This is a great bluesky thread that runs through the major papers published in 2020 about what we knew then about #COVID.

Its an impressive list and a major scientific accomplishment. Most of the major risks and issues were at least pointed at in rough by the end of 2020.

Not withstanding the six solid years of Merchants of Doubt suppression tactics, the Urgency of Normal risk minimization, and the political war to memory hole & normalize an ongoing pandemic, the shape of a systemic, multi-organ impacting, immune damaging, neurotropic vasculitis was visible in outline.

The knowledge base has gotten much larger in six years, but the trend has gone in just one direction.

You can also see the timeline on this very useful web site: https://covid-studies.org

https://bsky.app/profile/itsmeder.bsky.social/post/3mahynbqzfc2t

#Sars2 #SARSCoV2 #covid19

long pauses, excessive use of filler words and difficulty finding what to say could signify deteriorating brain health. [1]

Um, two of those are among the most commonly noticeable changes in people post-acute-COVID-19:

One group of [Long COVID] symptoms that can be particularly troubling are language and cognitive difficulties [2]

and

Trouble finding words is common in those with long Covid. Fine-grain investigations of cognitive problems in this post-acute infectious syndrome identify deficits in lexical retrieval.

Damnit.

[1] https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/how-speech-patterns-evolve-could-predict-cognitive-decline-canadian-research-team-suggests/
[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10286899/
[3] https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/trouble-finding-words-common-those-long-covid

#aphasia #LongCovid #COVID #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #SARS2 #CovidIsNotOver #neuroscience #neurology #brain

“The fight in the big pandemic public health story has moved from proving COVID is airborne to building a public health system that acts like it.” - Yaneer Bar-Yam
#LongCOVID #COVIDisNotOver #SARS2 #COVIDisAirborne
This Physicist Says We Don't Take COVID Seriously Enough via @thetyee https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/10/31/Physicist-COVID-Seriously-Enough/

@lazyb0y @ingonymous @tagesschau +9001%

#Vogelgrippe wie #SARS2 sind wie #BSE & #SARS in der Verbreitung vermeidbar gewesen wenn #Seuchenschutz-Behörden direkt, transparent und konsequent agiert hätten statt #Impfgegner*innen und #Coronaleugner*innen den Arsch zu küssen und deren #FUD / #Lügen per #Counterspeech oder sonstwie zu debattieren!

• Weil das ist deren Auftrag!

Ich meine, wir debattieren auch nicht mit Flacherdlern, Holocaustleugnern oder anderen Aluhüten über wissenschaftlich bewiesene Tatsachen…

• Oder wird inzwischen nur noch "#Vibing" unterrichtet und Mathematik-Lehrkräfte akzeptieren 2+2=5 als "Meinung die so stehen zu bleiben hat"?

Wenn ja dann haben wir als Spezies es nicht anders verdient als per Pandemie ausgelöscht zu werden!

#Sarkasmus #DEpol #politics #politricks #Kommentar

⚠️ This implies that in survivors of mild COVID-19, which is most people, over 1 in 3 cases of new-onset dementia is due to COVID-19 ⚠️

adults aged 50 years and older from the UK Biobank over a median observational period exceeding two years following COVID-19 infection

compared with those in propensity-score-matched controls without COVID-19 and in individuals with non-COVID respiratory illnesses

COVID-19 survivors had a higher likelihood of developing new-onset dementia compared to uninfected controls

association between COVID-19 and all-cause dementia (adjusted Hazard Ratio: 1.58)

The underlying pathophysiology likely involves prothrombotic, inflammatory, and microvascular dysfunction mechanisms, contributing to cerebral small vessel disease, blood-brain barrier disruption, and chronic cerebral hypoperfusion, ultimately leading to cognitive impairments and dementia

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44400-025-00034-y

#SARSCoV2 #COVID #COVID19 #CovidIsNotOver #SARS2 #MaskUp #dementia #biobank #LongCOVID

Headline: "Scientists reveal the one Covid symptom you may be stuck with for life"

Reader, I promise you, if you get stuck with only one Long COVID symptom for life and it's reduced taste and smell, you have won the lottery.

When they talk about

“olfactory training to ‘rewire’ the brain’s response to odours”.

it is fantasy, and it is ignoring organ damage and immune senescence and cognitive decline and and and and.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-symptom-stratus-no-smell-b2837587.html

#SARSCoV2 #SARS2 #COVID #COVID19 #LongCOVID

@flxtr Schade

#Leipzig #LangeNachtDesImpfens #Sars2 #influenza

@lostgen Toll, in #Leipzig wieder nichts. 🙄

#LangeNachtDesImpfens #Sars2 #influenza

If you live in BC please please take a moment to tell WorkSafe BC that it is of life and death importance that healthcare standards reflect the info available in 2025 from the CSA, and not from 20 freaking 18

Input stops this Friday, Sept 26th - it's urgent!

More info and links to where you can give input: https://zeroes.ca/@DoNoHarmBC/115239899816344735

Please! This advocacy could save lives!

• and shorten hospital wait times, reduce healthcare worker attrition, the burden on society, and so on. But most importantly, respirators in healthcare will directly save lives. Share the link https://zeroes.ca/@DoNoHarmBC/115239899816344735 for reach, too!

#COVID #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #CovidIsNotOver #COVIDIsAirborne #SARS2 #CleanAir #maskUp #BC #BCpoli #Canada #CDNPoli #healthcare

2025_8_19 The symptoms are coming from inside the house.

We are in a severe Covid surge right now thanks to Late Summer/Back To School, and it will also probably worsen significantly again for the winter holidays. Because your risk for Long Covid increases with each infection, here are some steps you can take during the acute infection to lower your risk of Long Covid, or lower the severity of how a reinfection will worsen your existing Long Covid.

This is not medical advice, this is a summary of things I have read from various studies, journalists, and newsletters, and what I try to prioritize for myself. I send this to loved ones who accept my offer for it when they or someone they know gets infected, and I figured I should make it more broadly accessible.

Ways to Lower Your Risk of Long Covid &
Lower The Severity of A Reinfection’s Worsening Your Long Covid

Medicines, Vitamins, and Supplements

• Increase Vitamin D ASAP and sustain it for at least a month. It’s a reserve vitamin so you can’t cram it all in 2 days, and should not. It is possible to have too much Vitamins A & D, so please be mindful of dosing.
• Increase Iron ASAP and sustain it, similarly to above.
• Zinc, like Vitamin D, is key to our immune system’s functioning & signaling. Zinc can help boost underactive immune features, calm overactive immune features, and reduce inflammation. Additionally, studies have found Zinc levels are significantly reduced during Covid infection, and reduced in relationship to severity of infection, so it makes sense to combat this.
• Metformin has LOTS of evidence of decreasing Long Covid risk with typically few side effects, but it does require a prescription.
  If you’re asking your doctor, I recommend supplying a trusted source: This 2023 Quadruple Blind RCT Study is a Gold Standard for clinical trials. If relevant, additionally add 2025 Study found added efficacy in Fat Folks, 2023 BMJ Blog, 2025 RECOVER Blog.
• H1 Antihistamines have preliminary research to support them decreasing LC risk and SIGNIFICANT research supporting them as treatments in Covid-19 infections, plus ways to lower your Covid infection risk overall. All H1 antihistamines have shown in vitro benefits, however the ones I’ve seen most studied in humans are cetirizine/zyrtec, ebastine, azelastine, and loratadine. Most trials in humans used modern antihistamines, which I agree with. I do not generally suggest any first generation antihistamines including Dramamine, Benadryl, NyQuil, or their generic versions unless you have a medical reason for choosing them & their adverse anticholinergic effects. H1 antihistamines are typically available without a prescription in the US.
• A recent study from Germany found a Nasal H1 Antihistamine, Azelastine Nasal Spray reduced covid infections by 69% (nice). Some people have critiqued this study’s methods, so more research is needed. However, if you need to be on a nasal H1 antihistamine anyways, a 2x a day dose of Azelastine, or 3x a day dose of German Azelastine is extrapolated to be beneficial from a long covid precaution perspective, similarly to other H1 medications above. This is typically available without a prescription.
• H2 Antihistamines, especially Famotidine/Pepcid, reduce both symptom severity and viral load, leading to an earlier resolution of infection. These are available without a prescription in the US, and typically inexpensive.
• Paxlovid is less effective at decreasing Long Covid risk in the acute phase, but does have other benefits, even if started late. It is additionally showing progress as part of a combination therapy. Stock up on mints and cough drops though.
• Magnesium, Vitamin C and other immune-boosters can be very beneficial IF you are not autoimmune/don’t have other relevant considerations.
• If you are on trans masculine HRT or similar medications please continue. Men & NB people with similar levels of hormones have lower risk and sometimes lower symptom burden than women & NB folks with similar hormone levels. We aren’t sure why yet.
   

Other OTC items which might help lower the viral load or otherwise make the acute infection less impactful:

• A mouth wash containing PVP-I [povidone-iodine] or CPC [cetylpyridinium chloride]. This can be used multiple times a day.
• Green tea (ECGC)
• Hibiscus tea (ACE2), though PEANUT ALLERGIES SKIP THIS ONE, including folks sensitive due to aflatoxins by Mast Cell Activation Syndrome — peanuts and hibiscus are often intercropped.
• Antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids (including flaxseed oil, fish oil) help remove oxidative stress, which is helpful in both acute Covid (infection and replication causes OS) and in multiple forms of Long Covid. I’ve read . Antioxidants are vitamins A, C, E, Selenium (Se), and Zinc (Zn). Vitamin A is possible to overdo, so please be mindful of dosing.
• Nicotine, surprisingly to some, though Indigenous People of Turtle Island know Traditional Tobacco as Medicine. If you are already using nicotine (including patches), you can keep it up during the acute phase to hopefully lower some risk. It is also being investigated as a Long Covid treatment, I had a positive experience with my experiment.
   

Transmission Precautions (how to protect people you live with, etc):

COVID is most often transmitted via the air, not droplets like we thought early in the pandemic. As such:

• Fresh air will be your easiest and most effective option, assuming climate safety. Even a slightly open window will be MUCH better than closed windows.
• Masks are extremely effective, especially when both parties wear them. Respirators (aka a mask with a safety rating such as N95, KN95, KF94, P2, FFP2, DS) are best, but anything is better than none. Try to get as good of a seal as you can/minimize air leaks.
• Air filtering with HEPA filters is great if you have access and funds. Try to make sure the filter(s) you use are sufficient for the square footage of the space. Earlier variants had a filter goal of 6 air changes per hour (ACH), but anything is better than nothing, especially when combined with opened windows, etc. If the filters are insufficient for the square footage/meterage or ACH, place them for largest impact: for example close to the sick person, in areas with poor ventilation, or areas of high social contact.
• If HEPA filters are too expensive or unavailable, try to make a Corsi-Rosenthal Box (a DIY air filter alternative using MERV13+ filters and a box fan, free directions abound online). Same strategies as above.
• Last home air filter precaution: most climate control systems have a filter, and if that filter is already or can easily be changed to a MERV13+ filter, that will be an additional help.
• If you must run errands/go to work/etc, please prioritize one of the rated respirators above. Try to do curbside or other distanced, outdoor pickup options where available.
• There are nasal precaution options including the aforementioned OTC H1 Antihistamine Azelastine and Profi Spray (which is highly effective, but their science was measured with nasal swab application, not spray).
• It doesn’t take a lot: We have stopped the acute spread of Covid in our home two times (that we know of!–the real number is probably much higher) by using only a couple strategically placed HEPAs and window cracking.
• When in doubt, think Swiss Cheese:
   

Please Take Care:

• If you feel any sustained exhaustion or fatigue, please rest and do not push yourself for at least two-three months after infection, including physical and mental exertion. A lot of us long haulers had an inkling early on that something was off but we pushed ourselves to be “back to normal” and that caused immense lasting harm. It might sound like a long time now, but a few months is a short time in comparison to the rest of your life. Trust me.
  I wish I had read this earlier: Indefinitely Ill – Post-Covid Fatigue
• Pacing is the most helpful tool I have found for my health, and has been practiced by people with post-viral illness for a long time.
  Intro to pacing: ME Action’s Stop Rest Pace
• Scheduling breaks with reminder alerts is how I do it, and by having specific things I look forward to about downtime (slowed audiobooks, a nature soundscape, etc). Some people are better at remembering on their own.
• Lastly, I recommend using a symptom tracker even for initial infection (and that couple month period after). Hopefully before too long there won’t be many symptoms to track and things’ll be mostly a-ok, and it won’t be needed, but the way covid makes the brain all squiggly, IMO tracking symptoms is super important for understanding what your body needs to have your best chance at maintaining your current health!
• The app Visible is popular in some LC communities, but a journal or calendar is a-ok too. It helps to check in with your body and see how much feels safe to do and what to prioritize. (Visible is free for symptom tracking and I recommend the free version short-term. If you end up needing long term pacing help and want to include the paid wearable, though here’s my coupon code: https://join.makevisible.com/68284299c4dc3e )
   
   
  Thank you for taking care of yourself and your communities. We need all the precautions, kindness, and care we can get right now.

  Additional Covid Safety info from someone else’s patreon:
  https://www.patreon.com/posts/huge-free-covid-86871700
   
  My other Long Covid & related topics info:
  Illmarks Resources Page

https://www.illmarks.com/symptoms-are-coming-long-covid-prevention-tips/

#allergy #art #backToSchool #backtoschool #besafe #bodyHorror #bodyMapping #cdc #chronicIllness #covid #covidIsAirborne #covidIsNotOver #covid19 #covid19 #covidcompetent #CovidIsntOver #environmental #health #healthcare #longCovid #longcovid #maskUp #maskup #mastCell #mastCellActivationSyndrome #mastCellDisease #mastcell #mcas #medArt #medart #medblog #medicalArt #MillionsMissing #pwme #SaltingTheVibes #SaltingTheVibes #sarsCov2 #sars2 #sciArt #SciArt #WearAMask #WearARespirator

“I'm going to try to change your perspective on #COVID in under 2 minutes and I'm going to use this tweet as a springboard.”

#SARS2 #COVID19 #pandemic #education #discussion #health #chronicillness #LongCOVID #AirborneAIDS

https://x.com/pacoonpause/status/1965516005599502710?s=46

This past Saturday, my wife and I went bowling and then gathered with a dozen or so people to play tabletop games and chat. In person, with no worries at all about our #Covid safety while the #SARS2 #virus runs rampant.

Why not? Because we and everyone around us was wearing a respirator mask, almost all of them #N95 or better. 🧵

Australian-led trial shows nasal spray reduces COVID-19 risk

> a nasal spray containing interferon-alpha (IFN-α), a naturally occurring protein with broad antiviral activity, could reduce the risk of #COVID19 infection by 40% compared to placebo.

https://www.petermac.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/details/australian-led-trial-shows-nasal-spray-reduces-covid-19-risk-in-cancer-patients

Coverage of paper:

Interferon-α Nasal Spray Prophylaxis Reduces COVID-19 in Cancer Patients: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trial

https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaf409/8241089

#sars2 #sarscov2

Went to a regional hospital in my red state for medical imaging today. Because I've got health vulnerabilities and I have yet to get a case of Covid, I wore a mask. Also, why not?

In, registration at the front desk, waiting area, actual registration, imaging check-in, imaging waiting area, imaging lab, rest room, free coffee stand by hospital gift shop, out. About an hour and a half.

Never saw another mask.

#Covid #Mask #N95 #HN95 #Sars2 #RedState #Hospital

7/ Then even that modest forum where opponents of universal infection could sometimes be heard was bought and ruined, and an already dim public awareness of what the #SARS2 #virus could and often did do to the human body faded into oblivion. Even reminding people about it by the simple act of wearing a mask on one’s face to avoid infection became socially unacceptable.

You probably weren’t going to get hired if you refused to breathe the unfiltered air of the person interviewing you. You might even get fired if you managed to get through the interview without a mask or infection and then showed up with the mask. You certainly would have less of a chance of getting promoted, even without the retreats and team-building exercises that demanded everyone not just share the same vision but also the same collection of airborne pathogens.

5/ There was, however, a problem with the vaccines. They were simply not up to the task of preventing infection and the insidious harm of hosting a virus that could mutate past everyone’s immune systems—vaccinated or not—within months of its massive and sustained global spread circulation while damaging those immune systems in those it infected.

What was initially treated as the unfortunate anomaly of a “breakthrough infection” among perhaps 10% of vaccinated people became the norm by 2022. If you had gotten the last of a seemingly endless series of boosters (note: this writer has had five) within the previous month or two, you might have half the chance of paying host to #SARS2 as someone next to you in the restaurant who had never been vaccinated at all. And six months later, after your antibodies were gone, after the virus had evolved some more, the difference in odds was hardly worth considering.

2/ These holdouts sometimes tried to assure themselves and each other, in the quiet sterile substitute of online interactions, that wearing an #N95 was no big deal, that you could do pretty much everything like before excepted masked. But then in other postings on the same forums, they would speak of friends lost, families estranged, career opportunities missed.

There was a terrible cost to this vigilance. And yet it was a cost worth paying, because the #SARS2 virus charged a much higher price for its repeated visits to the bodies of its hosts.

New research finds #COVID19 vaccination prior to infection does not affect the neurological symptoms of #longCOVID

> researchers found that vaccination prior to COVID-19 infection did not significantly affect neurological symptoms in long COVID patients, both in patients who had a severe infection that required hospitalization and those with a mild infection who did not require hospitalization.

https://news.nm.org/new-research-finds-covid-19-vaccination-prior-to-infection-does-not-affect-the-neurological-symptoms-of-long-covid/

Paper:

https://academic.oup.com/braincomms/article/7/1/fcae448/7920652?login=false

#sars2 #sarscov2

FDA vaccine target LP.8.1, dominant since March, plateaued in April. June sees Nimbus NB.1.8.1, scion of "razor-blade throat" XDV, push LP.8.1 out of majority.

#CDC added NB.1.8.1 only in latest, late-published public dataset. Notice of "software error" that heralded data delay… has been removed. Hatching for "less reliable" data reflects "low numbers of sequences being reported".

Raj's dashboard, updated this morning, shows Nimbus diversifying in May. Also, XFJ significant, even if CDC hasn't broken out.

❖ #ThisIsOurPolio #Covid #Covid19 #SARS2 #variants #CovidIsNotOver #CovidIsAirborne #dataviz #datavis

Two weeks ago, Mike Honey noted that there are three recombinants that have arrived on Doppelgänger spike proteins, namely XFJ, XFM, and XFP:

https://aus.social/@mike_honey_/114611686572899925

Last week, Xu Zhu (HT D. Focosi) identified a superset of recombinants that have all arrived at a pairing of LF.7's NTD with RBD from elsewhere, namely: XFC, XFG, XFH, XFJ, XFM, XFN and XFP:

https://x.com/dfocosi/status/1931351676880879856

Above variants chart #AnnoPlot script is now updated to favor grouping by such emerging clusters preferentially over grouping by legacy ancestors.

As a reminder, recombinants happen when more than one virus strain is actively replicating in the same organism.

Here, that means two simultaneous infections, from different sources, finding a home in the same person.

When #PublicHealth is a priority, this should be a rare occurrence.

There are seven unique recombinants identified in this new cluster, alone.

❖ #ThisIsOurPolio #Covid #Covid19 #SARS2 #variants #CovidIsNotOver #CovidIsAirborne #dataviz #datavis