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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 29

These updates are so hopeful!!

Reposted by Christy Collins

thetranscendedman @atranscendedman.bsky.social · Aug 29

La Jolla researchers screened 56 small molecules and found a new class that binds ETF1, a host protein, to disrupt viral ribosomal frameshifting.

These compounds blocked SARS-CoV-2, HIV, and other viruses without harming cells.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

www.biorxiv.org

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 25

Thanks for sharing! (I was gonna put it on here too but hadn’t had a chance yet- appreciate your spreading the word! 🙂)

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Reposted by Christy Collins

Petter Brodin @petterbrodin.bsky.social · Aug 25

Thx for highlighting @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social

Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Hey everyone, ICYMI I wanted to highlight this groundbreaking #LongCOVID preprint.

Personally, I've found there may be a lot of truth to this idea:

**High anti-spike antibodies that don’t wane 6 months after infection may be a sign of viral persistence**

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👇

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Restrained memory CD8+ T cell responses favors viral persistence and elevated IgG responses in patients with severe Long COVID

During the COVID-19 pandemic it was widely described that certain individuals infected by SARS-CoV-2 experience persistent disease signs and symptoms, Long COVID, which in some cases is very severe wi...

www.medrxiv.org

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 25

Happy to! Thanks so much for everything you and your colleagues are doing! 🙏

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 25

Wow... seems like pretty strong evidence for SARS-CoV-2 persistence in pediatric Long COVID....

Christophe Veltsos @drinfosec.bsky.social · Aug 25

Another 🚨🧵 by @ZdenekVrozina on Twitter, this time about pediatric #LongCovid...

Full thread:
threadreaderapp.com/thread/19594...

#Kids #Covid #LongCovid

A new preprint study shatters the idea that pediatric long COVID is just a mild or different version of the adult form.
It shows that children share the same core immune patterns - and, strikingly, some resemble those seen in chronic infections like HIV.🧵

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

UPDATE: I also created a Substack in case you want to read this post in long-form!

Check it out here: 👇

longcovidbegone.substack.com/p/high-anti-...

High anti-spike antibodies may be a sign of viral persistence in Long Covid

Hey everyone, I wanted to highlight this groundbreaking Long Covid preprint.

longcovidbegone.substack.com

Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Moving forward @polybiorf.bsky.social will support @petterbrodin.bsky.social @casanovalab.bsky.social and colleagues in studying the genetic and hormonal links to these restrained t-cell responses

Grateful for their support in this crisis 🙏

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polybio.org/projects/gen...

Genetic variants & restrained antiviral immunity in severe LongCOVID - PolyBio Research Foundation

Project Summary: To determine the underlying genetic causes and other modifying factors like sex hormones and interferon responses impacting restrained T...

polybio.org

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

We know there is likely more than one root cause of LC, and some people don’t make antibodies at all.

However I think it’s AMAZING that a phenotype of viral persistence has been clearly defined 🎉

We’ve moved past asking whether the virus is still present, to proving WHY

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Of course, the #1 thing to take away from this is that the authors are now hypothesizing about a cure.

That’s right, they wrote the word CURE ✨

Specifically, antivirals (+presumably other strategies) to remove the persistent virus that our t-cells could not.

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Screenshot from the paper. Highlighted text says:

"All in all, our results suggest that a persistent viral reservoir is likely contributing to Long COVID pathology and ongoing efforts (NCT05823896) to remove such persisting viruses with prolonged antiviral therapies are important and hold clinical promise for delivering a much-needed cure to the community of Long COVID sufferers worldwide."

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Basically, we may have evolved this restrained t-cell response for a reason.

The authors say it may be a way for women's bodies to conserve energy for reproduction, and children's bodies for growth.

Now, this trait that was helpful to us in the past is now harming us

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Senior author @petterbrodin.bsky.social explains that the answer may lie in our genetics, as well as the fact that the immune system operates differently at different stages of life.

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

They started to ask the question:

Why does Long Covid more often affect people we'd expect to have STRONGER immune systems?

Why do children and women of child-bearing age disproportionately develop LC, compared to those at high risk of severe acute disease?

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Why does this happen?

When the researchers took steps to select the patients who were the sickest, following a mild infection, their patient population came out to a 87% female.

With an average age of 48.

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

It also tracks with these findings from
UCSF LIINC & @gladstoneinst.bsky.social

Not only did this team find higher anti-spike IgG antibodies, but they also noted a breakdown in coordination between the T- and the B- cells

gladstone.org/news/patient...

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In Patients with Long COVID, Immune Cells Don’t Follow the Rules

Scientists at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco analyzed immune cells in people with and without long COVID, making significant discoveries that will help answer questions about what causes th...

gladstone.org

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

The authors note that higher IgG responses to the virus were also found in this study from @putrinolab.bsky.social, @virusesimmunity.bsky.social and many others!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Distinguishing features of long COVID identified through immune profiling - Nature

Individuals with long COVID show marked biological changes in cortisol and immune factors relative to convalescent populations.

www.nature.com

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Personally, I totally believe this is what happened to me.

According to the authors, antibody responses normally wane in 6 months, in people who fully recover.

Meanwhile my anti-spike antibodies were just under 10K, 10 months following my acute infection

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Screenshot of my SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody result showing a level of 9,825.00 U/mL

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Our T-cells fail to fully fight off the virus in the initial stage, allowing it to establish reservoirs.

Our B-cells then try to pick up the slack by producing tons of antibodies, but can't seem to fully clear it.

So we end up with viral persistence + high antibodies

7/

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

For some reason, this process seems to be “restrained” in LC patients.

The team found the higher the level of anti-spike antibodies, the lower the person's rate of CD8+ clonal expansion.

Essentially, the two responses are inversely correlated, when they're supposed to match

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Why would this occur?

Normally when the immune system encounters a pathogen, the CD8+ T cells clone themselves to rapidly increase in number.

www.akadeum.com/blog/t-cell-...

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T Cell Clonal Expansion

Clonal expansion is the rapid division of genetically identical T cells, creating copies specific to invading pathogens for immune response.

www.akadeum.com

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

So they looked to see what else was wrong.

They found that compared to people who fully recovered, #pwLC tended to have much higher anti-spike antibodies.

In some people, the level of antibodies actually went UP over time, instead of down.

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

The researchers set out to discover what made these patients different.

They looked for signs of viral persistence, such as spike protein in the blood.

The problem was that different tests gave different results, and didn't always correspond with how the patients felt.

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

In this study, researchers recruited out of LC clinics in Sweden and Belgium.

They purposely chose patients with the most severe symptoms following a mild infection. The goal was to zero in on the root cause of LC, as opposed to organ damage from severe infection.

2/

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Christy Collins @sun-in-winter12.bsky.social · Aug 24

Hey everyone, ICYMI I wanted to highlight this groundbreaking #LongCOVID preprint.

Personally, I've found there may be a lot of truth to this idea:

**High anti-spike antibodies that don’t wane 6 months after infection may be a sign of viral persistence**

1/

👇

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Restrained memory CD8+ T cell responses favors viral persistence and elevated IgG responses in patients with severe Long COVID

During the COVID-19 pandemic it was widely described that certain individuals infected by SARS-CoV-2 experience persistent disease signs and symptoms, Long COVID, which in some cases is very severe wi...

www.medrxiv.org

1 2 8

Reposted by Christy Collins

Wasem In Gaza 🍉🇵🇸❤️ @wasematallah95.bsky.social · Dec 31

I feel frustrated and ashamed.
Donations are very slow and do not meet our daily needs.😴😰
I call on your humanity to support me and donate to me.🫂🙏

Please follow me, quote, retweet and comment 😔💔

I need you.I love you all Help me by donating🙏😭

gofund.me/421bd4ca

Donate to Them raise money to rebuild their lives, organized by Mark Churcher

Hi my name is Mark Churcher I live in Northampton England the UK I'm trying to r… Mark Churcher needs your support for Them raise money to rebuild their lives

gofund.me

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