Tootfinder

Interesting! though sounds like this hasn't been tested in actual people yet.
In future, these nanoparticles could for example be an ingredient in a nasal spray.
"The glycosystem is a specially designed particle that mimics natural sugars found on human cells. These sugars, known as polysialosides, are made of repeating units of sialic acid - structures that viruses often target to begin infection. By copying this structure, the synthetic molecule acts as a decoy, binding to the virus's spike protein and preventing it from attaching to real cells. ...
"Tests on human lung cells showed a 98.6% reduction in infection when the molecule was present. ...
"This breakthrough could pave the way for antiviral nasal sprays, surface disinfectants, and treatments to protect vulnerable groups, offering a new line of defense against Covid-19 and future pandemics."
Dr Sumati Bhatia of Swansea University is "main corresponding author and research supervisor". Looked her up and she's been working on using "glycomaterials" to lock onto other pathogens too, like flu, herpes and pseudomonas.
#Swansea #covid #nanoparticles #glycomaterials #research

Was talking elsewhere about dentist safety trickiness and said this...
I really think it could be a goer for some dentist or other to allocate, say, one morning a month where they start the day super covid-careful, and only take appointments from people like us. Then the staff could test in the morning, and each patient could test when they arrive, and of course that cohort of patients wouldn't object to wearing proper masks in the waiting room.
Whoever developed this model would get customers from miles around.
The only thing which makes me doubt its viability is that it seems like all the dentists tend to be really busy already (or all the good ones, anyway), so the business incentive isn't as compelling as it might be.
#dentists #UK #masks #AirQuality #CovidIsntOver

I have managed to go 5 years without getting it, but this week, I tested positive for #COVID, and it's hitting me hard.
Voice is fucked. Hot and cold flushes, muscle pain in arms and legs. Can barely sleep. Appetite is gone.
#noxp

Useful thread from @… with latest UK covid positivity results (from last week). Going up a bit - more noticeably in certain areas.
For context, "positivity rate" isn't "how many people have covid overall": it's "when we bothered actually doing tests, how many of the tests came back positive".
So for example if you test 30 people, and 3 of the tests came back positive, that's a "10% positivity rate".
Sometimes there are blank places on the map where, if there _was_ any testing that week, they didn't bother sending it in.
#covid #UK #stats

A snippet I wrote elsewhere earlier today, thinking in particular about dentists:
What I'm acutely aware of at the moment is the chasm between "willing to accommodate what you explicitly ask for" and "understands the parameters of the risk".
If they don't make the effort to grasp the logic of it themself, if they're just humouring you to be nice or doing what someone once told them to do, then there's only one brain in the game (yours). You have to be on alert the whole time for the mistakes that their ignorance lets them make, and you can't trust in anything they do when you're not looking.
I do appreciate it when people are like "what do you need" - obviously that's better than "you weirdo" - but what I'm really looking for is someone who _already knows_ how this works, and I don't have to watch them like a hawk for where their ignorance is going to put me at risk.
#healthcare #dentists #covid #science

"The nursery said it had implemented strict protocols, such as dividing up walking and nonwalking babies to reduce the spread of infection"
(Dividing up like how? Are they still sharing air?)
“They’re using all those good hygiene practices, staff have got PPE, they’ve got aprons, gloves,"
(Aprons and gloves won't help you against an airborne virus...)
"some settings still keep masks,”
(Are they fitted ones or baggy ones? Who wears them? When and where are they taken off?)
“Thanks to Covid, we got very savvy at knowing what we needed to do in the case of a very serious illness occurring like this."
(Really seems like no you didn't...)
#measles #MeaslesIsAirborne #CovidIsAirborne

Another stonker of a post from Julia Doubleday, who I'd say is possibly the leading writer of our time on the social aspects of covid & how we deal with it.
"The danger of COVID is its inherent danger, yes, but it’s also its relentlessness. It’s that when you get away with your 5th infection it’s coming right back for you a 6th time. A 6th time in year 6? And you’re a 6-year-old child?"
"What interests me about the “the lion does not concern himself” meme is the cracks it puts in the central fiction of the lies being told about Long COVID since 2022."
#covid #LongCovid #memory #cognition #brain #BrainFog #denial #CovidIsntOver #TheLionDoesNot

Interesting Bluesky thread on a bit of Canadian research: covid spreads from hospitals to the community, not the other way round.
#covid #research #Canada #CovidIsntOver #NosocomialInfection

Liked this quote:
"reconsidering the idea that COVID is not only still here, but actively still dangerous, is a lot to ask when the alternative is the comfort of denial"
"a lot to ask when the alternative is the comfort of denial"
Nice mix of compassionate and pointy, on a key element of how I think the dynamic plays out.
There's a wise educator I know, who uses the expression "a heavy lift" to describe learning new ideas with big implications. I'm reminded of that.
#covid #politics #denial #CovidIsntOver

"It is November of 2020. I wake up, eat some pancakes, slam a coffee down, and toss on a wrinkled hoodie and a fleece hat."
#covid #vaccines #hospitals #healthcare

Interesting thread from @…, comparing different covid variants with what the death stats were doing at the time.
#covid #death #stats #CovidVariants

"After Saturday’s protest, the chair of the Metropolitan police federation said officers policing protests in London were “emotionally and physically exhausted”.
"Paula Dodds said: “Enough is enough. Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. And instead officers are being drawn in to facilitate these relentless protests.”"
Well that's the government's fault for having completely unnecessarily created this conflict and brought the law into disrepute!
No wonder the police are "emotionally exhausted", when they have to keep on arresting peaceful old people like their grandparents, and being mocked for it! Not what any of them probably imagined their job was gonna be!
But this to me is the worst bit of news in that article:
"The planned new power follows protest-related measures in the crime and policing bill going through parliament, which bans the possession of face coverings ... at protests"
Planning to ban masks, in the time of covid. Denial or what.
I wonder if they've done an "impact assessment" for that bit of the law, because it certainly would disproportionately affect people disabled with Long Covid & similar things.
#UKLaw #masks #London #protests #Palestine #CovidIsntOver #KeirStarmer

Useful piece at The BMJ, about covid messing with T cells etc.
Depressing that there's still so much denial in this area. Anthony Leonardi was trying to raise awareness of T cell damage back in 2021. (Difficult to make head or tail of his relentlessly non-layperson explanations, but he was at least talking about it.)
#covid #immunity #research #ImmunityDebt #CovidIsntOver

Read a thread earlier via XCancel: AJ Leonardi talking about Long Covid rates, and Mike Hoerger mentioning a forthcoming paper on cumulative excess mortality.
This phrase from Phil Oliver stuck in my mind:
"There is no evidence ‘short Covid’ exists."
Thread:
#covid #LongCovid #stats #CovidIsntOver

This online magazine has an excellent 1-page article on air quality in Early Years settings. Why it's important, why it's advantageous for businesses to take seriously, what you can do. From Anne McConway.
(Caveat, I don't think the format will work for screen readers. It's one of those where they try to make it look like a paper magazine, with arrows to "turn pages". On the other hand, if the page could be printed out, it could work well for showing to colleagues.)
#AirQuality #EarlyYears #CleanAir #children #covid #CovidIsntOver