Nasal Approach to COVID Vaccination Gains Traction A Yale research team led by Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, has found success in a new approach to vaccination—systemic vaccines that train the entire body’s immune

Unfortunately, I don't think that SARS-CoV-2 will become the "common cold" in our lifetimes. It still causes Long COVID.

@virusesimmunity.bsky.social's prime (IM vaccine) + spike (nasal mucosal vaccine) is promising. buff.ly/qETDVkc

Pulendran nasal vaccine is also very promising
buff.ly/zqqcqcW

This is a really big deal!

When I was a fellow training in pediatric critical care, one of my attendings would wander by just when I needed him and say "I thought you might need a friend"

Anyway, be like Don Vernon, MD

When wastewater is high, there are >1 million new COVID cases per day.
I think that there may always be some transmission, especially when people are indoors together. Immunity to COVID does not last more than a few months, so unless we can make a universal vaccine there may always be some cases.

Human brains on PET scan. Long COVID is more green and yellow compared to normal control brain which is blue and green.

SARS-CoV-2 wastewater is at 3-year low, but daily US infections still hover at 200k.

The latest Dr. Ruth Report:
🦟 BA.3.2 "Cicada" variant trends in kids
🔋 Cambridge study on mitochondrial disruption
🤰 Reassuring meta-analysis on GLP-1s & pregnancy

Fact-based updates🩺
buff.ly/8GgrnmF

#medsky🛟😷🧪

Yes, they are still fighting for the right to stay in their convent. They had to take down their Instagram account with 185,000 followers, but they were invited to Rome to possibly meet with the Pope about staying.

Nuns who broke back into their Austrian convent ‘are step closer to being able to stay’ Plan for three nuns who escaped from care home last year to go to Rome thought to be positive sign of Vatican’s decision

Three Austrian nuns in their 80s were sent to a nursing home against their will.

So they escaped, hired a locksmith, and broke back into their own convent.

The Vatican just invited them to Rome, and they may even meet w/the Pope to discuss them being able to stay in their home.

buff.ly/Epj37zP

Ouch!

A few extra Paxlovid days may reduce rebound.

Persistent infection may need longer treatment or combinations.

We should be moving faster on combo trials for Long COVID.

Extended ensitrelvir or ibuzatrelvir plus VYD2311, feels like the obvious next step.

X-ray showing a very dislocated upper finger.

Med school taught me that the finger bones are supposed to be connected to the other finger bones.

My friend's post-basketball x-ray confirms this is actually optional. 💀 🏀

Photo of the most unhinged x-ray you will see today. With permission.

#medsky

#OnThisDay 1930: the BBC's news announcer said, "there is no news" and piano music was played for the remainder of the 15 minute segment.

More days like this please

TrialPilot soft launches today.

We're building a faster, simpler way for patients and researchers to find and run decentralized clinical trials.

Waitlist is open.

www.trialpilot.app

Reach out if you'd like to learn more.

teal background. Healthy mitochondrion on the left in green. Center shows heart and damaged muscle bundles from COVID. Right shows damaged mitochondrion in red and cardiac arrythmia in red.

Dr. Ruth Report 4/12/2026 🗞️

A few important signals this week:

• COVID damages: Heart muscle fibers, mitochondria, epithelial cells & Ear nerves (hearing)
• Long COVID Cost: $135B + $11B/year per country
• 40% report loss smell/taste across 3 nations

👉 Stay informed buff.ly/Ui5Vuzq

#medsky 🛟😷🧪

The 38 OECD countries: buff.ly/e6AkMR8

This info was taken from this article:
4/8/26 BMJ: Long covid’s £8bn bill: OECD report warns pandemic continues to cast a “long shadow” buff.ly/YZ4s987

which was based on this:
4/8/26 OECD Report: Addressing the Costs and Care for Long COVID buff.ly/99FYJv0

teal background. Healthy mitochondrion on the left in green. Center shows heart and damaged muscle bundles from COVID. Right shows damaged mitochondrion in red and cardiac arrythmia in red.

Dr. Ruth Report 4/12/2026 🗞️

A few important signals this week:

• COVID damages: Heart muscle fibers, mitochondria, epithelial cells & Ear nerves (hearing)
• Long COVID Cost: $135B + $11B/year per country
• 40% report loss smell/taste across 3 nations

👉 Stay informed buff.ly/Ui5Vuzq

#medsky 🛟😷🧪

I sent an email the founders from StartX.

Fellow X-scientists! Curious who among you might want human iPSCs stably expressing ASAP-family green fluorescent voltage indicators.

Cardiomyocytes and neurons differentiated from these iPSCs can self-report voltage with <1-ms and <1-mV resolution by standard widefield imaging.

European Peacock butterfly (Aglais io) on a Dahlia.

European Peacock butterfly (Aglais io) on a Dahlia. #nature #wildlife #butterfly #flower #photo

Earth rising behind the moon

"Echoing the iconic Earthrise photo captured by the Apollo 8 astronauts in 1968, during the lunar flyby, the Artemis II crew captured a shot of Earthset as they passed behind the Moon’s far side."

(photo from NASA)

Black moon with sunshine behind it in dark black sky.

Lunar eclipse

4 astronauts hug inside the space capsule as they float in space.

After days in deep space, this is what they did.

They floated toward each other—and hugged.

Pure joy.

Welcome home, Artemis II 🌍

(photo by NASA)

Katherine Johnson working hard at NASA

Dorothy Vaughn NASA photo

Mary Jackson NASA PHOTO

Artemis II are home safe 🥹

Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn, and Mary Jackson would be so proud 💜🌙

Too young for the MMR shot, babies become 'sitting ducks' in measles outbreaks Babies too young to be vaccinated are among the most vulnerable in measles outbreaks like the one in South Carolina, which is the largest the U.S. has seen in decades.

Too young for the MMR shot, babies become ‘sitting ducks’ in measles outbreaks

What I’d NEVER do as a brain injury rehab doctor:

• Motorcycle
• Tackle football (for my kids)
• Ignore BP
• Skip helmets
• Normalize repeat COVID infections

Because I take care of what happens next.

This is figure 1, which shows Long COVID Disease Burden vs. Other Conditions, by Sex Predominance.

A study in Communications Medicine finds that Long COVID’s disability burden rivals that of Alzheimer’s and asthma in the US, but Long COVID receives 14% of its years lived with disability-proportionate funding from the National Institutes of Health. go.nature.com/4v23Nzv #medsky 🧪

Vaccines save lives.

That’s it. That’s the post.

Mother bald eagle in brown with white head looks at her newborn chick that is fluffy and grey colored in a nest of sticks.

Dr. Ruth Report 4/5/2026 🗞️

Long COVID may carry real cardiac risks- even after mild infection. (1.2M person study)

Plus:
Antiviral combo cleared persistent infection.
CDC halts Rabies & Mpox testing.

👉Stay informed buff.ly/9ewN5U1

#medsky 🛟😷🧪

Mother bald eagle in brown with white head looks at her newborn chick that is fluffy and grey colored in a nest of sticks.

Dr. Ruth Report 4/5/2026 🗞️

Long COVID may carry real cardiac risks- even after mild infection. (1.2M person study)

Plus:
Antiviral combo cleared persistent infection.
CDC halts Rabies & Mpox testing.

👉Stay informed buff.ly/9ewN5U1

#medsky 🛟😷🧪

So important!

Chicago authorities warn of possible measles exposure at O’Hare Officials from the Cook County Department of Public Health in Illinois warned Tuesday of possible exposure to measles from a contagious individual at O’Hare International Airport and two other loca…

Officials from the Cook County Department of Public Health in Illinois warned Tuesday of possible exposure to measles from a contagious individual at O’Hare International Airport and two other locations.
thehill.com/policy/healt...