Omicron amps up concerns about long COVID and its causes

 https://apnews.com/article/long-covid-omicron-research-45986f5b42e47e656d5b385bd51b2bb2

More than a year after a bout with COVID-19, Rebekah Hogan still suffers from severe brain fog, pain and fatigue that leave her unable to do her nursing job or handle household activities.

Long COVID has her questioning her worth as a wife and mother.

“Is this permanent? Is this the new norm?” said the 41-year-old Latham, New York, woman, whose three children and husband also have signs of the condition. “I want my life back.’’

More than a third of COVID-19 survivors by some estimates will develop such lingering problems. Now, with omicron sweeping across the globe, scientists are racing to pinpoint the cause of the bedeviling condition and find treatments before a potential explosion in long COVID cases.

COVID-19 vs. COVID-19 vaccine: Risk of neurological complications

 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/covid-19-vs-covid-19-vaccine-risk-of-neurological-complications

A recent study found that the risk of neurological complications was higher in people with a positive COVID-19 test than in those who had received COVID vaccines.

IDF draft bill for haredim passes in Knesset in second attempt

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-695111

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s coalition succeeded in passing the first reading of the IDF draft bill for haredim (ultra-Orthodox) in a 51-48 vote on Monday night, two weeks after the coalition embarrassingly failed to pass it.

The bill sets out annual targets for the number of ultra-Orthodox men to be enlisted per year beginning in 2021, with very slowly increasing rates of enlistment for the annual cohort of ultra-Orthodox men turning 18.

Should enlistment targets not be met, the bill provides for a reduction in the state budget for yeshivas, money that is distributed to recognized yeshivas for the purposes of paying students a monthly stipend

Donald Trump Says He Wanted Mike Pence to Overturn the Election for First Time

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-mike-pence-overturn-election-1674410

Donald Trump has admitted that he wanted former Vice President Mike Pence to have "overturned the Election" while the 2020 results were being certified during his ceremonial role as presiding officer of the Senate.

In a statement released on Sunday night attacking bipartisan efforts to reform the Electoral Count Act, the former president suggested Pence had the power to stop the results being certified in favor of Joe Biden.

However, Trump's remarks are the first time he has described his intention as overturning the election results, which Pence "unfortunately" failed to do.

Top Cyprus court acquits UK woman of making false rape claim against Israelis

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-cyprus-court-acquits-uk-woman-of-making-false-rape-claim-against-israelis/

The Cypriot Supreme Court on Monday overturned the conviction of a young British woman for lying about being gang raped by Israeli tourists.

The unnamed woman, who was 18 at the time of her arrest, alleged that she was raped by up to 12 Israeli tourists, aged 15 to 22, in a hotel room in the seaside holiday resort of Ayia Napa in July 2019.

Defense lawyers successfully argued there had been a miscarriage of justice when a district court in January 2020 found her guilty of public mischief and handed her a suspended four-month jail term.

COVID-19: Hamsters can infect humans with the coronavirus - study

 COVID-19: Hamsters can infect humans with the coronavirus - study

The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, can be transmitted from humans to hamsters and then be transferred back to humans, according to a new study.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has spread all over the world since it began in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. Millions of people have died due to the virus, which continues to rage throughout the world.

While the exact origins of the virus are under debate, it is widely thought that it spread from animals (specifically bats) to humans in what is known as zoonotic transmission. And according to this new study, published in The Lancet in pre-print and awaiting peer-review, hamsters are one such animal that can spread the virus to humans.

Reuniting Beth with Her Sons - Campaign Launch - Live Stream

Long Covid study finds abnormality in lungs that could explain breathlessness

 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jan/29/long-covid-study-finds-abnormality-in-lungs-that-could-explain-breathlessness

Abnormalities have been identified in the lungs of long Covid patients that could offer a potential explanation for why some people experience breathlessness long after their initial infection.

The findings, from a pilot study involving 36 patients, raise the possibility that Covid may cause microscopic damage to the lungs that is not detected using routine tests.

Breathlessness is a symptom in the majority of long Covid patients, but it has been unclear whether this is linked to other factors such as changes in breathing patterns, tiredness, or something more fundamental.

Bari Weiss' decision to be 'done' with Covid is a slap in the face to health care workers

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/28/opinions/bari-weiss-bill-maher-done-with-covid-horton/index.html

In all fairness, Weiss is hardly the first person I have heard say they are done with the pandemic. I hear it almost every day from colleagues, resident doctors, nurses and medical students. Some of them are weeping when they say it. Some seem like shadows of themselves and are now under the care of psychiatrists and therapists. Many more are suffering without treatment. They have not had time to watch "Tiger King," or to listen to Spotify. They too would like to change the channel. But they have been too busy intubating, palliating, showing up day after day to do the hard things people do for one another in health care. They are anxious and depressed, without a way to "end it." It is awful. They are done. But many politicians and health care systems exploited the good, decent instincts of health care workers before the pandemic, and that phenomenon will probably never end.

‘Science is flawed’: COVID-19, ivermectin, and beyond

 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/science-is-flawed-covid-19-ivermectin-and-beyond

In early 2020, people were desperate for any kind of treatment for COVID-19. A melange of partial evidence emerged.

This included: a laboratory study showing that the drug acted as a strong antiviral in a petri dish, a study in a French nursing home where the residents took ivermectin to treat a scabies outbreak and seemed to subsequently enjoy higher survival rates, and preprint reporting that ivermectin reduced the mortality from COVID-19 by 90%.

All three were weak evidence in different ways. Single in vitro studies are very poorly predictive of eventual clinical outcomes, and the nursing home paper was an accidental and uncontrolled observational study — what if the residents had never been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in the first place?

The ivermectin story somehow got even worse from there. In late 2020, studies started popping up showing what can only be described as simply incredible results for the medication — a 90% mortality benefit or a 100% reduction in cases when used as a prophylactic.

After nearly a year, myself and other data sleuths demonstrated that many of these studies probably never happened, but the damage was well and truly done long before the first fake paper was retracted.

Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19

 https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19

Here’s What You Need to Know about Ivermectin

The FDA has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals. Ivermectin is approved for human use to treat infections caused by some parasitic worms and head lice and skin conditions like rosacea.

Currently available data do not show ivermectin is effective against COVID-19. Clinical trials assessing ivermectin tablets for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 in people are ongoing.

Taking large doses of ivermectin is dangerous.

If your health care provider writes you an ivermectin prescription, fill it through a legitimate source such as a pharmacy, and take it exactly as prescribed.

Never use medications intended for animals on yourself or other people. Animal ivermectin products are very different from those approved for humans. Use of animal ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 in humans is dangerous.

American school bans teaching of Pulitzer prize-winning Holocaust book

 https://www.thejc.com/news/world/american-school-bans-teaching-of-pulitzer-prize-winning-holocaust-book-Q27uGmT4FhGvOLwwLz6fv

A school in Tennessee has banned an award-winning book on the Holocaust from its schools, citing the use of profanity including the phrase “God Damn” and illustrations of naked women.

According to local news site, TNHoller, the vote passed unanimously as school board members lined up to criticise the book for its supposedly graphic content.

Tony Allman, a board member in McMinn county said: “Why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise or healthy… I am not denying it was horrible, brutal, and cruel. It’s like when you’re watching tv and a cuss word or nude scene comes on it would be the same movie without it. Well, this would be the same book without it…"

Mask-wearing linked to 53% cut in Covid incidence, global study finds

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/17/wearing-masks-single-most-effective-way-to-tackle-covid-study-finds

Mask-wearing is the single most effective public health measure at tackling Covid, according to the first global study of its kind, which found that the measure was linked to a 53% fall in the incidence of the disease.

Vaccines are safe and effective and saving lives around the world. But most do not confer 100% protection, most countries have not vaccinated everyone, and it is not yet known if jabs will prevent future transmission of emerging coronavirus variants.

Globally, Covid cases exceeded 250 million this month. The virus is still infecting 50 million people worldwide every 90 days due to the highly transmissible Delta variant, with thousands dying each day.

Now a systematic review and meta analysis of non-pharmaceutical interventions has found for the first time that mask wearing, social distancing and handwashing are all effective measures at curbing cases – with mask wearing the most effective.

How Effective Is a Face Mask Against COVID-19 if You're the Only One Wearing It?

 https://www.verywellhealth.com/face-mask-effectiveness-covid-5214491

Experts encourage a return to masking as the U.S. grapples with another COVID-19 surge caused by the Omicron variant.

Masks work best if everyone wears them, but they can offer some protection even when you're the only one wearing it.

Different types of mask have varying levels of effectiveness.