Visibility limits are placed on this account because Covid reinfections are bad for everyone.
Joined August 2021
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If I were a journalist, I’d ask her how she feels about reinfections — both as a parent and as a physician. Zero mitigation in most schools and inadequate masking in healthcare settings. Her perspective matters.
@MarkJCarney
@jossreimer
@TheCurrentCBC
cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-6…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
University of Hong Kong researchers analyzed 40 airplane outbreaks of COVID-19 and flu.
Infection risk was highest near infected passengers.
Models found N95 masks nearly eliminated transmission, while doubling ventilation alone was insufficient.
pubs.acs.org/esthag/article/…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
I recently said I'm feeling good for the first time since developing long COVID. Lots of people asked for meds that helped the most.
Here's a list and my general approach.
longcovidmd.substack.com/p/m…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
For anyone getting into biology, please consider taking airborne disease resistance more seriously.
It's a super important area of medicine that is a huge cause of death and sickness but easily gets forgotten. We're likely to get many more airborne plagues in the future due to the combination of not just extremely dense and interconnected society (including city and farm animals), but also accidents from bio research and offensive biotech (both from random people and from secret government programs that can easily get themselves exempted from safety restrictions), all enhanced by powerful AI.
Right now, this area is getting way less love than longevity research (which continues to be super important!), but it's an area where there are lots of unclaimed wins that we know exactly how to do (but are not yet doing) with present-day tech:
* early detection
* passive universal testing
* filtration/ventilation/UVC
* better vaccines (including making them open source and open science)
* cryptography to make all of the above privacy-preserving
We can have China-level pandemic resistance with Sweden-level limited intrusion into people's lives, and then go even further. We just have to actually do the work for it.
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
I really, really dislike the “still masking” framing. It annoys me to no end.
I’m not “still wearing a seatbelt”, so why would I be “still masking”?
Maskers are generally way *ahead* of the curve, because we discovered what should be viewed as a lifelong mitigation fairly early in the paradigm shift from droplet theory -> airborne.
Which is the complete antithesis of “still”, a qualifier that implies masking is a mitigation with a potential end in sight. There isn’t a potential end, at least as far as it being the more scientific and moral choice to use respirators in shared public spaces. It’s the correct science, and it will always be the correct science until the day that we die, and it will continue being the correct science well beyond that point.
Unfortunately, I know that there are a lot of people in the COVID conscious community who are still waiting on a miracle prophylactic drug to be able to remove their masks. I don’t think it’s the majority, but I do know there’s a significant amount. To be clear, if their wish ever does come true, those people, many of whom I fear are the ones using the “still masking” framing, will be indistinguishable from everyone else using past-tense “during COVID” in 2026.
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
Wie SARS-CoV-2 Cholesterin für seine Vermehrung nutzt
Eine neue Studie zeigt, dass SARS-CoV-2 den Cholesterinstoffwechsel seiner Wirtszellen gezielt beeinflussen kann, um seine eigene RNA-Vermehrung zu unterstützen. Dabei spielt das virale akzessorische Protein ORF3a eine …
ALT Grafische Zusammenfassung Viren modifizieren Zellmembranen, um Replikationsorganellen für geschützte Virusfabriken zu erzeugen. Diese Studie zeigt, dass SARS-CoV-2 sein akzessorisches Protein ORF3a nutzt, um diesen Membranbedarf zu decken, indem es die Cholesterinaufnahme über LDLR-vermittelte Endozytose induziert. Ein hoher extrazellulärer Cholesterinspiegel begünstigt eine verstärkte SARS-CoV-2-Infektion. SARS-CoV-2 erhöht die LDL-Aufnahme über sein ORF3a-Protein. Die Beta-Variante des SARS-CoV-2-ORF3a optimiert die LDL-Aufnahme und -Hydrolyse.
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
Economic Burden of Post-COVID Syndrome in Germany Between 2021 and 2025: A Statutory Health Insurance Claims Data Analysis
🚨LongC0VID’s real cost isn’t hospital beds, it’s sick days and doctor visits, especially among working-age adults. What a surprise, NOT!😷
➡️This interesting study used anonymous German health insurance records (real-life data, not a lab experiment).
➡️It found that people who developed longC0VID (new cases of postC0VID symptoms) kept needing more medical care, took more sick days, and cost the health system more money for a long time afterward.
➡️The biggest extra burdens were:
- More sick leave (time off work),
- More outpatient doctor visits (regular doctor appointments, not hospital stays),
➡️This was especially true for working-age adults.
➡️In other words, the long-term costs of longC0VID hit hardest in everyday medical care and lost work productivity, rather than in hospital admissions.
➡️The researchers conclude that better prevention of longC0VID is needed to reduce these ongoing effects on healthcare use and people’s ability to work.
‼️So, AGAIN, postC0VID syndrome creates a substantial, persistent economic burden driven mainly by excess sick leave and outpatient care, especially among working-age adults, rather than hospital stays! 😡BUT, let's not forget the personal impact too!!
#AvoidSars2 #AvoidReinfections #Mitigation
jheor.org/article/170196-eco…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
Post-COVID doesn't happen without infection. Every infection that isn't prevented carries the risk of this tail. Months out of work and repeated visits that pile up in doctors' practices.
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
Covid-19 infections can reactivate dormant cancer cells, & trigger the growth of secondary cancers. There is now compelling medical evidence to this effect.
Read the full story on our website: buds.org.uk/covid-and-cancer…
ALT Text on a cream background reading: "If you have been diagnosed with a cancer at any point in your life, catching Covid increases the risk that your cancer will return and spread to other parts of your body". On the right is an image of a Caucasian woman wearing a red blouse and white headscarf looking gravely into the camera, against a neutral grey background
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
YOUR ATTENTION:
🚨Every new COVID-19 (re)infection elevates your cardiovascular risk profile. Even mild cases can raise the odds of a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and other CV events for months to years afterward. Risk is higher with more severe illness, yes, but it’s certainly not limited to severe disease. Updated vaccination will show some mitigation(infection severity↓) but doesn’t give you a risk-free pass!
#AvoidSars2 #AvoidReinfections #UpdateVaccination
➡️Supportive links:
1. Xie et al., Nature Medicine (2022): Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19 (elevated risk even in non-hospitalized patients, graded by severity).
nature.com/articles/s41591-0…
2. American Heart Association news release (2024) on the UK Biobank analysis (≈2× risk of heart attack/stroke/death for up to 3 years after any COVID-19 infection).
newsroom.heart.org/news/covi…
3. Lindgren et al., Journal of Internal Medicine (2026): Nationwide Swedish matched cohort (nearly doubled long-term MACE and death risk in hospitalized cases, persisting beyond year 1).
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…
4. Hadidchi et al., Journal of Human Hypertension (2026): Elevated CV outcomes (including in non-hospitalized patients) among those with pre-existing hypertension.
nature.com/articles/s41371-0…
5. CARTESIAN study, European Heart Journal (2025): Accelerated vascular aging / arterial stiffness after COVID-19, including mild cases:
academic.oup.com/eurheartj/a…
➡️These five links give a clear progression from the early 2022 data through 2024–2026 confirmation!!
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
Grateful to @NPR for the chance to talk about how stress and infections like COVID can stir dormant viruses in our bodies, and what that may mean for our immune system. Still much to learn, and I’m thankful to my team and colleagues for their work 🎧 npr.org/2026/10/23/nx-s1-598…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
High cholesterol has been linked to worse COVID outcomes since 2020, but nobody could say why. A study from Gladstone/UCSF now shows LDL cholesterol feeding viral replication directly, and identifies the viral protein that pulls more of it into the cell.🧵
SARS-CoV-2 can directly link its replication to host cholesterol levels via ORF3a
link.springer.com/article/10…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
El virus de Covid ha evolucionado a un punto en que ahora es 3 veces menos reconocible por los linfocitos.
biorxiv.org/content/10.64898…
Al ser menos reconocible, puede “despertar” con más facilidad a otros virus que estaban en el cuerpo en estado de latencia.
science.org/content/article/…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
To the BC Ministry of Health:
> 300,000 BC residents have LONG COVID
Please ensure adequate funding for much-needed services - OT, PT & psychologists.
THIS is equity, accessibility & universality
in action.
Signed.
@BCGovNews
cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c… ada
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
Every COVID-19 infection is another opportunity for long-term complications.
COVID-19 is more than a respiratory illness. COVID can affect multiple organs and systems throughout the body, with potential consequences that extend far beyond the initial infection.
Even "mild" infections can lead to Long COVID, which may cause persistent fatigue, cognitive difficulties, cardiovascular problems, and other symptoms that disrupt daily life.
Previous infection does not eliminate the risks associated with reinfection. Reducing exposure and preventing repeated infections remain important for protecting long-term health.
Prevention still matters. Wear a well-fitting respirator, improve indoor air quality, and take steps to reduce transmission.
#LongCOVID #COVID19 #COVIDIsNotOver #PublicHealth #COVID
ALT Every COVID-19 infection is another opportunity for long-term complications. COVID-19 is more than a respiratory illness. COVID can affect multiple organs and systems throughout the body, with potential consequences that extend far beyond the initial infection. Even "mild" infections can lead to Long COVID, which may cause persistent fatigue, cognitive difficulties, cardiovascular problems, and other symptoms that disrupt daily life. Previous infection does not eliminate the risks associated with reinfection. Reducing exposure and preventing repeated infections remain important for protecting long-term health. Prevention still matters. Wear a well-fitting respirator, improve indoor air quality, and take steps to reduce transmission.
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
Peer-reviewed now.
Human T cells did show up, did recognise the virus, and still didn't clear it. By week 8 the CD4 cells had dropped their naive identity and gone cytotoxic - TEMRA - with IFN/JAK-STAT only switching on late, nothing like it acutely. Mice without T cells mounted the stronger innate antiviral response. Neither group cleared the virus.
A failure to resolve.
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
COVID-19 can wake up dormant viruses in the body, large study confirms | Science | AAAS share.google/yLPLIwV5PMTooqS…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
New intereting preprint from the Bloom lab.
It asks - has SARS2s evolution changed not just how well it escapes antibodies, but how well the immune system can even spot it the first time?🧵
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
SARS-CoV-2 evolved since 2019 to evade human biological defenses. Obviously.
But not just how it’s been known previously. Also to evade our *Hardwired* human biolog.
That is - Not to just evade our prior immune responses - but actually to better evade eliciting a robust response by our naive B cells.
Looking at prepandemic cryopreserved samples, @jbloom_lab showed a 3x difference in the fraction of naive B cells responsive to the original Wuhan spike RBD protein compared to more contemporary Omicron lineages.
This isn’t a simple “evade prior elicited antibody response” as we all understand
This is actually - the virus mutates to help avoid detection altogether by humans - uniquely by evading aspects of the human germline encoded naive B cells responsive repertoire.
They look at mice, for example, and saw no difference in ability of naive B cells to respond to the different variants
Altogether it points to a world where we not only have immune imprinting to impair protection, plus the “regular” virus mutation to avoid existing immunity, but now mutation specifically to avoid hardwired human biology.
In new study, we show that SARS-CoV-2 has evolved decreased inherent antigenicity in humans, as quantified by a ~3-fold decrease in the number of naïve human B cells that can bind the spike RBD.
doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.15.…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
#AmericanCOVID (aka SARS-XFG) is kicking off the school year by ravaging kids. Global cases spiking by 400%. Add the effect of repeat reinfection, putting extra pressure on already-struggling hospital systems due to the Russian Roulette of #KidsLongCOVID.
#ZeroCOVID #WearN95
Researchers warn that COVID reinfections are not risk-free, even when symptoms are mild.
Each infection brings another chance of developing Long COVID or worsening existing symptoms.
Less severe illness does not mean the virus is harmless.
nytimes.com/2026/10/19/well/…
Nick Mack @[email protected] retweeted
It’s the 13th wave of Covid right now. The 13th spin of the chamber. Many lives were destroyed from waves 1 to 12, but every wave is an opportunity to join them. The NYT is saying it out loud at last…
