Category: Covid-19

The underlying cause of Long COVID is still a puzzle to researchers. But Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and co-lead investigator of the Yale RECOVERY and Yale LISTEN studies, has theories.

Iwasaki explains that Long COVID is an umbrella term and likely has multiple mechanisms that are not mutually exclusive and may even coexist. She provided explanations for four predominant hypotheses being explored that may explain the condition.

1. Viral persistence: Growing research suggests that viral antigens and viral RNA, various proteins or genetic material, remain present and active in the bodys tissues following acute infection. A Harvard study, for example, found that the COVID-19 spike proteina protein vital in allowing the SARS-CoV-2 virus to infect cellscontinues to circulate in some Long COVID patients blood up to a year after infection. This protein can also be found in the blood of individuals who had COVID-19 but did not experience lingering symptoms.

Researchers in Iwasakis lab at YSM report that components of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, may persist in the body, long after the initial infection is resolved. This persistence, explains Iwasaki, is thought to be due to a poor response to the initial viral SARS-CoV-2 infectioneither a delay in recognizing the virus or in alerting the bodys immune system of its presence, both leading to a late response.

2. Latent viral reactivation: There may be a connection between COVID-19 and some of the viral infections that many people have in childhood, specifically herpesviruses (a family of viruses including chickenpox) and/or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV, a virus that can cause mononucleosis and other illnesses). Some evidence suggests that COVID may reactivate these viruses, which generally lie dormant after the acute infection. The theory is that COVID-19 can cause immune system dysfunction, which then creates an opportunity for the previously dormant virus to re-emerge. Indeed, evidence of Epstein-Barr reactivation has been found in those with Long COVID.

3. Autoimmunity: Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus may trigger autoimmune disease. Elevated levels of autoantibodies, which are believed to play a role in other autoimmune conditions, such as lupus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, or Sjgrens syndrome, have been noted in some patients with Long COVID. Normally, antibodies respond to foreign invaders, such as bacteria and viruses. Autoantibodies instead can attack the bodys own cells, leading to inflammation and tissue injury.

In some patients with Long COVID, antinuclear autoantibodies (ANAs) have been identified up to 12 months after acute infection. These ANAs can target components of cell nuclei-promoting inflammation and damage organ systems. For example, in the inner lining of blood vessels known as the endothelium, these autoantibodies may promote a hyper-inflammatory state or changes to blood cells that might stimulate inappropriate clotting.

4. Inflammation: Inflammation, or recruiting white blood cells and the release of cytokines that initiate tissue swelling and injury, may also underlie some types of Long COVID. Mouse models suggest that the acute phase of infection alters tissue function and triggers chronic inflammatory states in cells, specifically long-lived cells in the brain. It is also possible that the three theories outlined aboveviral persistence, latent viral reactivation, and autoimmunityall contribute to the sustained inflammation seen in Long COVID.

Read this article:

The Long COVID Puzzle: Autoimmunity, Inflammation, and Other Possible Causes - Yale Medicine

Specialty

Please choose I'm not a medical professional. Allergy and Immunology Anatomy Anesthesiology Cardiac/Thoracic/Vascular Surgery Cardiology Critical Care Dentistry Dermatology Diabetes and Endocrinology Emergency Medicine Epidemiology and Public Health Family Medicine Forensic Medicine Gastroenterology General Practice Genetics Geriatrics Health Policy Hematology HIV/AIDS Hospital-based Medicine I'm not a medical professional. Infectious Disease Integrative/Complementary Medicine Internal Medicine Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Medical Education and Simulation Medical Physics Medical Student Nephrology Neurological Surgery Neurology Nuclear Medicine Nutrition Obstetrics and Gynecology Occupational Health Oncology Ophthalmology Optometry Oral Medicine Orthopaedics Osteopathic Medicine Otolaryngology Pain Management Palliative Care Pathology Pediatrics Pediatric Surgery Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Plastic Surgery Podiatry Preventive Medicine Psychiatry Psychology Pulmonology Radiation Oncology Radiology Rheumatology Substance Use and Addiction Surgery Therapeutics Trauma Urology Miscellaneous

Excerpt from:

Retrospective Evaluation of Hematological Parameters in COVID-19 Patients: Insights From the Emergency Department - Cureus

COVID-19 brought an unprecedented shift in the approach to breast cancer screening and treatment in Australia.

A retrospective clinical analysis of data from patients at Sydney Adventist Hospital (SAH) in New South Wales has linked an increase in cases of advanced breast cancer since the pandemic to breast screening suspensions which occurred due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Researchers from the Australian National University looked at new cases of female breast cancer diagnosed at SAH between July 2019 and June 2022, and categorised them into pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic groups.

They found an increase in patients with advanced breast cancer (stage 3 or 4) in the pandemic and post-pandemic group (8.5% and 7%), compared to the pre-pandemic group (4.6%).

The research is published in the ANZ Journal of Surgery. Previous reports have found little evidence that COVID-19 delays created worse health outcomes for women being screened for breast cancer.

Breast cancer specialist and radiation oncologist at the Australian National University College of Health & Medicine, John Boyages says the SAH study showed some worrying trends for patients with more aggressive cancers.

Aggressive cancers are known to grow more quickly. For example, for oestrogen receptor-negative tumours, the rate of node-positivity doubled, increasing from 33% to 66% from the pre- to post-pandemic periods, says Boyages who was lead author of the research.

Node-positive breast cancer means that cells from the tumour have metastasised and been found in the lymph nodes in the armpit area.

The increased probability of having cancer spread to a patients lymph nodes and delayed diagnosis is likely to translate into poorer patient outcomes in the longer term, says Boyages.

Our study clearly shows government and health authorities need to prioritise cancer screening in future pandemics.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women in Australia, accounting for an estimated 12.7% of all new cancer diagnoses and 6.4% of all cancer deaths in 2022. The national BreastScreen Australia program offers free breast screening for women aged over 40.

However, according to the authors: in the initial stages of the pandemic, COVID-19 impacted breast screening and general healthcare attendance, with many women cancelling or postponing their appointments and adhering to the stay-at-home message put forward by the Government.

A report by the Australian Institution of Health and Welfare in 2022 said breast screening was delayed or postponed during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

To protect clients, staff, and the community from the risk of COVID-19, BreastScreen Australia services were suspended nationwide from 25 March 2020. The suspension was lifted around a month later for most services, but a staged approach was introduced with longer appointment times and precautionary measures to ensure the safety of clients and staff. The rate at which BreastScreen services could resume was affected by jurisdictional social distancing and infection control guidelines and requirements. Most BreastScreen services stayed open, with these additional precautionary measures, for the remainder of the year despite additional lockdowns and increasing numbers of cases of COVID-19.

The program also faced further suspensions in the latter half of 2021.

A report in late 2022 looked at the impact of the breast screening delays in 2020, and concluded that in NSW the impact was small.

Researchers from Cancer Institute NSW say a retrospective analyses demonstrated no evidence of a substantial change in the size of tumours diagnosed by BreastScreen NSW in clients whose breast cancer screening was delayed by the suspension of service due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But they said the findings may not reflect all Australian states and territories, due to variations in COVID restrictions and lockdowns.

The SAH study found that patients with symptomatic breast cancer at diagnosis increased from 42.3% in the pre-pandemic, to 53.1% in the pandemic and 57% in the post-pandemic.

But Boyages says it was not all bad news.

During the same period, there was an increased use of shorter courses of radiation, and we became more experienced in radiation courses as short as one week, he says.

We also increased the use of more chemotherapy before surgery to work out if a cancer is sensitive to the planned chemotherapy leading to a shift in less mastectomy rates: 33% pre-pandemic versus 24% post-pandemic.

The authors caution that the population this study was conducted on may not be representative of nationwide populations.

Patients in this catchment are likely to have greater healthcare access, and therefore higher attendance for screening and subsequent treatment, they write.

Further studies involving multi-centre analysis may be beneficial in establishing trends in breast cancer during the pandemic.

Read this article:

Advanced breast cancer increases linked to screening in COVID-19 pandemic - Cosmos

WASHINGTON The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held a hearing titled A Hearing with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Senior Scientific Advisor, Dr. David Morens. Evidence obtained by the Select Subcommittee prior to the hearing showed that Dr. Morens a former top advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) deliberately obstructed the Select Subcommittees investigation into the origins of COVID-19 to protect Dr. Fauci, unlawfully deleted federal COVID-19 records, and shared nonpublic information about National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant processes with his best-friend EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak. Dr. Morenss testimony confirmed these discoveries and proved that he clearly believes the laws of the federal government do not apply to him. Members used Dr. Morenss own emails as evidence of his misconduct and pressed Dr. Morens to explain why he displayed such contempt for the American people while serving as a senior official at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Morens admitted to using his personal email account to conduct official business, feigned ignorance about the NIHs record retention policy, and offered half-hearted apologies for his self-admitted misogynistic comments. Both majority and minority members held Dr. Morens accountable for his failure to serve the American people with the honesty, respect, and integrity that they deserve from public health officials.

Key Hearing Takeaways

Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), D.P.M, called out Dr. Morenss ignorance and grilled him for seemingly false testimony related to his deletion of federal COVID-19 records.

Chairman Wenstrup: I have nonofficial emails on a separate phone that are fused, or I can separate them, but not my official ones. And that doesnt account for telling people that youre doing official business with that they should contact you on your Gmail.

Dr. Morens: Thats true.

Chairman Wenstrup: And especially to avoid FOIA and to be able to potentially delete things you dont want in The New York Times, which was your comment. On January 18 [2024], you testified no when asked if you ever deleted anything from your official account that could be considered a federal record. Dr. Morens, are you aware that the destruction or attempted destruction of federal records carries a potential punishment of both imprisonment and a fine?

Dr. Morens: I was not aware of that, and I was not aware that anything I deleted like emails was a federal record because we have federal records training periodically and the training, you know, that I recall we received, defined a federal record in a very different way than you may be thinking of it. None of it defined it as an email.

Chairman Wenstrup: Well, that may be something to look into, is what your training looks like when it comes to federal records, because its far different from mine.

Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) revealed Dr. Faucis intimate knowledge of and respect for the recently suspended and soon-to-be debarred EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak. Chairman Comer also solicited an admission from Dr. Morens that he deletes a lot of emails that could be classified as federal records.

Chairman Comer: On January 18 [2024], you testified that you did not have any conversations with Dr. Fauci regarding EcoHealth. On October 25, 2021, you wrote Peter, from Tonys numerous recent comments to me, theyre trying to protect you. You meaning EcoHealth and Dr. Daszak. Dr. Morens, did you ever have any conversations with Dr. Fauci regarding EcoHealth.

Dr. Morens: Well the ones you just mentioned, I dont have any recollection of that.

Chairman Comer: No recollection?

Dr. Morens: No recollection, nowhat I do remember is one time in a face-to-face meeting. He referred or alluded to some stuff that was in the press. I dont think he even said what it was. But I assumed it was about Peters grants and press reports about it and the ending of the grant. And I said to him, sort of out of the blue, guessing what he was really thinking, I said to him, Tony I know you would have never been involved in getting rid of that grant. He didnt respond. He just sort of looked at me.

Chairman Comer: So Dr. Fauci was always a big defender of EcoHealth and their right to receive federal funding.

Dr. Morens: I think he had great respect for them. And when the grant problems came about, I think he was troubled by it.At some point, somebody, it may not have been Tony, but it might have been Hugh Auchincloss, somebody said to me Peter is his own worst enemy because he made some mistakes on that grant.

Chairman Comer: I would say thats a factual statement.

Chairman Comer: Did you ever delete any official records?

Dr. Morens: we are at the issue of defining whats a federal record. I deleted a lot of emails. I do it every day.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), M.D., blasted Dr. Morens for his misogynistic comments about female public health leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Select Subcommittees recent staff report revealed email evidence of Dr. Morens engaging in inappropriate and disrespectful behavior that is unbecoming of U.S. Government official.

Rep. Miller-Meeks: Why in 2021, I would have expected it when I was in medical school in 1982, but why in 2021 that you would have commented in an email. Dr. Fauci got Rochelle Walensky her job as CDC Director by lobbying for her to Ron Klain. Well, she does wear a skirt. I poured a little cold water on her, but he was undeterred in thinking that she is the cats pajama. So let me just say, am I the cats pajama?

Dr. Morens: I uh

Rep. Miller-Meeks: Do you know how many women sit on this Subcommittee? Do you know what it takes for any of these women to get elected to Congress? Because I find your comments to be disgusting. You had an illustrious career and an amazing track to get to where you are. Youre trusted with one of the highest positions in government to combat public health crises and instead of doing your job, youre too busy worrying about avoiding FOIAs and challenging someones position because they happen to wear a skirt. The American people deserve a whole lot better in their public servants. We dont need to worry about your trying to avoid FOIAs or what the quality of your mattress is, quite frankly, sir. You should be ashamed of your character and embarrassed. Im glad that you are. And you should, in fact, apologize to this subcommittee, to Congress, and to our nation.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) pressed Dr. Morens towards an admission of guilt that he shouldnt have done that and thats wrong when asked about his use of personal email to undermine the operations of the U.S. Government.

Rep. Malliotakis: It is government business if you are advising him [Dr. Peter Daszak], youre advocating on his behalf, youre editing things, letters that he wanted to send to NIH. You did all that on personal e-mail, correct?

Dr. Morens: I shouldnt have done that. Thats wrong.

Rep. Malliotakis: It is wrong and that is why were asking the question because you were using it for official business. And thats what were trying to understand. Why were you trying to hide this from members of Congress, from the government, from the public?

Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) elicited a wholly indefensible and incoherent answer from Dr. Morens as to why he broke federal record keeping laws. Dr. Morens claimed that he did not believe he was breaking FOIA laws, so therefore, he could not have broken the law.

Rep. Lesko: Sir, I believe you have lied here today to us, to Congress. When you say, oh, I didnt know this, I didnt intentionally use my Gmail. Are you kidding me? Dr. Morens, do you want to change your testimony?

Dr. Morens: No, I dont the context is that this Gmail communication thing was set up purely to deal with personal things that were not government business.

Rep. Lesko: With all due respect, how can you say that when you clearly, in all these emails, were intentionally avoiding FOIA? You said it in your own words, sir.

Dr. Morens: Lets talk about what you mean by intentionally avoiding FOIA. I dont consider that telling them dont send me things because they could get FOIAd as intentionally avoiding FOIA

Rep. Lesko: Did you use, in most of these emails, your official signature? It said David M Morens, O.D., NIAID, NIH. These were official.

Dr. Morens: Well

Rep. Lesko: And you forwarded from your NIH email to your personal email, and you said it right in your email.

Dr. Morens: I realized if a Gmail or an NIH email came to me and I replied to it, for some reason, there was a default where the signature I had on Gmail, which said David Morens of Bethesda, Maryland or something didnt go out. But the NIH email went out. I dont know how that happened. I didnt do it consciously.

Rep. Lesko: Im sorry. I just dont believe you.

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), M.D., revealed conflicting statements that prove Dr. David Morens either lied to the Select Subcommittee during his public hearing or during his transcribed interview about deleting federal records.

Rep. McCormick: We have statements concerning the NIH, NIAID FOIA officer instruction on how to avoid documents production through intentional misspellings of keywords to avoid triggering hits on automated search queries in response to FOIA requests and congressional oversight inquiries. That you had these secret backchannel ways to get a hold of Fauci that you were trying to avoid queries by misspellings and other things. Thats what we have come to the conclusion on. Do you deny that?

Dr. Morens: The secret backchannel, joking terminology, to my knowledge, was never about FOIAs.

Rep. McCormick: So youre going to joke about backchannels to Fauci and about misspellings on queries. Thats a joke. Not very funny to me.

Dr. Morens: I had no backchannel. You know, I could walk into Tonys office and talk to him anytime I wanted. Theres no need to have a backchannel. I had face to face meetings with him all the time.

Rep. McCormick: So you deny it?

Dr. Morens: I guess I do.

Rep. McCormick: Dr. Morens, we have your previous statement on FOIA documents here. Chairman, I request unanimous consent to submit these documents for the record. Based on your answer, you either lied to Congress during your transcribed interview or you are lying here today.

###

Originally posted here:

Hearing Wrap Up: Dr. Fauci's Top Advisor Held Accountable for COVID-19 Federal Records Violations, Undermining ... - House Committee on Oversight and...

The World Health Organization (WHO) published a new report suggesting the COVID-19 pandemic undid a decade of life expectancy at birth and healthy life expectancy gains (HALE), with global expectancy levels now matching those last seen in 2012.

"Not only has the pandemic set back healthy longevity worldwide by years, it also reversed the previous trends of shifting disease burden to noncommunicable diseases," the report said.

Not only has the pandemic set back healthy longevity worldwide by years, it also reversed the previous trends of shifting disease burden to noncommunicable diseases.

The Americas and South-East Asia regions each lost about 3 years of life expectancy at birth between 2019 and 2021, the report said, as SARS-CoV-2 caused communicable diseases to be the cause of 23.0% of all deaths in 2020 and 28.1% in 2021 a return to 2005 levels.

In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 was the top cause of death for the region of the Americas. In 2019, communicable diseases only accounted for three of the top ten causes of death worldwide, a trend swiftly reversed by the novel coronavirus.

Between 2000 and 2019, steady gains were made with life expectancy. In 2000, life expectancy was 66.8 years (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 66.2 to 67.3 years) and rose to 73.1 (UI, 72.6 to 73.7) years in 2019.

Women gained an average of 6.5 years from 2000 to 2019, and men 6.2 years.

When the pandemic began in 2020, expectancy rates began to drop almost immediately. Global life expectancy at birth dropped by 0.7 years to 72.5 (UI, 71.9 to 73.1) years in 2020 (back to the 2016 level), and by a further 1.1 years to 71.4 (UI, 70.8 to 72.0) years in 2021 (the 2012 level).

The effects of the pandemic were seen most strongly in middle and high-income countries.

"By World Bank income groups, life expectancy was cut by 0.6 years in low-income countries and by 2.4 years in lower-middle-income countries, and HALE cut by 0.6 years and 2.0 years, respectively, between 2019 and 2021," the authors said.

In 2019, seven of the 10 leading causes of death were non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and in upper-middle-income and high-income countries, NCDs accounted for nine out of 10 top causes of death, with only lower respiratory infections ranking.

By 2021, however, COVID-19 became the third and second leading causes, respectively, claiming 4.1 million and 8.8 million lives globally

"In all but two WHO regions (the African and Western Pacific regions), COVID-19 ranked among the top five causes of deaths in 2020 and 2021, responsible for the largest number of deaths in both years in the Region of the Americas, in 2021 in the South-East Asia Region and the second largest number of deaths in both years in the European and the Eastern Mediterranean regions," the WHO said.

The rest is here:

WHO: COVID-19 pandemic reversed decade of life expectancy gains - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- In an elementary school of roughly 500 students, Principal Mary Aldridge tries to remember each of her students names. Students flock to her room for lunch and stop to wave or hug her as she walks through the halls.

This is her ninth and last year at the elementary school, as Aldridge is retiring after nearly 30 years of working in Lincoln Consolidated Schools.

I like making sure that people have what they need, Aldridge said about her role as principal. Whether its children, parents, or especially teachers.

She began in the district as a student at 12 years-old. After graduating from high school, she ventured off to Welch College, a private college in Tennessee. She didnt always want to be a teacher but said she fell into it. and quickly fell in love with the idea of teaching kids.

Aldridge returned to Lincoln schools, first as a substitute and media specialist, and became a teacher there in 1995. She taught kindergarten to third grade for nearly a decade before moving on to administrative roles in 2008. She served as assistant principal at Brick Elementary School and principal of Model Elementary School.

Aldridge has loved her time in each of the elementary schools, she said, but the years were not without challenges.

I tried to have fun wherever Im going, wherever Im at, she said. We like to joke around and have fun. And I think you have to really enjoy your job because its so hard. I think teaching is one of the hardest jobs, other than being a parent, that you could ever do.

Through budget cuts and the COVID-19 pandemic, she led teachers through what she said is an increasingly difficult profession.

Its harder now being a teacher than when I started, Aldridge said. The challenges are greater because families are going through more, whether its social emotional issues, or whether its economic issues, or whether its split families, broken families. Theyre going through a lot and our staff goes through a lot and so their jobs are harder and harder.

In recent years, the school has brought in new, younger teachers, Aldridge said. Shes had fun mentoring the new generation.

The Lincoln School Board said goodbye to Aldridge at its May 13 meeting, thanking her for her years of service.

Its always a pleasure to come into your building and see bright, engaged, smiling kids and adults who are excited about learning, Board President Jennifer Czachorski said. We wish you all the best in your retirement.

Taking her place is Laura Maurer, who is coming from Allen Park Public Schools, where she was assistant principal at Lindemann Elementary School. Introducing herself at the board meeting, she said she is very excited to joining the community and it will be a new challenge.

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page, the Ypsilanti-area news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.

More here:

From budget cuts to COVID-19, retiring Ypsilanti-area principal reflects on decades of work - MLive.com

Ian Hamilton has returned to the Yankees bullpen, as the team took him off of the COVID-19 injured list before facing the Angels on Tuesday.

Hamilton initially went on the list on May 20 after getting sent home the day before. Prior to the designation, the Yankees had not used the COVID-19 IL since 2022.

The Yankees initially planned on activating Hamilton before Sundays loss to the Padres. However, they ultimately decided to wait until after Mondays off day.

Hamilton had been a bit off prior to getting sick, as he allowed three earned runs in his last five games. However, the right-hander has established himself as one of the Yankees top relievers; he has a 3.18 ERA over 22.2 total innings in his second season with the team.

A multi-inning weapon, Hamilton has recorded more than three outs in eight of his 19 appearances this season.

To make room for Hamilton, the Yankees optioned Yoendrys Gmez to Triple-A on Sunday.

Gerrit Coles next live batting practice session has been scheduled.

Aaron Boone said the Yankees ace, recovering from elbow inflammation, will throw again in Tampa on Thursday, according to MLB.coms Bryan Hoch. It will be Coles third time facing hitters since getting shut down midway through spring training.

Cole most recently threw two innings on Saturday. He totaled 30 pitches.

As expected, utilityman Jon Berti is going to miss a significant amount of time after suffering a high-grade calf strain over the weekend in San Diego.

Doctors told Berti that he will be on the shelf for 6-8 weeks, according to the New York Posts Greg Joyce. Berti received a PRP injection on Tuesday.

Original post:

Ian Hamilton returns to Yankees' bullpen after stint on COVID-19 list - New York Daily News

OPINION:

Last week, a House committee revealed emails from David Morens, who worked under Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The emails further indicate a cover-up as to the origins of COVID-19 (a Chinese lab). Dr. Fauci was the federalgovernments primary architect in response to and spokesperson in the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is considerable evidence that Dr. Fauci and his colleagues were wrong in assessing the disease and the correct response to it. They also engaged in an active campaign to smear the reputations of distinguished scientists who, as we now know, were correct in explaining the errors, misstatements and responses to the pandemic.

The result of the COVID-19 misinformation campaign was to destroy millions of jobs and businesses, unnecessarily shut down schools, and damage future generations. It also caused undue panic among young people who had little chance of contracting fatal infections from the disease and many excess deaths because of undertreatment of those most at risk while misallocating resources to those at little risk.

The public, including many government officials and Presidents Donald Trump and Biden, understandably had little knowledge of exotic viruses. All turned to the experts. Dr. Fauci had the title and experience. Yet few were aware of how little he knew. Fame and power went to his head. He conned millions at a terrible cost by failing to admit what he did not know and pretending to know things he did not know.

When an issue requires specialized knowledge or experience, people naturally seek out the experts. The experts shape public policy, business strategies and societal expectations. Yet history is replete with examples where the experts in science, political and military affairs, economics, demography, history, and the environment have failed to provide accurate information, leading to incorrect actions and predictions.

Economists are often regarded as the oracles of financial markets and national economies. Their predictions, however, often go awry, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. Most recently, President Bidens economic advisers, including the treasury secretary and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, missed the inflation of the last three years. Many economists had warned that the big increase in the monetary supply as a response to the pandemic would cause inflation but were ignored by the Biden administrations experts.

Many economists worldwide believed that Japans rapid economic expansion before 1990 would continue indefinitely, dubbing it the Japanese Economic Miracle. But the asset bubble burst in the early 1990s, leading to the Lost Decade of stagnation. This misjudgment stemmed from a failure to account for underlying structural issues within the Japanese economy, such as demographic challenges and rigid corporate practices.

Back in 1968, biologist Paul Ehrlich wrote a book, The Population Bomb, warning that the world would soon run out of resources because of the rapidly rising overpopulation. His mankind was doomed thesis was soon accepted as the conventional wisdom by the global elite. But a funny thing happened on the way to overpopulation doomsday population growth started slowing to the point where most countries are now below replacement levels that is, women, on average, are having fewer children (less than two) than needed for a stable population.

In the last few months, there have been articles in major media about the coming depopulation disaster leading to an underpopulation doomsday. Decades ago, China initiated a one child per household policy, which it has been unable to reverse despite a now-falling population. A rising tide of the elderly and a fall in productive workers is not sustainable.

In the 1960s and 1970s, influential scientists and media outlets warned of an impending ice age because of observed temperature declines in the preceding decades. This hypothesis, however, was soon overtaken by a new consensus on global warming, a phenomenon driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

But the beat goes on.

We dont have 12 years to save the climate. We have 14 months, the now-defunct news website ThinkProgress predicted 55 months ago.

Gordon Brown said in 2009, when he was Britains prime minister, that we had fewer than fifty days to save the planet from catastrophe. In that same year, former Vice President Al Gore announced that there is a 75% chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice free within the next five to seven years (15 years ago and the ice cap is still there).

In 1989, a U.N. report predicted that entire nations could be wiped off the face of the earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000. Thirty-five years after the report, no nation (or inhabited island) has disappeared because of rising sea levels.

There are almost countless environmental disaster forecasts whose expiration date has come and gone yet new forecasts (with only a change in the doomsday date) keep appearing, often by the same experts who have been wrong.

Western analysts in the 1980s believed that the Soviet Union was a permanent geopolitical fixture that would endure. Indeed, he rapid collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 caught most experts by surprise. Much of this miscalculation was because of an overestimation of the Soviet economy, an underestimation of political corruption, and growing public discontent within the Soviet bloc.

Expert opinions and predictions that have failed underscore the need for humility and caution when making and relying on experts.

Richard W. Rahn is chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth and MCon LLC.

View original post here:

Tyranny of Fauci and the experts: COVID-19 misinformation campaign - Washington Times

WATERTOWN A memorial was unveiled Tuesday morning in Thompson Park near the Rotary Pavilion in remembrance of those who lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Allison Gorham, chair of the COVID-19 Memorial Committee, also decorates the South Massey Street Island near Clinton Street. She put up a temporary memorial for members of the community who died from the pandemic.

Gorham said she was then asked if she knew if the city was planning to put up a permanent monument.

Fast forward to today, three years later, and we finally have a proper memorial in place. This isnt a happy occasion; honoring people who have died, whether from wars or accidents or some other unexpected tragedy is never joyous. It is a somber moment, she said.

Rewinding back to March 2020, when many people mark the pandemic starting in the United States, little was known, Gorham said.

There was so much uncertainty about the disease, except that it was killing thousands and thousands of people, and ultimately, millions, she said.

The monument has waves on the black base as a representation of the water that surrounds the north country, a blue sphere which represents the world, and Remembering those who have died from Covid-19 in white writing.

This memorial stands as a reminder, even if we didnt know anyone who passed away or was infected by the virus, but in that period, every single one of us was affected. It stands as a reminder and a place of peace and comfort to all in our community who lost someone to COVID and didnt have the opportunity to formally mourn their passing because of the restrictions that were in place, Gorham said.

Gorham thanked current and former members of Watertown City Council and city staff for their help along with the Northern New York Community Foundation, BCA Architects, Jeff Weldon, Acquiring Monuments, and T.F. Wright & Sons Granite.

The three-year project started when Gorham looked up memorials and found one she liked from a company in Washington State. She then changed the design and the company from Washington worked alongside T.F. Wright & Sons Granite in Carthage.

The memorial cost between $43,000 and $45,000 and the money was raised through a matching grant with the Northern New York Community Foundation.

We lost people, and we needed to have some way to remember that, Gorham said.

Gorham hopes that when people who were affected by the pandemic walk past the monument they know that were not going to forget them.

Follow this link:

COVID-19 memorial unveiled in Watertown's Thompson Park | Health Matters | nny360.com - NNY360

Specialty

Please choose I'm not a medical professional. Allergy and Immunology Anatomy Anesthesiology Cardiac/Thoracic/Vascular Surgery Cardiology Critical Care Dentistry Dermatology Diabetes and Endocrinology Emergency Medicine Epidemiology and Public Health Family Medicine Forensic Medicine Gastroenterology General Practice Genetics Geriatrics Health Policy Hematology HIV/AIDS Hospital-based Medicine I'm not a medical professional. Infectious Disease Integrative/Complementary Medicine Internal Medicine Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Medical Education and Simulation Medical Physics Medical Student Nephrology Neurological Surgery Neurology Nuclear Medicine Nutrition Obstetrics and Gynecology Occupational Health Oncology Ophthalmology Optometry Oral Medicine Orthopaedics Osteopathic Medicine Otolaryngology Pain Management Palliative Care Pathology Pediatrics Pediatric Surgery Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Plastic Surgery Podiatry Preventive Medicine Psychiatry Psychology Pulmonology Radiation Oncology Radiology Rheumatology Substance Use and Addiction Surgery Therapeutics Trauma Urology Miscellaneous

Read more:

The Assessment of Functional Status Among COVID-19 Patients at Three Months Using Pulmonary Function Tests - Cureus