COVID-19 Pandemic (Coronavirus)

[null]

Fauci: No scientific evidence the coronavirus was made in a Chinese lab

I'll go with Dr. Fauci who says there is no scientific evidence the disease is from a lab before I believe an administration who constantly lies and does anything to absolve themselves of blame.

Spoiler: ... dappers ..

"Fauci FINALLY coughs up to Covid failures: Admits lab leak is credible, reveals HE told schools to impose vaccine mandates and even praises Trump on China!​

• Dr Fauci said social distancing 'six foot rule' was not based on scientific data
• Despite efforts to silence lab leak theorists, Fauci admitted it is not a conspiracy"

Fauci on Covid lab leak theory: ‘I have a completely open mind’

He also criticized China's Covid-19 response as “shutdowns without a seeming purpose.”

www.politico.com

Fauci met with Wuhan gain-of-function scientist in '17, admits lab leak not a conspiracy: Emily Kopp

U.S. Right to KNow reporter Emily Kopp weighs in on Dr. Anthony Fauci''s closed-door congressional testimony on Covid-19.

thehill.com

 

[bnew]

 

[Mike_Pipeson]

Finally caught this shyt. Migraines ain't no joke

 

[KRayner]

chances of dying from covid increase dramatically if you’re obese


guess which country has the worst obesity rates

 

[bnew]

https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article284591385.html

​

Roger Marshall’s finally taking COVID seriously. Is that just because it got personal? | Opinion​

BY JOEL MATHIS REGULAR OPINION CORRESPONDENT

JANUARY 24, 2024 5:08 AM​

Kansas’ junior senator — a doctor — pushed junk science and downplayed vaccines. But now, a member of his family is suffering. JACK GRUBER USA Today Network file photo

Sometimes, Roger Marshall seems so close to getting it.

The junior senator from Kansas — a medical doctor, don’t forget — hasn’t always seemed to take COVID-19 seriously. He went maskless on the campaign trail in 2020 and touted his use of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that has done more harm than good against the coronavirus.

Marshall has also allied with anti-vaxxers too often, positioning himself against COVID vaccine mandates for military service members and — astonishingly — health care workers.

Those mandates, he charged in 2022, weren’t enacted with public health in mind but instead were “ about Joe Biden fulfilling his desire to control every aspect of our lives.”

It was a very silly comment about attempts to battle a virus that has killed more than a million Americans.

But Marshall wasn’t being silly last week.

At a committee hearing, he announced that his family had been affected by the scourge of “long COVID,” a condition that can persist for months or years after contracting the virus.

“This is personal for me,” he said. “One of my loved ones is one of those 16 million people who suffer from Long COVID, incapacitated for some two years.”

The condition, Marshall said, is like mononucleosis “that never goes away.”

Before we go much further, let’s get something straight: I am not here to mock Marshall’s unnamed family member. It’s a miserable thing to live with chronic illness. Nobody should make light of it, no matter what you think of a man’s politics or medical advice.

If you think any of this is funny, you’re a jerk. Period.

Still, one might hope that Marshall would take that awful personal experience and use it to — perhaps — reconsider his benighted efforts to cast COVID vaccines as tools of tyranny. Maybe see an opportunity to urge his fellow conservatives to get the jab.

Nope.

“I am frustrated that our CDC (and NIH) seems to be more focused on just vaccines than they are treatment for long COVID,” Marshall told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, later adding: “I couldn’t be more frustrated that it’s vaccines, vaccines, vaccines, rather than focused on diagnosis and treatment.”

So close. Yet so far.

EXISTING VACCINES OFFER PROTECTION FROM SYMPTOMS​

Now, Marshall is right about one thing: The medical establishment really has moved too slowly to begin to solve the mysteries of long COVID.

There has been no Operation Warp Speed of the kind that produced COVID vaccines within a year. It was only in August — three-and-a-half years after the virus first appeared in the United States — that the Biden administration launched its Office on Long COVID Research and Practice.

So if you’re suffering from long COVID, the wait for answers, for any treatments that might alleviate the condition, has already taken too long. The senator is absolutely correct to nudge the nation’s medical authorities into action.

In the meantime, though, the best way to avoid or minimize long COVID probably is to go get a vaccine shot.

That’s what the research seems to say. One study released last March revealed that people who had received one dose of vaccine had a 35% lower chance of developing long COVID than their unvaccinated brethren. Another study — this one from Mayo Clinic, in August — found long COVID patients who had been vaccinated “were less likely to experience symptoms such as abdominal pain, chest pain, dizziness, and shortness of breath.” Yet another journal article this month found “that COVID-19 vaccination consistently reduced the risk of long COVID symptoms.”

None of that helps people who already have long COVID of course. For now, though, “vaccines, vaccines, vaccines” really do offer a pathway to prevent more people from suffering.

Marshall surely knows this. He is a doctor after all. It would be nice if he could say it in public. As he knows from experience, a lot of suffering could be saved.

Joel Mathis is a regular Wichita Eagle and Kansas City Star Opinion correspondent. He lives in Lawrence with his wife and son. Formerly a writer and editor at Kansas newspapers, he served nine years as a syndicated columnist.

 

[bnew]

Michigan mom sues for disability in latest U.S. legal battle over long COVID | Bridge Michigan

Kelsey Warshefski, 41, said she’s suffered years of seizures, mini-strokes and fatigue. She can no longer run, work or romp with her son. She’s among a growing number of patients suing after disability claims were denied.

www.bridgemi.com

Michigan mom sues for disability in latest U.S. legal battle over long COVID​

With long COVID, Kelsey Warshefski said the simplest chores — putting away groceries or picking her son up from school — leave her exhausted. She said her mother, Susan Eagan, is a frequent and necessary companion. (Bridge photo by Robin Erb)

January 29, 2024

Robin Erb (Email)

Michigan Health Watch

Coronavirus Michigan

Michigan Health Watch

Michigan mom sues for disability in latest U.S. legal battle over long COVID

• Michigan woman was a runner, health care manager, and active mom before she contracted COVID-19 in 2020
• After her infection, she said she began having seizures, near-daily pain, debilitating fatigue and a mini stroke
• She’s suing for long-term disability — one in a growing number of cases against insurers that denied disability claims

---

KIMBALL—In this tidy home where family photos hang on the wall and heart-decorated dish towels hint to the upcoming Valentine’s Day, Kelsey Warshefski appears for a moment like any mom who might be relaxing with her 7-year-old son on a recent snow day.

But Warshefski, who just four years ago was an active mother, busy manager and frequent runner who lifted weights, said she now struggles to get out of bed each morning because of long COVID, according to a federal lawsuit seeking long-term disability benefits.

She said her fingers tremble. Her toes frequently turn purple. Mid-day fatigue forces her back into bed most afternoons at her home near Port Huron. Words — even familiar ones — can seem just out of reach. At 41, she has seizures and mini-strokes. And her once-muscular frame has lost 45 pounds.

Warshefski is among a growing number of people suing over disability denials as health systems, employers and insurers grapple with how to precisely define long COVID, and whether individual cases amount to long-term disability.

Before COVID, Kelsey Warshefski said she was a runner who lifted weights with her husband several times a week. (Photo courtesy of Dark Horse Studios)

The markers vary from person to person and can flicker on and off. And while some of COVID’s lingering problems — blood clots, kidney failure, respiratory issues, rashes and hair loss — are measurable, other symptoms aren’t as objectively provable — brain fog, memory loss and other cognitive impairments, fatigue, anxiety and pain. Some patients, including those in health care professions, say doctors are sometimes skeptical when they describe their symptoms.

Related:

• Long COVID patients, dismissed by doctors, turn to art to show their pain
• Long COVID remains a debilitating medical mystery for Michigan sufferers

Estimates vary on the number of people who suffer from long COVID, in part, because they’ve looked at different populations. One study put the number as high as 65 million people globally. In a U.S. survey, 1-in-5 adults who had COVID said they suffered from long COVID symptoms three or more months past initial infection.

Warshefski’s suit relies on numbers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which estimatesbetween 7.7 and 23 million Americans suffer from complications after a COVID infection.

The federal government recognizes the condition as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, with about 56,000 disability claims linked to COVID-19 by U.S. Social Security. And the U.S. Department of Labor requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees with long COVID, such as providing flexible scheduling or remote working.

Even so, proving long-term disability through Social Security or an insurance contract can be tricky, said Andrew Wylam, president and co-founder of South Carolina-based Pandemic Patients, a nonprofit that advocates for people with long COVID.

Research is new because the virus and its aftereffects remain fairly new. While a blood test can reveal high cholesterol, for instance, or biomarkers for cancer, “with long COVID, we just don't have that tool yet to say ‘This is how you are impaired,” Wylam said.

“This isn't a broken bone,” he added. “This is maybe a broken immune system.”

And many of long COVID’s symptoms are associated with other diseases.

Even with a diagnosis, it’s another thing altogether to prove that related brain fog or exhaustion, for example, limit a person’s ability to work. The result, Wylam said, is that “insurers are benefitting from that ambiguity.”

‘The fatigue is tortuous.’​

Warshefski’s federal suit, assigned to Eastern Michigan District Court Judge Linda V. Parker, accuses Connecticut-based Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company of breach of contract for refusing Warshefski’s claim for long-term disability.

Some mornings, she said, she cannot get out of bed at all, let alone returning to her responsibility of managing a 100-plus-bed long-term care Trinity Health System facility where she once worked.

The constellation of symptoms “waxes and wanes,” she said, but “the fatigue is torturous.”

Hartford did not return several messages seeking comment. An attorney for Hartford was not immediately available, and the company has not yet responded to the allegations in court. Trinity, which is not named as a defendant, would only confirm Warshefski’s employment.

Warshefski said the fact she was ill — and debilitatingly so — was never in question after she was infected with COVID late in 2020. After working long hours at the height of COVID, facing confused, elderly residents and angry family members who could not see them because of pandemic protocols, she first developed a tickle in her throat.

She pulled into the parking lot of the Sanctuary of Mercy Village, part of Trinity Health, in Fort Gratiot Township one morning. She asked for a test and it was unsurprisingly positive. Staff had already been sick; residents, too.

Warshefski returned home, where she said she slid further into an illness that worsened with each passing day, week and month. Ford, her then-4-year-old son, got sick; her husband, Jason, developed mild symptoms.

But as her family began to get better, Kelsey said she grew worse. Her hands and feet would go numb. Tremors started. Her taste and smell was wrecked. Abdominal pain. Confusion.

Kelsey Warshefski chronicles her struggles with long COVID, including this photo of her being tested after a series of seizures, on her cell phone. (Bridge photo by Robin Erb)

Warshefski, the suit claims, is “among a rare category of infected persons who possessed an unusually susceptible immune system and for whom the viral infection wreaked real havoc on her overall health, physically, mentally and cognitively.”

Initially, Trinity granted her medical leave and approved short-term benefits, according to the suit.

But as time wore on and Warshefski’s symptoms worsened, Hartford denied her long-term disability, said J.J. Conway, an employment law attorney from Royal Oak who is representing her.

Warshefski was sitting in the kitchen recently, wearing bright purple Brooks running shoes. She can no longer run, she said, but the shoes offer stability since her now-shaky balance sometimes sends her to the floor.

As Ford happily jumps from one chair rest to another, she flips through pictures on her phone — photos of purple toes and selfies in bed or of her in hospitals after a series of seizures.

Warfsheski said she misses work.

She misses the lung-filling air of a good run or a trip to get groceries without fatigue. The ability to jump and romp with Ford. To go to a doctor’s appointment without her mother, a frequent companion these days.

Perhaps most frustrating, she said, is not knowing whether this will end, Warshefski said: “I just want my freedom back.”

Whether her suit will succeed is unclear. Many of the federal suits over long COVID disability claims have been privately settled, making it more difficult to measure their impact. And claimants often have to go through a grueling claims battle with their insurer before taking their cases to court, adding to the burden.

Disabilities rights attorneys say a patient’s odds of success improve when they thoroughly document their health journeys, including daily journals or even videos of their symptoms, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, skin conditions or cognitive difficulties, along with testimonials from colleagues or friends. Other medical experts can be consulted, such as pulmonologists to confirm lung ailments.

Pandemic Patients is one of several organizations that offer advice on how to document long COVID.

 

[bnew]

Moderna’s mRNA cancer vaccine works even better than thought

Adding Moderna’s mRNA cancer vaccine to a standard melanoma treatment dramatically reduces the risk of death or recurrence.

www.freethink.com

Moderna’s mRNA cancer vaccine works even better than thought​

The personalized shot gives a standard melanoma treatment a huge boost.

Phicak / Adobe Stock

By Kristin Houser

December 24, 2023

Fields

CANCER

MEDICINE

VACCINES


Adding Moderna’s in-development cancer vaccine to a standard treatment for melanoma dramatically reduces cancer survivors’ risk of death or recurrence, according to newly shared trial data.

The challenge: To treat melanoma — the deadliest type of skin cancer — doctors typically start by surgically removing as much of the cancer as possible. They might then administer another treatment, such as chemo or radiation therapy, to kill any cancer cells they missed.

Even if a person is cancer-free after this, there’s always a chance of the melanoma coming back, and certain types are considered high-risk for recurrence, including ones that are particularly thick or that had metastasized (spread to other parts of the body) prior to treatment.

“This is a pretty significant improvement, a pretty dramatic improvement over standard of care.”​

STEPHEN HOGE​

The cancer vaccine: Moderna and pharma giant Merck are developing an mRNA-based cancer vaccine, mRNA-4157 (V940), for people who’ve had high-risk melanomas removed.

The vaccine works by instructing the body to make up to 34 “neoantigens.” These are proteins found only on the cancer cells, and Moderna personalizes the vaccine for each recipient so that it carries instructions for the neoantigens on their cancer cells.

The idea behind the vaccine is that, by prompting the body to make these proteins, it can prepare the immune system to quickly identify and attack any new cancer cells bearing them, preventing recurrence.

What’s new? In the ongoing phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study, Moderna and Merck are comparing the cancer vaccine’s ability to prevent melanoma recurrence or death when combined with Keytruda, Merck’s FDA-approved cancer treatment, to Keytruda alone.

In 2022, they reported that the combo therapy reduced high-risk patients’ risk of recurrence or death by 44% compared to only Keytruda in the two years after treatment.

They’ve now announced that people who received both therapies were 49% less likely to experience recurrence or death a median of three years after treatment compared to people in the Keytruda-only group. They were also 62% less likely to experience distant metastasis or death.

“The durability of the responses is really strong — they’re essentially rock solid through this time,” Moderna President Stephen Hoge told Reuters. “This is a pretty significant improvement, a pretty dramatic improvement over standard of care with just Keytruda alone.”

“We think that in some countries the product could be launched under accelerated approval by 2025.”​

STEPHANE BANCEL​

Looking ahead: The KEYNOTE-942 study is relatively small, with just 157 participants, but Moderna and Merck have already launched a phase 3 trial for the combination cancer therapy that will include more than 1,000 people with high-risk melanoma.

The companies are also looking beyond melanoma, launching a phase 3 trial testing the cancer vaccine in people with non-small cell lung cancer — and if these trials go well, it might not be long before the personalized therapy reaches patients.

“We think that in some countries the product could be launched under accelerated approval by 2025,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told AFP.

We’d love to hear from you! If you have a comment about this article or if you have a tip for a future Freethink story, please email us at tips@freethink.com.

 

[bnew]

https://archive.is/JY3P2

 

[bnew]

https://archive.is/W2VaS

 

[sayyestothis]

https://archive.is/JY3P2

Lol she is a nightmare...

 

[bnew]

https://archive.is/w3kKY

Measles! | Mumsnet

So took my son to the doctors as he had "the signs and rash" just to get the all clear so that he could go to school to get the bombshell that he has...

www.mumsnet.com

 

[bnew]

 

[bnew]

 

[bnew]

 

[bnew]