Long COVID Scientific Updates (part 2)
keeping up with current information in order to move forward in recovery
Crouching Tigers and Hidden COVID Dragons
In my last newsletter, I shared my long COVID strategy with you-
Giving myself as much time as possible to heal after an infection and working on building up and nourishing my depleted immune and other systems or calming my auto-immune reactions down has been a good COVID strategy for me to follow.
One of the first things that happened once I found out that I had an underlying chronic Lyme problem, was that I was given a list of recommended dietary supplements, some of which were unique to my identified deficiencies, others were on the list of common nutritional deficiencies seen with Lyme disease. It’s not hard to find examples of these kinds of lists on the internet. I wish that consuming a good whole foods diet were enough with chronic illness, but I’m beginning to understand that getting enough of my vital nutrients from diet alone does not always work for various reasons. As I’ve been looking through lots of scientific studies lately, I’ve noticed that the nutritional deficiencies that are associated with many chronic diseases are glaring and that microbial gut dysbiosis is often a part of the common equation. I hope in the near future more work will be done to take a better look at the nutritional deficiencies that are associated with long COVID so that more people with long COVID can start to add more nutritional supports to their viral respiratory protection plans.
I’ve noticed that there are some pretty vocal long COVID universal masking advocates who, I think, may either be frozen in the COVID pandemic stage or may simply be unaware of the differences between the COVID early pandemic stage and the endemic stage that we are now in. This resulted in me taking a look at what the CDC currently has published in regard to COVID and the guidance they are providing. I learned that the emergency pandemic stage ended in 2023 and that COVID was placed in the respiratory virus category along with things like influenza and RSV in 2024.
As the threat from COVID-19 becomes more similar to that of other common respiratory viruses, CDC is issuing Respiratory Virus Guidance, rather than additional virus-specific guidance. This brings a unified, practical approach to addressing risk from a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, such as influenza and RSV, that have similar routes of transmission and symptoms and similar prevention strategies.
Background for CDC's Updated Respiratory Virus Guidance | Respiratory Illnesses | CDC
The above quoted article goes on to list why this decision was made which you can look at in the CDC publication, but one of the key factors was high population immunity (98%) to the virus that causes COVID. The CDC has provided core prevention strategies for respiratory viruses. Masks are just 1 of the 5 things that the CDC lists as preventative strategies. Unfortunately, good nutrition is not one of the things on the CDC’s list of preventative strategies, and I don’t understand why. However, when I did look at what the CDC has to say about masks, I noticed that its mask page said less than what the state of California had to say on its mask recommendations webpage, but it’s not that the CDC doesn’t have the same information, it’s that the CDC has spread the same information out over several different pages. I did not find any information on masking from either the CDC or the state of CA that gave me the impression that they are recommending universal masking for the prevention of respiratory infections. The verbiage in their guidelines is clearly suggestion/guidance i.e. “all of the prevention strategies described can be helpful” in reducing infection risk. The CDC’s verbiage of “choosing to wear a mask” indicates a flexibility in mask wearing decision making and does not sound like a rigid rule to me.
My takeaway from this information is that since 98% of the population has some immunity to the virus that causes COVID19, and COVID hospitalizations are down because severe COVID illness is not as bad as it was during the early years of the pandemic, and because vaccines and antivirals are available for treatment, and because continued wearing of masks during the endemic phase of illnesses can actually increase susceptibility to infection in the population, and because continuing to mask can cause a person to lose protective immunity and the return of associated outbreaks, there is not a need for universal masking anymore like there was at the beginning of the pandemic. Also, there seems to be a need for more “robust evidence” in regard to the effectiveness of masks. Another paper has also provided insight into problems associated with continued universal masking in health care settings that can be applied to universal masking in the general population as well-
Masking impedes communication, a barrier that is distributed unequally across patient populations, such as those for whom English is not their preferred language and those who are hard-of-hearing and rely on lip reading and other nonverbal cues. The increase in listening effort required when masks are used in clinical encounters is associated with increased cognitive load for patients and clinicians (5). Masks obscure facial expression; contribute to feelings of isolation; and negatively impact human connection, trust, and perception of empathy (6, 7).
Universal Masking in Health Care Settings: A Pandemic Strategy Whose Time Has Come and Gone, For Now - PMC
I also discovered another well-made point in regard to mandated masking on airplanes-
……masking is a matter of personal choice. At least one study has examined the link between mask mandates on aircraft and the related incidence of air rage. Following the end of mask mandates, reported incidents of air rage settled back toward their normal range, but remain higher than before the pandemic…….In any case, the smoothest way to travel—either with a mask or without—is to remember that the choice to wear one is ultimately personal and that commenting on another traveler’s choice to wear a mask (even if they’re clearly demonstrating symptoms) aren’t likely to be welcome or appreciated.
Should I Wear a Mask on an Airplane? – August 2024
I recently meandered into a hornet’s nest for trying to participate in a mask discussion. In my defense, the person asked a question about what they perceived to be as a lack of epidemiological understanding by healthcare providers who are not practicing universal masking, and I thought I was helping to answer the question that was asked. However, it quickly became clear that my input was not wanted, and my words were twisted into things I did not say, and I was labeled as being “anti-mask”. Sigh. To be clear, I’m all for mask wearing, if someone is high risk, immune compromised, etc. If someone who is in the high-risk category asked me to wear a mask while I was near them, I would be happy to wear one. I do not agree with the idea that everyone should still be masking based on the information I have shared here. I have a lot of faith in the immune system to do its job under ordinary circumstances because it’s a well-designed and amazing thing that we have been provided with. That does not mean I don’t have any associated fears about getting infections because COVID has left its mark on me. I simply have more confidence in the work I’ve been doing to improve my immune function, which I have experienced the positive results of, than I do in the ability of masks in and of themselves to prevent pandemics. My list of preventative respiratory infection strategies is different than the CDCs. I’ve talked about some of the things I do here. Some mask advocates may gasp at my decision to let my body do what it was made to do, but too much of my normal has been taken already. Honestly, I think all of the work I’ve been doing to help regulate my immune system is A LOT harder than putting on a mask. I guess I like a good challenge about as much as I like living a “normal” life. And that’s about all I’m going to say about that. Ignorance can be bliss, but it can also be fearful. I’m not going to be controlled by either one.
Additional resource- Revolutionary Trauma EXPERT, Dr. Peter A Levine, Reveals Secrets to Health & Human Connection
Dear self, weigh your odds and make good decisions to the best of your ability. Please let others do the same.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Leaving Death in the Dust Memoir, you can do that by clicking the link- Memoir | Leaving Death in the Dust | Stephanie Schaible, MT (ASCP) | Substack
Best Wishes,
My name is Stephanie, I can do hard things, and “Leaving Death in the Dust” was created in sickness and in hope for healthy healing.
******Remember to make prayer a first priority.
This publication was created to encourage beautiful human beings, who are sick, tired, and chronically ill, learn about becoming more actively involved in their own health care. I’m glad you’re here, and I hope that you have found our newsletters to be helpful.
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*Leaving Death in the Dust is a newsletter and is not a replacement for professional, regulated, medical, healthcare. This is informational and educational. Some of us in this community may have worked in the healthcare system, but we are not your medical provider and whatever you find here is not the establishment of a professional medical relationship or medical advice. **That is an MT behind my name not an MD.
