So much for “eliminated diseases”…
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Not sure why politicians want children to experience horrible diseases and death. It boggles the mind.
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I think it’s pretty clear. There are voters out there who are anti-vax. If that’s your voter base, you as a politician cater to them in order to get elected, regardless of your own private opinions. Look at Trump - he was all for vaccinations, but when his voter base became strongly against it, he turned hostile too. Sure, there are true believers out there, but most politicians care about one thing: getting (re)elected. If kids have to suffer, if the constitution needs to be trashed, if we turn into a dictatorship, well, that’s secondary. First and foremost, get (re)elected, and nothing else matters.
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Meanwhile… from the Kaiser Health Foundation:
Although covid has become less deadly, because of population immunization and mutations making the virus less severe, researchers say the politicization around the infection is obscuring what science is increasingly confirming: covid’s potential to cause unexpected, possibly chronic health issues. That in turn, these scientists say, drives the need for more, rather than less, research, because over the long term, covid could have significant economic and societal implications, such as higher health care costs and more demands on social programs and caregivers.
The annual average burden of the disease’s long-term health effects is estimated at $1 trillion globally and $9,000 per patient in the U.S., according to a report published in November in the journal NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine. In this country, the annual lost earnings are estimated to be about $170 billion.
One study estimates that the flu resulted in $16 billion in direct health costs and $13 billion in productivity losses in the 2023-2024 season, according to a Dec. 30 report in medRxiv, an online platform that publishes work not yet certified by peer review.
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A new Ontario-based study is suggesting the shingles vaccine may help prevent and/or delay the onset of dementia more effectively than any existing treatment.
The study was published in Lancet Neurology and led by researchers at McMaster University and Stanford University. It analyzed health data from more than 250,000 seniors in Ontario and found the herpes zoster vaccination, also known as the shingles vaccine, helped significantly prevent dementia.
“There’s no pharmacological tool that has been shown to have such a large preventative effect,” Pascal Geldsetzer, lead researcher and Stanford University professor, told CTV News Toronto.
Paper: Herpes zoster vaccination and incident dementia in Canada: an analysis of natural experiments
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(25)00455-7/fulltext
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Don’t forget enriching oneself along the way!
But yes, it’s quite tragic, but hopefully the rest of the world picks up the baton and keeps moving forward. I don’t like China whatsoever, but there are a lot of smart and well-intentioned people there, and Europe/UK has strong science too, but generally weaker commercialisation. Now is a great opportunity for the rest of the world to out-compete America and seize leadership.
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https://x.com/AviBittMD/status/2022046923906306056#m
I’m most worried about the defunding of mRNA and not reviewing new bird flu vaccines. In the world of advanced AI everyone will have access to their own gain-of-function labs. There are few vaccine technologies that can adapt quickly.
Hell’s going to break loose without rapid biodefense. And right after if a first pathogen hits, there’s going to be a new one.
They have warned about this many times: https://openai.com/index/preparing-for-future-ai-capabilities-in-biology/
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This is so sad. We have the technology and the infrastructure and active work on ways to reduce suffering and improve health for millions, but the progress is being hindered for irrelevant and unscientific reasons.
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Our only hope is now China 
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A good summary of the research in this area, by a writer for the Economist:
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Not sure if this has been shared:
https://www.science.org/content/article/unorthodox-universal-vaccine-offers-broad-protection-mice
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More and more data on this…
Open access paper:
Recombinant zoster vaccine is associated with a reduced risk of dementia
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Frontiers | Repurposing Infectious Diseases Vaccines Against Cancer
(Source: Is Covid Rewriting the Rules of Aging? - #77 by sunshine4)
Anything that damages mitochondrial DNA (as viruses can do) will most likely accelerate aging.
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There’s unfortunately no vaccines for HSV - most ppl live with that mitochondrial damage which probably shortens lifespan.
ChatGPT:
• Multiple vaccine types are being studied -
• mRNA vaccines (Moderna, BioNTech)
• Subunit vaccines
• DNA vaccines
• Live‑attenuated or disabled‑infectious vaccines B
Some aim to prevent HVS infection, others to reduce outbreaks in people already infected.
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I’ve read that in most cases the body eventually manages to rid itself of HSV.
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Really! It’s good news!
Immunofitness in the elderly: The role of vaccination in promoting healthy aging
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645515.2026.2624234#abstract
“As we get older, our immune system becomes less efficient and more prone to chronic inflammation. Vaccines can help keep the immune system “fit” by preparing it to recognize germs and to bounce back faster after infections. Some vaccines do more than protect against a single disease: they can also improve general immune responses (sometimes called “trained immunity”). In older adults, vaccines against flu, RSV, pneumococcus, COVID-19 and shingles lower the chances of serious illness, hospitalization and even heart problems linked to infections. New vaccine technologies (like mRNA and advanced adjuvants) and personalized schedules may improve protection further. Making vaccination a routine part of healthy aging — together with good nutrition, exercise, sleep and managing chronic conditions – can meaningfully improve health and quality of life.”
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