COVID update January 30, 2023
Managing COVID infection risk as matter of “personal responsibility” is easier said, then done.
W.H.O. maintains emergency status of COVID
According to the W.H.O., the COVID-19 pandemic is still a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) "Mitigation of its devastating impact on morbidity and mortality is achievable and should continue to be a prioritized goal"
It is very important that they mention this, even though their suggestions heavily rely on vaccines that have limited durational benefits, don’t stop infections and transmission, and don’t prevent long-term organ infection or Long COVID. It is hard to grasp why the W.H.O. and the CDC continue to rely so heavily on vaccines when COVID is evolving beyond their effectiveness.
More U.S. states are lighting up in red, which means that positivity rates are increasing in more places. Nationally, according to the Walgreens data, the positivity rate is even with last week, at 33.3%. This is incredibly high and very concerning as it is expected to start increasing again.
Managing COVID infection risk as matter of “personal responsibility” is easier said, then done.
A pre-print, published in January 2023, looked into how difficult it is to shield yourself from a COVID infection and re-infection given the current situation and what that means for the individual and for the country. Below are some important highlights.
From the individual perspective, “Using the US as an example, (where the average number of paid sick days is 8, 27% of employees lack health insurance, 60% or more of employees lack short-term or long-term disability insurance and average savings range from $3240 (under 35) to $6400 (55-64)) per person, many working individuals may find “living with COVID” to be beyond their means within a short period of time.”
From the national perspective, “modeling suggests that between 12 and 25% of the population (depending on up-to-date vaccination status) - 32 to 66 million adults-will have long COVID at any given time. Even if only a portion of those impacted are forced to leave their jobs or reduce working hours, the aggregate effect on labor supply, productivity, and income could be substantial. Already, various authors have estimated that the equivalent of somewhere between 500,000 and 4 million full-time workers have exited the labor force on account of post-acute COVID symptoms with an additional group likely reducing its labor supply as well due to fears of contracting the virus on the job. The chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve recently posited that, insofar as long COVID can explain a portion of ongoing labor market tightness, it could also be one factor behind an increased rate of inflation"
One idea to help lessen the damage is to clean up the air in public places. Yes, absolutely, but especially in schools. There are two significant reasons for focusing on schools. This will be explained in greater detail in an article that is in the works but will be published soon.
“In addition, from the standpoint of disability protections, public health authorities should take steps to create conditions that permit the clinically vulnerable to reduce their rate of contact, such as implementing “masked-only” hours at essential venues (grocery stores, government buildings, pharmacies, medical facilities, public transit), encouraging low contact (virtual, delivery, outdoor, or curbside) options for accessing goods and services, and providing and protecting remote work and schooling options.” “Rampant nosocomial infection should be curtailed through masking in hospitals (and schools), surveillance testing, improvements in air quality, and separation of patients.” “Supporting individuals who seek to reduce their contact rate provides a low-cost and low-effort public health intervention.”
They conclude by saying, "Permitting the unrestrained spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the population will inflict a heavy burden of infection and long COVID on society as a whole, which will be challenging if not impossible for individuals to opt out of in the long run." This is absolutely true and must be prevented.
The media and public health sources would like us to believe that COVID has become less dangerous and is not a significant concern. The media reports have dwindled to nearly zero. That is why it is important to have completely independent updates that are not beholden to large donors, political parties, or any other groups. Updates that are based on the most recent verifiable science and data, so you can check the source if you want. It takes time and research, so if you find the information important and useful, please become a paid subscriber today. Thank you for your support.
A COVID Infection During Pregnancy Comes with Significant Risks
This analysis, published in the BMJ Global Health Journal, January 2023, looked at 12 studies, from 12 countries, and involved 13,136 pregnant women with a COVID infection. The researchers found that pregnant women had a significantly increased risk of maternal mortality, compared to uninfected pregnant women. They report that pregnancy makes it more likely that a mother will die, that she will be admitted to an ICU, that she will need mechanical ventilation, that she will need any kind of critical care, or that she will be diagnosed with pneumonia or thromboembolic disease.
They found that babies born to pregnant women who were infected had a 47% increased risk of needing a neonatal intensive care unit and being born early.
They came to the conclusion that a COVID infection at any time during a pregnancy raises the risk of maternal death, severe maternal morbidity, and neonatal morbidity, but not stillbirth or intrauterine growth restriction like some other studies have shown.
The following are two additional studies showing the risks of being infected with COVID during pregnancy. It is so important for new parents to understand these risks because far too many men and women who are expecting a baby are completely unaware of the dangers. Air purifiers with HEPA filters would be a great gift if you know any expecting parents.
Published, March 2022
They report severe placenta lesions despite the pregnant women having only mild symptoms.
"Our findings, together with recent observations, suggest that future pregnancy guidance should include stricter pandemic precautions such as screening for a wider array of COVID-19 symptoms, enhanced ultrasound monitoring, as well as newborn medical surveillance.""Haemorrhage of human foetal cortex associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection"
Published: 16 January 2023"
"Here, we report the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in first and second trimester foetal brain tissue in association with cortical hemorrhages. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was sparsely detected within progenitors and neurons of the cortex itself, but was abundant in the choroid plexus of haemorrhagic samples. SARS-CoV-2 was also sparsely detected in placenta, amnion and umbilical cord tissues.”“Cortical haemorrhages were linked to a reduction in blood vessel integrity and an increase in immune cell infiltration into the foetal brain. Our findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2 infection may affect the foetal brain during early gestation and highlight the need for further study of its impact on subsequent neurological development."
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The viral load may not build up iin the nasal pharynx but more in the throat and mouth. This is true for most people now.
The viral load they were initially exposed to is a factor.
The more viral particles that enter the body, the higher the viral loads can get before immune response gets to work.
This study showed that viral loads in children were higher than in adults.
https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(22)00509-6/fulltext
2. This one shows similar viral loads. "mild COVID-19, children may be less likely to have seroconversion than adults despite similar viral loads. "
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/article-abstract/2789845
Earlier studies were showing young children had the highest viral loads. Children are just as contagious as adults, if not more contagious.
TACT...
Your recent post on the bird site raises an extremely interesting question. From The Lancet article you posted "We believe that children simply had lower viral loads in the nasopharynx and therefore tested RT-PCR negative but were infected and seroconverted at 6-8 weeks."
Children here have been clearly victimized by the virus, but that's doesn't mean they are TRANSMITTING the virus. If children have low viral loads in the nasopharynx, can they TRANSMIT the virus OR are they simply VICTIMS of transmission by others in their households?