Mastodawn

Michael Smith 2nd Mar 26, 2024

Eric Topol Mar 12, 2024

Beyond ~30 million excess deaths, "The COVID-19 pandemic caused the most severe drops in life expectancy seen in 50+ years."
https://healthdata.org/research-analysis/library/mortality-life-expectancy-and-population

https://thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00476-8/fulltext

Mortality, life expectancy, and population | Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the most severe drops in life expectancy seen in 50+ years.

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

Michael Smith 2nd Mar 26, 2024

Eric Topol Mar 14, 2024

Four years ago today, 13 March, the US declared Covid a national emergency. We're still learning about #SARSCoV2 every day, and here's a recap of important stuff in the past week. In the new Ground Truths. Subscriptions are free.

https://erictopol.substack.com/p/covid-4-years-on

Covid, 4 years on

A quick update on some important new data

Ground Truths

Michael Smith 2nd Nov 26, 2023

Helen Branswell Nov 24, 2023

WHO's Maria Van Kerkhove understands why the combination of undiagnosed + clusters + kids with pneumonia + in China equalled "Oh God, not again." But what's happening in China isn't the next #Covid, she told @STAT in an interview today. https://www.statnews.com/2023/11/24/china-respiratory-illness-immunity-gap-who-maria-van-kerkhove/

Pandemic-related immunity gap in kids explains surge of respiratory infections in children in China, says WHO

In a Q&A, the acting director of the WHO’s department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention explains why worries about respiratory infections in China are overblown.

STAT

Michael Smith 2nd Aug 24, 2023

Prof Christina Pagel Aug 23, 2023

Excellent Royal Society report concluding that a bundle of public health measures were very effective in controlling the pandemic, particularly when cases were still low.
https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/projects/impact-non-pharmaceutical-interventions-on-covid-19-transmission/

My comment in New Scientist
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2388929-lockdowns-and-face-masks-really-did-help-to-control-covid-19/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=currents

The Royal Society’s programme on the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on Covid-19 transmission | Royal Society

The Royal Society has launched a new report investigating the evidence of the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Michael Smith 2nd Aug 24, 2023

Helen Branswell Aug 24, 2023

Too soon to determine the threat posed by BA.2.86,
the CDC says. But Covid tests & antivirals appear to detect/work against the new subvariant.
And a vaccine update: fall boosters coming by mid-Sept. https://www.statnews.com/2023/08/23/covid-ba-2-86-subvariant-cdc/

CDC says it’s too soon to assess risk posed by new Covid subvariant

The CDC said it’s too early to tell whether a new version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has triggered some international concern will actually prove to be disruptive.

STAT

Michael Smith 2nd Aug 21, 2023

Show thread

Eric Topol Aug 18, 2023

Explanation of Flip variants and where we are headed while we await fate of BA.2.86
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/the-virus-is-learning-new-tricks

The Virus is Learning New Tricks and We Humans Keep Falling Behind

The new SARS-CoV-2 variant (EG.5.1), how we are about to FLip, and where are the new Covid boosters?

Ground Truths

Michael Smith 2nd Aug 21, 2023

Eric Topol Aug 19, 2023

Latest on the BA.2.86 variant
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eris-ba286-do-i-need-worry-about-covid-again-2023-08-19/

Eris, BA.2.86: Do I need to worry about COVID again?

The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are <a href="/world/us/us-cdc-tracks-new-lineage-virus-that-causes-covid-2023-08-18/">tracking a new, highly mutated lineage of the virus</a> that causes COVID-19.

Reuters

Michael Smith 2nd Jul 23, 2023

Helen Branswell Jul 21, 2023

We are — fingers crossed — heading into a new era in our fight with #RSV. Vaccines for older adults, a vaccine for pregnant people, a monoclonal antibody for infants — things are changing fast. FDA is expected to approve the maternal vaccine in the 2nd half of August.

Michael Smith 2nd Jul 23, 2023

Eric Topol Jul 21, 2023

The ~20% increased incidence of Type 1 diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) during the Covid pandemic among children and teens
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02322-0

As COVID-19 cases rose, so did diabetes — no one knows why

The spike in childhood type 1 diabetes opened new avenues for researchers to explore the cause of the disease.

Michael Smith 2nd Jul 23, 2023

Eric Topol Jul 22, 2023

Cognitive testing ~2 years post-Covid in a prospective study with uninfected controls: persistent deficits related to longer duration and ongoing symptoms, not seen in those recovered https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(23)00263-8/fulltext