Thread by @JohnSnowProject

1/15 As 2023 draws to a close, we’d like to look back and ask when you realized SARS-CoV-2 isn’t ‘just a cold’?

Was it when studies showed that children who’d recently had COVID-19 were at increased risk of Strep A and RSV?

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1659545200157507589?s=20

2/15 Was it when the US CDC advised that COVID-19, "Can have lasting effects on nearly every organ and organ system of the body weeks, months, and potentially years after infection.”

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1638538902964252672?s=20

3/15 Was it when the US CDC recommended children wear masks to school, saying, “Wearing a mask can give extra protection to help them stay healthy. Masks also help to prevent children from spreading COVID-19 to other people.”

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1658741041430773760?s=20

4/15 Or was it when the US Department of Health and Human Services said, “Repeat COVID infections increase your risk for both hospitalization and Long COVID.”

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1659933285382750217?s=20

5/15  Or when a US National Institutes of Health study found a greater risk of Long Covid following Omicron reinfection, echoing earlier work by @zalaly that shows an increased cumulative risk of Long Covid with multiple reinfections?

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1664402333113958400?s=20

6/15 Or when the US Department of Health and Human Services said, “To prevent Long COVID the best protection remains to prevent COVID-19 in the first place by taking precautions like staying up to date with your COVID-19 vaccine.”

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1680628954674102273?s=20

7/15  Or when the US NIH advised that, “The persistent symptoms after COVID-19 that have been described in children are similar to those seen in adults." And that, "Cardiopulmonary injury, neurocognitive impairment, and new-onset diabetes may occur.”

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1683255549213769728?s=20

8/15  Or when the @WHO and a number of government agencies advised people that the only way to avoid Long Covid is to avoid catching SARS-CoV-2 and getting COVID-19?

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1688968225994772482?s=20

9/15 Was it when Statistics Canada published data showing the risk of Long Covid increases with reinfection? Or when the Chief Science Adviser to the Canadian government advised people to avoid COVID-19 infection?

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1734918761516298306?s=20

10/15 Or was it when the Royal College of Nursing and other medical unions and organizations joined the World Health Organization and the John Snow Project in calling for the return of masks in healthcare?

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1738231364821144046?s=20

11/15  There are some people who say COVID-19 is ‘just a cold’ and that we should stop caring about it. These people are spreading dangerous misinformation that is at odds with official public health guidance, which generally advises people to do what they can to avoid infection.

12/15 The John Snow Project only shares high quality evidence and official government guidance. The next time someone tells you COVID-19 is ‘just a cold’, ask them for an official government source to back up their claim.

13/15  As we enter the fifth year of the pandemic (yes, it's still a pandemic: ) with mounting evidence of the harms of reinfection, we repeat our call for leaders to step up.
fullfact.org/health/who-cov…

https://x.com/JohnSnowProject/status/1728465837802025123?s=20

14/15 In 2024, let’s all stop listening to unsubstantiated misinformation and pay attention to experts who are trying to help protect us and our loved ones from a novel virus that has been shown to cause long-term harm.

https://x.com/mvankerkhove/status/1741384947892441165?s=20

15/15  Like @mvankerkhove we have hope and trust in the tools that are recommended by the @WHO and others: respirator masks, testing, isolation, vaccines, clean air, and therapeutics.

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