Not going to say much about what happened yesterday- except to say that it's unacceptable to bully/gaslight people for prioritising their health & masking in environments that are unsafe & marginalise anyone vulnerable or legitimately cautious. This needs to stop. #EnoughIsEnough
Want to thank everyone the huge outpouring of support yesterday. Every msg helped. It's the huge support I have here that makes advocacy & speaking out possible - in the face of incessant abuse and gaslighting. Without it, I very likely would've given up a while ago.
Thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences with me over the past 2.5 yrs. One of the key reasons I stay on twitter is because I've learned a lot from the experiences of those who have shared them either publicly or privately with me, and also listened to mine & advised.
It's helped me understand the challenges many people face, and also navigate my own illness and made me feel less alone in what seems to be an increasingly dystopian & toxic world. I'm incredibly grateful- particularly to those in the ME/LC and disabled advocacy communities.
I've learned more here about how to navigate my disability than from any of my clinical teams. Sometimes I think the disabled, vulnerable, minoritised & marginalised are the most clear-eyed when it comes to seeing power structures for what they are & pushing against them.
Thanks also to those who do see the power structures, and structural violence against black/brown women and other disadvantaged groups inherent in our societies and ally to support when they see these injustices. It's an exhausting world and allyship and solidarity is essential.

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More from @dgurdasani1

Sep 16
There's a lot being said about this response to our BMJ paper. I'm going to raise just one point to show that either this isn't a good faith response, or the authors didn't even read our piece & response, which already covered many points here.🧵
The authors say we didn't include a particular systematic review because it had major flaws including exclusion of critical studies and misinterpretation of evidence. They suggest this is an 'ironic accuasation' - Here's was our response to peer-review:
bmj.com/sites/default/…
Look at the detailed Box Panel and figures- we dedicated 5 pages to just this systematic review- pointing out basic errors- in that the review actually said that studies showed the opposite of what they did. It's referenced & comprehensive. ImageImageImageImage
Read 10 tweets
Sep 16
I'm an expert on COVID epidemiology, policy & long COVID in children. I co-authored the piece group of authors representing a diverse group based on their expertise- it wasn't a 'comment'- it was an evidenced referenced peer-reviewed analysis. All evidence is referenced.
Oh, and I didn't invite authors (UK paeds leadership) who've facilitated the failures in policy we discuss. Because- see above. If you want to critique, critique the comprehensive evidence presented, rather than going after the authors.
Every time someone attacks it, I'm going to put it right here- pease read & share. This is creating a stir- precisely because it's a well-evidenced analysis showing how children were failed in the UK - by govt & scientists.
#theyattackweamplify

Read 4 tweets
Sep 15
Just to be clear- well fitting FFP2/3 masks don't just help 'a bit'. They *massively* reduce your risk of infection! & for people who're cautious/vulnerable, they're literally the only protection we have given safe environments & widespread masking have not been prioritised.
The gaslighting is quite phenomenal- first they deprioritise all protections - and then gaslight vulnerable and cautious people for being 'passionate' about literally protecting their own health. So tired of this BS.
Honestly wonder whether people like Stone even realise how abelist his views are. This is literally *the only* protection most of us have left in a dystopian world with rampant transmission of a multi-system disease causing virus. So yes, we're going to be 'passionate' about it.
Read 6 tweets
Sep 14
When will MDs who've been active proponents of misinformation that's harmed people educate themselves of the risks of long COVID esp to people who are clinically vulnerable & disabled & stop being assholes. They support personal choice only as long as it aligns with their abelism Image
There's a body of evidence that shows UC is associated with between a 40-60% risk of developing long COVID once infected, and a 50-70% risk of viral persistence. So, please don't lecture me about the decisions I have to make- which are incredibly hard for me.
As a disabled, immunosuppressed, and chronically ill carer of a small child, these decisions are difficult and painful, because of people like Vinay- who've supported 'let it rip' which is deeply discriminatory & abelist. This has impacted our family & many others.
Read 11 tweets
Sep 14
When I think about the huge effort so many countries, including low resource settings put in to eradicate polio - it's so disappointing to see these efforts going backwards in countries like the UK & US- where low vaccine uptake has led to circulation of vaccine-derived virus.
To be clear- vaccine derived virus is a mutated form of the oral polio vaccine (which is no longer used in the UK/US). The oral polio vaccine is a weakened form of the virus. It does not cause disease. neither does the injectable vaccine used in the UK/US
The vaccines used in the UK/US are inactivated virus not live virus, so they cannot cause disease. Because the oral polio vaccine which is still used in some parts of the world is weakened virus, IF vaccine rates are low, it can pass from one person to another.
Read 6 tweets
Sep 13
Had to go in for a flexible sigmoidoscopy without sedation yesterday because sedation would've required me to take off my mask (for oxygen). There was no ventilation, air filtration in the room. Everyone in surgical masks. Was reassured all surfaces were cleaned between patients
Yes, the pain was bearable, but I'd much rather not have had to. Had the environment been safer, I would've taken sedation, as a flexi while fully conscious, while entirely possible, isn't ideal. As things were, I felt I didn't have much of a choice, and just had to bear it.
The nurse didn't seem to understand why I was bothered- given I'd been vaccinated & their protocols for surface cleaning. Despite many of the patients going in for these procedures being immunocompromised for conditions like inflammatory bowel disease.
Read 8 tweets

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