@Brad Damn, quoted and cited there: "At 12 months, 20.3% of COVID-exposed children and 5.9% of the controls received a diagnosis of neurodevelopmental delay" https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(23)00802-0/fulltext

and “7.2% of [children and young people] consistently fulfil the [Long COVID] definition at 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-months.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s43856-024-00657-x

@mike_honey_ wow - all derived from JN.1 but the fact that XEC also contributed to each branch is something!

that Blood Advances paper aligns with earlier autopsy results, and confirmed

SARS-CoV-2+ megakaryocytes are present in lung and brain autopsy tissues from deceased donors who had COVID-19

But heck! We already knew MKs were long-term impacted. This from 2024 https://ashpublications.org/bloodadvances/article/8/11/2777/515445/SARS-CoV-2-infection-modifies-the-transcriptome-of - though in mice gives what I guess should be an obvious outcome, since the immune system isn't open-loop:

Megakaryocytes (MKs), integral to platelet production, predominantly reside in the bone marrow. [...] at peak SARS-CoV-2 viremia, when the disease primarily affected the lungs, MKs were not significantly different from those from healthy mice. Conversely, a significant divergence in the MK transcriptome was observed during systemic inflammation, although SARS-CoV-2 RNA was never detected in the BM, and it was no longer detectable in the lungs. Under these conditions, the MK transcriptional landscape was enriched in pathways associated with histone modifications, MK differentiation, NETosis, and autoimmunity

and autoimmunity

The breadcrumbs are everywhere.

fin/

That aligns with results from 2022-2023 like https://ashpublications.org/bloodadvances/article/7/15/4200/494910/Circulating-SARS-CoV-2-megakaryocytes-are which found

Using peripheral blood, we show that megakaryocytes are increased in the systemic circulation in COVID-19

peripheral blood - circulating!!

SARS-CoV-2–containing megakaryocytes are a strong risk factor for mortality and multiorgan injury

2/

@themaskerscomic this is really remarkably solid data

The cohort included 297,920 SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals and 915,402 SARS-CoV-2-negative controls. Every individual had at least a six-month follow-up after cohort entry

With a range of risk ratios from roughly +25% to +200%! That's up to triple the risk!

children and adolescents [...] infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibited increased risks for a range of post-acute cardiovascular outcomes, with RR [risk ratio] between 1.26 and 2.92

and things have not gotten better with newer variants:

similar cardiovascular outcomes in children infected with the Delta and Omicron variants

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56284-0 also via @TRyanGregory

@sfwrtr Metformin for Long COVID prevention in your spouse? (I am not a doctor! But "those who took metformin for early-stage COVID-19 were 41% less likely to later develop long COVID (6.3% of people) than the people who received placebo (10.4% of people)." https://ncats.nih.gov/news-events/news/can-metformin-treat-COVID-19-and-prevent-long-COVID-NCATS-and-partners-pursue-answers among other sources)

Negative air pressure in the spouse's recovery rooms? (Fan pulling air out the windows - ensuite bathroom fan for example, or window mounted) combined with rags under doors to minimize air exchange between their air compartment and yours?

There is some evidence that iota-carrageenan and xylitol nasal sprays might reduce upper airway viral load in infected people, and reduce risk of infection in exposed peole, also. Since the upper airways can transmit aerosolized (or cilia-driven?) virus to the nasal bulb which directly grants brain access, I'd particularly guess those might reduce risk of brain fog sequelae.

As @surfingreg said diluted air helps! Not just because it flushes aerosols out, but also a less obvious way: lower CO2 makes aerosolized virus degrade much faster

Best of luck to your spouse for a healthy recovery, and to you to retain your novid status

@Ashedryden sure:

• be well rested and less stressed. Really! Immune systems perform better when the organism is well-rested, and worse when under stress conditions. Literally calm your system beforehand with meditation if you can?
• have your vitamins. Results for vitamins D and C vary from "no effect" to "protective" (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9864223/ for example), with clear evidence that low vitamin D can down-modulate immunity. Especially important for PoC in northern climes, folks who don't work outdoors, and similar. Maybe start supplementing vitamin D (through sun exposure or pills) a week+ ahead?
• nasal sprays and mouthwashes. There is evidence for both xylitol and iota-carrageenan giving protection against SARS-CoV-2. A nice review with links to actual research from this past summer: https://integrativewomenshealthinstitute.com/how-to-prevent-long-covid-summer-2024-update/
• UV light disinfection, aka Germicidal Ultraviolet. This is harder to access as most installations are for industry, but if you have time and energy perhaps you can DIY it or find a supplier.
• explicitly say "And if you want to come but are feeling sick, let us know, and we'll drop off a get-better goodie basket and a little gift!" or similar, so folks who are ill have motivation to not come.

You've already said you will ventilate and filter. Add more filters? HEPA is great but Corsi-Rosenthal boxes with MERV-13 filters are also highly effective, relatively inexpensive, and if made with computer fans, very very quiet. They can be totally DIY - there's even a song about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XS-7vgThfQ !!! - , and various sellers have them available as kits or prefabbed, too.

Less likely to be useful:

• vaccinate 2-3 weeks prior to be at peak vax-induced immunity before waning
• PlusLife or RAT testing at the door
• free mask basket at the door. You sound perhaps willing to use an N95 but you indicated your guests wouldn't.

I hope some of those help! None of them will guarantee no infection, but when one must face such situations, the odds can be improved.

Some highlights from @ducky 's weekly roundup at https://covidbc.webfoot.com/2025/03/28/2025-03-28-general/

SARS-CoV-2 can interact with / activate the CD147 receptor to get into lymphocytes (T-cells and B-cells). (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2319417023000872)

women are 13.4 times more likely to get Long COVID if they are pregnant than if they are not, with the danger highest if they catch COVID-19 in the third trimester. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002937825001474)

the rate of cases of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) has gone up more than fourteen times compared to pre-pandemic (https://academic.oup.com/ehjqcco/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ehjqcco/qcae111/7945206)

@jackdaw_ruiz COVID-19 is political. Assuming you've had that twice+, by the transitory property, when you can't get a boner, COVID-19 is political.

Turns out it will cross the Blood Boner Barrier, too.

https://zeroes.ca/@datum/113801129956767297
https://climatejustice.social/@samara/114127585881644162
https://mastodon.social/@augieray/112541711634337747

#CovidIsNotOver #AirborneAware #CovidCompetent #COVID19 #COVID #SARSCoV2 #

Here's another "literally brain responses are slower" result, a great one to pair with the reaction/response time slowdown, when trying to convince gamers and car drivers and sports players that COVID-19 is something to avoid:

This could suggest a form of accelerated central auditory aging in COVID-19

Our findings suggest that PASC may alter the central auditory pathway and lead to slower conduction and elevated auditory neurophysiology responses at the midbrain, a pattern associated with the typical aging process.

Notably, the younger and older groups did not differ on other dimensions of the ABR, including peak and inter-peak latencies, suggesting that heightened gain is not comorbid with deficient synaptic transmission

Delayed neural conduction time and increased central gain in the midbrain could give rise to functional cortical processing disparities in PASC

the V/I ratio increase in the PASC groups, particularly the younger subjects, potentially exceeds central changes that are expected to occur with natural aging. Indeed, in the PASC group, the younger subjects patterned similarly to the older subjects.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-93664-4

h/t the most admirable @tomkindlon