Coronavirus

[Mr._Clark]

This study (Journal pre-proof) shows that the coronavirus can directly damage kidneys. The reference to a protease inhibitor makes me wonder if the Pfizer pill might help. Given that 61 of 62 specimens were taken during autopsies, I find myself wondering how common kidney damage is in more typical COVID cases.

The NYT article (second link below) concerns a study showing that 35% of the COVID survivors in the study had kidney damage, but the study was limited.

>>>Summary
Kidney failure is frequently observed during and after COVID-19, but it remains elusive whether this is a direct effect of the virus. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 directly infects kidney cells and is associated with increased tubule-interstitial kidney fibrosis in patient autopsy samples. To study direct effects of the virus on the kidney independent of systemic effects of COVID-19, we infected human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived kidney organoids with SARS-CoV-2. Single cell RNA-sequencing indicated injury and dedifferentiation of infected cells with activation of pro-fibrotic signaling pathways. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 infection also led to increased collagen 1 protein expression in organoids. A SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor was able to ameliorate the infection of kidney cells by SARS-CoV-2. Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect kidney cells and induce cell injury with subsequent fibrosis. These data could explain both acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients and the development of chronic kidney disease in Long-COVID. . . . To study the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the kidney, we collected kidney tissue of 62 COVID-
19 patients (61 autopsy specimens and one biopsy, clinical characteristics are outlined in
Table S1).
<<< (emphasis added)

SARS-CoV-2 infects the human kidney and drives fibrosis in kidney organoids

Kidney failure is frequently observed during and after COVID-19, but it remains elusive whether this is a direct effect of the virus. Here, we report …

www.sciencedirect.com

>>>Between one and six months after becoming infected, Covid survivors were about 35 percent more likely than non-Covid patients to have kidney damage or substantial declines in kidney function, said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of the research and development service at the V.A. St. Louis Health Care System and senior author of the study. . . . The two sets of patients in the study differed, in that members of one group had all been infected with Covid and members of the other group may have had a variety of other health conditions. Experts cautioned that there were limitations to the comparisons.<<< (emphasis added)

Another Hidden Covid Risk: Lingering Kidney Problems (Published 2021)

In a study of veterans, Covid survivors were 35 percent more likely than other patients to have long-term kidney damage or declines in kidney function.

www.nytimes.com

 

[cpp]

Is this Malone guy a nut or a money maker gone far right for the $$$

 

[Mr._Clark]

Is this Malone guy a nut or a money maker gone far right for the $$$

According to an article at The Atlantic website, he sounds like a man with a big ego who craves attention, and he also has a big axe to grind. He apparently claims he is not a vaccine skeptic.

>>>To say that Malone remains bitter over this perceived mistreatment doesn’t do justice to his sense of aggrievement. He calls what happened to him “intellectual rape.” . . . Malone may keep company with vaccine skeptics, but he insists he is not one himself. His objections to the Pfizer and Moderna shots have to do mostly with their expedited approval process and with the government’s system for tracking adverse reactions. . . . Malone is not a subscriber to the more out-there conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19 vaccines . . . And yet he does routinely slip into speculation that turns out to be misleading or, as in the segment on Bannon’s show, plainly false.<<<

One thing that strikes me as being very curious is that he himself chose to get an mRNA vaccine rather than one of the other vaccines:

>>>His concerns are personal, too. Malone contracted COVID-19 in February 2020, and later got the Moderna vaccine in hopes that it would alleviate his long-haul symptoms. Now he believes the injections made his symptoms worse: He still has a cough and is dealing with hypertension and reduced stamina, among other maladies. “My body will never be the same,” he told me.<<<

This begs the question: If he's the super duper uber expert he claims to be, why didn't he recognize the risks and get a different vaccine?

The Vaccine Scientist Spreading Vaccine Misinformation

Robert Malone claims to have invented mRNA technology. Why is he trying so hard to undermine its use?

www.theatlantic.com

 

[cpp]

This begs the question: If he's the super duper uber expert he claims to be, why didn't he recognize the risks and get a different vaccine

The man is nothing more than a person looking for notoriety to give his cause some kind of boost.

 

[Swerd]

I just read a Wikipedia thumbnail of Malone.
His recent comments about the mRNA vaccines are enough to raise suspicions about his conflict of interest. He was directly involved in three pharmaceutical companies that were seeking to produce anti-coronavirus drugs.

Robert W. Malone - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

He certainly should know enough on the subject to know that his comments (below) are wrong.

His [Malone's] objections to the Pfizer and Moderna shots have to do mostly with their expedited approval process and with the government’s system for tracking adverse reactions …

See these for more background:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC297778/pdf/pnas00283-0074.pdf

https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-021-02483-w/d41586-021-02483-w.pdf

 

[j_garcia]

Grandson tested positive and we were potentially exposed. Trying to find a testing location right now after xmas and new year is about as easy as trying to climb Everest.

 

[j_garcia]

contacted my doctor last night, she responded this morning and I was able to get an appointment through them today.

 

[Swerd]

Good luck getting a test. Until you test negative, assume you are exposed.

The PCR tests are still the best test available. With the antigen tests, some are reliable and some are not. Those unreliable antigen tests produce too many false negative results. And I still haven't seen a clear answer as to which antigen tests react with the omicron strain virus and which ones don't.

 

[j_garcia]

Good luck getting a test. Until you test negative, assume you are exposed.

The PCR tests are still the best test available. With the antigen tests, some are reliable and some are not. Those unreliable antigen tests produce too many false negative results. And I still haven't seen a clear answer as to which antigen tests react with the omicron strain virus and which ones don't.

His mom did a home test on my grandson and it said negative, but his clinical test came back positive the next day. None of us have any symptoms, but we're not taking any chances. My parents and my daugher and son in law getting tested tomorrow.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Grandson tested positive and we were potentially exposed. Trying to find a testing location right now after xmas and new year is about as easy as trying to climb Everest.

The urgent care my wife works at part time, has been so packed open-to-close with people getting Covid tests, that they have stopped taking new registrations around 2PM each day just so they can close the doors on time at night. Employees working 2nd shift have to park across the street and walk across 5 lanes of traffic (2+median+3) to get to work because the parking lot is always packed.

She did that crap once; after I heard about that I ensured either myself or one of the stepkids has been taking her to work and picking her up.

 

[j_garcia]

The urgent care my wife works at part time, has been so packed open-to-close with people getting Covid tests, that they have stopped taking new registrations around 2PM each day just so they can close the doors on time at night. Employees working 2nd shift have to park across the street and walk across 5 lanes of traffic (2+median+3) to get to work because the parking lot is always packed.

She did that crap once; after I heard about that I ensured either myself or one of the stepkids has been taking her to work and picking her up.

Yep, the Urgent Care a block away I called this morning said "Yes, we take walk ins, but we're at capacity for today" at 9am. She said the line is around the building when she gets in at 7:30am.

 

[Danzilla31]

I just read a Wikipedia thumbnail of Malone.
His recent comments about the mRNA vaccines are enough to raise suspicions about his conflict of interest. He was directly involved in three pharmaceutical companies that were seeking to produce anti-coronavirus drugs.

Robert W. Malone - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

He certainly should know enough on the subject to know that his comments (below) are wrong.

See these for more background:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC297778/pdf/pnas00283-0074.pdf

https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-021-02483-w/d41586-021-02483-w.pdf

Is he the one that just got banned from Twitter? I remember reading something about that the other day.

 

[Swerd]

Is he the one that just got banned from Twitter?

Yes

 

[Mr._Clark]

There are breakthrough cases, but it's clear vaccines keep you out of the hospital:

Numbers don't lie.

https://twitter.com/Craig_A_Spencer?

 

[Mr._Clark]

https://twitter.com/Craig_A_Spencer?

Here are the doctor's comments about what he sees:

>>>Omicron symptoms by vaccine type
"Every patient I’ve seen with Covid that’s had a 3rd ‘booster’ dose has had mild symptoms. By mild I mean mostly sore throat. Lots of sore throat. Also some fatigue, maybe some muscle pain. No difficulty breathing. No shortness of breath. All a little uncomfortable, but fine," Spencer wrote.

From there, it goes downhill - slowly, though.

"Most patients I’ve seen that had 2 doses of Pfizer/Moderna still had ‘mild’ symptoms, but more than those who had received a third dose. More fatigued. More fever. More coughing. A little more miserable overall. But no shortness of breath. No difficulty breathing. Mostly fine," he said.

For those who just had the one shot of the J&J vaccine and never took a booster, the situation isn't as good.

"Most patients I’ve seen that had one dose of J&J and had Covid were worse overall. Felt horrible. Fever for a few days (or more). Weak, tired. Some shortness of breath and cough. But not one needing hospitalization. Not one needing oxygen. Not great. But not life-threatening," he tweeted.

And then there are the unvaccinated, who by all data are being hospitalized at a rate 15x or more the vaccinated.

"And almost every single patient that I’ve taken care of that needed to be admitted for Covid has been unvaccinated. Every one with profound shortness of breath. Every one whose oxygen dropped when they walked. Every one needing oxygen to breath regularly," he said.

Spencer's recommendations were straightforward -- get vaccinated if you haven't, get a second dose of something else if you've had one J&J shot, and if you're eligible, get a booster.

"So no matter your political affiliation, or thoughts on masks, or where you live in this country, as an ER doctor you’d trust with your life if you rolled into my emergency room at 3am, I promise you that you’d rather face the oncoming Omicron wave vaccinated," Spencer concluded.<<<

How Does Omicron Affect the Fully Vaccinated? Here's What This NYC ER Doctor Says

A growing body of scientific evidence suggests the omicron variant of COVID-19 is less severe than the delta variant — but according to one prominent New York City emergency room physician, it all depends on what shots you’ve had. Omicron is surging out of control in the city, with the rolling...

www.nbcnewyork.com

 

[Old Onkyo]

We just had the daughter and SIL visit for the holiday. I agreed to this in September and wanted to cancel the visit due to the Omnicrom variant. I think it is one of the stupidest things I have ever done. All parties vaccinated and booster shots. We did not engage anyone else. It has been a week since they left and all parties are healthy.

I am trying to avoid the public for the next week or two. I know a guy who got Covid 2 weeks ago, cleared medical protocols via negative tests, and went to the ER yesterday presenting symptoms of heart problems. (Chest pain, numbness in the left arm)

He was advised that these symptoms were the results of having had Covid. He is in his 20’s. As healthy as they come.

 

[TLS Guy]

We just had the daughter and SIL visit for the holiday. I agreed to this in September and wanted to cancel the visit due to the Omnicrom variant. I think it is one of the stupidest things I have ever done. All parties vaccinated and booster shots. We did not engage anyone else. It has been a week since they left and all parties are healthy.

I am trying to avoid the public for the next week or two. I know a guy who got Covid 2 weeks ago, cleared medical protocols via negative tests, and went to the ER yesterday presenting symptoms of heart problems. (Chest pain, numbness in the left arm)

He was advised that these symptoms were the results of having had Covid. He is in his 20’s. As healthy as they come.

You followed protocol and your family is OK, so why was it one of the stupidest things you have ever done? It worked out for you and your family.

The young 20 year old man, most likely has pericarditis or myocarditis. That has a predilection for young males after infection and to some extent after vaccination, but more likely after infection.

This omicron variant is highly infectious, and everyone will get exposed. You just need to make sure that you are fully vaccinated and boosted, so if you get a breakthrough infection, that many will, it will far more likely than not be mild. Since this variant is so infectious a large number of the unvaccinated will get significantly ill, and more than a few will die. I don't know what more we can do to lead them away from their folly.

Clearly the vaccines need adjustment for omicron, as it is not feasible to boost every six months let alone three to four. Sir Andrew Pollard pointed this out yesterday.

Our biggest risk ahead it more variants with increasing vaccine escape. That is why a safe and reliable polyvalent vaccine can not come soon enough.

The current vaccines have made us all enormously safer, and saved millions of lives, but unfortunately they are not a knockout punch.

 

[highfigh]

I really would like them to err more on the side of safety- if they had issued this sooner, I would have gotten my booster and likely prevented being infected. The last I saw, Pfizer effectiveness drops to about 15% around 6 months after second jab.

U.S. CDC recommends five-month gap for Pfizer COVID-19 booster dose

The move follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision on Monday to reduce the interval for the booster dose and authorize the use of a third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years.. The CDC has also recommended that moderately or severely immunocompromised...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Trell]

I really would like them to err more on the side of safety- if they had issued this sooner, I would have gotten my booster and likely prevented being infected. The last I saw, Pfizer effectiveness drops to about 15% around 6 months after second jab.

U.S. CDC recommends five-month gap for Pfizer COVID-19 booster dose

The move follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision on Monday to reduce the interval for the booster dose and authorize the use of a third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years.. The CDC has also recommended that moderately or severely immunocompromised...

www.yahoo.com

I'll get my third dose tomorrow on the day six month after the second one. My two first doses was Pfizer but I don't know what I'll get tomorrow.

 

[Mr._Clark]

I really would like them to err more on the side of safety- if they had issued this sooner, I would have gotten my booster and likely prevented being infected. The last I saw, Pfizer effectiveness drops to about 15% around 6 months after second jab.

U.S. CDC recommends five-month gap for Pfizer COVID-19 booster dose

The move follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision on Monday to reduce the interval for the booster dose and authorize the use of a third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years.. The CDC has also recommended that moderately or severely immunocompromised...

www.yahoo.com

How are doing with it? There is of course no need to respond if you'd rather not say.

Hopefully the first 2 are helping somewhat.