Noticed lots of excitement about this preprint concluding that #SARSCoV2 spike protein can be a potential biomarker for PASC (#LongCovid). It's good to see research on this but it's still early days for biomarker statements IMO. Some quick thoughts: 1/6 medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
The study compared those with PASC (n=37) & those whom the study calls #COVID19 patients (n=26) (not diagnosed with PASC -does that mean they definitely don't have it?). So relatively small numbers overall. Also I say 'compared' but I can't find any statistical comparisons.
2/6
It's not ot clear why PASC patients samples were collected for up to 12 months and those with no diagnosis for up to 5 months. Also the time points comparisons within those periods are not entirely clear. There are only 6 non-PASC temporal profiles shown in Fig S1.
3/6
They measured 3 types of SARSCoV2 antigen expression: S1 subunit of spike, full length spike & nucleocapsid (N), in plasma samples. They report finding S1 & N in both groups but the full spike only in the PASC group (60% of them)- only in 12 patients more than once over time.
4/6
It is not clear how they controlled for history of vaccination and number/timing of doses in relation to both symptoms and correlation with spike protein detection. In fig 2 some vaccination timings are shown for some of the 12 patients but not for others.
5/6
Some of these queries may get clarified once the study is peer reviewed. My point is these are interesting preliminary findings but I hope this doesn't cause #LongCovid patients/doctors/employers to seek/interpret clinical diagnosis based on this now. I wory about exclusion.
6/6
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It’s 8.5% of 5-11yo in England who’ve received at least dose of the covid vaccine.
Am I surprised by the low uptake? Not really given how long it took to roll out in this age group & the negative messaging around it. But it’s interesting to see low rates in other countries too
At the risk of losing more followers who hold strong views about JD vs AH, I feel I must share this quote from @edockterman @TIME. Pls do take a moment to reflect on it:
….As a result, she has a clear memory of her assault. She has corroborating evidence—but not too much evidence because that would indicate she’s vindictive and planned to speak out. In fact, when she comes forward, she does so reluctantly…
She cuts off contact with her abuser as soon as the abuse takes place. She does no wrong—at the office, in relationships, as a mother or daughter. She’s never lied about anything, ever, in her entire life. She dresses “appropriately.” She’s ideally virginal. She’s simplistic…
13 questions were included in the LCSS capturing 3 domains:
Enacted (overt experiences of discrimination), Internalised (internalising negative associations with Long Covid and accepting them as self-applicable),
Anticipated (expectation of bias/poor treatment by others) stigma.
This is from a follow up survey of a online survey we did at the end of 2020: journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…
We have over-representation of females, white ethnicity, and people with higher educational qualifications. All non-hospitalised in the first 2 weeks of the illness.
Always wrong to set high expectations of catching up on work during the weekend, then feel guilty for not achieving them and instead, erm, actually use the weekend for what’s it’s for: relaxing!
Remember those public health vs the economy debates & headlines in 2020-21 when we were saying #CountLongCovid?
Well here goes an answer from none other than the Bank of England.
The quotes below are from a speech by Michael Saunders, Monetary Policy Committee Member: 1/5
"Since Q4-19, the number of people aged 16-64 years that are outside the workforce and do not want a job has risen by 525,000 (1.3% of the 16-64 age population)."
2/5
"This largely reflects increases in long-term sickness (roughly 320,000 people) and retirement (90,000), with smaller contributions from lower participation among students (65-70,000) and short-term sickness (30-35,000 people)."
3/5
Let's look at what the response to consultation document said about #LongCovid:
"The consultation responses raised concerns that long Covid (sometimes called post-Covid
symptoms) will not be sufficiently considered within the Inquiry’s investigations."
The draft Terms of Reference cover the healthcare sector’s ‘provision for those experiencing
long-COVID’."
"We will also investigate the extent to which risks associated with long Covid
were considered under other parts of the Terms of Reference — for example, consideration of
‘how decisions were made, communicated, and implemented’ will include investigation of....