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
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.