Worst Scenario for a School Start Yet

In the fall of 2020 and 2021, we had masks, even if some were a poor fit or made of cloth. Now we have zero mitigations. School is starting soon at a time with the highest fall case count in the states since this all started!

If you saw a parent driving with a young child unbuckled in the passenger seat, would you want to tell them the risks?? That's how I feel when parents send kids to school without masks. Covid kills more than car collisions in my area. Well-fitting N95s work to save their lives, just like seatbelts work. 

But Covid doesn't just kill. It hangs around to reappear later in a disabling form.

Keep in mind that HIV starts out feeling like a typical flu, then doesn't show up as AIDS until 10 or 15 years later or longer. Covid is similarly stealth, hiding in the body for years. I'm terrified at what things will look like by 2035 if the dangers that Covid causes doesn't get through to people.

Dr. Claudia Williams wrote, 

"The absurdity of this situation is going to be haunting me. Every single day this week I've had to be the one to break it to peopel that their GI symptom, plus or minus respiratory symptoms, are likely due to Covid even though they have seen other doctors and sometimes been to the hospital. A lot of these people just had no idea that it was even possible that the GI symptoms were related to Covid, though variants since 2020 had GI symptoms.  Most 99.9% are grateful and often thank me for taking the time to educate them and provide info and meds that will help them feel better. Completely a public health failure. I do believe that if most people were properly informed they would do the right things. It’s just too few sources saying to take precautions while to over all message from media, gov, public health and the medical system is “nah your good, just “live” your life.” Of course when I say most people it is referring to people who actually go to doctors so doesn’t represent everyone in society. . . . One of my patients had to request Covid testing was told it wasn’t likely needed and of course the patient was Covid positive. Definitely ask to be tested for Covid if you can. . . . I definitely see diverticulitis, flare up of IBS, & IBD post Covid. It’s not you, it’s that the docs are uninformed." 

From Dr. Sean Mullen: 

"Why do some people hold this belief, almost like a Trumpian view, that kids have the "best" immune system? Where does this misconception come from? Folks, let’s get this straight: A child's immune system is still developing; it’s not fully functioning at its peak. Parents: Surely, you’re aware that their brains aren’t fully developed in childhood either. This is precisely why we protect them, why we send them to school to learn, and why our consent is required for significant decisions that could impact their development. Their underdeveloped brain and nervous system are major reasons they can’t tolerate extreme heat as well as adults. So why would you think their immune system is running at its peak? Statistically, the people most likely to die from infections are the youngest and oldest among us."

And some studies discussed by Esther:

A lot of good folks are locked into a way of thinking on Covid that it’s ‘mild’ or ‘like a cold’. Some of the press and politicians have kept stating this over and over. This has been a lot of people’s experience of it, so when you are seeing many of us warning on it, many are incorrectly thinking this doesn’t apply to me. There is a lot of confusion about Covid. That’s because there has been a failure for the guidance to reflect the current research. This very much applies to everyone, yes clinically vulnerable are at greater risk of immediate severe outcomes BUT everyone is at risk of long covid, and there are many serious post infection risks. The population is steadily becoming more unwell. 

Here are the facts from this research clearly showing everyone is at risk. Also risk is cumulative (every time you catch it your risk increases of these more serious outcomes). Each infection, however seemingly mild carries risks that last years. [From this thread in which he explain that the big revelation is that the risk lasts at least three years in several organ systems even after a mild or asymptomatic infection.]

So what is long covid? Long covid here defined: [From Al-Aly: 'It is a complex, multisystem disorder that affects nearly every organ system, including the cardiovascular system, the nervous system, the endocrine system, the immune system, the reproductive system, and the gastrointestinal system.'] As you can see these outcomes/risks are not mild. WHO are currently advising this:

Rest is vital when have an infection. [Eric Topal thread: As you can see from this research these are the factors that increase your personal risk:

 

As everyone is impacted and so far from this study (Al-Aly, Topol, et al., 2024), there have been over 409 million impacted so far. by Long Covid It’s serious for our economy also. So it’s not all bad news but we need to write to MPs to ask them to start pushing for better vaccines/antivirals etc and very importantly clean air as Covid is airborne. And it’s important to avoid infections for your personal health. The least number of times you catch it the better your chances of having a healthier life.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. There's NO cure for Long Covid, so please wear a mask and send kids to school in well-fitting, high quality masks!