Category: H5N1

2024-08-18 General/BC

This article reports that the World Health Organization has declared mpox to be a pandemic, so I guess I will occasionally cover mpox as well. Honestly, world, can we stop having so many pandemics?!?! This article (2024-08-13) reports that World Health Organisation has added Black Death, H5N1 and mpox to its priority pathogens list. That… Continue reading 2024-08-18 General/BC

2024-08-03 General

COVID-19 Pathology This paper from France (2024-08-02) reported that they found SARS-CoV-2 in semen. They got positive tests from 11% of subjects who’d had mild COVID-19 infections. In one man’s semen, they were able to find replication-competent virus (i.e. it wasn’t just virus RNA fragments) after 90 days! Transmission This preprint from USA (2024-07-31) (also… Continue reading 2024-08-03 General

2024-07-30 General

COVID-19 Long COVID This paper from Italy (2024-07-15) reports that children with Long COVID have elevated levels of P-selectin compared to controls. P-selectin is a protein in cells which call other players in the immune system to help counter an infection. This preprint from USA (2024-07-25) reports that they can tell Irritable Bowel Syndrome from… Continue reading 2024-07-30 General

2024-07-14 General/BC

COVID-19 Personal Recommendation Y’know how I sung the praises of the Readimask a few weeks ago? I need to admit that I’ve had some trouble with a gap forming under my chin, especially in hot (i.e. sweaty) weather. I still like the Readimasks, and have fixed the problem for me with a piece of medical… Continue reading 2024-07-14 General/BC

2024-07-07 General

Long COVID This paper from USA (2024-07-03) reports that they find SARS-CoV-2 hangs out in the bodies of people who had COVID-19. They’ve got a technique where they do PET scans with a tracer that can show where in the body T cells are active. They see a lot of activation in Long COVID patients… Continue reading 2024-07-07 General

2024-06-29 General/BC

I only had two pieces of BC-specific news, so I folded them in to the General post. COVID-19 Pathology IMPORTANT! This paper from USA (2024-06-21) reports using that cannabis raises your risk of severe COVID! The study found that people who used cannabis had a 28% higher risk hospitalization and 78% higher risk of ICU… Continue reading 2024-06-29 General/BC

2024-06-19 General

Unsolicited Product Recommendation I realized that I forgot to gush about the Readimasks fully in the last General post. They are a little expensive. HOWEVER, they gave a great seal (though see below) and were EXTREMELY comfortable. I do not have dangerously sensitive skin — I don’t go into anaphylactic shock when I touch latex… Continue reading 2024-06-19 General

2024-06-15 General

COVID-19 The blog has been on hiatus for three weeks and I am feeling overwhelmed. I hope to put out several General postings this week to chip away at the backlog. Personal Story The reason for the hiatus was that I went on vacation to the East Coast of the US for three weeks. This… Continue reading 2024-06-15 General

2024-05-17 General

COVID Long COVID This article from Poland (2024-05-08) reports on a conference presentation which found that people with Long COVID have much lower immunoglobulin gamma antibodies against the nucleocapsid. They theorize that could mean the virus (or viral components) could hang around longer in the body. This paper from Italy (2024-05-07) found that children with… Continue reading 2024-05-17 General