I know I tout him often, but I think Eric Topol’s take on the study is more balanced than that article. He acknowledges the reasons to be concerned and that follow-up imaging would be useful in determining if the problems resolved or became worse. He also says the following:
“The mechanism for the structural brain changes is uncertain, but probably involves inflammation that originated from the nasal infection. Most studies of Covid and the brain support virus-induced inflammation, rather than direct infection of neurons, as the path to brain damage. The regions of the brain most affected in the Covid group are related to sense of smell, the limbic system, incriminating this nasal entry port. Whether the process is specific to this virus was examined in the current study by comparing Covid brain images with a small number of people with either influenza or pneumonia, and not seeing a similarity in pattern…
It is important to note that loss of smell was considerably less with Omicron than Delta and prior variants, in some studies one-tenth as likely. This suggests that the liability for brain effects of Covid would be far less likely with Omicron. Each variant can have different affinity, known as tropism, to tissues and organs within the body; for reasons yet unexplained Omicron has less tropism to the olfactory bulb, the neurons at the base of the brain specialized in smell…
In the present study the rudimentary evidence of cognitive decline occurred mainly in people older than 70. Whether Covid may affect structural or functional brain changes in young people is yet to be established.”
I’m not seeing anything about vaccines here either, but my understanding is that having had previous exposure and already developed immune response, however imperfect, would allow for a more robust and immediate reaction to the virus, potentially enabling the body to protect the most important tissues (eg. brain, heart) earlier on. I tried to look how the study relates to vaccination status, but it only says this:
“Information on the vaccination status (except for those identified through lateral flow test), and how both vaccination dates might interact with the date of infection, is also currently unavailable.”
@katers87, I considered mentioning you in that article post, since I knew you would have several reservations. My point was more about the absurdity of vaccine refusal and the related lies, that about the effect, knowing that the study was likely pre-vaccine, that some people might recover some function - the 2nd scan was done a few months after infection - , and that the subjects were older, so not always relevant to the discussion.
Even then, it simply bolsters my resolve to stay cautious.
…and what this discussion is about, for us, being the most vigilant:
But after signs of progress and exhaustion, even cities and states with the strictest coronavirus precautions have been rolling them back. For millions of Americans who kept their masks on and socially distanced long after much of the country abandoned safety measures, it is a moment that has stirred relief, but also disappointment, frustration and queasy ambivalence.
@JamesIgoe yes, in Washington, DC where I live, people are still wearing their masks. The NW quadrant has many many (most?) people who are not actually from here but from places like St Louis, Michigan, the West Coast, New England, and what I’m hearing from these people is that DC is unique now in our mask-wearing, that even people in the West Coast - even the Bay Area! - are not wearing masks anymore in stores. Well, here in NW DC, we still are!
@katers87 I think your reply is very balanced and fair. What the virologists at This Week in Virology said recently is that we don’t know if this happens/happened with other viral infections because we don’t routinely do pre and post-infection brain scans. More to come, I’m sure.
I know that @katers87 has mentioned the need to assess relative risk - I hope I’m not misrepresenting - and some areas do have lower risks. My sister lives in a small enclave near the ocean in Florida, where the risk is considered low. Even Washington DC is considered medium, at least by one of the tracking sites I follow:
Then again, the same site assesses New York County, which is Manhattan in NYC, as high risk, with double the daily new cases. The infection rate is lower because the county tests more. People still wear masks, and children are masking as well, even though masking for kids is no longer required. That’s partially a income/education issue, with the most affluent parents being the most cautious.
No, not exactly. I’m not really treferring to case counts though. I’m at a point where I’m not worried about getting sick because I’m young and relatively healthy, and I’ve been vaccinated and boosted. So when I refer to relative risk, I’m referring to risk of severe illness. I’m no longer worrying about being infected. If I wear a mask, it is merely to make others more comfortable, not because I’m worried about being infected myself.
Like most of the U.S., I’m ready to move on from this. If a new variant comes along then I’ll adjust accordingly.
I went to NYC a couple weeks ago. Restaurants were full. Vaccination checks occurred at most restaurants, but people didn’t seem to be wearing masks unless required.
I went out to eat with my mother to celebrate her 100’th birthday a few weeks ago and neither of us got “carded” and neither of us wore masks past hostess and that is in MA
The indoor mask requirement expired today in my city. I went to the grocery store with my mask on and was curious about what other shoppers would do.
About 1/3 of the shoppers didn’t wear a mask and I was surprised that age didn’t predict mask wearing. Of the people who didn’t don a mask there were just as many older people as there were younger ones.
As to @Robyn_H’s question, in NYC, they instituted vaccine and mask mandates for indoor activities, proof being a vaccination card or via the app, Excelsior Pass, plus proof of identity.
Restaurants were often slack, but the better ones checked, at least for indoor dining. We appreciated that they checked, and my spouse, more likely to meet friends for drinks and light meals, would only go to places that checked, or she did outdoor dining. One of our favorite places, great food but not high-end, never checked ours, and rarely if ever checked anyone else’s. We appreciated the places that checked, and strongly preferred them, but ate at the other as it was a favorite of my mother-in-law going back for years.
As for other venues I’ve been to while we had the mandate, museums, shows, and gyms, all checked and required proof of identity. Museums were the most diligent, and although they no longer require proof of vaccination, some do require masking.
We never had mask mandates in Georgia where I live. When the hospital and morgues got overwhelmed here, you would see more people wearing masks, but overall mask use and vaccination rates were very low. We always wear our KN 95 masks in public and very rarely socialize or eat inside restaurants. We will continue to do this until this thing gets to negligible risk, if it ever does.
With the Omicron variant, the people I knew that socialized, went to the gym, went to restaurants, all got sick. Even the vaccinated, some felt pretty lousy, it just depends. I have type 2, autoimmune diseases and asthma, and I am a senior, so I am not risking it.
We might occasionally socialize now with one or two people inside without masks, but in large crowds, no.
I will say that if I didn’t have risk factors, I’d still be happy to wear a mask to protect others in public. At some point in time, this thing could flare up again, so we’ll have to be watchful. It sure has been an experience and not such a good one… Many sympathies to the folks who have been affected by this.
It’s funny, one day I was putting on my make up and wondered why the heck was I doing this? No one is going to see my face anyway??? LOL… Maybe that’s not such a bad thing…
Masks are no longer required where I live. I still wear a mask pretty much everywhere, except when I’m with close family members.
I see a lot of other people doing the same, and the number of new positives here keeps jumping.
Among the people who’ve seen me with the mask without commenting are my GP and my doctor son. My microbiologist daughter said it’s a good idea. I had to talk with my dietician/CDE about something, and we agreed that it would be better to have a phone call (never did it before) because of the danger of infection .
I think we’re all sort of biased on this. We listen to the people closest to us who listen to people with similar perceptions.
I live in one of the most educated cities in the country. All of my friends are vaxxed and boosted. Their professions include the full range. Most of my friends are going out to eat at restaurants and traveling; they wear masks where required. Those that are still isolating and always masking have young kids or are immunocompromised to some degree.
I went to a brewery last weekend with a group of friends, one of which works for the NIH. Aside from one friend doing so, we didn’t wear masks to order our beers inside, but we sat outside so that our friend visiting from Canada wouldn’t test positive before her flight back in a few days. She does freelance work for scientific journals. She is not concerned with getting the virus- aside from what impact that might have on her travels.
I find it strange that people are shaming others at this point for simply recognizing the severe risks have mostly passed for most people and that those people are trying to get back to some semblance of normalcy. We may have worse variants in the future, but why not live until that happens? If you want to keep wearing a high-quality mask because you are at higher risk or have people in your life at higher risk, I completely respect that.
However, better ventilation in most public spaces would do a whole lot more than cloth masks worn, often improperly, by people who don’t need them. I think it’d be much more productive to call for institutional change instead of blaming individuals who are just trying to enjoy life again.
@katers87, although I imagine I sound more cautious than you, but few expect to mask while eating or drinking, and yes parents with young children are still masking, although we haven’t gone back to flying, we still travel, but mostly driving from NY to MA or NJ where my spouse has friends, but we’ve been doing that since 2020, renting a house and going for a week or two. I tend to avoid crowds anyway, but I am still wearing a mask at the gym, at museums - it is still required in these - and in our unventilated condominium hallways. I do think it is a bit excessive but will keep it up for a while.
We are just being safe, until it really seems like the risk is low, for ourselves and for others. Not everywhere, but for NYC, I still have a concern that it is still too early to relax, collectively, not individually. I was noting that the infection rate is increasing in Manhattan. For Omicron, it had gone down to <.8 as people buckled down, but now seems to be tracking up, getting nearer 1. In my experience, this was usually a leading indicator, useful in spotting when things were getting worse before it was announced. That said, with warmer weather, it might be moot, as people will spend more time outdoors.
BTW, I don’t know anyone that shames the unmasked, and in fact, it feels the opposite, that the masked are the ones feeling shamed.
I would say it occurred several times in this thread, but I don’t really want to point out specific people because it would be unnecessarily confrontational. I would guess that you didn’t notice because these comments may have aligned with your views. I don’t care if others wear masks the rest of their lives, but yeah, shaming people who choose not to wear them - as if these people are selfish for merely attempting a reversion to normalcy in their lives - that’s problematic to me. I have encountered this from some people in my area as well.
If people are eating out at restaurants, then I think it is asking a lot to request that others mask around them at those or other locations- especially gyms. The gym situation has been particularly difficult to understand. These are high risk environments with a lot of aerosols from talking or exertion. Properly worn N95s aren’t realistic. If people are comfortable going to these environments, why is it reasonable to expect others to wear masks in low-risk situations to make them comfortable?
Cases are going to go up, then down, then up, then down. Hopefully our protection lasts. Hopefully the virus evolves to a version even less likely to cause severe illness. Unfortunately, we just have to let things play out.
If I’m mandated to mask, I’ll mask. And I got vaccinated (and boosted) as soon as I was eligible. But I don’t relish masking. At all.
My measure isn’t case numbers but how many people, locally, are hospitalized? If it’s “lots” I will mask when among larger groups of people. If it’s “very few” I’ll take my chances.
I haven’t arrived at an exact definition of “lots”, however!
We all need to be aware of our comfort level. And courteous to those around us. And live without fear. And it isn’t really easy to know where that balance is.
About half the residents in my apartment building are not using masks anymore. After taking my dog out to relieve yesterday, I loaded up onto the elevator with my dog and could see a maskless woman trailing me with her dog. I expected her to join me in the elevator and I am OK with that.
I was surprised that she stopped short and didn’t get on my elevator. I don’t know for sure but I’m thinking she chose to let me, an older man wearing an N95 mask, ride the elevator alone.
I appreciated her thoughtfulness and it reminded me that small acts of kindness can go a long way. A little tolerance means a lot and relieves some of the social tension created by this pandemic.
@Terry4 Your experience aligns with just what I was thinking today about the increasing number of people going maskless since I last posted, here in DC – and that is, in my experience, it seems that people going maskless are putting a lot of thought into it, and as someone who still wears the mask in indoor spaces where I don’t know people, I appreciate it.
I also appreciate what appears to me to be a very balanced and fair discussion on the topic, here.
I do a lot of reading/research on Covid, and would love to live entirely without fear of it. It’s difficult, but again, if we can work more towards maximizing overall health on the population level, I can’t help but think we’d all be in a much better position to be less fearful. (Getting vaccinated from my POV, goes without saying.)
