While it definitely looks like levels are going down, BC CDC had a warning this week: “Note: Recent data for severe outcomes (hospitalizations, critical care admissions, and deaths) may not be complete due to the timing of data systems and processes. Data are updated and may become more complete over time.” So maybe it’s not… Continue reading 2024-03-29 BC
Author: Ducky
2024-03-29 General
Treatments This article from USA (2024-03-25) says that the FDA has approved Pemgarda, a monocolonal antibody, for use as a pre-exposure preventative for immunocompromised people. It will be used sort of like a vaccine. (Evusheld used to be effective for that, but SARS-CoV-2 mutated enough that Evusheld stopped being effective.) This is big news for… Continue reading 2024-03-29 General
2024-03-22 BC
If I eyeball the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 (which is the only figure I really believe), I can convince myself that there is a very slow downwards trend. Wastewater also appears to be going down, yay! Statistics As of 21 March, the BC CDC situation report says that in the week ending on 16… Continue reading 2024-03-22 BC
2024-03-22 General
I was out of town for a few days this week, so this post is short. I’ll catch up next week. Long COVID This paper from USA (2024-01-09) found that patients treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) had a 21-29% lower rate of Long COVID than controls. (The variability comes from which class of… Continue reading 2024-03-22 General
2023-03-15 BC
The COVID-19 hospitalization level is still stagnant, though the (very noisy) wastewater counts look like they might be trending down. Statistics As of 14 March, the BC CDC situation report says that in the week ending on 9 Mar there were: +462 reported cases, +115 hospital admissions, +14 ICU admissions, and +16 thirty-day all-cause deaths*. In the… Continue reading 2023-03-15 BC
2024-03-15 General
Long COVID Today is International Long COVID Awareness Day. Yeah, I wouldn’t have known either if I didn’t actively seek out COVID-19 information. It got almost no media coverage. Ironically, the thing that did get media coverage today was a presentation which found that Long COVID wasn’t all that different from what people got after… Continue reading 2024-03-15 General
2024-03-08 BC
COVID-19 levels are pretty stagnant. It is impressive and disheartening to me how little the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has budged since January (November if you throw out two outliers). Statistics As of 7 March, the BC CDC situation report says that in the week ending on 2 Mar there were: +433 reported cases,… Continue reading 2024-03-08 BC
2024-03-08 General
Long COVID This paper from UK (2024-03-01) found that the blood of people who just had a COVID-19 infection was measurably different between those that developed/did not develop Long COVID later. Specifically, the ones who later developed Long COVID showed lower levels of blood iron and more inflammation. It’s not that they weren’t eating enough… Continue reading 2024-03-08 General
2024-03-01 BC
I don’t have an easy summary. It feels like most metrics are trending down slowly over the longer term, but this week looks like maybe it’s going up? But maybe that’s noise? The biggest scary thing is what sure looks like a wastewater rise in Fraser Health. 🙁 Other Infections From the BC CDC’s Pathogen… Continue reading 2024-03-01 BC
2024-03-01 General
Pathology This paper from USA (2024-02-07) found that vapes with propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin — with or without nicotine — increased the risk of COVID-19. However, vapes with benzoic acid added didn’t give any higher risk than not vaping. This preprint from China (2024-02-23) found SARS-CoV-2 virus in fluid in the middle ear. (Fluid… Continue reading 2024-03-01 General