Let's review the mechanisms of #LongCovid🧵
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.56… 🧠"The invasion of SARS-CoV-2 or the systemic effects of infection triggers microglia and astrocytes to generate neuroinflammation, leading to the impairment of oligodendrocytes, ultimately causing neurodegeneration and disruption of synaptic function." 2/

A recent study showed an extended risk of a major adverse cardiac event three years following a Covid infection. This is different from previous studies showing a tapering of risk over time. AB blood types showed an increased risk as well. Erica Spatz MD🧵
ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/AT… People that have had Covid are more likely to develop almost any cardiac problem independent of age, race, gender or cardiovascular risk factors. Should a SARS- CoV-2 infection be formally recognized by the medical profession as a risk factor for heart attack? 2/5

Anthony Fauci was the only one wearing a mask at his college reunion. 'I was fully aware that I was taking a risk taking my mask off, only expecting to be there a few minutes.' He got covid, and missed his daughter's wedding three days later. 📺1/4🧵 Trump, You're losing me trillions of $. Do we really need to have these masks on?
Fauci, It would be unforced error to take them off. I will not remove my mask. I must wear it.
Trump, Generals you guys take your mask off. Your commander in chief has spoken. The mask came off. 2/

Infection is best prevented, vaccination is the best protection against infectious diseases and their consequences. #LongCovid is real, and currently impacting 400 million people worldwide. The only way to prevent #LongCovid is not to get Covid at all. 🧵😷🙏 Despite high levels of immunity, despite repeated vaccinations, we are still losing 1,000 people a week to this disease. We don't know the long term consequences of repeat infections. Evidence exists that this virus can replicate in the brain. 2/

If you ask me what keeps me up at night, the UK biobank paper is up there, along with the next 2 papers.😷 TY @Daltmann10 for your refreshing honesty. 🧵
nature.com/articles/s4158…
An early paper from the NIH didn't just find virus in the lung and the gut, they found virus everywhere at autopsy. 2/4
nature.com/articles/s4158…

In 2020 a group of Dutch researchers were looking for genes that might increase the chances of dying from Covid. They found two siblings from 2 different families, four young men who were hospitalized for severe Covid.🧵1/7
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/… They found that the brothers lacked Toll Like Receptor 7. TLR 7 has the ability to recognize single stranded RNA, particularly useful for viruses like SARS-CoV-2. All of our cells have these toll-like receptors. 2/

OECD working paper. #LongCovid prevalence is likely high across most OECD countries. 10-30% of infections, with a minimum of 39 million people who had or are currently living with #LongCovid. 🧵1/5 Costs of #LongCovid could be as high as 1.04 trillion dollars across OECD countries. In Japan, researchers identified that the productivity loss due to Covid and Long Covid was equal to $1424 per patient, compared to $606 for influenza like illness. 2/

"Yes, Everyone Really Is Sick a Lot More Often After Covid" It's not your imagination: Around the world, people really are getting sick more often than before the pandemic. From Bloomberg🧵1/15
archive.ph/bW13b
"At least 13 communicable diseases, from the common cold to measles and tuberculosis, are surging past their pre-pandemic levels in many regions, and often by significant margins." 2/

A lookback thread on the Princess Diamond Cruise that was docked in Yokohama, Japan in Feb of 2020. Of the 3,711 people on board, 712 became infected with the virus – 567 of 2,666 passengers, and 145 of 1,045 crew, 14 deceased or 2% CFR🧵1/13 An 80-year-old passenger from Hong Kong, China, developed a cough on January 19th. He left the cruise when the ship reached Hong Kong on 25 January. 2/

WTH, we have known that it's live virus for over three years. Zeynep needs to stop talking to Marc Veldhoen. There's literally a new paper showing viral persistence every week. Does she live under a rock? 🧵 In this NIH autopsy study, 10 out 11 brains 🧠had SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA. This was then cultured in a BSL3 lab, and the virus was shown to be replication competent. Daniel Chertow MD explains 📺2/

The denial of viral persistence, the Marc Veldheon edition. Viral persistence only happens in the immunocompromised. 🧵1/7 Any RNA found is just 'debris' that has yet to be cleared. 2/

I lived in East Asia from 2020-2022. Images like this were everywhere, and they made masking common place there. I think I benefited greatly from this, because it has made it easier to continue masking even when I'm the only one. Photo from Thailand, Jan 2022. 🧵😷 All over Asia you could buy a high quality mask, like a KF94, at a corner convenience store like 7/11. Most were around $1 USD. In Thailand, antigen tests were readily available for less than $1. 2/

In case you missed these slides from the NYT article "1,374 DAYS" by Giorgia Lupi, showing that Long Covid is an organic disease.🧶📷1/7 "Research has shown that the blood of healthy patients, when dyed with these fluorescent stains that target activated blood cells, ought to appear as a much quieter, mostly black screen." 2/7

Is the gut a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2❓ Viral RNA was found 4 months after infection. The lining of the gut turns quickly so if you are finding viral debris many months after infection, it’s coming from somewhere, possibly a reservoir. Here, Christian Gaebler MD explains 📺🧵 B cell memory continues to evolve 6 months after infection, hinting at viral persistence. This paper hit the preprint server Nov 2020.👇
“Evolution of antibody immunity to SARS-CoV-2”
nature.com/articles/s4158…

Where is the reservoir? Is this similar to Ebola where the virus hides in immune privileged sites? What is failing in the immune response to prevent full clearance of viral RNA. Thoughts from Daniel Chertow MD💡📺🧵 Clip from - SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Persistence throughout the Human Body and Brain 2/

The sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 from the both lung samples doesn’t match the sequence found in the brain.🧠 This suggests viral replication and viral evolution. Listen to Daniel Chertow MD discuss 👇🧵 Does SARS-CoV-2 replicate and evolve in the body?

Right and left lung genetic sequences match at autopsy, but the sequence changed on the way to the hypothalamus and thalamus. Suggesting evolution and replication in the human body. 2/

Here are the slides from yesterday's NYT that I think more people need to see. They are from the blood of a Long Hauler showing that this disease is organic. 🧶🧵1/7 "Research has shown that the blood of healthy patients, when dyed with these fluorescent stains that target activated blood cells, ought to appear as a much quieter, mostly black screen." 2/7

Diane Griffin PhD - Leading expert on RNA persistence

“We know once you are infected with DNA viruses like herpes, you are infected forever. Less is known about RNA viruses, like SARS-CoV-2, and how we recover from them." 1/6 RNA persistence -
‘It was surprising to find this, we like everyone else believed that you get acute disease, you get sick, you live or you die. Once you recover that’s it for these types of viruses.” 2/6

On Tuberculosis -
“When a diseased person spits, coughs, sneezes or even talks, a cloud of saliva droplets fills the air. In each droplet are thousands of bacteria, coming along for the ride. 1/8 Even when a neighbor inhales this emission, the odds of the bacteria causing infection are fairly low. The relative bulk of the clouds of droplets means that most get stuck in nasal mucus or the higher respiratory tract, never making their way to the soft spot of the lungs. 2/8

Patient 42 had mild cov*d, recovered and died 230 days later of unrelated causes. Their autopsy showed that they had viral RNA in 10 areas of their brain. #ViralPersistence

nature.com/articles/s4158… Patient #36 was a 6 year old child that died of a seizure disorder, but was covid positive upon hospitalization. She probably died of seizure complications unrelated to viral infection. She had viral RNA in her eyes, intestines, ovaries, CNS, heart, kidney, lungs, and thyroid.