1/ ON ANXIETY
I never - repeat "never" - take a breath in any indoor space that is not filtered by an N95. I have been accused of being a bedwetter, "over-anxious". Meanwhile, I have flown a single engined aircraft across the North Atlantic, into some of the roughest, shortest...
2/ ... trickiest bush airstrips on the planet and am shortly taking it on a trip to the Highlands of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. I am anything but "anxious". I just understand risk and how to mitigate it. Stop calling people who don't want to get COVID "anxious".
3/ It's a slur on people who do suffer from anxiety and trivialises an important mental health condition. That this slur is often coming from government bodies and the media makes it all the more reprehensible. It's evil propaganda and gaslighting. Just stop it.
4/ And while we're on this subject, here is a prime example of rational risk mitigation - wearing a mask - being described in the media as "anxiety":
5/ And also while we are on this subject, here is an example from October 2021 of information from a trusted source that arguably trivialises very real concerns and impedes people from making sensible risk decisions:
6/ Flying across the North Atlantic in a single engined aircraft, I wear a survival suit and life jacket, carry a top end life raft and PLB. In the GP surgery, I wear an N95, monitor the CO2, keep a through draft when possible, and run a HEPA filter on max. It's not complicated.
7/ Also, a final word on "bedwetting". The kind of people who use this as a slur to depict lack of courage are to be reviled. Countless generations of children have had their childhoods made a misery by being victimised by adults over something they cannot help.
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1/ According to data published on the health.gov.au website, notifications for Invasive Group A Strep in Australia are increased by over 30 TIMES in the last year compared to the average of the last 5 years and for RSV by an incredible 586 TIMES
2/ If these extraordinary numbers are borne out, then I ask you which is the more likely cause: "immunity debt" from a few months of lockdown in 2020 or widespread immunosuppression from COVID infection and reinfection?
3. Invasive Group A Strep is up by 35 times in Wales, which is consistent with these Australian numbers. I really have trouble accepting the 586 times increase in RSV, however. It seems incredible, unbelievable.
1/ The basic premise of the "immunity debt" hypothesis for RSV is that due to 2 years of very low rates (20-21, 21-22), lack of population exposure has led to loss of immunity and so more severe RSV cases now, leading to a kids' ICU crisis. But the basic premise is wrong. 👇
2/ Data all over the world shows a big surge in RSV in 21-22, after a very flat 20-21 for all respiratory viruses. Further, it shows that countries like Japan and Korea, which did not "let covid rip" in kids, while they had a high 21-22 as well, are not having an ICU crisis now.
3/ It makes no sense to suggest that "immunity debt" would skip a year of high incidence (21-22) and only present now. It does, however, make sense to suggest that increasing rates of covid infection, and especially reinfection, may have led to immune suppression in kids...
1/ RSV and "Immunity gap"
The Times Dec 11th 2022
But this is demonstrably false information. Incorrect. Mistaken. Wrong. RSV in Northern winter 21-22 surged again globally after a flat 20-21. The peak in 22-23 is lower but hospitalisations HIGHER.
2/ RSV was up dramatically in England in 21-22, as compared to 20-21, so it is simply not correct to say that "over the past two winters there hasn't been much RSV", yet this is supposedly the premise of the argument in favour of "immune debt/gap".
3/ Meanwhile, RSV rates in England are lower in 22-23, but hospitalisation rates higher. This can't fit with immune debt (how does it "skip a year"?), but can fit with increased susceptibility due to immune suppression from repeated COVID infection. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
I am working in Bourke Hospital in Far West NSW with an amazing nurse, Kane Horan, who wrote this gorgeous children's book during lockdown, all about a sheep on his farm.
"While COVID-19 will not be endemic for some years, supports are needed to recognise the new
normal & look to recovery, including mental health supports..."
Nice touch: people who think this bullshit "strategy" is bullshit need medicating.
"Australians feel safe and protected – and no one gets left behind"
This is actually the key element. Australians must "feel" safe and protected, even if they are not safe and protected.
1. There is no such thing as a "routine" PCR test. 2. Politicians saying they will be "isolating and working from home" is a cynical tactic to minimise a serious disease. 3. He should disclose whether he is taking privately prescribed anti-virals, which most cannot afford.