COVID-19 Vaccines 😲💉 This preprint from USA (2025-08-27) reports that vaccine-only immunity with a KP.2 vaccine (as tested in blood) is better against LP.8.1, LF.7.1, NB.1.8.1, XFG, and BA.3.2 than hybrid immunity with the KP.2 vaccine! I find it a bit suspicious that they were able to find sixteen people who had gotten a KP.2… Continue reading 2025-08-31 General
2025-08-25 General
Some weeks, there’s not much news; some weeks there’s a lot. This week had a lot and was a lot for me to process. Vaccines 💉 CORRECTION! I re-read the PHAC recommendations for who should/may get a second vaccination this year, and I believe that what I said on 2025-08-11 was (probably) wrong. I said… Continue reading 2025-08-25 General
2025-08-16 General
English-language health news this week has been swamped with political news from USA. It has not been fun to wade through articles on the CDC shooter, various politically-motivated firings of competent people, various notifications of programs being shut down, etc. COVID-19 Vaccines 💉 I WAS MISINFORMED! Last week, I said that you couldn’t get COVID-19… Continue reading 2025-08-16 General
2025-08-11 oops 13 General
(Addendum 2025-08-15: I actually published this on 2025-08-11, not on 2025-08-13, but it’s too late now to change the URL. Oops, sorry.) COVID-19 Vaccines 💉I might need to fly across the continent to support a relative who is going to get major surgery, so I tried to schedule a vax appointment in the US. No… Continue reading 2025-08-11 oops 13 General
2025-08-11 BC
Note: the weather has been awesome this week, so I have been spending it outdoors instead of reading research papers indoors. Thus the General post will be delayed by a few days. Meanwhile, COVID-19 appears to be holding pretty steady. About half of upper respiratory cases are COVID-19; about a quarter are entero or rhinoviruses;… Continue reading 2025-08-11 BC
2025-08-03 General
COVID-19 Vaccines ‼️🎉🐁🦷 Scientists have found an alternative method of giving mucousal vaccines: with dental floss! This paper (2025-07-22) found that flossing mice three times with floss covered with influenza virus, at two-week intervals, protected the mice from a lethal dose of influenza. All the mice who had been flossed survived, while all the unflossed… Continue reading 2025-08-03 General
2025-07-26 General
COVID-19 Long COVID ‼️‼️‼️🎉🎉🎉This article (2025-07-22) and this paper from Canada (2025-07-07) say that scientists have found a really easy blood test to diagnose ME/CFS! (They look for the protein SMPDL3B.) This is both great for testing purposes but also suggests a treatment! They haven’t looked for SMPDL3B in Long COVID patients yet, but I… Continue reading 2025-07-26 General
2025-07-19 General
COVID-19 Long COVID This paper from Germany (2025-07-12) found that 21% of masters’ athletes (median age in the high 50s) in their study had Long COVID. The prevalence did not differ by sex, athletic specialties, training load, or prior competition level. Long COVID can happen to healthy, fit people! Vaccines/Prevention 💊 This paper from Peru… Continue reading 2025-07-19 General
2025-07-12 General
Wastewater levels are all going down. Was that tiny little our summer wave? Did we already peak???? Long COVID ‼️😬 This preprint from Spain (2025-07-04) found that Long COVID prevalence was 3-10 times higher in individuals with three or more infections than in those with only one recorded infection. This paper from Denmark (2025-05-13) reports… Continue reading 2025-07-12 General
2025-07-04 BC
COVID-19 levels keep rising steadily, but more slowly than I had expected, given how NB.1.8.1 hammered Asia. This chart from the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 page shows that the rise in COVID positivity is much shallower this year (blue) than in previous years. Wastewater from Fraser and Richmond are actually coming down. Maybe. (Maybe it’s… Continue reading 2025-07-04 BC