2025-01-07 General

COVID-19 Long COVID AGAIN 😞 This article (2025-02-04) refers to this paper from the USA (paywalled, 2025-02-03), which reports that 1.4% of children surveyed had had Long COVID, and 0.4% currently have Long COVID. 80% of the kids with active Long COVID have an ability limitation that they didn’t have before catching COVID-19. They also… Continue reading 2025-01-07 General

2025-01-25 General

Health news was harder to find this week. A lot of my sources were overrun with articles about what trouble the new US president is fomenting, leaving little room for articles about COVID, mpox, or H5N1. ☹️ You might have noticed that I sometimes mark snippets with “AGAIN”. Why do I bother showing studies that… Continue reading 2025-01-25 General

2025-01-18 General

COVID-19 Long COVID πŸŽ‰ This paper from Hungary (2025-01-09) reports that people who got remdesivir while they were hospitalized with COVID-19 recovered from Long COVID symptoms faster than those who did not get remdesivir. πŸŽ‰πŸŽŠπŸ₯³ If you missed it last week, this paper reports that nasal chlorpheniramine (a first-generation H1 antagonist antihistamine) works really well… Continue reading 2025-01-18 General

2025-01-03 General

❗❗❗RECALL!!! There was a housecat in Oregon which died after eating Northwest Naturals Feline Turkey Recipe raw & frozen pet food which was infected with bird flu. THIS PET FOOD IS ALSO SOLD IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. DO NOT FEED YOUR CAT THIS FOOD. (Yes, there has been a recall.) COVID-19 This paper from Germany (2024-12-23)… Continue reading 2025-01-03 General

2024-12-27 General

NB: No BC post this week because the are not publishing new data until 3 Jan 2025. This post is kind of short because for some reason there has been less news the past few days. Happy Holidays! Recommended Reading This article from USA (2024-12-26) talks about three issues to watch in global health: H5N1,… Continue reading 2024-12-27 General

2024-12-20 General

Recommended Reading ⭐❗❗This article (2024-12-17) talks about how cats might be an effective “mixing vessel” and transmission vector for the next pandemic. TL;DR: Cats have avian and mammal receptors and get very very close to humans on a regular basis. COVID-19 Long COVID ⭐ This preprint from USA (2024-12-11) reports that people who went on… Continue reading 2024-12-20 General

2024-12-07 General

COVID-19/MERS Long COVID ⭐ ❗❗This paper from Japan (2024-12-02) reported that oral minocycline significantly helped 89% of long COVID patients in what was effectively a big case study, especially when given in the first six months. There was improvement in fatigue, post-exertional malaise, unrefreshing sleep, brain fog, disequilibrium, orthostatic intolerance, and neuropathic pain. (Minocycline is… Continue reading 2024-12-07 General

2024-11-22 General

Vaccines in General ⭐❗❗ I saw a post on teh socials where the author said that they had talked to people who thought that getting a COVID-19 vaccination too soon after an infection or previous COVID-19 vax was dangerous. Having infections or vaccinations “too close” together is not dangerous. It is less effective, perhaps, but… Continue reading 2024-11-22 General

2024-11-16 General

H5N1 Transmission This article (2024-11-12) reports that a teenager from BC in the Fraser Health Authority region is in critical care with the bird-version of H5N1 (clade 2.3.4.4b, genotype D1.1, i.e. not the cattle version). Nobody knows how the teen caught it — the teen had contact with other people, dogs, cats, and reptiles, but… Continue reading 2024-11-16 General