Category: COVID
Severe COVID-19 increases the risk of schizophrenia
(Psychiatry Research) The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 invades the central nervous system, impacting the mental health of COVID-19 patients. We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to assess the potential causal effects of COVID-19 on schizophrenia. Our analysis indicated that genetic liability to hospitalized COVID-19 was associated with an increased risk for schizophrenia (OR: 1.11, 95% CI: […]
Jan 3, 2023
How deadly will China’s covid surge get?
(Washington Post) How fast is the virus spreading? How long will the surge last? Will it spawn a new variant? Experts weigh in on what the science can reveal. When China ended the drastic lockdowns and restrictions that were in place for the past three years, it triggered a surge of cases and deaths in […]
Jan 3, 2023
EU Moves Toward Requiring Covid Tests for Passengers From China
(Bloomberg) The European Union is moving toward an approach to the rampant Covid outbreak in China that may include masks and pre-flight testing requirements on flights from the country. EU health advisers agreed Tuesday on a draft opinion that includes masking recommendations and increased wastewater monitoring, while also suggesting a discussion on Covid testing, according […]
Jan 3, 2023
China media plays down COVID severity as WHO seeks detail on variants
(Reuters) State media in China played down the severity of a surge of COVID-19 infections ahead of a briefing on Tuesday by its scientists to the World Health Organization, which was hoping for a “detailed discussion” on the evolution of the virus. China’s abrupt U-turn on COVID controls on Dec. 7, as well as the […]
Jan 3, 2023
Bodies Pile Up in China as Covid Surge Overwhelms Crematoriums
(Bloomberg) For five days the elderly Chinese lady’s corpse lay decomposing in the Shanghai house she shared with her family before a hearse finally arrived to take away her remains. “We’re lucky it’s the cold winter time,” a relative said last week at Shanghai’s Longhua Funeral Home, recounting the ordeal as the family waited their […]
Jan 3, 2023
The Relationship Between Chronic Viral Infection and Long COVID
(NIH) In a small study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), researchers found that chronic viral infections may influence the likelihood of someone developing Long COVID. They also found that different chronic infections were associated with the development of different Long COVID symptoms. Some viruses cause underlying chronic infections. These viruses […]
Dec 29, 2022
COVID Testing Company Missed Nearly All Positive Cases
(MedPageToday) Northshore Clinical Labs’ PCR test was ultimately found to have missed 96% of positive COVID-19 cases on a university campus in Nevada last year, but early concerns raised by state epidemiologists went unheeded as the company aggressively pursued government customers. When students from a Nevada school district began receiving conflicting test results from their […]
Dec 28, 2022
U.S. to impose new coronavirus testing requirements for travelers from China
(Washington Post) U.S. health officials Wednesday announced new testing requirements for travelers from China, a decision based in part on concerns about the lack of data coming out of that nation, which is lifting stringent zero-covid policies even as it reduces testing and reporting, making it harder for officials to identify new variants. The requirement […]
Dec 28, 2022
After years with little covid, videos show China is now getting hit hard
(Washington Post) [link to video here] Emergency departments are overflowing, with patients sleeping in hallways until they can be evaluatedor taken to a hospital room. In at least one hospital, half of doctors and nurses were absent because they had tested positive for covid. These and other alarming scenes in China’s medical facilities have been […]
Dec 27, 2022
Scientists have a theory on covid loss of smell: Damage to nasal cells
(Washington Post) Persistent loss of smell has left some covid-19 survivors yearning for the scent of their freshly bathed childor a waft of their once-favorite meal. It’s left others inured to the stink of garbage and accidentally drinking spoiled milk. “Anosmia,” as experts call it, is one of long covid’s strangest symptoms — and researchers may be one […]
Dec 27, 2022