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Salvatore Mattera Profile picture
Mar 18 16 tweets 4 min read Read on X
As the number of adults with long COVID has led to the labor shortage, the number of kids with long COVID has led to a student shortage. There's been plenty of coverage about "chronic absenteeism" in US schools. But this is not just an American problem. It is global:
In the US, students have been missing class far more often in recent years. Some states are worse than others. In Alaska, about half of all students are missing 1 out of every 10 school days Image
For the country as a whole, the number of kids defined as "chronically absent" has doubled since before the pandemic: Image
It seems rather obvious that this is caused by COVID, but the press is seemingly aligned in trying to obscure this. Take this vox article where they cite a myriad of reasons, including the ever popular post-2020 euphemism "illness" Image
I'm sure other factors play some role, but how could the transportation and social services systems change so dramatically that it prevented kids from going to school not just in every American state, but most of the developed world?
Japan: Image
The UK: Image
Switzerland: Image
Belgium: Image
Was it the lockdowns? Well then, how do you explain Sweden? The poster child of avoiding pandemic closures Image
Canada: Image
It's estimated that about 6 million kids in the US alone currently have some degree of long COVID: Image
According to the CDC, there are about 3x more adults with long COVID than there are kids with it. But that's been enough to have an impact on the labor force. Millions of Americans are currently out of work because of a COVID disability: Image
Most kids don't work in developed economies. Instead they go to school. So, if millions of them are sick, you wouldn't expect to see that impact on the labor force, but you would expect to see it in school attendance. And, as outlined here, that's exactly what we're seeing
If school attendance rates improve, that might be a sign that long COVID is gradually disappearing as a problem. But if it's not, and if it remains a global phenomenon, I think you need a better excuse than transportation
People have responded to my thread with observations from other countries I did not mention: Norway, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, etc. I guess the better question is: where is this not occurring?

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More from @SalvMattera

Mar 8
Long COVID trials they should be running right now based on many anecdotal reports I've read from hundreds of people and some limited evidence:
Low dose naltrexone (LDN). Many people have told me they've recovered completely after taking it for a few months. But everyone who told they recovered reports wildly different dosages.
Booster shots. Extra doses and different amounts. Many people have told me they've recovered completely within a day following a booster shot, and there's evidence showing that most people improve at least a little bit and at least temporarily after a booster.
Read 6 tweets
Mar 5
Another data point came out recently that suggests many people (maybe even most people) will eventually develop some degree of long COVID in the future. This is something I've been concerned about for years, and is the entire reason I started writing. I'll explain:
Given that immunity to COVID wanes rapidly, it is widely believed that people will have many COVID infections over the course of their lives. Some experts have put it at 1x/yr. I've personally had 4 infections in ~3 years, and many people I know have had at least 2 or 3 now.
According to CDC, every infection carries the risk of long COVID. Even if you've been vaccinated, or have been infected previously and seem to be doing fine. Last year, the German government put the odds at ~3% per infection; the WHO put it at about 10%.
Read 10 tweets
Mar 2
So I said I was going to hire a personal trainer again and just sort of force myself to try to return to my previous athletic level, as a sort of experiment. Well, I hired the trainer and it turns out that he also, in fact, has long COVID.
But he didn't know until we talked about it. I walked him through the issues I'd had over the last year. I explained all my heart symptoms. He had the exact same symptoms. Went through all the same tests, and found nothing. His doctors never even mentioned LC as a possibility.
He was exhausted. "I didn't sleep at all last night," he said. "It happens to me sometimes now since I caught COVID."
Read 6 tweets
Mar 2
Although the media is covering long COVID more often now, almost every article includes subtle propaganda techniques designed to minimize and mislead people about the risk. As you're reading any article on long COVID, see if you can spot these techniques:
Noting the vaccination status of a specific person with long COVID if they were not vaccinated. If they were vaccinated and still developed long COVID, their vaccination status will not be mentioned. Reinforces the false idea that vaccinated people don't need to worry about LC
If they developed long COVID pre-Omicron, this will be mentioned. If they developed long COVID after Omicron, this will not be mentioned. Reinforces the false idea that long COVID is not something people need to worry about nowadays
Read 10 tweets
Feb 22
After a 6 month wait, I finally talked to a cardiologist today at Stanford who specializes in long COVID. What he told me was pretty disappointing, but not surprising:
For context: After my second COVID infection in October 2022, I developed heart problems. Initially it was palpitations and odd spikes in my heart rate. At first, doctors told me it was just stress.
But after the third infection in January 2023, it became much worse. I would have palpitations all day, every day for months. I could feel my heart beating in different parts of my body, like my neck and legs. And the chest pain - so much chest pain.
Read 15 tweets
Feb 19
Someone asked me, "if many people are gradually developing long COVID, wouldn't we see it in the economic data?" Yes, we would. And in fact we are. A few recent examples:
In the UK, the number of people with long-term sickness has been rising. Because of this, there are now fewer people working in the UK than before the pandemic began. Image
Something similar is happening in Germany. Workers are now taking so many sick days that it's pushed the country's economy into recession. Image
Read 26 tweets

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