fosborb posted:

this is fascinating. are there issues with aranet fakes? that's the kind of thing that seems so niche I never would have expected it

fosborb posted:

in 10 years some AAA game is going to have faded "please wear a mask" in store front windows and people are going to lose their minds at the environmental storytelling

bobtheconqueror posted:

They forgot they were there.

nexous posted:

too much Covid fatigue to remove the outdated signs

Steve Yun posted:

the real find is big stickers on the ground saying to maintain 6 feet of distance

bonus if it says what direction to walk down an aisle

https://nn.neurology.org/content/10/6/e200159 posted:

Abstract
Background and Objectives Millions of Americans were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 early in the pandemic but could not get diagnosed with COVID-19 due to testing limitations. Many have developed a postviral syndrome (PVS) including neurologic manifestations similar to those with postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (Neuro-PASC). Owing to those circumstances, proof of SARS-CoV-2 infection was not required for evaluation at Northwestern Medicine's Neuro COVID-19 clinic. We sought to investigate clinical and immunologic findings suggestive of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in patients with PVS.

Methods We measured SARS-CoV-2–specific humoral and cell-mediated immune responses against Nucleocapsid and Spike proteins in 29 patients with PVS after suspected COVID-19, 32 confirmed age-matched/sex-matched Neuro-PASC (NP) patients, and 18 unexposed healthy controls. Neurologic symptoms and signs, comorbidities, quality of life, and cognitive testing data collected during clinic visits were studied retrospectively.

Results Of 29 patients with PVS, 12 (41%) had detectable humoral or cellular immune responses consistent with prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Of 12 PVS responders (PVS+), 75% harbored anti-Nucleocapsid and 50% harbored anti-Spike responses. Patients with PVS+ had similar neurologic symptoms as patients with NP, but clinic evaluation occurred 5.3 months later from the time of symptom onset (10.7 vs 5.4 months; p = 0.0006). Patients with PVS+ and NP had similar subjective impairments in quality of life measures including cognitive function and fatigue. Patients with PVS+ had similar results in objective cognitive measures of processing speed, attention, and executive function and better results in working memory than patients with NP.

Discussion Antibody and T-cell assays showed evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 exposure in approximately 40% of the PVS group. Three-quarters of patients with PVS+ had detectable anti-Nucleocapsid and one-half anti-Spike responses, highlighting the importance of multitargeted COVID-19 immunologic evaluation and the limitations of commercially available diagnostic tests. Despite their persistent symptoms, lack of COVID-19 diagnosis likely delayed clinical care in patients with PVS. Our data suggest that millions of Americans presenting with PVS resembling Neuro-PASC were indeed exposed to SARS-CoV-2 at the beginning of the pandemic, and they deserve the same access to care and inclusion in research studies as patients with NP with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.

https://www.statnews.com/2023/08/23/long-covid-diagnosis-negative-test/?utm_campaign=rss posted:

Of the 103 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the U.S., an estimated one-third have led to long Covid — a condition that ranges in severity, but can be debilitating. A new study suggests that even more people may be suffering from the post-viral syndrome without having ever received an official diagnosis of Covid-19.

The study, published Wednesday in Neurology, Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, was small, examining only 29 patients. But it offers unique insights into how many cases of long Covid may go unidentified because the patient’s Covid-19 infection wasn’t detected.

“We estimated that there were approximately 10 million people in the first year of the pandemic in the U.S. who are in this predicament: who got Covid, got long Covid, but tested negative for Covid,” said Igor Koralnik, who led the study and is the chief of the division of neuroinfectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine.

The findings of the study suggest that a positive diagnosis for Covid-19 should not be a requirement for treating people whose symptoms are in line with long Covid, said Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, who was not involved with the study.

“Restricting access to care [for] long Covid to people who had established disease will disenfranchise and really marginalize people who are actually likely the most vulnerable among us,” said Al-Aly, noting that people with fewer resources or who live in areas where testing is not easily available may have a harder time getting a diagnosis.

Koralnik, who oversees Northwestern’s Neuro Covid-19 Clinic, also noted that “negative long-haulers” should be included in long Covid trials and studies, from which they are currently excluded.
(..)
The study also highlights the pervasiveness of long Covid at a time when there’s increasingly less public focus on the disease.

“We have a crisis on our hands. But unfortunately, in a lot of ways it’s really invisible to the average person on the street, because a lot of these long Covid patients who are actually severely impacted are in bed or at home,” said Al-Aly. “[They are] the missing millions among us who are missing in the workforce, missing from parties, missing from birthdays.”

“Long Covid is really a pandemic within the pandemic,” said Koralnik.

Chamale posted:

Went to a walk-in yesterday and they still had the sign saying "LET OUR STAFF KNOW IF YOU HAVE A COUGH AND HAVE TRAVELLED RECENTLY"

Pingui posted:

This was interesting; generally "Neuro-PASC" (NP) sufferers are excluded from care at long COVID clinics, but at this specific clinic they included people without a positive test, but suffering from similar symptoms and with a suspected case of COVID. They found that a large percentage of these had, in fact, had COVID. They have subsequently had even more issues getting care. The authors conclude that "millions of Americans" presenting with postviral syndrome (PVS) are actually suffering from Neuro-PASC.

quote:

I opted out not to get the Paxlovid as I have so many supplements that I am taking. I don't have any more fever/chills. Just need the rest and drink plenty of liquids. I feel better, too when I am outside getting the natural Vit D.

Snowglobe of Doom posted:

We used to have signs absolutely everywhere warning everyone "Keep 1.5m distance at all times!!! Oh god, the covid will get you if you get any closer!!!" but what happens if your building has a tiny elevator and it's not physically possible for two people to get inside it and move 1.5m away from each other?


Life finds a way!

fosborb posted:

what's the difference between Neuro-PASC and PASC?

quote:

Many individuals with PASC experience neurologic symptoms including cognitive impairment, fatigue, autonomic disturbances, myalgia, headache, and other pain syndromes,3 termed Neuro-PASC (NP).

Pepe Silvia Browne posted:

"computer toucher" becoming the default insult on this forum is like the most spider-man pointing at spider-man thing possible

Homeless Friend posted:

computer toucher spotted…

Homeless Friend posted:

computer toucher spotted…

Rick posted:

Thank you former employer for firing me so I cannot be insulted for touching computers upon the Something Awful forum.

silicone thrills posted:

We're all touching computers to post on this site. Even ur phone is a little computer.

NONE OF YOU IS FREE FROM SINS

silicone thrills posted:

We're all touching computers to post on this site. Even ur phone is a little computer.

NONE OF YOU IS FREE FROM SINS

Pingui posted:

I simply scream my posts at the digital assistant of my consumer brand of choice like a normal person

silicone thrills posted:

We're all touching computers to post on this site. Even ur phone is a little computer.

NONE OF YOU IS FREE FROM SINS

Homeless Friend posted:

praying 4 next big disease so UI spigot comes back.

Homeless Friend posted:

Siri call this guy computer toucher

Homeless Friend posted:

Siri call this guy computer toucher

Homeless Friend posted:

Siri call this guy computer toucher

https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/whats-new/covid-19-variant.html posted:

(..)
Wastewater Detection: A U.S. wastewater sample that was collected as part of routine monitoring in the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) has preliminarily indicated the presence of the BA.2.86 variant. Scientists are investigating this sample and will continue to closely monitor wastewater for further or more widespread evidence of BA.2.86. NWSS is one of multiple monitoring systems CDC uses to detect variants within the United States, and is meant to be used with other COVID-19 public health data to better understand COVID-19’s spread.
(..)
Therapeutics: Examination of the mutation profile of BA.2.86 suggests that currently available treatments like Paxlovid, Veklury, and Lagevrio will be effective against this variant. Monitoring is ongoing and CDC will update this document as human data on the impact of this variant on therapeutics become available.

Diagnostics (tests): Based on BA.2.86’s mutation profile, the anticipated impact on molecular and antigen-based is low.

silicone thrills posted:

An obnoxious POTS? thing that has been getting worse for me over the years:

My heart rate goes loving wild to the point where it makes me sick just from standing up painting, doing something I love to do that should be low impact.

I absolutely cannot imagine how much worse my life would be if I got long covid on top of this garbage.

Anyway here's a painting i just finished

Shiroc posted:

I still see floor stickers semi regularly. I know I also saw plexiglass barriers recently but most of those are gone.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230823/Bus-drivers-twice-as-likely-to-be-hospitalized-for-severe-COVID-19.aspx posted:

Bus drivers were at double the risk of being hospitalized for severe COVID-19 in the later stages of the pandemic, and several occupations in education and healthcare were also at risk of serious illness. This has been shown by a study at the University of Gothenburg.

The study is based on large amounts of data from several different registers, in total 552,562 cases of confirmed COVID-19 infection and 5,985 cases of severe COVID-19 infection. These cases, based on hospitalizations from October 2020 to December 2021, were then cross-referenced with the person's occupation in November of the previous year. The study compared occupations that involved working closely with other people and occupations that had little or no close contact with colleagues or the public.

While the risk of hospitalization for severe COVID-19 was found to be particularly elevated among bus and tram drivers (98% increased risk), the study also highlights staff at after-school clubs (72% increased risk), registered nurses (68% increased risk), compulsory school teachers (60% increased risk) and preschool child minders (60% increased risk).
(..)

Schmeichy posted:

Pharma: where lives saved is a distant second to dollars earned.

quote:

How Gilead Is Paying The Price For Actually Curing A Disease

ALLISON GATLIN
11:46 AM ET 03/10/2017

When biotechnology giant Gilead Sciences (GILD) bought Pharmasset in 2011, it inherited a compound then known as 7977, which Wall Street analysts expected to bring in $3.6 billion in peak sales by 2018.

But just three years later, 7977 launched under the name Sovaldi at north of $1,000 a pill. It raked in $10.3 billion in 2014 sales alone and proved to be a nearly foolproof cure for hepatitis C virus, or HCV. Over three years, Gilead's flagship HCV drugs pulled in more than $44 billion. They also doubled the company's net margins, pushing them past the 50% level at one point in mid-2014.

Trouble is, Gilead didn't just treat hepatitis C. For the most part, it cured patients after about three months. Sovaldi had an unheard-of success rate of up to 95% in some hepatitis C patients, and its follow-on treatment, Harvoni, proved more effective in some cases. Eventually, the patient pool was bound to get smaller, and it has. Sovaldi and Harvoni sales fell a respective 24% and 34% in 2016.

"Think of it like an opening of a blockbuster movie in Hollywood and people wait in line," RBC analyst Michael Yee told Investor's Business Daily. "Thus, there are less coming in right now than before."

Now the pressure is on Gilead to produce another big hit to drive its growth. And for biotech investors, its story is a cautionary tale to look beyond the initial fanfare of a hot new drug and consider the costs should it deliver on its promise.

Hepatitis — unlike HIV, Alzheimer's disease and many types of cancer — can be a short-term temporary condition, said Kevin Young, Gilead's chief operating officer, on the company's Feb. 7 earnings conference call with analysts. Gilead says fewer patients are starting on HCV regimens and those that do are healthier than past patients.

"And thanks to Harvoni, (HCV) can be cured in as little as eight weeks in a genotype 1 patient," Young said, referring to the most common type of hepatitis C.
Sentiment Returns To 2011

Gilead confirmed worries of the hepatitis C slowdown on Feb. 7 after releasing its fourth-quarter earnings. Shares toppled 8.6% the next day, nearly touching a three-year low. Whispers of the looming dip in HCV drug sales had plagued Gilead stock for the better part of a year.

quote:

Harvoni launched with an even bigger $94,500 price tag. Gilead took its lumps in headlines for the price of both, but RBC analyst Yee says the price tags weren't particularly egregious, considering prior treatments and costs.

"The high cost of treatment was not high relative to the existing prior therapy and was significantly better," he told IBD in an email. "The costs have all come down by 50% given competition and other rebating."

Snowglobe of Doom posted:

Homeless Friend posted:

i miss the plexi because it was a huge windbreak, you could put stuff down and it wouldnt fly away….