#fight covid-19 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

maudlin-scribbler · 8 days

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Maybe I'll stop talking about my shitty life and family for a while. Or maybe tag those posts as something so ppl can block the tag.

I dunno, I dont want ppl to worry about me because I basically treat tumblr as my journal and love to complain about stuff and yeah, my life has been basically a trainwreck but it's alright, it's my trainwreck and I've learned to deal with it at this point (making my peace with it, on the other hand, I haven't truly done that yet).

I post about it mostly to confirm that I am not the insane one, that maybe some things in my life that are outside of my control do suck. I have a myriad stories of my family being downright terrible to me, and I'd probably have more if I didn't have such a shitty memory (which I am guessing, is partly bcs for reasons I am repressing some of those memories), and as much as I wanna share these stuff, I probably won't. And a lot of the stuff I share doesn't really hurt me that much anymore, because most of them happened when I was younger (if something just happened I'll specify so).

So like, yeah I am alright. If I wasn't, I do have ppl to sorta talk to, so it's cool. And yeah, my parents do suck :D but it is what it is, at least they do take care of me in some ways.

(Sometimes I do post shitty things that happen to me because I have a tendency to repress my memories or forget a lot of stuff about certain events so i guess it's also sort of a way to document these events so I know that they happened)

#corin's lore #My memory is so shitty I barely remember my childhood or early teenagehood #Or really anything of my past is pretty vague in my memory and I'm pretty sure I have some memory gaps as well??#Genuinely don't even remember when exactly i got into hetalia loll (besides taht I was either 12 or 13)#Or even making my tumblr blog #Literally besides covid 19 and my late grandmother's dead and some school stuff(and a fight with my mom) I dont remember much at age 13 #Actually all these stuff may be the reasons why

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quantummindclassicalheart · 1 month

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There's a claim in this post that I wanted to unpack a bit, so I'm making my own post so OP doesn't feel obligated to respond.

I've also seen people saying that deaths are where they were in 2021-2022, and that we're still at "a 9/11 a week" of excess deaths and friends, I'm not seeing great evidence for any of these claims.

Deaths definitely aren't where they were in 2021-2022, but the latter claim doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Maybe the issue is in the definition of "excess deaths", which have always been hard to track-- I'm going to work with "confirmed deaths", which is better-defined (see e.g. the definition here).

About 3000 people died in 9/11-- the WHO's COVID dashboard still reports about a thousand COVID deaths a week in the US as of March 2024, as do the CDC's data. The Slate article linked in that post also mentions that "Death counts are robust because it’s quite rare that a death caused by the disease is not recorded as such."

ABC News reported in January 2024 (based on the CDC data) that "1,500 Americans [were] still dying from COVID every week." So about a third or a half of a 9/11 a week, by that standard.

The NY data linked in that post had about 100-200 deaths a week in the peak of winter, while the CA state tracker reported around 30 COVID deaths a day (so about 200 a week) during that same peak. The CDC data for New York is consistent with the NY state data, and the CDC data for California is consistent with the CA state data.

The NY Times disaggregates this (CDC) data: for the week from December 31, 2023 to January 6, 2023, there were 2,446 deaths from COVID. Of these, the largest numbers were 215 in CA, 180 in NY, 137 in Ohio, 129 in Texas, 128 in Pennsylvania, and 121 in Florida. Adding up these six states gets you a total of 910 deaths, so it's entirely plausible that during the winter surge, over a thousand people died of COVID in a week.

These are definitely not 2021-2022 numbers (that was thousands of deaths every day), but I would suggest that a) CDC and WHO are reputable national sources (and in particular agree with the state numbers well!) and b) these sources say that the death numbers in the US really are still in the thousands a week, which is simultaneously much lower than peak pandemic and yet also much higher than most people realize.

Ultimately, people do need to make their own informed decisions about how to manage risk, and they need to have reliable information to do it. Deaths isn't the only number to track, obviously, and hospitalizations and case numbers are only part of the story.

But I thought it was worth addressing where these "thousands of deaths a week" claims are coming from-- if you believe the CDC and WHO numbers (or the state numbers, which agree with them), I think there is good evidence that there are still over a thousand COVID deaths a week in the US as of March 2024.

#covid-19 #covid #if there are methodological issues with this data i'm happy to hear them!#but i wanted to a) use OP's own sources to make the claim and b) make it on my own post so they don't feel obligated to respond #truly. 100% not looking for an internet fight. just trying to talk about some data and cite some sources

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rattusn0rvegicus · 2 months

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Yeah no, it is incredibly irresponsible to spread misinformation about COVID-19 being "just as bad as it was in 2020-2021".

Confirmed COVID-19 deaths are down, via WHO.

Even excess mortality is down (which is a more comprehensive measure on the *total* impact of the pandemic).

COVID-19 is here to stay and it is still dangerous. I am not saying it isn't smart to mask up - especially in crowded areas, or if you/your housemates are immunocompromised, or during spikes in your area. I am not saying to stop getting vaccinated.

I am saying to stop spreading misinformation.

#I'm so. What the fuck #Y'all know that overexaggerating or lying about this shit is dangerous too right???#goddamn I don't want to get into a fight with anyone about this but jeez man #covid-19 #misinformation

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humandisastersquad · 9 months

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Wear a fucking mask

#covid 19 #literally in the middle of one of the biggest health crises in living memory #and fucking crickets from most so-called lefties #who have given into complacency and are contributing to spread #millions of disabled people are locked out from society bc they risk further illness or even death trying to even access healthcare #dont fucking call yourself a leftist if you aren't fighting against ableism and in this case the utterly awful management of covid

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naomiknight-17 · 1 year

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Ohhhh my god it is SO HARD to keep my mouth shut

One of the rules of this union conference is basically "don't start shit" but I was picking up a name badge because I didn't get one at registration, and this woman walking up behind me said something like

"Ugh, it's so stupid they're making us wear masks. It's completely pointless, and everyone is just complying-"

And then she came up beside me, and we made eye contact over my adorable black-with-rainbow-stars mask

And I raised my eyebrows at her. I waited for her to continue. I waited for her to say anything. I was so ready to pounce.

She paused. Then she kept walking

Yeah you better walk away or I'll get us both kicked out of this conference

#pro-mask #btw this union is for EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE WORKERS #how dare you work in those industries and refuse to mask #if there's even a tiny chance it may protect someone shouldn't you do it????#don't you care about the patients or students in your care??????#like i was so livid but i somehow managed not to chase her down and start a fight #i know masks don't solve everything and aren't perfect protection but they help at least a bit and you may as well TRY jesus christ #mod post #angry mod #to put it in MP100 terms.... 78%#pandemic #covid-19 #ask to tag #the conference trip

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transparentbeardmentality · 1 year

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#baa #mmm immune dysregulation is delicious #covid 19 #excess deaths? rapidly dropping life expectancy? cool and normal!#don't look up #mask up #fight back #you deserve to live a long healthy life

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soysaucevictim · 11 months

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Med nerd brain is thinking about how the Spanish flu killed a lot of young people and people in their prime - as opposed to those of naive immune systems (young children), geriatric, and otherwise moderately immunocompromised.

The flu strain provoked a severe and life-threatening reaction called a cytokine storm. It's called the nuclear option for a reason. A strong immune system can launch a veritable Tsar Bomba of systemic havoc. Compared to the W-54 that the aforementioned systems can fire off to an infectious/malignant threat.

(This is different from anaphylactic shock. Which is related to an allergic process- something that SHOULDN'T be harmful.)

#medical geekery #those who were on their 20-30s and otherwise p healthy people #(ck storm and anaphylaxis are both the result of an over-reactive response - just different pathways and triggers/conditions)#(ideally you wanna be in a goldilocks zone when it comes to immune health)#(competent enough to fight infections/cancers and wound healing capacity)#(but not so vigilant as to carpet bomb yourself for something that could better be addressed by a moderated response)#(it looks like ck storms ARE cited as a major COD for COVID-19)

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vrepit-salt · 2 years

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Long covid fucking sucks it damaged my lungs enough to give me some severe bronchitis rn I had to get epinephrine this morning at 2am to fucking breathe

#doc said the bronchitis is temporary but like what the FUCK #long covid #tw covid #COVID-19 #akira fights for her fucking life #akira screams into the void #bronchitis

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spectrumspace · 2 years

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I’ve been excitedly waiting for NFTs to die so I could share this atrocity I saw on Twitter once without giving it too much clout.

#spectrum speaks #//Do Not Miss The Chance #//btw the lore is that they are an army sent to earth to fight covid-19 and depression

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gdwessel · 2 years

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Positive COVID-19 Tests Force Changes to NOAH (Fujita), NJPW (Fujinami + Ospreay) Supercards; NJPW Golden Fight Series Nights 8 + 9 - 4/27 & 4/28/2022; Accusations Against Chris Dickinson; Full Dead Or Alive 2022 Card; ZERO1 Otani Benefit Show Announced

I know I said I was gonna just do a post tomorrow initially, but too much has happened since Tuesday that it behooves me to do so.

COVID-19 is still a thing, especially in Japan. It’s now altered two of the Golden Week supercards.

The first announcement came yesterday from Pro Wrestling NOAH, where it was revealed a positive PCR test meant that Kazuyuki Fujita would not be able to defend the GHC Heavyweight title against Go Shiozaki on Saturday at Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan. The title has been vacated, and Go Shiozaki will now face a TBD opponent. Kaito Kiyomiya put himself forward as Shiozaki’s opponent . Kiyomiya is already booked to team with Yoshiki Inamura against Naomichi Marufuji & a mystery opponent. We will see what becomes of this. The altered match(es) have not yet been announced.

There was a lot of snark on Twitter (and I contributed to some of it), because while I don’t think the COVID-19 diagnosis is anything but genuine, this is a very Kazuyuki Fujita thing to do, in order to get out of doing a job he doesn’t want to. Then again, I am not shy about my contempt for Fujita, and it may be coloring my reaction. That said, hope he recovers without too much difficulty.

This morning, NJPW announced that both Tatsumi Fujinami and Will Ospreay also both tested positive, and therefore would miss Wrestling Dontaku 2022 on Sunday from the Fukuoka Pay Pay Dome. Ospreay was supposed to be in the IWGP US Heavyweight title decision match against Hiroshi Tanahashi; that match is now Tanahashi v. Tomohiro Ishii. As for Fujinami, he will now be replaced by a mystery wrestler in the 6-man tag match with Shingo Takagi & BUSHI (himself a replacement for Hiromu Takahashi, who is now wrestling YOH in a singles match) against Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku. I’m a little concerned for Fujinami – the man is 68 years old, hardly a spring chicken. Hoping he (and Ospreay) also recover soon.

Since we’re here, let’s wrap up the Golden Fight Series tour, shall we?

New Japan Pro Wrestling

- 4/27/2022, Hiroshima Big Rose

Kosei Fujita d. Ryohei Oiwa (Boston Crab, 6:43)

DOUKI & El Desperado [SZKG] d. Master Wato & Tiger Mask IV (Desperado > Tiger, Pinche Loco, 11:40)

Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] d. Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe (Sabre > Makabe, Armbar, 8:13)

Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS], Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Tomoaki Honma d. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo [Bullet Club] (Yano > Gedo, Schoolboy, 10:17)

Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] d. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] (Hiromu > TAKA, Nameless Hiromu Roll, 11:01)

EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo [Bullet Club] d. Tama Tonga [GoD], Tanga Loa [GoD], Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado [GoD] (SHO > Jado, Pinfall, 12:07)

Kazuchika Okada & YOH [CHAOS] d. Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] (Okada > BUSHI, Rainmaker, 16:14)

- 4/28/2022, Yamaguchi KDDI Ishin Hall

Ryusuke Taguchi d. Kosei Fujita (Oh My & Garankle, 7:50)

Master Wato d. Yuto Nakashima (Bendabar, 7:58)

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano [CHAOS] d. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask IV (Goto > Honma, Shoto, 9:19)

El Desperado, Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG] d. Taiji Ishimori, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Gedo [Bullet Club] (DOUKI > Gedo, Diving Foot Stomp, 10:45)

Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG] (Shingo > TAKA, Pumping Bomber, 11:37)

EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo [Bullet Club] d. Tama Tonga [GoD], Tanga Loa [GoD], Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado [GoD] (SHO > Jado, Snakebite, 11:34)

Kazuchika Okada & YOH [CHAOS] d. Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables] (YOH > Hiromu, Five Star Clutch, 17:05)

YOH vowed to finish Hiromu on Sunday.

Last night on Twitter, a series of posts from wrestler Christina von Eerie went out citing abuse, gaslighting, etc., from a former partner of hers, recent NJPW signing Chris Dickinson. Dickinson has denied any such abuse took place. All the tweets are out there. You decide what to do with the information. For myself, I’m pretty disappointed to hear of all this. I also know that NJPW typically does absolutely nothing regarding their non-Japanese talents being accused of anything (indeed, they rarely do for their Japanese talents), so I am not holding my breath for any repercussions to come from NJPW or NJoA. It’s a shitty situation, and one that continues to be all-too frequent in wrestling. Change needs to come.

The tour is over, and the next event is Sunday’s big Wrestling Dontaku 2022 from Fukuoka. The event will be shown live on NJPWWorld, and I think FITE TV as well if you want. Below is the revised card.

Wrestling Dontaku 2022 - 5/1/2022, Fukuoka Pay Pay Dome (NJPWWorld)

X, Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables] & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & TAKA Michinoku [SZKG]

YOH [CHAOS] v. Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables]

Tanga Loa [GoD] v. Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Championship: Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato © v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI [SZKG]

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match: Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire] © v. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

NEVER Openweight Championship: EVIL [Bullet Club] © v. Tama Tonga [GoD]

IWGP Juniorheavyweight Championship: El Desperado [SZKG] © v. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Decision Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS]

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] © v. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables]

Dragon Gate

The full card for Dead Or Alive 2022 has been announced. The biggest noticeable thing is there is no Dead Or Alive Cage Match this year. Which is OK. We do not need to have The Dead Or Alive Cage Match every year just for the sake of having The Dead Or Alive Cage Match. We already have one man wrestling twice in two title matches, and a stipulation where someone has to leave a unit if they lose. It’s OK.

One note – Hip Hop Kikuta has now announced he is no longer Hip Hop Kikuta, but is going back to his given name, Madoka Kikuta. This really feels like they are over-egging Kikuta’s return where he will TOTALLY NOT BE JOINING Z-BRATS to where it’s becoming obvious HE IS TOTALLY JOINING Z-BRATS. They are not being subtle here.

Dead Or Alive 2022 - 5/5/2022, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (DG Network)

Open The Twin Gate Championship: Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] © v. Shun Skywalker & Diamante [Z-Brats]

4-Way Match: Shachihoko Boy v. Punch Tominaga v. Mondai Ryu v. Yosuke Santa Maria

Masaaki Mochizuki, Don Fujii, Yasushi Kanda & Shuji Kondo v. Strong Machine J, La Estrella, Ishin Iihashi & Takuma Fujiwara

Madoka Kikuta & Jacky “Funky” Kamei [Natural Vibes] v. BxB Hulk & HYO [Z-Brats]

Genki Horiguchi, Big Boss Shimizu & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] v. Ben-K, Keisuke Okuda & Kagetora [HIGH-END]

Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling Twin Ryuo Championship: Kzy & U-T [Natural Vibes] © v. YAMATO & Dragon Kid [HIGH-END]

Open The Brave Gate Championship: Dragon Dia [D’Courage] © v. SB KENTo [Z-Brats]

Open The Triangle Gate Championship: Kota Minoura, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] © v. Eita, NOSAWA Rongai & Kotaro Suzuki [Perros del Mal de Japon]

Open The Dream Gate Championship: KAI [Z-Brats] © v. Susumu Yokosuka [Natural Vibes] - If Susumu loses, he must leave Natural Vibes and revert his name to Susumu Mochizuki

Other News

Pro Wrestling ZERO1 will be holding a benefit show for Shinjiro Otani on 6/4/2022 from Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium. So far, support and participation has been pledged from NJPW (specifically Yuji Nagata, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma, the latter of whom has had similar issues to what Otani has suffered), NOAH, BJW, 2AW, FREEDOMS, Ganbare!, OZ Academy, Diana and Tatsumi Fujinami. More details as they come.

In other tribute show news, another match has been announced for the Jumbo Tsuruta Memorial show on 5/31/2022 at Korakuen Hall. Shingo Takagi will team with a mystery partner, against the Aoyagi brothers, Yuma & Atsuki, from All Japan. Shingo has said his mystery partner may not be a member of Los Ingobernables, or indeed any other wrestler from NJPW.

More Fortune Dream 7 matches have been announced as well, as #STRONGHEARTS will take on AJPW in two matches. First, Takao Omori will face off against Issei Onitsuka, whilst CIMA & T-Hawk will take on the TOTAL ECLIPSE tandem of Jake Lee & Hokuto Omori. That’s on 6/15/2022 from Korakuen Hall as well.

In some final housekeeping news, if you follow my @StrongStylStory Twitter account, it will be changing its name to either @gdwessel (my current personal one, which I am retiring and merging into this one), or @GeoffreyWessel or @GeoffreyDWessel as a temporary measure if there is such a thing as Twitter time limits or something. We’ll see. Just a word of warning, this will be happening Sunday, probably AFTER I do that day’s post.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow for the start of the Golden Week megacards.

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sewgeekmama · 3 months

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Dealing with Anxiety, a Pandemic and Quarantine

A pandemic is enough to stress out anyone. Throw in a possible quarantine and a lot of unknowns, and it’s easy to fall into the anxiety spiral. Here in Jacksonville we aren’t on total lockdown yet, but you can feel it coming. Every morning I check the news and see it creeping closer and closer to us. And now that they’ve taken the beaches away here, it’s leaving me wishing they’d just do it and…

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#anxiety #coping #coronavirus #covid-19 #fighting anxiety #Mental Health #Mom Life #quarantine #stress #virus anxiety

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youngks-smile · 1 month

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What I Want You To Know About Long COVID

Well lads, I've been suffering from Long COVID for over a year now. My life is at a complete standstill. I'm 25 years old and I'm too sick to go back to school, I can't work, I had to move back in with my parents and I'm still stuck here.

Here are just a few things I wish people knew about Long COVID, including things I didn't know myself until I got it.

COVID destroys your immune system. Yes, even if you don't have Long COVID. Are you getting sick more often now? When you get sick, does it last longer? There are many studies showing that COVID causes t cell depletion, even in mild COVID cases! T cells are how your body remembers how to fight off infections you've had before so losing those cells? Bad news.

Your initial infection can be mild and you can still get Long COVID. Right from Yale Medicine, "Most people with Long COVID had mild acute COVID." (This is also a good link for a basic Long COVID overview).

There can be a gap of time between when you "get better" from the initial COVID infection to the onset of Long COVID symptoms. Some people get sick with an initial COVID infection and never get better. Some get better and then weeks or months later start developing Long COVID symptoms. Long COVID symptoms can even fluctuate over time, can go away for months and then suddenly come back.

So many people have Long COVID and don't realize it. Do you feel more tired lately but no matter how much you sleep, nothing helps? Is it harder to concentrate at work or school? Can you just not think like you used to? You could have Long COVID and not even know it. Even mild post-COVID symptoms are still Long COVID.

COVID can do anything to your body. Long COVID has over 200 recognized symptoms and can affect basically any part or system of your body. There is no one mechanism or cause of Long COVID which unfortunately also means there's no one cure either.

The effects of COVID are cumulative. Each COVID reinfection increases your chances of developing Long COVID. COVID is also affecting your body in other ways, yes, even if you're otherwise young and healthy! "Repeat COVID-19 infections increase risk of organ failure, death".

Once you have Long COVID, repeat COVID infections will make your symptoms worse. "80% [of Long COVID patients] saw their symptoms worsen [from reinfection]. In 60% of people who were in recovery or remission from Long COVID, reinfection caused a recurrence of Long COVID."

There is a lot more I want to say about Long COVID but I want to keep this post at least somewhat manageable to read. Like how when COVID is contracted during pregnancy, those COVID-exposed fetuses have a 6.3-fold increased risk of motor developmental delays, or that another study found 50% of babies exposed to COVID in utero had developmental delays.

You need to keep caring about COVID, for others around you and also for yourself even if you're "healthy". Everyone is at risk. And don't forget 40-60% of COVID infections are asymptomatic, which is why masking even if you feel fine is crucial. The only way right now to not get Long COVID is to not get COVID in the first place. It's not too late, if you've stopped masking it's never too late to start again! I know it's easy to get distracted by things in your life that seem more real than the possibility of getting sick some time in the future, and the peer pressure to not mask can be intense. But it only feels less real or less important until your entire life is having Long COVID. Trust me.

I know this is a complicated issue, many people can't afford to stay home when sick even if they want to because of their jobs, there are disgusting policies trying to ban wearing masks, but please if you can. Keep masking. Masking works, masking saves lives.

This post got a bit longer than I wanted so below the cut is a non-exhaustive list of my Long COVID symptoms and some of my experiences as one of the "healthy young people" who got "unlucky". cw brief mention of suicidal ideation.

Welcome to the Thunderdome that is my body with Long COVID. Keep in mind these are just my experiences and symptoms, Long COVID can cause any range of symptoms at varying severities.

Dysautonomia: Exercise intolerance, Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM), fatigue, and heat intolerance. What do those things mean? Here's some specific examples. Absolutely terrible circulation I am so cold all the time but also, if I get a little too warm I will pass out. Eating hot food makes my heart rate spike, I sweat, my body feels heavy. Blood pooling and pins and needles in my feet when I walk. Don't even think about exercising past walking, it's impossible. I used to work out an hour a day 4 times a week and now walking up one flight of stairs makes my heart pound and I can't breathe. Can't take even just warm showers anymore or I will pass out. Heat rashes from being in the sun for 10 minutes.

Digestive issues: Honestly too many to name but: constant bloating, extreme nausea, constipation, slow motility, lack of appetite, just so much cramping and pain. I lost 18 pounds from Long COVID, as someone who was already considered underweight their entire life, and almost had to get a shunt put into my chest to deliver nutrients because I was nearly completely unable to eat. For the first 6 months of Long COVID, if I could manage 600 calories a day, that was a good day.

Histamine intolerance: Oh boy. My worst symptoms, I don't even know where to start with it. If you know Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) it's very similar. I can only eat 19 foods. If i eat a single bite of something not on that list, it's 48 hours of absolute hell. Coughing, migraines, itchy eyes, such extreme nausea I cannot even describe it, panic/feeling of doom, racing heart rate, derealization, rash, uncontrollable muscle tremors. I only learned about histamine intolerance 5 months into having Long COVID so before that, I was experiencing these symptoms nearly every single day. Terrifying isn't even a strong enough word to describe how it felt to experience all this and have no idea what it was, how to stop it, or if it would ever stop. Really dark times.

Neurological issues: More of that derealization. Inability to concentrate. Anxiety. OCD-like symptoms such as thoughts getting "stuck" in my head, repeating 24/7 completely unable to stop them, genuinely felt like my brain had cracked open and I had lost my mind. Constant dizziness like I'm on a boat.

Sleep issues: I sleep like garbage. I have insomnia, I wake up dozens of times every night and every single time I sleep I have intensely vivid dreams. I can't sleep longer than 7 hours total no matter how exhausted I am. It is exhausting. I'm exhausted, I'm so so tired.

And finally. Just. Really intense suicidal ideation. My body, my health, my entire life has been stolen from me because someone else decided my life was worth less to them than wearing a mask or staying home if they feel sick. Before I got Long COVID, I was preparing to go to South Korea to teach English, then on to a PhD in neurolinguistics, I was supposed to meet my long distance partner and had already booked plane tickets when I got sick. All of that has been destroyed.

Most of us with Long COVID are stuck in a cycle of being extremely sick, then if you're lucky you'll slowly get better over months, just to get reinfected and go right back where you started or worse. Honestly, I'm not scared of dying from COVID. I'm scared of living for a long time, suffering from Long COVID the entire time. This isn't living.

I don't know how to end this now. I'm still fighting, I'm trying experimental treatments, I'm not giving up yet. I hope everyone reading this stays healthy and well.

#long covid #covid 19 #covid isn't over #pandemic

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jcmarchi · 6 months

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NIST Better Identifies Sneaky Sugars on Viruses’ Spiky Weapons - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/nist-better-identifies-sneaky-sugars-on-viruses-spiky-weapons-technology-org/

NIST Better Identifies Sneaky Sugars on Viruses’ Spiky Weapons - Technology Org

A better picture of the sugars can increase our understanding of how humans get infected by the virus behind COVID-19 and other pathogens.

To effectively repel an enemy invasion, it helps to have accurate intelligence about that enemy’s weaponry and attack plan. Medical scientists laboring to repel infectious viruses, such as those that cause COVID-19 and HIV, now have a better method for obtaining that intel because of research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Jutting from the virus particle that causes COVID-19 are spike-shaped proteins, which are coated with sugar molecules called glycans that are key to the infection process. NIST scientists have improved our ability to determine the glycans’ types, quantities and positions on the spikes. The new method could help medical science repel COVID-19 and other viruses from Ebola to HIV. Image credit: N. Hanacek/NIST

The chief weapon many viruses use to latch onto and invade a victim’s cell is a spike-shaped protein jutting from the virus surface. Because the spike proteins play an essential role in the infection process, vaccines and treatment methods often target them, but these proteins are not easy marks.

One reason is that each spike protein is draped in a varied bunch of sugar molecules. These sugars help the virus particle both infect the cell and evade the immune system. Until now, our ability to determine the types of sugars at specific spots on the spike proteins has largely depended on educated guesswork.

The NIST team’s new method dramatically improves the ability to identify these sugar molecules accurately. In a paper published in the Journal of Proteome Research, the team details the types, quantities and positions of the sugars branching from the spike proteins on the SARS-CoV-2 viral particle, which causes COVID-19.

While the results will assist scientists in efforts to repel COVID-19 in particular, the findings’ broader value lies in the method that revealed them, as applying it could improve the ability to repel a host of other viruses that plague humanity.

According to NIST’s Stephen Stein, one of the paper’s authors, characterizing the confusing array of sugars on the spike protein is crucial for giving medical science a clear picture of the enemy.

“If you’re dealing with viral interactions at the molecular level, you must know everything about the molecule. The more you know, the more confident you’ll be about how it works,” said Stein, a chemist and NIST Fellow. “How does the particle evade the immune system’s antibody attack?

Answering that question requires details of the particle’s molecular structure to be known, but until now this ‘sugar coating’ has not been known with precision. Any uncertainties in its structure will lead to uncertainties in unraveling its behavior.”

Those limitations have made life difficult for other scientists who are trying to create ways to fight viral infection. Getting a detailed look at how the sugars behave could make a substantial difference to researchers like S. Saif Hasan, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who studies how viruses invade our cells and transform them into virus-making factories.

“The NIST team’s new method gives us unprecedented insight at the atomic level chemistry that underlies a successful infection,” Hasan said. “It gives us new avenues to investigate the quality of vaccines against different viruses. This is something that has not been easily possible in the past.”

Those different viruses are a rogue’s gallery of human pathogens including COVID, HIV, influenza and Ebola. All of these particular viruses have spiky proteins that extrude outward from the surface.

Making the spike proteins all the more difficult to visualize are the different varieties of sugar molecules, known as glycans, that branch outward from the spikes. Scientists have lacked the ability to determine a spike’s glycosylation profile — a map of which particular sugars sit where on a spike.

A widely used device called a mass spectrometer can provide a good general rundown of all the glycans that appear in a sample, but until now, scientists have lacked a rigorous data analysis method that can turn this rundown into a map with trustworthy details.

The NIST team developed that analysis method over a painstaking stretch of months, using the mass spectrometer to look closely at samples of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein obtained from 11 different vendors.

The team members used their collective experience with determining and validating mass spectra to come up with entirely new sets of algorithms that can analyze a sample, and the multiple sample sources allowed them to make sure they were getting accurate results regardless of protein origin.

“It’s no secret to the scientific community that the data analysis here is tough,” Meghan Burke Harris, another author of this work, said. “Many glycans look similar, and they are often difficult to distinguish. But the extensive measurements and data analysis here provides a reliable method for this task — one that lays the groundwork for making accurate measurement.”

In addition to the broader method, the team’s paper offers a library of SARS-CoV-2 gycosylation profiles and includes visual representations of the results. Hasan said that their graphical form allows him to look at the data intuitively, potentially solving problems that would have been intractable.

“As a hypothetical example, let’s say there are two batches of the same vaccine that were made separately. For some unknown reason, one provides better protection than the other,” Hasan said. “With this technique, we could get more insight into why one batch is better than the other, and we could use that in the future to design better vaccines.”

Paper: M.C. Burke, Y. Liu, C. Remoroza, Y.A. Mirokhin, S.L. Sheetlin, D.V. Tchekhovskoi, G. Wang, X. Yang and S.E. Stein. Determining Site-Specific Glycan Profiles of Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike Proteins from Multiple Sources. Journal of Proteome Research. Aug. 30, 2023. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.3c00271

Source: NIST

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