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[pandemic-info]

"Is anyone else's immune system totally shot since the 'COVID era'?"

Thread. Lots of informed comments, surprisingly.

The answer is yes: lots of peoples' immune systems are totally shot because that's what COVID does: attacks your entire body / vascular system / brain. It is not only respiratory. Long COVID is also a major issue with no reliable treatment.

And the idea that one should "exercise" their immune system by getting sick more is false, a misunderstanding of how immunity works.

[pandemic-info]

Re: If you may have been exposed to COVID, should you wait to get vaccinated? —

If your body is already mounting a response to a COVID exposure, it may be a good idea to wait until you know you aren’t going to get sick. This period of time—from exposure to symptom onset—is known as the virus’s incubation period. For Omicron variants—which include the newest JN.1. subvariant—studies have estimated a 2–3 day incubation period.

Do not get vaccinated if you are testing positive for COVID. Not only will you risk exposing people to the illness, but your immune system will also be at capacity, meaning you won’t optimize the vaccine’s effects, Bracamonte said.

If you are testing negative and choose to get vaccinated right after an exposure, your immune system will begin mounting a response that may protect you from severe illness from this exposure, but it does take about two weeks for the immune system to mount a full response, Pekosz said.

“It will certainly protect you in the next two to three months from other exposures,” he said.

...

How Long After Having COVID Should You Wait to Be Vaccinated?  

If you’ve recently had COVID, Bracamonte and Pekosz recommend waiting between three and six months to get vaccinated with the most updated COVID vaccine.

It isn’t dangerous to get vaccinated before then, but the idea is to maximize the benefits, and most people retain pretty strong immunity for three to six months after an infection.

“Your body is already at maximum in terms of responding to COVID,” Pekosz said, adding that waiting for a few months allows the immune system’s memory to wane before vaccination ramps it back up, extending protection.

If you haven’t gotten the latest bivalent vaccine—and you’ve managed to avoid COVID so far this year—“It’s not too late,” Pekosz told Health, noting that the latest vaccine can protect against the emerging JN.1 variant.

—

Surprisingly good article. Makes sense that the author is a science journalist who’s also covered Long COVID, e.g.:

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/brain-fog-long-covid-symptoms-can-last-year-study-finds-rcna29834

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/covid-hurts-heart-according-science-rcna71262

Related:

https://pandemic-info.tumblr.com/post/731367132427878400/novavax-is-finally-available-in-us-pharmacies

[pandemic-info]

Two years after the pandemic began, we finally have a good understanding of how COVID-19 is transmitted: some infected people exhale virus in small, invisible particles (aerosols). These do not fall quickly to the ground, but move in the air like cigarette smoke. Other people can get infected when breathing in those aerosols, either in close proximity, in shared room air, or less frequently, at a distance. But the journey to accepting the overwhelming scientific evidence of how COVID-19 spread was far too slow and contentious. Even today, the updated guidance and policies of how to protect ourselves remain haphazardly applied, in part because of one word: “airborne.”

[pandemic-info]

Solving the puzzle of Long Covid | Science

Long Covid provides an opportunity to understand how acute infections cause chronic disease

Graphic:

Many forms of Long Covid Long Covid is a multisystemic disease with sequelae that affect almost all organ systems. Various putative mechanisms that underlie these sequelae are not mutually exclusive and may explain the myriad health effects seen in Long Covid. Therapeutics that target these pathways, such as antivirals, anti-inflammatory agents, microbiome restoration, and anticoagulant drugs, may ameliorate symptoms. GRAPHIC: A. MASTIN/SCIENCE

[pandemic-info]

Summary:

Leaky blood vessels and overactive immune response.

[pandemic-info]

CDC easing covid isolation guidance worries vulnerable people - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/02/17/cdc-covid-isolation-vulnerable-sick-leave/

Concerns among medically vulnerable people are growing as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prepares to drop its long-standing recommendation that those with covid isolate for five days. People with compromised immune systems worry that co-workers will return to the office while they’re still contagious. At the same time, the few remaining policies guaranteeing paid leave for employees with covid are largely coming to an end. New York, the only state that still requires paid leave for covid isolation, is considering ending that benefit this summer. Even as many cheer loosening isolation guidance, others are troubled by federal health officials’ latest move to stop treating covid as a unique respiratory viral threat. The forthcoming change, first reported by The Washington Post, says people could return to school and work if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of medication and they have mild and improving symptoms. This article is free to read: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/02/17/cdc-covid-isolation-vulnerable-sick-leave/

I will add that any scientifically literate person who understands how this disease affects the body has been and continues to be concerned.

Let's not keep pinning it just on "vulnerable people" and making them carry the entire load for everyone, in addition to the ways they're already suffering.

But who am I kidding at this point, honestly. Everything is so fucked.

[pandemic-info]

Percentage of Asymptomatic Infections among SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant-Positive Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - PubMed

Conclusion: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the pooled percentage of asymptomatic infections was 32.40% among SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant-positive individuals. The people who were vaccinated, young (median age < 20 years), had a travel history, and were infected outside of a clinical setting (community infection) had higher percentages of asymptomatic infections.

[pandemic-info]

Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Age: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-analysis - PubMed

The overall estimate of the proportion of people who became infected with SARS-CoV-2 and remained asymptomatic throughout infection was 44.1% (6556/14,850, 95% CI: 43.3%-45.0%). The predicted asymptomatic proportion peaked in children (36.2%, 95% CI: 26.0%-46.5%) at 13.5 years, gradually decreased by age and was lowest at 90.5 years of age (8.1%, 95% CI: 3.4%-12.7%). Conclusions: Given the high rates of asymptomatic carriage in adolescents and young adults and their active role in virus transmission in the community, heightened vigilance and public health strategies are needed among these individuals to prevent disease transmission.

[pandemic-info]

1 in 9 Canadian adults have experienced long-term COVID-19 symptoms; most continue to experience symptoms

The increased rate at which long-term symptoms occur in those with COVID-19 infections is an observed phenomenon that sets the illness apart from other respiratory viruses, such as the flu. This may be related to the fact that COVID-19 affects a wide range of body systems, not limited to the respiratory system, and has been documented to be able to cause organ damage in infected individuals.

[pandemic-info]

Tired of masking! how to stay motivated? Tips on negotiating mask/COVID-related differences in relationships?

The above links to a thread with a lot of helpful responses.

[pandemic-info]

Can’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog. Adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s are driving the trend. Researchers point to long Covid as a major cause.

Via the New York Times, November 2023

Comment:

Yes this is serious guys. I'm in my thirties and got (serious, pretty much couchbound) Long Covid after getting infected once.The brain fog was debilitating, and I still am not sure it completely went away, though I'd say after an entire year it has cleared up 95%. People, you don't want this. I've spoken to many friends and acquaintances who tell me they feel as if their memories don't work like they used to. None of them said to have long covid. [meaning: that they know of]

via

[pandemic-info]

There are suspected differences in the immune system of people of high intelligence: Hyper Brain, Hyper Body: The Trouble With High IQ - Neuroscience News High IQ does correlate with immune dysregulation, but since the study was on Mensa members (a highly self-selected group) it is unknown if this is actually a widespread effect or not. What is known is that the immune cells of the brain known as microglia engage in a process of synaptic pruning during normal development and aging. This process is the basis of memory, learning, attention, etc. So, it seems likely that the immune system and its functioning plays an important role in human intelligence. Excess synaptic pruning is a consequence of at least one known viral infectious disease, HIV/AIDS, which can directly infect the microglia and cause HAND (HIV associated neurocognitive disorders): HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder - Wikipedia Microglia in HIV-associated neurological diseases - PubMed (nih.gov) Excess synaptic pruning is now increasingly suspected to be the cause of Covid 'brain fog': Why does COVID-19 cause brain fog? Scientists may finally have an answer. | National Geographic This is highly ominous as this phenomenon is also found in Schizophrenia, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. For readers of above average intelligence, my advice is better safe than sorry. You should mask strictly and protect your perhaps more delicate than average brain. It seems likely to me that after a certain amount of damage accumulates, there will be no coming back from it.

Via

[pandemic-info]

First up is this study from Italy, which shows ZERO children out of 33 in the experimental group testing positive for Covid, in comparison with 24 out of 46 in the control group.

The experimental group also had much lower rates of respiratory infection in general over the 90 days that this study was performed. More statistics available here (click on HTML for full study): https://www.minervamedica.it/en/journals/minerva-medica/article.php?cod=R10Y2021N04A0514

"In a randomized and controlled study, the adjuvant use of S. salivarius K12, an oral probiotic endowed with a well-known capability to colonize the oral environment, improved the blood parameters and reduced the death rate in COVID-19 patients."

...

[pandemic-info]

Also re: this post, first bullet,

Even though the term "gaslighting" is highly overused lately, I do think it's apt for some of what's happening in denying pandemic events and data.

Because people stand to benefit from those who are struggling with LC and those who are still careful being seen as "crazy", in one way or another.

For those who are foremost economically-driven, the benefits are obvious.

But for regular people, too. It's easier to "live" in the way you prefer, if you dig your heels in to the belief that everyone who's suffering long-term effects or saying "look at all this research and data" are people who can safely be ignored. Because they're just "not strong enough", or "risk-intolerant", or elderly/disabled i.e. irrelevant to you or even "disposable", or mentally ill, or "don't live in reality" any of dozens of excuses.