In August an immunologist declared the “Leonardi Effect” had received a “decent burial”
Fast forward to today: a new preprint shows what I warned about in 2020
Persistent SARS-CoV-2-induced impairment of CD8 T cell responses to community-acquired pathogens
I was right
Key finding: Post-COVID patients show markedly reduced T cell reactivity to common pathogens (influenza, Staph, VCZ) which is evidence of lasting immune dysregulation favoring secondary infections and viral reactivation
This is the scenario I described years ago: accelerated CD8 aging/paralysis/exhaustion/senescence, poorer control of pathogens.
We ignored it at our peril. Rising “mystery” infections, cancers, herpes flares? Not a coincidence
after covid, patients show profound mitochondrial defects in T cells specific for common pathogens
Classic signs of T cell exhaustion/senescence
This is the scar I predicted in 2020
Aged, dysfunctional T cells that can’t properly control chronic viruses
Science eventually catches up.
Protect your T cells: vaccinate, mask in crowds, avoid reinfection
I’m not familiar with Station 11, worth checking out?
Absolutely. One of the few instances in which the adaptation is actually better than the book, in my opinion, and the book was pretty good.
Very good miniseries that’s more optimistic about the post-apocalypse. What’s wild is how it was written before covid (IIRC they filmed right before covid hit and released it a while later). It does have its villain, but it feels more “slice of life” with its storytelling.
It’s about a girl who is a young actress and gets trapped with her cast mates as a flu-like virus ravages the world. She survives by going into quarantine as people try to wait out the virus. Years later, she’s an adult and travels with a band of actors who throw Shakespeare festivals around a looped route. They’re trying to keep acting and literature alive in a world that has ended. The woman reflects back on her childhood and the path it took her, wondering if she would trade her life as a professional actress to know what happened to her family.