Thread by @fearnley_k

A short thread on:

🦠 Covid transmission
😷 How best to protect yourself
💉 Vaccine limitations
⚠️ Warning on infection harms

🧵

(A) Covid is airborne 🦠 This means, infectious particles are carried in the air we breathe.

Please take time to watch the short (1 min) video below 👇🏼

(B) Although hand washing helps spread infection and is a good thing to do, it does not clean the air.

Given #COVIDisAirborne, the best way to protect yourself from (re)infection is to wear a good-fitting, high-grade #FFP2, or preferably #FFP3, mask 😷

Remember, the fit of the mask is just as important as the grade of mask.

Make sure the mask forms a good seal around your face and there are no gaps. Avoid cloth masks and lose fitting surgical masks.

(C) Do not be vaxed-relaxed.

Omicron subvariant, #BA5, (which is currently driving rates of infection in the UK), resists and escapes neutralising antibodies induced by previous Omicron (#BA2) infection and triple vaccination. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

and no, immune escape does not mean the vaccine was pointless. To date, vaccines have prevented serious illness and death in many, saving countless lives.

However, current antibody based vaccines have their limitations.

Firstly, although they have been historically good at reducing risk of serious illness, they only partially reduce risk of #LongCovid by 15%

So even in the vaccinated, #LongCovid remains a significant & serious risk.

nature.com/articles/s4159…

Secondly, with the emergence of new variants, notably #BA5, we are now seeing increased incidence of immune escape.

We ideally need second generation T cell vaccines to clear the virus.

Until T- cell vaccines become available, and treatment for Long Covid and Covid becomes available and easily accessible, the best way you can protect yourself from (re)infection is to #WearAMask😷, especially when in indoor, public spaces.

(D) To all those who’ve had Covid, who say “It’s just a cold”, please do not overlook long-term infection harms.

Firstly, every (re)infection carries risk of Long Covid. Just because you didn’t develop #LongCovid after round 1 or 2, do not assume round 3 will be the same.

Every infection you play roulette with your health.

To understand more about #LongCovid, and why you should avoid it, please read this thread.

Secondly, even if the acute stage of infection was mild and short lived, every (re)infection damages your body in ways you cannot yet see.

This large-scale study of 150k people showed even a mild case of COVID-19 can substantially increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular problems - some 20 types in all - for at least a year after diagnosis nature.com/articles/s4159…

For example, the study found those recovered from COVID-19 were 52% more likely to have a stroke and 72% more likely to experience heart failure compared to a control group.

Covid causes a prothrombotic vasculitis. This means, it causes widespread inflammation of blood vessels and causes clots to form.

Look around you. How many people do you know who’ve developed blood clots in the brain 🧠(stroke), legs 🦵 (DVT), Lungs (PE) 🫁??

Moreover, Covid has been shown to persist in tissues for many months after infection. We know viruses which persist in tissues have been linked to the development cancer & neuro degenerative disease.

Although we do not yet know the long, long term harms of this virus, they are predicable.

You may wish to listen to @DrPatSoonShiong speak from 2:30 mins.

Given the above, it makes sense to be cautious.

Yes, live your life. But live your life safely and do all you can to avoid (re)infection.

Take home:

Currently - in absence of air filtration systems in public buildings; second generation T cell vaccines; and available and widely accessible treatments for Long Covid and Covid - the single best thing you can do to protect yourself is #WearAMask😷 #FFP2 #FFP3