COVID-19

[Vocaloldfart]

Forcing some advance in medicine is the only good thing that this bug has brought, as far as I can tell. Not enough to make up for the damage it's done. 

The bug is relatively benign, the vaccine however......

[Dark Lightning]

That statement is contrary to reality.

[Recusant]

Forcing some advance in medicine is the only good thing that this bug has brought, as far as I can tell. Not enough to make up for the damage it's done. 

The bug is relatively benign, the vaccine however......

Citations needed.

[Vocaloldfart]

Forcing some advance in medicine is the only good thing that this bug has brought, as far as I can tell. Not enough to make up for the damage it's done. 

The bug is relatively benign, the vaccine however......

Citations needed.

My comment was there to for thought and contemplation.
I have researched medicine since 1983 and have formed my opinion based on my research and training.
I have my opinion, I ask all to do their research and come to a position and then debate openly.
If you need to be spoon fed by citations, you miss the point.
Sure I can supply any amount of citations (10Tb of books, journals and research papers) but they are, as gathered, mine and biased toward my present opinion.

[Recusant]

Forcing some advance in medicine is the only good thing that this bug has brought, as far as I can tell. Not enough to make up for the damage it's done. 

The bug is relatively benign, the vaccine however......

Citations needed.

Bluff and bluster

My comment was there to for thought and contemplation.
I have researched medicine since 1983 and have formed my opinion based on my research and training.
I have my opinion, I ask all to do their research and come to a position and then debate openly.
If you need to be spoon fed by citations, you miss the point.
Sure I can supply any amount of citations (10Tb of books, journals and research papers) but they are, as gathered, mine and biased toward my present opinion.

That's what I thought.

[Asmodean]

My comment was there to for thought and contemplation.

Don't want it? Don't take it. You'd be doing a disservice to the immunocompromised and a few other-such groups, but ultimately, acting in your own perceived self-interest is a privilege you likely have, even if it may come with some social caveats.

What's there to contemplate?

I have researched medicine since 1983 and have formed my opinion based on my research and training.

In which case you would have some receipts to show, yes?

I have my opinion, I ask all to do their research and come to a position and then debate openly.

Fine. Vaccines good. They help humans develop partial to full immunities to otherwise potentially debilitating or deadly diseases by introducing weakened/fractured/otherwise modified virions into the host body and thereby "training" the immune system to recognise and deal with the threat when it is not actually that threatening.

If you need to be spoon fed by citations, you miss the point.
Sure I can supply any amount of citations (10Tb of books, journals and research papers) but they are, as gathered, mine and biased toward my present opinion.

That sounds like you've formed an opinion and cherry-picked fitting evidence to support it, thus invalidating your body of research in the first place.

Quality research is one based on the evidence wherever it may take you. It's not subject to belief or bias, but it is subject to statistics.

for instance, it doesn't matter one bit if "I" believe that Mercury (tm) in this vaccine or that causes Autism (tm), because "I've" "seen perfectly normal kids go all autistic literal minutes after getting jabbed." What matters is the test parameters. Is it repeatable? Has it been successfully repeated? What was the sample size? Was it a (double-) blind study? Does correlation equal causation?

[hermes2015]

His type of "research" usually means watching YouTube videos.

[Asmodean]

Well... It may go a layer or two deeper than that, but I do suspect said research to have consisted of "listening and believing" some talking heads.

A lot of people do it that way, but then skeptics worth the name really are rather few and far between.

[Recusant]

I give Vocaloldfart more credit than that as well, but per Asmodean it raises questions if you're unable or unwilling to "show the receipts."

[Recusant]

Meanwhile, research continues. This bug has always been nasty. Yes, we've got vaccines now so it's less likely to kill you, but long COVID isn't a joke. This paper says that they think they are beginning to understand what long COVID is.

"Researchers identify viral suspects that could be fueling long COVID" | ScienceDaily

For many people living with long COVID, ongoing issues such as breathlessness, fatigue and brain fog remain difficult to explain. A team of prominent microbiologists now believes they may have uncovered an important clue.

Their view is that, for some individuals, long COVID symptoms could stem from additional infections that occur alongside SARS-CoV-2.

A review published in eLife by 17 experts, including researchers at Rutgers Health, suggests that co-infections acquired before or during a bout of COVID may help drive long-lasting symptoms.

"This is an aspect of long COVID that is not talked about a lot," said Maria Laura Gennaro, a microbiologist at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School who chaired the Microbiology Task Force for the National Institutes of Health's Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery initiative, a large-scale study of long COVID.

[. . .]

One of the strongest lines of evidence centers on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the virus that causes mononucleosis. Roughly 95 percent of adults carry EBV in a latent form that usually remains silent until an immune challenge such as COVID triggers its reactivation.

In one early study, researchers reported that two-thirds of people with long COVID showed markers of recent EBV activity, and those with more symptoms had higher antibody levels. Subsequent studies also linked EBV reactivation with well known features of long COVID, including fatigue and cognitive difficulties.

[Continues . . .]

The paper is open access:

"The role of co-infection in the pathogenesis of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and development of post-acute sequelae: A perspective" | eLife

Abstract:

A major health challenge resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is the manifestation of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). PASC (or long COVID) is a collective term used for clinical symptoms, various pathologies, and life-quality-changing functional impairment that persist for months to years after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The mechanisms underlying PASC are not understood, although advances have been made in identifying factors that may contribute to long-term pathology. Recent data have emerged, showing an association between SARS-CoV-2 viral persistence and non-SARS-CoV-2 infections (pre-existing, viral reactivation, or new infections) in facilitating or mediating PASC.

However, the heterogeneous nature and timing of co-infections have made it challenging to understand, interpret, and contextualize their contribution to PASC. Here, we summarize the impact of potential viral, bacterial, and fungal infections on SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis, with a focus on their possible roles in the development of PASC. We also provide a framework to understand the mechanisms of PASC and inform basic, translational, and clinical research initiatives, including RECOVER, a large and ongoing research initiative to understand, treat, and prevent long COVID.