Notices by Eric Topol (erictopol@mstdn.social)

My PBS segment on the current Covid wave
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-to-know-about-this-summers-major-surge-in-covid-infections

This new review on LongCovid is outstanding
https://thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01136-X/fulltext by @trishgreenhalgh and colleagues

We knew about loss of smell and taste with Covid infections. A nationwide report from S Korea found a 3.5-fold increase in hearing loss among young adults
https://thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00338-9/fulltext

Bad air quality and poor ventilation greatly contributed to the spread of Covid. Lessons learned
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp2241

Be careful out there. The KP.x variants summer wave
https://latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-08/playing-covid-roulette-some-infected-by-flirt-variants-report-their-most-unpleasant-symptoms-yet

A huge study of #LongCovid in South Korea and Japan
shows a pronounced increase of Guillain-Barré syndrome, cognitive deficit, insomnia, anxiety disorder, encephalitis, ischemic stroke and mood disorder. Reduced by vaccination
https://nature.com/articles/s41562-024-01895-8

Very good news on the fall booster. The FDA changed course from JN.1 to select KP.2, which in the animal model has a >3-fold induction of neutralizing antibodies vs KP.3, the SARS-CoV2 variant that is on its way to dominance in the US (and causing trouble in multiple countries)
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-recommends-covid-vaccine-update-target-kp2-strain-rcna157089

The KP.3 variant is taking over in the US, with 2 key mutations beyond JN.1 (F456L and Q493E) at the same time FDA has planned for JN.1 to be the target of the new Covid booster in September. Big mismatch and bad call.

What if there was an antibiotic that doesn't disrupt the gut microbiome?
There is now.
A discovery published at Nature today
https://nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07502-0

The process leading to Alzheimer's disease takes about 20 years to develop, giving more than ample opportunity to identify high-risk individuals and change the natural history.
Discussed in the new Ground Truths
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/medical-forecasting
and in this week's Science Magazine
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp7977

The highly pro-inflammatory and pervasive microplastics and nanoplastics: previously found in arteries and associated with increased in heart attacks and strokes, now in all human testes that were assessed.

https://erictopol.substack.com/p/theres-plastic-in-my-plaque

https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/toxsci/kfae060/7673133?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false#no-access-

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5247(23)00410-X/fulltext

First clinical trial of a pan-coronavirus vaccine , Phase 1 results, looks encouraging

An update on H5N1 bird flu from the USDA, CDC, FDA joint briefing session today
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/a-bird-flu-h5n1-status-report

This isn't good, folks.
I'm not worried about H5N1 transmission to humans (yet) but the USDA pathetic lack of transparency, how long it took for the genomes to be released, lack of testing asymptomatic cattle......
All detracts from "confidence"

A Covid update

https://erictopol.substack.com/p/are-we-flirting-with-a-new-covid

Paxlovid didn’t provide any benefit in a placebo-controlled randomized trial in lower risk (mean age 42 years) outpatients with mild-to-moderate Covid

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2309003

Covid vaccination markedly reduced blood clots, heart attacks, heart failure, stroke and other adverse cardiovascular outcomes, as seen from over 20 million people, about half of whom were vaccinated https://heart.bmj.com/content/early/2024/01/24/heartjnl-2023-323483

Beyond ~30 million excess deaths, "The COVID-19 pandemic caused the most severe drops in life expectancy seen in 50+ years."
https://healthdata.org/research-analysis/library/mortality-life-expectancy-and-population

https://thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00476-8/fulltext

The dose-response relationship between education and improved survival, quantified for the first time. For each additional year of schooling, an associated reduction of mortality risk of 1.9%, higher with younger ages https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(23)00306-7/fulltext

Diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease with only a blood test (p-tau217) and no symptoms has big (and negative) implications

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/health/alzheimers-amyloid-diagnosis.html?searchResultPosition=1