Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

The lights are all blinking red.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

In my day, never was longer.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023

by | 31 Comments

This post is in: ,

Remember: Sharing is caring!

This week’s Covid news theory:

Per the NYTimes, “Scientists Offer a New Explanation for Long Covid”: [Unpaywalled gift link]

A team of scientists is proposing a new explanation for some cases of long Covid, based on their findings that serotonin levels were lower in people with the complex condition.

In their study, published on Monday in the journal Cell, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania suggest that serotonin reduction is triggered by remnants of the virus lingering in the gut. Depleted serotonin could especially explain memory problems and some neurological and cognitive symptoms of long Covid, they say.

Why It Matters: New ways to diagnose and treat long Covid.
This is one of several new studies documenting distinct biological changes in the bodies of people with long Covid — offering important discoveries for a condition that takes many forms and often does not register on standard diagnostic tools like X-rays.

The research could point the way toward possible treatments, including medications that boost serotonin. And the authors said the biological pathway that their research outlines could unite many of the major theories of what causes long Covid: lingering remnants of the virus, inflammation, increased blood clotting and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system…

“This is an excellent study that identifies lower levels of circulating serotonin as a mechanism for long Covid,” said Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University. Her team and colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai recently published a study that identified other biological changes linked to some cases of long Covid, including levels of the hormone cortisol. These studies could point to specific subtypes of long Covid or different biological indicators at different points in the condition…

Researchers analyzed the blood of 58 patients who had been experiencing long Covid for between three months and 22 months since their infection. Those results were compared to blood analysis of 30 people with no post-Covid symptoms and 60 patients who were in the early, acute stage of coronavirus infection.

Maayan Levy, a lead author and assistant professor of microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, said levels of serotonin and other metabolites were altered right after a coronavirus infection, something that also happens immediately after other viral infections.

But in people with long Covid, serotonin was the only significant molecule that did not recover to pre-infection levels, she said…

There are caveats. The study was not large, so the findings need to be confirmed with other research. Participants in some other long Covid studies, in which some patients had milder symptoms, did not always show depleted serotonin, a result that Dr. Levy said might indicate that depletion happened only in people whose long Covid involves multiple serious symptoms.

What’s Next: A clinical trial of Prozac.
Scientists want to find biomarkers for long Covid — biological changes that can be measured to help diagnose the condition. Dr. Thaiss said the new study suggested three: the presence of viral remnants in stool, low serotonin and high levels of interferons…

Most experts believe that there will not be a single biomarker for the condition, but that several indicators will emerge and might vary, based on the type of symptoms and other factors.

There is tremendous need for effective ways to treat long Covid, and clinical trials of several treatments are underway. Dr. Levy and Dr. Thaiss said they would be starting a clinical trial to test fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor often marketed as Prozac, and possibly also tryptophan…

More details at the link. Some long covid sufferers are dubious about this (yes, very small) study — Are you saying it’s all in our heads?!? — but frankly, the brain-gut connection has been seriously understudied, and this new piece of the puzzle supplements studies I’ve seen about other gut-related neurological conditions (Parkinsons, for instance).

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 3

… Just as with Covid-19 vaccines this season, the antiviral – a combination of the drugs nirmatrelvir and ritonavir – will move from being available free to everyone through government purchases to a more traditional commercial marketplace for most patients at the end of this year, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services and drugmaker Pfizer.

The new price – the cost before insurance – hasn’t been set but is expected to be higher than the $530-per-course price paid by the US government.

People who are on Medicare or Medicaid or who are uninsured will still be able to get Paxlovid for free through 2024 via a patient assistance program, according to HHS, but those with commercial insurance are likely to face a copay, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said Monday. About 40% of prescriptions of Paxlovid are written for Medicare and Medicaid patients, he said…

Don’t panic, yet. The price of Paxlovid is absolutely gonna go up, unfortunately, but I suspect the numbers being thrown around right now are very much a case of Pfizer testing how much it can get away with.


COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 5

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 4
(link)

======

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 6
(link)

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 7
(link)

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 8
(link)

======

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 9
(link)

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 10
(link)

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 11
(link)

======

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 1

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: October 18, 2023 2

Reader Interactions

31Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    Monroe County, NY:

    35 new cases on 10/08/23.
    62 new cases on 10/09/23.
    64 new cases on 10/10/23.
    59 new cases on 10/11/23.
    50 new cases on 10/12/23.
    31 new cases on 10/13/23.
    16 new cases on 10/14/23.

    Deaths now at 2342, up 11 from last week. That’s scary.

  3. 3.

    Kay

    What’s Next: A clinical trial of Prozac.

    Look for a fresh wave of conspiracy theories out of the anti vaxx/bro world – they all think Prozac (SSRI) are a Big Pharma conspiracy.
    The two conspiracy threads will converge – or maybe collide and crack up! :)

  4. 4.

    Anne Laurie

    @Kay: Look for a fresh wave of conspiracy theories out of the anti vaxx/bro world – they all think Prozac (SSRI) are a Big Pharma conspiracy.

    Oh, it’s already started, take my word.  But I have no respect for those loons / grifters… while I understand that Long Covidians can be very, very sensitive about their sufferings being dismissed as ‘just depression’ (i.e., malingering).  I don’t always agree with their takes, but I don’t dismiss them out of hand!

  6. 6.

    New Deal democrat

    As I wrote last week, BIobot’s contract for wastewater reporting was not renewed. We know know that the winner for the contract was Google, via a subsidiary named Verily. Unfortunately it appears that they have zero interest in providing actual useful information. Their graphic interface is here:
     https://publichealth.verily.com/?v=SC2_N

    There is no US dashboard, and no statewide aggregates either. Just dot and graph spaghetti of local testing information. I am very upset both with Google and with the CDC, for allowing this to happen. We are flying utterly blind, heading towards the winter season. If anyone can find more useful information at this site, please let me know.

    As of Monday, hospitalizations for the week of October 7 were reported down to 16,800 from the peak of 20,700 four weeks earlier. Aside from this past spring and summer, this is nevertheless lower than at any time during the pandemic except for 2 months each in summer 2021 and spring 2022. The low was 6,300 this past June.

    Deaths increased to 1,274 during the week of September 16. Deaths probably peaked by the end of September, probably under 1,500. This is nevertheless lower than at any previous time during the pandemic except for this spring and summer, when the all time low was 479 in early July.

    Last Friday’s variant update indicated that XBB variants still made up 25% of all cases. Newer variants EG.5, HV1, and FL.1.5.1 made up a total of 57%. There is no indication so far that any of these are particularly virulent.

  8. 8.

    JeanneT

    There are definitely reports from neighbors of Covid spreading through the area here (West MI).  Even nearer to home, my eldest sister came down with a Covid infection last week, just after we had a family gathering.  SO FAR no one else has come down with it; I’ll be testing again later this morning.

  9. 9.

    Cameron

    Thank God I live in Florida, where Prince Ronald White-boots of Clan Pudding Fingers has conquered this so-called “pandemic” and brought FREEDOM to his people! Suck it,libtards!

  10. 10.

    lowtechcyclist

    Who is BNO News, and why should I trust their numbers?

    I’ve clicked through to their tweets, but from their tweets there’s no link to a website with further details. There’s a link in their bio to a fundraising page. Swell.

  11. 11.

    New Deal democrat

    @Erin: Thanks. I did check that page.

    As far as I can tell, they do report where COVID is increasing or decreasing, but no information on levels. Have you been able to tease that out?

  13. 13.

    dougcb68

    Mexico has initiated a COVID vaccination campaign using the Cuban and Russian vaccines Abdala and Sputnik V. Does anyone have any information about these vaccines that would help me decide if I should get this shot?

  14. 14.

    Yarrow

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  Apparently we’re all just supposed to get Covid every so often now. We’ll only be allowed to get vaccinated once a year and as far as I can tell the protection from vaccines only lasts about six months. Forget masking or improving air quality. Not going to happen. Just get Covid.

  15. 15.

    Soprano2

    @Anne Laurie: I don’t see that at all in the linked article. I see findings that serotonin was suppressed in these people, which may be causing their problem. If they’re taking it as people saying it’s their own fault or all in their heads, that’s on them. These scientists are presenting a concrete reason they believe may be responsible for long COVID. It’s my hope that the research into long COVID will provide answers for others who suffer from poorly-understood auto-immune problems, like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

  17. 17.

    Soprano2

    @New Deal democrat: Not that familiar with Biobot, but that site isn’t great. MO has a lot of monitoring here through the Sewershed Surveillance Project, but none of it is on their site except Kansas City. Unfortunately, you can’t do anything about the fact that Biobot lost the contract. Maybe they’ll do something on their own.

  19. 19.

    Yarrow

    @Soprano2:  If you haven’t followed how Long Covid patients have been treated by much of the medical establishment, they have regularly been told it’s all in their head. Not all doctors, not all patients, of course. But it happens enough that I’ve seen it all over the Covid and Long Covid internet.

  20. 20.

    Soprano2

    @Yarrow: I haven’t, but I’m familiar with it through people with Chronic Fatigue, so that doesn’t surprise me. What I’m saying is that this particular article is pinpointing a specific thing that might be a cause that could be treated! That’s not saying it’s all in your head. We women are used to being told problems are all in our heads, it’s not an unfamiliar thing.

  21. 21.

    Yarrow

    @Soprano2:  I didn’t have the impression that AL was talking about the article. My impression was she was talking about the discussion around the findings, which could be interpreted as “all in your head.” Long Covid patients, like CFS patients and others with challenging chronic conditions, are pretty sensitive to hearing that. I thought she was trying to acknowledge and be sensitive to that issue.

  22. 22.

    hrprogressive

    The increased drive towards nasal vaccines which may better attenuate transmission, and the markedly lower occurrences of Long Covid in the Omicron Era are what passes for good news these days.

    Now if they could just get to the bottom of how “at risk” the general population is from things like increased heart attack and stroke risk after catching the damn thing, maybe we are on our way to something passing for normal…in a couple more years. Maybe.

    I got my XBB shot a few weeks ago, and I was told by the Walgreens tech that this version was very popular compared to last year’s bivalent version, so. That’s also encouraging to hear.

  23. 23.

    wenchacha

    Often, when pain or other symptoms are treated with an anti-depressant, a patient might assume the dr. is saying it’s psychosomatic. That is not the message to take! Anti-depressants can treat pain, and are often included to aid recovery.

  24. 24.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @NeenerNeener: ​Deaths now at 2342, up 11 from last week. That’s scary.

    That’s less than a 5% change, i.e., a statistically meaningless blip probably due to nothing more “scary” than random variation. As Philip Abelson put it in his magnificent tome Statistics as Principled Argument, “Chance is lumpy.”

  25. 25.

    JML

    Props to Kelce, appreciate him pwning the odious and narcissistic Rodgers. (Based on how Rodgers celebrity relationships have gone, I like to think Kelce connecting up with Taylor Swift burns the ever-living fuck out of him)

  26. 26.

    Another Scott

    @dougcb68: I don’t recall anything recent about Sputnik, but early on there were stories about contamination with various things.  I would hope that if there was anything to that that it has been resolved by now.

    STATNews.com is a good source – maybe check there for the latest.

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  30. 30.

    What's Happening Florida

    The importance of understanding and addressing long Covid cannot be overstated, and this article provides valuable insights into the latest research in this area. It effectively conveys the significance of a recent study that identifies distinct biological changes in long Covid patients, offering hope for future treatments. The inclusion of expert opinions and the potential clinical trial of Prozac add depth to the article. It’s a well-written and informative piece that highlights the ongoing efforts to combat long Covid.

Comments are closed.