Conspiracy Sunday - Spores of Plague

It is in the wind.

I had other plans for today’s article, which I will continue to work on and refine, so a broader audience can understand its significance. Alas, here we are, on rare occasions, I write conspiracy-day, fact, and evidence-based articles that verge on conspiratorial thought.

Many, if not most, of SARS-CoV-2 long-lasting hypotheses, becoming thesis (facts) or reality, were born from early research, especially between early December 2019 to March-April of 2020, and so did many of the conspiracies surrounding it, which an untold number of influencers of all sides built their careers upon.

SARS-CoV-2 HIV inserts ? Published in a scientific paper in 2020. SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein interacting with Endotoxin ? Early 2020. Mid to late 2020. mRNA vaccine and everything entangled with it ? Early 2020, and so forth. And so did the following.

At the time, I knew 98% less molecular biology, immunology, and what I know now, yet curiosity is what drove me, and the attempt to explain the untold number of oddities in regard to the pandemic. A thought as insane as a viral spike protein interacting with bacterial toxins for its own purposes was the rather insane hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 and its Spike Protein could interact with fungi, especially fungal spores.

A running joke early in the pandemic between some of us was “SARS-CoV-2 spreads through the skin, like spores from Candida Auris”. If you were not aware, Candida Auris is my favorite fungal pathogen because it is an elegant enigma. I have tried very hard to find the actual paper, but couldn’t.

Airborne Fungal Spores May Help Predict COVID-19 & Flu Surges

Highlights:

• A new study identified that increased levels of fungal spores in the air were strongly linked to surges in cases of influenza and COVID-19.

• Monitoring airborne fungal spores could help predict surges of respiratory virus infections, providing an early warning system to public health systems.

Los Angeles, Calif.—Monitoring fungal spores in the outdoor air can predict surges in flu and COVID-19 infections, especially during the fall, according to a new study. The study is presented at ASM Microbe 2025 in Los Angeles, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

“By monitoring the air we breathe, we may be able to better forecast and prepare for seasonal outbreaks of respiratory viral infections,” said presenting study author Félix E. Rivera-Mariani, Ph.D., associate professor of Biochemistry and Special Topics in Biology at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., and founder and principal investigator at the RIPLRT Institute, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The researchers wanted to understand the short-term role of environmental exposures—specifically fungal spores and pollen—in triggering or amplifying the incidence of respiratory viral infections such as COVID-19 and influenza. The ecology of Puerto Rico offers a unique natural laboratory due to its consistent and endemic year-round presence of airborne fungi and pollen. Despite the known links between these exposures and asthma or allergies, their role in viral infection trends hasn’t been thoroughly studied.

In the new study, the researchers examined daily data, from 2022-2024, in 2 major health regions in Puerto Rico—San Juan and Caguas. The data included the daily incidence of people diagnosed with COVID-19 and flu, and the concentrations of airborne fungal spores and pollen recorded on the same days. The scientists then implemented statistical and machine learning models to see if high levels of these environmental exposures could predict spikes in flu and COVID-19 cases within the same week or the following week (called lag-effect).

They discovered that airborne concentrations of fungal spores—but not pollen—were strongly linked to increases in flu and COVID-19 cases. When airborne concentrations of fungal spores rose, the scientists often saw a jump in infections within a few days. The models were able to predict flu and COVID-19 surges with high accuracy, particularly in the fall season, in both San Juan and Caguas. Pollen didn’t show the same connection nor prediction.

“The findings from our study suggest that monitoring airborne fungal spore levels could help predict short-term outbreaks (spikes) of flu and COVID-19, giving public health systems an early warning signal,” Rivera-Mariani said. “Our findings also highlight the potential role of environmental factors—not just person-to-person spread—in contributing to the incidence of respiratory viral infections. That could open new doors for targeted public health alerts, especially in areas with high outdoor airborne fungi.”

At the start of the year, a specific number of events around the world gave me a reason to write the following article.

The Ashes of Pestilence

A massive fog took over the first world, most present in the US, Canada, and parts of Europe, an atypical fog for the time of the year, with atypical thickness, and heavy with small particulates. It has been known for a few decades that any type of storm carrying a sufficient number of small particles is able to carry “things”.

Middle Eastern dust storms can carry Endotoxin and cause localized spikes in hospitalization “In general, increased endotoxin levels were related to the severity of the sandstorms”. US, Canadian, and European large forest fires can do the same, with ashes carrying both fungal and bacterial toxins, increasing respiratory disease incidence and cardiovascular disease.

The researchers here found something remarkable by analyzing daily data for 2 years, they found fungal spores, but not pollen, which increased the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza infections. Why is this important besides an environmental explanation for unforeseen spikes in SARS-CoV-2 infections ?

Because SARS-CoV-2 has a huge interplay with fungal pathogens, fungal infections post-Covid are far too common, a sizable number of surviving patients (ones who survive severe infections and ICU stays) develop fungal problems, a subset of Long Covid patients have an abundance of mycotoxins in their system, and many have undiagnosed yeast problems. While I have a huge focus on the bacterial side, the fungal side of SARS-CoV-2 deserves even the same level of attention, or higher, as yeast and fungi are annoyingly persistent.

The virus and Spike itself affect fungal immunity, disrupting an essential immunological axis, and inducing a form of “fungal amnesia” when your body forgets how to effectively deal with these nasty infections. The Spike Protein itself can interact with specific fungal biofilms, disrupting and releasing its contents, it lead me to hypothesize that certain pockets of the protein can interact and bind or manipulate mycotoxins.

This goes beyond a spike in infection rates during certain environmental events or seasons of the year. One of the most common environmental fungi, Aspergillus Fumigatus, not only can cause a severe infection, but it can also facilitate and lead to a severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, distorting a viral immune response, making you more susceptible to one or the other. Fungal spores are also widely studied allergens…

By sheer coincidence, another one of my hypotheses has now been confirmed by published research, and so tomorrow, or the day after, I shall publish an article on it. And it has even more significance than spores carrying viruses, which is significant on its own. After all, like me and other person forecasted, it would be how the Spike Protein could act as a gene delivery system.

Thank you for your support !