COVID Chronicles
@covidchronicles.bsky.social
930 followers 570 following 660 posts
Chronicling my journey through purgatory, graphically. Former athlete/composer/writer/woodworker. Saddled with debilitating COVID-induced metabolic dysfunction since Nov 2022. #LongCOVID #LC #MECFS #PEM #SickJokes
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covidchronicles.bsky.social
Day 124 - Not sure how to deal with the poop emoji on my head. 'Brain fog' sounds light and fluffy, but this shit's heavier than lead.

#BrainFog #DailySlog #LongCOVID #COVIDSky #LC #MECFS #PEM

["But you still managed to make this, didn't you?" Yes. Yes, I did. And it only took me six days]
covidchronicles.bsky.social
Ok. Allow me to circle back to your expertise (which I do value) when and if. You've given me food for thought.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
Not looking to scare people. I am myself scared. It's been 1128 days since a mild infection sent me from running marathons to barely able to run errands. No one can tell me why or why me. So I've been seeing COVID through that lens. Exercising an excess of caution until we know more.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
I'm not a prof in immunology. I am well aware that studies are misinterpreted & that the journalistic class that should be breaking them down for us commoners have utterly failed at their jobs. I'm being earnest: if you have a page or resource that actually has a handle on COVID, I'd welcome it.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
So far you've blasted every link I've posted, offering none in return; used arguments from authority—a logical fallacy—dismissing findings in credible journals & putting the onus on me to defend them to you. You've clearly solved COVID. Too bad you're more interested in scolding than educating.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
Listen, I'm not looking to be right: I'm looking to be correct. If you can direct me to such studies, I'll gladly add them to my database. You're right that people seek to confirm their biases (myself included, being disabled from COVID). But I'm most interested in the truth.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
“SARS-CoV-2 infected T helper cells express higher amounts of IL-10, which is associated with viral persistence and disease severity. Thus, CD4-mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection of T helper cells may explain the poor adaptive immune response of many COVID-19 patients.”
SARS-CoV-2 uses CD4 to infect T helper lymphocytes
The infection of T helper lymphocytes by SARS-CoV-2, mediated via the CD4 molecule, alters cellular function and enhances expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, potentially impairing immu...
doi.org
covidchronicles.bsky.social
“COVID-19 is multiphasic in its pathogenesis, and includes a cytokine storm, lymphopenia and ARDS, which indicate poor prognosis. COVID-19 progression and severity are associated with a systemic dysregulation of the immune system and impaired type I IFN early responses.”
SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1: So Different yet so Alike. Immune Response at the Cellular and Molecular Level
In the past half century, humanity has experienced two devastating pandemics; the HIV-1 pandemic and the recent pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. Both emerged as zoonotic pathogens. Interestingly, SARS-C...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
covidchronicles.bsky.social
“The relative risk of any autoimmune disease was 2.32 (95% confidence interval, 2.08–2.60). All the investigated outcomes showed a significant risk associated with COVID-19, and the long-term risk is substantial for systemic sclerosis and immunoglobulin G4–related disease.”
journals.lww.com
covidchronicles.bsky.social
A block would be unfortunate as we are not enemies. I'm sorry I was so abrasive. It was late and I get irate. That's on me. As for the google doc, it's not a conspiracy webpage: it's a list of vetted studies I co-curate (in an attempt to make sense of this plague). For easy access to key papers.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
The study's conclusions conveniently neglect pages upon pages of physiological proof of the damage SARS CoV-2 inflicts. Long COVID is not a binary condition—it's what we call it when the COVID-induced injuries are too severe to ignore.

Statistics and surveys are one thing. This is quite another:
COVID research & implications
Covid research & implications Purpose: This document is a running curation of Covid research cited in scholarly journals and/or trustworthy popular media, with the goal of forming a story about the i...
docs.google.com
covidchronicles.bsky.social
I hadn't read the study in question, just did. And am keen on digging further, as this would be good news indeed. But to claim that Omicron did not induce Long COVID as previous strains had flies in the face of many other metrics. Including yours truly's lived experience. Beware your own bias.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
Aïe aïe aïe, you're comparing SARS CoV-2 to "other pandemics", as if we didn't have piles of evidence on COVID's ability to evade and hijack immunity (leading to spikes in Strep A, Cancers, etc).

Pretty bold for someone deploring how experts make bold statements outside their fields of expertise…
covidchronicles.bsky.social
Interesting.

And dispiriting for those of us whose 1st and only infection was in late 2022, while fully vaccinated and boosted, & ended up with crippling PEM.

Your comments seem to suggest that no one is developing PCC anymore. Testimonies on r/covidlonghaulers suggest otherwise.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
That's not to say people aren't latching on to every bit of confirmation they find (even if published in predatory journals with hack methodology) or dismissing good research because of scientific illiteracy, but there is a LOT of noise for what little signal we find.

It's exhausting, TBH.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
Yes & no:

Big name specialists who pushed "vax and relax" when there was clear evidence of SARS CoV-2 evading & corrupting immunity (of even vaccinated hosts) did more damage to institutional trust than the loons did.

The amount of bad science—"peer reviewed!"—I come across is eye-watering.
covidchronicles.bsky.social
We desperately need to get people off that platform. It's killing us all. #COVID #Climate #Fascism #Disinformation
Spam and Scams Proliferate in Facebook’s Political Ads
www.nytimes.com
covidchronicles.bsky.social
Except it siphons money from research that has legitimate, actionable leads to investigate.

It's dishonest and has become all too common. Drums up big headlines based on little more than a hyped-up hypothesis (and poor data), then we never hear from them again. They still get paid. We get nowhere.
thebullypulpit.bsky.social
JUNK SCIENCE ALERT: "Long-COVID breakthrough at #Montreal hospital. Researchers at Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal say they've made a breakthrough discovery in #LongCOVID"

Only they haven't—Their study has MAJOR flaws & their findings? Likely due to sex differences and contraception use (!!!) ↓
covidchronicles.bsky.social
I suspect the purpose of the press release was to drum up more funding.

Methodology looks so suspect, the findings are little more than conjecture.
thebullypulpit.bsky.social
Bad science alert:

1) No sex & age matching;
2) ME cases were from the CureME biobank; controls came from the company’s own biobank;
3) All cases were severe, house-bound; all controls were healthy & likely physically active (vs having other chronic conditions—depression, fibromyalgia, MS…)

👎
covidchronicles.bsky.social
That, I suspect, was the purpose of the press release: to drum up more funding.

Methodology looks suspect, per Dr Alastair Miller, Chris Ponting (Chair of Medical Bioinformatics, University of Edinburgh) & Kevin McConway (Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, Open University)
thebullypulpit.bsky.social
Bad science alert:

1) No sex & age matching;
2) ME cases were from the CureME biobank; controls came from the company’s own biobank;
3) All cases were severe, house-bound; all controls were healthy & likely physically active (vs having other chronic conditions—depression, fibromyalgia, MS…)

👎
Reposted by COVID Chronicles
thebullypulpit.bsky.social
Bad science alert:

1) No sex & age matching;
2) ME cases were from the CureME biobank; controls came from the company’s own biobank;
3) All cases were severe, house-bound; all controls were healthy & likely physically active (vs having other chronic conditions—depression, fibromyalgia, MS…)

👎