AJ Leonardi, MBBS, MPH, PhD Profile picture
Dec 9, 2021 9 tweets 4 min read Read on X
OK time to grade the poll-

The first question is your opinion. That's fair. The evidence is that it is getting more severe, so far. We'll talk about that more in a minute.
Nice one here. You guys are right, it gets worse for the animals with evolution. It adapts to us faster than we can adapt to it, if you get what I'm saying.
Yea, it gets worse for the mice. You know an animal it probably doesn't get worse in? Bats. They have interferon signaling to deal with this kind of nasty virus

Damn you guys are smart
another correct response. You all are well-read. The virus evolves to bind better, it's a big fitness advantage.
The in vitro evolution is being recapitulated in real life.

As I said, it will adapt for thermodynamic favourability and hit every immunological tree branch on the way down
This was a tough question and requires thinking in a partially complex system

On Average, immune memory will dampen severity of a reinfection
So if you get reinfected with a more pathogenic variant it may appear less severe. But with time can decompensate
Nice job
Yea, it ended up killing every young mouse it infected after 15 generations of passage

Looks like it was able to adapt to execution of its programs optimally which were incompatible with the host
Remember, cov2 has a program its trying to execute
So the question about reinfections with more virulent variants- immune memory can compensate a bit to make the reinfection less severe. However elderly can decompensate, their immune systems are not as fit. I wonder if omicron is putting kids in hospital more frequently.
All in all it seems you guys do very well with the knowledge. B+

And way better than the people with wishful thinking!

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More from @fitterhappierAJ

Jan 11
Since 2020 I have been arguing that Covid harms T cells, the cells responsible for controlling viruses

I am going to go over this article in the Daily Mail that poses it as a "new" hypothesis by @_lukechafer
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Great article @_lukechafer

One thing I see is that the article claims rising infections are "prompting" scientists to ask if something else is going on

That "something else" has been clearly described many times by me in 2020 on twitter and in publications Covid harms T cells Image
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There is a second point about the 2025 publication about reduced numbers of T cells

Something I have been saying and published also since 2020 Image
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Read 7 tweets
Jan 4
In August an immunologist declared the "Leonardi Effect" had received a "decent burial"

Fast forward to today: a new preprint shows what I warned about in 2020

Persistent SARS-CoV-2-induced impairment of CD8 T cell responses to community-acquired pathogens

I was right
1/5 Image
Key finding: Post-COVID patients show markedly reduced T cell reactivity to common pathogens (influenza, Staph, VCZ) which is evidence of lasting immune dysregulation favoring secondary infections and viral reactivation

Link:


2/5 biorxiv.org/content/10.648…Image
This is the scenario I described years ago: accelerated CD8 aging/paralysis/exhaustion/senescence, poorer control of pathogens.

We ignored it at our peril. Rising "mystery" infections, cancers, herpes flares? Not a coincidence
3/5 Image
Read 5 tweets
Jan 1
This BMJ highlight on movement from "immunity debt" to COVID's direct role in immune harm is a welcome shift

The evidence on T cell dysregulation driving secondary risks has been mounting and it's good to see mainstream outlets engaging it seriously
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In 2020 I argued against "debt", emphasizing Covid's lymphomanipulative pathways (T cell apoptosis, exhaustion, aging) causing immune harm

This drew massive ire
Labeled "crank"/"fraud," threats of op-eds pressuring labs, and a rescinded postdoc

I sacrificed hugely for candor
2/ Image
Detractors confidently pushed alternate explanations and villified me back then

now, as data aligns with booming opportunistics, they're silent. no acknowledgment, no "perhaps we were harsh."
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Read 6 tweets
Nov 5, 2025
In 2020 I wrote a paper claiming the lymphopenia in Covid included Apoptosis, or T cell death

I made this "extreme" claim after reading the 1st paper on Covid's clinical course

Now, a paper claims ongoing T cell death is shaping population immunity
1/ link.springer.com/article/10.118…
Here they start by suggesting the immune system is aging from covid and that aged immune systems are vulnerable

In 2020 I projected that if reinfections would occur, then we would be left with population-level prematurely aged immune systems
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Their meta-analysis concludes Covid is causing sustained T cell death

There is an alternative hypothesis that reverses causality, but it is ridiculous

However, I claimed in 2020 immune harm from covid would ↑ susceptibility to a sera-evading variant
3/ Image
Read 12 tweets
Jun 22, 2024
@Bryce_Nickels This is absolutely false because he made a “noble lie” and said the N 95s would not work for the public to the public in order for there to be greater supply to healthcare workers only. This backfired.
@Bryce_Nickels The ethical approach was the truth. This is a similar noble lie by omission that the WHO made when they refused to declare Covid as airborne in order for impoverished health systems to provide “adequate” PPE per their regulations according to WHO standards
@Bryce_Nickels The end result was workers in impoverished systems were being given “adequate “PPE for droplet transmission, and many of them died, including sadly many in New York City.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 6, 2024
When will H5N1 will go Human to Human?
Which is deadlier?
"The Covid pandemic has prepared me for an H5N1 pandemic"
Read 4 tweets

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