1/25/25: Potential blood-based Long COVID biomarker; reflections from a Palestinian with Long COVID
A blood-based biomarker for Long COVID could be on the horizon. And living with Long COVID as a Palestinian in the United States.In this episode of Still Here: Co-host Miles Griffis speaks with co-host Betsy Ladyzhets and producer James Salanga about their newest reporting on Long COVID biomarkers. Long COVID Justice’s BIPOC Communicators Fellow Jenna Laila Bitar reads a portion of their essay about seeing the U.S. funnel money toward genocide instead of supporting people with Long COVID. Also in this episode: funding for a preventative COVID-19 drug for immunocompromised people, a new preprint estimating the prevalence of Long COVID across continents, and the latest COVID-19 trends. The transcript for this episode is available on The Sick Times' website. You can jump to specific sections of the episode and transcript below: (00:00:00) Intro(00:01:55) COVID-19 trends(00:07:15) A potential blood-based Long COVID biomarker(00:20:21) Being Palestinian with Long COVID in the U.S.(00:24:32) Research: Funding for a new COVID-19 drug for immunocompromised people; MedrXiV preprint about Long COVID prevalence(00:28:30) Outro-Mentioned in this episode (in order of appearance): The Sick Times: National COVID-19 trends, January 21 CDC wastewater dashboard Biobot wastewater risk reports WastewaterSCAN dashboard Science: Why the ‘Ferrari of viruses’ is surging through the Northern Hemisphere The Sick Times: Wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 keeps evolving. Here's what you need to know. The Sick Times: Finding an accepted Long COVID biomarker will be complicated. This blood test could give us answers. NIH RECOVER: Routine lab tests are not a reliable way to diagnose Long COVID Still Here: Overseas pharmacies for Long COVID symptom support (research section has BioQuest info) The Sick Times: Instead of supporting people with Long COVID, our government funds a genocide The Sick Times: Research updates, January 21 Additional audio in this episode: Rude Mechanical Orchestra: Which Side Are You On? (orig. Florence Reece) Pixabay: Thunder and the beginning of rainfall