Platystemon posted:

Vancouver’s Orpheum

https://cleanairstars.com/item/the-orpheum/

Platystemon posted:

The only way it could possibly be good to have two antigenically distinct strains circulating would be if real world pathogens worked like that door gag in The Simpsons.

It’s very clearly a bad thing.

What’s next? Being unable to decide if we want the B/Yamagata lineage of influenza to stay gone or not?

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cold-and-flu/covid-flu-surging-risk-coinfection-test-rcna132345 posted:

With Covid and flu surging at the same time, how big is the risk of coinfection?
The most recent data from the CDC shows high levels of flu across the country and increases in hospitalizations due to Covid.
(..)
John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania, said protection from coinfection has to do with our body’s own defense system.

“There is a concept out there with data from animal models that one infection can make you more resistant to another infection occurring at the same time,” he said.

This phenomenon, called viral interference, is where infection with one virus ramps up the body’s immune system and can make it less likely to get infected with another virus.

“The immune response to one kind of shuts the door on the other,” said Dr. Jake Scott, an infectious diseases specialist at Stanford Medicine.
(..)
Evidence suggests that infection with Covid and influenza can make someone sicker.
(..)

Kreeblah posted:

I've been looking for a dentist for a while now, here around Seattle.

https://fortune.com/well/2024/01/05/us-reachest-second-highest-covid-peak-pirola-jn1-omicron-pi-rho/ posted:

Highly mutated COVID variant ‘Pirola’ JN.1 is fueling the pandemic’s second highest U.S. wave—and it’s still growing
_{January 5, 2024}

https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/paxlovid-does-not-cut-long-covid-risk-study-finds-18587641.php posted:

Paxlovid doesn’t reduce risk of long COVID, UCSF study finds

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jmv.29333 posted:

Abstract
Oral nirmatrelvir/ritonavir is approved as treatment for acute COVID-19, but the effect of treatment during acute infection on risk of Long COVID is unknown. We hypothesized that nirmatrelvir treatment during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection reduces risk of developing Long COVID and rebound after treatment is associated with Long COVID. We conducted an observational cohort study within the Covid Citizen Science (CCS) study, an online cohort study with over 100 000 participants. We included vaccinated, nonhospitalized, nonpregnant individuals who reported their first SARS-CoV-2 positive test March–August 2022. Oral nirmatrelvir/ritonavir treatment was ascertained during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patient-reported Long COVID symptoms, symptom rebound and test-positivity rebound were asked on subsequent surveys at least 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. A total of 4684 individuals met the eligibility criteria, of whom 988 (21.1%) were treated and 3696 (78.9%) were untreated; 353/988 (35.7%) treated and 1258/3696 (34.0%) untreated responded to the Long COVID survey (n = 1611). Among 1611 participants, median age was 55 years and 66% were female. At 5.4 ± 1.3 months after infection, nirmatrelvir treatment was not associated with subsequent Long COVID symptoms (odds ratio [OR]: 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.80–1.64; p = 0.45). Among 666 treated who answered rebound questions, rebound symptoms or test positivity were not associated with Long COVID symptoms (OR: 1.34; 95% CI: 0.74–2.41; p = 0.33). Within this cohort of vaccinated, nonhospitalized individuals, oral nirmatrelvir treatment during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and rebound after nirmatrelvir treatment were not associated with Long COVID symptoms more than 90 days after infection.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/inq2/covid-limb-amputations-candice-davis-20240104.html posted:

After losing a part of each limb at 30, this COVID survivor is adapting to her new life
Candice Davis continues on her recovery journey: “There’s possibility for everything”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/03/health/covid-masks-vaccinations.html posted:

Covid Has Resurged, but Scientists See a Diminished Threat
Hospitalizations have ticked upward, and there are at least 1,200 Covid deaths each week. Americans should wear masks more often and get vaccinated, experts say.
_{January 3, 2024}

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/12/31/long-covid-symptoms-treatment-research/ posted:

Four years on, long covid still confounds us. Here’s what we now know.
_{December 31, 2023}

Many people now view covid-19 as an almost routine inconvenience, much like flu, RSV and other seasonal infections. But four years after reports surfaced of a new respiratory illness, prompting a massive response among researchers, the disease’s aftereffects — commonly called long covid — continue to confound doctors and patients alike.

“We know a lot about this particular coronavirus,” said Francesca Beaudoin, chair of the department of epidemiology at Brown University. “That does not translate into an understanding of the long-term consequences of infection.”
(..)
Can I stop myself from getting long covid?
Yes! By not getting covid in the first place. That means getting vaccinated, wearing a well-fitting mask, washing your hands and avoiding crowded, poorly ventilated indoor spaces.
And if that sounds like a tall order these days, you are right.
(..)

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/29/nhs-england-storm-of-pressure-flu-covid-cases-surge posted:

NHS in England facing ‘storm of pressure’ as flu and Covid cases surge
Average of 3,631 patients in hospital with Covid during Christmas week, data shows, a rise of 57% in a month
_{Fri 29 Dec 2023}

https://www.ft.com/content/930318b8-65f3-4c66-9dd6-44249adea584 posted:

Zero-Covid: China’s year of forgetting
A year on from the ending of the policy, how is it now remembered — and how well?
(..)
There are 26mn people in Shanghai, just one of dozens of cities locked down in China between 2020 and 2022, each with their own accounts. Official coverage of the pandemic was carefully controlled. But on social media the unfolding history was at the time richly documented.

One expat couple
(..)

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/pediatric-rsv-led-higher-hospitalization-rates-omicron-flu/story?id=105947505 posted:

Pediatric RSV led to higher hospitalization rates than omicron or flu: Study
Hospitalization rates were 81.7% for RSV and 27.7% for flu, the study found.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2812813 posted:

Pneumonia is the largest infectious cause of pediatric mortality, and respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza virus, and SARS-CoV-2, can be detected in more than 80% of community-acquired infections.1,2 Omicron is associated with less severity compared with preceding variants.3 However, outcomes of Omicron vs RSV and influenza infections in children remain to be better understood. We compared outcomes of Omicron infection with those of influenza or RSV infection in pediatric patients attending emergency departments (EDs).

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/long-covid-new-info-who-most-likely-get-it-2023a1000wq4 posted:

Long COVID: New Info on Who Is Most Likely to Get It
(..)
A small Northwestern Medicine study found that 41% of patients with long COVID never tested positive for COVID-19 but were found to have antibodies that indicated exposure to the virus.

Doctors treating patients with long COVID should consider several risk factors, specialists said. They include:

• A history of asthma, eczema, or allergies
  
• Signs of autonomic nervous system dysfunction
  
• Preexisting immune system issues
  
• Chronic infections
  
• Diabetes
  
• Being slightly overweight
  
• A preexisting history of anxiety or depression
  
• Joint hypermobility (being "double-jointed" with pain and other symptoms)

(..)

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/12/28/winter-covid-flu-rsv-season-guide/71894396007/ posted:

What are Americans catching this winter? It's not just flu and COVID-19 anymore.
_{28 December 2023}

It’s that time of year, again, when everyone appears to be getting sick – your family, your friends, your co-workers. Even your dog.
(..)
“You can take your pick this year,” said Dr. Steve Furr, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
(..)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/conditions/cold-flu/covid-christmas-flu-symptoms-virus-teeth-flu/ posted:

Why everyone seems to have Covid this Christmas
As the JN.1 variant begins to bite, and with reports of a wide range of symptoms – the illness is back to ruin festivities

(..)

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-contact-tracing-study-suggests-length-exposure-biggest-factor-disease-spread posted:

COVID contact-tracing study suggests length of exposure biggest factor in disease spread

https://www.news-medical.net/news/2...in-culprit.aspx posted:

New Year's Eve celebrations linked to spike in COVID-19 cases: Small gatherings, not large events, the main culprit

Background
Several studies have reported an increase in COVID-19 cases following public holidays and celebrations; however, to date, no study has identified a single causal evidence.

Existing data has shown that superspreading events (SSEs) are one of the significant contributors to the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens. Thus, it is important to understand the exact role of SSEs in increasing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 during holidays.
(..)
Several other restrictions were implemented by the end of December, including wearing face masks in public indoor areas, prohibiting indoor mass gatherings, school closures, and mandatory remote work in several professional sectors.
(..)
Although there was a high secondary attack rate, SSEs were responsible for 16-34% of infections on NYE. Thus, small-scale events, rather than SSEs, were the main contributors to a surge in new cases of COVID-19.
(..)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2023/12/13/three-years-after-covid-19-vaccine-rollout-cdc-still-gets-messaging-wrong/ posted:

Three Years After Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout, CDC Still Gets Messaging Wrong
(..)
It’s this kind of evidence that should be highlighted in CDC’s messaging on the importance of vaccines in the effort to prevent severe illness and death from Covid-19.

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/4354004-this-is-bigger-than-covid-why-are-so-many-americans-dying-early/ posted:

This is bigger than COVID: Why are so many Americans dying early?
(..)
With the worst of COVID behind us, annual deaths for all causes should be back to pre-pandemic levels — or even lower because of the loss of so many sick and infirm Americans. Instead, the death toll remains “alarming,” “disturbing,” and deserving of “urgent attention,” according to insurance industry articles.

Actuarial reports — used by insurers to inform decisions — show deaths occurring disproportionately among young working-age people. Nonetheless, America’s chief health manager, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opted in September to archive its excess deaths webpage with a note stating, “these datasets will no longer be updated.”
(..)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j9x8dcsy5t5no36/AAB7Y7VMoRjGI8zfj5QhVHh9a?dl=0&preview=SIR_2023+Excess+Mortality+v20230913.pdf posted:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-22/covid-long-term-disease-parkinsons-alzheimers-risk/103112864 posted:

The eighth COVID-19 wave is here. Could catching it trigger Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or autoimmune disorders?
_{21 November 2023}

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/21/people-who-stuck-by-uk-covid-rules-have-worst-mental-health-says-survey posted:

People who stuck by UK Covid rules have worst mental health, says survey
Trauma of pandemic having lasting impact on people’s mental health three years on, research reveals

People who stuck by Covid lockdown rules the most strictly have the worst mental health today, research has found.
(..)
“Communal” types displayed the highest levels of continuing disturbance to their mental wellbeing. However, “agentic” people had been able to “bounce back” better from lockdown mode.
(..)
“The finding that people who complied with pandemic restrictions are more likely to have poorer mental health three years on is deeply disturbing.

“The fear, loss and trauma created by the pandemic are having a lasting impact on many people’s mental health. For some, this may have been exacerbated by the loss of social solidarity from seeing others not complying with the same restrictions,” said Andy Bell, its chief executive.
(..)

Pingui posted:

Backlog clearance
9
Most of this isn't news at all and I didn't know what to say about the hypermobility.

Boy of Joy posted:

anyway, I would be down to read more about this stuff if you made a thread!

gradenko_2000 posted:

Sorry for the tiktok link but...

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSNcSGqHc/

FIP is curable???

Pingui posted:

bred posted:

Thank you for the perspective. The logic about when to treat is so simple but now that it's me I find myself making excuses. Last night I tested negative. Today I had the slightest grey line on an accesbio test. I'm reading this as a positive confirming I have covid. It continued to get bluer as time went on. I started paxlovid this morning. Thank you thread for helping me prepare for this.

gradenko_2000 posted:

Sorry for the tiktok link but...

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSNcSGqHc/

FIP is curable???

Pingui posted:

Interesting (Marc Johnson you may recall does sewershed variant tracking):
https://twitter.com/SolidEvidence/status/1743737356820033814

To answer the question posed at the end of the thread, it would be very very bad.

Nitter thread: https://nitter.net/SolidEvidence/status/1743737350721622458#m

Iverron posted:

https://x.com/JPWeiland/status/1743742478472102068?s=20

next few weeks should be interesting

Cabbages and Kings posted:

what do you think the best forum would be? No one reads The Goon Doctor.

https://abc7.com/respiratory-illnesses-covid-rsv/14269895/ posted:

Infectious disease specialists say brace yourself for respiratory viruses packing a 1-2 punch

Asproigerosis posted:

Yeah they figured out remdesivir cures FIP years ago.

Rescue Toaster posted:

(..)
I do wonder how the commercial lifecycle of stuff like Tamiflu influences the choices drug companies are making about COVID antivirals. Tamiflu was the hot poo poo like 15-20 years ago, and now I don't know if they ever prescribe that anymore? Probably all the patents ran out and there was no drug reps pushing it like crazy and eventually everybody realized it didn't do poo poo. (Not comparing tamiflu to pax in any way here, just wondering about commercial history of these drugs)

quote:

A study released late last month reaffirmed the devastating impact of the disease.

The report, published in Marine Mammal Science, analysed data from an outbreak among southern elephant seals at Peninsula Valdez in Argentina in early October.

About 70 per cent of the 1,891 seal pups born along a 13-kilometre stretch of coastline during the peak breeding season died.

During the same period a year earlier, the mortality rate was less than 1 per cent.

By extrapolating the results across the region's entire colony, researchers estimate around 17,400 seal pups succumbed to the deadly disease.

Where thousands of weaned pups would normally be expected in late October and early November, only 58 were seen.

The researchers also observed dozens of adult seal carcasses in an area where seeing dead adults is a rare event. Other seals displayed symptoms including head tremors, lack of coordination, and nasal discharges.

But it is not just southern elephant seals that have been affected by avian influenza.

A network of avian influenza experts, known as OFFLU, has reported the deaths of more than half-a-million birds and 50,000 mammals since the disease was first detected in South America.

They include 262,000 cormorants, 62,000 Peruvian pelicans, 32,000 sea lions and 4,000 Humboldt penguins.

"Updates from our Southern American colleagues are consistently distressing given the scale of mortality recorded on the continent," Dr Wille said.

quote:

As a member for the Antarctic Wildlife Health Network, Dr Wille is bracing for avian influenza's anticipated spread across the vast icy wilderness.

"In the Antarctic, we have a high proportion of species that are found nowhere else in the world.

"So [the] effects could be catastrophic," she said.

The continent is home to 48 bird species and 26 marine mammals, including many that congregate in small areas to breed.

"[The impact] could include not only emblematic species such as Emperor Penguins, but all the incredible marine mammals are at risk as well.

"In addition to direct effects, like mass mortality events, we may also see ecosystem level impacts if so many animals are 'removed' from the ecosystems, which is what we saw following the mass removal of whales due to whaling."

Fears about its spread are not limited to Antarctica.

Scientists expect avian influenza to eventually reach Australia and other areas across the Pacific.

The most likely incursion will come from Asia or North America, but researchers say it is plausible it could arrive from Antarctica.

astral posted:

Not with that kind of attitude, they won't. You should post about it there!

Steve Yun posted:

https://x.com/clean_air_club_/status/1728097757057913084?s=46

a new challenger appears

Cabbages and Kings posted:

what do you think the best forum would be? No one reads The Goon Doctor. Lol at the thought of me making a D&D thread in 2023.

Objurium posted:

Just popped positive on a rapid antigen test after growing suspicions that the cognitive impairment from this "head cold" felt very... Wrong.

It seems hard to separate wheat from chaff right now, but does anyone have a handy reliable JN1 info resource sheet? I'm seeing random poo poo about serotonin depletion and anxiety but I have no idea if those sources are reliable or not and my brain fog isn't doing me any favors.

Steve Yun posted:

https://x.com/clean_air_club_/status/1728097757057913084?s=46

a new challenger appears

Steely Dad posted:

Is Amazon a trustworthy source for these, or is it like N95s where you shouldn’t chance it?

Steely Dad posted:

Is Amazon a trustworthy source for these, or is it like N95s where you shouldn’t chance it?

CoasterMaster posted:

I just got mine direct from the source. They shipped very quick and showed up a couple days later. Definitely not as streamlined and easy to use as the Cue ones, but no harder than your average RAT.

The Oldest Man posted:

I found these way easier to use without errors than Cue with the stupid rear end app that doesn't work right a quarter of the time or wants me to update the firmware on the reader first

Petey posted:

https://twitter.com/NateB_Panic/status/1742980516759101473

The Oldest Man posted:

I found these way easier to use without errors than Cue with the stupid rear end app that doesn't work right a quarter of the time or wants me to update the firmware on the reader first

Oracle posted:

Metrix will also send you a free replacement test if yours pops purple (test error, meaning something malfunctioned with the test itself).
I’d love to hack one to see if I could get it to reuse the test cart; it still feels like such a waste of material to throw out the chip.

Snowglobe of Doom posted:

Avian influenza has torn through South America and killed a gigantic number of birds, elephant seals and sea lions, and may have just made the leap across to Antarctica



https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-08/antarctic-bird-flu-h5n1-threat-scientists-fear-worst/103287708

gradenko_2000 posted:

Sorry for the tiktok link but...

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSNcSGqHc/

FIP is curable???

Cabbages and Kings posted:

Right when COVID was blowing up a friend told me he was in some secret group of people that imported a coronavirus drug from China to give to FIV cats and yes it is curative if used fast enough. The reason this existed as a secret group, was that the labs in china that do the synthesis needed more lead time than a sick cat allows, so what you would do is, order some, put your name on a list, and then someone else who had done the same thing in the past would send you their chinese feline corona drugs, and you would hold on to yours for the next person with a sick cat.

After looking at the video, yep, same drug.

quote:

The response to COVID supercharged research into antivirals against coronaviruses, expanding the arsenal of drugs and making them more widely available. So Cyprus was oddly prepared for this new viral scourge. This summer, the government began releasing leftover stockpiles of the COVID antiviral molnupiravir for cats with FIP.