Thread by @GaryPayinda

It's probably worth people learning about Epstein-Barr virus (human herpes virus 4).
It's a virus that pretty much everyone gets, the one that causes glandular fever, also known as #mononucleosis. 🧵

For many it's a simple cold, but for others it causes hepatitis, immunosuppression, autoimmune disease, and sometimes, several decades later, the neurodegenerative condition known as #MultipleSclerosis...

healthline.com/health/epstein…

It's worth talking about because it could easily be blown off as just a cold or a flu-like illness. Just like covid.
It infects white blood cells, lymphocytes, just like covid.
And it can cause a litany of acute and chronic medical problems, just like covid...

The major difference between Epstein-Barr virus and covid, is that we studied EBV for decades. In fact, it was only in the last couple of years that we firmed up the connection between EBV infection and MS. We're still learning how bad #EBV can be...

Therefore, it's only reasonable that we would apply a little bit of a precautionary principle to covid, too. We know it causes blood clots, flares up #autoimmune disease, creates inflammation in the smallest blood vessels, and markedly increases heart attack and stroke...

Yet somehow some social media thought leaders have drawn the conclusion that covid is trivial, rather than learning the lesson Epstein-Barr virus has taught us: even mild viral infections can cause severe chronic complications, months or even decades down the line...

Over the past couple of years, worldwide, there have been some notable surges in mild, moderate, and severe viral infections. We know covid can 'exhaust' lymphocytes, and increase our susceptibility to other illnesses...

We also know that RAT tests are severely limited in their ability to pick up Covid cases.
This would be a great time for governments to be carefully ensuring clean air standards, ventilation, and HEPA filtration in indoor settings like schools and workplaces...

And ensuring the people have great access (and the knowledge that goes along with it) to Covid boosters, influenza vaccines, and childhood immunisations... as we enter a period of widespread and repeated covid infections, and the immunocompromise these reinfections cause...

And for those in countries with unresponsive governments + public health systems, individuals will have to take steps of their own: putting Corsi-Rosenthal boxes in their crowded workplaces, using decent KF94 or better respirators (masks), and staying up-to-date on boosters.

The goal (as always) is to get re-infected with covid as infrequently as possible.
There's no wisdom in 6-12 monthly covid reinfections.
No winning, just health risks.

We would do well to respect the risk of viruses to cause long-term damage. Whether old DNA viruses, or old RNA viruses like Hep C, which is capable of causing cancer decades down the line, or novel viruses like #Covid.