A new strain of Covid is showing up and it sounds like it’s a doozy. I mean, if the Today Show is suggesting masks, something’s up.
https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/new-covid-variant-nb181-symptoms-rcna208189
I read today that 50% of cases are ASYMPTOMATIC but STILL CONTAGIOUS.
That means even if people stay home when they’re sick (and we know that’s not a guarantee)… they’re quite possibly infecting you without knowing it. I know the world has said that “only vulnerable people will fall by the wayside”… but if you have lungs and depend on them for being alive, you are vulnerable to Covid 19.
TRANSCRIPT:
A new strain of Covid is showing up and it sounds like it’s a doozy. I mean, if the Today Show is suggesting masks, something’s up.
https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/new-covid-variant-nb181-symptoms-rcna208189
It brings up some FEELINGS.
I will never forgive the CDC for normalizing the idea of “letting the vulnerable ‘fall by the wayside’”.
[Image: A road winds down among some beautiful countryside. Far in the distance a shining city is labled “back to normal”. Many people walk towards it. An elder swoons prettily onto the side of the road in the shade saying “Ahh, I’ll just fall to the wayside!”. A child sits next to the stream and their parent hands them an inhaler: “Don’t worry, we can sit on the wayside.” A fat person in a mask says to their companions, “I’m vulnerable, will you mask up to protect me?” The others reply, “Hmm, but look at the nice wayside all ready for you!”]
It’s kind of a pretty term.
And they use it on purpose, because if they described what they really meant…
[Image: A road winds through dead countryside, with piles of bodies and bones to either side. Far in the distance a filthy city pumps out clouds of smog. A sign says “corporate factory jobs”. People are running and pushing to get there, wearing blinders or holding their hands to the sides of their heads.A child falls off the road crying “help me” and a person coughing in the ditch tries to catch them. A parent tells their own child on the road, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t make healthy kids sick.” A fit white man shoves a fat woman to the wayside, “Get outta my way.” An elder falls in a pile of bones and asks a wan looking middle aged femme, “Where are we?” She responds, “We call it the wayside.” A young man holds on to the road but is falling into the pit: “But I ate clean!” Another road person strews rocks and says maliciously “don’t trip!” Another says “I thought they said it was over with the vax!”]
Think I’m exaggerating?
The NYT has reported that over 400 million people have or have had Long Covid.
None of these studies are one-offs- each of these patterns has been building since 2020 – I know because that’s when I got sick and started paying attention.
-Heart Attacks and strokes up significantly (40%??!) in “working age” adults : https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/covid-19-surges-linked-to-spike-in-heart-attacks/
-Stillbirths – significantly heightened risk:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7047e1.htm
-Kids ‘Long COVID is common, affecting up to 10% to 20% of children with a history of COVID-19. With almost 6 million US children potentially affected, this is higher than the number of children with asthma, the most common chronic health problem in children.’
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2834486
-Doctors calling a variety of ‘rarely diagnosed’ diseases “tik-tok sickness” because suddenly everyone’s coming in asking to be tested- and they’re clustered around POTS MCAS, ME/CFS, neurodivergence, connective tissue disorders, and autoimmune diseases – all under studied and more likely to affect women – and all sharply on the rise since 2020. Patient to patient information is crucial as many family medicine and ER docs dismiss ALL of these symptoms as“anxiety”.
There ARE treatments for some of the conditions Covid triggers… if you can get a doctor to take you seriously. (Luckily, mine keeps up with the literature).
The thing is, we’re ALL vulnerable to Covid. It’s not a thing one brings upon themselves or can prevent. The Long Covid forums are FULL of previously healthy people of all ages who now can barely walk to the toilet without sweating and blacking out… and plenty of people who are completely bedbound or dead.
“Vulnerable” to Long Covid and falling by the Wayside(™) includes being overweight, elderly, having ADHD, being poor, being a person of color, menstruating, having a family history of heart disease, being pregnant, and even being trans or bi, according to a study I saw today. And now it includes having Long Covid or prior ‘mild’ infections. Might as well say “If you have lungs and depend on blood to live, you’re vulnerable to Covid 19.”
A partial population of the wayside, each someone I know with a max of 1 degree of separation:
Rushed to the ER with myocarditis; one year later, had a stroke (late 30s)
Anxiety and depression, uncontrolled ADHD
New Allergies, whole family on special diet to avoid anaphlaxyis
Stillborn at 39.5 weeks
Persistent chest pain and tightness
Debilitating menstrual symptoms
Died with dementia and CPOD, neither needed before 2 covid infections
Suddenly Pre-diabetic
Mostly Bedbound
Walks with a cane due to POTS
Brain damage / dementia symptoms (late 30s)
Blacks out after lunch
Can’t run a block some days, high anxiety
Previously did an hour a day of cardio, now fatigued walking several blocks
Looks like she aged 20 years in a month
Died of acute Covid
Only a very few of these people have a formal “long covid” diagnosis. Several were told “could be a post-viral” but not what virus. Most of them give me a skeptical look if I mention long covid. I mean, it doesn’t really matter… there are zero approved treatments for it… SO…
Try not to get it.
Mostly this means going back to masks.
I know, I know.
Now would be a great time to find an N-95 or KN-95 that you are comfortable in.
I like the ugliest kind best – duckbills – because they’re the most breathable and I like the wide and non-digging head straps.
There are also these shapes
And earloops on KN-95s.
CAN-99s are also great!
Find something you can put up with and I swear to you they work.
I’ve stayed healthy on multiple cross-country flights of 6+ hours, and San Diego Comic Con, which was as far as I can tell a solid square mile of people, and multiple people hacking in every room. I forgot to get sip valves but I did the
BREATH
DRINK
Pooooof/pull trick and didn’t get sick.
On a plane, I use these with nasal saline or spray (keeping tissues hydrated protects you even if it’s not ‘medicated’)- and a mini air purifier if I have to take the mask off for eating and drinking. (This is what I pretend it does, IDK if it’s really helpful, but I haven’t gotten sick yet).
There are exposures I can’t control – my kid going to school and camp, for instance. I’m going to restart oral probiotics and nasal spray, possibly h1 antihistamines for him.
And I’m going to get another Novavax booster asap (didn’t mess with me like the MRNAs did!).
None of this is fun. It’s boring and annoying. But it’s less boring and annoying than Having Long Covid. IIn February 2020, I wasn’t one of the people expected to ‘fall by the wayside’… but I did.
Don’t join me.