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Covid-19 (Coronavirus)

arg-fallbackName="he_who_is_nobody"/>
Steven Novella said:
The Toll of COVID

Also, using death as the only marker for the health toll of this pandemic is misleading. Those who survive may experience significant morbidity, chronic symptoms collectively referred to as long COVID. A recent study, for example, found that having severe COVID correlates with brain shrinkage and cognitive deficits equivalent to normal aging between ages 50 and 70 – 20 years of brain aging. This was correlation only, but it is extremely likely that most or all of the correlation was caused by the infection. As a neurologist I am seeing many patients referred for cognitive, fatigue, and other neurological symptoms following COVID. People generally recover to some extent, but not always or completely.
 
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arg-fallbackName="Led Zeppelin"/>
Imagine if we actually held the authorities accountable for the disastrous way they handled this entire situation, instead of blaming a couple crackpots on the internet like they want you to do.
 
arg-fallbackName="he_who_is_nobody"/>
David Gorski said:
Is COVID-19 “the forever plague”?

A recent article claims that Omicron reinfections confer “no immunity” such that it’s possible to be reinfected with Omicron variants every two to three weeks and calls COVID-19 the “forever plague.” Although it makes a reasonable point that “natural” postinfection immunity doesn’t last long because of variants, the article is undermines its reasonable criticisms of COVID policy with maximal fear mongering.
 
arg-fallbackName="he_who_is_nobody"/>
Jonathan Howard said:
Minimizing COVID Via Postmodernism
  • Did large numbers of people die with COVID not from COVID? No.
  • Is the death toll inflated because doctors were too quick to intubate people at the pandemic’s start? No.
  • Is the death toll inflated because doctors filled out death certificates inappropriately- even fraudulently? No.
  • Did over 100% of NYC residents contract COVID during its first wave? No.
  • Do the words “shelter-in-place orders and quarantines” really mean “a rapid seroprevalence study and a focused protection approach”? No.
  • Is the risk of death “completely negligible” for healthy people under age 65? No.
  • Did the pandemic end in 2020? No. Did the pandemic end in 2021? No. Did this pandemic end this spring? No.
  • Did Florida protect “the vulnerable by vaccinating the older population” right before the Delta wave ripped through the state? No.
  • Is amplifying someone’s words silencing them? No.
  • Would “focused protection” have actually worked? No.
  • Will masks and vaccines lead to the next Hitler? No.
  • Did most hospitals maintain largely empty wards? No.
  • Should doctors have mocked people who wanted a booster before Omicron ripped through the population? No.
  • Did the pandemic kill just 10,000 Americans? No. Did the pandemic kill just 40,000 Americans? No. Did the pandemic kill 20,000-40,000 Americans? No.
  • Will vaccinating children kill elderly people? No.
  • Should unvaccinated children get COVID because old people are more vulnerable? No.
  • Should every public health measure be studied in a massive randomized-controlled trial in the middle of a raging pandemic? No.
  • Will children’s “risk of covid will decline precipitously” after “all adults are vaccinated.” No.
  • Should doctors legitimize anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists? No.
  • Were claims that 20%-60% of adults would be infected “substantially exaggerated”? No.
  • Were many frontline healthcare workers fired due to vaccine mandates? No.
  • Is it appropriate for a senior scientist to discuss the physical appearance of a young scientist who disagrees with him? No.
  • Did the US achieve herd immunity 3-6 months after the lockdowns ended? No.
  • Are vaccine side-effects worse than death for children? No.
  • Are frontline healthcare workers the “laptop class”? No.
  • Is it acceptable to truncate graphs and omit key information to mislead readers? No and No.
  • Should doctors spread anti-vaccine myths abroad? No.
 
arg-fallbackName="he_who_is_nobody"/>
Steven Novella said:
Risk of Myocarditis Following COVID-19 Vaccine

We also have to keep in mind that COVID-19 infection itself causes myocarditis. The relative risk here is 16 times – with the absolute risk increasing from 9/100,000 to 150/100,000. That’s 1,500 cases of myocarditis per million COVID-19 infections, vs 40 per million in the high-risk group of young men from mRNA vaccines, and 1-2 per million doses in lower risk groups. The risk is literally 1-2 orders of magnitude (10-100x) greater from getting infected than from the vaccine.
 
arg-fallbackName="he_who_is_nobody"/>
David Gorski said:
What does “antivaccine” really mean since the pandemic hit?


As I noted in 2010, distinguishing true antivaccine rhetoric from hesitancy or just general ignorance is not always easy. In this post, I’ve attempted to update my take on what “antivaccine” really means for our current time. To help, I’ll recap a bullet-pointed summary of the characteristics I’ve just discussed, which are mostly the same as in 2010 but rearranged somewhat”

  • Conspiracy mongering about vaccines
  • The “vaccines don’t work” gambit
  • The “vaccines are dangerous” gambit
  • Claiming to be “pro-safe vaccine” while being unrelentingly critical about vaccines
  • Preferring anecdotes over science and epidemiology
  • Cherry picking and misrepresenting the evidence, often using logical fallacies
  • Trying to silence criticism rather than responding to it
  • Tendency to be politically right wing
Someone who is antivaccine will almost certainly use at least three or four of these techniques. Indeed, when these eight techniques fail to suffice, they make up more.
 
arg-fallbackName="he_who_is_nobody"/>
David Gorski said:
When antivax “died suddenly” conspiracy mongering vultures target a friend and colleague

I’ve said a number of times that I now hate the way my brain works with respect to vaccines and deaths, referring to how one of my first thoughts after learning that someone had died unexpectedly—including, sadly, Harriet—is to ask how long before antivaxxers start blaming the death on vaccines. Even more sadly, it’s rarely very long at all if the person is the least bit famous—and sometimes even if the person isn’t. Unfortunately, I will probably be thinking that way until the day that I, too, die, either suddenly or not, after which antivaxxers will probably blame my death on vaccines, even if I meet my end being run over by a truck.
 
arg-fallbackName="Mythtaken"/>
I've been a Physics Girl fan for quite a while. It's been sad to see her decline from a vibrant nerdy/surfer girl to her current state. But of course the virus is all a hoax.
 
arg-fallbackName="We are Borg"/>
Damm she has it bad. I’m lucky while i still have issues its not as bad as this. For me after work i don’t have enough energy to do anything else.
 
arg-fallbackName="he_who_is_nobody"/>
Steven Novella said:
COVID Lab Leak Theory Rises Again

Intelligence agencies are divided on their conclusions, while scientific institutions are more united. In the end I don’t think Wray’s statements change anything. I would still favor the spillover hypothesis based on the scientific evidence, and the lack of any firm investigative conclusion. But of course I also favor more transparency on the part of China, which may be sitting on information that could more definitively confirm or deny the lab leak hypothesis. At the very least they can address the argument that they are not being transparent by being more transparent.
 
arg-fallbackName="Mythtaken"/>
I think finding the source is a bit moot at this point. It might have been useful in the beginning to help the WHO get a handle on the virus and produce vaccines sooner. Now it's just a political blame game.

China is never going to admit to any error that released the virus. Not many nations would. However, if it was indeed an accident in a lab, China, and every other country doing similar work will be increasing safety measures for the future, so that's a bit of an upside.
 
arg-fallbackName="Mythtaken"/>
I don't know, but given her views on science in general, I expect she was fully vaccinated and boosted. I know I was and still managed to get it.
 
arg-fallbackName="~ True Legend ~"/>
Is anyone still careful about Covid-19 or do you guys just treat it like the flu and as if it never happened?

@We are Borg could you shoot me a PM for a mo, please? Thank you
 
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