The Guardian has reported this morning that:
One in five patients registered to a pair of GP surgeries in the north of England have long Covid, according to a report that lays bare stark regional inequalities.
They add:
The north-west of England had higher than average numbers of people reporting long Covid symptoms, with just over one in 20 people (5.5%), followed by the north-east and Yorkshire (5.1%).
Southern regions of England had the lowest rates overall, such as 3.4% in the south-west and 3.6% in the south-east. The average rate of long Covid across England was 4.4%.
So, on average, one in twenty-three people has long-Covid, which is quite debilitating in my eight-month experience with it. And yet the government:
- no longer talks about Covid
- has suppressed most Civid statistics
- tells hospitals to treat it as a low-risk issue when it is not
- is not providing a comprehensive vaccination programme, unlike other countries
- is bemused as to why we have a problem with chronic sickness in the UK, which is undermining labour force availability and productivity.
Join up the dots, Wes Streeting. It isn't hard. And then treat Covid with the continued seriousness that it deserves.
Only, I can't see that happening. Covid has become a virility test for politicians of the Single Transferable Party in all its forms, including those members of it currently in office at the Department of Health.
Treating it is presumed to deliver tacit agreement that public health is an issue, and that society exists.
Treating it is also presumed to restrict the freedom of the individual to threaten the health and well-being of others.
Neither of these things will do for a libertarian. Admitting that there is a virus that is threatening our health and social and economic well-being cannot be done. We are all paying far too high a price for that.
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Another contributory factor to ill health the financial inability to use energy! All part of Scammer & Co’s capitulation to the anti-social values of the Single Transferable Party. Perhaps one day the people of Britain might stop being dopey and stop tacitly subscribing to this STP!
https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/aug/23/average-annual-energy-bill-rise-great-britain-october-ofgem
There is talk about whether people have “long covid”, or “long covid vaccine”.
See “Long covid and long vaccine” (40 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ea3UwYZnrA
… with Dr. John Campbell and Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy who “has an international reputation in the study of infection of the airways and gut, the way the body processes infection, and the development of vaccines to prevent or modify infection”.
This sounds like bullshit, but even if it isn’t, it’s useless information. Unless the effects of vaccination are actually worse than those of the disease (and there is absolutely no evidence of that), it still makes sense to get vaccinated, because it is proven that vaccination reduces the chance of both death and post-Covid Long Covid.
Kim SJ wrote: “Unless the effects of vaccination are actually worse than those of the disease”
That can happen. We’ll ignore all the vaccines that have been recalled (I can’t find the list, and arguably, some may be recalled for “commercial reasons”). Also I am aware that an “association with vaccines” does not imply “caused by vaccines”. Disclosure: I had the first two AstraZenica covid vaccines (I’m not anti-vax).
EudraVigilance is the EU database that records “suspected adverse reactions to medicines”. As of Dec 2023, it reported:
“Around 12,000 spontaneous reports of fatal outcomes” (about 1 in 100,000 vaccines)
“Around 1.7 million spontaneous reports of suspected side effects” (about 1 in 500) [1]
Yes, side effects may include just a headache. But it is estimated that 9% of adverse reactions are severe. [2]
Pfizer has now acknowledged that “mRNA COVID-19 vaccines show increased risks of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the lining outside the heart), particularly within the first week following vaccination.” [3]
Sir David Spiegelhalter, a statistician (not a medical person) is quoted as saying “the harms ‘could very well outweigh the benefits for younger people who did tend to get blood clots more’” [4]
Attorney General Ken Paxton is sueing Pfizer for misrepresenting the COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy [5]
Sources
[1] https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory-overview/public-health-threats/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-19-medicines/safety-covid-19-vaccines
[2] Reported by MEP. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/P-9-2021-003960_EN.html
[3] https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-amends-us-government-paxlovid-supply-agreement-and
[4] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/10/cambridge-professor-cautious-about-calling-vaccines-safe/
[5] https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-sues-pfizer-misrepresenting-covid-19-vaccine-efficacy-and-conspiring
Dr Campbell started out during the pandemic giving reasonably informative information about Covid. But he has long been a source of a steady stream of misinformation. An internet search will provide lots of debunkings but the most consistent are from Dr Susan Oliver. She doesn’t just say he speaks rubbish, she takes time to explain why. in this recent video she cites Brandolini’s law to explain that there is a limit to what she can do: “The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJfvF5CEy9U&t=1494s
I am nit sure this has any relevance here.
Might we drop this issue please?
I would be embarrassed to quote John Campbell. He has promulgated dangerous nonsense which has been discredited on several occasions.
https://fullfact.org/health/john-campbell-youtube-singapore-children/
https://www.factcheck.org/2023/12/scicheck-yale-preprint-recorded-patient-experiences-did-not-demonstrate-vaccines-cause-new-syndrome/
https://www.factcheck.org/2023/08/scicheck-posts-exaggerate-significance-of-swiss-study-on-heart-risk-and-covid-19-vaccination/
There are other examples.
Campbell is dangerous.
I didn’t quote campbell. Listen to his guest, Professor Robert Clancy.
What I find annoying to say the least is the way the BBC connives to avoid subjects such as this. Also they keep repeating “We don’t have enough money so cuts are inevitable” using the Winter fuel allowance as an example. They should stop doing this. It would be more appropriate to say “The government say we don’t have enough money.” Not that that is true but there we are!
But the BBC is in the pockets of the rich. So much for “the price of democracy is eternal vigilance.” Like Long John Silver the BBC operates with a patch over one way eye and hobbles along with a crutch trying to avoid confronting the problems market capitalism and Single Transferable Party governments create for many people in the UK.
I’m not sure this explains the economic inactivity rate, and the source report doesn’t make that specific link. We see from your own experience of spreading COVID, having COVID and having long COVID for 8 months, that it’s possible to keep working through the symptoms. What would be useful to know is how did you overcome long COVID. Many people have had it and now don’t, so what was treatment or factor that cured it. That’s worth sharing.
Please don’t make a fool of yourself
I worked at about 50% capacity and had ten rounds of antibiotics to tackle the recognised issue I had
Ah, there we are – perception management, Labour-style. Their style is not to mention things, ‘cos there’s so much to do, whereas the Tory style was to tell you that something was being done when……………………….when it wasn’t.
If you don’t mention it, it cannot exist. Apparently. They hope.
Ironically, mpox may provide a face-saving way for politicians to u-turn. We can put in place all the precautions that should be in place against Covid, and pretend they are only there because of mpox.
I seriously worry that Mpox will be simply allowed to let rip. After all it would appear to solve the problem of the ‘economically inactive’.
‘Virility test’? Well put indeed richard – but how could it be so?
Why is it politically virile – to deny ( by ommission) that we still have covid circulating – that several thousand have died with it in 2024, that getting repeatedly infected can damage your immune system, that the virus can linger in organs throughout the body, and can increase the chance of stroke , heart attack etc among some people , that the virus is still evolving and that a few simple precautions can reduce the rate of infection – notably clean air at school and work.
This is the polticians – but what about the supposed independent professional health instiutions?
Why isnt it malfeasance in public office for the UK Health Security Agency UKHSA, to cease monitoring the rate of infection, and not to relay World Health Organisation advice on covid . about how it spreads, and that masks should be used in hospitals, and that most of the population shoudl be vaccinated.
Clearly there is political contamination among all our institutions, (including the BBC) – that we should be able to rely on for objective information.
We seem to be in Orwell’s Oceania – while still telling ourselves we are in a democracy.
We are in a nightmare.
You say they are ‘libertarians’ – but can’t they be seen as authoritarians – inducing people to behave against their own best interests ?
But again arent being stupid even in their own terms? Surely their wealth and power would be securer in the long term if they shared the truth with the population – and maintained a healthy workforce not dependent on sick pay , rather than competing with each other to promote falsehoods such as ‘covid has gone away’ ?
Covid infection, according to some reports I have read, reduces the infected person’s IQ. It hasn’t been around long enough, as far as I can see, to determine if the effect is permanent. Personally, I suspect it might be. Gradually, over time, as most of us do seem to get repeat infections, the average IQ of the population will decline.
This doesn’t seem a good route to be following.
Fot those interested, I have copied this from (dated 28 Feb 2024)
https://theconversation.com/mounting-research-shows-that-covid-19-leaves-its-mark-on-the-brain-including-significant-drops-in-iq-scores-224216
Each item has a link to the relevant paper
“Here are some of the most important studies to date documenting how COVID-19 affects brain health:
Large epidemiological analyses showed that people who had COVID-19 were at an increased risk of cognitive deficits, such as memory problems.
Imaging studies done in people before and after their COVID-19 infections show shrinkage of brain volume and altered brain structure after infection.
A study of people with mild to moderate COVID-19 showed significant prolonged inflammation of the brain and changes that are commensurate with seven years of brain aging.
Severe COVID-19 that requires hospitalization or intensive care may result in cognitive deficits and other brain damage that are equivalent to 20 years of aging.
Laboratory experiments in human and mouse brain organoids designed to emulate changes in the human brain showed that SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers the fusion of brain cells. This effectively short-circuits brain electrical activity and compromises function.
Autopsy studies of people who had severe COVID-19 but died months later from other causes showed that the virus was still present in brain tissue. This provides evidence that contrary to its name, SARS-CoV-2 is not only a respiratory virus, but it can also enter the brain in some individuals. But whether the persistence of the virus in brain tissue is driving some of the brain problems seen in people who have had COVID-19 is not yet clear.
Studies show that even when the virus is mild and exclusively confined to the lungs, it can still provoke inflammation in the brain and impair brain cells’ ability to regenerate.
COVID-19 can also disrupt the blood brain barrier, the shield that protects the nervous system – which is the control and command center of our bodies – making it “leaky.” Studies using imaging to assess the brains of people hospitalized with COVID-19 showed disrupted or leaky blood brain barriers in those who experienced brain fog.
A large preliminary analysis pooling together data from 11 studies encompassing almost 1 million people with COVID-19 and more than 6 million uninfected individuals showed that COVID-19 increased the risk of development of new-onset dementia in people older than 60 years of age.”
Worrying, isn’t it?
This is from the latest ONS weekly deaths bulletin
Main points:
In the week ending 9 August 2024 (Week 32), 10,030 deaths were registered in England and Wales (including non-residents), a decrease from 10,267 in the previous week (Week 31).
The number of deaths registered in Week 32 was 8.5% lower than the expected number (929 fewer deaths).
In the week ending 9 August 2024, 13.2% of registered deaths involved influenza or pneumonia (1,326 deaths), while 2.2% involved coronavirus (COVID-19) (220 deaths).
In the same week, influenza or pneumonia were the underlying cause of 3.1% of deaths (315 deaths), while COVID-19 was the underlying cause of 1.5% of deaths (146 deaths).
Rather puts things into perspective I think. Communicable diseases are still out there and people are dying from them, but not by an excessive amount and the older communicable diseases are the major killers by far.
You do know we are talking about long Covid, don’t you?
You also know Covid goes in waves?
What is the relevance of this data then?
Just like they can’t admit the thyroid epidemic.
Probably privileged in Scotand, and being over 75yrs, my wife and I get regular booster jags to counter Covid.
I do too in England
But younger people do not
Sharing this here for information: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/02/whos-eligible-for-the-2024-covid-19-vaccine-or-autumn-booster/
Since I didn’t know until I read this blog!
I get an annual COVID booster jab, along with the flu shot, in the US.
I get regular updates of the Covid Situation from Independent SAGE which I find very informative about data, vaccines, variants, long covid and public health.
How ? I thought they had closed down last year.
They now write instead of video: https://independentsage.substack.com
Thatcher defined the core belief of the malfeasant Single Transferable Party as there is no such thing as society only individuals:-
“I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand ‘I have a problem, it is the Government’s job to cope with it!’ or ‘I have a problem, I will go and get a grant to cope with it!’ ‘I am homeless, the Government must house me!’ and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first.
… [It] is, I think, one of the tragedies in which many of the benefits we give, which were meant to reassure people that if they were sick or ill there was a safety net and there was help, that many of the benefits which were meant to help people who were unfortunate … [t]hat was the objective, but somehow there are some people who have been manipulating the system … when people come and say: ‘But what is the point of working? I can get as much on the dole!’ ”
https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-4/neoliberalism-more-recent-times/margaret-thatcher-theres-no-such-thing-as-society
Odd then that we use a collective device – money – to benefit human beings. Collective because it can only work well if we collectively band together to determine how it’s used – currently we are failing in this because we have the Single Transferable Party which has a core aim of minimising the amount of tax the rich pay! This party also refuses to properly regulate the behaviour of private sector banking, a fifty odd year old house price bubble still being allowed to blow in the UK!
AliB. Independent SAGE stopped live briefings last year but continues posting updates on Substack..