betsy ladyzhets 😷
@betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
9.2K followers 470 following 730 posts
editor/co-founder @thesicktimes.org | journalist covering Long COVID & related crises | she/her/🏳️‍🌈 email: [email protected] | signal: betsyladyzhets.25 | https://thesicktimes.org/
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Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
solidevidence.bsky.social
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.
1/
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
thesicktimes.org
🧸 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 close up profile of a child wearing a teal KN94 respirator. The text reads, "The Sick Times. Long COVID research updates. Risk of Long COVID doubled in children following SARS-C0V-2 reinfection. Researchers may have found a potential biomarker and treatment target for cognitive dysfunction in Long COVID. A phase 1 clinical trial is recruiting to test the GLP-1 agonist drug Liraglutide for Long COVID." 🧸 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.
betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
This should say: for the first time *since* 2023. whoops!
bsky.app/profile/bets...
betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
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
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
neongrey.bsky.social
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.
betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
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!
betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
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.
betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
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 :)
thesicktimes.org
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/
A purple graphic announcing a 10K GIVEAWAY, featuring a photo of the Sick Times swag pack mentioned above (pins, stickers, a patch, and our famous dad hat!).
betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
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
betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
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."
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
chromatowski.bsky.social
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.
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
pulling out the big guns to stay focused at work this week, by which I mean I am listening to the 1917 soundtrack
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
chanda.blacksky.app
🚨🚨 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 🚨🚨
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
maxkozlov.bsky.social
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
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
rchusid.bsky.social
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
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
thesicktimes.org
#LongCOVID is not functional neurological disorder (FND), but some patients are getting diagnosed with it.

Here’s @davetuller1.bsky.social on what to do if it happens to you: bit.ly/4mxAyiB
 Photo of an art piece: a white object, shaped like an egg, with painted representations of the virus SARS-CoV-2 across its surface. The text reads, "The Sick Times. Long COVID is not FND, but some patients are getting diagnosed with it. Here’s what to do if it happens to you. By David Tuller." What people with Long COVID should do if they receive an FND diagnosis: 

Ask about the basis for the diagnosis. A clinician may render an FND diagnosis when medical tests are negative. That means people with Long COVID and other conditions that lack validated biomarkers might be particularly vulnerable to misdiagnosis. However, FND is not supposed to be a diagnosis of exclusion — that is, a diagnosis given solely because nothing else has been found. 

Don’t automatically accept the diagnosis as final. “Don’t be afraid to question it if it doesn’t feel like the diagnosis fits your symptoms,” said Hargrave. Davenport echoed that advice. “Don’t take it for a definitive answer,” he said. “It’s okay to seek another opinion.” 
What people with Long COVID should do if they receive an FND diagnosis

Keep a full account of your medical care, said Joffe, the Australian expert. “Carefully document all neurological interactions,” he said. “Keep copies of the letters written and all the results. That’s crucial. Not infrequently, I find that something has been missed or overlooked in my patients. Having the original letters and studies is very illuminating.”

Be aware that having an existing FND diagnosis in medical charts might influence the judgment of subsequent clinicians, and take steps to address this issue. David Putrino recommends working with your primary care provider “to have that diagnosis removed from your medical records.”

"Don’t be afraid to question it if it doesn’t feel like the diagnosis fits your symptoms. Don’t take it for a definitive answer. It’s okay to seek another opinion." - Todd Davenport, Professor of physical therapy at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
julialmv.bsky.social
This thread is a top notch snapshot of what it's like to live with LC in 2025 🔥

Anyone can help by masking, testing, supporting your community, and raising your voices alongside ours.

Happy three years of surviving LC to @ezra.zone!
ezra.zone
the lack of recognition and support i've received – from the medical system, from my friends & family, from government, from orgs that purport to support the vulnerable & suffering – is so immense as to be unbelievable.
Reposted by betsy ladyzhets 😷
vashetc.bsky.social
hey folks, its your neighborhood cripple :( i have to see an urgent specialist friday for a possible infection. bc its so last min but not the ER i cant get medicaid to cover transport. if you'd like to donate to help me pay for a $440 gurney transport i'd REALLY appreciate it. venmo: itssvee or gfm
Donate to Critical Healthcare Support for Victoria, organized by Vee Copeland
Hello everyone, My name is Victoria and thank you for checking out my gofundme.… Vee Copeland needs your support for Critical Healthcare Support for Victoria
www.gofundme.com