Extant Nomad

Hi! I've created this page as a repository for co2 traces from places I've visited in Perth Western Australia. High levels of co2 (>800ppm) suggest that you're breathing air exhaled by other people. #COVIDisAirborne

"This is how Anthony Albanese works: he takes too long to make a decision and when he finally does the decision he makes is too weak." Just the bloke you want in charge during what could be the worst crisis in generations...

Perth covid wastewater levels still low but seem to be growing slowly. Have a good long weekend.

@BigBadDenis I thought this might happen. Hoping the waste water levels will be updated, but I'm not holding my breath.

WA Health pauses Virus Watch reporting over Easter, resumes April 10. Source: health.wa.gov.au/Articles/F_I/I…

BREAKING: Israel has confirmed its soldiers will not be joining the US in the ground invasion of Iran, due to the concern that they would have to fight grown men, rather than unarmed women and children

@AlboMP Stop supporting the war you spineless toady.

We're halving the fuel tax for three months to save you money when you fill up. Conflict overseas is pushing up prices at home. And we know Australians are feeling the pressure.

From a longitudinal study of over 3,100 children in Massachusetts, USA from 2018 to 2023, "the COVID-19 pandemic significantly slowed the development of executive function (EF; a suite of cognitive processes including attention, self-control, etc) skills in children aged 3 to 11. post-pandemic EF growth rates fell below developmentally typical norms across all socioeconomic groups..even for children who had met or exceeded those same age-matched benchmarks before 2020.. Researchers attribute the decline to the extreme disruption of the pandemic, including parental stress, social isolation, and inconsistent access to traditional education and care.. This decline is likely caused by the cerebral damage caused by SARS-CoV-2. 'COVID-19’s Stalling Effect on Children’s Executive Function' neurosciencenews.com/covid-pandemic…

"Cumulative SARS-CoV-2 burden was strongly assoc'd with pandemic-era iGAS incidence. Cumulative streptococcal exposure did not support immunity debt hypothesis. 🚨...findings are consistent with SARS-CoV-2- associated immune dysregulation." Immune dysregulation NOT debt 🎯 🔗👇

1/ The long term heart risks of C-19 💔 A massive new study in the European Heart Journal confirms what many feared: SARS-CoV-2 is not just a respiratory virus. It’s a long-term cardiovascular threat. The risk of major heart events remains elevated for years after infection.

This is a classic example of spontaneous behavioural change, and illustrates exactly why people tend to modify their behaviour in the face of an outbreak of infectious disease, regardless of messaging from government.

1/ The NZ Herald is asking "Is it just me, or is everyone getting sick?" Great question. Terrible gap in the answer. Nobody mentions the policy change that put symptomatic kids back in classrooms. 🧵

Enormously massively huge studies have shown that each wave of Covid infections causes damage to people's immune systems. The science is incontrovertible. And yet you will not find a single media article about the current meningitis outbreak that mentions that.

Up to 60% of health care workers may have long COVID 4 years after infection. "Four years after infection with the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 strain, up to 60% of health care workers (HCWs) in Switzerland still reported at least one COVID-19 symptom" cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/60-he…

Outstanding thread on meningitis from Dr. Donnelly.

New Zealand-Second person diagnosed with meningococcal disease in Dunedin | Meningococcal cases confirmed at University of Otago stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360953…

I think that in some cases, the better someones grasp of science, the stronger their need to reject aerosol transmission. Because if they accept that it's a dominant mode of transmission and really understand what that means, the implications are far-reaching and incredibly frightening. For the layperson, it's just "Oh, so like coughs but further yeah? Well I'll take extra vitamins LOL" and they get on with their life of episodic illness, possibly debilitating, but with (to them) unclear vectors. For someone with a good grasp of science, if they really understand what almost every respiratory infection having airborne potential means, than they understand that if true, almost all of the modern indoor spaces we have would be unsafe without massive IAQ upgrades- and in many cases those upgrades might not even be physically possible. If airborne transmission is dominant = Nearly all of our indoor physical infrastructure is dangerous and obsolete without costly upgrades. That is a massive, massive social, political, and financial upheaval to contemplate- and people able to see the big picture implications, rejecting it at a visceral level, when a comfortable, nostalgic paradigm of handwashing and coughing into their elbow is right there for them to cling to, is somewhat understandable. It will take a long time, and a great deal more work before many come around- and many never will. Semmelweis's findings were not accepted during his lifetime- and those were a comparatively minor upheaval.

I believe this graph is from the fantastic and critical paper by @jljcolorado pinned at the top of his page and absolutely one of THE MOST critical documents to read to understand the failed COVID response. Please, I beg everyone to READ that paper!

If I look up a pathogen’s transmission & it includes the word “droplets” IMO using layered airborne protections incl respirators, ventilation, hepa and UVC etc is a smart, precautionary choice I’ve never regretted a precaution I’ve taken, only the ones I didn’t …

@cv_cev @MaiZuKitchen Psssst: Almost everyone is “high risk” now after countless C O V I D reinfections. It is profoundly immune damaging. Higher risk of severe outcomes from other viruses, bacterium, etc. Plus meningococcal meningitis is AIRBORNE aerosol & droplet, etc. MASK UP (N95s!)

I don't think enough people understand that you can carry meningitis bacteria in your nose and throat and *not get ill*. It's only when the bacteria invade the body, entering the bloodstream or reaching the brain and spinal cord, that it gets very serious very quickly. So what makes people more vulnerable to invasive meningococcal disease? There are several recognised risk factors, but one is impaired immune function, including low lymphocyte levels such as reduced CD4 T cells. And we all know by now what can cause those reduced CD4 levels don't we? Yes. Covid infection. This is all *established science*. It's not new. All this blather in the papers about vapes and kissing. That's misdirection. The blather about lockdowns reducing cases? That's misdirection too. This disease is about *vulnerability*. Even a *temporary* drop in lymphocytes can make you vulnerable. I'm fed up with all the people diverting attention away from that.

Unraveling the Link Between COVID-19 and Memory Deficits: The Role of Brain Microglia Activation 🚨Your microglia might never forgot COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 can flip brain immune cells into destructive mode → chronic synaptic loss, hippocampal damage, memory deficits years later. ➡️This international review article synthesizes evidence linking SARS-CoV-2 infection to persistent memory deficits and cognitive impairment in long COVID (PASC) through microglia activation as a central mechanism. ➡️Interesting points: - 20–60% of COVID-19 survivors experience ongoing cognitive/memory complaints, with ~40% reporting "brain fog" and ~37% showing objective deficits months to years’ post-infection. Meta-analyses estimate ~2.2% with persistent impairment at 3 months across large cohorts(=LC), - Symptoms involve attention, executive function, processing speed, and episodic memory, tied to frontoparietal, limbic, and hippocampal circuit disruptions, - Neuroimaging reveals hypometabolism (e.g, FDG-PET) and white matter changes. Biomarkers like elevated neurofilament light chain (NfL) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) indicate neuronal/astrocytic damage correlating with complaints, - Systemic inflammation (cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α) and blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption enable peripheral signals to prime and sustain microglial activation via pathways including TLR2/4, NLRP3 inflammasome, and complement-mediated synaptic pruning (C1q/C3), - Activated microglia cause aberrant synaptic loss, oxidative stress, reduced hippocampal neurogenesis, and impaired plasticity, explaining "brain fog" even in MILD CASES. Postmortem findings show microglial nodules and astrogliosis, - Risk factors amplifying effects include older age (OR ~1.02), severe COVID (OR ~2.3), pre-existing neurodegeneration (e.g, dementia OR 1.83), and APOE ε4 allele, - Preclinical models demonstrate spike protein-induced microgliosis and memory deficits and proposed therapies (e.g, NLRP3 inhibitors like MCC950, minocycline) show promise but remain mostly experimental, - This review superficially touches vaccination as potentially beneficial in reducing IL-1β-driven cognitive harm, while a reinfection discussion, with its known negative impact, isn’t touched! ➡️Authors conclude: “Microglial activation emerges as a plausible driver of memory impairment in post-COVID-19 syndrome, mediated by systemic inflammation, BBB disruption, and maladaptive synaptic pruning. While preliminary evidence supports this immunovascular model, definitive causal links and effective interventions remain uncertain and require further validation. Current advances across neuroimaging, biomarker studies, and experimental models provide important clues, but translational gaps persist, particularly regarding the temporal dynamics of microglial priming and its relationship to persistent cognitive symptoms.” ‼️So, "Brain fog" is neuroinflammation, not imagination. Microglia-driven neuroinflammation, triggered by SARS-CoV-2 via immunovascular pathways, is probably an important driver of long-term memory deficits in COVID-19 survivors(LC), demanding further research and urgent targeted glial therapies to prevent irreversible cognitive harm. Meanwhile mitigation should have your highest priority! #AvoidSars2 #AvoidReinfections mdpi.com/2571-6980/7/1/…