COVID-19 Long COVID This preprint from USA (2026-10-16) reports that a subset of people with Long COVID have activated T cells targeted to COVID-19 which are activated — which before has always (or maybe almost always?) meant that there was some level of virus in the body that was activating it. In addition, their T… Continue reading 2026-10-24 General
Category: Testing
2026-10-02 General
COVID-19 COVID-Related Excess Death and Sickness 🧠 This preprint from Israel (2026-09-23) reports that COVID-19 infections increase your risk of a stroke in the next two years: NB: It wasn’t clear if the lower risk of stroke among people vaccinated four times was because the vaccine made people more resistant to stroke, or just because… Continue reading 2026-10-02 General
2026-07-10 General
There are a number of places around the world which are starting to see an increase in cases, e.g. Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, parts of Australia, and parts of the USA. They are starting from a very low base, but infectious diseases can spread exponentially. 😕 I would like to point out that the BC Provincial… Continue reading 2026-07-10 General
2026-05-22 General
COVID-19 Long COVID 💊🎉 This paper from Japan (2026-05-15) reports that outpatients with confirmed COVID-19 who took ensitrelvir/Xocova were 14% less likely to get Long COVID than controls who took placebos. Patients who took molnupiravir had a 19% lower risk, but the change in risk was not statistically significant for nirmatrelvir+ritonavir/Paxlovid. (Editor’s Note: Xocova has… Continue reading 2026-05-22 General
2026-02-13 General
I’ve got almost nothing on COVID-19 this week. There have been some extremely technical, boring, non-actionable papers; there have been news stories about the (*sigh*) normal fecal tornadoes in the US health administration, there have been stories about people convicted of defrauding various other governments of COVID-19 relief funds, stories of Olympians *gasp* wearing masks,… Continue reading 2026-02-13 General
2025-11-14 General
I want to remind people again to get a flu shot this year. There’s a new substrain — H3N2 subclade K — which apparently is more contagious and nastier if you catch it. The flu shot isn’t hugely effective against infection but it has some effectiveness (especially for children!), and even if it doesn’t stop… Continue reading 2025-11-14 General
2025-10-24 General
COVID-19 Vaccines 🎉 This isn’t about a vaccine exactly, but something that acts like a vaccine — i.e. it prevents you from getting sick. This paper from USA (2025-10-21) describes a small Phase 1 study in healthy adults of a plasmid DNA which, when injected, made the study participants’ cells make tixagevimab and cilgavimab —… Continue reading 2025-10-24 General
2025-09-27 General
COVID-19 It’s a bit hard to tell what is happening with COVID-19 in BC because of the lack of data, but COVID-19 in Canada overall is definitely going up. Long COVID 🫡 This paper from the USA (2025-09-16) looked at Long COVID in active duty service members and found: COVID-Related Excess Death and Sickness 🫀💉… Continue reading 2025-09-27 General
2025-09-21 BC
Vaccines Who is going to be able to get a COVID-19 vaccination in BC? As I mentioned in the 2025-08-11 post, NACI says — if I understand correctly — that higher-risk people should get two doses per year and lower-risk people (basically health people under 65) may get one dose per year. However, I’m seeing… Continue reading 2025-09-21 BC
2025-09-21 General
COVID-19 Long COVID 🎉🎉🎉‼️ This case studies paper from USA (2025-02-09) reports that all nine of the study patients who got stellate ganglion blocks for three consecutive weeks improved significantly! I’m surprised that I missed it in February, and that there hasn’t been more excitement about it, as these are hugely encouraging results! 😢 This… Continue reading 2025-09-21 General