covid
I think it would be nice if we could all work together to expand this community a bit and we can do this by suggesting what you would like to see in the sidebar and any resources we can compile together to add to it.
Is covid-liberalism a bannable offense in c/covid? I'm getting really fucking weary of seeing sentiments like, "being upset about someone scheduling a non-emergency dental appointment in the middle of the second largest covid wave is deranged" or "you're a selfish asshole for expecting your loved ones to do the bare fucking minimum to protect you" in discussions on masking or vaccine uptake I know I'm not the only one disappointed in the growing anomie. Maybe we should operate more like c/vegan where everything from omnivore apologia to overt antiveganism (analogous to the above anti-precaution/anti-max/anti-vax-apologia) is forbidden, and posting/commenting as much gets you a ban?
www.scientificamerican.com
Lol they actually mention, not just masking, but respirators. 
People getting the flu shot this year will be vaccinated against three commonly circulating strains instead of four, after one went extinct during the pandemic. This year’s flu shot will be missing a strain of influenza it’s protected against for more than a decade. That’s because there have been no confirmed flu cases caused by the Influenza B/Yamagata lineage since spring 2020. And the Food and Drug Administration decided this year that the strain now poses little to no threat to human health. Scientists have concluded that widespread physical distancing and masking practiced during the early days of COVID-19 appear to have pushed B/Yamagata into oblivion. This surprised many who study influenza, as it would be the first documented instance of a virus going extinct due to changes in human behavior, said Dr. Rebecca Wurtz, an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. “It is such an interesting and unique story,” Wurtz said, adding that if it were not for COVID, B/Yamagata would still be circulating. One reason COVID mitigation efforts were so effective at eliminating B/Yamagata is there was already a fair amount of immunity in the population against this strain of flu, which was also circulating at a lower level, said Dr. Kawsar Talaat, an infectious disease physician at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In contrast, SARS-CoV-2 was a brand new virus that no one had encountered before; therefore, masking and isolation only slowed its transmission, but did not stop it. The absence of B/Yamagata won’t change the experience of getting this year’s flu shot, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends to everyone over 6 months old. And unvaccinated people are no less likely to get the flu, as B/Victoria and two influenza A lineages are still circulating widely and making people sick. Talaat said the disappearance of B/Yamagata doesn’t appear to have lessened the overall burden of flu, noting that the level of illness that can be attributed to any strain varies from year to year. The CDC estimates that between 12,000 and 51,000 people die every year from influenza. However, the manufacturing process is simplified now that the vaccine is trivalent — designed to protect against three flu viruses — instead of quadrivalent, protecting against four. That change allows more doses to be produced, said Talaat. Ultimately, the costs of continuing to include protection against B/Yamagata in the flu shot outweigh its benefits, said Talaat. "If you include a strain for which you don't think anybody's going to get infected into a vaccine, there are some potential risks and no potential benefits," she said. "Even though the risks might be infinitesimal, the benefits are also infinitesimal." Scientists and public health experts have discussed for the past couple years whether to pull B/Yamagata from the flu vaccine or wait for a possible reemergence, said Kevin R. McCarthy, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Vaccine Research. But McCarthy agrees that continuing to vaccinate people against B/Yamagata does not benefit public health. Additionally, there is a slight chance of B/Yamagata accidentally infecting the workers who manufacture the flu vaccine. The viruses, grown in eggs, are inactivated before being put into the shots: You cannot get influenza from the flu shot. But worker exposure to live B/Yamagata might occur before it's rendered harmless. That hypothetically could lead to a reintroduction of a virus that populations have waning immunity to because B/Yamagata is no longer making people sick. While that risk is very low, McCarthy said it doesn’t make sense to produce thousands of gallons of a likely extinct virus. It is possible that B/Yamagata continues to exist in pockets of the world that have less comprehensive flu surveillance. However, scientists aren’t worried that it is hiding in animals because humans are the only host population for B lineage flu viruses. Scientists determined that B/Yamagata disappeared in a relatively short period of time, and this in and of itself is a success, said McCarthy. That required collaboration and data sharing from people all over the world, including countries that the U.S. has more tenuous diplomatic relationships with, like China and Russia. “I think the fact that we can do that shows that we can get some things right,” he said.
www.mdpi.com
**My comment:** the 27% was my calculation. I got it finding the difference in ED in the COVID group vs non COVID group (55.9% - 44.1%), dividing it by the non COVID group value (44.1%). It's very rough and maybe unscientific, but it demonstrates that COVID does increase the risk for ED. I'll also point out this study is pretty small and the participants' average age was 55. >**Abstract** >**Objectives**: To develop a risk prediction model for the identification of features involved in the prediction of erectile dysfunction (ED) at 12 months following COVID-19 recovery. **Methods**: We performed an observational prospective multicentre study. Participants were classified according to their history of COVID-19: (I) patients with a past history of COVID-19 and (II) patients without a previous microbiological diagnosis of COVID-19. A total of 361 patients (past history of COVID-19, n = 166; no past history of COVID-19, n = 195) were assessed from January 2022 to March 2023. Patients with a past history of COVID-19 were assessed at 12 months following COVID-19 recovery. The primary outcome measure was ED, assessed through the 5-item International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5). Data concerning epidemiologic variables, comorbidities and active treatment were also collected. We performed a binary logistic regression to develop a risk predictive model. Among the models developed, we selected the one with the higher Area Under the Curve (AUC). **Results**: The median age was 55 years in both groups. The ED prevalence was 55.9% in patients with past history of COVID-19 and 44.1% in those with no past history of COVID-19. The best predictive model developed for ED comprised 40 variables and had an AUC of 0.8. **Conclusions**: We developed a regression model for the prediction of ED 12 months after COVID-19 recovery. The application of our predictive tool in a community setting could eventually prevent the adverse effects of ED on cardiovascular health and the associated unfavourable economic impact.
**My comment:** I've been following this researcher for the last few years. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who does Western chauvinism. Long Covid, the constellation of long-term health effects caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, is a significant global health crisis affecting at least 400 million individuals worldwide, with a cost of $ 1 trillion, equivalent to 1% of the global Gross Domestic Product.1 Long Covid can affect nearly every organ system resulting in various symptoms including fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, post-exertional malaise, autonomic dysfunction, and chronic conditions including new onset diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal and neurologic disorders.2 Long Covid can affect people across the lifespan and across age, race and ethnicity, and baseline health status.3 Chinese scientists were among the first to report Long Covid in people who survived the acute phase of Covid-19.4 However, these early seminal Chinese studies on Long Covid were exclusively from Wuhan – where the pandemic originated. Because of China’s zero Covid policies, infection rates plummeted quickly in Wuhan and were very low and sporadic outside of Wuhan for much of 2020, 2021, and 2022. However, China relaxed its zero Covid policies at the end of 2022 which led to explosion of cases – hundreds of millions of Chinese got infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the weeks and months following the lifting of zero Covid policies. Now a report by Qin and colleagues provides insights into the colossal scale of Long Covid that resulted from those infections.5 Their large-scale survey of 74,075 Chinese participants, one of the largest studies of its kind and the first from China, shows that approximately 10%–30% of survey participants reported experiencing Long Covid symptoms such as fatigue, memory decline, decreased exercise ability, and brain fog.5 The features of Long Covid in China mirror those observed in studies conducted in other parts of the world.6 This underscores the consistency of Long Covid features across national borders, cultures and healthcare settings. Interestingly, the authors show that despite having milder acute symptoms during reinfection, participants who experienced multiple infections were more likely to experience various Long Covid symptoms with greater severity. The authors show that having two infections is risk factor for many long-term Covid symptoms, and the risk increased exponentially when the number of infections exceeded two. These new data on Long Covid risk after reinfection are remarkably consistent with prior studies.7 Another critical insight from the study is the protective role of Covid-19 vaccines in reducing the incidence and severity of Long Covid. The data shows that vaccination, particularly with multiple booster shots, significantly decreases the risk of developing long-term symptoms. These findings are consistent with other studies showing that vaccines reduce the risk of Long Covid.8,9 Despite this, Covid-19 vaccine policies in much of the world consider effectiveness of vaccines in reducing risks of hospitalization and death during the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection (which are most evident in older adults and people with comorbidities) and ignore their protective effect on Long Covid – a condition that affects people across the lifespan including young adults and children. Consequently, restrictive vaccine policies exclude children, young and healthy adults who may benefit from the beneficial effects of vaccine on Long Covid. Vaccine policies must holistically consider the benefit profile of Covid-19 vaccines including their effects in lowering the risk of Long Covid. Looking forward, there are several key areas where Long Covid research must focus.1 There is an urgent need for comprehensive—and globally coordinated—Long Covid research strategy to understand the biological mechanisms, develop diagnostics, test therapeutics, characterize the long-term epidemiology and clinical course, evaluate health care delivery, and assess the impacts of Long Covid on patients, care givers, health systems, economies and societies.1 Equally important are policies to prevent Long Covid; support impacted individuals and their care givers; and ensure access, quality and equity of care.1 Policies are also needed to promote public awareness and facilitate professional training for health care providers.1 China, with its rich scientific history, is poised to contribute significantly to solving the puzzle of Long Covid. The international community must come together to identify areas of synergies in research, share data, resources, and expertise to accelerate progress on Long Covid.10 This includes fostering partnerships between governments, academic institutions, and the private sector, as well as engaging with patient advocacy groups to ensure that research is aligned with the needs and experiences of those affected by Long Covid.10 The study by Qin and colleagues offers the first comprehensive view of the state of Long Covid in China. The findings are both sobering and illuminating. Long Covid is clearly a serious public health challenge in China, as it is globally. These insights underscore the urgent need for a coordinated international response to address this significant and growing crisis. The stakes are high. Yet, throughout history, humanity has risen to the challenge of solving complex problems. We must now face Long Covid with the same resolve, ingenuity, and collaborative spirit that have driven our greatest achievements.
A member of my household has a costco membership so we were gonna try and get me vaxxed using their member discount for the $140 price rather than the even more evil $202 price. So I called and confirmed with the Pharmacy that we could pull it off, we could not. I'm gonna have to buy my own membership, but first I wanted to confirm how much it would cost there. Pharmacy tech: "Cash price is $39 and some change." Me: "For the Novavax?" Them: "Oh you're also getting Novavax. That was Flu. Let me check. It's probably the same though." Me: "Oh, I don't think so." A few seconds of keyboard clicks go by. Them: "Nobody ever asks about the cash price. It's. Oh.... It's $201.99" Yeah, that's what I freaking thought.  The costco membership is $65, but it actually is cheaper for me to buy a membership because I can get a $20 giftcard back if I do it through the veteran's reward program. Guess I'm getting a costco membership. This bleeping country. 
cybernightmarket.com
Allegedly this is developed by Naomi Wu
This is a rant. I shit you not my lib family member is now doing a PSA on the importance of getting the flu shot in our family chat, because there is a medically vulnerable over 65 year old in the family. And this would be fine if this wasn't the same person who brought themselves and their family to a family gathering in August with an active covid infection and this over 65 year old vulnerable person was in this same party, just recovering from a long course of IV antibiotics! They gave covid to me, my partner (who is also medically vulnerable two times over now, thanks to covid) and my brother (who just got a sleep apnea diagnosis a week ago). Good times! I mean I am all for flu shots, but this is just... I don't know what this is.
Just got mine...last year it wasn't a big deal, but this year it fucking HURT. I'm already a giant baby who hates getting my vaccines but this was way worse than usual. When I started telling people about my reaction this year a number of people agreed that it hurt way worse this year and/or they had different reactions than previous years. Please note I'm not looking for any conspiracies about it being worse or different somehow in a bad way, and I'm not trying to scare people into not getting it; **even if it fucking hurt this year please get it, the temporary pain is better than getting and spreading covid.** But it definitely felt different in my arm and in my body this year and I have heard the same from others. Did something change or are we just misremembering? Or are our bodies reacting different somehow this year for other reasons? Or is it just random and this year for whatever coincidental reason I know a bunch of people who had a worse muscle reaction to it.
web.archive.org
Jeanne Marrazzo, new leader of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, everyone: >Can I make a quick digression? We recently had a long Covid [research] meeting where we had about 200 people, in person. And we can’t mandate mask-wearing, because it’s federal property. But there was a fair amount of disturbance that we couldn’t, and people weren’t wearing masks, and one person accused us of committing a microaggression by not wearing masks. >And I take that very seriously. But I thought to myself, it’s more that people just want to live a normal life. We really don’t want to go back. It was so painful. We’re still all traumatized. Let’s be honest about that. None of us are over it. >So there’s not a lot of appetite for raising an alarm, especially if it could be perceived subsequently as a false alarm. Edit - thanks for the help in bypassing the paywall.
bnonews.com
**Article text below** More than 1,000 new COVID deaths were reported in the U.S. this week, taking the death toll for the past two months to more than 10,000, according to figures collected by BNO News. New cases, however, are dropping nationwide in the aftermath of the summer wave. At least 91,800 new cases were reported between September 30 and October 6, down from 117,284 the week before (-23%). Those figures were collected from state health departments and, where necessary, estimated based on hospital admissions. Actual case numbers are higher because many hospitals and states are no longer reporting detailed COVID data. Laboratory testing is also low as most people and doctors are using at-home tests which are not included in official statistics. “Nationally, COVID-19 activity has continued declining in most areas. COVID-19-associated ED visits and hospitalizations are decreasing overall,” the CDC said in an update on Friday. “ED visits for COVID-19 are highest among infants and older adults. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 are highest among older adults.” The CDC is also monitoring a new variant, XEC, which is now comprising an estimated 2-13% of new cases in the U.S. The new variant is recombined from two JN.1 lineage viruses, for which vaccines already provide protection. The CDC says there are currently no known impacts on tests, treatments or symptoms. During the past week, cases increased in only 3 out of 30 states with consistent but limited data. In those states where increases were reported, the changes were only minimal, with longer-term data showing overall declines. The CDC estimates that COVID cases are currently rising in 0 states (unchanged from last week), declining or likely declining in 45 states (up from 41), and stable or uncertain in 2 states (down from 7). Nationally, COVID test positivity is 11.6%, which is unchanged from last week. Only 32.8% of hospitals in the U.S. submitted COVID data this week, which is similar to last week. Mandatory reporting is expected to resume next month. Those limited figures reveal that at least 4,187 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID, down from 4,657 last week. 1,209 new COVID deaths were reported during the week, the eighth week in a row with more than 1,000 new deaths. It’s also the 13th week in a row with more than 500 new deaths and the 237th week with more than 400 new deaths. So far this year, more than 5.6 million COVID cases have been reported across the U.S., causing at least 381,888 hospitalizations (limited data) and 45,132 deaths, according to BNO’s COVID data tracker.
So recently I'm reheating food in the microwave at the staff room, and 4 teachers are having a whine. Students and staff are taking a lot of time off these days. "Don't they know that COVID was over", "we've all had it and we're fine" said white people with well to do parents. Maybe they didn't see me come in or they forget that I'm seeing long COVID every day when I come home. I just gave it a second stare before continuing on, I don't need to fuck with my livelihood. My meals are eaten outside, away from liberals, with a book; and my life is way better for it. Sometimes I chat with the maintenance or cleaning people and the convos are way more genuine, without all the weird bragging that middle class people like to do. I swear to God, just immediately they dropped the names of 3 other young teachers who have new chronic health conditions. One has persistent low energy, another brand new allergies and asthma, yet another has to go back and live with her parents as she can't cope with work and illness. Everyone's stressing about using up all their sick time. The less I care about the opinions of comfortable white liberals, the happier I am. Amen.
https://subium.com/profile/dtwyman.bsky.social/post/3l5verrrxfu2s
Usually meta analyses are pretty solid, although I *feel* like this needs more clinical research. Ya I'm not in medicine.
Death to america, of course
This mucosal/nasal vaccine is called MPV/S-2P and it is developed by the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). From a [2023 study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10543296/): > A single dose of MPV/S-2P was highly immunogenic, and a second dose increased the magnitude and breadth of the mucosal and systemic anti-S antibody responses and increased levels of dimeric anti-S IgA in the airways. Obviously don't dox yourself on Hexbear, but the phase 1 trial sites are: :::spoiler Decatur, Georgia The Hope Clinic of Emory University ::: :::spoiler Mineola, New York, United States NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine - Vaccine Center ::: :::spoiler Houston, Texas, United States Baylor College of Medicine ::: so if you live near one of those, maybe you can participate. They want to enroll 60 people, no clue how close they are to that goal To try to enroll, [contact them](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06441968?term=NCT06441968&rank=1&tab=table) by phone or email.
The spray is called "Pathogen Capture and Neutralizing Spray" (PCANS) for now > This data suggest PCANS as a promising daily-use prophylactic against respiratory infections. [The study](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202406348) is paywalled, and the abstract doesn't list its ingredients beyond > The formulation consists of excipients identified from the FDA's Inactive Ingredient Database and Generally Recognized as Safe list to maximize efficacy for each step in the multi-modal approach. Based on that description, its ingredients might not be very different from Covixyl, though it claims to be much more effective. Edit: Apparently its already for sale, I included some details in [a comment](https://hexbear.net/comment/5436030)
It's not enough and not often enough, but may as well take your free tests when you can.
I know we're all still masking, I'd been a little slack and it got me sick (we isolated immediately when our friend tested positive the next day), this is your reminder. This round of covid was as bad as every other, the symptoms were different (I was so nauseous), but as bad as it always is. My hoarding paid off though, we didnt run out of food or anything.
They tested people to check for evidence of asymptomatic infection and found that people who had two doses of the nasal vaccine showed no signs of infection after three months. >CONCLUSION. A 2-dose intranasal vaccination regimen using NB2155 was safe, was well tolerated, and could dramatically induce broad-spectrum spike-specific sIgA in the nasal passage. Preliminary data suggested that the intranasal vaccination may establish an effective mucosal immune barrier against infection and warranted further clinical studies. https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/180784 >"At least 86.2% participants who completed 2 [nasal vaccine] doses maintained uninfected status, likely without even asymptomatic infection, for at least 3 months. https://xcancel.com/EricTopol/status/1838937705977110991#m Seems like we are getting closer to better vaccines being approved.
# Make sure to consult a doctor before doing self treatment. # Nearly everything in the comments is at the early stage of research. Be careful being your own doctor Some posters asked me to make a sticky threat on long COVID recovery, including medication, supplements and behavioural changes. Thoughts y'all? Is this a good idea? If the response is positive, I can make this a sticky. I'm afraid that it possibly could link to unproven recommendations, but frankly I haven't looked enough into the issue. Feel free to comment on any method on long COVID recover that you know. Please link to research and medical papers. Sadly overly weak or pseudo-scientific stuff will have to get removed, but please no hard feelings for making an effort. I'm very comfortable with [Wikipedia's policy on medical sources](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sources_(medicine)), so I might err in that direction if it's OK. I'm definitely not working in medicine, btw. Thanks! edit: I just worry that a lot of this below is early stage research. I know that comrades are suffering, but we could be doing real damage if people go out and do self treatment, they can very seriously hurt themselves worst. I'm sorry that medical stuff is hard, expensive, and unfair. But I have a duty to inform people to be careful with self treatment.
**My comment** : this study is high quality af Abstract Background Cognitive impairment can be caused by infections with various pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. Research has yet to determine the true incidence and course of cognitive impairment in older adults following COVID-19. Furthermore, research has theorised that COVID-19 is associated with dementia progression and diagnosis but this association has yet to be fully described. Methods A systematic review was registered in Prospero and conducted on the databases PubMed, Embase, Ovid, CENTRAL and Cochrane Library. Studies reporting cognitive impairment and dementia outcomes in post-acute and post-COVID-19 patients aged ≥65 years, and which included control data, were included in this review. Results 15,124 articles were identified by the search strategy. After eliminating duplicate titles and completing title, abstracts and full-text review, 18 studies were included comprising of 412,957 patients with COVID-19 (46.63 % male) and 411,929 patients without COVID-19 (46.59 % male). The overall mean Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score in COVID-19 patients was 23.34 out of 30 (95 % CI [22.24, 24.43]). indicating cognitive impairment. The overall proportion of patients identified as having new onset cognitive impairment was 65 % (95 % CI [44,81]). Subgroup analyses indicated that time since infection significantly improves overall MoCA score and reduces proportion of patients with cognitive impairment. Conclusion This study indicates that cognitive impairment may be an important sequela of COVID-19. Further research with adequate sample sizes is warranted regarding COVID-19’s association with new-onset dementia and dementia progression, and the effect of repeat infections. There is a need for development of diagnostic and management protocols for COVID-19 patients with cognitive impairment.
It was a liberal party doing it with a new woman leader and the people protesting treated as some kind of total misunderstanding of reality or an excuse for government crackdown for conspiratorial reasons. I imagine this is more or less how it would go if it really happened. Maybe if it had more enforced air ventilation/quality upgrades in buildings and expansions to health services and workers right to stay home sick it'd go over better, but I kinda' doubt it too.
Is this more of a dunk tank post? This just infuriated me that even the companies producing the vaccines don't even mention they exist when they're literally advertising about COVID-19. Oh, and just acting like long COVID doesn't exist is nice too... Edit: If you click the link, which goes to https://www.pfizerforall.com/respiratory, vaccines are mentioned only near the bottom of the page. Still no mention of long COVID
I am in my postcovid phase again. This is the third or fourth time and every time I've lost more of my overall health. The first time was the worst and longest, ended up in the hospital that time. After the Omicron one I developed plantar fasciitis and pains so bad that my running and jumping has ended for good. There's been so many weird issues, even teeth breaking. Also flared up my sciatica that has been fine for a decade or more. But the thing that disables me the most is the nausea and gagging, the GI stuff and POTS I get from it. And it's back again. This time no bad coughing and thankfully not too much mental stuff, but oh man the heart/GI symptoms suck! I spend months gagging on the side of the road when leaving for work after I get it every damn time. It is always worse in the morning and I was just rid of it when I got infected again by my "living like it's 2019" family, for the second time within a year. I am four weeks in this time and I have a high pounding heartrate after eating and on standing up, some nights I wake up to my heart pounding. Also very hightened stress response, feels like I am just wired all the time. This has happened to me every time, the first time it even gave me the worst panic attacks ever that came fully out of nowhere, it was wild and felt 100% physical. Oh and interesting new pain stuff along with the foot and joint pains: Yesterday I did a bit of foam rolling to my back and neck to see if it might help with the nausea ans stress. I have done this for years with no issue. Today I feel like someone rolled over my spine with a truck. It's like my entire back is inflamed. This post covid inflammation is hell. I wonder if I'll still make it, if my heart will. Just a bit of rant, I am just scared and tired of this. My life is pretty good atm otherwise, I finally would have steady work and income after decades of poverty, I even like my work. Life is more secure and I am just happpier because I know I am audh now and have gotten rid of a lot of brainworms. But this virus feels like it will end me and it feels like there is nothing whatsoever I can do to truly prevent this. We are and have been very cautious, but extended family keeps bringing it to us or we are forced to get it from work/studies. I am not sure my body can keep rolling this dice even once anymore. And we can't even get boosters here, they just aren't available to us. My partner who was high risk to begin with has developed diabetes after the infection we got for Christmas 2023. And after this time he is just very very brain foggy and has been irritable, not at all himself. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him to this.
For instance are there any neat filtration systems I can install in wall cavities? I'm also trying to be mindful of soundproofing but am willing to make tradeoffs.
This is a pretty succinct overview of what your options are if you live with people who had their empathy circuits fried by the pandemic and can't be bothered to care about disease transmission anymore. Aside from masking: Setting up air filters is probably the lowest effort for biggest return on safety. All these tips will help against actual regular colds and flus, too, since we are coming up on that time of year. Also a reminder that [it's never healthy to be infected by virus.](https://www.okdoomer.io/how-your-immune-system-actually-works/)
To be upfront, I'm not OP of the Lemmygrad thread. Masking obviously is important and a good thing to do for your community. Personally, however, living in a place like Texas where almost nobody still masks though, 54 months (4.5 years) after the initial declaration, and everybody says COVID is relatively a non-issue like the flu, I understand why the OP would be demoralized. クロスポスト: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5723508 > Basically, wanted to know where people are at with mask wearing (as it relates to containing covid and all), I know it's been a while since it started. And I've seen people who say covid can still be threatening, like through long covid and such, even if the initial impact doesn't tend to be as bad. Being in the US, it's especially hard to tell what makes sense because the gov sorta gave up on containment a while back and only ever half-assed pushing mask wearing. And wearing a mask alone was a controversial thing in some places, even in the very beginning. Then there's vaccines, which of course help, but seems to be a thing like the flu where you have to get boosters to be fully covered for variant strains. > > So in general, I'm wondering stuff like: > > 1) Do you still wear a mask or not and why? And do you have distinctions like large crowds or anything like that? > > 2) How does mask wearing compare by country, from what you know? For example, I'm sure China has a more pro-mask-wearing culture and policy overall, but I'm not clear on where they're at this late into it. > > Partly asking cause I want to re-assess my own position on it, see if it makes sense to change it at all by now. I've still been doing it, in part out of inertia, but the US management of it is such a mess, in gov and culture, it's hard to tell when it makes sense to stop vs. just caving to peer pressure of people who were never acting responsibly to begin with.
I have switched from an N95 mask to an Aura today, well in a few days as I wait for them to arrive. Seeing everyone cough their lungs out in crowded public transit is absolutely horrible and especially cause no one seems to care about that either. Depressing to see I'm one of the only ones wearing a mask in a huge city, at maximum I see one person every few days with a mask, often wearing it incorrectly. Of course I get harassed for it cause "you're the paranoid one" they say while they had covid 6 times at this point or worse, exposing little kids too, and I'm the one who gets weird looks just because I protect myself. The amount of justifications I have to say to various people to leave me alone is perplexing, I have to either say a person in my family has autoimmune problems (which is true), or that I'm not wanting to get the *flu* which apparently is a better excuse than Covid for some reason.
I wrote a post last year about some of the things my students (I’m a teacher) and colleagues said to me as the only COVID conscious person in our building. One of my students told me, “Y’all still acting like it’s COVID,” because I mask and follow basic hygiene. I made a comment on another post last night that was similar, so I thought I’d do it again. When I tell my students how I don’t want to get COVID or other illnesses and they look at me like I have two heads. It’s like COVID has destroyed basic hygiene knowledge. So this time around, I’ve decided to write down some of the things I have said to students and staff so far this school year. To a student, “Cover your mouth with your shirt or a tissue when you cough. No, not like that. You have to catch the germs. Yes, you actually have to trap them.” To a teacher, “Yeah I noticed a bunch of your class is sick too. Just saying, nothing’s stopping you from masking again. There’s not just effective against COVID. I’ve got extras.” To a student, “Take it out of your mouth. See, now there’s spit on your pencil. And you use your hand to write with that pencil. And you’re touching the tables where your friends sit. Do you think they want your spit on them?” To a teacher, “I don’t think they’re faking it. If a kid feels sick I make a nurse appointment for them. They’re not going to be effective learners if their body needs rest.” To a student, “You’re right, I did get COVID last year even though I mask all the time. I would have probably gotten it a lot more if I didn’t. Where do you think I got it from? My house?” To the principal, “Thanks, we practice hygiene a lot in my room. It’s not that hard. You just have to model how to do these things for them. I honestly think we should have a hygiene clinic/assembly at least at the beginning of the year.” To a student, “Okay why in the world is your used tissue lying on your worksheet rather than in the trashcan? Yes, you have to do it again. I’m not grading your snot.” To a special education teacher, “I know some of my students on your case load need fidgets and other manipulatives. I don’t want to step on your toes, but maybe these chew toy things aren’t the best choice for this student who struggles with motor function anyway. He’s literally covered in saliva by 10am.” To a student, “You still have to wash your hands after using the free-draw markers. 20 seconds. Warm water. Soap. Get your finger nails.” To a teacher, “They’ve been empty for weeks? The custodians have thousands of refills for the soap and hand sanitizer dispensers. Just ask them for a few boxes at a time and change them as needed. You don’t have to just live with them being empty.” To a student, “Hand sanitizer doesn’t clean off your hands. You literally just rubbed snot all over the your hands. No, you can’t just use more hand sanitizer.” I could go on and on. But I think you get the picture. Kids have always been gross. Apparently more and more adults are too. You’d think a pandemic would make some of these basic hygiene practices common knowledge. Why the hell am I teaching 11-year-olds how to blow their noses and wash their hands? Why am I the only one on staff who actively tries to not get sick.
I'm moving out soon and I'm thinking of moving into this beautiful pre-war building. I'm worried though about covid spreading and I'm wondering what precautions people living in apartments currently are taking. Thing is I can find an apartment with a private entrance and in-unit wash/dryer, which would probably be better for covid, but this building is just nicer - better location, maintained better, it seems like the landlord is more present and responsive. Idk it's a better deal, I'm just worried about covid.
‘It’s not your fault,” I told 16-year-old Cara, whose mother died of a SARSCoV-2 infection she gave her. To be clear, the doctor confirmed Cara (not her real name) had passed on the virus and Covid was entered on the death certificate as the cause of death. Cara’s mother had not been outside their home in the weeks preceding her death. When masks were dropped in the “Omicron’s mild” phase of the pandemic, Cara continued as the lone masker at school to protect her immunocompromised mother, who was undergoing chemotherapy. It was tolerable until a child psychotherapist said on the national airwaves that some girls would continue to mask anyway “to hide their acne”. His words were used to bully her. Cara left, but without support from teachers she struggled. Her parents pleaded with the school to use the Hepa filter they bought. The school refused. Cara eventually returned to school unmasked, caught Covid and infected her mam. It killed her. Cara self-harms because she blames herself. She hasn’t been to school since. Research shows that more than 70pc of SarsCoV-2 transmission in households started with a child. The incidence was highest during unmitigated in-person schooling. In a recent paper, Dr Pantea Javidan, of Stanford’s Centre for Human Rights, described the ways children’s rights to life, health and safety during the ongoing pandemic have been falsely rendered oppositional to education and development. Methods used to manufacture consent to forcibly, repeatedly infect children, according to Dr Javidan, include minimising harms to children (“kids don’t get it or spread it”, “it’s mild”) and moral panic around mental health and educational attainment. Regarding mental health, in August a study looking at paediatric psychiatric emergencies found school openings – not lockdowns – were associated with an increase in the number of emergency psychiatric visits. In May, a study found that children with and without congenital heart defects showed increased risks for a variety of cardiovascular outcomes (including cardiac arrest, clots, palpitations) after Sars-CoV-2 infection. In July, a study found that children and teenagers experienced cognitive impairment 12 months post-Covid infection, consistently correlated with poorer sleep and behavioural and emotional functioning. Last month alone, several studies were published documenting Covid paediatric harms. One found that children and adolescents experience prolonged symptoms post-Sars-CoV-2 infection in almost every organ system. Study co-author Professor Lawrence C Kleinman said: “We have convincing evidence that Covid is not just a mild, benign illness for children. This is a new chronic illness in children. We need to be prepared to deal with it for a generation.” Another study analysing paediatric and adult hospitalisations found teenagers were at greatest risk of severe disease among all children. Yet another study showed compelling connections between viral infection and subsequent autoimmune disease. Early in the pandemic, some children showed negligible Covid symptoms, only to later develop organ failure. Researchers found the children’s immune systems had latched on to a part of the coronavirus that closely resembles a protein found in the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes and GI tract and launched a catastrophic attack on their own tissues. “Experts” who claimed asymptomatic paediatric Sars2 infections equals mild were catastrophically wrong. Covid is consistently a leading cause of US child mortality. Paediatric mortality has increased markedly with each year of the pandemic in the US, UK and elsewhere. In 2022, over six times as many children died from Covid than from flu in the US. The UN Convention on the Rights of a Child requires states to “recognise the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health” and to fully implement this right. Children’s rights to education include a safe environment not harmful to their health. Cara and her parents fought for these rights. They were denied, with devastating consequences. Irish schools are legally obliged to clean indoor air and prevent the spread of airborne diseases. Prevention plan? Three Hail Marys. In year five of an airborne pandemic, parents, Dr Ciara Steele and Sinéad O’Brien set up Clean Air Advocacy Ireland. Dr Steele said: “Children are vulnerable, they rely on adults to advocate on their behalf. They have a fundamental right to breathe clean, pathogen-free air in schools. That means CO2 monitors, Hepa filters and ventilation in every classroom.” A recent study in Finland found air purifiers in day-cares led to a 30pc reduction in children’s illnesses. In March 2022, Italy’s Marche region installed mechanical ventilation in some schools, reducing Covid infections in classrooms by 82pc. Education Minister Norma Foley previously committed €62m for Hepa filters in Irish schools. Where are they? WHO advice is clear – protect yourself and loved ones from Covid. Stay home if sick, test, get boosted, ventilate, wear a mask when around others. Unless parents are prepared to say, “We do not consent to repeatedly exposing our children to biohazardous Sars2 in schools”, our consent will be presumed tacit.
I'm not anti-vaxx, I just don't trust American health agencies. Wouldn't even think twice if this was in most other countries
Recently we got the updated vax as it’s a requirement for where my partner and I work. We both got beat to shit by it, she’s had stomach issues of diarrhea and vomiting and a general ache. I have felt as if I been throw down a set of stairs and ran over by a truck. Heard that others are having similar reactions, wondering if it’s just anecdotal or this one just hits harder for everyone.