continuing

Image ID:  The Vertlartnic: Isn't It Great That No One Is Dying of Covid Now We Don't Resease the Data About People Dying From Covid?

Deaths and Data

Deaths have been undercounted.

Excess deaths (above the number expected based on the past) have tracked closely with waves of Covid-19 deaths.  Although excess deaths have declined, they remain high.

We are being invited to normalize an inhumane level of death.

Case counts have been underestimated because of lack of reported tests and because home tests are less accurate and PCR tests, of course, are no longer readily available. 

We have been encouraged to think it is over, though it is not. 


Image ID: Biobot graph of national year-over-year Effective SARS-CoV-2 virus concentration (copies / mL of sewage), last updated 2 October 2023.  In 2023: 512 copies /mL; 2022: 640 c/mL; 2021: 489 c/mL; 2020: 71 c/mL.

Wastewater can be a useful guide to viral spread, because it does not depend on individuals testing or reporting.  

Biobot figures show that for most of 2023 the virus was more prevalent in the US than it was at the same time of year in the first two years of the pandemic. 

The CDC has ended its contract with Biobot in favor of Verily.  For finding a national trend line on WastewaterScan, see this guide from Mike Hoerger.  The CDC wastewater information is updated less often than one would wish. 

For more, see also. 

The diagram  above lists bodily systems affected by post-covid conditions:  Even 'Mild' Covid can cause [conditions affecting] Neurological, Digestive & Excretory, Endocrine, Cadiovascular, Respiratory,  Reproductive systems, and has Systemic [effects].  #CovidAwarenessWeek #NotMild #BringBackMasks 

Sources:

Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations   (Nature, January 2023)  


Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions (CDC, Dec 22)


Signs and Symptoms of Long Covid (NHS Inform)


Post Covid Conditions in Canada (2022) 

 

Long Covid

In addition to death, COVID-19  causes extended illness, debility, and disability. 

For covid long-haulers, the pandemic is far from over  (WaPo, May 2023).

Long Covid is Being Erased Again (Ed Yong, The Atlantic, April 2023)  Long Covid is underestimated because of ignorance, stigma, and failure to connect symptoms to diagnosis.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of more than 50 long-term effects of COVID-19 found that 80% of the infected patients with SARS-CoV-2 developed one or more long-term symptoms (SciRep, Aug 21).

Another systematic review found that 45% of COVID-19 survivors, regardless of hospitalisation status, were experiencing a range of unresolved symptoms at ∼ 4 months. (Lancet, Dec 22).

Another study found that 10% of individuals with acute COVID-19 infection still had symptoms after 1 year of follow-up (JAMA, Nov 22). 

Historically, other viral illnesses have involved long-term consequences as well. 

After the earlier SARS (SARS1), some survivors remain ill 18 years later (Lancet, Feb 23).


As of August 2022, about 16 million people in the US had long covid, with 4 million of those too sick to work.


More resources on Long Covid:

WHN Long Covid Resources

Long Covid Learning Research

Long Covid Physio


In the acute phase, clinical manifestations and complications of COVID-19 of varying degrees have been documented, including death. However, patients who recover from the acute phase of the infection can still suffer long-term effects (8). Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), commonly referred to as “long COVID,” refers to the long-term symptoms, signs, and complications experienced by some patients who have recovered from the acute phase of COVID-19 (8–10). Emerging evidence suggests that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, can have lasting effects on nearly every organ and organ system of the body weeks, months, and potentially years after infection (11,12). Documented serious post-COVID-19 conditions include cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, renal, endocrine, hematological, and gastrointestinal complications (8), as well as death (13).

February 2023 Vital Statistics Reporting Guidance (p 2, bottom right column), HHS, CDC, NCHS, NVSS. Full text in ALT and at linked document. 

tweet from @EbonyJHilton_MD: It starts as a "simple infection" until YEARS later it becomes: Long HIV...AIDS; Long HPV...Cervical Cancer; Long EBV...Multiple Sclerosis; Long HSV...Alzheimer's; Long HCV...Liver Cancer. CURRENTLY 1 in 13 Americans already have #LongCOVID

PASC 

Post-Acute Sequelae of Covid: While millions continue to have symptoms, millions more have asymptomatic damage. 

There is now a vast literature about the damage that COVID-19 causes--even to those who have mild or no symptoms at all. 

 

Some collections of studies are organized according to the bodily systems they impair:


What SARS-CoV-2 Does to the Body (2nd Edition, July 2023) from Pandemic Accoountability Index

SARS-Cov-2 and You has sections on different areas or functions of the body, as well as sections on children, C19 humor, and a wealth of illustrations.

Covid Research & Implications similarly offers a "running curation of Covid research cited in scholarly journals and/or trustworthy popular media," with a plainer interface. 

 The Covid Studies Library is a Zotero folder with a more comprehensive scholarly orientation.

The References section of the John Snow Project editorial on "The Reality Gap" offers a persuasive collection of links to studies on the harms of COVID-19.