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bookmark_borderUN Climate Report: It’s Now or Never

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A new flagship UN report on climate change indicating that harmful carbon emissions from 2010-2019 have never been higher in human history, is proof that the world is on a “fast track” to disaster, António Guterres has warned, with scientists arguing that it’s ‘now or never’ to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Reacting to the latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN Secretary-General insisted that unless governments everywhere reassess their energy policies, the world will be uninhabitable.

His comments reflected the IPCC’s insistence that all countries must reduce their fossil fuel use substantially, extend access to electricity, improve energy efficiency and increase the use of alternative fuels, such as hydrogen.

Unless action is taken soon, some major cities will be under water, Mr. Guterres said in a video message, which also forecast “unprecedented heatwaves, terrifying storms, widespread water shortages and the extinction of a million species of plants and animals”.
Horror story

The UN chief added: “This is not fiction or exaggeration. It is what science tells us will result from our current energy policies. We are on a pathway to global warming of more than double the 1.5-degree (Celsius, or 2.7-degrees Fahreinheit) limit” that was agreed in Paris in 2015.

Providing the scientific proof to back up that damning assessment, the IPCC report – written by hundreds of leading scientists and agreed by 195 countries – noted that greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity, have increased since 2010 “across all major sectors globally”.

In an op-ed article penned for the Washington Post, Mr. Guterres described the latest IPCC report as “a litany of broken climate promises”, which revealed a “yawning gap between climate pledges, and reality.”

He wrote that high-emitting governments and corporations, were not just turning a blind eye, “they are adding fuel to the flames by continuing to invest in climate-choking industries. Scientists warn that we are already perilously close to tipping points that could lead to cascading and irreversible climate effects.”

IPCC Climate Change Mitigation 2022

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_border99% of Population Breathes Air Pollution

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7 Million people die from air pollution related illness every year.

“After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have 7 million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution,” said Dr. Maria Neira, head of WHO’s department of environment, climate change and health. “Yet too many investments are still being sunk into a polluted environment rather than in clean, healthy air.”

WHO reports:
Almost the entire global population (99%) breathes air that exceeds WHO air quality limits, and threatens their health. A record number of over 6000 cities in 117 countries are now monitoring air quality, but the people living in them are still breathing unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, with people in low and middle-income countries suffering the highest exposures.

The findings have prompted the World Health Organization to highlight the importance of curbing fossil fuel use and taking other tangible steps to reduce air pollution levels.

WHO Air Quality Database and Report 2022

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment

bookmark_borderClimate Change Feedback Loops: Brown Carbon, Wildfires, and Arctic Melting

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Feedback loops accelerate climate change at an exponential rate. In this case, brown carbon from wildfires warms the arctic. The warmer arctic absorbs more heat causing more wildfires. In turn, more wildfires cause more brown carbon resulting in a warmer arctic. The cycle keeps reinforcing itself as it repeats.

A study published in One Earth entitled “Brown carbon from biomass burning imposes strong circum-Arctic warming” reports:
• Brown carbon imposes strong Arctic warming
• Warming effect of water-soluble brown carbon is ∼30% relative to black carbon
• Biomass burning (wildfires) contributes ∼60% of the warming effect of brown carbon
• Warming climate leads to increased wildfires that reinforce Arctic warming

Rapid warming in the Arctic has a huge impact on the global environment. Atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) is one of the least understood and uncertain warming agents due to a scarcity of observations. Here, we performed direct observations of atmospheric BrC and quantified its light-absorbing properties during a 2-month circum-Arctic cruise in summer of 2017. Through observation-constrained modeling, we show that BrC, mainly originated from biomass burning in the mid- to high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (∼60%), can be a strong warming agent in the Arctic region, especially in the summer, with an average radiative forcing of ∼90 mW m−2 (∼30% relative to black carbon). As climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity, and spread of wildfires, we expect BrC to play an increasing role in Arctic warming in the future.

More on Climate Change

bookmark_borderClimate Change: Adapt or Die

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United Nations Press Release — UN scientists on Monday delivered a stark warning about the impact of climate change on people and the planet, saying that ecosystem collapse, species extinction, deadly heatwaves and floods are among the “unavoidable multiple climate hazards” the world will face over the next two decades due to global warming.

UN-IPCC-Climate-Change-March-2022 PDF

Climate change: a threat to human wellbeing and health of the planet. Taking action now can secure our future

BERLIN, Feb 28 – Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released today.

“This report is a dire warning about the consequences of inaction,” said Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC. “It shows that climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet. Our actions today will shape how people adapt and nature responds to increasing climate risks.”

The world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5°C (2.7°F). Even temporarily exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible. Risks for society will increase, including to infrastructure and low-lying coastal settlements.

The Summary for Policymakers of the IPCC Working Group II report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability was approved on Sunday, February 27 2022, by 195 member governments of the IPCC, through a virtual approval session that was held over two weeks starting on February 14.

Urgent action required to deal with increasing risks

Increased heatwaves, droughts and floods are already exceeding plants’ and animals’ tolerance thresholds, driving mass mortalities in species such as trees and corals. These weather extremes are occurring simultaneously, causing cascading impacts that are increasingly difficult to manage. They have exposed millions of people to acute food and water insecurity, especially in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, on Small Islands and in the Arctic.

To avoid mounting loss of life, biodiversity and infrastructure, ambitious, accelerated action is required to adapt to climate change, at the same time as making rapid, deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. So far, progress on adaptation is uneven and there are increasing gaps between action taken and what is needed to deal with the increasing risks, the new report finds. These gaps are largest among lower-income populations.

The Working Group II report is the second instalment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which will be completed this year.

“This report recognizes the interdependence of climate, biodiversity and people and integrates natural, social and economic sciences more strongly than earlier IPCC assessments,” said Hoesung Lee. “It emphasizes the urgency of immediate and more ambitious action to address climate risks. Half measures are no longer an option.”

Safeguarding and strengthening nature is key to securing a liveable future

There are options to adapt to a changing climate. This report provides new insights into nature’s potential not only to reduce climate risks but also to improve people’s lives.

“Healthy ecosystems are more resilient to climate change and provide life-critical services such as food and clean water”, said IPCC Working Group II Co-Chair Hans-Otto Pörtner. “By restoring degraded ecosystems and effectively and equitably conserving 30 to 50 per cent of Earth’s land, freshwater and ocean habitats, society can benefit from nature’s capacity to absorb and store carbon, and we can accelerate progress towards sustainable development, but adequate finance and political support are essential.”

Scientists point out that climate change interacts with global trends such as unsustainable use of natural resources, growing urbanization, social inequalities, losses and damages from extreme events and a pandemic, jeopardizing future development.

“Our assessment clearly shows that tackling all these different challenges involves everyone – governments, the private sector, civil society – working together to prioritize risk reduction, as well as equity and justice, in decision-making and investment,” said IPCC Working Group II Co-Chair Debra Roberts.

“In this way, different interests, values and world views can be reconciled. By bringing together scientific and technological know-how as well as Indigenous and local knowledge, solutions will be more effective. Failure to achieve climate resilient and sustainable development will result in a sub-optimal future for people and nature.”

Cities: Hotspots of impacts and risks, but also a crucial part of the solution

This report provides a detailed assessment of climate change impacts, risks and adaptation in cities, where more than half the world’s population lives. People’s health, lives and livelihoods, as well as property and critical infrastructure, including energy and transportation systems, are being increasingly adversely affected by hazards from heatwaves, storms, drought and flooding as well as slow-onset changes, including sea level rise.

“Together, growing urbanization and climate change create complex risks, especially for those cities that already experience poorly planned urban growth, high levels of poverty and unemployment, and a lack of basic services,” Debra Roberts said.

“But cities also provide opportunities for climate action – green buildings, reliable supplies of clean water and renewable energy, and sustainable transport systems that connect urban and rural areas can all lead to a more inclusive, fairer society.”

There is increasing evidence of adaptation that has caused unintended consequences, for example destroying nature, putting peoples’ lives at risk or increasing greenhouse gas emissions. This can be avoided by involving everyone in planning, attention to equity and justice, and drawing on Indigenous and local knowledge.

A narrowing window for action

Climate change is a global challenge that requires local solutions and that’s why the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) provides extensive regional information to enable Climate Resilient Development.

The report clearly states Climate Resilient Development is already challenging at current warming levels. It will become more limited if global warming exceeds 1.5°C (2.7°F). In some regions it will be impossible if global warming exceeds 2°C (3.6°F). This key finding underlines the urgency for climate action, focusing on equity and justice. Adequate funding, technology transfer, political commitment and partnership lead to more effective climate change adaptation and emissions reductions.

“The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future,” said Hans-Otto Pörtner.

bookmark_borderA Foot of Sea Level Rise

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports U.S. coastline to see up to a foot of sea level rise by 2050. That is three times the rate of the previous one hundred years.

“For businesses along the coast, knowing what to expect and how to plan for the future is critical,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “These updated projections will help businesses, and the communities they support, understand risks and make smart investments in the years ahead.”

“This new data on sea rise is the latest reconfirmation that our climate crisis ⁠— as the President has said ⁠— is blinking ‘code red,’” said Gina McCarthy, National Climate Advisor. “We must redouble our efforts to cut the greenhouse gases that cause climate change while, at the same time, help our coastal communities become more resilient in the face of rising seas.”

“By 2050, moderate flooding ⁠— which is typically disruptive and damaging by today’s weather, sea level and infrastructure standards ⁠— is expected to occur more than 10 times as often as it does today,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, NOAA National Ocean Service Director. “These numbers mean a change from a single event every 2-5 years to multiple events each year, in some places.”

The Sea Level Rise Technical Report provides the most up-to-date sea level rise projections for all U.S. states and territories by decade for the next 100 years and beyond, based on a combination of tide gauge and satellite observations and all the model ensembles from the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report projects sea levels along the coastline will rise an additional 10-12 inches by 2050 with specific amounts varying regionally, mainly due to land height changes.

More articles on Flood Insurance, Extreme Weather Events, Rising Sea Levels and Global Warming

bookmark_borderExtreme Rainfall–surge Hazard Risks

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by Daniel Brouse

Most climate change models forecast rising sea levels as the predominant threat of a warming climate to flood risks. Though sea level rise is of great concern, so should be extreme rainfall.

Both the sea and air temperatures are rising. Warm air can hold more moisture than cool air. Warmer sea temperatures result in more evaporation. Warmer air can hold more moisture. The increased moisture in the air moves over land causing inland deluges.

Hurricane Ida in the summer of 2021 is a good example. Because of the 85 degrees Fahrenheit Gulf of Mexico ocean temperature, Ida rapidly gained strength right before it made landfall jumping from a Category 1 to a Category 4 storm. The warm air allowed more moisture to be carried as rain. The storm was so large that it was able to pick up more moisture from the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean moisture was carried inland and dumped over places like Pennsylvania and New York. Ida caused record flood damage in parts of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, “The remnants of Hurricane Ida destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in Southeastern Pennsylvania and caused more than $100 million in public infrastructure damage across the state.” There were more deaths in the Northeastern USA than where the storm made landfall in Louisiana. The New York Times reported, “The remnants of Hurricane Ida caused flash flooding and a number of deaths and disrupted transit across parts of New York and New Jersey. The storm killed at least 43 people in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut and left more than 150,000 homes without power.”

The Journal Nature published the study Tropical cyclone climatology change greatly exacerbates US extreme rainfall–surge hazard examining how current models underestimate the risk of Rainfall–surge Hazard. “Tropical cyclones (TCs) are drivers of extreme rainfall and surge, but the current and future TC rainfall–surge joint hazard has not been well quantified. Using a physics-based approach to simulate TC rainfall and storm tides, we show drastic increases in the joint hazard from historical to projected future (SSP5–8.5) conditions. The frequency of joint extreme events (exceeding both hazards’ historical 100-year levels) may increase by 7–36-fold in the southern US and 30–195-fold in the Northeast by 2100. This increase in joint hazard is induced by sea-level rise and TC climatology change; the relative contribution of TC climatology change is higher than that of sea-level rise for 96% of the coast, largely due to rainfall increases. Increasing storm intensity and decreasing translation speed are the main TC change factors that cause higher rainfall and storm tides and up to 25% increase in their dependence.”

From the article Rising Temperatures Bringing Bigger Floods published in the Journal Science, “CO2 emissions have boosted risk of intense precipitation and consequent flooding. To determine how rising temperatures have altered flood risk, atmospheric scientist Pardeep Pall of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and his colleagues ran thousands of climate simulations. In roughly half of them, they reduced atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to levels measured in the year 1900, and they adjusted ocean temperatures and the amount of Arctic sea ice—which affects high-latitude weather patterns—accordingly. In the other simulations, they modeled modern conditions. Then they compared the rainfall amounts generated in both types of simulations. Finally, they fed the rainfall values into a model that assesses the potential for flooding. In 90% of the simulations, results suggested that the flood risk in England and Wales in autumn 2000 was at least 20% higher than it would have been in 1900.”

As the Earth warms, the air will hold more moisture. More moisture-laden air moves over land and creates atmospheric rivers (Pineapple Express). The Journal EOS in the article Atmospheric Rivers Spur High-Tide Floods on U.S. West Coast said, “Atmospheric rivers are narrow bands of moisture that travel across the lower troposphere, generally at the leading edges of massive low-pressure systems. At their peak, they can carry as much water through the sky as the Amazon River does on land. They unleash intense winds and heavy rain as they surge across the Pacific Ocean, eventually making landfall on the U.S. West Coast, contributing to many high-tide flooding events.”

The atmospheric rivers also bring heavy rainfall inland causing extreme flooding. In October of 2021 NOAA said, “a convergence of storms brought more than half a foot of rain to parts of the Bay area in addition to strong winds, flash floods, and mud/landslides. They also bring the potential for heavy snow to higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.” (Atmospheric River Hits the West Coast)

More articles on Flood Insurance, Extreme Weather Events, Rising Sea Levels and Global Warming

bookmark_border26% Increase in US Flood Risk by 2050 Due to Climate Change

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A study published in the Journal Nature, Inequitable patterns of US flood risk in the Anthropocene, models a 26.4% (24.1–29.1%) increase in US flood risk by 2050 due to climate change.

Flood Risk % Increase
Flood Risk % Increase

“Our national depiction of comprehensive and high-resolution flood risk estimates in the United States indicates current average annual losses of US$32.1 billion (US$30.5–33.8 billion) in 2020’s climate, which are borne disproportionately by poorer communities with a proportionally larger White population. The future increase in risk will disproportionately impact Black communities, while remaining concentrated on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Furthermore, projected population change (SSP2) could cause flood risk increases that outweigh the impact of climate change fourfold. These results make clear the need for adaptation to flood and emergent climate risks in the United States, with mitigation required to prevent the acceleration of these risks.”

This study/model shows the heaviest impact on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts; however, as the Earth warms, the air will hold more moisture.
More moisture-laden air moves over land and creates atmospheric rivers (Pineapple Express). The Journal EOS in the article Atmospheric Rivers Spur High-Tide Floods on U.S. West Coast said, “Atmospheric rivers are narrow bands of moisture that travel across the lower troposphere, generally at the leading edges of massive low-pressure systems. At their peak, they can carry as much water through the sky as the Amazon River does on land. They unleash intense winds and heavy rain as they surge across the Pacific Ocean, eventually making landfall on the U.S. West Coast, contributing to many high-tide flooding events.”

The atmospheric rivers also bring heavy rainfall inland causing extreme flooding. In October of 2021 NOAA said, “a convergence of storms brought more than half a foot of rain to parts of the Bay area in addition to strong winds, flash floods, and mud/landslides. They also bring the potential for heavy snow to higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.” (Atmospheric River Hits the West Coast)

More articles on Flood Insurance, Rising Sea Levels and Global Warming.

bookmark_borderGut Microbiota (Good Gut Bacteria) and COVID-19

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by Daniel Brouse

Good gut bacteria are the microorganisms (bacteria and archaea) that live in the digestive tract. The gut microbiota produces fermentation of non-digestible substrates like dietary fibres and endogenous intestinal mucus.

“Approximately 100 trillion micro-organisms (most of them bacteria, but also viruses, fungi, and protozoa) exist in the human gastrointestinal tract — the microbiome is now best thought of as a virtual organ of the body. he human genome consists of about 23 000 genes, whereas the microbiome encodes over three million genes producing thousands of metabolites, which replace many of the functions of the host, consequently influencing the host’s fitness, phenotype, and health,” according to the Role of the Gut Microbiota in Nutrition and Health. “Gut microbes are key to many aspects of human health including immune, metabolic, and neurobehavioural traits.”

Research published in the Journal Nature states, “The human oral and gut commensal microbes play vital roles in the development and maintenance of immune homeostasis.”

In the study, Gut microbiota composition reflects disease severity and dysfunctional immune responses in patients with COVID-19, it was reported:
Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory illness, there is mounting evidence suggesting that the GI tract is involved in this disease. Gut microbiome composition was significantly altered in patients with COVID-19 compared with non-COVID-19 individuals. Moreover, this perturbed composition exhibited stratification with disease severity concordant with elevated concentrations of inflammatory cytokines and blood markers such as C reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyl transferase. SARS-CoV-2 primarily infects the respiratory tract, however, pathophysiology of COVID-19 can be attributed to aberrant immune responses in clearing the virus.

Associations between gut microbiota composition, levels of cytokines and inflammatory markers in patients with COVID-19 suggest that the gut microbiome is involved in the magnitude of COVID-19 severity possibly via modulating host immune responses. Furthermore, the gut microbiota dysbiosis after disease resolution could contribute to persistent (long-COVID) symptoms, highlighting a need to understand how gut microorganisms are involved in inflammation and COVID-19.

2025 Update: COVID-19, the Aging Brain, and Gut Microbiome

With growing evidence that COVID-19 can persist in the body, especially the gut, and cause systemic effects, researchers are calling for greater awareness, ongoing monitoring, and expanded health support — not just for those with long COVID, but for the broader public as well.

About Good Gut Bacteria (Gut Microbiome)
About Persistent SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19
COVID Chronic Conditions and Long-COVID

Science Based Information on COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 / Novel Coronavirus

bookmark_borderCOVID, Long-COVID, and Blood Clots

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by Daniel Brouse

Originally, COVID-19 was thought to be a respiratory infection. It didn’t take long to discover that SARS-CoV-2 quickly enters the heart, blood stream, and can infect every organ.

Now we know that SARS-CoV-2 causes micro bloodclots that do not necessarily clear the system.

Resta Pretorius, a South African scientist, says, “When we speak about long COVID and microclots, I think we should just step back a second and speak about acute COVID. We have noted – we and others have noted that the vascular system and clotting is not working properly during acute COVID. So the dilemma with long COVID is that the percentage of individuals, up to 30%, never really get over the presence of these clotting abnormalities or physiological abnormalities when they are not infective anymore – so when they get over the normal five to 10 days of acute COVID. So during long COVID, these clots then just continue to be present.”

“Inside the microclots that are present in these individuals’ blood in circulation, there are various entrapped molecules, inflammatory molecules, that actually prevent the breakdown of the microclots. So although the body’s trying very hard to break down these clots with the normal physiological processes, molecules entrapped in the microclots actually prevent it from breaking down.”

“Now, that is a massive issue because if these microclots are in circulation, it damages the vasculature, or your blood vessels, and in that process, prevents the cells to receive enough oxygen, causing then a failure of the coagulation system of oxygen to your cells. And that can be linked to all of the lingering symptoms that have been noted in long COVID.”

The Results of Persistent clotting protein pathology in Long COVID/Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) is accompanied by increased levels of antiplasmin: We show that plasma samples from Long COVID/PASC still contain large anomalous (amyloid) deposits (microclots). We also show that these microclots in both acute COVID-19 and Long COVID/PASC plasma samples are resistant to fibrinolysis (compared to plasma from controls and T2DM), even after trypsinisation. After a second trypsinization, the persistent pellet deposits (microclots) were solubilized. We detected various inflammatory molecules that are substantially increased in both the supernatant and trapped in the solubilized pellet deposits of acute COVID-19 and Long COVID/PASC, versus the equivalent volume of fully digested fluid of the control samples and T2DM. Of particular interest was a substantial increase in α(2)-antiplasmin (α2AP), various fibrinogen chains, as well as Serum Amyloid A (SAA) that were trapped in the solubilized fibrinolytic-resistant pellet deposits.

ALSO SEE: COVID: Heart-disease Risk Soars

COVID-19: Chronic Conditions

MORE Scientific Research on COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

bookmark_borderPersistent SARS-CoV-2 in Organs and Throughout the Brain

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COVID=19

by Daniel Brouse
help@membranwe.com

Part I: What is a persistent virus? (The Chronic Infection Hypothesis)

Persistent viruses are not cleared but remain in specific cells of infected individuals. Persistent infections may involve stages of both silent and productive infection without rapidly killing the host. Diseases caused by persistent virus infections include acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), AIDS-related complexes, chronic hepatitis, Epstein-Barr (the virus that causes most cases of cases of mononucleosis), subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (chronic measles encephalitis), chronic papovavirus encephalitis (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy), several herpesvirus-induced diseases, and COVID-19.

“Some of the theories for what may be causing long-COVID symptoms include the persistence of the virus. So, instead of the virus coming and going, it sticks around causing inflammation, auto-immune problems and changes in the microbiome,” Dr. Michael Peluso, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco said.

“You can start thinking about getting COVID as almost an accelerant to aging. The viral infection accelerates the aging process in people,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the chief of research and education service at Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System.

Dr. Al-Aly researched data from millions of people across the country. The studies on kidney outcomes in long COVID, long COVID in the brain and long COVID in the heart had similar patterns.

“We have seen that people are losing about three to four percent kidney function in the year following that infection. That usually happens with three to four years of aging,” Al-Aly said.

Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19

Long-term neurologic outcomes of COVID-19

Long-term SARS-CoV-2 Found in Multiple Organs
COVID has been found to persist for months in individuals even if their case was mild. The virus continues to infect multiple organs including the brain. The U.S. National Institutes of Health said they found the pathogen is capable of replicating in human cells beyond the respiratory tract and can infect all organs.

In 2024, researchers from Helmholtz Munich and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) found the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can persist in the brain’s protective layers (the meninges) and the skull’s bone marrow indefinitely, potentially triggering chronic inflammation and increasing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. The team, led by Prof. Ali Ertürk, Director at the Institute for Intelligent Biotechnologies at Helmholtz Munich, also found that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the accumulation of the spike protein in the brain.

A Connecticut patient had/has COVID for 471 Days (and still going as of July 02, 2022) that has evolved into 3 new lineages.  She currently has three types of persistent COVID at the same time. Two of the mutations were created by the patient and will likely develop into more mutations.  “The chronic infection hypothesis for novel SARS-CoV-2 variant emergence is increasingly gaining credence following the appearance of Omicron. Here we investigate intrahost evolution and genetic diversity of lineage B.1.517 during a SARS-CoV-2 chronic infection lasting for 471 days (and still ongoing) with consistently recovered infectious virus and high viral loads. During the infection, we found an accelerated virus evolutionary rate translating to 35 nucleotide substitutions per year, approximately two-fold higher than the global SARS-CoV-2 evolutionary rate. This intrahost evolution led to the emergence and persistence of at least three genetically distinct genotypes suggesting the establishment of spatially structured viral populations continually reseeding different genotypes into the nasopharynx.” (Accelerated SARS-CoV-2 intrahost evolution leading to distinct genotypes during chronic infection)

The chronic infection hypothesis is important work. Ziyad Al-Aly, director of the clinical epidemiology center at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri, who has led separate studies into the long-term effects of COVID-19 says, “For a long time now, we have been scratching our heads and asking why long-COVID seems to affect so many organ systems. This paper sheds some light, and may help explain why long-COVID can occur even in people who had mild or asymptomatic acute disease.”

The virus lives for an undetermined amount of time after you test negative. These autopsies were performed on people up to 230 days after asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID.

“We show that SARS-CoV-2 is widely distributed, even among patients who died with asymptomatic to mild COVID-19, and that virus replication is present in multiple pulmonary and extrapulmonary tissues early in infection. Further, we detected persistent SARS-CoV-2 RNA in multiple anatomic sites, including regions throughout the brain, for up to 230 days following symptom onset. Despite extensive distribution of SARS-CoV-2 in the body, we observed a paucity of inflammation or direct viral cytopathology outside of the lungs. Our data prove that SARS-CoV-2 causes systemic infection and can persist in the body for months.”

“One patient in the autopsy study was a juvenile who likely died from unrelated seizure complications, suggesting infected children without severe COVID-19 can also experience systemic infection.”

Read the study: SARS-CoV-2 infection and persistence throughout the human body and brain

In the study Screening for SARS-CoV-2 persistence in Long COVID patients using sniffer dogs and scents from axillary sweats samples, they have found persistent SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) over a year and a half after the individual’s initial infection.

In yet another study, Gastrointestinal symptoms and fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA suggest prolonged gastrointestinal infection, scientists found COVID in people’s stool up to 7 months after they tested negative for COVID. “The extended presence of viral RNA in feces, but not in respiratory samples, along with the association of fecal viral RNA shedding with GI symptoms suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infects the GI tract and that this infection can be prolonged in a subset of individuals with COVID-19.”

PART II: What does it mean? (SARS-CoV-2 and Your Kids)

Is SARS-CoV-2 being a persistent virus and the risks associated with persistent viruses. Here are a couple examples:

Chicken pox and Shingles. “Shingles is caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus stays dormant (inactive) in their body. The virus can reactivate later, causing shingles.”

Mononucleosis, Multiple Sclerosis, and Epstein-Barr. The Epstein-Barr virus is a persistent virus linked to causing Mononucleosis (Mono) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Studies have also found “people who developed shingles had four times the risk of being diagnosed with MS within the following year.”

Persistent viruses often cause long term health problems, a decreased quality of living, and a shortened lifespan. Some of these chronic conditions will become apparent immediately.  Some of the chronic conditions, cancers, and other ailments may not present themselves for years. Research has shown, “Associations between gut microbiota composition, levels of cytokines and inflammatory markers in patients with COVID-19 suggest that the gut microbiome is involved in the magnitude of COVID-19 severity possibly via modulating host immune responses. Furthermore, the gut microbiota dysbiosis after disease resolution could contribute to persistent (long-COVID) symptoms.” Good gut bacteria is a critical component of the human immune system.

Where is COVID Lurking in the body?
The problem with studying persistent viruses is you typically need to do an autopsy to obtain the tissue. A new technique can be used on live volunteers by performing a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan. The scan can find persistent virus locations in the body of the HIV virus. They are also applying this technique to find where the persistent SARS-CoV-2 is lurking in long-COVID patients.

This BBC episode of Science In Action “A medical scan which reveals where HIV and other viruses hide in the body” explains:

Protect Children
Unfortunately, I have seen many of my friends posting about their children having COVID. These kids now have a forever health risk. It may be many years before we know all the consequences; however, we already are seeing that COVID elevates the severity of conditions one is predisposed to, such as, a pre-diabetic that gets COVID turning into a diabetic. This is one of the reasons so many children are being diagnosed for COVID when hospitalized for other conditions. COIVD is triggering other ailments. “Persons aged <18 years with COVID-19 were more likely to receive a new diabetes diagnosis >30 days after infection than were those without COVID-19 and those with prepandemic acute respiratory infections,” said the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Report.

One should do everything possible to avoid exposure to their children. There is zero (0) evidence of prolonged immunity through infection. So, there is no (none, zip, nadda) benefits of infection. There is a 99% chance of a negative outcome from infection.

COVID-19 Chronic Conditions

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