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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 21h

People commenting that there’s a paywall on articles is one of the most enraging things because not only is it like going to the movie theater and being like hey :( this ticket costs money :( but it’s also so easy to bypass most major paywalls if you can’t afford the subscription

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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 16h

I don't think people realize what an immediate impact this is going to have on outbreak response and containment.

Ferric Fang, MD @fangferric.bsky.social · 16h

According to a state epidemiologist, "CDC personnel who normally share information with state officials during outbreaks have been eliminated."

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 1d

“One veteran researcher who still has his job (and, like other public-health workers I spoke with for this story, requested anonymity for fear of losing it) told me he believes that Kennedy’s ultimate goal is to “silence the scientific voice of career CDC scientists.””

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 16h

And also today @thesicktimes.org: My latest attempt to summarize COVID-19 trends, while we have absolutely zero new CDC data during the government shutdown. Luckily some wastewater & state-level sources are still updating! thesicktimes.org/2025/10/14/n...

National COVID-19 trends, October 14 - The Sick Times

COVID-19 and other infectious disease data continue to be very limited while the U.S. government is shut down. Last week, the CDC updated a couple of national COVID-19 metrics; this week, the agency d...

thesicktimes.org

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 16h

Today @thesicktimes.org: Some workplaces that require in-person work are outright banning masks, while others have implicit anti-mask attitudes. Here's how some workers and organizers are pushing back.

By Nadica Zimmerman: thesicktimes.org/2025/10/14/d...

Despite the ongoing pandemic, some companies are banning employees from masking - The Sick Times

While some anti-mask policies have failed — a win for workers — there is a larger effort to ban masks in the U.S. on state and local levels. And more businesses may attempt to ban masks in the workpla...

thesicktimes.org

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The Sick Times @thesicktimes.org · 4d

A group of 53 people with #LongCOVID joined a clinical trial for Vyvgart. For many of them, the treatment changed everything.

Then, without warning, Argenx canceled the trial.

Most of them have now relapsed.

They're calling on the NIH and HHS to study the drug: bit.ly/48l1Qp5

A photo Nicole Barrick, a woman in a pink KN95 mask, receives an infusion of Vyvgart. The text reads, "The Sick Times. Vyvgart brought us back to life, but the Long COVID trial was canceled. We are calling on the NIH and HHS to study the drug. By Clare Banaszewski, Nicole Barrick, Mike Bilik, Addie Davis, Mia Delli Gatti, Ellie Hayes, Roman White."

"For those living with Long COVID, every ounce of hope is hard-won. This isn’t just about physical symptoms. It’s about the emotional toll of being given hope — and then having it taken away." - Vyvgart clinical trial participants
Clare Banaszewski, Nicole Barrick, Mike Bilik, Addie Davis, Mia Delli Gatti, Ellie Hayes, Roman White

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Elana Levin @levin.bsky.social · 18h

when work makes people sick and insists on making them sicker by denying the right of protection and there is no safety net --- consider other people.
via @thesicktimes.org

Despite the ongoing pandemic, some companies are banning employees from masking - The Sick Times

While some anti-mask policies have failed — a win for workers — there is a larger effort to ban masks in the U.S. on state and local levels. And more businesses may attempt to ban masks in the workpla...

thesicktimes.org

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Solid Evidence @solidevidence.bsky.social · 5d

Cryptic lineage update. It looks like the Coeur d’Alene cryptic is gone for now. It was a BQ.1.1, so at least a 2.5 year infection.
Did the person move away? Get better? Something worse? We’ll probably never know.
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The Sick Times @thesicktimes.org · 5d

🧸 Risk of LC doubled in children following SARS-C0V-2 reinfection

🩸 Researchers may have found a biomarker & treatment target for cognitive dysfunction in LC

💉 Clinical trial recruiting to test the GLP-1 agonist drug Liraglutide for LC

This week's #LongCOVID research updates: bit.ly/48j2kMt

🧸 A new study that found the risk of Long COVID doubled in children following SARS-C0V-2 reinfection made mainstream headlines this week. As part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) RECOVER program, researchers assessed health records from over 460,000 participants under the age of 21 across 40 hospital systems and found that the risk of developing Long COVID may be cumulative with each infection. The authors stated the findings aligned with studies on adults and emerging evidence on immune waning post-infection. “The new evidence that reinfections can trigger or worsen this chronic condition suggests that the societal burden is set to grow,” researcher Danilo Buonsenso (who was not involved with the study) wrote in an editorial about it.

🩸 Researchers in Japan may have found a potential biomarker and treatment target for cognitive dysfunction in Long COVID. The small study, published in Brain Communications, assessed 30 participants with the disease and compared them to 80 controls using advanced brain imaging. They discovered a significantly increased density of AMPA receptors in people with Long COVID; these are learning and memory receptors found in the brain and spinal cord. Based on their findings, the researchers suggested future clinical trials on drugs that target AMPA receptors, like perampanel, which is used to treat some types of epilepsy.

💉 A new phase 1 clinical trial is currently recruiting to test the GLP-1 agonist drug Liraglutide for Long COVID, multiple sclerosis, and acute leukemia. The small study plans to recruit 30 participants with a body mass index over 27 at its study site in Chicago, Illinois. Researchers will measure how the drug affects a disease marker called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). The NIH’s RECOVER-Treating Long COVID initiative is also planning a clinical trial for Long COVID using another GLP-1 agonist drug (the exact drug has not been officially announced). Study contact: cancerclinicaltrials@bsd.uchicago.edu.

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

This should say: for the first time *since* 2023. whoops!
bsky.app/profile/bets...

betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

And speaking of state & local sites: today, I updated my list of COVID-19 wastewater data dashboards in the U.S. for the first time in 2023. Let me know if I'm missing any! (2/3) docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Wastewater dashboards

docs.google.com

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

thank you!!

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neongrey @neongrey.bsky.social · 8d

all discourse aside, there is one machine with consciousness. it's printers. they are alive and conscious and they hate you and they'd take your arm clean off if you let them. never trust a printer.

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

We'd also consider running a "letter to the editors" from you on this topic, if that's something you're interested in -- you can DM or email me if you want to chat about that more!

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

Hi Harry - thank you for this feedback on the piece. I don't think Armani (the author) is on Bluesky himself, but you can contact him and his colleagues on the business competition at [email protected] if you're interested in sending him questions/concerns.

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

We just reached 10,000 (!!!) newsletter subscribers at The Sick Times, and we are doing a giveaway to celebrate! If you already read it, you can enter by forwarding the newsletter to a friend :)

The Sick Times @thesicktimes.org · 7d

We’ve hit 10K newsletter subscribers, so we’re giving away five The Sick Times swag packs, including pins, stickers, a patch, and our famous dad hat!

Sign up for our newsletter, or forward a recent newsletter to a friend, then comment “10K GIVEAWAY” to be entered. thesicktimes.org/newsletter/

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

I'm also very grateful to @cmyeaton.bsky.social, whose newsletter this past weekend offers an invaluable round-up of state-level infectious disease data updates: caitlinrivers.substack.com/p/cdc-data-i... (3/3)

CDC data interrupted, so we went state by state

A look at Covid-19, flu and RSV trends in each state

caitlinrivers.substack.com

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

And speaking of state & local sites: today, I updated my list of COVID-19 wastewater data dashboards in the U.S. for the first time in 2023. Let me know if I'm missing any! (2/3) docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Wastewater dashboards

docs.google.com

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

COVID-19 data are limited this week due to the government shutdown, but we are not entirely without information on how the disease is spreading. Many independent dashboards as well as state and local sites continue to offer info. (1/3)
thesicktimes.org/2025/10/07/n...

The Sick Times COVID-19 trends graphic. Text reads:
"COVID-19 data are limited this week due to the government shutdown, now the second time that vital disease surveillance has been interrupted since Trump took office in January. The CDC has not updated the majority of its COVID-19 and respiratory disease data pages since September 26.

Still, we are not entirely without information, largely thanks to independent data services and researchers. The CDC did update a handful of national-level COVID-19 metrics last Friday. WastewaterSCAN and Biobot Analytics have continued sharing wastewater surveillance data on their regular update schedules. And epidemiologist Caitlin Rivers (whom I recently interviewed) combed through state health department websites to report state-level trends."

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Miles W. Griffis @mileswgriffis.bsky.social · 7d

Hypermobility is a common, overlapping condition with Long COVID. Upcoming guidelines may make it easier for people to be diagnosed with the syndrome.

A new feature by Margot Armbruster in @thesicktimes.org

thesicktimes.org/2025/10/07/g...

Getting diagnosed with hypermobility can help some people with Long COVID. Upcoming guidelines may make it easier. - The Sick Times

Current diagnostic criteria for hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), a common comorbidity of Long COVID, are restrictive. The Ehlers-Danlos Society is developing new hEDS criteria that will be r...

thesicktimes.org

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C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 7d

Great piece on joint hypermobility, which is common among people with Long Covid and related chronic conditions.

I’d add getting diagnosed can lend important insight into how to protect yourself. Better to know in advance than find out the hard way that, say, yoga could really mess you up.

Miles W. Griffis @mileswgriffis.bsky.social · 7d

Hypermobility is a common, overlapping condition with Long COVID. Upcoming guidelines may make it easier for people to be diagnosed with the syndrome.

A new feature by Margot Armbruster in @thesicktimes.org

thesicktimes.org/2025/10/07/g...

Getting diagnosed with hypermobility can help some people with Long COVID. Upcoming guidelines may make it easier. - The Sick Times

Current diagnostic criteria for hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), a common comorbidity of Long COVID, are restrictive. The Ehlers-Danlos Society is developing new hEDS criteria that will be r...

thesicktimes.org

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HELLody SchreiBOO @melodyschreiber.com · 7d

The CDC now officially recommends the updated Covid vaccines. Yet the delays, and the announcement itself, compound misinformation and persistent access issues. My latest:
theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

CDC backs updated Covid vaccines as access issues persist: ‘We still don’t have doses in hand’

Delays in recommending the shots and misinformation have created obstacles for vaccine access

theguardian.com

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 7d

pulling out the big guns to stay focused at work this week, by which I mean I am listening to the 1917 soundtrack

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betsy ladyzhets 😷 @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social · 11d

Today @thesicktimes.org: Armani Guerra shares his personal experience with Long COVID, and how it led him to start the first-ever case competition for IACCs at the University of Michigan's business school. thesicktimes.org/2025/10/03/l...

Long COVID inspired me to start an IACC case competition at my business school. Here’s how you can get involved. - The Sick Times

On October 31, at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor, top graduate students will compete to develop innovative business solutions for the IACC community. This event, whi...

thesicktimes.org

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 11d

🚨🚨 My dear friend and fellow academic, the Palestinian American sociologist @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social has been taken by the Cook County Sheriff near Chicago. They have not mirandized her. Please signal boost. All eyes on Broadview for Eman and the community she was defending 🚨🚨

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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 13d

EXCLUSIVE: In her first interview all year, Susan Monarez, CDC director for only 29 days, tells me why Trump/RFK fired her and where this is all headed.

The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.

Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired

“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.

www.nature.com

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Ron Chusid @rchusid.bsky.social · 14d

Study in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 prevented 7,000 hospitalizations in infants and 3,000 in pregnant women from January 2024 to May 2025.
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...

COVID vaccines may have averted thousands of hospital stays in infants, pregnant women over 18 months

www.cidrap.umn.edu

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