This post might be sailing a bit to close to the wind politically so if it gets taken down by a mod i'll fully understand why.

That said, i have been banging on here and elsewhere about the lack of any Covid clinics in Scotland and how our regional health boards have been left to piecemeal a response by themselves, well surprise surprise guess what...

Most Scottish health boards have used less than half long Covid money – study
Four health boards did not use any of their long Covid funding in 2022-23.
https://news.stv.tv/scotland/most-scottish-health-boards-have-used-less-than-half-long-covid-money-study

I live in the NHS Lothian region where reportedly only 17% of the Long Covid budget allocated to them by the Scottish Government has so far been spent... begs the question where has the other 83% gone?... i can't say i'm surprised but it is disappointing beyond belief that the money is there yet there still remains no central hub for specialised care where i live.

The NY Post, unfortunately, is a far right leaning rag that doesn't have any redeeming value. Decades ago it actually had some semblence to an actual daily newspaperr, but it's been pretty bad for years. It doesn't surprise me that they continue to publish absolute garbage.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

LOL! Steve, that pretty much sums up what i wanted to say but stopped myself from saying.

i.e. I often don't know enough about foreign media companies to call them out in a way i'd like but that won't stop me from calling them out on specific articles if i think they deserve it... the NY Post allowed an article to be published in their name that called Long Covid "fake" and while i tried to be polite about it, internally i was absolutely fuming that any organisation would allow a claim like that to be made without any facts to back up the claim!

I'd also add that while the article is written as if it is one person's opinion, it is actually attributed to "By Post Editorial Board", whoever or whatever that is, is anyone's guess?

When a newspaper publishes an editorial attributed to their "editorial board" it basically means it was one or more of their editors and they aren't naming them to prevent blowback from readers for a controversial editorial -- in this case, utter garbage, as expected from the NY Post.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

That actually (to me) makes it even worse, i mean if it was just one journalist making a fool of themself who somehow got past editorial checks i could accept that, but for an entire newspaper organisation to purposefully go ahead and publish something they clearly know will be controversial and damaging to hundreds of thousands in the US, millions globally, it's unforgiveable.

That sort of click-bait behaviour i'd expect from individuals on the likes of Youtube etc but from a company with a turnover of $200m it's hard to believe.... that said, i just did a quick online search into who owns the NY Post and if i'm not mistaken NY Post is owned by News Corp... if i'm right then that says more than i need to know about how that newspaper works so i'm glad i made the decision to ignore anything the NY Post publishes in future.

Yep, News Corp is it and yes, ignoring the NY Post is the right way to go.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

What i'm about to share might not be for everyone, indeed it may indeed be beyond the boundaries of what's permissable on this Forum, that said i do feel it's incredibly important, not just into understanding what causes Long Covid but also potentially the origin of Covid-19 and how it gets into the body... along with best practice on how to treat it.

Before i share the links please be aware that this has this potential to cost you your job if you work in the healthcare industry so if you work in that industry DO NOT click on the links unless you are sure you can't be traced back to the video(s)... to be clear, please DO NOT under ANY circumstances view the links on any workplace device if you work in anything remotely connected to healthcare.

So now that's out the way, let me be clear that:

1. I have no medical training or background.
2. My opinions are my own and i try my best not to influence others with anything i might find online in my quest to explain what, and how, Covid-19/Long Covid destroyed my life.
3. Do not take anything i say as factual as my journey to understand the truth into what happened to me unfolds.
4. Try not to be too harsh on me when i get things wrong because i almost certainly have, and will.
5. Above all, stay safe, and as always make up your own mind!

There are 2 versions of the same video (don't be put off by the title, its a fascinating watch!), the first is the shorter version hosted on YouTube, presumably because the author knows YT will take it down if posted in it's entirety, the second is the full video:

Clinical Implications of Weaponised Bacteria Against the Host
https://www.youtube.com/live/WoF4dpJj8eA?si=rT0zNohNO-9rR_K5

The other longer version is hosted on Substack:
Clinical Implications of Weaponised Bacteria Against the Host
https://philipmcmillan.substack.com/p/clinical-implications-of-weaponised

To sort of quote a well known TV series, the truth is out there... it's just a matter of finding it.

As an aside and from the video above, i'd never heard of a 'Butterfly Bomb" before so i looked it up...

From the UK National Archive:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/home-front-1939-1945-part-one/butterfly-bomb/

It never ceases to amaze me how often an article that apparently has no connection into what i was looking for leads me into learning something new!

I just read this and it's potentially a very interesting discovery:

COVID-19 Antibody Discovery Could Explain Long COVID
https://newsroom.uvahealth.com/2024/03/26/covid-19-antibody-discovery-could-explain-long-covid/


A link to the original paper is included in the article above but in case you missed it, it can be found here:
ACE-2-like enzymatic activity is associated with immunoglobulin in COVID-19 patients
https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.00541-24

Very interesting indeed. It sounds promising.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

I'd like to quickly expand on a post i made almost 2 weeks ago where i linked to an article that had me totally enraged but for reasons i hope you understand i didn't get into at the time.... i've somewhat calmed down now so i'd like to expand on that now:


Source: viewtopic.php?p=31004#p31004

To put into context why i was so angered by the video from Dr Campbell is quite simple, if a little long...

I've long held the view that there are mutliple levels of 'Long Covid', to be more specific... as more about the pandemic began to be understood by our health governing bodies it became very clear in the early days that some people (like me) were suffering from something that was Covid-19 related but nobody had a clue what was happening to people like me and they really didn't care... that was my initial impression but thank god there were doctors out there with open minds who did.

As time marched on and more and more people came forward with the same symptoms, it was left to those who were suffering the long-term effects of Covid-19 to 'label' what they were experiencing so they could try and understand what was happening to them along with explain to the medical community what was happening to them.

Eventually the medical profession began to sit up and take notice and question for themselves that maybe this isn't just in the heads of those patients after all, they've been suffering from never seen before post viral symptoms and those symptoms are not going away, indeed the symptoms of this post viral infection are behaving in ways we've never seen before (e.g cyclical and multiple yet never resolving).

Fast forward too, i forget when exactly, but if you read my history on this forum you'll see for yourself when i began to voice a concern about the misuse of the terminology 'Long Covid', it was i think in the Alpha or Delta phase that government's began to talk about symptoms lasting beyond 12 weeks(?) that i first said, no, that's not right.

For me 12 weeks was a complete red herring and has nothing to do with 'Long Covid... i still maintain to this day that feeling tired or having other mild symptoms is NOT Long Covid.

In fact, i wouldn't even label that as a post-viral infection, i'd call it post viral malaise where you might feel a bit tired for a couple of months and have one or two other mild symptoms that linger for a bit after something like the Common Cold or the Flu.... but that is certainly NOT Long Covid and if any terminology should be changed it should be for those with mild post viral malaise to change what they have, it's NOT for those who have had this post viral disease given that they educated the world too it, who had their lives stolen by it, for them to change the terminology that they coined in a desperate need for recognition and cry for help.

To do that would be akin to cancel culture and i for one will not be a part of that, Long Covid was real, it is still real, and by all accounts it will remain real into the future for many other people.

I don't know why or how this 'dumbing' down of Long Covid is coming about but to sit and watch Dr Campbell seemingly back-up a flawed rationale from a State in Australia, which until the Omicron variant spread globally and they opened their borders, has no evidence for the previous variants to base their assumptions on that Long Covid is no more than a 'hangover' from a cold or flu... to say it left me cold and furious to the point i was thinking for the first time what is the point if even the health professionals are now denying the existence of my previous 4 years, what has been the point?... would literally be the understatement of my lifetime.

Whatever it is called, what you and others have (and still have) that has been lumped into the diagnosis of Long COVID, there's no question that there any many variations. Surely there are some who experience symptoms following recovery from the initial infection that are typical to a bad Flu. However, there's no question that many people have suffered dramatic and debilitating effects to their physiology due to the virus. On a positive note, medical science is working to understand the cause of this and trying to develop treatments.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

I absolutely agree with that, however it's becoming increasingly noticeable that some people who should know better now appear to be falling into line with a narrative i cannot and will not accept.

Take Dr Campbell for example, for years i've been struggling to understand why he's never been all over Long Covid... yes he's occasionally referenced it but in reality i've never truly believed he's taken it seriously, why he hasn't has never sat well with me but i've followed him almost religiously because he does give great insight into other aspects of Covid-19 that i'd otherwise not find, or know about.

To sit and watch him apparently agree with a politician from a state within a country where they had next to no Covid-19 infection from the outset (until the Omicron variant when they opened their borders again) who is now trying to make a case for the term 'Long Covid' to be dropped is beyond offensive... indeed i'd go one step further and say it's downright negligent.

Fwiw, i'm so tired of this damn disease, to watch the turmoil in the aftermath of it is heartbreaking, it's not only destroyed my trust in the medical profession it's also destroyed the trust that many medical professionals have in their profession... i keep coming back to the same questions... how was this allowed to happen, and why?
The answers to those questions i doubt we'll know in the rest of my lifetime because i'm sure they'll be locked away under some 30+ year rule, eventually though humanity will learn the truth because they can't hide the truth for ever.

A few days ago, Thurs 28th March, i posted a message in this thread about an antibody discovery that could lead to explaining the mysteries of Long Covid etc.

Dr Philip McMillan has just put up a video on YouTube where he gives his opinion on that paper, i don't think i'm exaggerating if i say he's shocked by the findings but i won't attempt to speak for him, the video is 16m:44s long and it's probably best you listen to what he has to say and make up your own mind.

COVID Autoimmunity - Horrific Findings!
https://www.youtube.com/live/LQrF0sIX7Jc?si=HbnhVitvQ7nMbur8

At time of typing this Dr McMillan hasn't yet uploaded the video to his Substack but when/if he does i'll come back and edit this post to add a link to it just in case YouTube take the video down.

This will be my third post on the comments made by the Queensland (Australia) chief health officer where he called for the scrapping of the term "long Covid", and i hope, my last.

cf my posts:
March 17: viewtopic.php?p=31004#p31004
March 30: viewtopic.php?p=31065#p31065

It turns out Queensland Health have apologised for the 'comment' made by their chief health officer (no caps for his title is on purpose, he doesn't deserve the title imo)

Queensland health apologises over long Covid comments
https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-news-queensland-cho-under-fire-after-claiming-long-covid-term-should-be-scrapped/aed34a3b-5a67-45a0-a712-0b4085d1f2bb

Queensland Health apologises after chief health officer calls for 'long Covid' term to be scrapped
Queensland Health has apologised over comments made by the state's Chief Health Officer calling for the term 'long Covid' to be scrapped.
[Includes a short video that's well worth watching!]
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/queensland-health-apologises-after-chief-health-officer-calls-for-long-covid-term-to-be-scrapped-20240331-p5fgd5.html

In the UK, The Guardian have issued is a correction to their initial article:
Time to stop using term ‘long Covid’ as symptoms no worse than those after flu, Queensland’s chief health officer says
In a time honoured fashion the printed press hide these things, but nonetheless it is there, sort of:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/15/long-covid-symptoms-flu-cold

The one thing i can't find is the actual apology letter or video from this so called chief health officer actually apolgising but for now i'll take it as read that he did (at least Queensland Health did) and move on.

The only issue i have now is whether Dr Campbell will retract his association with the Queensland <enter expletive> chief health officer statement remains to be seen.... Dr Campbell was/is in Australia this week so he must surely be aware that the comments by the Queensland chief health officer have been debunked/retracted by the Queensland Health Authority.... it'll be very disappointing if Dr Campbell doesn't do so.

Apology is good.

_________________
stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"