The blitzkrieg launched against science by the Trump administration is unprecedented, and all the more shocking as it comes from a democratic country. The brutality of the layoffs of civil servants, the halting of funding and the blocking of research programs is astounding. The Orwellian dimension of the move came to light with the publication of a list of terms that must no longer be used in research and working papers – climate, pollution, injustice, reference to gender or race… So much so that some scientists are beginning to devise different phrases to pass Trump’s censors.
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID
Radio | The silent, long-term effects of COVID, and more…
Beyond long COVID — how reinfections could be causing silent long term organ damage
It’s now been five years since the COVID pandemic stopped the world in its tracks. The virus is still with us, and continues to make people sick. As many as 1 in 5 Canadians have experienced symptoms of long COVID, but scientists are finding that beyond that, each infection can also lead to long term silent cellular and organ damage. David Putrino, who’s been studying COVID’s long term effects at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, says even mild or asymptomatic COVID infections can lead to a wide range of silent long term heath impacts — compromising our immune, vascular, circulatory, renal, metabolic, gastrointestinal systems and even cognitive function.
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Made-at-McMaster inhaled COVID-19 vaccine begins phase-2 human trial
Researchers at McMaster University have started a phase-2 clinical trial on a next-generation, inhaled COVID-19 vaccine.
The AeroVax study, supported by $8M in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), will test needle-free vaccines developed to provide protection from SARS-CoV-2.
Led by Fiona Smaill and Zhou Xing, members of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR) at McMaster, the multi-centre trial will evaluate the new vaccine in a broad study group, while also confirming safety.
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‘Get in Dorks’: Stand Up for Science rallies spread to 32 U.S. cities
Since Donald Trump took office in January, researchers across the U.S. have been waiting for scientific leaders to forcefully speak out against the administration’s grant freezes, research funding cuts, and targeting of diversity in their field. Frustrated that there seemed to be no large-scale movement coalescing, Colette Delawalla, a graduate student in clinical psychology, took matters into her own hands.
She posted on Bluesky, now the social media of choice for many scientists, “Get in Dorks, we are going protesting.” At the time, “I really thought 500 people might show up to D.C., that’s where I was in my head,” she said.
But little more than three weeks later, what began as an effort by five early-career researchers has exploded into a global movement called Stand Up for Science — with 32 coordinated rallies planned across the country on Friday, and affiliated walkouts and protests across the globe. The largest events are slated for Washington D.C., New York City, and Boston.
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Increased mortality and serious health issues for those hospitalised with COVID, study reveals
In short
International research has shown an increased risk of further hospitalisation and death among those who were hospitalised for COVID-19.
The first six months following infection showed the largest difference, with the excess risk of death almost tripling.
The study showed risk decreased over time, but remained elevated more than two years after infection.
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The Trump years will be grim for long Covid sufferers
In December 2020, the U.S. government’s involvement in addressing the pandemic of long Covid officially began when Congress allocated $1.15 billion to the National Institutes of Health for research into the lasting health consequences of Covid-19. For people suffering from long Covid, the move offered hope.
Just over four years later, on Feb. 19, President Trump disbanded the Health and Human Services Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID, as part of an executive order titled “Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.” After the Biden administration’s tepid involvement and fitful progress in long Covid policy and practice, this decision may signal the end of meaningful federal involvement in mitigating the plight of millions of long Covid sufferers.
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Imaging shows significant lung injury in kids with long COVID
Children and teens with long COVID have significant lung abnormalities detected with an advanced form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), called free-breathing phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI. The findings were published yesterday in Radiology.
Though chest scans are used to diagnose and monitor lung function of adults with long COVID, they are less commonly used on children with persistent symptoms after COVID-19, which is also called post-COVID condition (PCC). Lung perfusion, or how blood flows in and out of the lungs, can thus be hard to detect in pediatric patients.
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Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”
The employees also warned that many of those enlisted by Musk to help him slash the size of the federal government under President Donald Trump’s administration were political ideologues who did not have the necessary skills or experience for the task ahead of them.
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Vaccinated kids at 57% to 73% lower risk of long COVID, CDC study suggests
mRNA vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 was tied to a 57% and 73% lower risk of having at least one or two long-COVID symptoms, respectively, in US children ages 5 to 17 years, according to a case-control study led by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The four-site study involved 622 children who were eligible for COVID-19 vaccination when they were infected with the Omicron variant and who completed a post-COVID condition (PCC) survey at least 60 days later. They were enrolled from the Pediatric Research Observing Trends and Exposures in COVID-19 Timelines (PROTECT) study, a longitudinal SARS-CoV-2 surveillance cohort convened in July 2021.
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Lung abnormalities seen in children and teens with long COVID
OAK BROOK, Ill. – An advanced type of MRI uncovers significant lung abnormalities in children and adolescents with long COVID, according to a new study published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Post-COVID-19 condition, commonly known as long COVID, can affect individuals of all ages and is diagnosed when symptoms persist for more than 12 weeks after an initial COVID-19 infection. Children and adolescents typically experience a milder form of the condition, but common symptoms such as chronic fatigue, headaches and poor concentration can negatively impact school performance and social activities.
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Watch Out. The Plague Years Start Now
Since the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20, the greatest health sciences organizations in the world have been first silenced, then frozen or outright destroyed. The scale, speed and stupidity of the destruction have been breathtaking.
The Trump regime is doing this to its own people, especially those in states that voted for Trump, but the shock is being felt around the world.
It is a safe prediction that Trump’s attack on health science will result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. And millions of lives will be diminished.
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New research from Northwestern Medicine reveals link between long COVID and eye health
How much can the eyes reveal about a person? A first-of-its-kind study from Northwestern Medicine and published in the Journal of Imaging is giving experts an idea how long COVID affects the body by looking through the eyes. The research could help doctors diagnose and track how the condition impacts people over time and provide insight into the cause of long COVID.
In the study, researchers used advanced imaging techniques to examine the retinas of non-hospitalized long COVID patients from the Northwestern Medicine Neuro COVID-19 Clinic and found that patients with long COVID experienced a significant reduction in the density of blood vessels in the back of the eye, compared to healthy individuals.
“This finding bridges gaps between ophthalmology, neurology, and COVID-19, helping us better understand how inflammation affects different organs in the body,” said Manjot K. Gill, MD, senior author of the study and ophthalmology lead of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive COVID-19 Center. “The change in blood vessels in the deep part of the retina supports the hypothesis that long COVID affects similar blood vessels in other parts of the body, like the brain, which can potentially contribute to the symptoms of long COVID such as memory loss, brain fog and fatigue.”
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CDC cuts expected to devastate Epidemic Intelligence Service, a ‘crown jewel’ of public health
The Trump administration’s campaign to slash the federal civil service hit one of the crown jewels of global public health on Friday. Members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a legendary training program run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were warned on Friday morning that they were about to be fired, two people with knowledge of the meeting told STAT.
The 135 members of the two-year program were informed that many would be hearing of their dismissals by late in the day. But by late Friday afternoon, none had yet received a notice of their firing, one of the sources said.
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Urgent CDC Data and Analyses on Influenza and Bird Flu Go Missing as Outbreaks Escalate
Sonya Stokes, an emergency room physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, braces herself for a daily deluge of patients sick with coughs, soreness, fevers,…
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Scientists React to RFK, Jr.’s Confirmation as HHS Secretary
Comments closedThe future of America as a superpower in research appears grim. Even on issues he claims he supports, he does not follow scientific evidence. Picking a person like this to lead is like having the wolf guard the sheep.
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Canadian residents are racing to save the data in Trump’s crosshairs
The call to Angela Rasmussen came out of the blue and posed a troubling question. Had she heard the rumour that key data sets would be removed from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website the next day?
It’s something Rasmussen had thought could never happen.
“It had never really been thought of before that CDC would actually start deleting some of these crucial public health data sets,” said the University of Saskatchewan virologist. “These data are really, really important for everybody’s health — not just in the U.S. but around the world.”
The following day, Jan. 31, Rasmussen started to see data disappear. She knew she needed to take action.
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Here are all the agencies that Elon Musk and DOGE have been trying to dismantle so far
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency group has made swift work of the billionaire’s goal to scale back or dismantle much of the federal government, end diversity policies and otherwise further President Donald Trump’s agenda.
DOGE employees, many of whom have no government experience, have been going through data systems, shutting down DEI programs and in some cases, whole agencies.
As of Feb. 10, ABC has tracked Musk and his DOGE team gaining access to at least 15 federal agencies.
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