings, especially indoors, such as at a conference, there is the possibility of COVID-19 spread, even in periods of low community spread.”

Conference attendees also received an email from the CDC that encouraged them to participate in the survey with the Georgia health department, according to an email shared with The Washington Post.

“If you attended the conference in person, you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19,” the email read. “If you are experiencing symptoms, we recommend you follow CDC guidance for isolation and testing.”

The Biden administration has been winding down its pandemic response, with most federal vaccine mandates and the coronavirus public health emergency set to be lifted next week. Public health experts say that while the pandemic’s perils have largely receded, they remain wary of future variants and note that the virus continues to evolve.

For instance, a new omicron subvariant, XBB.1.16, nicknamed Arcturus, is becoming more prevalent throughout the United States. The latest CDC tracker shows the variant made up almost 12 percent of cases nationwide for the week ending April 29, up from about 7 percent the week ending April 15. Most of the infections in the United States right now come from XBB.1.5, also an omicron subvariant.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

New WHO Pandemic Initiative Uses 'Listening Surveillance Systems' To Identify 'Misinformation & Rumors.' - Stephen K Bannon's War Room

A new pandemic prevention initiative by the WHO will rely on "social listening surveillance systems" to identify "rumors and misinformation."

warroom.org

(fair use applies)


New WHO Pandemic Initiative Uses ‘Listening Surveillance Systems’ To Identify ‘Misinformation & Rumors.’
By: Natalie Winters
May 2, 2023

A new pandemic prevention initiative by the World Health Organization will rely on “social listening surveillance systems” to identify “rumors and misinformation,” War Room can reveal.

The initiative – Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) – seeks to “guide countries in pandemic planning” while “incorporat[ing] the latest tools and approaches for shared learning and collective action established during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Internal documents from the United Nations (UN) agency, however, reveal a variety of invasive tactics deployed to suppress the spread of alleged “misinformation.” The WHO is pushing for member states – including the U.S. – to adopt these suggestions when developing or updating their respiratory pathogen pandemic plans.

Module one of the initiative’s blueprint describes how the spread of content deemed “misinformation” amounts to a new “health threat” called “infodemics.”

“Infodemic is the overabundance of information -accurate or not- which makes it difficult for individuals to adopt behaviours that will protect their health and the health of their families and communities. The infodemic can directly impact health, hamper the implementation of public health countermeasures and undermine trust and social cohesiveness,” the PRET document continues before identifying a variety of tactics to hamper the spread of posts contrary to mainstream public health narratives.

“Establish and invest in resources for social listening surveillance systems and capacities to identify concerns as well as rumors and misinformation,” argues the WHO.

“To build trust, it’s important to be responsive to needs and concerns, to relay timely information, and to train leaders and HCWs in risk communications principles and encourage their application. Communication should be tailored to the community of interest, focusing on and prioritizing vulnerable groups.”

“New tools and approaches for social listening have been developed using new technologies such as artificial intelligence to listen to population concerns on social media (such as the Platform EARS developed by WHO),” explains the PRET initiative report.

The paper also suggests testing out these strategies during “acute respiratory events including seasonal influenza” and involving the public and private sectors:

​

“Develop and implement communication and behaviour change strategies based on infodemic insights, and test them during acute respiratory events including seasonal influenza. This includes implementing infodemic management across sectors, and having a coordinated approach with other actors, including academia, civil society, and international agencies.”​

Similarly, the WHO has begun expanding its “infodemic” research into private messaging apps, with a February article noting how “the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific has taken steps to explore the role and potential of using closed messaging apps for promoting health messages and reducing the spread of misleading information during and between influenza pandemics.”

These revelations come amidst the WHO’s efforts to codify a controversial Pandemic Treaty, which would cause signatories to cede control over many aspects of their country’s pandemic control and public health measures.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

After no interviews being posted with Geert for weeks, all of a sudden there are a few of them! Too many to listen to yet, but if anyone listens, please post summaries. Some are on bitchute, some on rumble, some on both, I posted both links if they are on both so you can go to your preferred site.

Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche - Why 'COVID' Isn't Going Away

Virologist and evolutionary biology expert Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche was one of the earliest voices warning against vaccinating during a pandemic, issuing multiple calls to the WHO to immediately cease injecting the population, claiming this was goin…

www.bitchute.com

Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche - Why 'COVID' Isn't Going Away
With Maria Zeee
May 2, 2023
1 hr 4 min 3 sec


#309-Dr.Geert Vanden Bossche -"The Inescapable Immune Escape Pandemic"

Dr.Geert Vanden Bossche -"The Inescapable Immune Escape Pandemic"

Quantum Nurse www.quantumnurse.life presents Freedom International Livestream On April 27, 2023 Thursday @ 12:00 PM EST 5:00 PM UK 6:00 PM Germany Guest: Dr.Geert Vanden Bossche Topic: The Inescapable

rumble.com

#309-Dr.Geert Vanden Bossche -"The Inescapable Immune Escape Pandemic"
Quantum Nurse www.quantumnurse.life presents Freedom International Livestream
On April 27, 2023
1 hr 22 min 34 sec

Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche: Facing Catastrophic Immune-Escape Pandemic

Covid vaccinations failed to promote herd immunity because of their inability to guard off infections and transmissions. That means that the virus continues to mutate into more transmissible and, imminently, more virulent variants. As a result, soci…

www.bitchute.com

Unrestricted | Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche: Facing Catastrophic Immune-Escape Pandemic

Covid vaccinations failed to promote herd immunity because of their inability to guard off infections and transmissions. That means that the virus continues to mutate into more transmissible and, immi

rumble.com

Unrestricted | Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche: Facing Catastrophic Immune-Escape Pandemic
New American with Veronika Kyrylenko
April 25, 2023
31 min 21 sec

CHD.TV Exclusive With Geert Vanden Bossche

Excerpts from a sit-down CHD.TV Exclusive interview with virologist Geert Vanden Bossche

live.childrenshealthdefense.org

Excerpts from a sit-down CHD.TV Exclusive interview with virologist Geert Vanden Bossche
April 24, 2023
16 min
(MY COMMENT: where is the full interview? what did they cut out?)

Courageous Convos With VFF, New Zealand, covid-19,

Courageous Convos is a weekly live webinar hosted by Voices For Freedom co-founders (Claire, Alia & Libby) with international guest, Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche. The former pharma, Gates Foundation, GAVI

rumble.com

Courageous Convos hosted by Voices For Freedom co-founders (Claire, Alia & Libby) New Zealand
April 12, 2023
1 hr 06 min 09 sec

 

[Zoner]

After no interviews being posted with Geert for weeks, all of a sudden there are a few of them! Too many to listen to yet, but if anyone listens, please post summaries. Some are on bitchute, some on rumble, some on both, I posted both links if they are on both so you can go to your preferred site.

Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche - Why 'COVID' Isn't Going Away

Virologist and evolutionary biology expert Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche was one of the earliest voices warning against vaccinating during a pandemic, issuing multiple calls to the WHO to immediately cease injecting the population, claiming this was goin…

www.bitchute.com

Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche - Why 'COVID' Isn't Going Away
With Maria Zeee
May 2, 2023
1 hr 4 min 3 sec


#309-Dr.Geert Vanden Bossche -"The Inescapable Immune Escape Pandemic"

Dr.Geert Vanden Bossche -"The Inescapable Immune Escape Pandemic"

Quantum Nurse www.quantumnurse.life presents Freedom International Livestream On April 27, 2023 Thursday @ 12:00 PM EST 5:00 PM UK 6:00 PM Germany Guest: Dr.Geert Vanden Bossche Topic: The Inescapable

rumble.com

#309-Dr.Geert Vanden Bossche -"The Inescapable Immune Escape Pandemic"
Quantum Nurse www.quantumnurse.life presents Freedom International Livestream
On April 27, 2023
1 hr 22 min 34 sec

Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche: Facing Catastrophic Immune-Escape Pandemic

Covid vaccinations failed to promote herd immunity because of their inability to guard off infections and transmissions. That means that the virus continues to mutate into more transmissible and, imminently, more virulent variants. As a result, soci…

www.bitchute.com

Unrestricted | Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche: Facing Catastrophic Immune-Escape Pandemic

Covid vaccinations failed to promote herd immunity because of their inability to guard off infections and transmissions. That means that the virus continues to mutate into more transmissible and, immi

rumble.com

Unrestricted | Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche: Facing Catastrophic Immune-Escape Pandemic
New American with Veronika Kyrylenko
April 25, 2023
31 min 21 sec

CHD.TV Exclusive With Geert Vanden Bossche

Excerpts from a sit-down CHD.TV Exclusive interview with virologist Geert Vanden Bossche

live.childrenshealthdefense.org

Excerpts from a sit-down CHD.TV Exclusive interview with virologist Geert Vanden Bossche
April 24, 2023
16 min
(MY COMMENT: where is the full interview? what did they cut out?)

Courageous Convos With VFF, New Zealand, covid-19,

Courageous Convos is a weekly live webinar hosted by Voices For Freedom co-founders (Claire, Alia & Libby) with international guest, Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche. The former pharma, Gates Foundation, GAVI

rumble.com

Courageous Convos hosted by Voices For Freedom co-founders (Claire, Alia & Libby) New Zealand
April 12, 2023
1 hr 06 min 09 sec

A treasure trove. Hope to listen soon. Thanks for the heavy lifting.

 

[Zoner]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1653567159744831488

View: https://twitter.com/enemyinastate/status/1653567159744831488?s=46&t=T34Tof-RMpvgM-SsxrbDjg

 

[psychgirl]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1653567159744831488

View: https://twitter.com/enemyinastate/status/1653567159744831488?s=46&t=T34Tof-RMpvgM-SsxrbDjg

Hmmm…,1 in 40 fatality rate?!
Geert???

 

[Zoner]

A treasure trove. Hope to listen soon. Thanks for the heavy lifting.

Listening now and nothing really new. Geert believes that this current form of immunity to omicron is fragile and will finally be overcome by the Virus. Confesses his timing was off but is confident what he has forecast will take place...and soon.

 

[Zoner]

Hmmm…,1 in 40 fatality rate?!
Geert???

could be...

 

[naegling62]

IDK, only 20 new deaths out of 1.4 billon people?

 

[psychgirl]

A treasure trove. Hope to listen soon. Thanks for the heavy lifting.

Yes, thank you!
Our WiFi and computer has been out for days, now which makes watching videos reallly annoying lol!
I’ll catch up with these later

 

[Zoner]

View attachment 410792

IDK, only 20 new deaths out of 1.4 billon people?

Thx. Who really knows the numbers? Time will tell...

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

Part 2 Moderna Contracts

Pay attention to words

sashalatypova.substack.com

(fair use applies)


Part 2 Moderna Contracts
Pay attention to words
Sasha Latypova
Apr 30, 2023

As promised, here is a high level review of the manufacturing contracts between US DOD and Moderna.

Part 1 of this article which talks about Moderna’s R&D contract can be found here. [my comment: link leads to a 'for pay' only article]

To recall, Moderna’s injection, mRNA-1273 is co-owned with the US Government, as the company has been funded by the defense research grants for years and also received intellectual property transfers from the US Government, in addition to preclinical and clinical research work conducted for Moderna by the NIH Vaccine Research Center. The NIH and Moderna each have a separate Investigational New Drug number for this product.

Moderna entered 2 types of contracts with the US Government for Spikevax injection:​

• “Vaccine” contract and amendments that specifies R&D projects that the US Government ordered and paid for. Note that in Pfizer’s case no R&D activities were ordered or paid for by the US Government, as these were excluded from the scope of contract.
• “Manufacturing” contract(s) that ordered a large scale manufacturing. This is different from Pfizer manufacturing contracts as the words “demonstration” and “prototype” are not used. I believe this is because OTA contracts must be for prototypes but FAR contracting doesn’t have to be.

Note on redactions. In both Moderna and Pfizer's contracts many areas are redacted indicating a reason for redaction - the "redaction codes". Redacted content has been given codes b (4) and b (6), standing for:

(b) (4) Disclosure of information that would affect the application of advanced technology in a U.S. weapons system,

and

(b) (6) Disclosure of information, including information of foreign governments, that would cause serious harm to relations between the United States and a foreign government or to ongoing diplomatic activities of the United States.

There are several versions of the contract available, plus amendments. The first version was signed on August 9, 2020 and the last available version is June 15, 2021. In one of them the name of the signatory on Moderna side was redacted with (b)(6). In another version it's unredacted - it was Hamilton Bennett, a senior director of vaccine access and partnerships.

This 35 yo woman seems woefully underqualified, especially to “engineer the vaccine” as her role was described in the press. Moderna’s history is notable for high profile departures of competent and experienced people. Based on press reports and accounts of insiders, Stephan Bancel’s toxic management culture led to departures of many qualified scientists including heads of R&D, Oncology, Cardiovascular, Chemistry, Rare Diseases and even Vaccines (right around the time the company pivoted to vaccines in 2016). Terminal incompetence is a prerequisite for terminal fraud.

Unlike Pfizer’s and other covid countermeasures contracts, the Moderna contract is not under Other Transactions Authority (OTA) but FAR 43.103(a)(3) and “Mutual Agreement of the Parties”. This makes little difference with regard to the product liability and generally ignoring pharmaceutical regulations, as described below.

The total initial amount of contract was $1.5 billion, and this was increased to exactly $8,145,591,662.60 in later amendments. 60 cents - the criminals get points for style and attention to detail! Note that this is in addition to the $1B R&D contract for a handful of studies that didn’t matter which I discussed in Part 1.


The scope of the contract is "manufacturing of up to 500M doses".

The Department of Defense and Health and Human Services (HHS) require large scale manufacturing of vaccine doses in support of the national emergency response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for the United States Government (USG) and the US population.​

​

Note this is for “manufacturing” and not demonstration or prototype.

The Objectives:

This gets interesting. This paragraph includes feel-good sounding words which cover up the true intent: to declare an unrestricted bio-chemical-radiological and nuclear war on Americans, subvert consumer protections under the pretense of a “pandemic response”. Note the words “whole of nation effort”:


“Whole of nation” language can refer to the mobilization of a nation at the time of war. In that use, it is for an obvious declared war with a defined external enemy. However, in the new era of unrestricted 5th generation warfare this language seems to be being used to signal an overt takeover of the entire country by a rogue militarized force, typically by pretense of some sort of a manufactured crisis, and typically from the inside.

I found numerous referenced to this terminology in press going back several years, in the US related to military things like cyber warfare, but also in Chinese, Singaporean, and Australian press. One very interesting and thorough explanation of the “Whole of Nation Chimera” in a Philippine source describing the use of this approach by the militarized government regime that took over all government branches, and the entire civil society. In other words, it describes the installation of a fascist/totalitarian structure. I highly recommend readers to visit the link to the Philippine story published in March 2019 above, because remarkably, the language used is extremely similar to the US government pronouncements related to “covid pandemic response” and Operation Warp Speed. Did the US government writers plagiarize Duerte or do the globo-mafia captured cartels signal to each other and their superiors this way?

“Whole of nation” is closely associated with “whole of government” terminology. Both presented as feel-good ideas in plain text, but in fact these words signal an usurpation of power by the militarized executive branch of the government. Public private partnerships - so beloved by sellouts in academia, pharma, medicine and defense, are another closely associated term.

PL 115-92 refers to Public Law and is discussed below, it’s a way to subvert FDA regulations by conscripting it to serve the DOD goals through the mentioned Interagency Agreement. They now have to follow the DOD orders and fake-approve the unapprovable on command and on schedule.

Finally, it is clear that the clinical trials are absolutely irrelevant to the approval of the injections by the FDA, as the large scale manufacturing of these substances does not depend on them. It is performed in parallel with these fake exercises intended to fool the public.

Compliance with pharmaceutical regulations and Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP):

The contract cites cGMP laws, however it is in a section "Applicable Documents" - referring to this as a document, not a law.


And further, in Amendment 1 the contract states: "cGMP manufacturing of 100 million doses, subject to any exceptions established by or the enforcement discretion of the FDA." Therefore, if FDA decides that no cGMP is necessary, then it's not necessary.

Product variations and undisclosed items ordered:

The PO contains numerous items other than the mRNA-1273 (Spikevax) vaccine, and all of them are completely redacted with (b)(4)-i.e. “Reveal information that would impair the application of state-of-the-art technology within a U.S. weapon system”.

In one of the amendments, the following clause was added: H.19 Product Variations (Authority FAR 43.103(a)(3), Mutual Agreement of the Parties), and completely redacted with the “weapons” redaction, including the word “Variations”. This may refer to varying toxicity of different batches, but that’s just a guess on my part:

Public Law PL 115-92.

Under "Regulatory" the only thing that's defined is that Moderna is the sponsor of the product, IND and BLA. Then it says that the DOD will use this law for the product: "DoD Medical Product Priority. PL 115-92 allows the DoD to request, and FDA to provide, assistance to expedite development of products to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions facing American military personnel. The contractor recognizes that only the DoD can utilize PL 115-92."

Clearly, the US military invokes pub law 115-92 (ostensibly a measure to fast track countermeasures against military attacks, but which in practice is the DoD directing med regulators [FDA]) in their multi-billion contract w/Pfizer to produce a biowepon.

Here's the relevant text of the law, which quite directly subverts the FDA and it's function in service of DOD ends. Highly problematic to say the least, particularly when applied (as was the case w/covid) beyond the laws remit (i.e., defending military personnel from attacks), but instead used to push secret, dual-use technologies, without proper consumer testing and safeguards on unsuspecting civilian population. Screenshot of the law was provided by a reader:

The PREP Act clause.

This clause declares the contractor free of liability and also describes the items and technology as both civil and military applications, i.e. weapons:

Defense priority rating.

The defense priority rating was added by amendment on September 11, 2020. Add a Health Resources Priorities and Allocations System (HRPAS) priority rating of DO-HR to this contract. Add a Defense Priorities and Allocation System (DPAS) priority rating of DO-C9 to this contract to act as the equivalent to the HRPAS priority rating of DO-HR. Add FAR 52.211-15, Defense Priority and Allocation Requirements This is a rated order certified for national defense, emergency preparedness, and energy program use, and the Contractor shall follow all the requirements of the Defense Priorities and Allocations System regulation (15 CFR 700).

Rated order memo in attachment signed by General Perna COO of OWS:

 

[psychgirl]

That’s a long difficult article this early in the morning lol
But thank you HD!

 

[northern watch]