As we plan ahead for the year to come, no one is going to plan to get disabled by #LongCovid, yet it could still happen to any of us if we don't do anything about it:
#MaskUp and fight for #CleanAir indoors!
Matariki Thoughts: Playing the Long Game
A guest newsletter from Julia Schiller on the ongoing need for action on Covid.
https://nickrockel.substack.com/p/matariki-thoughts-playing-the-long
I recently read Sherwin Nuland's The Doctors' Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis (2003).
I had heard the basics--Semmelweis was the guy who figured out that doctors were causing childbed (puerperal) fever by poking their dirty hands into the vaginal canals of women whose babies they were helping ("helping") to deliver. But even though Semmelweis was right, no one wanted to listen to him, and it was decades before handwashing became routine in medicine, and poor Semmelweis died in a madhouse.
This story has circulated a lot since 2020, because of the obvious analogy of supposed experts refusing to accept that SARS-CoV-2 is aerosolized, airborne, and that to prevent transmission it isn't enough to wash your hands (though that's still a good practice) or stand six feet apart or wear a baggy cloth or surgical mask.
Nuland's version confirms the summary, but the details are fascinating, and the story well told.
Doctors, of course, did not want to accept that they were actively killing their patients, even though women who delivered in the doctors' wards in the hospital were far, far more likely to die than those who delivered at home, or in the midwife wards, or even in the street on the way to the hospital.
There were tensions between different theories of disease (the prior explanations of childbed fever sound ridiculous now, but there were theories behind them, and institutional investments in those theories). Semmelweis was an outsider--a Hungarian in Vienna, a German speaker in Hungary. He was also impolitic, rude, and a bad writer. He failed to carry out experiments that would confirm his theory, and failed to engage with the hospital's microscopist to get a look at the 'cadaver particles' he speculated doctors were carrying from the autopsies they did in the mornings to the examinations and deliveries they did in the afternoons. He hated writing and didn't want to bother to publish his theory, so his opponents beat him into print with misrepresentations of his account. When he did finally write up his theory, the text was digressive, repetitive, bombastically phrased, and full of cranky attacks on his medical rivals (reminds me a little of Anthony Leonardi--correct on the science but tetchy with those who aren't on board).
Nuland speculates, based on available records including Semmelweis's autopsy, that he suffered early-onset Alzheimer’s, that he was badly beaten by attendants in the insane asylum where he spent his last weeks, and that as a result he died of sepsis--essentially the same disease he tried to save his patients from.
The work of Pasteur later provided the germ theory that supported Semmelweis's observations, and Joseph Lister developed theories and practices of antisepsis and asepsis. But even Lister, who was, in Nuland's account, a suave, classy, diligent scientist, who did repeated experiments to confirm his theories, and published and spoke about his work extensively and persuasively, still took about 20 years to win over the bulk of the medical profession.
Anyway, wash your hands, and wear a respirator.
Need a quick explainer for why you’re still masking and why you’re advocating for respirator use in your medical appointments? Sean Mullen, PhD created this one-sheet Covid summary to share.
Saturday morning in #santiagodechile
#airquality #contaminationkills #calidaddelaire #IQAir #smog #MaskUp
So sieht das also aus, wenn der Newgene-Test anschlägt. Das war's dann mit "wir hatten beide noch nie COVID". Interessanterweise ist bisher nur meine Frau positiv, mal schauen, ob es bei mir so bleibt. Bisher geht es ihr ganz gut, nur leichte Erkältungssymptome.
Das haben wir uns dann wohl vorgestern beim Open-Air-Konzert eingefangen. Einmal ohne Maske bei so einem Massenevent. Sollte man also wirklich lassen. #covodisnotover #diemaskebleibtauf #MaskUp
Want to Reduce Your Risk of Cancer? Heart Disease? Diabetes? Dementia? And More? Here’s How.
#Health #AnOunceOfPreventionIsWorthAPoundOfCure #MaskUp #Covid19 #ProtectYourHealth
@tarraccas The mass denial of the covid pandemic in healthcare is truly horrific. People we trust to take care of our health are those putting many lives at risk and contributing to a decline in people's health. These are acts of omission (not masking, not addressing the fact that SARS-CoV2 infections are a threat to people's health) and commission (possible nosocomial transmissions, spreading misinformation).
PRIMUM NON NOCERE
@tc_morekindness @broadwaybabyto Rapid antigen tests (RATs) have generally had very low sensitivity for years now:
"Only 6 out of the 26 COVID-19 RATs yielded faint test lines using buffer spiked with the lowest concentrations" and some RAT brands were essentially unable to show positive to a human eye: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039914024005265
Omicron sensitivities of appx. 20-60% in nine different brands of RAT:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00430-022-00730-z/tables/3
Many tests are orders of magnitude - 10x, 100x! - less sensitive for Omicron than for wild type: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.18.21268018v1.full.pdf
#CovidIsNotOver #COVID #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #maskUp #CovidCompetent #AirborneAware #RapidAntigenTests
NB.1.8.1 "Nimbus" is growing, known as "razor blade throat". W.H.O. says it is a variant to monitor, as it is expected to take over soon as #1 strain infecting folks in U.S.A. Link is to COVID wastewater map (pictured), additional resources.
#CovidIsNotOver #SummerSurge #hospitalized #proper #respirator #face #shield #mask #asymptomatic #carrier #razor #blade #cough #COVID = #AirBorne #MaskUp #LongCOVID is #number #one #illness in #children #surpassing #asthma https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-wastewater-surveillance
A gentle reminder that catching #Covid is not inevitable.
Even if you've had it before, even if you have felt it was "mild", you can't know all of the risks that you're taking by getting it again. You can't.
Masks work.
(So do ventilation, cleaning indoor air, testing, etc. but that's more than this post is going to go into.)
Yes, you'll have to get over the discomfort (again), both physically and socially, of wearing one, but it's a gift to your future self not to take on another round of a still novel, still mostly not understood, still potentially and actually debilitating disease.
You have a right to protect your own health. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
I will take the discomfort and the social side-eye of wearing a good #mask any day over playing roulette with my future health. I drew that line almost 5 years ago and I'm still comfortable with it, because it is a choice that *I* made, not a choice that was forced upon me for "the economy."
I am neurodivergent and *very* uncomfortable having my breathing restricted or having something over my face. However, I'm waaaay more uncomfortable being sick, and am especially leery of the threat of adding more chronic illness to my pile of woes.
I had to acclimate to wearing a mask, yes, and I've had to try many different styles to find ones that work for me, especially since I often wear one all day for work. But once I made the determination that this is what I was going to do to protect myself and others, this is what I did.
Am I tired of it? Oh yeah, I'm very tired of it! Am I going to stop doing it? Hell no, I'm not going to stop doing it.
I know everybody's social and living and work situations are different, and that mine are unique. Most of the people I have talked to who no longer mask but who have asked me about my mask really seem to be asking for social permission to be able to wear a mask again. Apparently they need a reason to stand out and be weird, like me.
If "razor blade throat variant" is not enough of a reason, what is? If not being a plague rat infecting others unwittingly and unknowingly is not a good enough reason, what is? If avoiding long Covid is not a good enough reason, what is? If protecting vulnerable people both in and outside of your circle is not a good enough reason, what is?
It is OK to wear a mask again. I'm giving you social permission! 🪄💫
If people ask you, tell them that your friend Ari said it was a smart thing to do again and that you've now decided it's important to protect your health and the health of others. If anybody argues with you on that, they're not your friend.
Chu trop radicale. Littéralement hier j'avais un entretien, j'ai demandé si le gens avait des vaccins covid, on m'a dit "je l'ai chopé l'année dernière", j'ai confirmé qu'on était pas vaccinæ.
J'ai gardé le masque tout l'entretien.
#MaskUp #CovidIsNotOver #AutoDefenseSanitaire
Condenados a muerte por Covid | Katie Tastrom
El Estado utiliza las enfermedades contagiosas como parte informal del castigo del encarcelamiento.
Katie Tastrom es una activista anticapacitista que ha trabajado como abogada, trabajadora social y trabajadora sexual. Su trabajo ha sido publicado en las antologías Burn It Down: Feminist Manifestos for the Revolution y Nourishing Resistance: Stories of Food, Protest, and Mutual Aid, así como en numerosos medios de comunicación, entre ellos Truthout, Rewire y Rooted in Rights. El siguiente es un extracto de su primer libro, A People's Guide to Abolition and Disability Justice, publicado en mayo de 2024 por PM Press.
https://autodefesasanitaria.substack.com/p/condenados-a-muerte-por-covid-katie
El 10 de abril de 2024 se cumplirá un año desde que el presidente Joe Biden firmó una resolución del Congreso que pone fin oficialmente a la "emergencia de salud pública" del COVID-19. La semana anterior a esta decisión, más de mil personas habían muerto a causa del virus en Estados Unidos.
Declaraciones como la de Joe Biden no solo son retóricamente falsas, sino que tienen efectos negativos concretos. El fin oficial de la "emergencia de salud pública" ha llevado al fin de muchas medidas sanitarias implementadas para proteger a la población del COVID. Por ejemplo, Medicare, un seguro de salud público que tienen muchas personas con discapacidades, ha dejado de cubrir las pruebas caseras gratuitas y las pruebas PCR. Si bien algunos planes de seguro de salud aún cubren las pruebas, muchas personas sin seguro ya no tendrán acceso a pruebas gratuitas.
Hay tantas medidas, grandes y pequeñas, que podrían haberse implementado antes y después del comienzo de COVID para que la pandemia sea menos mortal. El gobierno podría haber mejorado la comunicación y la educación en materia de salud, haber priorizado las medidas para proteger a los vulnerables, proporcionar ingresos para que pudieran quedarse en casa y haber evitado la aplicación de las patentes farmacéuticas.
No llegamos a donde estamos por casualidad. El COVID no estaba destinado a convertirse en endémico, y decisiones como esta, que tienen como objetivo poner fin a la emergencia sanitaria, tendrán el efecto de aumentar la enfermedad y la mortalidad de los más vulnerables. Una de las principales razones por las que el COVID se ha vuelto tan mortal se debe a las decisiones políticas que ven a las personas marginadas con discapacidad como sacrificios aceptables para el capitalismo. Esta perspectiva se refleja -y se amplifica- en el sistema penitenciario estadounidense.
El COVID y las prisiones
La discapacidad y el encarcelamiento están estrechamente vinculados, y a lo largo del libro, discuto cómo el sistema penitenciario utiliza la discapacidad como pretexto para tomar el control de las vidas no solo de las personas con discapacidades, sino también de las personas indígenas, negras, morenas, queer, transgénero y pobres, siendo siempre las multimarginadas las más atacadas. Una de las razones por las que la pandemia ha sido particularmente devastadora en las prisiones es que la mayoría de las personas encarceladas son discapacitadas, lo que las pone en mayor riesgo de morir o sufrir una enfermedad permanente por COVID si la contraen.
La respuesta del gobierno de Estados Unidos al COVID-19 fue predecible y demencial. La pandemia ha dejado al descubierto cómo las políticas sanitarias afectan a todo lo demás, y las muertes por COVID no se han sentido por igual en todas las comunidades. Después de ajustar por edad, las comunidades indígenas, latinas, de las islas del Pacífico y negras experimentaron tasas de mortalidad por COVID significativamente más altas que las comunidades blancas y asiáticas. Tampoco es coincidencia que las poblaciones con mayor riesgo de encarcelamiento sean las mismas que tienen más probabilidades de morir de COVID: las personas con discapacidades de color. Es el resultado de decisiones y políticas que simultáneamente abandonan y vigilan a las personas con discapacidad.
#CovidPersistente #LlevaMascarilla #RealistaCovid #AutoDefensaSanitaria #CovidSonAerosoles #birdflu #gripeaviar
Also capitalism has made places unsafe because they are poorly ventilated and filled with people not wearing respirator masks.
Does anyone have any commentary on use of expired masks? In reading CDC reports and such information, it appears the rubber bands are what would fail, but in proper storage situations they are still usable years later.
I found some neat listings on ebay for bulk lots at good prices expiring early 2026, hence the good price...
My other thought is I could just staple new rubber bands to the masks too even...
The miracles that occur when it rains in #santiagodechile in the winter.
#airquality #IQAir #contaminationkills #calidaddelaire #smog #maskup #PonteLaMascarilla
Remember the 100+ times Zionnists made fun of my mask and called me crazy. Well here they are masking because....they don't want to inhale their own bioweapons. And you shouldn't either-#maskup.
