Coronamonomania Lives Forever, Part 135

Two years too late, the FDA is now telling people to treat CV-19 like the flu; it is just going to be here, people are going to get infected and some will get sick.  It is a pathetic joke that it took so long to come to this obvious realization.

You may have read about the recent string of hepatitis cases in children, which may be linked to adenovirus, another common respiratory pathogen.  These cases and a lot of illnesses being reported in adults in children are due to an immune deficit created by forced isolation and excessive attempts to sanitize.  Our immune systems need constant challenge to stay in top shape.  This is especially true for children, whose immune systems are developing.  It was entirely foreseeable that the single-minded obsession with suppressing coronavirus would cause other health problems, which in total are worse for the public health than CV-19 has been.  But our “experts” just ignored that.  So expect more children to die from things like hepatitis, because for two years they have been deprived of normal interactions with other children and with adults.

And here is more cheery news in research from the National Bureau of Economic Research.  As you would expect, not only was there no “learning” in remote learning, but the gap in education among minorities and the poor widened as a result of “virtual” instruction, which was virtually worthless.  (NBER Study)

More good news on lockdowns and the terror campaign–social isolation, especially among older adults, led to poorer mental health and outcomes.  Also completely predictable.  This isolation led to poorer physical health as well as mental health concerns.  Tragic and anger-inducing.  (Comm. Fund Rpt.)

After my recent post on boosters, here is another study from Israel, which focuses on protection of 3rd and 4th doses against serious disease following Omicron infection.  At first glance it appears to show strong and durable protection from these doses in regard to serious disease.  But the follow-up period is fairly short and the supposed protection against Omicron may be as much related to the lesser overall severity of Omicron as to the effect of a third and fourth dose.  And there is no adjustment for prior infection levels among any of the groups.  (Medrxiv Paper)

This study examined the duration of antibody levels after infection with CV-19.  It was conducted in Texas as a long-term longitudinal study on persons who had been infected.  Antibody levels to nucleocapsid protein were measured every three months.  The antibody levels tended to increase rapidly over the first 100 days or so following infection, then plateau or decline slightly.  Some factors associated with having higher levels of antibodies were increasing age (likely associated with risk for more serious disease), being more overweight (the same association) and being symptomatic.  Smoking was linked to decreased levels.  The research also suggests that the antibody levels remain detectable for at least 500 days. Once again, we see evidence that infection induces better adaptive immunity than does vaccination.  (JID Paper)

Obesity is a primary risk factor for serious CV-19 disease.  So it isn’t surprising that research is also finding that obese persons have a different and less protective reaction after vaccination against the virus, as this reasearch indicates.  (UPI Story)

Some people still are obsessed with VAERS and all the deaths related to the vaccines that are supposedly being reported.  I am tired of explaining how worthless VAERS is, especially in this epidemic.  And I am tired of doing basic math for people to try and show that in any given period of time, X number of Americans die and so just by the odds a certain number will die following vaccination.  This study makes that point and shows that the number of supposed vaccine related deaths reported to VAERS is lower than the expected all-cause mortality in the vaxed population.  Not every death of a vaxed person may be reported to VAERS, but that is exactly my point, this is a worthless system, it is both over-reported and under-reported, there is no quality control on reports, and when they are investigated, 99.9% of reported events have nothing to do with the vaccine.  But I don’t expect the anti-vaxers to have any interest in the truth.  (Medrxiv Paper)

Here is how poorly even boosters have performed during the Omicron era.  This is a small study that followed about 40 vaxed and boosted persons.  20% reported confirmed infections following the booster and another 37% had N antibodies, indicating a likely asymptomatic infections.  So well over 50% still were infected by Omicron.  Those who were infected had higher overall antibody levels than did those persons who remained uninfected. (Medrxiv Paper)

This study from a university campus showed a very modest protective effective against Omicron from a booster, with the effect being less among students, who likely have higher contact rates.  And the study had a short followup period, so did not catch the usual drop-off in effectiveness after a few weeks.  (Medrxiv Paper)