Categories
News

If we’ve all been jabbed and millions have had the virus at least once – why are so many of us being poleaxed by a bout of Covid? – The Mail on Sunday

‘We’d been quite careful for most of the pandemic, wearing masks and avoiding many big events. But I was pretty confident that, if I did get it, I would be fine because I’d had my jabs. But I couldn’t get out of bed for days and it took almost a month for me to fully recover.’

http://archive.today/2022.08.14-064703/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11108521/Covid-19-weve-jabbed-poleaxed-virus.html

Categories
Publications

Monkeypox – NHS

Monkeypox is a rare infection that’s mainly spread by wild animals in parts of west or central Africa. The risk of catching it in the UK is low.

Treatment for monkeypox aims to relieve symptoms. The illness is usually mild and most people recover in 2 to 4 weeks.

https://web.archive.org/web/20220527074847/https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/monkeypox/

Categories
News

Why ‘long Covid’ may not actually be to blame for fatigue in children: Tell-tale symptoms are JUST as common in youngsters who’ve never had the virus, official data shows – Daily Mail

Long Covid could be being drastically overreported in children, an official report suggests. 

The Office for National Statistics said only one in 100 primary-aged pupils actually have the condition, despite half of parents reporting at least one of its symptoms.

Professor Russell Viner, a member of SAGE and child health expert, said it showed ‘just how common tiredness and headaches are in children’.

The report showed that 47.5 per cent of parents said their child was still battling at least one symptom of the virus 12 weeks later.

But almost the same amount (46.6 per cent) had similar symptoms despite never having Covid. Most common symptoms were a sore throat, lost voice, coughs and shortness of breath.

The ONS estimated that fewer than one in 40 secondary pupils  in the UK have long Covid.

https://web.archive.org/web/20220302101742/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10563767/Primary-school-childrens-long-Covid-symptoms-not-cause-virus.html

Categories
Alternative Media Opinion

Who Do You Trust If You Can’t Trust the Science? — Mythbusting Whether Flu Was Rebranded as Covid

One of the checks and balances on rampant bad scientific research is to continuously assess how new ideas fit into the framework of the bigger picture. A new piece of information may seem perfectly reasonable and well-documented, but the domino effect of its implications gives you another way to test its validity. When multiple lines of seemingly rock-solid evidence contradict one another, that’s a good sign that something is wrong, even if you don’t yet know why. Whenever a thread seems out of place, it’s time to pull on that thread until you can figure out what exactly is going on.

…”Trusting the science” is not (and never has been) about trusting results or trusting experts. Trusting the scientists is what got us into this mess. For science to function properly, we must NOT trust the scientists. Instead, we must trust in the messy self-correcting process that allows truth to boil to the surface even if every participant in that process is flawed.

Science is the belief in the ignorance of the Experts” 
— 
Richard P. Feynman

Science is the relentless competition between measurable pieces of evidence, the ruthless gauntlet of debate, the willingness to question even the most “obvious” of assumptions, and the humbleness to test and retest any and all assumptions against hard evidence, most especially when those assumptions are our own. 

https://www.juliusruechel.com/2022/01/who-do-you-trust-if-you-cant-trust.html

Categories
News

Omicron symptoms: What to look out for from new Covid variant – The Independent

It is very hard to tell the difference between Covid and a cold without testing

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, if you got a sniffle and a headache, you might dismiss it as an ordinary cold and carry on as normal, even if you felt a little rough around the edges. But during cold and flu season, how can you be sure it’s a cold and not the coronavirus?

The common cold is caused by a different strain of virus to Covid-19. But with the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant often causing mild symptoms, such as stuffy nose, sore head and sore throat, it is very hard to tell the difference without testing.

http://archive.today/2021.12.23-110440/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/omicron-symptoms-covid-variant-new-b1981229.html

Categories
News

Omicron: Half of colds will be Covid, warn UK researchers – BBC

The Zoe Covid study team has been tracking the pandemic using feedback from the general public, and estimates half of people with cold-like symptoms actually have Covid.

They describe an “explosion” of Covid cases over the last week, driven by the new Omicron variant.

http://archive.today/2021.12.24-093600/https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59768366

Categories
News

Vaccine ‘side-effects’ might actually be Covid, study warns – RT

Early Covid-19 symptoms mirror vaccine side effects, according to a recent study that warns people who suffer headaches, fatigue, or fever after being jabbed to assume they have been infected, get tested, and isolate themselves.

The findings, published last week in the eClinical Medicine journal, show there is no way to tell if the symptoms are from the disease or an adverse reaction to the shot unless a screening test is taken. Researchers at King’s College London have raised concerns that the recently vaccinated could be inadvertently spreading the virus, thinking their symptoms were from the jab.

http://archive.today/2021.12.07-212021/https://www.rt.com/uk/542482-vaccine-side-effects-covid-symptoms/

Categories
News

Majority of England’s Omicron cases ARE double-vaccinated: Health chiefs reveal 55% of those who tested positive for super-strain had both jabs amid fears variant can dodge current shots – Daily Mail

Data on confirmed Covid cases in England show how the Omicron variant is already taking hold in the country

Proportion of confirmed positive tests that didn’t detect the spike protein increased from 0.1% to 0.3%

One scientist said it equates around 60 more cases with hallmark than usual, suggesting Omicron infections

Comes as R rate spirals from less than one to 3.5 in South Africa’s Omicron epicentre Gauteng province 

Lead UK epidemiologist says Omicron infections likely appear mild because of immunity from past infections 

WHO officials suggested on Thursday that Covid cases were milder in those who caught the Omicron strain 

http://archive.today/2021.12.03-184133/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10271463/First-sign-Omicon-spreading-Britain-Chart-shows-uptick-CASES-super-variant-hallmarks.html

Categories
News Videos

Dr Angelique Coetzee explains how she became aware of the Omicron coronavirus variant – BBC

Dr. Angelique Coetzee, the South African doctor who Omicron variant, says the symptoms are extremely mild.

Categories
News Videos

Omicron variant symptoms ‘extremely mild’, says doctor who discovered it – The Metro, BBC

The South African doctor who discovered the Omicron variant has suggested the UK may be panicking unnecessarily about the new Covid strain.

Dr Angelique Coetzee said that patients had been presenting with ‘extremely mild’ symptoms in her country, though the population there is significantly younger than in the UK.

The chair of the South African Medical Association suspects the variant is already widely in the UK but added she had not seen any confirmed cases admitted to hospital – adding that other colleagues had seen the ‘same picture’.

…She listed symptoms of Omicron as extreme tiredness, headaches and a scratchy cough – but not a loss of smell or taste.

http://archive.today/2021.11.28-151539/https://metro.co.uk/2021/11/28/omicron-variant-symptoms-extremely-mild-says-doctor-who-discovered-it-15677135/

Categories
Opinion

Is Long Covid a myth? – Spiked

So, it seems that Long Covid is not as widespread as we were told it was. More importantly – and, yes, this is the more difficult thing to discuss – maybe Long Covid is not as real as we were told it was, either. Maybe the fairly typical problems that a minority of people experience after a virus were, in this case, unjustifiably blown up into a whole new sickness. Alongside examining the measurable, physical prevalence of long-lasting symptoms in people who have been infected with Covid – something it is very important for society to do – we must also analyse the cultural components to Long Covid. How much did the culture of fear around Long Covid help to convince people that they had it? And did a broader culture of victimhood likewise help to coax people to self-identify as suffering from this new, seemingly fascinating ailment, and even to embrace Long Covid as a kind of identity?

http://archive.today/2021.09.19-082125/https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/09/17/is-long-covid-a-myth/

Categories
News

Debunked, the myth of asymptomatic Covid transmission – The Conservative Woman

The concern that SARS-CoV-2 could be spread by people without symptoms originally came from a single case report. It was alleged that an asymptomatic woman from China had spread the virus to 16 other contacts in Germany. Later reports showed that, at the time of contact, this woman was taking medication for flu-like symptoms, invalidating the evidence provided for the theory of asymptomatic transmission. As with other common respiratory viruses, SARS-CoV-2 spreads by being exhaled, coughed or sneezed into the air. The largest droplets fall quickly and settle on the ground whilst the most lightweight particles, known as aerosols, may remain suspended in the air for days. Once the virus is present in the environment, it spreads by finding its way into the respiratory tract of new hosts in a large enough quantity (known as the ‘viral load’ or ‘infectious dose’) to infect them. The theory of fomite transmission (touching contaminated surfaces and then touching the face) is not supported by scientific evidence.

 …In asymptomatic individuals, the viral load is typically very low and the infectious period is also short in duration. They may still exhale virus particles, which another person may encounter. However, the overall likelihood of transmitting the disease to others is negligible. Thus asymptomatic cases are not the major drivers of epidemics. As Dr Anthony Fauci of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases stated in March 2020: ‘In all the history of respiratory-borne viruses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks. The driver of outbreaks is always a symptomatic person.’ 

Categories
News

More than HALF of people who test positive for Covid have no symptoms – but fatigue is still most common sign, official data shows – Daily Mail

More than half of people who test positive for Covid in the UK suffer no symptoms, official figures revealed today.

Office for National Statistics data showed 53 per cent of those diagnosed with the virus said they had no warning signs — including a fever or cough. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9449319/More-HALF-people-test-positive-Covid-no-symptoms.html

Categories
News

Can you still transmit Covid-19 after vaccination? – BBC Future

There’s no evidence that any of the current Covid-19 vaccines can completely stop people from being infected – and this has implications for our prospects of achieving herd immunity

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210203-why-vaccinated-people-may-still-be-able-to-spread-covid-19rticle/20210203-why-vaccinated-people-may-still-be-able-to-spread-covid-19

Categories
Publications

COVID-19: management of staff and exposed patients or residents in health and social care settings – GOV.uk

Immunocompetent staff, patients and residents who have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR should be exempt from routine re-testing by PCR or LFD antigen tests (for example, repeated whole setting screening or screening prior to hospital discharge) within a period of 90 days from their initial illness onset or test (if asymptomatic) unless they develop new COVID-19 symptoms. This is because fragments of inactive virus can be persistently detected by PCR in respiratory tract samples following infection – long after a person has completed their isolation period and is no longer infectious.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-management-of-exposed-healthcare-workers-and-patients-in-hospital-settings/covid-19-management-of-exposed-healthcare-workers-and-patients-in-hospital-settings#section6

Categories
Publications

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children and Their Parents in Southwest Germany – JAMA Pediatrics

The low seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in young children in this study may indicate that they do not play a key role in SARS-CoV-2 spreading during the current pandemic.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2775656

Categories
News

Children did NOT play a key role in spreading coronavirus during the first wave of the pandemic and are ‘unlikely’ to have boosted infection numbers, study finds – Daily Mail

  • German researchers enrolled nearly 2,500 parents and their children in a study 
  • Found three times as many adults had coronavirus antibodies than children
  • Data also shows a previously infected adult and an uninfected child was 4.3 times more common than a previously infected child and an uninfected parent

Children are unlikely to have played a significant role in the spread of coronavirus during the first wave last year, a study shows.

Throughout the pandemic it has become increasingly evident children are less affected by Covid-19; symptoms, severe disease and death figures in children are all much lower than would be expected when compared to the rest of the population. 

Figures from Public Health England (PHE) show the current risk of dying from coronavirus if infected is 1,513 per 100,000 people for over-80s, but for children aged five to nine, this is just 0.1 per 100,000. 

https://web.archive.org/web/20210122182806/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9176751/Children-NOT-play-key-role-spreading-coronavirus.html

Categories
Opinion

PCR-based COVID testing has failed and is not a proper basis to lockdown the nation, let alone decide on tiers for restrictions – Mike Yeadon, Lockdown Sceptics

Briefing paper for MPs authored by:

  • Clare Craig BM BCh FRCPath
  • Jonathan Engler MBChB LLB
  • Mike Yeadon BSc Hons (Biochem-tox) PhD (Pharmacol)
  • Christian McNeill LL.B and Dip LP

Stop mass-testing using PCR in the UK and replace with Lateral Flow Tests where required. If we are correct, this single measure alone will cause a sudden drop in “cases” (as seen in Liverpool) and allow the UK to return to normal life within weeks.

Other recommendations as detailed later in this document. It should be noted that legal cases and technical challenges to PC

https://lockdownsceptics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MP-briefing-26-Nov-2020.pdf

Categories
Visitor Contributions

The SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

In the interest of public debate, we allow visitors to share opinions, experiences and research that may be of value to others. This is a visitor contribution from our Discussions page.

The views expressed are those of the individual posters themselves. Please read our Comments and contributions disclaimer.

Author

George Michael

  • Credentials: Physics graduate, University College London (UCL); Senior Research Analyst
  • Contact: LinkedIn

The SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world at a horrific scale, and people are trying to form their own opinions — rightly so — on topics ranging from disease severity to government policy. However, the general public are not exposed to a consistent flow of reliable information, so many are suffering from fear, confusion, and isolation, exacerbated by extreme differences in opinion on how seriously any aspect of the pandemic should be taken. These are the problems that this report aims to address.

Read the full article on Medium: The SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Categories
News

Lungs damaged by coronavirus can repair themselves in three months – The Telegraph

Lungs can repair themselves after a serious bout of coronavirus in just three months, a new study has revealed, raising hope patients will not be living with debilitating symptoms for years on end.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/06/lungs-damaged-coronavirus-can-repair-three-months/