Long covid gets some attention today. It seems that the post-covid risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders can last for up to two years, longer than for any other respiratory infection. Such disorders include cognitive deficit (brain fog), dementia, psychotic disorders, epilepsy, and seizures. The incidence of anxiety and depression also rises with the excess risk of those disorders disappearing in a matter of months. New cases of neurological and psychiatric disorders have been diagnosed two years post-covid. Children have no increased risk of mood disorders, but can develop all the same disorders adults can; the likelihood of children developing such disorders is less than that for adults.
Healthcare professionals and severely affected covid patients are questioning whether the US is loosening things up too quickly. Says a clinical associate professor at the Stanford University medical school, "It feels somewhat like a personal affront, like all our sacrifices mean absolutely nothing because in the end, no one cares." As for whether the pandemic has lessened "enough," a WHO spokesperson notes, "We are still very much in the middle of the pandemic with intense transmission globally with close to a million cases daily and sadly over 14,000 people dying every week. With such high levels of transmission it is not surprising that the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to evolve."
The CDC has been lax in defining just what constitutes the "high-quality mask" they advise infected or exposed people to wear. I'll stick with the N-95 or equivalent. As for general mask-wearing, a mask study recently found that being an active smoker decreased a person's risk of testing positive. However, should a smoker test positive, their symptoms will likely be worse than those of a non-smoker.
On the home front, The Sons are in Colorado and will be running the Leadville Trail 100 tomorrow. That's 100 miles. The Sons have run 100-milers before, but never one that starts at an altitude of 9,000 feet. The race starts Saturday at 4:00 am Mountain Time. Assuming the altitude and/or weather don't do them in, they'll be finishing Sunday morning. If covid news is in short supply tomorrow, I can always post how those crazy kids are doing.
2 comments:
Hope those crazy kids have a good race and a great time! That race is legendary.
"The symptoms last up to two years" is a bit misleading. It doesn't mean that they disappear after that time, only that we've not had the opportunity to measure for a longer period than that.
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