Tag: vaccines

bookmark_borderCOVID-19: A Survivor’s Story

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by Daniel Brouse

(Also see the update: 3 Years of Living With It)

I am a scientist and journalist publishing articles and papers since 1994. As part of a collective of scientists, we have been working on the greatest threat to humankind — humans. Much of my effort has been spent on Anthropogenic Climate Change. In addition, I have specialized in pollution, diseases, health and wellness.

In late December 2019 and early January 2020, I started studying a novel coronavirus discovered in Wuhan, China. My first paper on the subject was published in March 2020 entitled “COVID-19 and Air Pollution”.

In late January of 2020, I had been very ill with an upper respiratory illness. The same illness killed my father. At the time, COVID-19 had not been known in the USA. Since there was no test for COVID, the doctors could not diagnose the specific virus that caused my father’s death. It wasn’t until my recurring symptoms were diagnosed as “COVID Long Haulers” in May of 2020 that I knew I was suffering the aftermath of COVID-19.

The recurring symptoms were so concerning that I devoted all of my resources to studying COVID-long and searching for a cure. Every couple of weeks I went through a wave of symptoms. Though not as severe as the original illness, the symptoms still would render me useless. The symptoms did not come on all at the same time, rather they would cycle through over two weeks (not necessarily in the same order) and then repeat. Exercise and exertion would cause the symptoms to be more severe. The symptoms included:

* difficulty breathing (feeling like you’re not taking in enough oxygen)
* congestion / mild cough
* stomach issues / diarrhea
* loss of taste, smell, and appetite
* temperature regulation / night sweats
* nightmares / vivid dreams
* dizziness / the spins / foggy thinking
* headaches / body aches / soreness
* fatigue
* ear aches
* peripheral neuropathy (tingling of the hands and feet)

My concerns were several. Would the symptoms go away over time? As the months went on, the answer was no. Would the long term recurrence of systems cause a permanent disability? The answer is probably yes. My organs were sustaining progressive damage. Respiratory, circulatory, neurological, and renal damage, as well as, blood clots, thinning and leaky blood vessels in the brain tissue, and death have all been attributed to COVID and COVID-long.

In my pursuit of answers, I found another long hauler scientist, Dr. Ade Wentzel. Ade proved to me that my hypothesis of “COVID-19 Long Haulers: autoimmune response due to inactive particles of the virus” was incorrect. Rather, he demonstrated that sars-cov-2 causes COVID-19 Induced Secondary Pellagra (CISP).

The main culprit is believed to be COVID’s genetic change to our production and utilization of NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). NAD+ is involved in cell creation, maintenance, metabolism, and regulating cell processes. COVID can chronically increase the breakdown of NAD+ and simultaneously decrease the production of NAD+.

Ade added, “The biggest function of NAD+ is as a cofactor for energy(atp) production via the citric acid cycle. NAD+ is essential for carbohydrate metabolism. The brain being highly dependent on carbs.”

NAD+ and the Citric Acid Cycle
NAD+ and the Citric Acid Cycle

Ade introduced me to one of the co-authors of his research, Robert Miller. In October of 2020, Ade and Robert started me on “the stack”. The vitamin stack helps correct the NAD+ malady by treating COVID-19 Induced Secondary Pellagra. Finding the correct form and dosage of Niacin was the most challenging part.

Within days of starting the stack, my COVID-long symptoms dissipated. Since that time, I have remained relatively symptom free EXCEPT when I tried reducing the Niacin dosage. On three separate occasions, I experimented with reducing the dosage of Niacin. All three times my symptoms returned; therefore, I would call the stack a treatment not a cure.

Since that time, I have successfully helped thousands of other COVID-long victims with the stack.

At the end of April, I received my first dose of the Moderna vaccine. Loss of taste and muscle soreness symptoms returned for 24 hours and then disappeared. My overall wellness appears to have improved. Now, I’m experimenting with reducing my Niacin dosage again to see if the vaccine helped my body recover its ability to produce and retain NAD+.

After several days of reduced Niacin (nicotinic acid dosage was reduced from 300-500mg/day down to 0-30mg day), symptoms returned: neuropathy, fatigue, brain fog, muscle soreness, difficulty breathing, GI track / stomach issues, ear aches, and allergy-like symptoms. The most notable symptom to return — headaches. Prior to COVID, I did not experience headaches. Within days of decreasing the dosage, a chronic headache returned. I increased the Niacin dosage back to 500mg/day and supplemented the stack with resveratrol. Symptoms immediately dissipated.

After the second shot, side-effects were slightly worse. The metallic taste returned within a couple hours. For the 12-24 hours post-vaccination, there was dizziness, nausea, and fatigue. Then, all the side-effects disappeared. Three months after being fully vaccinated all of my presenting symptoms dissipated. Other “silent” post COVID conditions have persisted since the initial infection.

See the update: 3 Years of Living With It

CISP and The Stack

MORE ON COVID: COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 / Novel Coronavirus

bookmark_borderPost-infection COVID Immunity

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A study published in The Lancet entitled Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibody responses and duration of immunity: a longitudinal study found the immunity from a COVID reinfection varies widely from individual to individual from days to decades.

“We identified five distinctive patterns of neutralising antibody dynamics as follows:
* negative, individuals who did not, at our intervals of sampling, develop neutralising antibodies at the 30% inhibition level [12%];
* rapid waning, individuals who had varying levels of neutralising antibodies from around 20 days after symptom onset, but seroreverted in less than 180 days [27%];
* slow waning, individuals who remained neutralising antibody-positive at 180 days post-symptom onset [29%];
* persistent, although with varying peak neutralising antibody levels, these individuals had minimal neutralising antibody decay [32%];
* and delayed response, a small group that showed an unexpected increase of neutralising antibodies during late convalescence (at 90 or 180 days after symptom onset [2%]).

Persistence of neutralising antibodies was associated with disease severity and sustained level of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. By contrast, T-cell responses were similar among the different neutralising antibody dynamics groups. On the basis of the different decay dynamics, we established a prediction algorithm that revealed a wide range of neutralising antibody longevity, varying from around 40 days to many decades.

The question may also apply to vaccines: will the COVID immunity offered by vaccinations last for 40 days to many decades? What is the durability of vaccines and will it be uniform or vary widely from person to person?

MORE ON COVID: COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 / Novel Coronavirus

bookmark_borderCOVID Mutation and Variant Threats

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When multiple genetic mutations start showing up in infected individuals, it is called a variant.

Omicron

Delta

You asked:
In your opinion – Whats our window to get people vaccinated vs the new variant becoming dominant. Please correct me if I’m wrong – South African Variant not working so well with vaccines. UK Variant is working well with vaccines?

I replied:
Well, it depends what you mean by “people”. Most people in the USA are only talking about themselves, but as you can see by the names of the variants. We need to get 90% of the world population vaccinated. They don’t really know how effective the vaccines will be on the variants, but you are correct… it is believed the South African variant is more evasive and the vaccines are less effective. So, the timeline gets ugly quickly. Current estimates are 7 years for the world to be vaccinated. In 7 years, it is unlikely any of the vaccines will be effective against 7 years of variants. The good news is the mRNA are fairly easy to tweak. Moderna and Pfizer claim they will be able to make boosters for the variants. Probably need a booster every 3-6 months, as long as the variants don’t continue to become more transmissible. The more transmissible the variant the more mutant variants it spawns. In the short term, they believe the UK variant will be dominant in the USA by March.

I’m working on a better way to explain all of this. It’s called “To the nth Degree”. I’m not worried about a mutation. Nor, am I worried about a bunch of mutations ganging up to be a variant. Looking back, I wasn’t worried about variants squared… not even variants cubed. But, when you start talking variants to the nth degree… that’s a different story.

You added:
I think everyone is hoping for the best this summer but with the way the vaccine rollout has been combined with these new variants I feel as if everyone is going to be very disappointed. If we can just untie, mask up and do the right thing for 6 weeks we could tamper down the numbers enough to enjoy a nice summer. I just don’t see this happening.

I’m also trying to wrap my head around a time frame on getting the vaccine (everyone who wants it) vs these new variants taking control. It’s going to be a moot point sooner then later.

I responded:
You are 100% right on. We can not chase this virus with vaccines. We must stop it. As long as it is out of control due to community spread, vaccines will not help. In fact, I’m concerned we may create a vaccine resistant virus. Or, we may have already created a vaccine resistant virus — a zoonotic virus already known to be associated with bats, pangolins, humans, mink, dogs, cats… big cats… lions, tigers, even a puma. We need to remove ourselves from the nth degree.

“So we have a number of examples, around the planet, in which patients’ viruses suddenly have a whole mess of new mutations all at once,” says virologist Jeremy Luban at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. And other cases have likely gone undetected, he says.

“Laboratory experiments have shown that some of those mutations help the virus bypass detection by antibodies.”

The patient went on to get monoclonal antibodies. “Toward the very end of his life, he was treated with monoclonal antibodies, from Regeneron,” Li says. “And shortly thereafter, we saw evidence that suggested the virus was developing resistance or escaping from these antibodies as well.” — From Extraordinary Patient Offers Surprising Clues To Origins Of Coronavirus Variants

COVID variants in the State of Pennsylvania / 2-8-2021

COVID-19 Scientific Based Information

bookmark_borderCOVID Immunity: What We Know

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1) Natural Immunity
If you get a moderate to severe case of COVID-19, most people maintain viable antibodies for 90 days and memory T-cells for 5 months. This will likely give you natural immunity to the same strain of COVID for up to 5 months. The resistance to the UK variant is thought to be diminished. The resistance to the South African variant is thought to be none. There is some concern that COVID may erase all or part of your T cells’ memory for other pathogens.

2) Vaccines
You should anticipate that vaccines will give you a very similar immune response as the natural immunity acquired from contracting COVID. It doesn’t matter which vaccine you receive. You should get whatever vaccine you can get and as soon as possible. You should anticipate needing to get vaccinated every 90 days once vaccines are developed for all the different variants.

The message is — we have to stop the community spread and exponential rise in variants WORLDWIDE. Individual countries can not obtain herd immunity.

More Information on COVID-19

bookmark_borderCOVID: Treatment?

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By Daniel Brouse

COVID
COVID

This is an interview with Ade Wentzel. Ade is a doctor and scientist working with COVID hospitals. I met Ade in a COVID survivors group. Though I did not know it at the time, I survived COVID in February of 2020. It was only months later that I figured out something was wrong with me. Even though I had been isolating since February, I kept getting sick. After a month of scientific research, I was diagnosed with Long Haulers Syndrome.

I had come to the conclusion that my long haulers was caused by lots of little cytokine storms. During a heated debate with a COVID antigen scientist from Spain that is researching for Johns Hopkins, Ade joined the conversation. The Johns Hopkins scientist took issue with the words “cytokine storms”. A cytokine storm is defined as a single large event. Ade helped me come to the conclusion that I was having cytokine disfunctions.

We do know that the virus consumes NAD+ because various studies have measured it. We do know that NAD+ and zinc are needed for SIRT1 activation. We also know that SIRT 1 downregulates TACE and hence downregulates TNFa and hence IL6.

Possibly for the longhaulers it’s cytokine imbalance or just NAD+ deficiency. The symptomatology improves vastly with NAD+ precursors but if cellular damage or organ damage is to occur, this takes time.

I do agree the term cytokine storm for long haulers is very incorrect, but an autoimmune disconnect seems more appropriate.
— Ade Wentzel

Ade referred me to a research paper: COVID-19: NAD+ deficiency may predispose the aged, obese and type2 diabetics to mortality through its effect on SIRT1 activity. It took me several months to figure out that Ade is a co-author of the research. During this time, I embraced “Ade’s Protocol”: Vitamin B3, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Quercetin, Zinc, and Selenium.

INTERVIEW WITH ADE
Do you think you are cured of your long haulers? Do you think it is likely you may have other long term damage that you are not yet aware of?
Ade: So I am probably one of the longest around 6 Dec 2019 and am 99.5% back to normal.

We set out to investigate how to do the above, change risk, and of the about 3500 on a prophylactic regime only 1 person has been positive and had multiple exposures running a covid hospital. His course proved to be mild.

As a clinician I am super scared of such anecdotal evidence and a trial is really the only way to gain exposure and traction.

Am I worried about long term damage that I may not be aware of? No…if it raises its head I will deal with it then.

We never set out to chase the virus, but only to save 1 person….and that we have done. It’s been a team approach with Robert Miller
who first noticed the NAD+ link and Prof Guy A. Richard’s who guided, scrutinized, questioned and encouraged the clinical process.

In my humble opinion, you guys should get the Nobel Prize. I knew the protocol was working on my long haulers, but wasn’t sure if you thought it was a prophylactic, too. And, I’m guessing it might also be a “treatment” for active COVID cases?
Ade: it works wonders for all 3. Pre, during and after and for post covid anxiety.We started with pre covid prophylaxis on a small 250 strong group in Ireland who were then starting to peak and at 3 care centers in the UK all on a voluntary basis. Then, progressed to acute patients. Through this process I was a long hauler who had access to all specialties to discuss our research and often going on to treat them when they became unwell.

COVID NAD+ Deficiency

COVID-19 Index

bookmark_borderCOVID-19: Immunity, Antibodies, Memory T Cells and B Cells

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by Daniel Brouse
email: help@membrane.com

Omicron Update January 4, 2022

The effects of antibodies produced by the immune system’s “memory B cells” against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus are weakened. After the body learns to recognize SARS-CoV-2, B cells generate fresh antibodies against the virus if there are not enough antibodies circulating in the blood.

“Omicron seemed to evade a very large share of the memory B cells,” said Matthieu Mahevas and Pascal Chappert of Universite de Paris.

The research was published in Immune escape of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant from mRNA vaccination-elicited RBD-specific memory B cells. “Memory B cells (MBCs) represent a second layer of immune protection against SARS-CoV-2. Whether MBCs elicited by mRNA vaccines can recognize the Omicron variant is of major concern. We used bio-layer interferometry to assess the affinity against the receptor-binding-domain (RBD) of Omicron spike of 313 naturally expressed monoclonal IgG that were previously tested for affinity and neutralization against VOC prior to Omicron. We report here that Omicron evades recognition from a larger fraction of these antibodies than any of the previous VOCs. Additionally, whereas 30% of these antibodies retained high affinity against Omicron-RBD, our analysis suggest that Omicron specifically evades antibodies displaying potent neutralizing activity against the D614G and Beta variant viruses. Further studies are warranted to understand the consequences of a lower memory B cell potency on the overall protection associated with current vaccines.”

Updated August 4, 2021

COVID-19 Delta Variant and Vaccines
The efficacy of mRna vaccines is about 79% against contracting the Delta variant. Non-mRna vaccines are between 40-60% effective against Delta. Vaccines lose efficacy at about 3%/month after six months of being fully vaccinated. Vaccines appear to help contain the Delta variant to the nasal passage — you are less likely to develop the epigenetic changes to your genes (long-COVID).

We know the epigenetic changes caused by COVID partially dismantle your immune system including dysfunction of NAD+ optimization and suppression of T and NK cells.

There is no natural immunity from previous infection. Everybody needs to get vaccinated.

COVID Vaccine Breakthrough Cases
Q: Why are there so many breakthrough cases of COVID in the vaccinated?

A: There are several reasons why there are breakthrough cases with any vaccine; however, COVID is different. Many of the vaccinated people getting COVID already had COVID prior to being vaccinated. This is the second time they have contracted the virus. Once you have had COVID, your immune system is compromised. You should consider yourself immune compromised. The vaccine will not fully compensate for that fact.

THE ORIGINAL COVID STRAIN
A study published in The Lancet entitled Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibody responses and duration of immunity: a longitudinal study found the immunity from a COVID reinfection varies widely from individual to individual from days to decades.

“We identified five distinctive patterns of neutralising antibody dynamics as follows:
* negative, individuals who did not, at our intervals of sampling, develop neutralising antibodies at the 30% inhibition level [12%];
* rapid waning, individuals who had varying levels of neutralising antibodies from around 20 days after symptom onset, but seroreverted in less than 180 days [27%];
* slow waning, individuals who remained neutralising antibody-positive at 180 days post-symptom onset [29%];
* persistent, although with varying peak neutralising antibody levels, these individuals had minimal neutralising antibody decay [32%];
* and delayed response, a small group that showed an unexpected increase of neutralising antibodies during late convalescence (at 90 or 180 days after symptom onset [2%]).

Persistence of neutralising antibodies was associated with disease severity and sustained level of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. By contrast, T-cell responses were similar among the different neutralising antibody dynamics groups. On the basis of the different decay dynamics, we established a prediction algorithm that revealed a wide range of neutralising antibody longevity, varying from around 40 days to many decades.

The question may also apply to vaccines: will the COVID immunity offered by vaccinations last for 40 days to many decades? What is the durability of vaccines and will it be uniform or vary widely from person to person?

Previously released on January 24, 2021:
1) Natural Immunity
If you get a moderate to severe case of COVID-19, most people maintain viable antibodies for 90 days and memory T-cells for 5 months. This will likely give you natural immunity to the same strain of COVID for up to 5 months. The resistance to the UK variant is thought to be diminished. The resistance to the South African variant is thought to be none. There is some concern that COVID may erase all or part of your T cells’ memory for other pathogens.

2) Vaccines
You should anticipate that vaccines will give you a very similar immune response as the natural immunity acquired from contracting COVID. It doesn’t matter which vaccine you receive. You should get whatever vaccine you can get and as soon as possible. You should anticipate needing to get vaccinated every 90 days once vaccines are developed for all the different variants.

The message is — we have to stop the community spread and the exponential rise in variants WORLDWIDE. Individual countries can not obtain herd immunity.

More Information on COVID-19

What We Use to Know about Immunity
Q: What do we know about immunity to COVID-19, the immune system, antibodies, memory T cells, and autoimmune disfunctions?
A: Not much. Today is September 2, 2020. The virus is still new. We probably won’t be able to know the longterm affects of COVID-19 until the longterm; however, there is a growing body of research that is starting to uncover some of the mysteries.

Q: Do we know if recovered COVID-19 patients have immunity to reinfection.
A: No. We do not know the durability of the antibodies, nor the length of memory of the T cells. Originally, researchers thought you could only catch COVID-19 once, and you would gain immunity. Scientists started off thinking you would have a minimum of 1 year immunity and quite possibly 2-3 years. Now, 6 months later, that theory is history.

There are several cases globally where reinfection was confirmed by identifying that the second infection was by a different mutation of COVID than the original infection. “So far, there are three patients known to have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 twice, and in at least one case the second time around was asymptomatic.”(1) Reinfection is rare, researchers said, but people should still be cautious. “If you’ve had it, you can’t necessarily be considered invulnerable to the infection,” Mark Pandori, one of the authors and director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory said.(2)

An extensive case study was conducted on the reinfection case from Nevada”
“These findings suggest that the patient was infected by SARS-CoV-2 on two separate occasions by a genetically distinct virus. Thus, previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 might not guarantee total immunity in all cases. All individuals, whether previously diagnosed with COVID-19 or not, should take identical precautions to avoid infection with SARS-CoV-2. The implications of reinfections could be relevant for vaccine development and application.”(3) Half of the those that became reinfected had more serious symptoms with the reinfection.

Since this paper was first published, a study done by the Imperial College of London found a 26% decline in antibodies over a three month period. The study all but eliminates the possibility of herd immunity. The study also indicates any post-COVID immunity is short lived and chances of being reinfected are large.(4)

Q: Why do so many recovered patients appear to be getting reinfected?
A: Most recovered individuals are not getting reinfected, rather their immune system mistakes inactive strands of COVID RNA as active virus. The autoimmune system reacts with an autoimmune disconnect resulting in cycles of recurring symptoms.(5) In the short term, it is thought the recurring symptoms will not cause irreparable damage. The long haul for long haulers is less certain with the duration of your body attacking your own organs in question.

Q: How long do COVID antibodies last?
A: Again, we do not know. Originally, it was thought the antibodies would last for a long period and the memory T cells might give you lifelong immunity. That is no longer the science. “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 are protected from a second infection.”(6) A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that antibody levels against the novel coronavirus decreased by about half every 73 days and, if that rate were sustained, would be depleted within about a year. The findings are similar to those of several previous reports showing rapidly decreasing antibody levels after infection, including one published Jun 18 in Nature, which showed that levels of antibodies against COVID-19 began to decrease within 2 or 3 months of infection.(7)

Q: What immunity do T Cells give?
A: We don’t know. There are two types of T Cells. Memory T cells live for six months or less in healthy humans (Westera et al., 2013), whereas naive T cells can live for up to nine years (Vrisekoop et al., 2008). Memory T cells are the ones that remember your previous infections and how to fight them. Memory T cells reproduce passing on their memory. There is growing concern that the memory T cells may be forgetting. It is possible that COVID erases the memory of your T cells making you susceptible to get infected by any other disease or illness you have previous had or have been vaccinated for (as measles can do.) Measles seem to wipe out immune cells that ‘remember’ encounters with specific bacteria and viruses.(8)

RECOMMENDATION:
Until more is known, recovered COVID patients should take great care and avoid exposure to all bacteria and viruses, including COVID, that may cause illness.

1. Patients Reinfected with Coronavirus in Hong Kong, Europe (The Scientist)
2. 1st U.S. COVID-19 Reinfection Reported in Nevada Patient (WebMD / NBC)
3. Genomic evidence for reinfection with SARS-CoV-2: a case study (The Lancet)
4. Declining prevalence of antibody positivity to SARS-CoV-2: a community study of 365,000 adults Imperial College London
5. COVID-19 Long Haulers: autoimmune response due to inactive particles of the virus (Daniel Brouse)
6. “Immunity passports” in the context of COVID-19 (WHO)
7. COVID-19 antibodies decay quickly after mild illness (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy)
8. Measles erases immune ‘memory’ for other diseases (Nature)

COVID-19 Index

bookmark_borderCOVID-19 and Negative Feedback Loops

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COVID=19

As more time passes and more information is gathered on the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, there is growing evidence that any infection from COVID-19 may cause chronic damage to your body.

Negative Feedback Loops
The more often your body suffers damage, than the more severe each additional exposure will become. After you recover from COVID, there is likely some damage to one or more of your organs. Even asymptomatic individuals may suffer chronic illness. Immunity from COVID antibodies appears to be short lived. A person gets COVID, spreads COVID, and gets it again. Each time you get COVID-19, you are more compromised. The negative feedback loop repeats until failure.

Originally, researchers thought you could only catch COVID-19 once, and you would gain immunity. Scientists started off thinking you would have a minimum of 1 year immunity and quite possibly 2-3 years. Now, 6 months later, that theory is history.

There are several cases globally where reinfection was confirmed by identifying that the second infection was by a different mutation of COVID than the original infection. “So far, there are three patients known to have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 twice, and in at least one case the second time around was asymptomatic.”(1) Reinfection is rare, researchers said, but people should still be cautious. “If you’ve had it, you can’t necessarily be considered invulnerable to the infection,” Mark Pandori, one of the authors and director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory said.(2)

UPDATE: COVID-19: Chronic Conditions
October 15, 2021

COVID causes negative feedback loops. COVID appears to cause the most damage to the weakest or most vulnerable parts of the body. If you were predisposed to a condition prior to COVID, you will likely develop the condition after COVID. An example would be people with type II diabetes. If you have diabetes prior to COVID, then you are at high risk of dying from COVID. If you are prediabetic, COVID will likely make you diabetic. If you are not inclined to develop diabetes, COVID will likely increase the probability of developing diabetes. The same holds true with NAD+, IDO, P53 tumor suppression genes, and all the other conditions listed above. The more times you contract COVID, the more cumulative damage you will suffer.

UPDATE: Reinfection Greater Risks & Exacerbates Underlying Conditions
November 11, 2022

The study Acute and postacute sequelae associated with SARS-CoV-2 reinfection was published in the Journal Nature.

* The evidence shows that reinfection further increases risks of death, hospitalization and damage to multiple organ systems
* COVID exacerbates underlying conditions including pulmonary, cardiovascular, hematological, diabetes, gastrointestinal, kidney, mental health, musculoskeletal and neurological disorders

First infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is associated with increased risk of acute and postacute death and sequelae in various organ systems. Compared to no reinfection, reinfection contributed additional risks of death, hospitalization, and sequelae including pulmonary, cardiovascular, hematological, diabetes, gastrointestinal, kidney, mental health, musculoskeletal and neurological disorders. The risks were evident regardless of vaccination status. The risks were most pronounced in the acute phase but persisted in the postacute phase at 6 months. Compared to noninfected controls, cumulative risks and burdens of repeat infection increased according to the number of infections. Limitations included a cohort of mostly white males. The evidence shows that reinfection further increases risks of death, hospitalization and sequelae in multiple organ systems in the acute and postacute phase. Reducing overall burden of death and disease due to SARS-CoV-2 will require strategies for reinfection prevention.

More on COVID-19: Chronic Conditions

1. Patients Reinfected with Coronavirus in Hong Kong, Europe (The Scientist)
2. 1st U.S. COVID-19 Reinfection Reported in Nevada Patient (WebMD / NBC)

COVID-19 Index

bookmark_borderCOVID-19 Long Haulers: SARS-CoV-2 Causes Dysfunctional Autoimmune Response

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Coronavirus / COVID
By Daniel Brouse
Email: help@membrane.com
Last Updated December 18, 2021

Long haulers syndrome is in part due to “an autoimmune response that makes you feel symptoms in waves, or due to stress, and anxiety that triggers your immune system.”
— Daniel Brouse (August, 2020)

My original description of long-COVID was, “It feels like my body is having lots of micro cytokine storms.” Now two years later, the hypothesis has been proven true. “‘It is important to note that the severity of disease in humans is not determined only by virus replication but also by the host immune response to the infection, which may lead to dysregulation of the innate immune system, i.e. “cytokine storm”‘ (Omicron SARS-CoV-2 can infect faster and better)

My gravest concerns about long-COVID remain the same — what are the long term consequences of my immune system attacking my healthy body?

Do recovered coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 patients have immunity?
Why do some people appear to be reinfected?

Maybe. Those who recover from COVID-19 appear to have some immunity.(1) “It’s reasonable to assume that there will be protection for a time frame of one to three years,” says Florian Krammer.(2) Though recent examples suggest immunity, if any, may be very short lived. The Omicron variant appears to escape immunity from both prior infection and vaccination.

It appears there are 2 different types of COVID damage: direct damage from the COVID infection, as well as, a variety of post-COVID syndromes. The direct damage appears to be dependent on the severity of the COVID infection (which likely has to do with viral load, age, and underlying conditions.) The post-COVID long haulers syndrome appears to have little to do with the severity of the COVID infection and more to do with the post-infection immune response.

Then, why do some people appear to get reinfected?
“Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve been working with my doctor about recurring symptoms. It turns out I have ‘long haulers’ syndrome. Every couple of weeks I go through a wave of symptoms. Though not as severe as the original experience, it is still not pleasant. The symptoms don’t come on all at the same time, rather they cycle through over two weeks or so (and not necessarily in the same order.) I’m not infected again, nor am I contagious.(3) The symptoms include:
* difficulty breathing (feeling like you’re not taking in enough oxygen)
* congestion / mild cough
* stomach issues / diarrhea
* loss of taste, smell, and appetite
* night sweats
* nightmares / vivid dreams
* dizziness / the spins / foggy thinking
* headaches / body aches / soreness
* fatigue
* ear aches

What causes the recurring COVID symptoms?
It is too early for a definitive answer; however, an examination of cases appear to point to an autoimmune response due to epigenetic changes caused by the virus.

Is the person still contagious? No.

How long will it take for the immune system to recognize that there is no longer a threat? It’s too early to tell. So far, symptoms have been observed for over 2 years. BUT, there are still many questions about COVID-19 and autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases.

“Emerging reports show that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection precedes the appearance of various autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, including paediatric inflammatory multisystemic syndrome (PIMS) or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), thus adding to the growing mystery of this virus and raising questions about the nature of its link with autoimmune and autoinflammatory sequelae.” (4)

What is long haulers syndrome?
The vast majority of long haulers experience fluctuations both in the type and intensity of symptoms over the course of being symptomatic.(5)

Research is pointing to “an autoimmune response due to changes in the genes of the infected host” for causing “long haulers syndrome” in adults. “Support groups on Facebook include thousands of people who say they have been wrestling with serious COVID-19 symptoms for at least a month, if not two or three. The groups have coined a name for themselves: ‘long-haulers.’ But their lives have been irrevocably changed by the onslaught of symptoms — relentless and rolling waves of fever, headache, nausea, and the terrifying inability to catch their breath. For Roberts, it’s robbed her of time. ‘I was so good. This COVID-19 has stolen my life,’ she says.” (6)

According to a WHO report, most people fall into one of two groups when it comes to the virus. Approximately 80% of those with COVID-19 end up having a mild response and most of those cases resolve in about two weeks. For people who have a severe response to the virus, it can take between three and six weeks to recover.

But now, there is growing concern over a separate group that doesn’t seem to fall into either of those categories. A number of people are now reporting lingering symptoms of the illness for one, two or even three months. This new group is mixed with those who experienced both mild and severe cases. As health experts step in to try to manage these patients and learn more, many are referring to this group as coronavirus “long-haulers” or “long-termers.”

“We’re now seeing a percentage of patients whose symptoms seem to be lasting a while,” explains family medicine provider Christopher Babiuch, MD. “This is challenging because everyone’s needs are so unique. We’re finding that collaborating as a team between different specialists helps to manage and support these patients, but there’s a lot that we just don’t know yet.” (7)

What is actually causing the immune system to have an autoimmune disconnect?
All the research is still theoretical. More studies and longer recovery times are required to confirm the theories. So, we still do not know for sure about the antigen presentation of COVID-19.

Possibly for the longhaulers it’s cytokine imbalance which causes an Down Regulating NAD+, * Up Regulating IDO, Rogue Antibodies, and other conditions that result from genetic changes. The symptomatology improves vastly with NAD+ precursors but if cellular damage or organ damage is to occur the damage is likely permanent.

“The SARS-CoV-2 hyperinflammatory response is associated with high mortality. This hypothesis suggests that a deficiency of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) may be the primary factor related to the SARS-Cov-2 disease spectrum and the risk for mortality, as subclinical nutritional deficiencies may be unmasked by any significant increase in oxidative stress.

NAD+ levels decline with age and are also reduced in conditions associated with oxidative stress as occurs with hypertension, diabetes and obesity. These groups have also been observed to have high mortality following infection with COVID-19. Further consumption of NAD+ in a pre-existent depleted state is more likely to cause progression to the hyperinflammatory stage of the disease through its limiting effects on the production of SIRT1,” said Ade Wentzel, co-author of the research.(9)

Does an auto-immune disconnect explain all long haulers’ symptoms?
No. Evidence is mounting that long haulers are unique and may have a variety of ailments. Many post-viral COVID cases exhibit the Lyme-like autoimmune disfuntions. Many also exhibit symptoms, such as, dysautonomia (10)(11). Long haulers have reported over 100 different symptoms. COVID appears to impact many of the body’s systems including respiratory, circulatory, cardiovascular, neurological, and immune systems to name a few. This makes diagnosis and treatment very confusing for doctors. And, those aren’t the only difficulties. An additional problem for diagnosing is memory T-cells. Some people’s memory T-cells may be getting erased. That means your body does not recognize previous infections nor vaccines. So, long haulers syndrome may be a combination of new conditions (Lyme-like autoimmune, dysautonomia, chronic fatigue, etc.) AND re-infections to everything you use to be immune to… with no one person having the same ailments as another.

Is there a treatment or cure for long haulers syndrome?
No. Currently, there is no cure or treatment for the onset of these autoimmune responses. The closest comparison appears to be when Lyme disease was first discovered or HIV.

Ade Wentzel replied: You can take nicotinic acid orally or niagen (if you have deep pockets). The IV will help, but however you supplement, you need to keep going for at least a good few months.

Ade has developed a protocol for a NAD+ deficiency: NAD+: Vitamin B3, Vitamin D and sunlight, Vitamin C, Quercetin, Zinc, and Selenium

COVID-19 Index

FOOTNOTES:
0. Technically speaking a virus is never alive. It is only RNA. Dead is not the scientifically correct way to describe it. But, in all essence, the virus is dead.

REFERENCES:
1. Potent antibodies found in people recovered from COVID-19 (NIH)
2. How Long Will Immunity To The Coronavirus Last? (NPR)
3. COVID-19 Testimonial (The Membrane Domain)
4. Autoimmune and inflammatory diseases following COVID-19 (Nature)
5. COVID-19 Prolonged Symptoms Survey – Analysis Report (MIT)
6.What It’s Like When COVID-19 Lasts For Months (NPR)
7. What It Means to Be a Coronavirus “Long-Hauler” (Cleveland Clinic)
8. Study: COVID-19 antibodies decay quickly after mild illness (University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy)
9. COVID-19: NAD+ deficiency may predispose the aged, obese and type2 diabetics to mortality through its effect on SIRT1 activity (Science Direct)
10. Dysautonomia: An Overlooked Neurological Manifestation in a Critically ill COVID-19 Patient (NIH)
11. Redefining Covid-19: Months after infection, patients report breathing difficulty, excessive fatigue (CNN)

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:
A. Long-term consequences of COVID-19: research needs (The Lancet)
B. Humoral Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 in Iceland (New England Journal of Medicine)
C. Is a Bradykinin Storm Brewing in COVID-19? (The Scientist)
D. The Power of Antibody-Based Surveillance (New England Journal of Medicine)
E. Coronavirus Infection and PARP Expression Dysregulate the NAD Metabolome: A Potentially Actionable Component of Innate Immunity bioRxiv
G. Relationships between hyperinsulinaemia, magnesium, vitamin D, thrombosis and COVID-19: rationale for clinical management British Cardiovascular Society

bookmark_borderEnough Space To Feel Sick

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WASHINGTON, DC — Recent research aboard the space shuttle is giving scientists a better understanding of how infectious disease occurs in space and could someday improve astronaut health and provide novel treatments for people on Earth.

“With our space-based research efforts, including the International Space Station, we are not only continuing our human presence in space, but we are engaged in science that can make a real difference in people’s lives here on Earth,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “NASA’s leadership in human spaceflight allows us to conduct innovative and ground-breaking science that reveals the unknown and unlocks the mysteries of how disease-causing agents work.”

The research involves an opportunistic pathogen known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the same bacterium that caused astronaut Fred Haise to become sick during the Apollo 13 mission to the moon in 1970.

Scientists studying the bacterium aboard the shuttle hope to unlock the mysteries of how disease-causing agents work. They believe the research can lead to advanced vaccines and therapies to better fight infections. The findings are based on flight experiments with microbial pathogens on NASA shuttle missions to the International Space Station and appear in a recent edition of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

“For the first time, we’re able to see that two very different species of bacteria – Salmonella and Pseudomonas – share the same basic regulating mechanism, or master control switch, that micro-manages many of the microbes’ responses to the spaceflight environment,” said Cheryl Nickerson, associate professor at the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe. “We have shown that spaceflight affects common regulators in both bacteria that invariably cause disease in healthy individuals [Salmonella] and those that cause disease only in people with compromised immune systems [Pseudomonas].”

By studying the global gene expression patterns in bacterial pathogens like Pseudomonas and Salmonella, Nickerson’s team learned more about how they react to reduced gravity.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa can coexist as a benign microbe in healthy individuals, but poses a serious threat to people with compromised immune systems. It is the leading cause of death for those suffering from cystic fibrosis and is a serious risk to burn victims. However, a high enough dosage of Salmonella typhimurium always will cause disease, even in healthy individuals.

During the initial study in 2006, two bacterial pathogens, Salmonella typhimurium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and one fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, were launched to the station aboard shuttles. They were allowed to grow in appropriately contained vessels for several days. Nickerson’s team was the first to evaluate global gene and protein expression (how the bacteria react at the molecular level) and virulence changes in microbes in response to reduced gravity.

“We discovered that aspects of the environment that microbes encountered during spaceflight appeared to mimic key conditions that pathogens normally encounter in our bodies during the natural course of infection, particularly in the respiratory system, gastrointestinal system and urogenital tract,” Nickerson said. NASA’s Advanced Capabilities Division Director, Benjamin Neumann added that, “This means that in addition to safeguarding future space travelers, such research may aid the quest for better therapeutics against pathogens here on Earth.”

The initial study and follow-on space experiments show that spaceflight creates a low fluid shear environment, where liquids exert little force as they flow over the surface of cells. The low fluid shear environment of spaceflight affects the molecular genetic regulators that can make microbes more infectious. These same regulators might function in a similar way to regulate microbial virulence during the course of infection in the human body.

“We have now shown that spaceflight conditions modified molecular pathways that are known to be involved in the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa,” said Aurelie Crabbe, a researcher in Dr. Nickerson’s lab at ASU and the lead author of the paper. “Future work will establish whether Pseudomonas also exhibits increased virulence following spaceflight as did Salmonella.”

NASA’s Fundamental Space Biology Program sponsored and funded the research conducted by Crabbe and Nickerson along with their colleagues at the Biodesign Institute at ASU. They collaborated with the University of Colorado School of Medicine, University of Arizona, Belgian Nuclear Research Center, Villanova University, Tulane University, Affymetrix Inc, and NASA scientists.

For an abstract of the journal article on this research, visit:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21169425

For more information about NASA programs, visit:

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