News from the USA, United States of America

I know recordings from today’s webinars should be up in the next week(s), but sharing some screenshots if helpful for anyone with wanting to catch or view in the meantime from today. If any that tuned in want to share any thoughts, other screenshots I missed, etc please feel free to share.

RECOVER Sleep & Energize webinar feat Dr. Bateman (and Betsy Ladyzhets covered a bit)

Tufts CTSI: 'a virtual briefing on Long COVID in Massachusetts’

Tae Hwan Chung, M.D., Director, Johns Hopkins, Presents on POTS & LC (wasn't able to tune in long for this one, will have to watch recording)

edit:
Slide presentation available (68 slides) for Massachusetts: “Long COVID and Health Equity in the Commonwealth: Moving to Policy Solutions.

https://repmindydomb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/6.25.24-Long-Covid-pt-2-full-presentation.pdf

 

(not to overdue it, last one based on timing - with his book tour he may be aiming to raise awareness in this space and [possibly?] advocate for, I suspect or wonder)

Short clip from Dr. Fauci, 6/25/24 with 'The 92nd Street Y, New York'

'There's a lot of work now that's giving us some insight into what the pathogenic mechanism of Long COVID [is]. It's a real thing. These are not crazy people. This is a real thing. People who are athletic and were able to run marathons who have real trouble just jogging around the block.

I would say months, but it might be years - that we really get our arms around it and be able to intervene in a way to counter whatever that mechanism is that's causing Long COVID."

 

Daily Hampshire Gazette: 'The lingering effects of long COVID: Domb hosts second briefing on the topic'

"Domb called the virtual briefing — the second such gathering this year — to hear what public health officials and health care administrators had to say about the lingering effects of long COVID on Massachusetts residents and what the state could do to address inequalities that result from it."

McCray also cited statistics on the ongoing labor shortage and that more than half of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings, problems McCray said have been exacerbated by long COVID.

'“Employers need to understand long COVID, our unions need to understand long COVID, what it is and how it could be impacting workers. School districts need to understand long COVID because children can also have long COVID.”

 

90-minute recording from yesterday's "Legislative Briefing: Long COVID & Health Equity, Part 2: Moving to Policy Solutions, 06.25.24" with Rep. Domb of Massachusetts.

 

(a 'way back Wednesday' throwback) The BMJ podcast interview, 9/18/20: "Anthony Fauci - on..Long COVID.."

Fauci: "We're learning week by week & month by month about this disease...we need to pay attention, we're starting to see things that are what we call emerging information. Clearly there are people who when they recover...virologically, all of a sudden you look at how long it takes for them to get back to normal. The more you look at it, there are some people who go for a significant period of time with myalgias, fatigue, what they refer to as brain fog - an inability to concentrate.."

 

2/1/24: 2024 Whittington Lecture at Georgetown with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Pandemic Preparedness and Response: Lessons from COVID-19

(39th min) "..finally, there's something we have not seen with other viral infections and that's the post-acute sequelae often referred to as Long COVID...."



But we do and have seen it with other viral infections ..... is Fauci making out that Long Covid is the first and only?

 

University of Missouri-St. Louis: “MIMH’s Precision Health Research team studying effects of COVID infection in HIV patients, with implications for wider population”

'an estimated 30% of cases, still leading to symptoms such as fatigue, brain fogginess or post-exertional malaise that can persist for weeks, months or even years as part of a chronic condition known as “Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (“PASC”), also referred to as “long COVID.”'

“Right now, clinicians don’t have a tool – a clinical aid – to help identify whether or not patients are at risk for having long-term problems,” said Robert Paul, the director of the Missouri Institute of Mental Health at the University of Missouri–St. Louis

"Paul is hoping a pair of research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health that are currently being undertaken by MIMH’s Precision Health Research team – alongside experts in neurology at Yale University School of Medicine and infectious disease at the U.S. Military HIV Research Program and Chulalongkorn Medical School in Bangkok, Thailand – might help increase understanding of how the virus works in the human brain."

'Paul and his team have been collaborating with Dr. Serena Spudich, co-director of the Yale University School of Medicine’s Center for Brain & Mind Health and the division chief for neurological infections and global neurology, on a $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health titled “Longitudinal determination of nervous system consequences of SARS-CoV-2 in virologically suppressed people with HIV-1 treated in early infection.” Nearly $700,000 of that funding has been directed to UMSL, with Paul serving as the co-principal investigator.'

'Paul and his team are also part of an international research team, led by Dr. Trevor Crowell, the director of the Clinical Research Directorate at the Military HIV Research Program..this second NIMH-sponsored study is supported by a total grant of $3,822,251.'

'Paul’s team brings particular expertise in using neuroimaging to quantify and visualize damage caused by HIV and COVID-19 on brain structure and function'

'Paul and his collaborators are interested in trying to learn whether COVID-19 also establishes early viral reservoirs in the brain or synergizes with HIV-related viral or immune mechanisms to increase the risk of long COVID-19, but now that remains unknown.'

 

House of Representative, Judiciary Committee (6/26): 'Follow the Science?: Oversight of the Biden Covid-19 Administrative State Response'

Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY): 'The Microvascular Research Foundation works to develop effective research-based treatment protocols for patients suffering from Long COVID."

Dr. Jordan Vaughn: "Though often called Long COVID, is the other thing I want to talk about. It's really the devastating...it's changing the landscape of a lot of the medical disciplines. Cardiologists are seeing it, the neurologists are seeing it - they really don't know what to do with it since 2022."

Dr. Andrew Tobias Pavia MD, Department of Pediatrics University of Utah School of Medicine: " they also reduce the risk of Long COVID and multi-stem inflammatory syndrome, or MISC, which is a very serious and potentially lethal complication that affects children after infection covid-19.."

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA): "I want to talk about Long COVID because it is a real issue. It continues to impact millions of Americans.."

Dr. Pavia: "...being vaccinated reduces your chance of Long COVID. Even if you have a breakthrough infection, it probably is because it prevents a virus from establishing reservoirs in different parts of the body and leading to permanent damage - but that science is evolving. We don't fully understand Long COVID yet and it's a critical need.

Rep. Jayapal: "are there recommendations for what we need to do to address Long COVID?"

Pavia: "We clearly need science that understands the basic mechanisms and we need funding for trials of possible interventions, because so far and while we're making progress on the science front, we tragically we don't have any really effective treatments yet."

 

Weekly Pod with Jon Stewart, 6/27/24:

"...the long COVID community, that's a really interesting one - because there are, from what I'm understanding, and I, unfortunately I'm not very well versed in all that. But like millions, we're talking about millions of people - that have residual effects from getting these infections and have been debilitated. I mean, that's there's no question there. And it doesn't seem to be, you know, progress and research, I assume is glacially slow. And who knows if they're even studying the correct thing. So that'll be really interesting to get into."

Jon Stewart: "keep those comments coming on the socials"

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zDxDPCr8wiiJKmbxa7HmP?si=p_kKyulrRcSakJybqvornQ

Seems apt timing to share on his advocacy in certain causes previously: "How Jon Stewart Became a Fierce Advocate for 9/11 Responders"

 

Wait--Patrick mentioned me? This was recently?

 

@dave30th mentioned in this talk from 6/19 (30-min podcast with Rachel) https://archive.ph/L5C4z

 

Thanks for letting me know!

 

Akron Children's: '...Dr. Cohen is advancing treatment in mitochondrial medicine to treat patients..'

'When we look at causes of diseases..possibly even long COVID, it comes down to the mitochondria just don’t seem to be working properly..'

'Akron Children’s Dr. Bruce Cohen is considered one of the world’s leading experts in mitochondrial diseases thanks to his dedication to uncover treatments for patients.'

Tulane University: "Alumni spotlight: Research, service define graduate’s Tulane experience"

'Murugesan has worked in Hoerger’s lab since July 2021..assisting Hoerger on his research around long COVID..that research evolved into an independent study on long COVID and the symptom of brain fog (and other cognitive effects),” said Murugesan"

 

Nature: Exploring the role of the gut microbiome in long COVID in young people

'Pediatric gastroenterologist Suchitra Hourigan at the National Institute of Health in Maryland, US, and trainee Mickayla Bacorn will use their Global Grant for Gut Health to examine gut microbiome changes in children and young adults with long COVID as well as attempt to pinpoint novel therapeutic targets for the condition.'

'We hypothesize that adverse long-term COVID-19 outcomes in children may be partially mediated by the gut microbiome and the extent to which it is disrupted by the infection and after the infection.'

'We will use shotgun metagenomic sequencing to investigate the microbiome in each stool sample. This is a deep sequencing technique that will enable us to comprehensively examine all the genes in all microorganisms in each sample'

'We will examine more than 7,000 circulating proteins in the blood samples using state-of-the-art assay technology.'

'Additionally, the knowledge gained in our project may have broader applications, providing insights into other pediatric viral infections that have similar long-term effects.'

"Suchitra (Suchi) Hourigan received her medical degree from the University of Oxford in the UK. Suchitra joined the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2021."

 

“When they’ve finished with it”! That made me giggle.

 

Hey I'm not even using mine so I probably qualify on that! It's mostly just slushing around drooling on itself.

Not in the US, though.

 

Maybe try the post office?

 

(shared in other thread too, mods feel free to keep or condense as you wish)

STAT News: '‘Visionary’ study finds inflammation, evidence of Covid virus years after infection"

'In people with long Covid symptoms, like brain fog and fatigue, the study found the gut wall and spinal cord lit up..'

“The data are striking," said Akiko Iwasaki, a professor of immunobiology and long Covid researcher at Yale University.

"The findings also suggest a need for more aggressive evaluation of immunomodulating therapies, and treatments that target leftover virus."

“I can now see with my own eyes the kind of dysfunction going on throughout my own body,” said Spier, who created a website for long Covid patients to more easily find clinical trials near them."

"..Peluso and Vanbrocklin said imaging could be a major tool in figuring out long Covid."

*******
Peluso paper now published - thread here
Multimodal Molecular Imaging Reveals Tissue-Based T Cell Activation and Viral RNA Persistence for Up to Two Years Following COVID-19, 2023, Peluso +