We've been coordinating with Johanna to send masks since 2024. We managed to send her a few packages, but this year (2026) we've made a huge leap forward thanks to having more comrades supporting in the USA and Canada to send masks and tests, as well as more donations to cover the costs.
Here are some words of thanks from Johanna, which she has given me permission to share:

"Hi, good morning. I wanted to thank you for all your hard work and collaboration in getting the packages to Argentina. Both have arrived. I've already filed the customs declaration and paid all the fees, and now I'm waiting for delivery. I wanted to let you know they've arrived in Argentina.
Customs is now checking everything so they can release the packages after we've already paid for them. I hope everything goes well. I wanted to thank you again from the bottom of my heart for all your effort and solidarity. Everything is very welcome. Here in Argentina, there haven't been any more COVID vaccines for four months now, despite our demands. So, there are fewer and fewer layers of protection left, which is why tests and masks are so precious these days, since winter is about to start with a lot of strains. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you so much. We're distributing both of these items at the Clinical Hospital and the Hospital for oncology patients, where my husband and I work.
These protective supplies are crucial for their quality of life because, as I mentioned, there are no longer any vaccines available for the general population. We also create educational and awareness videos about proper care and the benefits of using these supplies. We also explain the long-term effects of repeated COVID infections. But, as I said, it's very difficult to put these supplies into practice. That's why we value your help so much. The government has abandoned us. You haven't. Thank you."

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid #YallMasking #DisabledLiberation #DisabilityJustice

Reflexiones y acompañamiento, Guía covid persistente parte 3

https://autodefesasanitaria.substack.com/p/guia-long-covid-autodefensa-sanitaria

El duelo sobre la enfermedad crónica
“Hay un horror específico en tener una enfermedad crónica. Cuando eres joven te dicen que tu cuerpo es indestructible. Tu cuerpo está en su máximo esplendor. Nunca volverás a estar en este pico. La juventud se pinta como la imagen de la salud. Así que, cuando tenía 16 años y me diagnosticaron una enfermedad autoinmune crónica, me enfrenté a una especie de paradoja; en el culmen de mi juventud, en el momento en que se suponía que debía ser más fuerte, ¿cómo podía ser débil? Además, si mi cuerpo debía ser el epítome de la salud, ¿cómo es posible que ya me haya traicionado? Se sentía como una especie de traición. (…) En muchos sentidos, muchas personas olvidan que los jóvenes pueden tener enfermedades crónicas o dolores crónicos. Gran parte de esta negación proviene de la combinación paradójica de juventud y enfermedad. A menudo, cuando le digo a la gente que estoy enfermo, me enfrento a mucha incredulidad e incluso invalidación. También es común que los jóvenes que visitan a los médicos sean invalidados, especialmente los jóvenes que sufren de dolor crónico. De hecho, el dolor crónico en los niños es una de las condiciones médicas más crónicamente infradiagnosticadas, no tratadas y no comprendidas.

Este tipo de comportamiento de minimizar se vuelve cada vez más peligroso cuando esa invalidación se traduce en el tipo de atención que reciben los jóvenes y los enfermos. Cuando tutores, padres y otras figuras de autoridad sostienen estas creencias sobre la juventud, ignoran los gritos de dolor y las demandas de enfermedad de los niños. Cuando los médicos descartan e invalidan los sentimientos de sus pacientes más jóvenes, estos sufren en silencio. Cuando la cultura dicta qué cuerpos pueden y cuáles no pueden estar enfermos y discapacitados, ponemos a los jóvenes en riesgo.

Estas creencias culturales se vuelven aún más peligrosas cuando los jóvenes las interiorizan. La cultura juvenil ha generado una mentalidad de invencibilidad e infinitud y, como resultado, una vergüenza hacia la debilidad y la discapacidad. Es en esta cultura que los jóvenes se jactan de quedarse despiertos hasta tarde para prepararse para los exámenes, abusar peligrosamente de las drogas y llevar sus cuerpos a límites no saludables incluso para las personas sin discapacidad. Dadas estas realidades de la cultura juvenil, se vuelve increíblemente difícil para las personas aceptar las realidades de los jóvenes y los enfermos.

Cuando eres joven y tienes una enfermedad crónica, te enfrentas y detestas las miradas comprensivas pero sin palabras de tus amigos cada vez que intentas hablar sobre tener una enfermedad crónica. Te preocupan cosas como los medicamentos, los efectos secundarios y las opciones de tratamiento. Durante los periodos de crisis, observas cómo tu cuerpo cambia de manera irreconocible, indeseada o incluso (lo que a veces se siente) monstruosa. Te enfrentas a la posibilidad de que un día, con el empujón adecuado, tu cuerpo te traicione completamente, y a la realidad de que, si eso sucediera, realmente hay poco que puedes hacer al respecto.

¿Cómo se ama a un cuerpo enfermo? ¿Cómo puedes amar a un cuerpo que te está traicionando, que es una constante fuente de cansancio, complicaciones o dolor? El amor propio radical se vuelve difícil cuando sientes que no tienes mucho cuerpo que amar.

Es en estos momentos cuando siento que mi cuerpo se está desmoronando, cuando enfrento estas realidades, que me resulta más difícil amar y aceptar mi cuerpo en el lugar en el que se encuentra, que trato de amarlo más. Cuando tu cuerpo te retiene y ves a tus amigos salir, divertirse y probar cosas nuevas, tómate un momento para amar a tu cuerpo y practicar el autocuidado. Mira una película y piérdete en un mundo diferente. Recuerda tu valor y que mereces estar en el mundo. Haz lo mejor para tu cuerpo y tu mente para sentirte mejor. Cuando descubras que tu mente vaga hacia las verdades más oscuras que acompañan la realidad de estar enfermo, intenta recordar mantenerte mentalmente fuerte.” Gillian Gile

No existes para ser usado
“Muchas de las presiones sobre la productividad que enfrentamos derivan de la socialización bajo el capitalismo. En el corazón del capitalismo está la idea de la productividad. Nuestro crecimiento económico y las medidas generales de prosperidad están etiquetadas en medidas como el PIB (Producto Interno Bruto). Los trabajadores más valorados y recompensados y los miembros generales de la sociedad son aquellos que generan la mayor producción. Incluso los niños son insertados en sistemas que los preparan para esta realidad a través de la asignación de calificaciones, que miden y recompensan la productividad desde una edad temprana. Fue examinando estos estándares de productividad capitalista que experimenté por primera vez en el sistema escolar que encontré mi cuerpo discapacitado en oposición.

A menudo, la narrativa de la discapacidad se considera una tragedia personal de la cual uno debe adaptarse o superar. Esto se debe a que la sociedad considera el cuerpo discapacitado incontrolable: un cuerpo fuera de control. Cuando se niegan acomodaciones o adaptaciones a los cuerpos discapacitados, se produce una división capacitista entre los cuerpos sin discapacidad y los discapacitados.

Dentro del panorama económico y social, la bifurcación del ciudadano normativo sano y el discapacitado crea la suposición de que un ciudadano "adecuado" es un ciudadano sano y productivo. De este modo, el valor económico y social de la persona se fusiona con conceptos restrictivos de productividad. El resultado de esta binariedad es que el cuerpo discapacitado se representa como "otro", menos útil y, por lo tanto, simplemente como menos.

Es el capacitismo intrínseco de la sociedad, de la productividad capitalista, el que nos enseña que debemos ser útiles, que somos herramientas para ser utilizadas para producir y que la totalidad de nuestro propósito se articula en un marco de productividad. (...) La vergüenza y el aislamiento que experimenté en mi infancia respecto a mi productividad son traumas que aún me persiguen y obstaculizan mi autoestima hoy en día. Incluso ahora, mientras trato de satisfacer las demandas capitalistas de mi trabajo y la productividad, tanto en el trabajo como en las luchas diarias, estas nociones continúan pesando sobre mí.

No permitas que ningún sistema o persona te convenza de que eres desechable o menos porque no puedes estar a la altura de las nociones de trabajo más capacitistas. Tu vida tiene un propósito porque es tuya. Porque estás aquí, existes en este momento, para estar aquí, para ser tan implacablemente e inexorablemente improductivo como desees. Debes definir el significado de la vida; su valor es intrínseco.” Gillian Gile

Amar mi cuerpo por lo que es, y no por lo que produce
“Inconscientemente, los conceptos de producción y capitalismo se han convertido en una gran parte de mi identidad. Creo que esto se debe en parte a la forma en que he experimentado el capitalismo. Siempre me enseñaron que en la vida lo que es central son nuestros trabajos, lo que tiene valor es lo que creamos, lo que dejamos detrás de nosotros después de habernos ido, físico y tangible. Eso es el éxito. Esa es la base de cómo nos identificamos, pero eso también es el capitalismo.

Para aceptar mis habilidades y amar mi cuerpo por lo que es, tal como es, debo descubrir realmente cuáles son esas habilidades. Estoy dándome cuenta de que me he acostumbrado demasiado a sobrepasar esa línea, esforzándome demasiado, violando mis propios límites para satisfacer cualquier nivel de producción que quiero alcanzar. Al entender esto, me he vuelto más consciente de mi cuerpo y mi mente, cuando estoy exhausto, abrumado o simplemente vacío. Es difícil equilibrar las demandas de mi entorno y las demandas de mi propio cuerpo. El capitalismo no es comprensivo ni está diseñado para el confort. En lugar de luchar por la excepcionalidad, descuidando el reconocimiento y las adaptaciones para mis discapacidades y sintiéndome demasiado avergonzado para pedir ayuda y adaptaciones, estoy aprendiendo que amar mi cuerpo significa trabajar activamente para reconocerlo y cuidarlo.

Esto significa pedir ayuda cuando no quiero e iniciar los proyectos mucho antes, en lugar de fingir que no necesito tiempo extra. Significa aprender cuándo mi cuerpo grita porque he superado un límite en lugar de cuando está incómodo porque estoy presionando para superar mis límites. Estoy aprendiendo que la maestría requiere tiempo, que aprender a gestionar mi cuerpo con respeto requiere trabajo, y que aunque siempre habrá tensión entre las demandas del mundo exterior y la atención y cuidado que mi cuerpo merece, en la mayoría de los casos, cuando mi supervivencia no depende del trabajo externo, debo prioritariamente elegir mi cuerpo y mis necesidades, y cuidarme de la mejor manera posible.

Estoy aprovechando la oportunidad para invertir en mi propio bienestar personal y explorar lo que puedo hacer para ser feliz. Ahora que me veo de una manera más honesta, tengo más curiosidad por encontrar cosas que no me hagan sentir miserable o que no me empujen más allá de mis límites y, por el contrario, me traigan alegría. Estoy aprendiendo nuevamente a abordar las tareas de mi vida diaria de una manera más respetuosa y realista hacia mí mismo. Estoy comprometido a encontrar mejores maneras de amar mi cuerpo por lo que es y estoy entusiasmado de ver qué encontraré.” Gillian Gile

#CovidPersistente #LlevaMascarilla #RealistaCovid #CovidSonAerosoles #birdflu #gripeaviar

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid

Long Covid isn’t a tragedy, it’s government negligence.

We must declare that life is more precious than capitalist economies.
“Solidarity is a group that stands together, and would do so for even its weakest member. It is that community which resists the intoxicating lie of individualism—we live for ourselves and by ourselves.”
-Cole Arthur Riley.

We must support our inherent right to health and dignity. COVID-19 is not mild, it is not endemic, and it is not "just a cold." COVID-19 is a serious illness that can damage every part of your body, reactivate dormant viruses, permanently damage your immune system, and disable you.

The ruling classes have a long history of witch hunts to scapegoat the sick in response to infectious disease epidemics, rather than meeting the needs of the population.

Under feudal rule in what is now Europe, the bubonic plague was blamed on the Jewish people, accused of poisoning water wells. During the early AIDS epidemic, gay and bisexual men were demonized for their sexuality outside of heterosexual, monogamous, and partnered marital relationships. The denial of the severity of the COVID and long COVID public health crisis is a denial of science based on materialism. Once they have strayed from the paved path of science, medical judgments about people who report illness, pain, and disability have nowhere to travel except in the furrows of already deep historical prejudices.

Without seeking a scientific explanation (which already exists and is still being researched), doctors too often resort to pathologizing those who are oppressed based on their race/nationality, sex, sexuality, and gender expression. This creates more obstacles for those who are oppressed to access medical care. Sick people suffer from denial of credibility, unemployment, poverty, lack of health insurance, institutionalized racism, the requirement for ID, the oppression of women, and other oppressions based on sexuality, sex, and gender. Those who are oppressed and most impoverished are also more likely to be among the countless sick and disabled people who have stopped seeking medical answers or treatment, just as so many millions have abandoned their long and fruitless search for work and dropped off the unemployment rolls.

The COVID and long-COVID pandemic leaves the most oppressed and impoverished without diagnosis, care, or treatment. Institutionalized racism results, for example, in medical photographs and descriptions of rashes and other physical signs related to COVID and long COVID being documented only in light-skinned people. The long COVID pandemic affects oppressed peoples, from Native Nations on reservations to oppressed people living in impoverished rural communities.

Furthermore, the information available on the topic is available once you begin to investigate, but in many cases, the doctors themselves who talk about long COVID give completely erroneous guidelines. Many have even said that people should exercise (not understanding the fatigue of long COVID) and that reinfections are not dangerous (when there is evidence that they are). In the end, it ends up happening like other illnesses: doctors don't center the voices of those affected and don't understand the situated knowledge of people who experience it firsthand.

Women, LGBTQ+ people, people of color, people with other chronic illnesses, and people with psychiatric conditions who push for a diagnosis are labeled "hysterical." Those who refute these "diagnoses" that are not derived from a scientific process find themselves medically labeled as "problem patients," rather than patients with an as-yet-undetermined medical problem.
The downplaying of propaganda around COVID has been IMMENSE. None of us are immune to propaganda, especially on that scale.

It's extremely normal to feel defensive when presented with a situation where your behavior doesn't align with the values you hold dear. We often want to protect ourselves from discomfort by dismissing the messenger—it happens all the time around COVID safety where people feel shame, so they accuse the messenger of shaming them. But being shamed and feeling shame are not the same thing. We're not seeking to shame; we're seeking to expose the harm being caused in the community, the facts. If those facts make you uncomfortable, that's your cognitive dissonance to process; that can be the impetus for being able to commit to community care.

We're not seeking to move through guilt. We don't believe shame is an effective motivator; in fact, we know that conviction regarding community care can't be achieved simply in conversation; it's a practice of example where we must continually fight the individualism we've been taught. We don't believe in coddling people or sending indirect messages. We believe in the struggles against eugenics, which have brought together affected groups, such as the Black Panther Party, which recognized that sickle cell anemia was a neglected genetic disease because the majority of those affected were of African descent. There was a rapid detection test based on a simple finger prick, but it wasn't widely used. Or in the case of the fight against HIV, where groups spoke about the importance of not only condom use but also syringe sterilization for addicts, in the case of prostitutes, and the violence experienced with condom use. We believe in learning from our past, practicing it, and looking to the future.

You are at risk for long COVID. It's never too late to start wearing a mask again. We have the power to protect each other. Get involved with your local mask group or clean air club. Reject eugenics, reject ableism, reject mass infection. Wearing a mask is love. Wearing a mask is community care. Wearing a mask is solidarity.

While we understand that COVID and long COVID affect the most marginalized people the most, we understand that the vulnerable/non-vulnerable dichotomy is not only a lie, but propaganda for "us" and "them" in fragility. We are all within fragility; don't buy into the narrative of immunological neoliberalism.

We can't talk about COVID without talking about the politics of desirability. They exist as a hierarchy that determines who deserves care and love. They are based on white supremacist ideals about beauty, youth, and productivity. Anyone who exists outside of these standards—any fat person, any Black person, any "non-conforming" trans person, anyone with disabilities, especially visible disabilities like facial or limb differences, the elderly, etc.—is dehumanized. Desire actively shapes systems of power and oppression. People who are deemed less desirable in a world that is actively constructed and centered on whiteness are relegated to the margins of society—invisible, or worse. This needs to be part of the conversation when we talk about eugenic policies around COVID. When we (especially white people, with invisible disabilities) talk about the ways in which high-risk people have been and continue to be discarded.

We understand the current state of COVID as one part of the larger fight against ableism. It's a much larger conversation. COVID is only one part. Ableism is global and structural. This is why we understand COVID mutual aid not as distributing masks, giving air purifiers, and helping people avoid COVID, but as the study, strategies, and practices of anti-ableism as a whole.

We must declare that life is more precious than capitalist economies. Historically, colonizers and capitalists have used plagues and pandemics as weapons to maintain domination. Today, our government and healthcare systems have allowed many people to die and become ill without doing much about it, especially in already marginalized communities. We are told to ignore how diseases can affect us and to disregard the scientific evidence that shows COVID-19 can be very dangerous. We are refusing to be sacrificed in this situation.

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid #YallMasking #DisabledLiberation #DisabilityJustice

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april 14

Discussion on the reading “A compassionate and materialist analysis of COVID normalization”

access our discord to see the details!

https://linktr.ee/HealthSelfDefense_

Would you like to receive this training but you cannot do it this day? Email [email protected] and we'll work out the details!

“The truth of the matter is unfathomable. What we know to be true defies belief. We are asking people to believe that everything they see around them right now is a lie. That every single person in charge has lied to them. That we are in freefall. It is entirely unsurprising that so many people cannot and will not believe us. Not at first.

The horror of what we are saying is nearly incomprehensible. Please try to fathom what it would be like to hear this, if you believed things were normal. Try to put yourself in this other person’s shoes. Explaining transmission is not enough. Awareness is not enough. We must model and inspire action, and so we have to explain why restaurants are still open. Why the media says it’s over. Why all around us, there is silence.

We are asking people, essentially, to distrust the choices and assessments of everyone around them, as well as what their eyes and ears are telling them. We are asking them to realize their old life is gone forever. This is a huge ask. It is the hugest possible ask. On top of that, people cannot fathom how it could be true.

We have to find a way to build an on-ramp, to essentially “onboard” people into this reality we’ve all gotten so used to. We have to remember that we are asking a lot. All of this is normal to us now, and we’ve gotten acclimated (somehow). Our mitigations reflect the truth, and they are the right things to do. But we are asking people to change their entire lives in a very serious way. It’s not just masks, at this point. It’s everything.

But ALL IS NOT LOST. We have been deeply lied to and actively betrayed—by our governments, media outlets, and even medical professionals—for years. But there is hope and there is a way out. We can make a future without Covid.

Summary of praxis

We believe in humanity. It is not true that most people are selfish, bad, stupid, ignorant, or unwilling to learn. Most people do not know what is going on, or feel powerless to stop it, or both.

A great majority of people who have stopped taking Covid precautions have done so because they have been misled, because they are exhausted, and because we are in an information vacuum. In ways large and small, the U.S. government is downplaying Covid’s continued existence and evolution. The U.S. is not alone in this, and almost no matter where you are in the world—as we write this in 2023—your government is probably using the same violent tactics to downplay and minimize the pandemic.

The abandonment by our governments under the guise of “individual responsibility” has meant that harming others as the pandemic continues has been unavoidable for many, many people. Through public policy decisions, propaganda campaigns, and economic pressures, most of us have been forced to be complicit at one point or another; for example, many of us have been forced to travel for work, or have unmasked in a social situation under pressure (to our own deep regret). But many people who are presently engaging in reckless behaviors (like not wearing masks) are not fully aware of the consequences of their actions. Or if they are aware, they don’t feel empowered to act, or to face the truth.

Individual risk assessment is nonsensical in an airborne pandemic with a disease that can be transmitted asymptomatically; we share the air and we all share this earth.

So we ask that you do not tell people to assess their individual risk, because encouraging more individuality will not get us out of this mess. Instead, you can say: “Save your own life. Protect your loved ones. Protect your neighbors. Break the chain of transmission.” We don’t want to lose all of our friends and family (most of whom are no longer taking the same precautions we are), and we don’t think you should have to, either.

When we have conversations with people in our communities, we need to remember that this is all so much bigger than us and our feelings about individuals. By doing this work, we have taken on the role of agitating for change. So we have to try to hold ourselves to a higher standard: in our personal lives, in our politics, and in our art. We should always be cultivating and nurturing our love and respect for the people (including ourselves). We must continually strive to understand the needs and ideas of the people in our communities, and avoid distancing ourselves from our neighbors by seeing ourselves as better or more enlightened. We should do our best to be patient and undertake this task with care, and not misdirect our righteous anger at these injustices towards our friends. Indulging in that type of thinking maintains the divides created to keep us from collaborating together.

We believe that the great majority of people can, and must, be reached and cared for. In our art and in our organizing, we must remember that our own communities are not our enemy.

We recognize that it is not actually possible to know who is open to change and who is not without first speaking with someone and showing genuine curiosity and compassion.

So when we say we use liberatory harm reduction approaches as a political framework re: Covid, we’re not talking about personal risk assessments or justifying harm. We are taking this approach when talking with other people about mitigations.

We are seeking to transform the root causes of harmful ableist behaviors using harm reduction strategies to:

• Advocate for, center, and protect the people who are most vulnerable to harm from Covid, while recognizing that everyone is at risk for severe outcomes and death

• Provide accurate and non-judgemental education to people who have stopped masking

• Help people obtain high-quality masks that fit them

• Teach others how to wear their masks properly

• Teach others how to gather more safely in person

• Encourage more and better masking practices, recognizing that imperfect mask wearing is better than none at all

• Push for better air filtration, air cleaning, and better ventilation in indoor spaces

• Create community with others who are shielding themselves from Covid

• Protect the right to wear masks in public spaces (which is already under threat)

• Protect ourselves and others from forced infection with Covid

For us, this looks like educating people, encouraging mask wearing as much as possible, and recognizing that most people are not going to stay home indefinitely.

We are not telling people to stay home altogether. We are asking them to wear the highest-quality masks they can obtain while sharing indoor air with others. We understand the anger at others who are engaging in unnecessary travel, etc., and we often feel it. But more people masking imperfectly and more often is what needs to happen.

We cannot control how others behave or act on the information we give them. We won’t tell them it’s OK to go to stadium shows, and we can share with them how those choices impact others. We can speak honestly with loved ones about our feelings and share our knowledge. What they do with that knowledge is up to them.

We fully understand why some people might disagree with these choices and we do not want to speak over or minimize those people's perspectives. Our choices and our experiences with disabilities do not negate the different perspectives of other disabled people.” Covid.tips

The victim who is able to articulate the situation of the victim has ceased to be a victim: he or she has become a threat.”

― James Baldwin

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid #YallMasking #DisabledLiberation #DisabilityJustice

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Most people weren't getting the information they needed about SARS-CoV-2 through standard media, publications, or interactions.

As SARS-CoV-2 has spread, we've seen numerous variants emerge, and generally only the most significant ones reach the media. However, there are hundreds of thousands of SARS-CoV-2 variants. You can see these variants in the GSA database, a global database where scientists from around the world submit sequences of new SARS-CoV-2 variants they discover. To access this database, you must request permission. You can also check out Nextstrain, which gives you a glimpse of what's happening in the GSA database.

As SARS-CoV-2 has evolved, it has become increasingly transmissible. For example, a subvariant of BA 286, which is a subvariant of Omicron, is currently being developed along with many others. Due to the large number of variants of this highly contagious respiratory virus, we will likely need continuous vaccine updates to address these new variants.

A common myth is that as viruses mutate, they become less deadly. This may be true for a virus so deadly that it kills the host before it can spread effectively. However, in the case of SARS-CoV-2, it spreads very effectively before the host is hospitalized and can die. Therefore, there is no selective pressure for SARS-CoV-2 to become less deadly. Rather, there is selective pressure for it to become more evasive to the immune system and more transmissible.

Viruses and variants that are more transmissible tend to become the dominant variants. Technically, we're still in a pandemic, although we're no longer in the emergency phase where we feared the infection would overwhelm hospitals and cause chaos. Let me show you what this looks like in a CDC graph. These are weekly deaths in the United States in blue versus test positivity in orange. You can see how they're fairly well matched up until the peak of the Omicron wave, after which we see a divergence: people are still getting sick, but on average we have fewer weekly deaths.

There are several reasons for this. The most vulnerable people, many of them, didn't make it. Many people have been exposed to the virus, which educates the immune system on how to deal with it, whether through infection, vaccination, or both. In addition, we have medications like paxlovid and molnupiravir, which can stop viral replication and have been shown to reduce hospitalization, death, and the development of long COVID.

Although the chart shows improvement, SARS-CoV-2 remains the only respiratory virus among the leading causes of death in the United States each year. In 2022, it was the third leading cause of death, surpassing car accidents. In 2023, it will likely be the fourth leading cause of death. Much of this is preventable if people stay up-to-date on their vaccinations.

SARS-CoV-2 is very different from the flu. Not only is it more deadly, but it infects more types of cells in the body because it uses the ACE2 receptor, which is present on many epithelial cells. All blood vessels in the body have these receptors, so the virus can be present throughout the body, even after a person feels recovered. There has been evidence of persistent virus in brain tissue, the gut, and around muscle fibers, which can have lasting impacts.

There is evidence of higher rates of heart attacks following SARS-CoV-2 infection, even a year or more later. Some preliminary studies suggest a possible link between SARS-CoV-2 and the development of cancer. In addition, the virus can cause dysfunction and dysregulation of the immune system, leaving people somewhat immunocompromised for 12 to 18 months after infection. It can also cause mitochondrial dysfunction, which is linked to accelerated aging and extreme fatigue.

It is estimated that approximately one in ten people suffer some form of long COVID. Although some people recover, many experience a variety of long-term symptoms. Aside from the physical damage to organs, which can accumulate over time, these persistent effects underscore the severity and complexity of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

• Remember: covid is not over, 50% of infections are asymptomatic, minimum 10% of infections end up in long COVID, re-infections wreck us, COVID spreads and moves like cigarette smoke, think of the people around you and you as people who are all day smoking, it becomes more visual to understand how COVID moves.
• There is no way to “train” the immune system because it is not a muscle. there is a common misconception that exposure to harmful germs strengthens the immune system. viral diseases like COVID, flu, measles weaken the immune system, leaving the possibility of lasting damage. The reality is that you don't build your immunity with repeated infections, vaccines strengthen the immune system by teaching it to recognize pathogens without all the risks. Focusing on infection prevention is key.
• Rapid antigen tests give many false negatives.
• Solving the pandemic was never in the cards for the capitalist world.
• Instead, the explicit goal of the ruling class has been to make the pandemic simply disappear from public perception. Any reminder of the existence of a highly-transmissible, highly-dangerous, mass-disabling disease could trigger panic, or worse: organized, militant labor action. Averting this crisis required a careful campaign of culture-crafting; the people themselves needed to become convinced that there was no reason to fight. Consent for protracted mass infection needed to be manufactured.

“The cold truth of the matter is that the motive behind COVID minimization is greed and social control. (…) Solving the pandemic was never in the cards for the capitalist world. Instead, the explicit goal of the ruling class has been to make the pandemic simply disappear from public perception.” Let Them Eat Plague! http://clarion.unity-struggle-unity.org/

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid #YallMasking #DisabledLiberation #DisabilityJustice

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La mayoría de la gente no estaba obteniendo la información que necesitaba sobre el SARS-CoV-2 a través de los medios, publicaciones o interacciones estándar.
La mayoría de la gente no estaba obteniendo la información que necesitaba sobre el SARS-CoV-2 a través de los medios, publicaciones o interacciones estándar. A medida que el SARS-CoV-2 se ha propagado, hemos visto numerosas variantes surgir, y generalmente solo las más importantes llegan a los medios. Sin embargo, hay cientos de miles de variantes del SARS-CoV-2. Puedes ver estas variantes en la base de datos GSA, una base de datos global donde los científicos de todo el mundo envían secuencias de nuevas variantes del SARS-CoV-2 que descubren. Para acceder a esta base de datos, debes solicitar permiso. También puedes consultar Nextstrain, que te da una muestra de lo que está sucediendo en la base de datos GSA.

A medida que el SARS-CoV-2 ha evolucionado, se ha vuelto cada vez más transmisible. Por ejemplo, una subvariante de BA 286, que es una subvariante de Omicron, se está desarrollando actualmente junto con muchas otras. Debido a la gran cantidad de variantes de este virus respiratorio altamente contagioso, es probable que necesitemos actualizaciones continuas de las vacunas para hacer frente a estas nuevas variantes.

Un mito común es que, a medida que los virus mutan, se vuelven menos mortales. Esto puede ser cierto para un virus tan mortal que mata al huésped antes de poder propagarse bien. Sin embargo, en el caso del SARS-CoV-2, este se propaga muy bien antes de que el huésped sea hospitalizado y pueda morir. Por lo tanto, no hay presión selectiva para que el SARS-CoV-2 se vuelva menos mortal. Más bien, hay presión selectiva para que se vuelva más evasivo al sistema inmunológico y más transmisible.

Los virus y variantes que son más transmisibles tienden a convertirse en las variantes dominantes. Técnicamente, aún estamos en una pandemia, aunque ya no estamos en la fase de emergencia donde temíamos que la infección colapsara los hospitales y causara caos. Déjame mostrarte cómo se ve esto en un gráfico de los CDC. Estas son las muertes semanales en Estados Unidos en azul versus la positividad de las pruebas en naranja. Puedes ver cómo están bastante bien emparejadas hasta el pico de la ola de Omicron, después del cual vemos una divergencia: la gente sigue enfermándose, pero en promedio tenemos menos muertes semanales.

Hay varias razones para esto. Las personas más vulnerables, muchas de ellas, no lo lograron. Muchas personas han estado expuestas al virus, lo cual educa al sistema inmunológico sobre cómo enfrentarlo, ya sea a través de la infección, la vacunación o ambas. Además, tenemos medicamentos como el paxlovid y el molnupiravir, que pueden detener la replicación viral y han demostrado reducir la hospitalización, la muerte y el desarrollo de COVID persistente.

Aunque el gráfico muestra una mejora, el SARS-CoV-2 sigue siendo el único virus respiratorio entre las principales causas de muerte en Estados Unidos cada año. En 2022, fue la tercera causa de muerte, superando a los accidentes automovilísticos. En 2023, probablemente será la cuarta causa principal de muerte. Mucho de esto se puede prevenir si las personas se mantienen al día con las vacunas.

El SARS-CoV-2 es muy diferente a la gripe. No solo es más mortal, sino que infecta más tipos de células en el cuerpo porque usa el receptor ACE2, presente en muchas células epiteliales. Todos los vasos sanguíneos del cuerpo tienen estos receptores, por lo que el virus puede estar presente en todo el cuerpo, incluso después de que la persona se sienta recuperada. Ha habido evidencia de virus persistentes en el tejido cerebral, el intestino y alrededor de las fibras musculares, lo que puede tener impactos duraderos.

Hay evidencia de tasas más altas de ataques cardíacos después de la infección por SARS-CoV-2, incluso un año o más después. Algunos estudios preliminares sugieren un posible vínculo entre el SARS-CoV-2 y el desarrollo de cáncer. Además, el virus puede causar disfunción y desregulación del sistema inmunológico, dejando a las personas un poco inmunocomprometidas durante 12 a 18 meses después de la infección. También puede causar disfunción mitocondrial, lo cual se relaciona con el envejecimiento acelerado y la fatiga extrema.

Se estima que aproximadamente una de cada diez personas sufre algún tipo de COVID persistente. Aunque algunas personas se recuperan, muchas experimentan una variedad de síntomas a largo plazo. Aparte del daño físico a los órganos, el cual puede acumularse con el tiempo, estos efectos persistentes subrayan la gravedad y la complejidad de la infección por SARS-CoV-2.

El COVID no ha terminado:
• El 50% de las infecciones son asintomáticas.
• Mínimo 10% de las infecciones acaban en COVID persistente.
• Las vacunas no evitan ni reinfecciones, ni el contagio, ni las secuelas persistentes del COVID.
• Las reinfecciones nos destrozan. No hay forma de “entrenar” el sistema inmunológico porque no es un músculo. La realidad es que no construyes tu inmunidad con infecciones repetidas, las vacunas fortalecen el sistema inmunológico enseñándole a reconocer los patógenos sin todos los riesgos. Centrarnos en la prevención de las infecciones es clave.
• Los test de antígenos dan muchos falsos negativos. Los PCR y test moleculares son los test con más precisión.
• El COVID se propaga y mueve como el humo de un cigarro, piensa en las personas de tu alrededor y en ti como personas que están todo el día fumando, se hace más visual entender cómo se mueve el COVID.
• En las infecciones con síntomas se tarda un par de días en dar los síntomas lo que quiere decir que estás por lo menos un par de días infectando sin saberlo. Eres infeccioso de COVID por lo menos 10 días.

#CovidPersistente #LlevaMascarilla #RealistaCovid #CovidSonAerosoles #birdflu #gripeaviar

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid

"resolver la pandemia nunca estuvo en los planes del mundo capitalista, el objetivo explícito de la clase dominante ha sido hacer que la pandemia simplemente desaparezca de la percepción pública.” Let Them Eat Plague! – The Red Clarion (unity-struggle-unity.org)

Seguramente no te sientes cómode con la idea de que una persona se vuelva discapacitada porque le transmitiste COVID.

Mínimo 10% de las infecciones acaban en COVID persistente. Las reinfecciones nos destrozan.

Usemos mascarilla. No dejemos que el estado nos diga cuándo debemos cuidar a la comunidad.

Covid se mueve como el humo invisible
El COVID se propaga y mueve como el humo de un cigarro, piensa en las personas de tu alrededor y en ti como personas que están todo el día fumando, se hace más visual entender cómo se mueve el COVID.
Los aerosoles del COVID pueden llenar rápidamente cualquier espacio abarrotado y mal ventilado, moviéndose de forma invisible para infectar a cualquiera que se encuentre en la habitación. Los aerosoles viajan con las corrientes de aire y permanecen en el aire durante horas después de que la persona infectada se haya marchado.

No se necesitan síntomas para propagar el covid
El 50% de todas las transmisiones se producen de forma asintomática, en las infecciones con síntomas se tarda un par de días en dar los síntomas lo que quiere decir que estás por lo menos un par de días infectando sin saberlo. Dado que no podemos saber con certeza si tenemos Covid en cualquier momento, uso universal de máscaras y las pruebas frecuentes son fundamentales.

No existe infección de covid que sea buena
Mínimo 10% de las infecciones acaban en COVID persistente.
Las reinfecciones nos destrozan. No hay forma de ‘entrenar’ el sistema inmunitario porque no es un músculo, el daño de las infecciones es acumulativo. Toda propaganda que te hable de ‘entrenar’ el sistema inmune lo que hace es mentirte para hacerte sentir más tranquilo al estar expuesto a infecciones que hacen daño.
Decir que las infecciones de COVID fortalecen el sistema inmune es como decir que los accidentes de coches fortalecen nuestros huesos. Así no es como funciona el cuerpo.

Las mascarillas importan, encuentra una que se ajuste a tu cara!
Las mascarillas son increíblemente eficaces. Funcionan mejor cuando todo el mundo las lleva. Las mascarillas FFP2, KN95, KF94 y N95 ofrecen filtración de aerosoles y deben utilizarse siempre que sea posible. Las mascarillas quirúrgicas y de tela son menos eficaces y no filtran los aerosoles. Consigue mascarillas y pruebas gratuitas en tu bloque de mascarillas local (escríbenos un correo a [email protected], enviamos mascarillas de forma mundial)

Asegúrate de que la mascarilla te quede bien ajustada a la cara para que el aire que respiras se filtre a través de ella. Los aerosoles pueden colarse por las rendijas. Si no consigues un buen sellado, prueba con otra marca o talla.

Test con frecuencia + entiende las limitaciones
Los tests de antígenos rápidos dan muchos falsos negativos. Un test de antígeno rápido solo logra detectar con éxito 60% de las infecciones tempranas sintomáticas y el 22% de las infecciones asintomáticas (ontariohealth tiene una guía de cómo poder sacarles el mejor partido ya que son los test más asequibles para la población general).

Las pruebas rápidas son mucho más fiables cuando se realizan sucesivamente durante varios periodos de 48 horas. Se puede tardar entre una semana y 14 días en obtener un positivo, por lo que no hay que fiarse de un único resultado negativo. Las pruebas moleculares como la PCR o la NAAT son mucho más fiables y es mejor realizarlas entre 3 y 5 días después de la exposición, aunque son caras y de más difícil acceso que las rápidas. A medida que Covid se extiende, el virus muta y nuestras pruebas pierden fiabilidad.

Las vacunas no pueden ser una excusa para no usar mascarilla
Las vacunas no previenen infecciones, reinfecciones ni la COVID persistente. La infección por SARS-CoV-2 debilita la respuesta de las células inmunitarias a la vacunación, lo que quiere decir que cuanto más nos infectemos, menos funcionarán las vacunas que nos pongamos.

Han sido cruciales para reducir significativamente las tasas de mortalidad y hospitalización por infecciones graves. Sin embargo, los niveles de anticuerpos producidos disminuyen significativamente en los meses posteriores a la vacunación. Cada infección conlleva nuevas mutaciones que hacen que el virus sea más complejo.

Para honrar la labor de las vacunas, debemos evitar la creación de más variantes. Las vacunas no son excusa para no usar mascarilla.

VIH y COVID: unidos por pandemias ignoradas
“La afirmación de que el SARS-CoV-2 es un “SIDA transmitido por el aire” puede ser una simplificación excesiva, pero llama la atención sobre la evidencia emergente que demuestra que el virus induce una forma distinta de inmunodeficiencia adquirida (IAD).

El SARS-CoV-2 y el VIH-1, aunque distintos, comparten paralelismos en sus características y mecanismos bioquímicos, sus impactos a largo plazo y sus respuestas sociales. Ambos pueden generar infecciones persistentes en reservorios tisulares, disfunción inmunitaria, vulnerabilidad a otras infecciones, incluyendo infecciones oportunistas, daño sistémico con características distintivas de envejecimiento biológico acelerado y trastornos neurocognitivos prematuros. El VIH se integra en el ADN, mientras que el SARS-CoV-2 y sus componentes persisten en órganos como los vasos sanguíneos, el cerebro, el corazón, las amígdalas y los pulmones.

A medida que los gobiernos redujeron las protecciones de salud pública, dejando a la población a su suerte ante la propagación descontrolada, el estigma se trasladó a los pacientes con COVID persistente y a quienes abogaban por precauciones continuas. A estas personas se las suele tachar de “infundidoras de miedo”, “ansiosas” o “excesivamente cautelosas”, a pesar de los daños objetivos, continuos y significativos, causados por la pandemia. Mientras tanto, los pacientes con COVID persistente sufren una constante manipulación psicológica y la ignorancia de los profesionales de la salud, lo que agrava sus dificultades para acceder a la atención médica adecuada.

abordar el SARS-CoV-2 como una infección vascular sistémica con importantes impactos acumulativos en la salud requiere medidas sostenidas de salud pública y estrategias innovadoras para mitigar su amenaza continua para la salud individual y de la población. Es fundamental priorizar la prevención de infecciones transmitidas por el aire, especialmente mientras no se disponga de terapias causales para las secuelas de la infección por SARS-CoV-2.”

Ahora mismo es el colectivo disca el que se usado como diana, como el VIH, el COVID puede afectar a cualquiera, pero esta vez el estado ha decidido usar la palabra ‘vulnerable’ para buscar la complicidad en ignorar la pandemia que aún continúa. Igual que el VIH tiene que ver con lucha queer, el COVID tiene que ver con lucha disca, porque el estado utiliza nuestra identidad para justificar el asesinato social que vivimos por SU mala gestión.

Solo los ricos se pueden permitir estar enfermos: los virus son armas de los opresores
¿Conoces a alguna persona de clase obrera que puede permitirse estar enfermo? Nosotres tampoco.

¿Quién puede permitirse faltar al trabajo?

El COVID persistente es una enfermedad nueva que el sistema quiere poner como un desastre cuando es responsabilidad de la falta de prevención, en el capitalismo la ciencia se usa para que volvamos a trabajar mañana pero en cuestiones más complejas los médicos tienden a negarte atención y decirte que todo es ansiedad.

Las personas con COVID persistente reciben enorme violencia y negligencia médica, además el COVID puede literalmente crear ictus, ataques al corazón y enfermedades autoinmunes. Y todo esto es prevenible con mascarillas.

Los trabajadores somos quienes creamos los medicamentos, mascarillas, casas y todas las necesidades básicas que necesita una persona, sin embargo no tenemos el derecho a acceder a ellas, tenemos que pasar nuestra vida explotados por algo que no podría crearse sin nuestro esfuerzo.

Poder obrero significa cuidado obrero. Queremos fuerza sindical, queremos fuerza obrera, queremos prevención laboral, queremos prevención de muerte y discapacidad.

Infectarte de COVID en el trabajo es otra forma de terrorismo patronal. A cada lugar que vas, hay un trabajador que no tiene otra opción que estar ahí. Usemos mascarillas para nuestra salud colectiva.

https://autodefesasanitaria.substack.com/p/por-que-deberia-preocuparme-por-el

#CovidPersistente #LlevaMascarilla #RealistaCovid #CovidSonAerosoles #birdflu #gripeaviar

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid

"resolver la pandemia nunca estuvo en los planes del mundo capitalista, el objetivo explícito de la clase dominante ha sido hacer que la pandemia simplemente desaparezca de la percepción pública.” Let Them Eat Plague! – The Red Clarion (unity-struggle-unity.org)

"I've already been vaccinated, why should I continue wearing a mask?"

Vaccines do not prevent infections, reinfections, or long COVID. SARS-CoV-2 infection weakens immune-cell response to vaccination, meaning that the more we are infected, the less effective the vaccines we receive will be.

They have been crucial in significantly reducing mortality and hospitalization rates from severe infections. However, antibody levels decrease significantly in the months following vaccination. Each infection leads to new mutations that make the virus more complex.

To honor the effectiveness of vaccines, we must prevent the creation of more variants. Vaccines are not an excuse not to wear a mask.

Covid moves like invisible smoke
COVID spreads and moves like cigarette smoke. Think of the people around you and yourself as people who are smoking all day; it makes it easier to understand how COVID moves.
COVID aerosols can quickly fill any crowded, poorly ventilated space, moving invisibly to infect anyone in the room. These aerosols travel with air currents and remain airborne for hours after the infected person has left. COVID also spreads outdoors. You can become infected within seconds or minutes of exposure.

You don't need to have symptoms to spread COVID
At least 50% of all transmissions are asymptomatic (you have it and you don’t even feel ill). In those symptomatic infections, it takes a couple of days for symptoms to appear, which means that you are infecting others for at least a couple of days without knowing it. Since we cannot know for sure if we have COVID at any given time, universal masking is essential.

There is no mild COVID infection.
At least 10% of infections result in long COVID.
Reinfections are devastating. There's no way to "train" the immune system because it's not a muscle; the damage from infections is cumulative. Any propaganda that talks about "training" the immune system is just lying to make you feel safer when exposed to harmful infections.

To say that infections are good because they help our immune system is like saying that having car accidents are good because they strengthen our bones; it makes absolutely no sense. That’s not how our bodies work.

Masks matter, find one that fits your face!
Masks are incredibly effective. They work best when everyone wears them. FFP2, KN95, KF94, and N95 masks offer aerosol filtration and should be used whenever possible. Surgical and cloth masks are less effective and do not filter aerosols. Get free masks and testing at your local mask block (maskbloc.org for searching maskbloc worldwide and you can also email us at [email protected]; we ship masks worldwide).

Make sure the mask fits snugly against your face so that the air you breathe is filtered through it. Aerosols can leak through gaps. If you can't get a good seal, try a different brand or size.

Test frequently + understand the limitations
Rapid antigen tests produce many false negatives. A rapid antigen test only successfully detects 60% of early symptomatic infections and 22% of asymptomatic infections (OntarioHealth has a guide on how to get the most out of them, as they are the most affordable tests for the general population).

Rapid tests are much more reliable when performed repeatedly over several 48-hour periods. It can take between one week and 14 days to get a positive result, so a single negative result should not be relied upon. Molecular tests such as PCR or NAAT are much more reliable and are best performed between 3 and 5 days after exposure, although they are expensive and less accessible than rapid tests. As COVID-19 spreads, the virus mutates, and our tests become less reliable.

HIV and COVID: united by ignored pandemics
“The statement that SARS-CoV-2 is “airborne AIDS” may be an oversimplification, but it draws attention to emerging evidence showing that the virus induces a distinct form of acquired immunodeficiency (AID).

SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1, though distinct, share parallels in their biochemical traits and mechanisms, long-term impacts and societal responses. Both can establish persistent infections in tissue reservoirs, immune dysfunction, vulnerability to other infections including opportunistic, systemic damage including hallmarks of accelerated biological aging, and premature neurocognitive disorders. HIV integrates into DNA, whereas SARS-CoV-2 and its parts persist in organs like the blood vessels, brain, heart, tonsils, and lungs.

As governments rolled back public health protections, leaving the public to navigate the uncontrolled spread on their own, stigma shifted to Long COVID patients and those advocating for continued precautions. These individuals are frequently dismissed as “fearmongers”, “anxious” or “overly cautious” despite the objective ongoing and significant harms caused by the pandemic. Meanwhile, Long COVID patients experience persistent gaslighting and ignorance from healthcare professionals, exacerbating their struggles to access appropriate care.

addressing SARS-CoV-2 as a systemic vascular infection with significant cumulative health impacts necessitates sustained public health measures and innovative strategies to mitigate its ongoing threat to individual and population health. It is essential to prioritize airborne infection prevention, especially while no causal therapies are available for the sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection.”

Right now, the disabled community is being targeted. Like HIV, COVID can affect anyone, but this time the state has chosen to use the word "vulnerable" to seek complicity in ignoring the ongoing pandemic. Just as HIV is linked to queer activism, COVID is linked to disability activism, because the state uses our identity to justify the social murder we experience due to ITS mismanagement.

Only the rich can afford to be sick: viruses are weapons of the oppressors.
Do you know any working-class person who can afford to be sick? Neither can we.

Who can afford to miss work?

Long COVID is a new disease that the system wants to portray as a disaster when it's actually the result of a lack of prevention. In capitalism, science is used to get us back to work tomorrow, but for more complex issues, doctors tend to deny you care and tell you it's all anxiety.

People with long COVID face enormous violence and medical neglect. Furthermore, COVID can literally cause strokes, heart attacks, and autoimmune diseases. And all of this is preventable with masks.

We, the workers, are the ones who create medicines, masks, houses, and all the basic necessities a person needs. Yet we don't have the right to access them. We have to spend our lives being exploited for something that couldn't be created without our labor.

Workers' power means workers' care. We want union strength, we want workers' power, we want workplace safety, we want prevention of death and disability.

Getting infected with COVID at work is another form of employer terrorism. Everywhere you go, there's a worker who has no choice but to be there. Let's wear masks for our collective health.

https://healthselfdefense.substack.com/p/why-should-i-care-about-covid

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid #YallMasking #DisabledLiberation #DisabilityJustice

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The Sociological Production Of The "End Of The Pandemic" / Beatrice Adler-Bolton

https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/beatrice-adler-bolton

In early February, Anthony Fauci told the Financial Times that the U.S. was exiting “the full blown pandemic phase” of covid. As Democratic party Governors dropped some of the last remaining state mask mandates in unison in recent weeks, Bloomberg ran an article titled “Mask Mandates Didn’t Make Much of a Difference Anyway.” In The Atlantic, Yascha Mounk asked, “How much longer will the restrictions on everyday life drag on? What purpose do they still serve?”

Unfortunately, these shared sentiments are just that—sentiments, based in emotion or political calculation, bearing little relation to reality. More than 60,000 people died of covid in January alone; as of this writing, the U.S. has recorded more than 2,000 daily covid deaths for each of the last 30 days. Daily covid deaths have been above 1,000 for over 180 days (roughly half of an entire year).

In this context, what could possibly justify the impending declaration of the end of the pandemic? We have long warned that the end of the crisis would come as a sociological construction rather than as a meaningful end to covid’s ongoing burden on public health. In recent weeks, this process of normalizing the virus and the death, debility, and disability carried with it have become so pervasive that it feels as if at any moment the federal government will once again move to declare “independence from the virus.” But even without explicit state endorsement, the message is inescapable: in the minds of those entitled to speak, society is ready to move on, without many of us.

We do not have to accept this. Yet the pandemic’s socially constructed “ending” has been a long, ongoing process. Years of optimistic predictions, emphasis on personal responsibility, and reductive assumptions about individual risk have calcified into a set of positions now held by many of the most prominent voices on covid. But the talking points hawked by “respectable” pundits are largely indistinguishable from the worst views held by covid deniers, minimizers, and cranks. Their arguments rely on acceptance: first, on acceptance of their rosy worldview, and second, on accepting that the world has simply changed, and along with this change many more of us have become disposable.

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid #YallMasking #DisabledLiberation #DisabilityJustice

We need to talk about David J. Brenner (the far-UVC researcher)
Notes on studies from the far-UVC researcher most cited on social media, plus thoughts on influencers posting misinformation online

https://mathissweet.substack.com/p/we-need-to-talk-about-david-j-brenner

"Most posts promoting far-UVC cite DJB studies, sometimes exclusively
Whenever I’ve see someone talking about how far-UVC is safe, they have cited studies by David J. Brenner. Often exclusively.
Using the two first examples that came to mind, every far-UVC study or document referenced by both posts had DJB as an author. I have decided to anonymize these examples and not include screenshots, because the particulars of who posted these are not relevant to the overall point I’m trying to make.
The first example cited four far-UVC studies, all by DJB. The second example cited 3 far-UVC DJB studies, a far-UVC document DJB was an author on, and a review of germicidal UV that didn’t include anything about far-UVC. All three DJB studies cited by the second example post were also cited by the first example post (shared reference A, shared reference B, shared reference C, DJB reference unique to the first example post).
It’s important to note that if references are formatted in a certain (totally standard and correct) way, you cannot see whether or not it’s a DJB study. As an example, here are two ways to properly cite shared reference A, where only the second example includes his name:
• Buonanno, M. et al. Far-UVC light (222 nm) efficiently and safely inactivates airborne human coronaviruses. Sci Rep 10, 10285 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67211-2
• Buonanno, M., Welch, D., Shuryak, I., Brenner, DJ.. Far-UVC light (222 nm) efficiently and safely inactivates airborne human coronaviruses. Sci Rep 10, 10285 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67211-2
One slide from the second example post referred to a result from shared reference B, where DJB and co-authors stated, “At a room ventilation rate of 3 air-changes-per-hour (ACH), with 5 filtered-sources the steady-state pathogen load was reduced by 98.4% providing an additional 184 equivalent air changes (eACH).“ The poster added on that this was over ten times more effective than air purifiers. There are a number of problems with these statements, including:
• Lack of details regarding the findings and experimental details, the most glaring of which is described in the next point.
• The results around reducing the concentration of live aerosolized pathogens by 98.4 % are under experimental conditions where the far-UVC dose exceeded the maximum daily limit for safe exposure outlined by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). I would suspect that most viewers of this post would not assume they were reporting results for UV doses that exceeded maximum daily exposure safety limits.
• The statement about this (unsafely high dose) of far-UVC being over ten times more effective than air purifiers lacks so much information that it cannot be assessed for truth.
• These results are also based on the bacterium being suspended in water (the most simple protein-free liquid possible) prior to being aerosolized–more realistic aerosol compositions would shield the bacteria from far-UVC exposure and result in lower inactivation rates than 98.4 % (see near the end of my previous post entitled “Safety concerns around far-UVC radiation: Poking holes in the premises of the claim “far-UVC is safe for more details about this point).

DJB and co-authors rarely call far-UVC radiation safe, usually instead calling it potentially safe. As well, these three studies do not work with humans, animals, human cells nor animal cells, and therefore are not even studies attempting to evaluate safety (despite the title of shared reference A, present in the reference examples earlier). Thus, when people on social media cite these studies to provide evidence that far-UVC radiation is safe, I believe they are both misrepresenting the studies and citing studies which don’t provide evidence for their claims.
Methodological issues and misleading results
There is what appears to be an inherent contradiction in some of the DJB studies, that again, I touched on in my previous far-UVC post. That being: DJB and co-authors explain that far-UVC radiation is potentially safe due to proteins in the dead skin layer (the stratum corneum or SC) and proteins in the tears absorbing the UV radiation, and yet, they don’t include real-world levels of proteins, glycoproteins, etc. in the aerosols they generate to test how effective far-UVC is at inactivating airborne pathogens. To quote shared reference A:
“In short (see below) the reason is that far-UVC light has a range in biological materials of less than a few micrometers, and thus it cannot reach living human cells in the skin or eyes, being absorbed in the skin stratum corneum or the ocular tear layer. But because viruses (and bacteria) are extremely small, far-UVC light can still penetrate and kill them.“
A few things come to mind from reading this (see references for these points and more info in my previous far-UVC post):
• When airborne pathogens are exhaled by someone, they are present in aerosols and larger respiratory droplets, which contain proteins and glycoproteins from where they originated, like from sputum, mucus or saliva. Importantly, some of these larger respiratory droplets are much larger in diameter than a few micrometers.
• What about people with thinner stratum corneums (SCs), skin on the body that lacks an SC, regions on the body with thinner SCs, people with insufficient tear production, etc.?
• What about other parts of the body that can be exposed to far-UVC that lack an SC, like many parts of the inside of the mouth?
As well, DJB studies usually look for DNA damage in the form of pyrimidine dimers, and less often look for a marker associated with double-stranded DNA breaks. To quote a DJB study from 2015, speaking about a different kind of radiation that can also cause double-stranded DNA breaks, “Ionizing radiation exposure is a risk factor for cancer in humans [6]. Ionizing radiation exposure can induce DNA double-strand breaks (the most deleterious genetic lesions), which, in turn, can trigger several detrimental cellular responses including carcinogenesis [7].“ Importantly, a study by another group reports that far-UVC produced more double-stranded DNA breaks in living human cells (without an SC layer or tears) and less pyrimidine dimers than other non-far-UVC lamps (again, this is touched on in my previous far-UVC post). Based on that study, it appears that looking for DNA damage in the form of double-stranded breaks instead of pyrimidine dimers may be more applicable when it comes to far-UVC radiation, especially when we consider the higher cancer risk from these double-stranded breaks compared to pyrimidine dimers.
What I think is the most important takeaway/application of this information, and general thoughts about influencers posting misinformation around precautions online
I feel strongly that these points should be addressed publicly by influencers/organizations that promote far-UVC by citing DJB studies. I think this information must be acknowledged if they want to promote anything remotely resembling being in favour of informed consent when it comes to exposure to ultraviolet radiation. And I think it would be dishonest and deceptive to ignore the information in this post if you promote far-UVC tech. I acknowledge that they might not be aware of this information, and that is a huge part of the problem that I personally find inexcusable.
The two example posts discussed at the beginning of this post were published in 2023 or later. Both posts cited the two studies, published in 2018 and 2020, whose competing interest sections were updated in September 2021. As I showed earlier, these updates are clearly explained and present in the updated versions of the studies themselves. If these studies were read and reviewed after September 2021 during the making of these posts, the creators of these posts failed to notice and/or comment on the fact that the competing interest sections were incomplete when the papers were submitted and initially published.
I would like to stress that I strongly believe that thorough, in-depth, critical review of studies should be performed to ensure the safety and effectiveness of any airborne infectious disease precautions you are recommending, renting out and/or selling. If you are unable or unwilling to do that, it is my opinion that you should not post about precautions that don’t have strong evidence like ventilation, air purification and well-fitting high-quality respirators without a lot of wear time and without a lot of dons/doffs. I think to not do so is irresponsible to the point of being dangerous, depending on the questionable precaution.
I have heard from people I know personally as well as internet strangers who claim they lowered their effective precautions like respirators and swapped them for nasal sprays, due to nasal spray misinformation they saw online. I wonder how many people have developed Long COVID from swapping respirators for nasal sprays. When it comes to folks recommending you wear the same respirator for 40 hours (see my post entitled “Debunking the myth that N95s are super protective for 40 hours of wear (let’s stop recommending it!)” for more info), someone who was told that misinformation over and over told me that they got COVID-19 while wearing their respirators for about 30 hours each. They think that extended wear of each respirator could have been part of how they caught COVID-19, and after their acute infection they developed Long COVID."

#MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone #LongCovid #YallMasking #DisabledLiberation #DisabilityJustice

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