What SARS-CoV-2 Does to the Body (3rd Edition, December 2023)

The Ever-Expanding Biological Minefield

A healthy dose of facts from Germany’s Minister of Health

As we enter another massive holiday wave with the JN.1 variant heading into 2024, with poor booster uptake and little to no masking, many Americans will be bringing home a deadly and disabling virus from their holiday celebrations and discovering their new status as a disabled person in the following months. Following up with our previous editions of this archive, from July 2023 and November 2022, this compilation of medical research on just how SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 harm the human body is more important now than ever.

Emily Oster has no medical or scientific qualifications to evaluate the quality of medical research. She is little more than a fancy Substack grifter.

Certain pro-viral cranks like Brown University economist Emily Oster, University College of London’s Francois Balloux, and University of California San Francisco’s Vinay Prasad have attacked this growing mountain of research documenting the long-term health complications of COVID-19, a disease they have lobbied across news media and social media as little more than a mild flu or cold - and attacked the ethics as well as ability of researchers from around the globe. Unfortunately, where there’s smoke, there’s fire - and reality is breaking through the culture of denial for millions.

As governments have collectively abandoned their citizens to this new virus, they will be forced to take it upon themselves to understand the new serious health complications they may have developed in this latest wave of “normalcy” drowning in pestilence. Divided into sections of the body alphabetically, feel free to “Ctrl+F” to search for any specific topic of interest.

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Children & COVID-19

From “Long-COVID in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analyses”

• "At 12 months, 20.3% of COVID-exposed children and 5.9% of the controls received a diagnosis of neurodevelopmental delay" (International Society for Infectious Diseases)

• Long-COVID in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analyses (Scientific Reports)

• Bilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis Requiring Long-term Tracheostomy After [adolescent] SARS-CoV-2 Infection (American Academy of Pediatrics)

• 40% of children still infectious after symptom resolution (Clinical Infectious Diseases, Oxford)

• “COVID-19 was associated with a significantly increased risk for RSV infections among children aged 0–5 years in 2022” (PubMed Central)

• “Blood Vessel Damage in All Children with SARS-CoV-2 Regardless of Disease Severity” (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

• “During July–December 2021, after COVID-19 restrictions were removed in England, invasive pneumococcal disease incidence in children <15 years of age was higher” (Emerging Infectious Diseases)

• 300,000 children in the US have lost a primary caregiver to COVID-19 (Imperial College London)

• Pulmonary Dysfunction after Pediatric COVID-19 (Radiology, RSNA)

• Not 'little adults': Experts say long COVID undercounted, misdiagnosed in kids (CIDRAP)

• Tonsils are major sites of persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in children (Microbiology Spectrum, American Society for Microbiology)

Cognitive & Neurological Impairment

• “COVID can damage the brain in many ways…inflammation of the brain…onset of new psychological disorders such as severe depression or anxiety…psychotic…damages the brain's autonomic nervous system.” (Harvard Health Publishing)

• SARS-CoV-2 Causes Brain Damage: Therapeutic Intervention with AZD8797 (Microscopy & Microanalysis, Oxford Academic)

• Older adults suffer from persistent cognitive impairment after recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection (News Medical Life Sciences)

• “…it is well-known that COVID-19 causes systemic inflammation and brain neuro-inflammation” (Brain Sciences MDPI)

• “…people with COVID-19 were at significantly increased risk for new diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease within 360 days after the initial COVID-19 diagnosis…” (HMS Public Access)

• COVID leaves brain injury markers in blood (Nature)

• “SARS-CoV-2 Infection is Associated with an Increase in New Diagnoses of Schizophrenia Spectrum and Psychotic Disorder” (medRxiv)

• Brain infection by SARS-CoV-2: Lifelong consequences (Open Access Government)

• New daily persistent headache after SARS-CoV-2 infection in Latin America: a cross-sectional study (BMC Infectious Diseases)

• Long COVID is associated with severe cognitive slowing (medRxiv)

• “…the gray matter thickness…were significantly reduced in the acute phase.” (JAMA Network)

• Neurological risks of COVID-19 in women: the complex immunology underpinning sex differences (Frontiers in Immunology)

• Brain Dysfunction Related to COVID-19 (MSD Manual)

• SARS-CoV-2 infection and viral fusogens cause neuronal and glial fusion that compromises neuronal activity (Science Advances)

• “…the observed changes in throughput were equivalent to 10.6 years of normal aging and a 59.8% increase in the burden of mild cognitive impairment.” (medRxiv)

• “Breaks in small blood vessels have caused bleeding in the brain (so-called microbleeds) in some people with COVID-19 infection.” (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

• “Clinical data also support the notion that Alzheimer’s disease can be initiated or deteriorated in COVID-19 patients.” (Acta Neurologica Belgica)

Eyes

• “The mean retinal nerve fiber layer thickness before and after COVID-19 were 119.33 ± 3.88 and 117.50 ± 3.92 μm, respectively, representing a statistically significant decrease (P < 0.001).” (Journal Francais d’Ophtalmologie)

• Retinal Abnormalities and COVID (American Academy of Ophthalmology)

• “A total of 12 of 38 patients had ocular manifestations consistent with conjunctivitis.” (JAMA Ophthalmology)

Heart & Cardiovascular Health

Endothelium damage post COVID-19 infection

• “After contracting COVID-19, patients may have higher risk of heart failure from persistent viral infection in their hearts” (The Mainichi)

• “The virus can directly affect the heart, such as by inflaming the cardiac muscle or the layers around it. It may also cause dysregulation of neuron fibers feeding the heart, whether via direct effect or through immune system activation” (Prevention)

• “Patients with chronic cardiomyopathy may have persistent viral infections in their hearts, particularly with SARS-CoV-2, which targets the ACE2 receptor highly expressed in human hearts.” (iScience)

• Post-COVID exercise intolerance is associated with capillary alterations and immune dysregulations in skeletal muscles (Acta Neuropathologica Comms)

• “…diverse manifestations of cardiac complications, and many can last for months and even years.” (BMC Medicine)

• COVID-19 virus triggers inflammatory response in coronary vessels (Skeptical Raptor)

• Prior COVID-19 infection is associated with persistent and higher thrombus burden in acute coronary syndromes (European Heart Journal, Oxford Academic)

• COVID’s Damage Lingers in the Heart (Harvard Medicine)

• SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers pro-atherogenic inflammatory responses in human coronary vessels (Nature Cardiovascular Research)

• “…individuals with COVID-19 exhibited increased risk and excess burden of new-incident cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications. Risks decreased in a graded fashion for fully vaccinated and boosted individuals.” (Clinical Infectious Diseases, Oxford Academic)

Immune System

From “Single-cell RNA-Seq reveals intracellular microbial diversity within immune cells during SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovery”

• “Single-cell RNA-Seq reveals intracellular microbial diversity within immune cells during SARS-CoV-2 infection and recovery” (iScience)

• Fast evolution of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2·86 to JN.1 under heavy immune pressure (The Lancet Infectious Diseases)

• SARS-CoV-2 uses CD4 to infect T helper lymphocytes (eLife)

• “Patients with severe acute COVID-19 infection exhibit increased T-cell activation and subsequent T-cell exhaustion.” (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

• Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome correlation with SARS-CoV-2 N genotypes (ScienceDirect)

• High risk of autoimmune diseases after COVID-19 (Nature Reviews Rheumatology)

• Reduced numbers of T cells and B cells correlates with persistent SARS-CoV-2 presence in non-severe COVID-19 patients (Scientific Reports, Nature)

• COVID-19 can lead to rapid progression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia by dysregulating the immune system: A hypothesis (Journal of Reproductive Immunology)

• The Gut’s Lasting Impact on Severe COVID-19 Immune Response (Infectious Disease Special Edition)

• SARS-CoV-2 Infection Weakens Immune-Cell Response to Vaccination (National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases)

• T cell cross-reactivity in autoimmune-like hepatitis triggered by COVID-19 (hLife)

Livers & Kidney Function

• “…mitochondrial function in the heart, kidney, liver, and lymph nodes remained impaired, potentially leading to severe COVID-19 pathology.” (Science Translational Medicine)

• New Ultrasound Study Shows Increased Liver Stiffness 10 Months After COVID-19 Infection (Diagnostic Imaging)

• “People with long-term COVID experienced substantial decline in eGFR (kidney function) within one year from the infection date” (Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, Oxford Academic)

• “Patients who survived COVID-19 exhibited increased risk of kidney outcomes in the post-acute phase of the disease.” (Clinical Epidemiology, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology)

Long COVID & Disability

• “…prevalence of post-COVID symptoms is 30% two-years after COVID-19…Fatigue, cognitive disorders, and pain…prevalence of anxiety, depression and sleep problems…” (Journal of Infection)

• Long COVID will take your health, your wealth — then it will come for your marriage (ABC News)

• [In Africa] “The incidence of any long COVID symptomatology was 48.6% (95% CI 37.4–59.8) as psychiatric conditions were the most frequent, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder reaching a cumulative incidence of 25%” (Scientific Reports, Nature)

• Differential Cardiopulmonary Hemodynamic Phenotypes in PASC Related Exercise Intolerance (ERJ Open Research)

• “Of 518 with only 1 acute episode of COVID-19, 32.2% met the WHO definition of [Post-COVID-19 condition]” (medRxiv)

• “Over 18 months of follow-up, compared to seasonal influenza, the COVID-19 group had an increased risk of death” (The Lancet Infectious Diseases)

• The Economic Impact of Long Covid on American Families (Medriva)

• “About 3.5 million Canadian adults reported experiencing long-term symptoms following a COVID-19 infection; 2.1 million reported they were still experiencing those symptoms as of June 2023.” (Statistics Canada)

• Novel MRI reveals brain changes in long-COVID patients (Radiological Society of North America)

• “Of 1359 COVID-19 survivors who completed 2-year and 3-year follow-up, 728 (54%) had at least one sequelae symptom at 3 years after symptom onset” (Respiratory Medicine, The Lancet)

• “…subjects with [Post COVID-19 Condition] were more likely to show thickening and hyperechogenic vagus nerve in neck ultrasounds” (Clinical Microbiology and Infection)

• “More than 50% of long COVID patients failed to improve using any outcome measure.” (International Journal of Infectious Diseases)

• “[In the United States] 14 percent reported suffering long COVID at some point.” (PLOS One)

• Immunological profiling in long COVID: overall low grade inflammation and T-lymphocyte senescence and increased monocyte activation correlating with increasing fatigue severity (Front Immunology, PubMed)

• Long covid: the doctors’ lives destroyed by an illness they caught while doing their jobs (British Medical Journal)

Overall Mortality

From “Association Between Partisan Affiliation of State Governments and State Mortality Rates Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic”

• “…Hospital admission for COVID-19 was associated with higher long-term risks of death and adverse health outcomes in nearly every organ system” (The Lancet)

• “SARS-CoV-2-infected people who develop adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) often accumulate an excessive extracellular matrix deposition, causing pulmonary, cardiac, and nervous fibrosis that worsens organ function” (PubMed Central)

• Association Between Partisan Affiliation of State Governments and State Mortality Rates Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Milbank Quarterly)

Pancreas

• "SARS-COV-2 virus can access the pancreas and can cause direct and indirect injury to the pancreatic parenchyma." (Pancreatology, Science Direct)

Pregnancy

• Effects of SARS-CoV-2 on prenatal lung growth assessed by fetal MRI (Respiratory Medicine, The Lancet)

• SARS CoV-2 detected in neonatal stool remote from maternal COVID-19 during pregnancy (Pediatric Research, Nature)

• Case Study Shows COVID-19 Can Be Transmitted from Mother to Baby through Placenta, Causing Brain Injury (University of Miami)

Reinfections of COVID-19

• “…reinfection contributes to additional health risks beyond those incurred in the first infection including all-cause mortality, hospitalization and sequelae in a broad array of organ systems.” (Nature Medicine)

• Repeated Omicron exposures override ancestral SARS-CoV-2 immune imprinting (Nature)

• Early Omicron infection is associated with increased reinfection risk in older adults in long-term care and retirement facilities (eClinicalMedicine)

• Second Infection Hikes Long COVID Risk (Medscape)

Reproductive Health

• “Men infected with Covid-19 may see a decline in sperm counts. The prostate and male reprodutive system have been affected…Miscarriages have become common among women.” (Times of India)

• Semen proteomics reveals alterations in fertility-related proteins post-recovery from COVID-19 (Frontiers in Physiology)

• Tip of the iceberg: erectile dysfunction and COVID-19 (International Journal of Impotence Research, Nature)

• Testicular pathological alterations associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection (Frontiers in Reproductive Health)

• SARS-CoV-2 Enters Human Leydig Cells and Affects Testosterone Production In Vitro (Cells MDPI)

• Increased odds ratio for erectile dysfunction in COVID-19 patients (Journal of Endocrinol Investigations)

• COVID Infects Penis, Testicles and Prostate – Causes Pain, Erectile Dysfunction, Reduced Sperm Count (SciTechDaily)

• Long COVID syndrome: psychological and sexual dysfunction among survivors of COVID-19 infection (Annals of Medicine & Surgery)

• “Case reports suggest that COVID-19 infection may be associated with long-term decline of ovarian health, including premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), a loss of normal ovary function before age 40.” (Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences)

Skin

From “SARS-CoV-2–Induced Vasculitic Skin Lesions Are Associated with Massive Spike Protein Depositions in Autophagosomes”

• COVID‐19 and cutaneous manifestations: A review of the published literature (Wiley - PMC COVID-19 Collection)

• SARS-CoV-2–Induced Vasculitic Skin Lesions Are Associated with Massive Spike Protein Depositions in Autophagosomes (Journal of Investigative Dermatology)

Viral Persistence

SARS-CoV-2 (green) using a cellular extension to infect another cell (nuclei in pink) to escape immune system detection.

• “…persistent SARS-CoV-2 RNA in multiple anatomic sites, including throughout the brain, as late as 230 days following symptom onset…” (Nature)

• “…SARS-CoV-2 virus is found in the lungs of some individuals up to 18 months after infection, but also that its persistence seems to be linked to a failure of innate immunity” (CEA)

• “SARS-CoV-2 can enter the cells of bacteria that are part of the normal human gut microflora and synthesize both RNA and viral peptides.” (F1000 Research)

• Multimodal Molecular Imaging Reveals Tissue-Based T Cell Activation and Viral RNA Persistence for Up to 2 Years Following COVID-19 (medRxiv)

• SARS-CoV-2 viral persistence in lung alveolar macrophages is controlled by IFN-γ and NK cells (Nature Immunology)

• Postacute COVID-19 is Characterized by Gut Viral Antigen Persistence in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (Gastroenterology)

• Long COVID Linked With Viral Persistence, Serotonin Decline (JAMA Network)

There you have it folks. Yet again, over 100 studies detailing the many long term harms that COVID-19 causes to the human body - anyone who is claiming that COVID-19 is simply a “cold” or “flu” to surrender your health to repeatedly, multiple times a year, is gravely mistaken and actively misleading you.

Be sure to share this article far and wide - as many Americans will likely be struggling with new SARS-CoV-2 related health complications after this holiday surge. An N95 respirator is effective protection against airborne transmission and be sure to get the latest COVID booster if you can.

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To end this article on a positive note, here is some of the latest research on stopping the airborne spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and preventing COVID-19 infections. As it turns out, PPE does work! The science is clear, now these measures simply need to be implemented in schools, hospitals, and workplaces across America.

COVID Prevention

From “The filtration efficiency of surgical masks for expiratory aerosol and droplets generated by vocal exercises”

• Masks Work! - Research Collection (via MarieSnyder27 on Twitter)

• Air filters on wards remove almost all airborne Covid virus (NHS Cambridge University)

• The Removal of Airborne Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Other Microbial Bioaerosols by Air Filtration on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Surge Units (Clinical Infectious Diseases, Oxford Academic)

• An overview on viral interference during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (Frontiers in Pediatrics)

• A next-generation inhalable dry powder COVID vaccine (Nature)

• Mucosal boosting enhances vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 in macaques (Nature)

• COVID-19 Boosters: If The US Had Matched Israel’s Speed And Take-Up, An Estimated 29,000 US Lives Would Have Been Saved (HealthAffairs)

• “…Failure to immediately recognize the urgent need to control airborne spread of COVID-19…represents a major medical error that cost ‘an enormous number of lives.” (MetaArXiv)

• Air purifier use at daycare centres cut kids' sick days by a third (YLE News)

• The filtration efficiency of surgical masks for expiratory aerosol and droplets generated by vocal exercises (Aerosol Science and Technology)

• “…mask mandates were an effective way to reduce transmission both within the jurisdiction they were enacted and in neighboring jurisdictions.” (University of Utah)

• HEPA filtration reduces transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and prevents nosocomial infection: A call to action (BC Medical Journal)

• Nasal photodisinfection in an industrial workplace for COVID-19 suppression (Photodiagnosis & Photodynamic Therapy)

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