Thread by @PeterHotez

Whenever I post something about longCovid it’s usually the most RT. My sense is that the human suffering from the Covid pandemic due to longCovid especially in the US is enormous and we’ve only begun to unravel this. Asking @AliHMokdad @IHME_UW on some longCovid DALY estimates

DALYs = disability-adjusted life years, roughly years lost due to premature deaths or disabilities. I use @IHME_UW DALY estimates to help policymakers understand the debilitating effects of parasitic infections/NTDs, but this also could be a powerful advocacy tool for longCovid

Also the underlying molecular and immunological mechanisms for longCovid are fascinating but chilling. Some really interesting things, autoantibodies, microglial activation, some of this work by @VirusesImmunity

If I were starting over in science I would give serious thought to working on this infection-neuroscience axis through systems biology and other approaches. It would teach us not only about longCovid but things like CFS, fibromyalgia, other post-infectious sequelae

It’s also another reason I bristle at antivaccine activists who show no compassion for longCovid sufferers or who focus on ways to deflate the death stats among young and middle age adults or kids