The BBC’s pandemic coverage has strictly followed what is now known as official science. No questions asked; just report what you are told.
One of the most incredible features of the media coverage has been the ignorance of existing research on respiratory viruses. We use ignorance as a generic term as we are unsure whether the reporters were ignoring the large existing body of knowledge or were ignorant, i.e., did not know it existed.
Now we have the latest fantastic revelation: respiratory viruses, specifically SARS-CoV-2, “survive” for days on certain types of surfaces and foodstuffs, from pastries to canned products.
The news item is from a Food Standard Agency laboratory study carried out using credible methods: viral cultures.
Except that the final paragraph of the discussion hints that something is not quite right:
The public may be interested in the finding that virus may persist in an infectious state, on foods and food packaging surfaces, for several days under certain common conditions. There is the possibility of transmission through contaminated food if the food is in direct contact with the mouth and mucus membranes. The potential implications for public health are unclear since inhalation of respiratory aerosols and droplets is considered to be the main route of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Readers of our transmission riddles will know by now that such statements are hostages to fortune; the “main route” would need a lot more evidence than presently available to make it “main”, whereas fomites so far tick more boxes.
Does the BBC piece put the study into the context of transmission: no. Does it refer to the available evidence for this and other respiratory viruses suggesting a more complicated transmission scenario: absolutely not. Do you go away with a feeling that if you touch a vegetable in a supermarket, you will end up in bed coughing?
About 15 years ago, Mike Broderick and colleagues followed the incidence of febrile acute respiratory infections (ARIs) caused by adenovirus in military units. They divided the units into “open” and “closed” according to whether they allowed potentially infectious convalescent soldiers to join or not. This was a proper study with viral cultures accompanied by PCR testing. The authors also went a bit further by sampling surface structures looking for viable adenovirus even in barracks which had been disused for some time. There was no difference in incidence between closed and open units. A result that mirrors our findings of hospital-acquired infection following viral circulation in the community (within a few days’ lag time), implying that measures such as distancing and barriers did not make any difference.
There’s more. Up to eight per cent of samples from surfaces in barracks which had not been used for a week turned up viable adenovirus, and the authors conclude that the source of the agent is environmental. Precisely what was found in several studies in daycare centres for young children in Denmark, where all types of respiratory and enteric viruses and bacteria populated soft toys, tables, and sofas.
To add to the body of pre-existing evidence, our review of SARS-CoV-2 found 23 studies that investigated fomite transmission and performed viral culture. Five studies demonstrated that replication-competent SARS-CoV-2 is present on fomites. Four of these were done in hospitals, and in the further study, two Chinese dock workers were found to have asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection during routine screening; the two workers were infected after contact with contaminated outer packaging from a fish cluster pallet.
A noteworthy aspect of establishing transmission is determining the minimum dose of virus particles that can initiate infection – the “minimal infectious dose” Data from a recent human challenge trial showed an intranasal exposure to one million genome copies might be required to yield approximately 50% chance of infection. A positive SARS-CoV-2 culture from fomites is at least three times more likely when the cycle threshold value is less than 30 (i.e., the sample has a higher viral load), and a plausible chain of transmission is strengthened by the presence of studies demonstrating genomic sequencing.
Science is cumulative. The BBC reporting would be enhanced if it set the findings of new studies in the context of what is known. It doesn’t take much to systematically search for what is already known. If reporters did so, the public might better understand the evidence – as opposed to the opinions – for how viruses are transmitted.
Dr. Carl Heneghan is the Oxford Professor of Evidence Based Medicine and Dr. Tom Jefferson is an epidemiologist based in Rome who works with Professor Heneghan on the Cochrane Collaboration. This article was first published on their Substack blog, Trust The Evidence, which you can subscribe to here.
Stop Press: MailOnline’s take on this story is: “Broccoli and raspberries could give you COVID, health experts warn after learning that virus can live on popular foods for as long as a week.”
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£££s
Exactly; and € & $ into the future. It’s a long term investment in the trade, quite likely. Not only that, were the recorded deaths caused by Covid-19, or “with” it, in tandem with other illnesses?
Indeed- a new business model of rapid development and rollout based on the same dodgy basic platform
I also think we cannot trust any statistic on “Covid deaths”
Was the bigger motivation not something to do with vaccine passes, digital ID and CBDCs – ie a step on the road towards a social credit system and the ability to control people’s travel, expenditure and behaviour? And possibly also getting universal acceptance of the mRNA platform, maybe with a view to depopulation and transhumanism agendas? Or maybe trying to eliminate control groups for the vaccines by minimising the number of people unvaccinated?
Probably played a part
Different groups with varied agendas all had something to gain
And perhaps the avoidance of traditional assessment methods for brand new drugs. Originally on the basis that we were in an Emergency (Emergency Use Authorization), along with “vaccines” having an easier ride than anything else. Then, when minor alterations were developed on a new “platform” they might make a better profit on each occasion when a new demand occurs.
I wonder how many of those 162 had multiple comorbidities? My guess would be 162.
What’s the definition of a comorbidity? If it is a compromised immune system, then vaccination will soon become a comorbidity.
does anyone have an article i could share about the danger of the ‘vaccine’ for those with autoimmune diseases ? no one will listen to me and they are going downhill with every shot . thank you.
The key point here is the with COVID. This means it uses the usual definition of COVID death, someone died within X days of having a positive test result. This probably includes suicides, car accidents, mobsters discussing business issues with rivals and people getting mauled by lions.
Why, you ask? Altogether now…. Because-because-because-because-becaaaaaaause…. Because of the wonderful profits it makes!
Go ask the man behind the curtain.
Example- a man mending his roof, slips and falls and breaks his neck! It was found he had tested positive for covid a week ago, so, Death caused by covid!
‘Vaccine’ from drowning in a swimming pool, ‘vaccine’ from dying in a road traffic accident, ‘vaccine’ from being killed by an accidental injury… I can see huge business opportunity. Sheeple will unquestionably follow ‘the science’ unable to see the BS as proven by the recent events.
And the best ‘vaccine’ of all , is the ultimate protection – simply obey every single instruction uttered by Your Government and you will be safe, happy and healthy 4eva
Yes, the Government, in the famous words of Assange, exists to move public money into the private hands.
It is interesting to compare these figures with ONS figures for England & Wales.
We are obliged to use the ‘death with covid’ category – within 28 days of a positive PCR test. These include deaths with pre-existing conditions (e.g. heart failure) and co-morbidities (e.g. fatal accident)
The figures corresponding to Italy’s 162/72,422 (0.2%) are 436/80,830 (0.5%).
The ONS figures have been publicly available since January 2022!
Does this mean we carried out far more tests than Italy meaning that over twice the number of people dying from something else had a positive test result prior to their death?
I don’t know – but that could be an answer. After all, without PCR tests, what would have evidenced a ‘pandemic’?
I have written before that a simple comparison of 2020 all-cause mortality charts against earlier years shows significant increases in deaths around March/April 2020 in certain European countries (e.g. France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, UK), whereas in others there was no such increase at all (e.g. Austria, Germany, Romania, Slovenia).
I therefore conclude there was neither a global pandemic at the time, nor was a novel, deadly disease circulating in Europe: a novel, deadly disease would, after all, cause excess deaths in all neighbouring countries.
I can only assume that the excess deaths in those countries with increased mortality were purely iatrogenic, caused by the strict adhesion to WHO-prescribed treatments, which were not so strictly adhered to in other countries. Or does someone have a better explanation for the discrepancies between neighbouring countries?
I quote again Denis Rancourt (https://denisrancourt.ca/), whose team performed in-depth analyses of all-cause mortality data spanning many countries of the world:
Why? Italy was the control country in the west in order for the Western RPTB to see how much control they could exert through fear. Absolutely nothing to do with a deadly pathogen at all.
History shows 20% of us can think critically but sadly the rest can be controlled, “nudged” is I believe the new term, for simply being lied to. Bravo to those controlling the MSM.
Control of every human being on the planet is what they’re after, because they’ve known for 20 years that the capitalist/USA/banking system is finished – hence we have Climate/wokeism/deadly new virus etc.
Putin knows this full well – and China is pissing itself laughing at us all.
Just as an aside, read up on the real reasons WW 2 began – and it ain’t Germany invading Poland…
I do not agree that it reasonable for national statistics to take so long to publish. Data should be monitored continuously and it should normally be right in the first place.
private businesses have to produce accurate date promptly for tge tax man, shareholders and Companies House. Financial services businesses also have to file quarterly data to FCA and PRU.
as usual the public sector is not on top of the roles they are generously paid to do.
Why the pic of the motorbike helmet? As a rider I find that suggestive, distracting and, dare I, offensive.