TallGuyJohninBKK

I realize many in Thailand have an abiding belief in a variety of supposed protective elements including things like wearing amulets... But when it comes to protecting against PM2.5 fine particle air pollution that can cause health harms because the pollution particles enter directly into the blood stream.... I'd put the OP's herbal recommendations down into the category of hokum pokum nonsense. If someone really wants to protect against PM2.5, the answer is to keep it out of your lungs and body in the first place by wearing things like N95 respirator face masks and running HEPA air purifiers at home.

Some caveats of the study cited in the prior post: 1. their assumptions based on the seasonality of COVID weren't based on COVID itself, but instead, on the trends of OTHER non-COVID coronaviruses "(using the average incidence of endemic human beta-coronaviruses in Sweden over a 10-year period as a proxy)" Hmmm.... "These four coronaviruses (two alpha-coronaviruses and two beta-coronaviruses) have been suggested to be responsible for 10–15% of “common cold” cases and demonstrate a strong seasonality. Given that COVID-19 is caused by a human beta-coronavirus, we suggest that, if it also has a seasonal component, it might be similar to the seasonality of these endemic beta-coronaviruses (HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1). [emphasis added] 2. And then, as their own conclusion section notes: "our results should be interpreted in light of the possibility of the so-called “ecological fallacy”. That is, the results at a population level for each of the six countries might potentially mask significant effects at an individual level."

That's going to be bad for business, tourism and otherwise.... :-) Who's gonna shine those poles once they get just a few years older?

I've used all varieties of Fire TV boxes and sticks in Thailand for many years, and have never had any wifi problems with them. With the sticks, they each come with an HDMI extender cord to move the stick a bit further away from the TV's HDMI slot, wherever it may be on a given TV. Also, each TV is different, some TVs have their HDMI slots on the rear... Others have them on the right or left edges of the TV cabinet. Also, non-techie folks may not be aware that with Amazon Fire Sticks, you also have the option to buy an inexpensive OTG cable add-on that would allow you to connect the stick via Ethernet (assuming you have a connection available nearby) instead of wifi.

Thailand MoPH Weekly COVID report for Jan. 7 - 13, 2024: --625 new COVID hospitalizations, down 39 from the prior week --7 new COVID deaths, up 3 from prior week --177 COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition, up 33 from the prior week --125 COVID patients hospitalized requiring intubation to breathe, up 36 from the prior week https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

1. Rats are not people...as the authors of this study themselves concede, saying: "It's imperative to recognize the limitations of our research, given that it relies on animal models. Caution should be exercised in generalizing these results to humans. Further rigorous clinical studies are required to confirm these observations in human populations and to ascertain the exact mechanisms at play." 2. Claims that vaccines cause autism or autism like disorders have long been a standard and discredited claim of anti-vax activists... False Claim About Cause of Autism Highlighted on Pennsylvania Senate Panel July 21, 2023 "Studies have found the rate of autism is the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated children. But the false claim that vaccines are associated with the disorder persists." ... " the false claim about vaccination and autism has been circulating since 1998, when a since-retracted paper wrongly suggested the MMR vaccine was linked to autism. Data presented in the paper were later found to be fabricated. The General Medical Council in the United Kingdom stripped the lead author of his ability to practice medicine for his dishonesty and irresponsibility in the paper. But the baseless claim has remained." https://www.factcheck.org/2023/07/scicheck-false-claim-about-cause-of-autism-highlighted-on-pennsylvania-senate-panel/ American Academy of Pediatrics: What to know about vaccines The child and adolescent immunization schedule is a policy that is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Like all AAP policies, it is developed based on expert review of all available evidence. As a parent, you can be reassured to know that there have been hundreds of large-scale studies around the world on vaccine safety during the past few decades. They demonstrate that: Recommended vaccines are safe for children and teens. Vaccines are not associated with conditions like diabetes or problems with fertility. Vaccines are not associated with autism or developmental delay." https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/Vaccine-Studies-Examine-the-Evidence.aspx As per the "neonatal" element of the OP research, the U.S. CDC also has judged that COVID vaccines are both safe and effective if administered during pregnancy, both for the mother and the unborn child. COVID-19 Vaccines While Pregnant or Breastfeeding Updated Nov. 3, 2023 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html

Just asking, where's the beef? Let's see whatever evidence, proof, medical findings they claim to have.

I'm not making the claims... They are.... I look forward to them actually documenting and proving their claims for their peers to read and judge in some medical/public health journal setting -- which is the way such things are normally vetted.

You think popping up in a Bangkok Post article with mostly vague and unsourced claims is OK and consequence-free, but somehow the normal route of publishing in a medical journal detailing their findings for their peers to read and judge is going to have dire consequences?

There are certain potential side effects of COVID vaccines that have been well documented by researchers / health authorities around the world, although all the available evidence thus far says those are VERY rare and the risks of those are far, far exceeded by the risks from COVID. Since the vaccines became available in late 2020, more than 12 BILLION doses have been administered around the world. If something more problematic were occurring with them, you wouldn't necessarily expect the notion of that to surface out of the blue three-plus years later from two doctors in Thailand. If something is going on, have the Thai doctors involved written up their findings for medical journal review and publication (no mention of that in the BP article)? And what's the evidence, if any, for their claim that some unstated / unknown parties are allegedly suppressing some kind of problematic findings?

Well, I guess that means you didn't know somewhere between 7 million people (the official count) and 27 million people (the estimated potential direct and indirect count) who lost their lives because of COVID since 2020: "in many low- and middle-income countries, undercounting of mortality is a serious issue. The UN estimates that, in “normal” times, only two-thirds of countries register at least 90% of all deaths that occur, and some countries register less than 50% — or even under 10% — of deaths. During the pandemic the actual coverage might be even lower.11 ... "the overall conclusion remains clear: in many countries and globally, the number of confirmed deaths from COVID-19 is far below the pandemic’s full death toll." https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid

Since you're so concerned about how your taxes are spent, maybe you ought to reconsider what you believe in: Report: COVID-19 vaccines saved US $1.15 trillion

Most Americans have to pay taxes regardless. So given that, I don't think there's anything wrong with the poorest, under- or uninsured getting some vax assistance from the feds. Nor do I have any problem with an insured working person, who's paying for health insurance along with their employer, getting the tiny insurance optional benefit of one annual COVID vaccination. The cost of the vaccination is going to be a whole lot less than if the same people end up seriously ill in the hospital with COVID, and the feds, states or private insurers end up having to pay for that. COVID vaccines more than pay for themselves in the avoidance of what otherwise would be significant medical expenses. Report: COVID-19 vaccines saved US $1.15 trillion, 3 million lives December 14, 2022 "Commonwealth Fund study estimates that, through November 2022, COVID-19 vaccines prevented more than 18.5 million US hospitalizations and 3.2 million deaths and saved the country $1.15 trillion." ... "Without vaccination the U.S. would have experienced 1.5 times more infections, 3.8 times more hospitalizations, and 4.1 times more deaths," the authors wrote. "These losses would have been accompanied by more than $1 trillion in additional medical costs that were averted because of fewer infections, hospitalizations, and deaths." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/report-covid-19-vaccines-saved-us-115-trillion-3-million-lives

According to Our World in Data, the U.S. and the U.K. both rank around 20th in the world in PER CAPITA COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic, but are the highest two countries on the list among major nations as of the end of 2023. Source Link

Interesting comparisons: According to the WHO's data, the U.S. has had the most officially reported COVID deaths of any country in the world since the beginning of the pandemic, now totaling about 1.2 million. Although that's partly due to the U.S.'s rank as the third most populous country in the world behind China and India. And many experts believe China likely exceeded the U.S. total if China had ever fully reported its COVID fatalities. But by contrast, the U.S. ranks around #79 out of about 200 countries in the world for the share of its population that has received at least one booster dose of a COVID vaccine, at only about 36%, just above the world average of 32%. According to the WHO data, Thailand ranks about #60 on the list with a booster vaccination rate of 46%, well above the world average. ... ... Other select countries on the list: --Singapore, 82% --Italy, 75% --Japan, 68% --South Korea, 66% --France & Germany, 63% --Vietnam, 60% --China, 57% --Australia & New Zealand, 56% --Canada, 53% --Malaysia, 51% --Mexico, 44% --Iran, 37% --Laos, 34% --Myanmar, 29% --Indonesia, 25% --Philippines, 22% --India, 17% --South Africa, 7% https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/vaccines?n=c For the U.S., IMHO, that's pathetic.

This would appear to be some further detail from the WHO on their announcement of nearly 10,000 global COVID deaths reported last month during December, recognizing that only about 50 of the 200 or so countries in the world are reporting such data to the WHO. China is further down on the list with a reported 8 COVID deaths for the month, if anyone wants to believe that. The U.K. shows as zero on the WHO's list, even though the UK does track and report its COVID deaths, and lately had been reporting weekly totals in the COVID 200 deaths range. https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths?areaType=overview&areaName=United Kingdom Note: the reference above in the first WHO graphic to the December COVID deaths total being 1,500 less than the prior month likely is an artifact of the reporting data for the most recent week, the last week of December, being incomplete, as the WHO notes in a footnote on the following chart below. https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/deaths?n=c

From the U.S. CDC and FDA in a report from last year: "The most recent estimate is that those who are up to date on their vaccination status have a 9.8 fold lower risk of dying from COVID-19 than those who are unvaccinated and 2.4 fold lower risk of dying from Covid-19 than those who were vaccinated but had not received the updated, bivalent vaccine. Roughly 90% of deaths from COVID-19, as carefully classified by the CDC, in recent months have occurred among those who were not up to date on their vaccines." https://www.fda.gov/media/166159/download

COVID vaccines remain covered by most Americans' health insurance plans, and are available for free still for those without health insurance, at least through the end of 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html

About 1,600 Americans are dying of COVID each and every week right now... adding to the COVID total deaths in the U.S. of about 1.1 million. Just how exactly is that "commonsense" for anyone? Many of those deaths could have been avoided, if only people had kept current on their vaccinations and followed sensible precautions like masking and social distancing. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklyhospitaladmissions_select_00

From the OP: "Published in the journal Nature Communications, the study involved 25 patients with long Covid who reported experiencing malaise after exercising, and 21 people who had had Covid but made a full recovery.... Each participant spent about 10-15 minutes on an exercise bicycle, and blood samples and skeletal muscle biopsies were taken a week before and the day after the task." And then the results were reported. It's called research.

You keep repeating that same false rubbish above.... But as one of those you're presumably referring to, I haven't and don't generally "dictate" to anyone what they should or shouldn't be doing. I will say what I am doing... And I do present facts and information and recommendations from public health agencies and experts via news reports. But even they are not "dictating" anything to anyone these days, since obviously people are going to do whatever they choose to do.

The research reported here was NOT advising people with long COVID to cease exercising... It is recommending that they avoid INTENSE exercise so at to not further damage their bodies, and allowing them to continue exercising at a more moderate/modest pace without debilitating pain, fatigue, etc.

For the time being, yes... Just like every year there's a different version of the flu circulating and each year there's a new version of the flu vaccine to protect against it. (Though COVID even now kills a lot more people than the flu...) Until something better comes along.

Good question, and the answer is, the latest JN.1 variant is a game-changer when it comes to transmission and evasion from older vaccinations. What to Know About JN.1, the Latest Omicron Variant "The older vaccines were based on SARS-CoV-2 variants that are very different from variants circulating now. That, combined with the fact that your immunity from vaccination or infection tends to drop off over time, means that you won’t get a lot of protection from COVID-19 if you are relying on the vaccines you received nearly a year ago. ... You really need the newest COVID-19 vaccine formulation to be protected from severe illness from JN.1 and other recent variants." https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/jn1-the-dominant-variant-in-the-covid-surge The newest monovalent XBB-oriented COVID vaccine version that was rolled out in the West in recent months since the fall, but which, AFAIK, has not yet been made available in Thailand.

The assessments in the above news reports of the current COVID surge in the U.S. being the second highest are based on estimates of COVID infections / cases, which are no longer formally tracked / reported by the U.S. CDC. However, the CDC has always tracked COVID deaths and hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic. Here are the long-term looks at those two other indicators comparing now with the past. The upshot: COVID cases and infections may well be very high by historical standards, but current COVID death and hospitalization rates, while rising in recent months, thus far are remaining well below those from earlier in the pandemic. According to authorities, that is likely due to a combination of different factors, including: population immunity protections from COVID vaccinations and past infections, improved treatment methods for those hospitalized with COVID, and mutations to the virus itself that have made the current variants less lethal than the worst of its predecessors. Weekly COVID deaths since the beginning of the pandemic: Weekly COVID deaths from Jan. 1, 2023 to mid-Dec. 2023: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00 Weekly new COVID hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic: Weekly new COVID hospitalizations from Jan. 2023 to Jan. 2024: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklyhospitaladmissions_select_00