#SARS

[msbarrows]

As someone who once did a little amateur research about the 1812 flu in particular (needed the info for a story I was writing at the time), one of the ways in which that flu was particularly deadly was that it didn't just take out people who were weakened by their youth/age or a secondary illness that was already compromising their immune system (which most flus can do). It took down otherwise healthy people like a scythe going through wheat, because it caused an effect known as a 'cytokine storm', which for simplicities sake I generally liken to your immune system having an allergic reaction to the virus. It triggers your system into responding so hard to it (releasing way too many cytokines, a natural inflammatory signalling molecule) that your own immune system causes organ failure and death. IIRC they figured this out from sequencing samples of the virus retrieved from corpses that had been interred in permafrost (it's been over a decade, forgive me if I'm misremembering).

One of the reasons COVID is so deadly is it also causes cytokine storms in otherwise healthy people (among other effects). The 2003 SARS epidemic is also believed to have had them as a contributing factor in its lethality. And this is just one of the many ways in which particular strains of flu viruses can be more deadly than others.

Given the high mutability of the flu virus, it's basically a dice-roll as to what effects a particular strain of the virus will have. Get the wrong collection of them (easily transmitted and lurks for a while before symptoms begin emerging and triggers cytokine storms, for instance) and you get something that can spread far and fast, and can kill even the healthiest person within a day or two of the infection actually becoming detectable outside of specialized tests.

Moral of this story: Get your flu shots every year unless you are medically unable to have them. Better to have had it and not need it than the reverse.

Hi! This is kind of a weird question but how/why was influenza (and other diseases that we have vaccines for now) so deadly 100-200 years ago? Obviously vaccines help tremendously, and probably immunity over time, but are there other reasons that the flu was a much bigger deal a century ago? Sorry if this is oddly specific, but my current project is historical. Thank you!

This is a very interesting question and there are a couple of different ways of looking at it.

Let's start with influenza:

[Note: it's surprisingly difficult to get good worldwide flu data, so I'm going to use US numbers for the purposes of this post.]

I think the first thing to understand is that unlike many other infectious diseases, influenza is substantially different every year. That means that the immunity that you build in 2017 from either the flu or the flu shot won't necessarily help prevent you from getting the flu in 2023. By then it will be a different enough virus that your previous immunity won't be as helpful. Though it might make it a little milder. But keep reading, I'll give you some fun facts to share at parties:

We name flu (A) viruses based on two different proteins on the surface of the virus. The proteins are "H" and "N". There are 16 different "H" proteins, and 9 different "N" proteins that we currently know of. The combination of the two forms the "name" of a particular flu virus. Think H1N1, or H5N6, or any other combination. Each combination has their own attributes, which contributes to how infectious or deadly they are in any given year. And which ones circulate are different every year.

Just mathematically, that's a lot of substantially different flu viruses. Hundreds of them, in fact. And you have to build immunity to each one individually. You could, say, build immunity to H2N5, but that would do little to save you from next year's H4N3. And not only that, but within a single type there are many smaller variations. For example, say you got H5N3, but then it went and mutated. If you then got exposed again, you might have some immunity to new!H5N3, but it could also be just different enough that you still get sick.

Like I said above, different types of flu virus are deadlier or spread faster than others. H5N1 (a type of avian flu with a human mortality rate of 52%) is terrifyingly deadly but fortunately doesn't spread particularly well, while H1N1 (the star of both the 1918 and 2009 flu seasons) spreads rapidly and kills primarily young adults (weird, since flu usually kills babies and old people).

This is why in 2009 we did the whole "close the schools vaccinate the teens hide the president" routine. Because if it was *that* H1N1 we were all about to be screwed in ways we had never experienced before. Fortunately it wasn't, but thank goodness we did it. Also if you got vaccine #2 in 2009, you are also protected against the 1918 strain of H1N1. You're gonna be a hit at parties with that one.

Now, if you look at only deaths (not the best measure, but one with some emotional punch), within the last decade alone we have years where 12,000 people died of flu in the US (2011-2012) and years where that number is as high as 61,000 (2017-2018). These numbers are similar throughout recent history (relative to population), but then you get years like 1968 (where 100,000 people died in the US) and 1957 (where 116,000 died), and then sometimes you get these wild whopping years like 1918 where 675,000 died (equivalent to 1,750,000 people dying in today's US population). These fluctuations have happened since Hippocrates was around, and probably long before that, and there's really nothing to suggest it's getting any milder in any statistically significant way.

Now, outside of these natural fluctuations, we do have some ways of driving down these numbers. We do have a vaccine. It is different every year, based on our prediction of what the most likely or dangerous types of flus will be this year. Fortunately, you do get to keep this immunity for some time, so you can look at the flu vaccine as a personal collection of different flu viruses you have immunity to- you can collect 2-3 different ones every year in one shot and you didn't even have to catch them!! Yay! Unfortunately, since we never reach herd immunity with the flu vaccine, and we can't perfectly predict and incorporate all the strains that will circulate in a given year, while you do get some protection, it's not ever perfect. But it *is* still worth it.

We also have other feats of modern medicine as backup to the flu vaccine. We have oxygen, antiviral drugs like tamiflu, immune modulating drugs, and technology like ventilators to help keep people alive in ways we would not be able to in previous generations. So that's also an advantage. Unfortunately, these don't always work either, and we are still at the whim of those yearly fluctuations in influenza virus deaths.

And really, if you ask any epidemiologist, covid is just a little trial run for the next Big One. Which is both extremely likely to be a flu virus and which we're statistically overdue for.

TL;DR: The flu isn't getting milder so much as it varies wildly in severity every year. The next major flu pandemic is probably going to be in our lifetimes, so start collecting your flu immunity now if you haven't yet. New collections drop every August and are available until April. Get em' while they're hot. This year's included a 2009-like strain of H1N1 and a delightful H3N2 number from Hong Kong.

As for All the Other Vaccine Preventable Illnesses:

*ahem*

Yes, it's vaccines. It's obviously vaccines. Its basically only vaccines. Anyone who has ever told you it's not vaccines is lying. No other major discovery of modern medicine has ever saved as many lives, prevented as many disabilities, and created as many opportunities for a life well lived as vaccines have. No antiviral drug, no antibiotic, no ventilator can even hold a candle to vaccines. The answer is f*cking vaccines*.

I hope I have made myself clear.

Enjoy this table:

*Yes I do have a masters degree in public health and am a registered nurse that interacts with the public regularly, how did you know?

-Ross @macgyvermedical

[dogberryrowan]

Im callin it now, mpox is gonna be handled even worse than sars because people are already twisted over public health measures and refuse to get vaccinated against anything else, why would this be different

[pandemic-info]

(via If we don't develop a treatment we're f*cked)

“Not to be a downer, but this is the result of a study researches led at the University of Toronto following SARS1 patients who were disabled by the virus initially and how they were doing 20 years later.“

Screenshot “from the presentation by; Prof. Daniel M. Altmann, Department of Immunology and Inflammation, Imperial College, Faculty of Medicine, London, UK at #UniteToFight2024 https://unitetofight2024.world/program/”

+ important comment:

“A study on SARS 1 survivors, if you're curious:

2023 study in The Lancet on SARS 1 survivors

Lots had femoral necrosis (bone death), osteoporosis, and long-lasting, possibly immunologically-based fatigue.

Just a reminder that while there are similarities, these are two different diseases. SARS CoV 1 hospitalized 70% of infected and killed 10% at the time of containment. They're similar in disease profile and in genetics, but they are NOT the same.

COVID-19 is much more infectious and less lethal, and the range of post-viral complications is different. Plus, we don't know what treatments will come out for Long COVID patients, but medicine is much more advanced and there is much more funding for Long COVID than there was for SARS CoV 1 survivors, who were infected in 2003, and never had access to a vaccine.”

[rellikart]

Sars Boy

[rikaklassen]

CW: COVID-19

via @augieray@mastodon.social

Yes, I wish the general public takes COVID more seriously.

Coronavirus is not like the flu nor RSV and we've known about that since MERS and the first SARS. Also, massively disappointed with queer assimilationists since COVID is quite similar to HIV/AIDS and given how the government's eugenicist policies and their anti-LGBT campaigns wiped out many of the people who would have been elders in our communities today. Let's alone the deaf communities with the older generations of sign language folks becoming deaf and multi-disabled because of rubella, which is much more infectious than COVID.

I encourage you to read what Augie has to say since the screenshot is a snapshot of a five-parts thread.

Here is the spreadsheet where Augie took the time to read over 1 500 studies and summarized the findings of about 500 of them: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12VbMkvqUF9eSggJsdsFEjKs5x0ABxQJi5tvfzJIDd3U/

[musicollage]

SARS & AR - For Those Who Strive. 2015 : Northern Electronics.

[latita-africa]

SARS and the two-pot retirement system: key facts

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) recently announced that R21.4 billion has been paid out to taxpayers using the Savings Withdrawals Benefit of the two-pot retirement system. This system allows South Africans to access their retirement savings with certain tax implications. In this blog, we explore the two-pot system, its benefits, and the related tax considerations.

What is the Two-Pot Retirement System?

The two-pot retirement system offers South African taxpayers both flexibility and security. Under this system, retirement savings are divided into two pots: a savings pot and a retirement pot. This allows individuals to withdraw a portion of their savings before retirement, addressing immediate financial needs while still preserving long-term savings.

How SARS Regulates the System

SARS plays a vital role in overseeing the withdrawal process. Taxpayers must apply for a tax directive to access funds from their savings pot. Over 1.2 million South Africans have applied, with 1.14 million applications approved. It’s important to ensure that your tax reference number is correct and that you have no outstanding tax debt with SARS before applying.

Key Tax Implications of the Two-Pot System

Tax Clearance

Withdrawals from the savings pot are subject to tax rates ranging from 18% to 45%, based on the individual’s taxable income. Understanding these rates helps avoid unexpected deductions.

Outstanding Debt

SARS warns that any tax debt may be deducted from the withdrawal. However, if a payment arrangement is in place, the withdrawal process will proceed without deductions.

Tax Compliance

Staying compliant with SARS regulations is crucial to avoid penalties. Failure to disclose income or misreporting can lead to severe consequences, including fines and criminal charges.

Benefits of the Two-Pot Retirement System

The two-pot system provides greater financial freedom by enabling individuals to withdraw funds when necessary while safeguarding retirement savings. Additionally, SARS’s digital services, such as tax e-filing, simplify managing tax-related matters.

Practical Steps for Taxpayers to be SARS free

To navigate the two-pot system effectively, taxpayers should:

Verify Tax Information: Ensure that your tax reference number and personal details are accurate before applying for withdrawals.

Understand Tax Obligations: Familiarise yourself with the Tax Administration Act and its impact on your savings.

Seek Professional Guidance: If you’re unsure about your tax status, consult a tax practitioner or advisor. They can help clarify your rights and obligations under the new system.

Conclusion

The two-pot retirement system marks a significant change in how South Africans manage retirement savings. By staying informed about the system’s implications and adhering to SARS regulations, taxpayers can maximise their financial opportunities while minimising risks.

For more information about your tax liabilities or navigating the two-pot system, Latita Africa is here to assist with expert guidance tailored to your needs.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Market Square in Sars-Poteries, French Hainaut region of northern France

French vintage postcard, mailed in 1931

[maisha-online]

The Increased Risk of Arrhythmias Following COVID-19: What You Need to Know

The Increased Risk of Arrhythmias Following COVID-19: What You Need to Know #Covid19 #Arrhythmia #SARS #CoronaVirus #CardiacArrhythmia #Heart #HeartHealth

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the numerous complications associated with the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). While the respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 are well-known, there is growing evidence suggesting an increased risk of cardiovascular complications, including arrhythmias, in individuals who have contracted the virus. In this…

[yannjo]

Petite sortie avec un pote

[angryrdpanda]

COVID SAFETY 101 (2023)

Covid (SARS-Cov-2) is short for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus is airborne and neuroinvasive. It causes vascular disease and dysregulates immune systems. The pandemic is not over, the virus never became milder, and the government has continually lied about the threat. Because the virus is being allowed to spread freely, more dangerous variants are constantly emerging. We are all in serious danger.

COVID IS A BSL3 PATHOGEN

Biosafety level three pathogens are those that cause serious or potentially lethal disease through inhalation. Other BSL3 pathogens include yellow fever, West Nile virus, and tuberculosis. When Covid is handled in a lab setting, this is what people wear (left). Covid has always been classified as BSL3. Omicron is not mild.

COVID IS AIRBORNE

Covid is airborne. Staying six feet apart does not keep you safe. Social distancing was never enough to prevent transmission. Masks work, when worn properly. Washing hands and getting vaccinated do not stop Covid infections, because the virus is in the air and can linger in the air for hours.

More at CovidHelp.org

[dotcroissant]

not to be mask-on on main but what the fuck is the point of being queer in 2024 if you're not gonna take any covid caution at all or worse, actively take covid risks

fash have signalled their willingness to be serially infected by a brain virus that will eventually have their number. it is a tremendous opportunity to let the trash take itself out and yet most queers are going full-assimilationist brunchcore in going down with the ship

it's okay to engage in sanitary self-defense and don't let eugenicists make you feel otherwise

[theculturedmarxist]

Implications

Additional SARS pandemics are therefore expected, like those associated with influenza. Influenza viruses are at present vastly more diverse than SARS-CoV-2, but over decades we are likely to see significant diversification of SARS lineages, if IBV’s history is to guide us. The frequency of these future pandemics is unpredictable, as is their severity. Establishing the “SARS” category as proposed here is necessary for proper preparation for such future events.

Influenza pandemics have all been self-limiting, and early in the first COVID-19 pandemic it was regularly interpreted in a similar manner, i.e. as something that will naturally dissipate. More recently that has shifted towards an acceptance of “endemicity”, where “endemicity” is sold as a state of constant circulation that is not overtly disruptive to normal societal functioning rather than the actual scientific definition, which is constant circulation of the pathogen, and which tells us nothing about its impacts on humans.

If we are to instead view the first COVID-19 pandemic as the initial, and so far appearing to be permanent introduction of an entirely new type of pathogen (SARS) in the human population, and to accept the possibility of many novel SARS serotypes and strains appearing in the future, a rather different picture emerges. So far Omicron exhibits the lowest mortality rate of all sarbecoviruses known to have infected humans, but SARS-1 was much more severe than SARS-2, and the evolution of the first SARS2 serotype was towards more severe disease27 and current data suggests a similar trajectory within many Omicron lineages28.

Therefore it cannot be assumed that all future pandemic serotypes/strains will be “inconsequential”, or even tolerable (where “tolerable” has now been established to mean anything that does not break healthcare systems to the point where refrigeration trucks need to be called in to store the dead bodies), as subsequent iterations of viral evolution that gain a strong fitness advantage due to major antigenic innovations could revert to substantially more pathogenic states, as commentators have previously warned4,25. An understanding of the course of SARS-CoV-2 evolution so far as having already spawned two separate pandemics is needed to raise awareness of and prepare for these possibilities.

[karlstad]

drek | sars

[quotesfrommyreading]

The emergence of the SARS virus is similarly the result of an abrupt expansion, in this case in the size of wet markets and the diversity of the strange panoply of animals they sell.

The SARS virus was not new. Nor were the practices that brought bats into proximity with people in southern China. The SARS virus “was probably there in bats for centuries,”  says the University of Hong Kong virologist Malik Peiris, whose team first isolated the virus. And the yewei cuisine and wet markets that brought bats together with people in southern China were long-standing, too.

Yewei cuisine is part of a range of traditional cultural practices in China that draw wild animals closer so that people can tap into the animals' power, strength, and longevity. People keep wild animals at pets (or, for the aspirational, dye their domesticated dogs' fur to look like tigers and pandas) and mimic their postures in practices such as kung fu. Traditional medicine practitioners administer their body parts as remedies: tiget whiskers for toothaches, bear bile for liver disease, bat skeletons for kidney stones. For people who consider wild animals precious natural resources – the rarer, wilder, and more exotic the more precious – consuming them is bu, restorative and stimulating for the body, endowing the consumer with a whiff of the animal's natural energy.

But for many years, economic and geographic barriers limited the consumption of yewei cuisine in China, and with it the size of wet markets. China had troubled political relations with neighboring countries such as Thailand and Laos and Vietnam, where many of the most desirable exotic animals roamed, so their supply for consumption was thin and prices high. While the elites could afford to dine on braised bear paw with carp tongue, gorilla lips and pig brain in wine sauce, and leopard placenta steamed with camel hump and garnished with pear, ordinary folk made do with more ordinary fare, or hunted for their own wild game.

Then, in the early 1990s, the Chinese economy started growing by 10 percent or more every year. Suddenly, a new class of young, aspiring, prosperous Chinese in booming cities had more money than they knew what to do with. Along with stocking up on Western luxury goods – Louis Vuitton sold more bags in China than anywhere else in 2011 – they started demanding more yewei cuisine. New restaurants serving peacock, swan geese, and sea cucumber, along with other exotic creatures, sprang up across the region. China reestablished trade with many of its Southeast Asian neighbors, allowing poachers and traders to plunge even deeper into the countryside to meet the rising demand. They crammed their stocks of wild animals into ever larger wet markets, stacking cages of live animals from increasingly disparate locales across Asia next to each other, awaiting sale to yewei-hungry shoppers.

It was only then, after the size and scale of wet markets grew, that a serendipitious sequence of events that could turn a virus of horseshoe bats into a human pathogen became probable.

  —  Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond (Sonia Shah)