The Sick Times

02/12/2025

Here are the latest national COVID-19 trends, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and major wastewater surveillance providers.

🏥 About 2.7 in every 100,000 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 during the week ending January 25. (Note that these are provisional data.)

📉COVID-19 test positivity has decreased 7%, from 5.3% of COVID-19 tests returning positive results during the week ending January 25 to 4.9% of tests during the week ending February 1.

💩 SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has increased 8% between the week ending January 25 and the week ending February 1, and the national wastewater viral activity level is “high,” per the CDC.

⬇️ SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has decreased 4% between January 22 and January 29, and the national wastewater trend is “high,” per WastewaterSCAN.

👩‍⚕️ Healthcare visits for influenza-like illness have increased 11% between the week ending January 25 and the week ending February 1, and these visits are at record levels.

ID: An orange background and a meter indicating moderate to high national wastewater levels of SARS-CoV-2.

The graphic reads: “THE SICK TIMES: This Week’s COVID-19 Trends Update.

COVID-19 levels remain high in the U.S. as our longer-than-usual winter surge continues. While disease spread is decreasing in some regions, that decline is offset by increases and plateaus in other parts of the country. We’re also seeing a record-high seasonal flu season, as concerns about the bird flu H5N1 continue to grow.

Experts remain really concerned about the risk of seasonal and bird flu strains mixing, particularly as news comes out that 1) another bird flu strain has jumped to cows and 2) house cats can pass the virus from birds to people.”

02/11/2025

Several government resources about accommodations for people with Long COVID have become unavailable in the last week, following purges of government websites and datasets under the Trump administration. These pages offered crucial information about rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for people with Long COVID and their employers.

While this information may now be harder to access, people with Long COVID are still legally entitled to accommodations, disability advocates who spoke with The Sick Times emphasized.

Read Betsy Ladyzhets’ reporting. https://bit.ly/42QQczh

02/09/2025

When a pandemic begins, so does the blame game. Early days of COVID-19 pointed fingers at wild meat markets and debunked lab leak conspiracies, and that crystallized a long-running narrative that outbreaks are generally humans’ fault; roll the dice enough times with wildlife and you’re bound to land on a plague.

Problem is, generalizing that narrative may be misleading, if not just wrong and racist, according to Colin Carlson, a global change biologist who studies pandemics and climate at Yale University.

A new paper from Carlson and his colleagues aims to change that script, and argues that doing so could save lives. The “insidious” misconception, according to Carlson, is a belief that there is more cause and effect than there actually is.

Read more from Max Levy in an article published at The Sick Times in partnership with Sequencer, a writer-owned science website and newsletter.

When a pandemic begins, so does the blame game. Early days of COVID-19 pointed fingers at wild meat markets and debunked lab leak conspiracies, and that crystallized a long-running narrative that outbreaks are generally humans’ fault; roll the dice enough times with wildlife and you’re bound to ...

02/08/2025

How has the ongoing pandemic impacted friendships? Sociologist October Krausch looked at over 2,500 survey responses to learn more.

In this episode of Still Here: October Krausch speaks with co-hosts Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis, along with producer James Salanga, about their findings and what pandemic-aware friendship looks like now. Also in this episode: an update on how RECOVER has been impacted by the Trump administration, a potential Long COVID biomarker in kids, and the latest COVID-19 trends.

Find our Long COVID news and commentary podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, or listen — and access a full transcript — at The Sick Times. https://bit.ly/3EvIIYu

ID: A black background with white text and lavender accents features an illustration of a white Caladrius wearing yellow headphones. The text reads, “It’s not just that we disagree about whether it’s a good idea to eat indoors, right? It’s that we disagree on how big of a problem that we think ableism is, how much we’re thinking about it, how important it is to show solidarity with other people and how much of a commitment we’re gonna make to that given how difficult it is actually to do all this. - October Krausch, Still Here: A Podcast from The Sick Times.”

02/07/2025

This week at The Sick Times, Linda Fuchs, author of ‘Surviving ME’ (by Joyce Fox), writes about how she and her husband having been living with myalgic encephalomyelitis since the late 1980s — and about how their experiences have informed the way they’re helping their seventeen-year-old son Nick navigate his Long COVID diagnosis. https://bit.ly/3WQ9pxx

02/06/2025

For decades, Cochrane — formerly called the Cochrane Collaboration — has produced systematic reviews of medical interventions that are influential for clinicians seeking to provide evidence-based care. A 2019 review controversially recommended exercise therapy for ME/CFS, despite questions about the quality of the evidence and the experiences of people with the disease.

While Cochrane acknowledged problems with the review and promised a complete update, they abruptly dropped the project in December 2024, drawing sharp criticism from ME/CFS advocates and researchers.

For decades, Cochrane — formerly called the Cochrane Collaboration — has been known internationally for its systematic reviews of medical treatments and interventions. Now the U.K.-based charity is under fire for its clumsy handling of a thorny issue: the status of a flawed 2019 review of exerci...

02/05/2025

Here are the latest national COVID-19 trends, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and major wastewater surveillance providers.

For now, we are still able to track that spread as major CDC data sources are (or at least appear to be) back to their regular update schedule following interruptions from the Trump administration.

🏥 About 2.9 in every 100,000 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 during the week ending January 18. (Note that these are provisional data.)

📈 COVID-19 test positivity has decreased 7%, from 5.8% of COVID-19 tests returning positive results during the week ending January 18 to 5.4% of tests during the week ending January 11.

💩 SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has increased 7% between the week ending January 18 and the week ending January 25, and the national wastewater viral activity level is “high,” per the CDC.

📉 SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has decreased 2% between January 15 and January 22, and the national wastewater trend is “high,” per WastewaterSCAN.

👩‍⚕️ Healthcare visits for influenza-like illness have increased 21% between the week ending January 18 and the week ending January 25.

Read this week's full COVID-19 trends report: https://bit.ly/3Q2LhUz

02/01/2025

🚨 Breaking: Vital Long COVID data taken down following Trump order. prevalence data are among CDC information taken offline following Trump order to remove “gender ideology” references.

A key source of U.S. Long COVID data is now offline following a purge of information related to s*xual orientation and gender identity ordered by President Donald Trump’s administration. The Household Pulse Survey, a data collection effort by the U.S. Census and Centers for Disease Control and Pre...

01/31/2025

It’s “business as usual” for the RECOVER, the National Institutes of Health’s flagship Long COVID research program, despite disruptions across the federal government over the last two weeks — but concerns abound about future clinical trials and other upcoming research.

Also this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead the federal health department (which oversees the NIH), pledged to support Long COVID research if confirmed. However, some advocates are skeptical due to his record of anti-science views and campaign promises.

Read Betsy Ladyzhets reporting on the continued confusion and uncertainty at the NIH.

As scientists across the country face confusion and uncertainty following drastic changes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under President Donald Trump, the agency’s flagship Long COVID research program is continuing its existing work as usual. But future studies could be delayed or inte...

01/31/2025

Over the last five years of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many people have experienced significant changes and ruptures to their personal relationships. People with Long COVID and people taking COVID-19 precautions have lost many friends as they are not able or willing to return to “pre-pandemic” behaviors.

This significant grief has received very little public attention, but the extraordinary response to a The Sick Times survey indicates a strong urge for people to talk about this experience.

Of 2,586 people who responded to the survey, 81% reported having lost friends.

Over the last five years of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many people have experienced significant changes and ruptures to their personal relationships. People with Long COVID and people taking COVID-19 precautions have lost many friends as they are not able or willing to return to “pre-pandemic....

01/30/2025

Here’s what’s happening this week in research 🧐:

💊 A double-blind clinical trial for Long COVID is recruiting to trial the amino acid peptide Larazotide (AT1001) on children and adults participants. The drug, which has been studied in celiac disease, will be given to 32 participants four times a day orally for 21 days; 16 people will receive a placebo. The study is being conducted in Boston, Massachusetts. Read more about the study in our reporting on clinical trials for children with Long COVID. Contact: [email protected].

👩 A large RECOVER cohort study of over 12,000 adults found that “females had a significantly higher risk of Long COVID compared with males.” The study did not assess for inters*x or transgender populations — participants self-reported s*x at birth. Researchers found that female participants ages 40-55 had the highest risk of the disease. “We believe that the s*x-based disparity in long-term illness burden due to Long COVID may increase in addition to existing postviral sequelae,” the authors wrote, noting that other similar chronic diseases such as ME, chronic Lyme disease, and post Ebola syndrome have similar gender disparities.

🦠 Researchers in Japan stated last week that they have developed a peptide that can prevent COVID-19 infections. The peptide, composed of 39 amino acids, binds to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and would theoretically prevent all mutations of the virus from connecting to the ACE2 receptor on human cells, the researchers claimed. Research testing the peptide in cell lines and in hamsters will be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In its story about the study, The Japan Times stated that researchers “hope to conduct a physician-led clinical trial for possible preventive and therapeutic treatment.”

ID: Three salmon-colored slides with black text read “THE SICK TIMES” and feature the text in this post.

01/29/2025

Based on her past experiences, Bobbi Dempsey fears that many Americans may soon be deprived of the accessible, affordable healthcare we desperately need. This week at The Sick Times, she writes about her particular concern for those of us with .

Based on my past experiences, I fear that many Americans – including myself – may soon be deprived of the accessible, affordable healthcare we desperately need. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) saved my life. Nearly 15 years after it became law, this important...

01/28/2025

Here are the latest national COVID-19 trends, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and major wastewater surveillance providers:

🏥 About 3.3 in every 100,000 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 during the week ending January 11. (Note that these are provisional data.)

📉 COVID-19 test positivity has decreased 5%, from 6.5% of COVID-19 tests returning positive results during the week ending January 11 to 6.2% of tests during the week ending January 18.

💩 SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has decreased 19% between the week ending January 11 and the week ending January 18, and the national wastewater viral activity level is “moderate,” per the CDC.

⬇️ SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has decreased 16% between January 8 and January 15, and the national wastewater trend is “high,” per WastewaterSCAN.

👩‍⚕️ Healthcare visits for influenza-like illness have increased 6% between the week ending January 11 and the week ending January 18.

🦠 Read this week’s full COVID-19 trends report: https://bit.ly/3CsoUEI

ID: An orange background and a meter indicating moderate to high national wastewater levels of SARS-CoV-2.

The graphic reads: “THE SICK TIMES: This Week’s COVID-19 Trends Update.

The U.S. remains in a period of high disease spread, for COVID-19 as well as seasonal pathogens like the flu and norovirus. COVID-19 levels are declining, but our less-intense-than-usual winter surge may give way to more cases this spring.

The public health landscape is full of uncertainty right now as a new Trump administration takes over federal agencies. As Betsy wrote on Friday, the CDC has not updated some COVID-19 and other disease data pages in the wake of a “pause” to federal health communications issued by Trump officials. Our team will do our best to keep track of all the COVID-related news during this time.”

01/24/2025

In October 2022, Miles W. Griffis reported on the ways particulate matter from wildfires can increase the risk of COVID-19 and how wildland firefighters may be at a higher risk of developing Long COVID. He spoke extensively with Lea Bossler, a U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter who was well on her way to fulfilling her goal of becoming an incident commander, before she developed Long COVID, which forced her to give up her career.

For years, firefighters have been stretched thin due to the prolonged and intensified fire seasons caused by climate change. Long COVID is not only affecting their health and livelihoods, it could also seriously hamper their response to the escalating crisis.

As we witness the catastrophic damage from the ongoing wildfires in southern California — still without a cure for Long COVID — Miles’ reporting is as vital as ever. https://bit.ly/4htRiFc

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Miles' reporting was originally published by High Country News (High Country News) and was supported by The Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Note: This story contains the death of a child.

01/23/2025

Here’s what’s happening this week in research 🧐:

💰 The U.S. government is funding a $375 million effort for a new COVID-19 prevention drug for immunocompromised people, as part of Project NextGen. The federal health department provided the funds to the drug company Shionogi Inc. for a long-acting pre-exposure prophylactic (PreP) called S-892216 that blocks the main protease of SARS-CoV-2. “This technology, called protease inhibitor technology, has been used successfully in treating hepatitis C and HIV,” the press release stated.

💊 Pemgarda (pemivibart) continues to be an effective antibody treatment against COVID-19. The biopharmaceutical company that makes the drug, Invivyd, released new data this month past week showing that Pemgarda is effective against the current dominant SARS-C0V-2 strain, XEC. “Pemgarda offers a valuable tool for certain moderately to severely immunocompromised patients who need options,” said infectious disease doctor Amesh Adalja in a press release. Still, due to numerous hurdles, many people in need of the antibody have had trouble accessing it, as we covered last year.

😷 A new systematic review of 429 studies, shared in Medrxiv as a preprint, estimated the global prevalence of Long COVID as 36% of people who had tested positive for COVID-19. The authors estimated prevalence in different continents: 35% of COVID-positive people in Asia, 39% in Europe, 30% in North America, and 51% in South America. The study also stated there were eight common subtypes of the disease, with respiratory and general fatigue being the most prevalent. “The prevalence of Long COVID persists over extended follow-up, with a high burden of symptoms one to two years post-infection,” the authors wrote.“ Our findings highlight Long COVID and its subtypes as a continuing health challenge worldwide.” https://bit.ly/4atcIAa

Editor's note: The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) announced the $375 million effort for a new COVID-19 prevention drug in a press release dated Thursday, January 16, 2025. This was before yesterday's news about the Trump administration's freeze on federal health agencies. We will, of course, be following both of these stories closely and bringing you updated reporting as more information becomes available.

01/22/2025

It seems like every week a potential biomarker for emerges from the towering stacks of scientific studies on the disease. Various biochemical, vascular, and neurological markers have shown potential as diagnostic biomarkers — but nothing has been widely accepted. At least, not yet.

This week at The Sick Times, Miles W. Griffis reports on a potential blood-based biomarker for Long COVID; unpacks the process of getting a biomarker validated; explores funding challenges; and speaks to advocates about why any biomarker for Long COVID should assess disease severity, measured by independent, objective questionnaires.

Last year, immunologist Johan Van Weyenbergh published a study in The Lancet: Microbe that identified a potential blood-based biomarker for Long COVID with 94% sensitivity. Van Weyenbergh’s team discovered SARS-CoV-2 RNA transcripts in the blood cells of people with Long COVID. They also found a s...

01/21/2025

Here are the latest national COVID-19 trends, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and major wastewater surveillance providers:

🏥 About 3.8 in every 100,000 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 during the week ending January 4. (Note that these are provisional data.)

📉 COVID-19 test positivity has decreased 6%, from 7.0% of COVID-19 tests returning positive results during the week ending January 4 to 6.6% of tests during the week ending January 11.

💩 SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has decreased 4% between the week ending January 4 and the week ending January 11, and the national wastewater viral activity level is “high,” per the CDC.

⬇️ SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has decreased 3% between January 1 and January 8, and the national wastewater trend is “high,” per WastewaterSCAN.

👩‍⚕️ Healthcare visits for influenza-like illness have decreased 15% between the week ending January 4 and the week ending January 11.

🦠 Read this week’s full COVID-19 trends report: https://bit.ly/40HrBeY

And, as always, check your local wastewater at data: http://cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-nationaltrend.html

01/18/2025

his week on Still Here: As wildfires ravage the greater Los Angeles area, COVID-19 mutual aid groups have jumped to action to distribute respirators and air purifiers to minimize the impact of wildfire smoke (and COVID!) on residents and evacuees. Freelance reporter and Long COVID patient advocate Sam Rhodehamel () talks with producer James Salanga and co-hosts Miles Griffis () and Betsy Ladyzhets about the groups filling public health gaps to keep residents protected during the devastating wildfires. In the first week of the wildfires, Mask Bloc LA () distributed at least 43,000 masks.

Also in this episode: another NIH RECOVER-Treating Long COVID update, more proof portable air filters help mitigate airborne disease, and the latest COVID-19 trends.

Find our Long COVID news and commentary podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, or listen — and read a transcript — at The Sick Times. https://bit.ly/3E4nK2U