#Disease 🦠

[xtruss]

HIV Cure Nearer With Way To 'Shock And Kill' Latent Virus

— Published March 27, 2024 | Newsweek

A Stock iIlustration Shows the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Researchers May Have Found a Way to Remove Latent HIV From Cells, According to a New Study. IStock/Getty Images Plus

We might be a step closer to curing HIV, as researchers have developed a way to knock out a version of the virus lurking in the body.

Using something called an HIV-like particle (HLP)—which are dead HIV particles containing HIV proteins that trigger an immune response in a patient—may help treat the disease, scientists from the University of Western Ontario's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and the U.K.'s University of Bristol reveal in a paper in the journal Emerging Microbes & Infections.

HLP was found to be 100 times more effective at treating the virus in people living with chronic HIV while on combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) than other candidate HIV cure therapeutics.

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, attacks the immune system, specifically targeting CD4 cells, which are crucial for helping the body fight infections and diseases. Without treatment, HIV can progress to the more advanced stage called AIDS, which can lead to death in only a few years.

More than 1.2 million people across the U.S. have HIV, with over 30,000 new cases diagnosed every year. There is no cure for HIV, but several treatments are available that can allow patients to live a long life.

HIV is treated primarily with cART, which is a combination of medications designed to suppress the replication of HIV in the body. This therapy works by targeting different stages of the HIV life cycle, preventing the virus from multiplying and reducing its levels in the bloodstream.

The goal of cART is to reduce the viral load (the amount of HIV in the blood) to undetectable levels, allowing the immune system to recover and preventing the progression of HIV to AIDS. However, cART doesn't completely eliminate the virus from the body, and the virus creates a "latent reservoir" where it hides within the cells of the body, lying dormant.

According to the new paper, HLP can help to purge cells of this latent HIV, making it a major step forward in treating and curing the infection.

"The development of this HIV cure was ten years in the making but with strong support from our collaborators in the US, Canada and Uganda, we have observed a striking ability of HLP to drive out the last remnants of HIV-1, which we hope will provide an affordable cure for all," said Eric Arts, the Canada research chair in HIV pathogenesis and viral control at the Schulich school, in a statement.

"To live HIV-free is a goal for the 39 million infected. It is also the priority of the UN and WHO to end the HIV pandemic by 2030," he added.

HLP, a deactivated version of HIV, contains various proteins that make it recognizable to the body as the virus, triggering an immune response. But it doesn't contain any of the structures that make the virus harmful and immunocompromising. HLP can therefore trigger the immune system to go hunting after HIV viruses remaining in the body, including the latent viruses hidden inside the immune cells. This allows the body to "shock and kill" the hidden viruses, the researchers said in the paper.

The researchers used blood samples from 32 patients with chronic HIV from the U.S., Uganda and Canada who had been on stable cART for a median of approximately 13 years. They found that HLP was able to specifically target just the immune cells containing a latent HIV reservoir, removing the virus from the cells.

"Over time, the virus grows more diverse within a single individual that is not on treatment which makes it more difficult to target," co-author Ryan Ho, a master's student at the Schulich school, said in the statement. "This formulation we've crafted covers the theoretical diversity so it can reach the HIV-1 in all those people living with HIV."

This is an extremely exciting discovery for HIV researchers, as it could be combined with cART and one day lead to the total elimination of HIV from the bodies of patients.

Minh Ha Ngo, the paper's lead author and a postdoctoral scholar at the Schulich school, said in the statement: "One concern expressed among people living with HIV for years is that continued use of cART could lead to the virus becoming unreachable and unable to be eliminated.

"The results of this study, by contrast, demonstrate that combining HLP with cART is still able to trigger the latent reservoir, even in chronic cases. If these dormant latent reservoirs can be awakened, then they can be eliminated from the body," Ngo said.

Additionally, HLP appeared to work on all variants of HIV from around the planet, indicating that it could be successful at treating even mutated versions of the virus.

"Owing to its high mutation rate, HIV exhibits remarkable genetic diversity, resulting in different viral subtypes, some of which predominate in particular regions of the globe," said Jamie Mann, a senior lecturer in vaccinology and immunotherapy at the University of Bristol's Veterinary School, in the statement.

"We were excited to see preliminary evidence that our HLP cure therapy reverses latency irrespective of the subtype of the individual's infection. Whilst this needs to be explored further, it hints at the global applicability of our approach," Mann said.

The researchers hope to test this HLP treatment across a larger cohort of people around the world to determine if it is an effective treatment strategy for those with both chronic and acute HIV.

— Jess Thomson is a Newsweek Science Reporter based in London UK 🇬🇧

[dddemigirl]

Wow, I can’t wait for covid 2: electric boogaloo

[pose4photoml]

Having a medical condition that has no cure (hopefully one day) is challenging. As much as I hate having to take an injection every two weeks, I’m so blessed that this medicine is helping me !! I’ve been taking it for 4 months now and I haven’t had to go to the hospital once!!! To make it this far and having less symptoms is amazing!! Who knows maybe remission is possible (fingers crossed 🤞)

[furiousfinnstan]

URGENT!!!Help Abdul Salam Al-Anqar and his family get through this war in Gaza!!!

(URGENT) THEY ARE AT €3,445 OUT OF €50,000 GOAL

I was asked by @nader5555 to make this, if u cannot donate please please share this post. Copy pasted from a message i was sent:

"Only a Few Hours Left Before We Enter Our First Year of War, Genocide, Starvation, and Displacement A Final Plea from the Heart of Hell: Save Us Before Hope Dies 💔🔥 I am Abdel Salam, and I have nothing left but words written by a trembling hand ✍️. The war has not only destroyed our lives; it has taken everything from us. Our home, which was once our refuge, is now a pile of rubble 🏚️.

My car, my only source of livelihood, was destroyed in a sudden strike 🚗, and the work that sustained us is now a distant memory 💼. Today, I live in an endless nightmare. Under a sun that burns everything in its path 🌞🔥, my family and I sit in a worn-out tent, a tent that shields us neither from the summer heat nor the winter cold ❄️. Insects 🦟 invade the place, diseases consume our bodies 🩺, and my younger siblings cry from hunger and thirst 🍞💧. We have no clean water or a crumb of bread to ease our hunger. Each passing day deepens the weight of this hell we live in.

My Daughter Eman is Dying from Malnutrition 😨 My daughter Eman suffers from malnutrition; I have nothing to feed or treat her with. The deterioration of her health is killing me slowly. Every glance in her eyes, every pain she endures, crushes my heart 💔. How can I explain to her that what was once our hope has now turned into nothing but a mirage? The Night Only Adds to Our Pain 🌙 The night does not bring us rest; it only adds to our pain. We sleep on hard ground, feeling the cold in every bone of our bodies 🥶, with nothing but pieces of cardboard 📦 to cover us. My wife Aya cries in silence 🥺 as she watches our daughter’s future fade before her eyes. My mother Eman suffers from illness and needs urgent medical care 🩺💊.

My Father Ahmed is Sick with Cancer and Needs Emergency Treatment My father Ahmed, who is sick with cancer, needs emergency treatment outside Gaza, and the cost of his treatment is at least $10,000, not including accommodation. As he suffers from severe pain, I cannot provide the treatment he needs due to our dire situation.

My Siblings Are in Constant Suffering ⚰️ My brother Omar was unable to continue his studies due to the situation. My brother Nader could not take his high school exams, and my younger brother Mohammad suffers from brittle bones and needs treatment we cannot afford. Every day we live brings us one step closer to the end. Death surrounds us from every side: if not from hunger 🍽️, then from illness 🦠. And if not from illness, then from the despair that devours our souls. Where is Humanity? Where is the World? 🌍💔 We want to leave the devastated Gaza Strip to escape the machinery of destruction and killing and the severity of hunger and poverty. The cost of travel for each person is $5,000, and we are a family of seven members, bringing the total cost to $35,000.

Where are the compassionate hearts? Are you waiting for us to disappear into the depths of this suffering? Are you waiting until death takes us before you act? We are drowning, and we don’t have enough strength to scream for help 🆘. Will you let this cry go unanswered? 😭 Your donation today is our last thread of hope. With the little support I received, I was able to buy a simple phone 📱 to reach out to you. But the bitter truth is that what I and my family need is much greater. We are not asking for much; just enough to save our lives from this hell 🔥. Every donation, no matter how small, could be the difference between life and death for us 👐. Don’t Let Us Disappear in the Darkness of Suffering 🌑 Don’t let our story end here. Be the light that guides us to salvation 🕯️✨.

With every tear, with every pain, I write this final plea to you, Abdel Salam."

taglist

@butchniqabi @xinakwans

@batekush

@appsa

@nerdyqueerr

@butchsunsetshimmer

@biconicfinn @stopmotionguy

@t4tvampireisms

@strangeauthor

@bryoria @shesnake

@legallybrunettedotcom

@lautakwah @sovietunion

@neechees @evillesbianvillain @antibioware

@akajustmerry @dizzymoods

@ree-duh @neptunerings

@explosionshark

@heritageposts

@ibtisams

@schoolteacher

[myhotmessandsoccer]

Got to give my daily shout out on how much I hate trumps bitch Vlatko!

[meritss]

MOTHER MONSTER IS FINALLY BACK 🔥

STREAM DISEASE

[suppotato123]

Screw Hogwarts Houses (and JK Rowling) tell me what degree you would be taking at a magical university:

Thaumaturgical Artificing- The scientific study and application of magic as it pertains to Alchemy (the creation of of potions) and Arcana (the engineering of magical devices).

Necromantic Studies- A degree for those looking for the most modern and ethical methods of raising the dead.

Arcanic Anthropology- This degree walks students through the history of magical artifacts, how to find them, and their proper uses to aspiring Sorcerers and non-magic users alike.

Linguistic Incantology- The study of the properties of magical languages as well as the characteristics of those languages in general ascertained in order to gain mastery over the magical art of incantation.

Magiphysical Sciences- The study of Humanoid systems, anatomy, and physical health and fitness as it pertains to magical gestures and more physically involved magic systems.

Mystic Virology- The study of magical diseases and curses, their effects on the humanoid form, and the treatments and counterhexes for such magical conditions.

Enchanted Horticulture- A branch of Enchanted agriculture that focuses on cultivation of magical gardens for the purposes of spells, medicine, and consumption.

General Studies- This degree covers the most basic information on various magical studies and provides a great opportunity for students to discover their magical passions and/or complete their prerequisite courses before moving on to a more advanced degree.

[magz]

Palestine news summary from Lets Talk Palestine.

[For more information, links, and ways to help check their LinkTree linktr.ee/letstalkpalestine]

April 22 and April 23, 2024.

April 22. Day 199.

• 54 Palestinians killed, 104 injured in Gaza as Israel commits 6 massacres in the last 24 hours

🏥 283+ bodies found deliberately hidden by Israeli army across 4 mass graves in Nasser Hospital following Israel’s brutal siege

• 3 Palestinians, incl. 19-year-old & elderly woman, shot by IOF as they opened fire on cars on a highway in West Bank

🍞 4 bakeries resume production in north Gaza after 170 days of being inoperable

🔻 Hamas claims strike on group of IOF soldiers & military bulldozer + sniped IOF soldier in north Gaza

🦠 700,000 Palestinians affected by unprecedented spread of infectious diseases in north Gaza

🇺🇸 Universities crackdown + authorize police to arrest dozens of students protesting at Columbia & Yale to divest from companies profiting off the genocide in Gaza; sparking similar protests across US campuses

• Leader of Tulkarem Brigades (local resistance group) resurfaces after claims he was killed during Israel’s 3-day raid of Nur Shams camp in West Bank.

April 23. Day 200.

200 Days of Genocide, Instagram Link.

Day 200 - what happened today in Gaza

‼️ Today marks 200 days of genocide. Over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed with the real number including the thousands missing, buried under rubble, estimated to be over 42,000, including 15,000+ children and 10,000+ women.

🏥 310 bodies uncovered in mass graves at Nasser Hospital; many found handcuffed, shot in the head, wearing prisoner's uniforms, or stripped of their clothes.

• 3 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on residential building in "safe zone" Rafah.

• IOF naval ships attack Gaza's coasts, targeting Deir el-Balah, Nuseirat camp & az-Zawayda.

🚚 310 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, the most since Oct 7, but still far below the expected 500 per day.

🏥 Israeli forces turn Gaza’s only specialized cancer hospital into a military base, while only 11/35 hospitals remain partially functioning.

[Magz note: partially functioning hospitals in this case means having basic medical treatment available, medical staff, and being way over capacity unable to treat many of the patients. It has been previously noted that multiple hospitals in Gaza have long since lack anesthesia for example, and have to use basic painkillers like ibuprofen if any.]

• IOF continuously bomb Beit Lahia (north Gaza) after ordering evacuation of 50,000 Palestinians despite nowhere safe to go.

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Sickness comparisons from timelords/hybrids and humans?

Sickness Comparisons: Time Lords, Hybrids, and Humans

Since 'sickness' is such a broad subject, you'll have to be more specific to narrow this down to anything in particular. I'll concentrate on disease here specifically, if you want physical injuries, read this instead:

For more information on diseases, though, stick around.

🦠 Viral Infections

Time Lords are susceptible to some viral infections, including human ones like the common cold, but their immune systems are significantly faster at clearing them.

Time Lords: Recovery time is typically around half that of humans. Time sense and psionic abilities may be temporarily affected, resulting in disorientation or "temporal vertigo."

Hybrids: Recovery time varies but is generally closer to Time Lord speed. Mild cases may clear in days, while severe infections might linger longer.

Humans: Recovery depends on the virus but can range from days (colds) to weeks (influenza), often requiring symptomatic treatment.

🧬 Bacterial Infections

A Time Lords' advanced immune system, combined with their efficient metabolic processes, provides great defences against bacterial diseases. However, particularly aggressive bacteria could still pose a threat.

Time Lords: Recovery from minor bacterial infections can occur within 24–48 hours, with severe cases requiring up to a week with medical support.

Hybrids: Recovery would be variable, leaning towards human timelines for severe bacterial infections unless they possess strong Gallifreyan immune traits.

Humans: Without treatment, bacterial infections can persist for weeks, with severe cases potentially becoming life-threatening.

🦠 Autoimmune and Metabolic Disorders

These conditions manifest differently in Time Lords due to their unique physiology.

Time Lords: Autoimmune issues targeting blood cells or lindos systems are rare but possible. These would likely present with subtle symptoms like energy fluctuations or possible reduced regeneration efficacy.

Hybrids: Hybrids with Gallifreyan traits may show similar issues, but with less reliable responses to Time Lord treatments. Human traits could predispose them to more common forms of autoimmune disorders.

Humans: Many autoimmune conditions are far more common and require long-term management, often involving medication or lifestyle adjustments.

🧫 Chronic and Degenerative Conditions

Time Lords' regenerative biology largely prevents chronic and degenerative illnesses, but they may hit them hard when a body is old.

Time Lords: They continuously repair cellular damage, making conditions like neurodegeneration quite rare. However, disruptions in artron energy, old age, or significant genetic anomalies could lead to rare degenerative conditions. Whatever the issue, it's likely to be fixed when they regenerate.

Hybrids: Hybrids with strong Gallifreyan traits may benefit from resistance to these conditions but aren't entirely immune, especially if they lean towards their human lineage.

Humans: Chronic illnesses are common in humans, especially when ageing, and require extensive management or intervention.

🩺 Recovery Timelines: Generalised Comparisons

Time frames will vary greatly depending on the disease.

🏫 So ...

Time Lords recover from illnesses at speeds humans could only dream of. Hybrids, while inheriting some of these advantages, vary greatly depending on their genetic makeup. Humans, by comparison, are really very slow.

Related:

💬|🛡️🧁Does diabetes exist in Time Lords?: Covering the manifestation, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

💬|🛡️🦠Can Gallifreyans get cancer?: Manifestation and Gallifreyan perception of cancer.

💬|🛡️🦠What does a Time Lord cold look like?: Potential symptoms and reasons for the Time Lord sniffles.

Hope that helped! 😀

Any orange text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →📢Announcements |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts → Features:⭐Guest Posts | 🍜Chomp Chomp with Myishu →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[mad3lyncline]

𝑻𝑬𝑿𝑻𝑺 𝑭𝑹𝑶𝑴 𝑴𝒀 𝑭𝑨𝑴𝑰𝑳𝒀 𝑮𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑷 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑻 . starters from a variety of real texts that have cursed my family group chat .

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] i didn't see that [ name ] is holding his junk until after i sent the pic

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] just ate some fig newtons , the extra long ones

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] fuck yeah , go give that beer your dick !

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] maybe he'll let you down quicker if you give him an open mouth kiss

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] you'll want to keep the gondola operator alive but everyone else is dispensable

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] we have parked our lard asses under displays for souvenirs and we are both NOT MOVING .

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] no more mountains you've lost your mountain privileges

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] we still have our sense of humor , but [ name ] may lose theirs at any moment .

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] we are safe . we think . no need to worry . i don't think .

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] it's funny now , but i can feel myself getting a bit cranky .

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] i'm really sick with icantgotowork disease 🦠 it's rough

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] have you guys gotten diarrhea yet ?

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] i hear [ name's ] ex is writing a diss track

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] okay getting food bird pooped on me

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] i just ate a cake that said 'happy birthday baby jesus'

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] the autism is strong today

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] there will be no butt cakes and please take me off this thread

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] i'll start growing my pubes !

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] [ name ] is making us celebrate president's day with a cake

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] my favorite thing is explaining slang that mom will absolutely hate

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] their old dog looked like a cigarette

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] yeah it's really hard being really good looking all the time

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] i'm about to be that asshole that brings their leftovers on a plane

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] i have to focus on one weird thing a day or i'll die

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] congrats bunghole i'm proud of you 🥰

[ 𝒔𝒎𝒔 📲 ] just so you know : penis .

[artsimpourtzi]

Denis "fails to create investment to the characters" but Nolan, whose ass you began kissing as soon as your fave was cast, is apparently known for his deeply touching writing especially for female characters LOL

I could give you many thoughts on why they aren’t really unlike as directors except at the most easy and superficial level, if at that, but I suspect you don’t care about that.

Stan culture is a disease 🦠

[xtruss]

We're Having A COVID Summer Surge. Should You Get The Updated Vaccines Now?

The FDA Just Approved an Updated Vaccines, and Officials Say Paxlovid is Still Effective in Preventing Severe Cases.

— By Sanjay Mishra | August 22, 2024

A Colorized Ccanning Electron Micrograph of a Cell (Blue) Infected with the Omicron Strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Yellow). Micrograph By National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)/National Institutes Of Health/Science Photo Library

The summer of 2024—the fifth since the COVID-19 pandemic began—is projected to be the biggest summer wave of COVID infections to date.

Since early May, COVID infections have steadily increased in the United States, Europe, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that COVID-19 infections are currently increasing in 25 states based on data from emergency department visits. However, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID remain at their lowest levels.

Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved updated vaccines to protect against current variants of the virus.

This recent surge has been driven mainly by a new group of closely related Covid subvariants, known collectively as "FLiRT."

As the summer winds down, students across the U.S. will return to school. Traditionally, this also coincides with the season of respiratory viruses, such as flu, RSV, and increasingly COVID.

"Not sure what will happen this fall and winter," says Kei Sato, a virologist at the University of Tokyo. While the FLiRT variants are likely to keep evolving after summer, entirely new subvariants cannot be ruled out. "An Omicron-like event” seems to have occurred every year in the fall since 2021, says Sato.

Here's what you need to know about the new variants and the new vaccines.

What Are FLiRT Variants?

The "FLiRT" variant family includes the majority of currently circulating variants, identified with the letters KP, JN, and the variant LB.1.

The unofficial name "FLiRT" is an acronym for a set of mutations on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The virus uses spike protein to bind with ACE2 receptors in our nose and lung cells to cause infection.

All proteins are made up of amino acids that string together like beads. Mutations can change one amino acid to another, thereby altering the behavior of the protein and making the virus more or less infectious, or able to dodge immunity.

The FLiRT subvariant family members are descended from the JN.1 variant that was dominant in the U.S. in early 2024. JN.1 itself was highly unusual because it acquired 41 mutations that differentiated it from Omicron XBB.1.5, which is the variant upon which the current bivalent COVID booster is based.

Should You Get The New Vaccines?

The two updated mRNA vaccines, manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, target a FLiRT variant called KP.2. Anyone over the age of 12 can get the new shots, as long as they haven't received a booster in the last two months.

“Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention,” Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said in a statement.

Another vaccine targeting the variant JN.1 and manufactured by Novovax is also under review and could be approved soon.

Previous research also showed that older vaccines based on XBB.1.5, an earlier subvariant of Omicron, were still effective in preventing severe COVID-19. While this vaccine produces antibodies that still target the FLiRT variants, the efficiency is notably reduced. A recent infection from the JN.1 variant also seems to provide strong protection against all the FLiRT variants.

That said, the CDC recommends that everyone six months and older get a COVID vaccine. Those at high risk for serious COVID-19 should get vaccinated with the most recent versions available.

How Alarming Are FLiRT Variants?

Coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, frequently mutate to avoid recognition by antibodies. The two FLiRT mutations remove the sites on the virus where antibodies bind the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Additional mutations on the FLiRT variants can either help the virus bind more efficiently to ACE2 receptors making it more infectious, help it evade previous immunity, or both, says Adrian Esterman, an epidemiologist at the University of South Australia, Allied Health & Human Performance in Adelaide, Australia

Early studies show that all existing FLiRT subvariants are very good at dodging previous immunity acquired through multiple COVID vaccinations—including the most recent COVID bivalent booster—or a breakthrough infection from a previous strain of Omicron.

But the good news is that by escaping the antibodies, the FLiRT variants have also seem to lost some ability to infect their target because the virus needed the original antibody-binding sites to bind the ACE2 receptor and enter cells.

"These variants are not yet particularly concerning, even with the new mutations that affect certain aspects of the virus's biology," says Shan-Lu Liu, a virologist at the Ohio State University.

It is common for viruses to acquire mutations that help them dodge immunity, which can affect their ability to infect cells, says Liu. "The viruses can quickly evolve new mutations to restore their infectivity."

But in the meantime, Sato thinks that waning immunity from previous vaccinations and infections, coupled with the FLiRT variant's ability to dodge remaining immunity, are probably the main reason for the recent surge in infections.

Liu also agrees that the currently rising numbers of COVID infections are mostly due to low booster uptake and increased summer travel.

Are COVID Medicines Still Effective?

Emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths have all spiked during this summer but are still much lower compared to earlier waves of the pandemic.

There is no indication that these new FLiRT variants are more dangerous than other Omicron strains.

A study shows that Paxlovid is still effective against FLiRT variants. Other antiviral drugs such as molnupiravir and remdesivir are also expected to work since their mechanism of action is not affected by mutations in the spike protein.

[mimble-sparklepudding]

FFXIV Screenshot/Gpose Asks: 3.

A few more suggestions for screenshot/gpose requests, in case anyone is looking for inspiration.

Feel free to reblog and I hope you enjoy.

Send 🤖 for a screenshot associated with technology or magitek.

Send ☠️ for a screenshot associated with piracy or the high seas.

Send 💪🏼 for a screenshot associated with strength or power.

Send 💋 for a screenshot associated with seduction or sensuality.

Send 🧳 for a screenshot associated with travel or storage.

Send 🪖 for a screenshot associated with war or conflict.

Send 👙 for a screenshot associated with the beach or swimming.

Send 🐌 for a screenshot associated with slowness or waiting.

Send 🦄 for a screenshot associated with fantasy or whimsy.

Send 🐣 for a screenshot associated with birth or new beginnings.

Send 🕷️ for a screenshot associated with fear or discomfort.

Send 🐍 for a screenshot associated with betrayal or spite.

Send 🦚 for a screenshot associated with pride or performance.

Send 💐 for a screenshot associated with romance or dating.

Send 🌿 for a screenshot associated with plants or nature.

Send 🪸 for a screenshot associated with the underwater world.

Send 🥀 for a screenshot associated with heartbreak or emotional pain.

Send ✨ for a screenshot associated with magic or aether.

Send 🔥 for a screenshot associated with fire or heat.

Send 🌟 for a screenshot associated with fame or renown.

Send 🍻 for a screenshot associated with feasting or carousing.

Send 🥊 for a screenshot associated with sparring or competition.

Send 🏆 for a screenshot associated with victory or triumph.

Send 🎨 for a screenshot associated with art or painting.

Send 🧘🏾‍♀️ for a screenshot associated with meditation or calm.

Send 🎲 for a screenshot associated with luck or gambling.

Send 🏰 for a screenshot associated with castles or walls.

Send 🏔️ for a screenshot associated with mountains or high places.

Send ⏳ for a screenshot associated with time passing or hurrying.

Send ⚖️ or a screenshot associated with justice or fairness.

Send 🏺 for a screenshot associated with history or legend.

Send 🧼 for a screenshot associated with cleanliness or bathing.

Send 🦠 for a screenshot associated with sickness or disease.

Send 🔮 for a screenshot associated with the future or fortune-telling.

Send 🧸 for a screenshot associated with children or childhood.

Send 🪩 for a screenshot associated with parties or dancing.

Send 🎁 for a screenshot associated with gifts or surprises.

Send 📚 for a screenshot associated with reading or research.

Send ❤️‍🔥 for a screenshot associated with lust or sexual attraction.

Send ⚜️ for a screenshot associated with nobility or chivalry.

Send 🃏 for a screenshot associated with humour or comedy.

Send 🎶 for a screenshot associated with music or song.

Send 🖤 for a screenshot associated with secret desires or kinks.

Send 🪚 for a screenshot associated with crafting or building.

Send 🏜️ for a screenshot associated with the desert or wilderness.

Send 🦁 for a screenshot associated with leadership or dominance.

Send ⚫️ for a screenshot associated with grief or regret.

Send 💎 for a screenshot associated with glamour or wealth.

Send 👍🏽 for a screenshot associated with success or approval.

Send 👼🏻 for a screenshot associated with innocence or purity.

Send ❄️ for a screenshot associated with cold or winter.

Send 🗝️ for a screenshot associated with privacy or secrets.

Send 📝 for a screenshot associated with writing or correspondence.

Send 🏳️ for a screenshot associated with surrender or capitulation.

Send 🧞‍♂️for a screenshot associated with wishes or hopes.

Send 🛏️ for a screenshot associated with sleep or resting.

Send 💌 for a screenshot associated with infatuation or crushes.

[animalshowdown]

Phylum Round 2

Arthropoda: Insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others. The largest and one of the most diverse phyla on Earth, Arthropods have thrived on every continent and ocean, including Antarctica. Their most defining feature is their exoskeleton, which provides both support and protection - Arthropods have developed a number of adaptations to overcome the drawbacks of, as my invertebrate zoology professor liked to say, "living in a vacuum-sealed medieval suit of armor". They possess body segments that have been specialized for their lifestyles, on land or sea. They have relatively complex brains, and many species have shown remarkable cognition. We have had a complicated relationship with Arthropods since the dawn of humanity; they have been critical food sources, disease-carriers and parasites, essential farming partners, and maligned farming pests for thousands of years.

Placozoa: Flat Animals. Described as "the simplest animals on Earth", Placozoans have no specialized tissues or organs, but rather a bundle of several different cell types. They only reproduce asexually, and they are all free-living, non-parasitic. Due to their simple structure, Placozoans are considered to be one of the most primitive animals in the evolutionary tree.

[aita-polls]

WIBTA?

God this is a shitfest. 🏊‍♂️🦠 emojis to find this easier.

So I (20f) have a terminal disease and a bit less than a year left. Whatever. I’ve come to terms.

But there’s a whole shitfest, basically close member of my family (m50 let’s call him G) did a bunch of shifty stuff (which we found out was as a result of several undiagnosed mental illnesses) and his wife (M) left him, and got a restraining order. And then two more after the first one expired. Her father, (B) basically controls her, and we’re sure he’s behind this.

I’m not going ti get into the shitty stuff, because this post would be a mile long. But, the long and short of it

B and M:

Took over G’s successful business position and shut down the branch of the company, but kept the money (and is currently holding the money hostage through legal red tape) and made more on the side (illegal)

Got several restraining orders (2/3 of which were dismissed for lack of evidence, one is still under investigation), which made G be arrested in public twice and at home once

M took her and G’s two year old (at the time) daughter (A) and got a restraining order for them both on G (A is now 12 and has had incredibly limited contact with her father for her whole life)

Used the police system to confiscate G’s phone and passport because he’s considered a flight risk and apparently sent M messages asking to see A, which were taken as threats

(And because of no phone or passport, G can’t access any of his healthcare info (fuck the healthcare system, honestly) has no diagnoses or ways to get help. We’ve tried.)

After the second RO, B went to ‘talk’ to G (he still won’t say what they talked about but we’re fairly sure B tried to goad him into suicide)

It’s a shitshow. And it’s really not what I fucking need right now.

Here’s where I could be TA.

Since I’m terminal, I’m making up a will.

Would I be TA if I left a letter to M and B, pretty much just calling them out on all their shit (because this has gone on for nearly ten fucking years) and telling them to go fuck themselves and give G back his money and let him see his daughter?

The letter would probably go something like this:

Dear M and B.

What the fuck do you think you’re doing. Who gave you the right to ruin G’s life? And why are you so fucking determined to do it? Because we all know he never hurt M or A. He’d sooner die.

Was stealing his life’s work not enough? Was shattering his whole entire well-being, his whole sense of who he is, not enough? Well I hope this is enough. I hope you both join me in the grave soon enough, because I can’t wait to see what Hell has in store for you.

A is old enough to know the truth about her father. About who started this whole shit show. She deserves to see her father, her family. She deserved to know me. But it’s too late for that now, I guess.

For all the suffering you’ve caused, with your ten year rampage. For every time you’ve ‘talked’ to G, for every restraining order that was built on bullshit. I hope you get your heads out of your asses long enough to see your palace burn before you. And I hope it hurts.

-

Sorry this is so long and rambling, I’m on a lot of painkillers atm.

TLDR: WIBTA for leaving an abusive letter to people who’ve ruined someone close to me s life in my will?

(I know this sounds fake but istg it’s real, and it’s a fucking shit show.)

[bambiraptorx]

🦠

ask game

🦠 - The virus

Warnings: sickness, multiple character deaths, grief/grieving

Casey is twenty years old when the world ends. Well, it's not the first time it's ended for her (and she got over it when she had to leave her clan and everything she knew thank you very much) but it is ending for everyone else at the same time too. Which is new.

As it turns out, being a member of a doomsday cult, even a seemingly far too chill one like the Foot Clan, has a way of preparing you for the end of the world. She can fight like no one's business. She can train others to do the same and makes it everyone's business. No one is dying under the watchful eye of Cassandra Jones! Not to the ugly ass Krang!!

...not to the Krang.

No, not to them. That's not what wipes out the Brownie Clan. That honor went to a cowardly foe that wasn't even alive.

A disease.

It had been barely two years into the world ending. Her girls were tired from walking for weeks on end, and the building, some sort of partially collapsed school from her guess, wasn't too far from the main Resistance base and one of the farther-flung EPF outposts. Not an easy place to get to, of course--the Brownie Clan's main base was deep in the bowels of the place, nestled around the old boiler room--but that just made it harder for the Krang to find them, right?

Made it harder for other people to find them, too, if they didn't want to be found. Usually a good thing.

She wishes she could say that she'd paid attention when the coughing started. But really, how could she? The air quality had been on a slight but steady decline ever since the invasion started. Everyone coughed sometimes, from ash and dust and the feeling of something in their throat. And it really was everyone, from Julia to Chelsey to Josephina. Every scout had a slight cough, including Casey herself.

"Maybe it's a bug going around," Chelsey suggested.

Julia had scoffed. "No *bug* is gonna stop me from my patrols!"

But... stop her it had. Over a few days it went from a cough here and there to nearly constant, harsh and wet. She could hardly inhale in the dirty air without triggering a coughing fit. Casey had to take her off patrols and order her (three separate times before the girl gave in) to stay in the little janitorial closet they'd emptied out as a nurse's office. Her coughing was too loud and would alert enemies to the patrol's presence, and besides, she was burning to the touch.

Then Josephina had the idea to check the nurse's office upstairs, see if they had anything to help. She'd been flushed and feverish herself at the time, so Casey had gone herself. All she found was a half empty bottle of ibuprofen (six months expired) and a battery-operated handheld thermometer. It only worked after she smacked it against a rotting desk a couple times, and the digital display was so faded it was barely readable, but it would have to do.

104.2 degrees.

She shook it, slapped it against her palm, then tried again. Same result. 104.2 degrees, and no way to bring that fever down.

Julia didn't last long after that, and neither did anyone else.

Casey may have been the oldest, but that didn't mean she knew how to help them. They had little food, less water, no medications or places to quarantine the sink. There wasn't enough water to wash their hands, let alone cool the foreheads of the sick. There weren't enough people healthy to go find supplies. Everything was in short supply, except the coughing and groans of her dying girls.

She doesn't know how she survived, really. She didn't think she would. She'd accepted that, really, that she'd failed her girls, but she could stay with them.

Vaguely, she can recall the people that found her. The rooms the scouts had hidden in were long since fallen quiet, broken by voices she couldn't understand. The air was thick with the smell of death and decay, her own breathing heavy, just filling her lungs was the hardest thing in the world. How could she, when her girls couldn't?

She had drifted into and out of consciousness as the voices grew closer, and for a long while after. The world moved on without her, without her scouts, without her clan.

When she finally awakes it's in a grey room, an IV in her elbow and a manacle around her wrist chaining her to a bed.

A man enters a few minutes later, as she tries to understand why she's here and alive and her lungs still move. He's tall, with a suit and sunglasses that feel out of place after the world has ended (not once, not twice, but three goddamn times).

"Ms. Cassandra Jones, I believe? My name is Agent Bishop. We have a proposition for you."