Bad reporting by New York Times on Long COVID

A good example of why not to trust mainstream media for good pandemic information

After reading a new New York Times article on long COVID that is afflicting millions of people globally who survived COVID infection only to keep suffering, I realized it had totally ignored considerable medical research linking the affliction to micro blood clots.

After reading the article I did a word search for “clot.”  I did this because I was aware of substantial medical research linking long COVID to micro blood clots.  But in this article clots were not discussed as a cause of long COVID.  Despite considerable research that had found that connection.

Brief review of medical research

Back in August 2021 a very important research article from South African researchers pinpointed the micro clot connection to long COVID.  They examined whether “the lingering symptoms that individuals with Long COVID/PASC manifest might be due to the presence of persistent circulating plasma microclots that are resistant to fibrinolysis.”  One of its conclusions was: “Significant anomalous (amyloid) microclot formation that are resistant to fibrinolysis, increased α2AP and the surge of acute phase inflammatory molecules, may therefore be central contributors in the multiple coagulation/fibrinolysis pathophysiology of both COVID-19 infection and its lingering phenotype, Long COVID/PASC.”

Also in August was a report of Irish research entitled: Blood clotting may be the root cause of Long COVID syndrome, research shows.  It summarized: “New evidence shows that patients with Long COVID syndrome continue to have higher measures of blood clotting, which may help explain their persistent symptoms, such as reduced physical fitness and fatigue.”  Also noted: “The researchers examined 50 patients with symptoms of Long COVID syndrome to better understand if abnormal blood clotting is involved.  They discovered that clotting markers were significantly elevated in the blood of patients with Long COVID syndrome compared with healthy controls.”

A recent better article noted: “Flurries of microclots — tiny blood clots — observed in the blood of people with acute and long Covid may be fueling the immune system’s reaction. Clots in healthy people usually break down easily, but those in people with long Covid resist digestion and continue to drift throughout the circulation. Pretorius’s [South African] team has discovered inflammatory molecules concealed inside these microclots that she thinks may spur the production of autoantibodies.  Having clots in circulation can cause the whole vascular system to become inflamed, ultimately choking off the supply of oxygen to cells and leading to a range of issues throughout the body. “Many of the symptoms that are related to long Covid can actually be traced back to a general oxygen deprivation state,” she said.”

A January 2022 article was entitled: Long Covid breakthrough from South African scientists.  Noted was that: “South African researchers from the University of Stellenbosch may have determined the cause behind long Covid.  Physiological sciences professor Etheresia Pretorius and her team found [article published in August 2021] that an excess of inflammatory molecules inside microscopic blood clots could cause some long Covid symptoms.

Conclusion

I have given these details to demonstrate that the New York Times, like all of the mainstream media, should not be relied on as a source of good pandemic information.

https://www.amazon.com/Pandemic-Blunder-Public-Blocked-Treatment/dp/197723822X/ref=nav_signin?dchild=1&keywords=Pandemic+Blunder&qid=1612289098&sr=8-1&&

Independent review:  http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0621/pandemicblunder.html