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A few COVID-19 long-haulers told me they too disbelieved folks with ME/CFS and similar illnesses until they experienced something similar firsthand—and now deeply regret their previous skepticism. (Some folks w/ ME/CFS have said the same.) 1/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
I asked David Putrino, who runs a Mt Sinai program, why he believes long-haulers when so many physicians do not. This is what he said. 2/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
After my 1st long-hauler piece, I got an email asking if I have ME/CFS or similar—fwiw I don’t—on the assumption that ppl who don’t have these illnesses rarely write about them. That felt like a searing indictment. I think about it a lot. 3/

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
Yes it’s harder to imagine something w/o experiencing it 1st-hand, but as my friend @sarahmarieramey (who has ME/CFS) said to me, “isn’t that what empathy is? To be able to feel something you haven’t experienced yourself. The lack of empathy for this kind of problem is hard.” 4/
That lack of empathy hasn't just been tolerated but has also, in some circles, been actively valorised and conflated with critical thinking. I’ve been guilty of that in the past. Covering this story has been a lesson, and one I’m still learning. /Fin
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Ed Yong
@edyong209
In this immunology explainer, I noted that some anecdotal accounts of COVID-19 reinfections exist, but to confirm them, you'd need to sequence the genes of the virus from both infections and show they were subtly different.

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
A HK team has apparently done that. If true, this would be the first *confirmed* case of reinfection. (Note: there's a press release, and someone has posted screengrabs of parts of the paper, but the whole thing isn't online 😡)

BUT...

As I wrote, it's not surprising/worrying if reinfections *can happen*. More important Qs are:

- How common are they? (Not addressed in this study)
- Is the 2nd time more/less severe than the 1st? (2nd infection was asymptomatic here, but that's 1 case.)

theatlantic.com/health/archive…
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Ed Yong
@edyong209
🚨Here’s my new story about long-haulers who’ve had COVID-19 for months. I first wrote about them in early June, and much has changed since then. Notably, many are still sick. For some, it’s been 5+ months of debilitating symptoms. #LongCovid 1/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…
Some changes are positive. There’s more awareness of long-haulers & more acceptance from docs. These changes were mostly driven *by long-haulers* who fought for recognition, led their own research, & supported each other, all while being very sick. 2/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…
But early pandemic mistakes are STILL costing long-haulers dearly. Testing screw-ups in Feb/Mar meant many never got tested; in Aug, that means many are still being gaslit, & can’t get into post-covid clinics. (What about antibody tests? Read the piece) 3/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…
Read 11 tweets
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Ed Yong
@edyong209
I’m really grateful to everyone who read the big new cover story this week. If you’ve liked my work, perhaps you’ll also like the work that I like. Here are some great pandemic-related pieces from the last month, from writers whose work I respect.
Here’s a critical vaccine reality check from @sarahzhang, who is surely one of the most formidable science writers working today. Every piece is beautifully explained and meticulously researched. This one is really important. theatlantic.com/health/archive…
A stunning investigative work by @katherineeban into Jared Kushner’s shadow taskforce and its secret, shelved testing plan. It’s perhaps the closest we have to an actual disproval of Hanlon’s razor. vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/h…
Read 17 tweets

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