Some highlights from @ducky 's weekly roundup https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2026/02/28/2026-02-28-general/

[datum@zeroes.ca]

RE: https://mstdn.ca/@ducky/116150322702024399

Some highlights from @ducky 's weekly roundup https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2026/02/28/2026-02-28-general/

Natal health:

babies who had been exposed to COVID-19 in the womb had double the risk of birth defects compared to babies with no COVID-19 exposure, and triple the risk of cardiovascular system malformations

Sleep disturbances:

COVID-19 infections increase the risk of new-onset obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) diagnoses. Compared to COVID-negative controls, [...] non-hospitalized patients had a 33% higher risk.

Kidney disease: influenza didn't detectably increase kidney disease, but

people who got COVID-19 infections had:

• +174% higher risk of acute kidney injury (AKI);
• +39% higher risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD);
• +222% higher risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD);
• +28% higher risk of glomerular diseases.

More evidence that fewer infections is better:

among people over 55, those who had a COVID-19 reinfection were three times as likely to get a new diagnosis of osteoporosis as those with one infection

Treatment of acute cases:

[people] who got Paxlovid after a COVID-19 infection had 5% fewer sick days, 17% fewer short-term disability days, and 27% fewer long-term disability days than people who did not get Paxlovid

#COVID #COVID19 #SARSCoV2 #CovidIsNotOver #publicHealth #pandemic

[davidm_yeg@mstdn.ca]

@datum @ducky

“[people] who got Paxlovid after a COVID-19 infection had 5% fewer sick days, 17% fewer short-term disability days, and 27% fewer long-term disability days than people who did not get Paxlovid”

… but of course most people don’t get access to the test that would give them access to Paxlovid in a timely way, so this is a benefit reserved for the wealthy and privileged.

[datum@zeroes.ca]

@DavidM_yeg @ducky yes, in Canada it is virtually impossible to access Paxlovid, and probably literally impossible to access it on day 1 of symptoms even for the most vulnerable.

It is a reminder that even the best treatments (Paxlovid, Metformin) are not potent enough to shrug off an infection.

We must breathe clean air to be safe.

[davidm_yeg@mstdn.ca]

@datum @ducky

Prevention is *always* better than treatment… a concept we seem to have abandoned

[ducky@mstdn.ca]

@datum Hmm. I actually know several people personally in Vancouver who got Paxlovid promptly.

[giflian@techhub.social]

@ducky @datum there was some sort of way to get paxlovid, maybe via a study? I remember being shown an online form to fill out. It definitely wasn't common knowledge.

I can't imagine getting a prescription for it if I'd asked a doctor directly here, as I'm not labeled as immunocompromised

[ducky@mstdn.ca]

@giflian @datum I think 3/4 of the people who I knew who got Paxlovid quickly were elderly; I'm not sure how the fourth got it.