The variant is called EG.5 and is a descendant of Omicron.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that EG.5 accounted for roughly 17.3 per cent — or one in six — of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. in the past two weeks.

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
    ·
    1 year ago

    the result of repeated cumulative reinfection damage from a still-poorly-understood virus that causes more and more damage to the vascular system and every organ connected to it

    When I ask actual doctors, they disagree. Then we laugh about how anti-vax karen-convoy it sounds.

    • Kuori [she/her]
      ·
      1 year ago

      anyone with significant experience (even just as a patient) in the medical system can tell you doctors are not infallible. most medical professionals i've encountered in my area don't even mask anymore and haven't for about a year and some change now. of the ones that do, most are still just wearing surgical masks (useless)

      • NoGodsNoMasters [they/them, she/her]
        ·
        1 year ago

        surgical masks (useless)

        This isn't entirely true though. Yes they are far from perfect and yes they are worse than better masks, but they are still better than nothing and do actually reduce transmission.

        • Kuori [she/her]
          ·
          1 year ago

          you're correct, i was being a touch hyperbolic. iirc it's like 23-27% effective or some shit, maybe in the 30s (it's been a while)

          that said, a solid 70% of the doctors i see masking have it either under their nose or on their chin so shrug-outta-hecks

    • natanael@lemmy.ml
      ·
      1 year ago

      https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-repeat-covid-infections-increase-the-risk-of-severe-disease-or-long-covid/

    • TheModerateTankie [any]
      ·
      1 year ago

      The idea that reinfections would be benign was inspired by politics and vibes. There's plenty of evidence that reinfections are bad. It's a virus that can damage all our organs, brain included, cause micro clots, vascular damage, and harm the immune system itself by trashing our t-cells, and it's a virus we can catch multiple times a year and is mutating so rapidly we are having trouble knowing what to target when we develop yearly vaccines.

      It's kind of a problem if reinfections are bad for us when we are counting on perpetual infections to "build our immunity".

      US dept. of Health and Human Services https://twitter.com/HHSGov/status/1659589815887712256

      New Zealand government covid updates https://nitter.kavin.rocks/covid19nz/status/1670943608428539905#m

      Another study showing cumulative risk upon reinfection https://nitter.kavin.rocks/i/status/1688769749868490752

    • jadero@lemmy.ca
      ·
      1 year ago

      Are these the same doctors who insist on taking a wait and see approach to Paxlovid? If so, I'm not sure they should even be allowed to call themselves doctors.