Long COVID This preprint from USA (2023-11-08) discussed a small study with 16 Long COVID patients who had small fiber neuropathy verified by skin biopsies. Eight of the patients got intravenous immunoglobulin and saw big improvements. This paper from Pakistan (20231122) found that people who were fully vaccinated were 62% less likely to get Long… Continue reading 2023-12-01 General
Category: General
2023-11-25 General
Pathology This paper from USA says that 48.5% of people hospitalized with COVID-related fungal infections died, while only 12.3% of people hospitalized with non-COVID-associated fungal infections died. This paper from Taiwan found that people who got COVID-19 infections were 59% more likely to get shingles in the following year than controls. This report from Korea… Continue reading 2023-11-25 General
2023-11-17 General
Long COVID This paper from Austria found that Epstein-Barr Virus antibody or DNA levels did not seem to be any different in Long COVID patients than controls (people who had had COVID-19 infections but did not get Long COVID). They also did not find markers of inflammation from viral infections in the Long COVID patients.… Continue reading 2023-11-17 General
2023-11-10 General
Long COVID This paper from Italy found that people continue to recover taste and smell for at least three years after losing it due to COVID-19 infection. This paper from USA said that children under 5 years old who had been infected with COVID-19 were 40% more likely to get RSV than controls. Vaccines Intranasal… Continue reading 2023-11-10 General
2023-11-03 General
I read a paper which referred to “short COVID” to the acute, initial illness — y’know, the thing that lasts a week or two — and I think I might start using that term! Long COVID I haven’t talked about Long COVID biomarkers much because most biomarkers are relatively obscure proteins that you and I… Continue reading 2023-11-03 General
2023-10-27 General
Long COVID This preprint from USA says they used PET scans to look at inflammation in the brains of long haulers, and found more inflammation in long haulers than in controls. This preprint from many places says that they found evidence of reactivation of herpesvirus type 6 in long haulers (mostly a childhood disease, where… Continue reading 2023-10-27 General
2023-10-20 General
Other News These aren’t COVID-19 pieces, but I think they are important. I had thought that RSV vaccinations weren’t available in Canada yet because NACI and the province had not figured out the parameters, but they are! My flu shot vaccinator said that they have RSV on hand. It costs a bunch (almost $300), but… Continue reading 2023-10-20 General
2023-10-13 General
Vaccines This paper from Italy reports on Novavax Classic effectiveness during the early Omicron period. In people who had no vaccination previously, after about two weeks post-dose, they found vaccine effectiveness to be: Against infection symptomaticinfection 1 dose 23% 31% 2 doses 31% 50% You might look at this and think, “wow, that’s pretty crappy”,… Continue reading 2023-10-13 General
2023-10-03 General
Long COVID Huge news! — if it pans out. This paper from USA found that a protein called WASF3 f’s with mitochondria, and that it was elevated in people with ME/CFS. (Here’s a lay article explaining/describing the paper.) The authors also made mice with excess WASF3, and found the mice acted fatigued. This might be… Continue reading 2023-10-03 General
2023-09-15 General
This week, there have been a TON of articles with “What you need to know” in the headline. “What you need to know about the fall vaccines”, “What you need to know about BA.2.86”, “What you need to know about COVID this fall”, “What you need to know about COVID rapid tests heading into the… Continue reading 2023-09-15 General