You can see Dr Klotman’s Week 204 video message here. This week his focus is on a BCM nutrition center that is studying the molecular physiology of plants. It has nothing to do with COVID per se, but it is very interesting to anyone who enjoys learning about the life sciences.
COVID news from other sources/studies include:
- Long COVID may affect up to 1 in 10 pregnant persons who contract COVID
- Some symptoms of Long COVID appear to be the result of brain injury
- Up to 6 million US children may have developed long COVID
- Texas has a new law in effect that forbids healthcare employers from mandating COVID vaccination for staff; however, employers can mandate mask use for employees who are unvaccinated
- Elementary school children who lived through the pandemic have not yet caught up with their pre-pandemic peers on math mastery
The ability of viruses to affect the brain is hardly news. For example, Zika devastates fetal brain development. The loss of sense of smell and taste among COVID patients is a neurological injury. So, the brain fog and persistent fatiguability of long COVID patients seems likely the result of brain injury. It can take years to prove such connections, but it will not be a surprise if such proof is eventually established.
The Texas law regarding vaccine mandates is hardly a surprise. More than a decade ago, I tried to get the Texas legislature to allow our hospitals and nursing homes to require Influenza vaccination of both staff and visitors. It went nowhere. Obligatory vaccinations are very politicized in my state and others. Alas.