There's a big reality gap right now between people who are actively staying on top of COVID research & those who just trust the current guidelines. There's no judgment here, but I'd like to try to communicate the worldview of the former based on what we know about COVID now:
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The US has chosen to prioritize the economy despite strong, countless studies that COVID harms many people, even those without #LongCovid or hospitalization. COVID predominantly affects the *vascular* system (the blood vessels), causing harm to the blood cells & blood flow;
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this has a downstream impact on nerves, immune system, & multiple organs, including the brain. Vaccination prevents against death, but not against long term damage.
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Your first COVID infection can leave you with pre-existing conditions that will make you more vulnerable to subsequent infections. #LongCovid
If COVID circulates forever, you will be more vulnerable with every year that goes by.
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There is no permanent protection from this, neither from vaccination not infection. Having some immunity does not prevent damage on subsequent infections. COVID infections can impact fertility in all genders, making conceiving harder and causing more miscarriages.
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Even having *non-hospitalized* COVID increases the risk of 18 severe vascular conditions, including strokes, heart failure, clots, embolisms.
COVID can cause reactivated EBV, which is associated with lymphomas, multiple sclerosis, and other health issues.
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COVID can cause severe cognitive issues and brain changes in people who had never been hospitalized. There is no evidence that this resolves; many have had this for 2 years. Past SARS resulted in the same.
These are just a few examples. There are thousands. Harm is not rare.
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There is no real evidence that COVID will evolve to become less dangerous over time, but there is evidence to suggest it will become more dangerous especially given the amount of spread and ability to create new variants.
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Behind the scenes, all of this is acknowledged. Researchers, including at NIH, have acknowledged a likely wave of early onset dementia. The WHO & CDC meet with patients regularly & acknowledge the severity & future consequences.
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But there is no public awareness that just having COVID in itself is a huge health risk for your future, even from a "mild" infection, even if you feel recovered.
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For those of us who are up to date on COVID impacts, including breakthroughs & reinfections, it genuinely looks like we are going to kill or disable an enormous % of our population in the next 10 years, & our leaders have decided to intentionally keep people in the dark.
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And spoiler alert - the disability from COVID is *already* hurting the economy, and this will get worse every year too.
As always, if you or a family member have health issues from COVID, I recommend joining the @itsbodypolitic support group, and @patientled for current research.
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I'm (slowly) going to add citations to this thread as I have brain space. A bunch to start:
Because this video has caused so much willful misinterpretation, I want to clarify: in the clip I’m countering the myth that #longcovid is lingering symptoms of acute COVID, since many people think it’s just a cough. I should‘ve said “acute COVID”; brain fogged & trying my best.
The interview was an hour long & they edited it to 5 min. I talked their ear off about all hypotheses & the science behind each & it didn’t make it in - the piece was for a general audience. I talked about all the other things COVID can cause, include diabetes & clots, at length.
Anyone who is suggesting I don’t think #longcovid is from COVID (????) or that I don’t think viral persistence is a high priority hypothesis (????) are *actively* ignoring 3.5 yrs of advocacy & that I’ve been highlighting viral persistence since 2020
The most exciting hypotheses in #LongCovid and #pwME are ones that could have cures! This includes viral persistence and others, and also includes the itaconate shunt hypothesis. I'm going to tweet this video as I watch it to try to explain it more 1/
Dr. Ron Davis used to work on the Human Genome Project but switched to ME/CFS when his son got sick. He's the director at the Stanford Genome Center. He is focused on *a cure* for ME/CFS. "I believe it is a curable disease." 2/
He describes the common onsets of ME - usually viral, but can have other causes too, refers to a big parasite onset in Norway from a few years ago 3/
@TheCrankyQueer: highlight the need for trans inclusion in trials, including understanding how different labs may present; biomarker nuance
Oved Amitay: need to create a center of excellence to learn from trials in other diseases 1/
Oved: FDA needs to align on decisions across similar fields, needs cross-talk across similar groups
@Dysautonomia: Most even great researchers don't understand autonomic disorders, which happen in up to 2/3 of LC...is there an opportunity to offer autonomic training? 2/
@Dysautonomia: Also, need to make arms in these trials for pre-Covid POTS/MECFS - this helps learn about LC as well (ie does Paxlovid help pre-covid pts)
"Fatigue turns the most mundane of tasks into an “agonizing cost-benefit analysis,” @turnoftheshrew said. If you do laundry, how long will you need to rest to later make a meal? If you drink water, will you be able to reach the toilet?"
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"Only a quarter of long-haulers have symptoms that severely limit their daily activities, but even those with “moderate” cases are profoundly limited. @julialmv still works, but washing her hair, she told me, leaves her as exhausted as the long-distance runs she used to do." 3/
Other factors that correlated with INCREASED likelihood to recover from #LongCovid include:
-being male
-having cardiovascular comorbidities
-lost appetite in acute phase
-had smell/taste alterations (this is often its own subtype that can come with no other symptoms)
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Tim Henrich from University of California shows the many, many viruses that have long-term sequelae. 2/
2 years after acute Ebola infection, patients have *higher* rates of markers of tissue damage, T Cell and B cell activation & exhaustion, markers of inflammation 3/