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chromatowski.bsky.social
C.H. Romatowski
@chromatowski.bsky.social
7.5K followers 760 following 3.9K posts
This account will prob be about biomed research—complex chronic illnesses and Covid—w/some material on disability justice and organizing. ME ‘05, LC ‘23, many of their friends along the way. Very severe (FUNCAP 0.9). No unsolicited advice please!
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chromatowski.bsky.social
C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 7d
Want to pull out this slide: people deserve to know there’s a growing mountain of evidence finding more Covid infections = more likelihood of being left chronically ill.

There’s a temptation to think that if you recovered ok last time, then you will next time too, but that’s not what the data say.
Researchers in Spain assessed over 190,000 participants, using data from a public health research network, in a study published in the journal Vaccines. They found that Long COVID prevalence was three to 10 times higher in individuals with three or more reported infections (about 600 people in the dataset) than in those with only one infection. They also found that the number of thrombotic events, including strokes and pulmonary embolisms, in people under 60 doubled from 2020 to 2024, in both people who were and weren’t vaccinated. The authors concluded that policymakers should prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and that healthcare workers should continue wearing protective masks.
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chromatowski.bsky.social
C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 6h
From a purely self-interested POV, it just gets the math wrong. More exposures = more Covid. Any amount you reduce that helps.

And then yeah, if you think you’re being exposed at home, then you have a responsibility not to make yourself a vector.
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chromatowski.bsky.social
C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 6h
I really don’t understand giving up on masking just because someone in your household doesn’t.

If you agree that’s bad, why choose even more exposure?

And more damningly, why are you ok potentially exposing everyone in your community? You’re now doing to others what’s being done to you.
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davidho.bsky.social
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 8h
Among many others at the CDC, the Trump regime laid off the staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

“The publication’s storied history includes a June 1981 report that five previously healthy gay men were treated for an unusual pneumonia — the first hint of the AIDS epidemic.”
Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials
www.nytimes.com
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lizthegrey.com
Liz Fong-Jones (方禮真) @lizthegrey.com · 7h
I am pleased to report that I did not catch COVID from #SREcon. One of the best big conference venues I've been in, CO2 levels stayed under 650 in the main keynote rooms and below 800 in even the low ceilinged rooms and expo hall!
Aptitude Metrix COVID test results showing negative green light
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brownecfm.bsky.social
Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 7h
This is why one of my mantras is 'politics itself can be a biological risk'. Wildfowl migration has already begun in North America, which will mean a significant increase in H5N1 infections in poultry, dairy cattle and humans. Yet politics is dismantling the defence.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...
Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials
www.nytimes.com
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bellamyj.blacksky.app
BJ 🏳️‍⚧️ @bellamyj.blacksky.app · 12h
It is not too late for you to start wearing a mask in public.

It is not too late for you to start advocating clean air.

It is not too late for you to learn how to build your own air filters or to tap in with folks already doing so.

They want you sick. They want your neighbors sick. Tell them no.
sherylnyt.bsky.social
Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 15h
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
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propublica.org
ProPublica @propublica.org · 14h
Blue Cross had refused to pay thousands of claims for the center’s patients, but on several occasions executives at the insurance company had signed special one-time deals with the center to pay for their wives’ cancer treatment.

(Published April)
“Slow Pay, Low Pay or No Pay”: Trial Reveals How Insurers Try to Wield Power Over Doctors
Blue Cross authorized mastectomies and breast reconstructions for women with cancer but refused to pay the full doctors’ bills. A jury called it fraud and awarded the practice $421 million.
www.propublica.org
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chromatowski.bsky.social
C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 6h
Whatever they want for themselves, zero mitigations means they are also taking everyone else’s lives into their hands too.
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kissane.myatproto.social
Erin Kissane @kissane.myatproto.social · 14h
It is difficult for me to express how disastrous this is.
sherylnyt.bsky.social
Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 15h
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
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angierasmussen.bsky.social
Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 14h
I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.
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catturd2.bsky.social
tm @catturd2.bsky.social · 14h
I don't think you could find a more important medical publication than MMWR. Like, NEJM or JAMA or Lancet, but they're not really the same segment or role at all
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chromatowski.bsky.social
C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 14h
RFK must be stopped.
sherylnyt.bsky.social
Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 15h
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
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Reposted by C.H. Romatowski
catturd2.bsky.social
tm @catturd2.bsky.social · 14h
uh shutting down MMWR is, in no uncertain terms, crisis level damage for dissemination of accurate info throughout the medical profession
sherylnyt.bsky.social
Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 15h
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
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eric-reinhart.com
Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 16h
One does not need to be located in Chicago to provide care for people here. Solidarity against fascism has no borders.
eric-reinhart.com
Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 17h
Psychiatrists/NPs/therapists who could provide off-the-books, no-fee, Zoom-based care for individuals in crisis in ICE-targeted Chicago communities, please email me: [email protected]. Include whether you can prescribe, speak Spanish (or other languages), and available hours per week/month.
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eric-reinhart.com
Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 17h
Psychiatrists/NPs/therapists who could provide off-the-books, no-fee, Zoom-based care for individuals in crisis in ICE-targeted Chicago communities, please email me: [email protected]. Include whether you can prescribe, speak Spanish (or other languages), and available hours per week/month.
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vashetc.bsky.social
vee.soy @vashetc.bsky.social · 1d
As I tell myself and my dear friends, the problem isn’t that YOURE pacing incorrectly. You are not to blame because you accidentally spent too much time looking at something. You are sick because scientists and practitioners decided that the loss of a segment of the population was okay.
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vashetc.bsky.social
vee.soy @vashetc.bsky.social · 1d
Did you know that to access care what is most urgently needed is an open minded physician, proper preparation, flexible communication, and accessible transport where folks can be horizontal. And even then we fail? At the most basic parts?
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vashetc.bsky.social
vee.soy @vashetc.bsky.social · 1d
I am just so weary supporting my friends across the country and across the world who have been in bed for years, some post-COVID, some prior to COVID. My friends are blaming themselves for thinking, talking to feeling too much when the issue is lack of access to quality healthcare.
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vashetc.bsky.social
vee.soy @vashetc.bsky.social · 1d
We cannot talk about alternatives to the health system we have, and our future of medicine — without talking about some of the most severe illnesses. That includes Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. This disease remains one of the least funded by health burden. And yet, people don’t even know it exists.
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vashetc.bsky.social
vee.soy @vashetc.bsky.social · 1d
Do you all think it’s inhumane to leave people rotting in bed (literally, not metaphorically)? Im talking about people who cannot tolerate light and sound, and maybe even touch. People who can’t drink or chew on their own. For decades.

If so then you should look up Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
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standupforscience.bsky.social
Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · 19h
Russell Vought, OMB Director, is using this shutdown to further the aims of Project 2025. He is slashing the federal workforce, and dismantling our agencies.

This is not just a shutdown standoff — it's finishing the job of DOGE. Take action for federal workers here! zurl.co/up9de
Graphic with two red and white images of Trump and Vought facing each other in profile. Torn off newspaper text reads: Trump administration begins laying off federal workers amid shutdown. Text at the top reads: Trump and OMB director Vought are firing patriotic public servants in their attempt to advance project 2025. Red text on a dark blue background reads: What’s Going on? Two white bubbles of text float behind a red and white image of Vought in profile. Bubble 1: Russell vought, director of the omb and author of project 2025, announced mass REDUCTIONS-IN-FORCE (RIFS) in federal agencies. Bubble 2: the exact scope is still unclear, but reports say LAYOFFS HAVE HIT at least the Interior, Homeland Security, Treasury, EPA, Commerce, Education, Energy, HHS and HUD. Poster graphic reading: This isn’t just a shutdown standoff. Project 2025 aims to critically slash our federal workforce and dismantle our agencies. Doge already laid off 300k. Project 2025’s real goal? At least 1 Million federal employees laid off. In bold red highlighted text: Vought wants to finish the job. Highlighted text at top of graphic reads: Solidarity with federal workers! In red text below: Take Action! Two blue bubbles read: Call Congress and let them know: Stop Vought! and Stand with Federal Workers! Links in our Bio to sign: A list of petitions: Solidarity with NASA, EPA, FEMA, NIH
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batemanhornecenter.bsky.social
Bateman Horne Center @batemanhornecenter.bsky.social · 21h
A new study sheds light on why people with ME/CFS feel worse after activity.
Findings reveal an immune system on edge, energy production that falters, and gut barrier leaks fueling inflammation.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4q3i8sV
#MECFS #PEM #Research
When the Body’s Alarm Won’t Turn Off
Blog Summary Imagine if a fire alarm kept ringing long after the smoke was gone. That’s similar to what happens in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), where the body seems…
bit.ly
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chromatowski.bsky.social
C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 19h
Crossing my fingers for you!! Thanks so much for participating!
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chromatowski.bsky.social
C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 19h
It’s devastating.
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chromatowski.bsky.social
C.H. Romatowski @chromatowski.bsky.social · 19h
Exactly my reaction. If anything having pre-Covid ME has made me expect this kind of disregard from drug companies and the research world more generally. Very glad for the pushback against it.
emilyesfraser.bsky.social
emily fraser 🌿🐌✨ @emilyesfraser.bsky.social · 19h
This sounds an awful lot like what happened to ME patients with Ampligen. Can we please not repeat history?
thesicktimes.org
The Sick Times @thesicktimes.org · 23h
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
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