hey Covid-Competent, well-informed folks! I have a favour to ask!
has anyone bookmarked a good reference for what % of SARS-CoV-2 cases are due to fomite transmission?
the US CDC was at one point saying:
each contact with a contaminated surface has less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of causing an infection [1]
but that's not a % of infections, it's per contact with contaminated surface. That's supported a few ways, eg. by a sampling that included counting touchpoints:
The estimated risk of infection from touching a contaminated surface was low (less than 5 in 10,000) by quantitative microbial risk assessment [2]
but that study didn't actually culture virus, they checked RNA levels and counted touches (and again, is per contaminated touch, not per case)
Try as I might, I can't actually find a grounded estimate of how many actual infections have been fomite-driven at any point in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
[1] https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/surface-transmission.html
[2] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7927285/
More evidence of brain damage from mild COVID-19. Previous studies tested metabolic or electrical activity separately; this one tested both together.
They found both lower metabolism **and* slower neuron firing in the same brain areas* of people with Long COVID.
significant hypometabolism in the bilateral frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, as well as in the left occipital lobe, along with predominantly frontal EEG slowing in post-COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls
the functional impact on memory was very strong:
a high incidence of subjective memory decline: 52.9% of post-COVID-19 patients scored more than 1.5 standard deviations [worse than] the normative sample on both the prospective and retrospective memory scales.
1.5 standard deviations is HUGE. That means that in a room of 101 people, lined up from best to worst memory, if person 51 in the middle gets Long COVID, they would expect to end up with the 7th worst memory in the room. From literally average to under the bottom 10%!
Both hypometabolism and changes in spectral power are indicators of underlying neuronal stress or damage
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-04815-6
discussed by:
https://mastodon.social/@MEActNOW/114785060877455028
https://kolektiva.social/@anarchademic/114797316431201508
https://disabled.social/@tomkindlon/114815026573559502
https://mastodonapp.uk/@PaulSchleifer/114797897931610492
· The biotech company Invivyd, which makes the #COVID19 monoclonal antibody Pemgarda, announced that it has launched the SPEAR Study Group to explore the drug for #LongCOVID and post-vaccine syndrome (PVS)
· A new study from Taiwan published in Pediatrics and Neonatology found about 14% of children developed Long COVID after being infected with #SarsCoV2
· A new observational study is investigating the relationship between COVID-19 and #Diabetes
https://thesicktimes.org/2025/07/08/research-updates-july-8/
@subjacentish So one paper
highlighted the impact of even just one or two mutations on qPCR-based wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.
And in the paper using Ottawa and Ontario data they specifically
identify a loss of sensitivity of the N1 assay in the period from July 10, 2022 to January 31, 2023
sequencing and allele-specific RT-qPCR revealed a high proportion of mutations [...] during the study period, both in the City of Ottawa and across the province. It is hypothesized that nucleotide mutations in the probe region, especially A28330G, led to inefficient annealing, resulting in reduction in sensitivity and accuracy of the N1 assay
Figure 3 shows how far off the estimates became https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54319-y/figures/3
N2 data wasn't always gathered; this means ON and Canadian numbers have been skewed low at times, including presumably now. I guess this is why Moriarty Lab is still saying about 1/100 Canadians actively infected despite wastewater ... well, not being available since the lowest projected point a month or two ago ... hmm
From Italy:
"identification of significant hypometabolism and EEG slowing in anterior brain regions in patients with persistent subjective cognitive decline after mild #COVID19"
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-04815-6
Image from Science for ME update
Hashtags:
@longcovid
#LongCovid #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #Covidlonghaulers #PostCovidSyndrome #longhaulers #COVIDBrain #NeuroPASC @covid19 #Coronavirus
#COVID #COVID_19 #COVIDー19 #SARSCoV2 @novid@chirp.social #novid @novid@a.gup.pe #CovidIsNotOver @auscovid19 #auscovid19
From Brazil:
Protective role of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses against vital organ related long COVID symptoms
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-04152-8
Image is from the Science for ME weekly update
Hashtags:
@longcovid
#LongCovid #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #LC #Covidlonghaulers #PostCovidSyndrome #longhaulers #COVIDBrain #NeuroPASC
@covid19 #Coronavirus
#COVID19 #COVID #COVID_19 #COVIDー19 #SARSCoV2 @novid@chirp.social #novid @novid@a.gup.pe #CovidIsNotOver
@auscovid19 #auscovid19
@ikonha is an MD, and is excited about N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) https://zeroes.ca/@ikonha/114804250543332732 for Long COVID mitigation and more
And - wow, I see why! The mechanisms of action in this paper relate to lots of LC and ME/CFS data!
You know the evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction in LC?
Mitochondrial resilience
Neurogenesis-inducing ability reduces apoptosis of mitochondria
LC persistent infection reservoirs, and re-activation of latent viruses?
Antiviral properties
Immune modulation, anti-NF-KB properties, and other unexplored mechanisms
SARS-CoV-2 is an endothelial disease?
Vascular endothelial growth factor
Inhibition of vascular permeability as seen in human keratinocytes.
Fatigue which in some cases responds to ATP donors like creatine?
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and nitric oxide (NO) production
Increased ATP production in some cells like fibroblasts in vitro. Increased nitric oxide production as demonstrated in human studies
Rapid organ or system senescence (aging)?
Some have suggested that cysteine deficiency as we age is responsible for loss of youth and loss of health and quality of life and contributes to sarcopenia
all https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8211525/ , and
Combined treatment with the α2A-adrenoceptor agonist, guanfacine, and the anti-oxidant, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduced the cognitive deficits (“brain fog”) associated with long-COVID19 in eight out of twelve patients.
from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667257X22001000
and I see https://old.reddit.com/r/RVVTF/comments/mhlxbr/nacetylcysteine_to_combat_covid19_placebo_vs_nac/ in my ancient bookmarks
I don't have time to go any deeper down this rabbit hole right now - but hopeful stuff!
#FYI #USA #MicrobeTV #TWiV #ThisWeekInVirology #DanielGriffin #VincentRacaniello #MASA #MakeAmericaSaneAgain #infectiousdiseases #vaccinate #vaccines #thimerosal #measles #RSV #covid19 #covid #sarscov2 #NB181
TWiV 1232: Clinical update week 5. July 2025
Today's bowtie of Dr. Griffin: Staphylococcus aureus
Today's motto:
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on"
A chock-full roundup from @ducky https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2025/07/04/2025-07-04-general/ - worth reading in full I feel, but some highlights:
USA (2025-06-18) reports that a Delta or pre-Delta infection was protective against further Long COVID, while an Omicron infection was not.
and
people who got an Omicron infection were about 50% more likely to get more than three persistent symptoms after their second infection than after their first.
In Italy,
the cancer rate went up from 14.3 per 1000 person-years in the years 2017–2019 to 23.1 per 1000 person-years in the period 2020–2022;
circulatory claims up 60%:
press release (2025-07-02) by an insurance company says that insurance claims for circulatory system claims have risen by 60% “post-COVID”.
practical implications from:
an interesting hypothesis: that people get infected in the nose and then later speak, generate aerosols, and breathe their own aerosols into their lungs, making their disease worse
they also did some research with Deaf people who’d been infected with COVID: the researchers interviewed them about how much they wore masks, how much they vocalized, and how severe their COVID-19 infections were. They found that the more the deaf patients wore masks, the milder their symptoms; the less they vocalized, the milder their symptoms!
And regarding H5N1,
Cambodia has been having a lot of human cases, including six in June.
SARS-CoV-2 induces Alzheimer’s disease–related amyloid-β pathology in ex vivo human retinal explants and retinal organoids
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ads5006
in vitro (ex vivo) work
In France, ONE IN SEVEN kids with symptomatic COVID-19 developed Long COVID!
These are kids who had COVID-19 once!
Of 27,537 children diagnosed with acute COVID-19, 3,888 (14.1%) developed long COVID;
93.5% had pharmacy usage, and 61.0% had medical procedures
Children who had a COVID-19 reinfection prior to their long COVID diagnosis were excluded from the study
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13696998.2025.2525002
via https://disabled.social/@tomkindlon/114792234727348278 h/t @tomkindlon
From the Netherlands:
[68Ga]FAPI PET/CT reveals increased pulmonary fibroblast activation protein expression in long COVID patients after ICU discharge
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00259-025-07376-y
Image is from the Science for ME weekly update
Hashtags:
@longcovid
#LongCovid #PASC #PwLC #postcovid #postcovid19 #LC #Covidlonghaulers #PostCovidSyndrome #longhaulers #COVIDBrain #NeuroPASC
@covid19 #Coronavirus
#COVID19 #COVID #COVID_19 #COVIDー19 #SARSCoV2 @novid@chirp.social #novid @novid@a.gup.pe #CovidIsNotOver
@auscovid19 #auscovid19
tl;dr viable viral persistence for 5 months (or maybe just bad infection control)
Fatal #SARSCoV2 Reactivation After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Severe Aplastic Anemia | Cureus
> a patient with severe aplastic anemia first developed mild COVID-19 (day 0) with negative antigen test results on day 27. Three months later (day 97), the patient underwent allo-HSCT. Two months post-transplantation (day 157, i.e., five months after the initial infection), the patient developed rapidly progressive respiratory failure and was diagnosed with severe #COVID19
H/t @atranscendedman.bsky.social
#viralPersistance #sars2
In 1987 volunteers were exposed to rhinovirus ("common cold") either by sharing air, or by sharing heavily contaminated objects.[2]
Most of the people who shared air with an infected person got sick.
None of the people who handled the heavily contaminated objects (and touched their faces!) got sick. And:
5/8 donor hands yielded culturable RV-A16 virus, while none of the recipient’s hands did [1]
[1] https://virologydownunder.com/rhinovirus-rv-transmission-by-aerosol-does-it-happen-or-is-transmission-solely-by-hand-contact-and-self-inoculation/
[2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=J+Infect+Dis+156(3)%3A442-448
h/t https://mastodon.social/@mackayim2022 via https://mastodon.social/@mackayim2022/114775415171464977
Long-term neurological and cognitive impact of #COVID19: a systematic review and meta-analysis in over 4 million patients | BMC Neurology
> The prevalence rates for the different symptoms were as follows: fatigue 43.3% (95% CI [36.1-50.9%]), memory disorders 27.8% (95% CI [20.1-37.1%]), cognitive impairment 27.1% (95% CI [20.4-34.9%]), sleep disorders 24.4% (95% CI [18.1-32.1%]), concentration impairment 23.8% (95% CI [17.2-31.9%]), headache 20.3% (95% CI [15-26.9%]), dizziness 16% (95% CI [9.5-25.7%]), stress 15.9% (95% CI [10.2-24%]), depression 14.0% (95% CI [10.1-19.2%]), anxiety 13.2% (95% CI [9.6-17.9%]), and migraine 13% (95% CI [2.2-49.8%]).
https://bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-025-04174-9
#sarscov2 #sars2
They discovered that airborne concentrations of fungal spores— but not pollen—were strongly linked to increases in flu and COVID-19 cases. When airborne concentrations of fungal spores rose, the scientists often saw a jump in infections within a few days. The models were able to predict flu and COVID-19 surges with high accuracy, particularly in the fall season, in both San Juan and Caguas. Pollen didn’t show the same connection nor prediction.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1087900
via https://drjudystone.com/coronavirus-tidbits-351-june-29-2025/
covid, help (?)