Chuck Darwin<p>Multiple COVID subvariants, collectively nicknamed <a href="https://c.im/tags/FLiRT" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FLiRT</span></a>, <br>are powerfully present in the U.S., <br>and reports from California indicate that some patients are complaining of <a href="https://c.im/tags/throat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>throat</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/pain" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>pain</span></a> so strong it feels like they’re <br>“swallowing razors or broken glass,” <br>according to the Los Angeles Times. </p><p>Topol, meanwhile, says the Sato Lab in Japan has characterized one of the newest COVID strains, <br>KP.3.1.1, in a preprint as having <br>“the most immune evasion and infectivity of any of the variants” <br>derived from previous powerful iterations of the JN.1 strain, which was prominent last winter.</p><p>Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that severe outcomes and deaths from COVID have decreased substantially overall from the pandemic’s early days, </p><p>wastewater data shows viral activity is “high’ nationally <br>and COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 35 states. </p><p>More COVID infections mean more cases of long COVID. </p><p>And <a href="https://c.im/tags/long" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>long</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/COVID" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>COVID</span></a> is already exacting an enormous toll on both the people and economies of the world.</p><p>Those are words you aren’t hearing from many government bodies. <br>But, the researchers say, the evidence tells the story.</p><p>“Despite the dire impact of long COVID on individuals and society, <br>🔸I fear that many are still unaware of the danger,” 🔸says Akiko Iwasaki, professor of immunology at Yale School of Medicine and co-lead investigator of the university’s COVID-19 Recovery Study. </p><p>“There is an urgent need to provide proper diagnosis and treatment for people living with long COVID.”</p><p>The authors lay out a number of preventive policy <a href="https://c.im/tags/recommendations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>recommendations</span></a>, including<br> 🔸increased use of masking, <br>🔸improved ventilation systems <br>🔸and a vaccination program that pairs COVID shots with season flu shots to extend their reach to improve uptake. </p><p>But there’s a genuine question as to whether enough folks are paying close attention for any of this to matter.</p><p>As the authors point out, <br>a survey found that as of last August, <br>one-third of American adults still hadn’t even heard of long COVID. </p><p>In reality, long COVID was identified and defined in the first full year of the pandemic, 2020, <br>and it has been increasing its case count ever since.</p><p>This form of COVID is particularly perilous because, for many people, its symptoms may last years <br>(or a lifetime) <br>and their effects may trigger all sorts of associated problems and costs. </p><p>Long COVID “affects nearly every organ system,” the review notes, <br>including the cardiovascular, immune, gastrointestinal and reproductive systems. </p><p>While more than 200 symptoms have been identified, common symptoms include <br>memory problems, <br>difficulty concentrating, <br>fatigue, <br>heart palpitations, <br>chronic cough, <br>shortness or breath <br>and recurring headaches.</p><p> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Long" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Long</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/COVID" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>COVID</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/pretend" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>pretend</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/risk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>risk</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Eric" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Eric</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Topol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Topol</span></a></p>