Pfizer Director Worried About Vax-Induced Menstrual Irregularities

 Project Veritas on Thursday released a new segment of undercover footage of Pfizer director Jordon Walker in which the Director of R&D within the company's mRNA operation expressed concern over how the COVID-19 vaccine may be affecting women's reproductive health.

"There is something irregular about the menstrual cycles. So, people will have to investigate that down the line," Walker told an undercover journalist he thought he was on a date with.

"The [COVID] vaccine shouldn’t be interfering with that [menstrual cycles]. So, we don’t really know," he added.

Walker also hopes we don't discover that "somehow this mRNA lingers in the body and like -- because it has to be affecting something hormonal to impact menstrual cycles," adding "I hope we don’t discover something really bad down the line…If something were to happen downstream and it was, like, really bad? I mean, the scale of that scandal would be enormous."

Watch:

 https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/scandal-would-be-enormous-pfizer-director-worried-about-vax-induced-menstrual

Growing Number Of Doctors Say They Won’t Get COVID-19 Booster Shots

 by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A growing number of doctors say that they will not get COVID-19 vaccine boosters, citing a lack of clinical trial evidence.

“I have taken my last COVID vaccine without RCT level evidence it will reduce my risk of severe disease,” Dr. Todd Lee, an infectious disease expert at McGill University, wrote on Twitter.

Lee was pointing to the lack of randomized clinical trial (RCT) results for the updated boosters, which were cleared in the United States and Canada in the fall of 2022 primarily based on data from experiments with mice.

Lee, who has received three vaccine doses, noted that he was infected with the Omicron virus variant—the vaccines provide little protection against infection—and described himself as a healthy male in his 40s.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, a professor of epidemiology and biostatics at the University of California, San Francisco, also said he wouldn’t take any additional shots until clinical trial data become available.

“I took at least 1 dose against my will. It was unethical and scientifically bankrupt,” he said.

Allison Krug, an epidemiologist who co-authored a study that found teenage boys were more likely to suffer heart inflammation after COVID-19 vaccination than COVID-19 infection, recounted explaining to her doctor why she was refusing a booster and said her doctor agreed with her position.

She called on people to “join the movement to demand appropriate evidence,” pointing to a blog post from Prasad.

“Pay close attention to note this isn’t anti-vaccine sentiment. This is ‘provide [hard] evidence of benefit to justify ongoing use’ which is very different. It is only fair for a 30 billion dollar a year product given to hundreds of millions,” Lee said.

Dr. Mark Silverberg, who founded the Toronto Immune and Digestive Health Institute; Kevin Bass, a medical student; and Dr. Tracy Høeg, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, joined Lee and Prasad in stating their opposition to more boosters, at least for now.

Høeg said she did not need clinical trials to know she’s not getting any boosters after receiving a two-dose primary series, adding that she took the second dose “against my will.”

“I also had an adverse reaction to dose 1 moderna and, if I could do it again, I would not have had any covid vaccines,” she said on Twitter. “I was glad my parents in their 70s could get covid vaccinated but have yet to see non-confounded data to advise them about the bivalent booster. I would have liked to see an RCT for the bivalent for people their age and for adults with health conditions that put them at risk.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization to updated boosters, or bivalent shots, from Pfizer and Moderna in August 2022 despite there being no human data.

Observational data suggests the boosters provide little protection against infection and solid shielding against severe illness, at least initially.

Five months after the authorization was granted, no clinical trial data has been made available for the bivalents, which target the Wuhan strain as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron. Moderna presented efficacy estimates for a different bivalent, which has never been used in the United States, during a recent meeting. The company estimated the booster increased protection against infection by just 10 percent.

The FDA is preparing to order all Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines be replaced with the bivalents. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which issues recommendations on vaccines, continues advising virtually all Americans to get a primary series and multiple boosters.

Professor Calls for Halt to Messenger RNA Vaccines

A professor, meanwhile, became the latest to call for a halt to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are both based on messenger RNA technology.

“At this point in time, all COVID mRNA vaccination program[s] should stop immediately,” Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in a video statement. “They should stop because they completely failed to fulfill any of their advertised promise[s] regarding efficacy. And more importantly, they should stop because of the mounting and indisputable evidence that they cause unprecedented level of harm, including the death of young people and children.”

Levi was referring to post-vaccination heart inflammation, or myocarditis. The condition is one of the few that authorities have acknowledged is caused by the messenger RNA vaccines.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/growing-number-doctors-say-they-wont-get-covid-19-booster-shots

Princeton Ban On Cheating 'Unfairly Targets' Minorities: Student Op-Ed

 A student at Princeton University argued in a Sunday night opinion article that the school's ban on plagiarizing or cheating 'disadvantages' minority students.

The author, Emilly Santos, says that the Ivy League school's Undergraduate Honor Code, which is "tasked with holding students accountable and honest in academic settings, mirrors the criminal justice system in its rules and effects."

"It is harmful to the entirety of the Princeton community: the fear it instills in students fosters an environment of academic hostility. But it is often most damaging for first-generation low-income (FLI) students — students who also often belong to racial minorities."

Students in violation of the Honor Code - which includes "tampering with a graded exam" , "claiming another's work to be one's own" , and obtaining exam materials before test dates - may be reprimanded, suspended, placed on probation or expelled, the Daily Caller reports, citing the school's website.

By Santos' logic, students who are suspended for a semester lose financial aid for the repeated semester, which harms FLI students disproportionately.

"FLI students, like many students, are often afraid of disappointing family and friends," reads the op-ed. "A lack of community support in these situations also puts FLI students at a disadvantage compared to their wealthier peers, whose communities often include people who are college-educated and have been exposed to academic integrity systems similar to Princeton’s Honor Code, and may understand the process better."

More via the Daily Caller;

Students who are accused of violating the Honor Code are given a hearing and may appeal the Honor Committee’s decision, according to the university website. Santos argued the process mirrors the criminal justice system by “mimicking processes of questioning, evidence gathering [and] witness depositions” and said that the ruling could overshadow the student’s accomplishments at the university, similar to how “a criminal record haunts previous convicts.”

"Princeton, as an institution that aims to educate world leaders and brands itself with social justice discourse, must first address the existing parallels between the [criminal justice system] and these smaller-scale systems we subscribe to," Santos continues. "Specifically, we must re-examine the role of the Honor Code and Honor Committee in our community. The University should lead by example by dismantling the Honor Code system, which acts as a barrier to social mobility and a more equitable society. Only once such internal injustices are addressed can we make real-world changes."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/princeton-ban-cheating-unfairly-targets-minorities-according-student-op-ed

Sepsis increased risk of heart failure and rehospitalization after hospital discharge

 People who are discharged after a hospitalization involving sepsis were at greater risk of cardiovascular events, rehospitalization for any cause or death during a maximum follow-up of 12 years compared to those hospitalized and did not have sepsis, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed Journal of the American Heart Association.

Sepsis is a leading cause of hospitalization and death worldwide. Each year in the U.S., about 1.7 million people develop sepsis, an extreme immune response to an infection in the bloodstream that can spread throughout the whole body and lead to organ failure and possibly death.

"We know that infection may be a potential trigger for myocardial infarction or heart attack, and infection may also predispose a patient to other cardiovascular events, either directly during infection or later when the infection and related effects on the body promote progressive cardiovascular disease," said lead study author Jacob C. Jentzer, M.D., FAHA, an assistant professor of medicine in the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "We sought to describe the association between sepsis during hospitalization and subsequent death and rehospitalization among a large group of adults."

In this study, researchers examined whether adults who had sepsis may have a higher risk of death and a higher risk of rehospitalization for cardiovascular events after hospital discharge. They queried a database containing administrative claims data and identified more than 2 million enrollees of commercial and Medicare Advantage insurance across the U.S. who survived a non-surgical hospitalization of two nights or more between 2009 and 2019. Of these patients, who were ages 19-87 years, the medical claims indicate more than 800,000 had sepsis during their hospital stay. The researchers analyzed the association of hospitalization with sepsis, rehospitalization and death over a follow-up period from 2009 to 2021.

Because variations in sepsis diagnosis and documentation may affect outcomes in research and clinical treatment, researchers included two standard diagnosis codes used for sepsis: explicit and implicit. Explicit sepsis means a physician formally diagnosed the patient. Implicit sepsis is an administrative code in the electronic health record given automatically when a patient has both an infection and organ failure, which is the currently accepted definition of sepsis. The presence of either definition of sepsis was used to classify patients as having sepsis versus no sepsis.

To focus on the potential cardiovascular impact of sepsis, researchers compared 808,673 hospitalized patients who had sepsis to 1,449,821 hospitalized patients who did not develop sepsis but still had cardiovascular disease or one or more cardiovascular disease risk factors (older age, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, obesity or smoking).

The analysis found:

• Compared to patients who did not have sepsis during their hospital stay, those with sepsis were 27% more likely to die, 38% more likely to be rehospitalized for any cause and 43% more likely to return to the hospital specifically for cardiovascular causes in the 12 years after having sepsis.
• Heart failure was the most common major cardiovascular event (including stroke, heart attack, arrhythmia and heart failure) among people who had sepsis. People who had sepsis while hospitalized had a 51% higher risk of developing heart failure during the follow-up period.
• Patients with implicit sepsis (infection with organ failure) had a two-fold increased risk of rehospitalization for cardiovascular events compared to those with explicit sepsis (formal diagnosis by a physician).

"Our findings indicate that after hospitalization with sepsis, close follow-up care is important, and it may be valuable to implement cardiovascular prevention therapies with close supervision," Jentzer said. "Professionals need to be aware that people who have previously had sepsis are at very high risk for cardiovascular events, and that it may be necessary to advise them to increase the intensity of their cardiovascular prevention."

The study authors will continue to evaluate new data on people who have previously had sepsis during hospitalization in order to map out their needs for cardiovascular prevention therapies. "It's an important opportunity to establish what might and might not work in the future for people who have had sepsis," Jentzer said.

The main limitation of the study is that it is a retrospective cohort study that uses data gathered through hospital administration. This meant that researchers were assessing past records and did not have information on the severity of sepsis.

Co-authors are Patrick R. Lawler, M.D., M.P.H.; Holly K. Van Houten, B.A.; Xiaoxi Yao, Ph.D., M.P.H.; Kianoush B. Kashani, M.D., M.S.; and Shannon M. Dunlay, M.D., M.S. Authors' disclosures are listed in the manuscript.

The study was supported by the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery and the Mayo Clinic Department of Cardiovascular Medicine.

Journal Reference:

1. Jacob C. Jentzer, Patrick R. Lawler, Holly K. Van Houten, Xiaoxi Yao, Kianoush B. Kashani, Shannon M. Dunlay. Cardiovascular Events Among Survivors of Sepsis Hospitalization: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis. Journal of the American Heart Association, 2023; DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.122.027813

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230201084344.htm

Circovirus involved in human hepatitis

 Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital (AP-HP), Inserm in the Imagine Institute, Université Paris Cité and the Alfort National Veterinary School (EnvA) have identified a previously unknown species of circovirus, provisionally named human circovirus 1 (HCirV-1). Circoviruses are a family of small, highly resistant DNA viruses that were initially identified in 1974 in various animal species, where they can cause respiratory, renal, dermatological and reproductive problems. HCirV-1 is a novel virus that is distant from known animal circoviruses. It was shown to be implicated in damage to the liver of a patient undergoing immunosuppressive treatment. This discovery of the first circovirus in humans, linked to hepatitis, was published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases on January 3, 2023.

Although the transmission of animal viruses to humans is regularly reported in the scientific literature, it is rare for a novel virus to be identified in a patient in Europe. But as part of a recent study, scientists and physicians have identified the first circovirus involved in human hepatitis. "The patient had unexplained chronic hepatitis, with few symptoms. She had received a heart-lung transplant 17 years earlier and had been monitored regularly since. We had access to a large number of samples over several years and were therefore able to identify this novel virus, which was completely unexpected," explains Marc Eloit, last author of the study, Head of the Institut Pasteur's Pathogen Discovery laboratory and a Professor of Virology at the Alfort National Veterinary School (EnvA). His laboratory specializes in the identification of pathogens in patients suspected of severe infection of unknown cause.

In March 2022, in collaboration with the Department of Clinical Microbiology at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital (AP-HP), the pathological tissue samples of this 61-year-old female patient receiving immunosuppressive treatment, whose hepatitis had no identifiable cause, were sequenced to search for microbial sequences. The RNA (ribonucleic acid) sequences extracted from the tissues were analyzed and compared with those of known microbes. "The aim is to identify sequences of interest among all the sequences obtained, which is like searching for a needle in a haystack!" continues the scientist Marc Eloit. These thousands of RNA sequences were analyzed in parallel using mNGS (metagenomic next-generation sequencing) high-throughput sequencing techniques and sophisticated algorithms. After ruling out common etiologies, the analysis led to the identification of a previously unknown species of circovirus, provisionally named human circovirus 1 (HCirV-1). No other viral or bacterial sequence was found.

The involvement of HCirV-1 in the hepatitis was then demonstrated by analyzing samples taken from the patient in previous years as part of her post-transplant treatment. The results showed that the HCirV-1 viral genome was undetectable in the blood samples from 2017 to 2019, then that its concentration peaked in September 2021. Viral replication in liver cells was demonstrated (2 to 3% of liver cells were infected), pointing to the role of HCirV-1 in liver damage: once the virus has used the resources in the liver cell to replicate, it destroys the cell.

From November 2021 onwards, following antiviral treatment, the patient's liver enzymes returned to normal levels, indicating the end of hepatic cytolysis.

Diagnosing hepatitis of unknown etiology remains a major challenge, as shown by the cases of acute hepatitis reported in children in the United Kingdom and Ireland last April and signaled by WHO. "We need to know the cause of the hepatitis, and especially whether or not it is viral, to be able to offer suitable treatment and monitor patients effectively. The identification of this novel virus that is pathogenic in humans, and the development of a test that can be performed by any hospital laboratory, offers a new tool for diagnosing and monitoring patients with hepatitis," stresses Anne Jamet from the Department of Clinical Microbiology at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital (AP-HP), who is also affiliated with Inserm and co-last author of the study.

Although some circoviruses are pathogenic for animals and vaccines can be administered, especially in pigs, this is the first known circovirus to be pathogenic for humans. The patient's symptoms remained mild; the virus was able to be identified because she was being closely monitored following her combined transplant. The origin of the virus -- whether it is circulating in humans or of animal origin -- has yet to be identified, and the source of infection (contact, food, etc.) remains unknown. Following their discovery, the scientists developed a specific PCR test that is now available for etiological diagnosis of hepatitis of unknown origin. A serological test is also being developed.

"These results show the value of this type of sequencing analysis in identifying novel or unexpected pathogens. It is always important for clinicians to know whether or not an infection is viral so that they can adapt the treatment accordingly. It is also crucial to be able to identify a novel pathogen when an infection remains unexplained and to develop a diagnostic test, because any new case of human infection with an emerging pathogen may potentially signal the start of an outbreak," concludes Marc Eloit. The test is available for the medical community and can now be easily performed for other cases of unexplained hepatitis.

Journal Reference:

1. Philippe Pérot, Jacques Fourgeaud, Claire Rouzaud, Béatrice Regnault, Nicolas Da Rocha, Hélène Fontaine, Jérôme Le Pavec, Samuel Dolidon, Margaux Garzaro, Delphine Chrétien, Guillaume Morcrette, Thierry Jo Molina, Agnès Ferroni, Marianne Leruez-Ville, Olivier Lortholary, Anne Jamet, Marc Eloit. Circovirus Hepatitis Infection in Heart-Lung Transplant Patient, France. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2023; 29 (2): 286 DOI: 10.3201/eid2902.221468

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230201134213.htm

Majority of workers regret quitting during 'great resignation'

 More than 47 million Americans quit their jobs in 2022, a phenomenon that came to be known as the "great resignation." Now, a majority of workers say they regret the decision, according to a new survey published Thursday. 

About 80% of professionals who left their jobs last year believe they made a mistake, findings from a Paychex study show. 

There is a generational gap in workers who regret participating in the quitting spree, according to the survey, which was conducted from Oct. 10-11. It included responses from 1,179 individuals, including 825 employees and 354 employers.

Gen Zers said they have the most regret about swapping jobs during that time, with 89% of those respondents indicating they are remorseful over leaving their workplaces for a new offer. That compares to about 77% of millennials who regret leaving their jobs.

Workers identified two reasons for their disappointment over the new gig: mental health and work-life balance. Just 43% of respondents said they were satisfied with the work-life balance in their new job, while a little over half — 54% — said they had a positive level of mental health. 

"Employees who left large businesses are most likely to miss the work-life balance they had," the survey said. "Workers who left small and medium businesses are most likely to miss their co-workers." 

The survey also examined how employers feel about rehiring job hoppers and how their businesses are faring in the wake of an employee exodus. 

A young designer looking stressed out while working in an office (iStock / iStock)

At least 27% of respondents said they have already rehired at least one former employee, compared with 43% who said they would consider bringing back former workers but have yet to do so. 

Roughly one-third of employers, or 30%, said they would not rehire a worker who left during the "great resignation."

On average, returning employees receive about a 7% pay bump; however, 38% of employers said they are unwilling to offer any new benefits to former employees upon their return. 

"While the terms vary, many businesses would accept former employees back at work," the survey said. "But, for others, workplace loyalty seems to keep employers from welcoming them back at all. Nearly a third of employers won’t consider giving people their jobs back, and blue-collar employers are 17% more likely than white-collar employers to feel this way." 

Job seekers visit booths during the Spring Job Fair at the Las Vegas Convention Center April 15, 2022.  (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal / Getty Images)

The extremely tight labor market last year allowed workers to quit their jobs in favor of better wages, working conditions and hours. There are signs the labor market remains imbalanced. 

The government reported Wednesday that employers had more than 11 million job openings at the end of December, meaning there are roughly 1.9 available positions for every unemployed worker.

The number of available jobs has topped 10 million 14 consecutive months. Before the pandemic began in February 2020, the highest on record was 7.7 million.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/majority-workers-regret-quitting-during-great-resignation

Features that may make motor neurons vulnerable to ALS

 New research offers clues about the biology of cells in the spinal cord that die off in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases. A team of researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health has found evidence linking motor neurons' large cell size and supporting structure with the genes that underlie their vulnerability to degeneration in ALS. Findings appeared in Neuron.

The study resulted in a catalog (or "atlas") characterizing the diverse community of cell types within the human spinal cord. By examining gene expression at the single-cell level, the researchers identified dozens of cell types in the spinal cord and analyzed their molecular profiles.

They demonstrated the usefulness of the atlas by looking closely at motor neurons, which provide voluntary movement and motor control. Motor neurons, which degenerate and die in ALS, are large cells with one long extension called an axon―up to a meter long―that conducts signals from the spinal cord to the muscle fiber.

The team found that motor neurons are distinguished by a set of genes that may enable the large size of the motor neuron cell body and lengthy axon, but also underlie their vulnerability to degeneration. Their molecular profile was defined by genes involved in cytoskeletal structure, which gives the cell shape and organizes the structures within; neurofilament genes related to cell size; and genes linked to the onset of ALS.

Additional experiments showed that ALS-related genes are also enriched in motor neurons in mice. With these findings taken together, the study gives insight into ALS and demonstrates the utility of the spinal cell atlas for studying disease and possible interventions.

More information: Archana Yadav et al, A cellular taxonomy of the adult human spinal cord, Neuron (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.01.007

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-features-motor-neurons-vulnerable-als.html