COVID-19 Stages/Targets (Downloads)

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Work-in-progress (Living Document)
Last Updated: July 17, 2021

If you have a suggestion/correction or want to share new research I’ve missed please contact me.

COVID-19 is complicated as are the various stages of treatments. This is research to understand all the phases as well as the various therapeutic targets.

Stages of COVID-19

Overview of the stages of COVID-19:

Brief rundown of the phases:

Pre-Exposure (Most Important Phase)

Pre-Exposure

  • Pre-Exposure Phase: “Support Front-Line Defence”.

This is the time to support our front-line defence by increasing nutrition, reducing our toxic load, and engaging in prevention & protection protocols.

  • First Line of Defence (“Main Barrier/Shield”)
    Epithelial Barrier, Surface Cells, Mucous Membranes.

  • Natural Killer Cells (“First Responders”)
    NK Cells need to be activated straight away. This is the proposed reason why kids fair much better against COVID-19. The NK Cells aren’t functioning well in adults against SARS-COV-2.

  • Gamma Delta (γδ) T cells (“Early Responders”)
    Ability to rapidly detect viral infection, this is another thing that is not functioning well in SARS-CoV-2 and this ‘delayed emergency response’, contributes to uncontrolled replication of the virus.

  • Antioxidants
    Improves multiple immune functions and plays an important protective role.

  • Boosting Immune function
    There is more we can do in general to help the immune system function better, reduce injury, maintain healthy blood vessels, and help our body create antibodies.

Strengthening the barriers to Viral Entry & Boosting the Immune System so that the “first responders” are functioning well is the most important phase to prevent the severity of COVID-19 that some people experience.

The most concerning thing about the virus is it’s ability to replicate really fast before you get symptoms: the level of viral RNA copies rises from undetectable to millions in the 1-3 days before development of symptoms and then decreases after the time of symptom onset.

Which is why the most important time to do something to help your immune system, is before you even suspect you have it! The most important phase is the “Pre-Exposure” phase – even if you are vaccinated.

Boost Innate Immune System

Phase 1: Viral Replication (The only phase for 80% of people)

Phase One

  • Phase 1: “Viral Replication”. 2-14 days with an average of 5 days.

(FOR 80% OF PEOPLE, THIS IS THE ONLY PHASE)

This is when you get infected and the virus starts replicating. Here is the critical time to initiate early-stage protocols to inhibit viral replication and prevent severity.

Symptoms include sore throat, nasal stuffiness, fatigue, headaches, body aches, loss of taste and/or smell, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhoea, and fever.

  • Olfactory nerve
    Carries the sense of smell to the brain. (Many report loss of smell/taste).

  • Heparan Sulfate ProteoGlycan (HSPG)
    Coats the outside of all human cells & holds the virus in place so that the next substance, furin, can do its job.

  • Furin
    Coats all human cells. Its role in Covid-19 is to split the viral spike protein in two, so that one part fits tightly into its cellular receptor, ACE-2.

  • Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2 Receptor)
    Normal human protein found on the surface of many cells and is used as an entry point for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

  • Transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2)
    Cuts a wedge out of both the Spike of the virus & the ACE-2 receptor on the cell, freeing the virus to fuse with the cell membrane.

  • IMPα/β
    Responsible for transmitting viral proteins into the host cell nucleus and is a key component as to how the virus has been able to disable our cellular defence system.

  • 3CLpro & PLpro
    Proteases used by SARS-CoV-2 to make viral proteins.

  • RdRp
    Makes copies of the viral RNA in order to make new copies of the virus in infected cells.

  • Spike protein 
    Part of the virus that docks with ACE2 in order to infect cells.

  • Cytokines
    Small secreted proteins that mediate inflammation.

Most people will only experience this phase.

This is the time to ramp-up things that will reduce the viral load, and disrupt the viral replication process.

If this is done efficiently and quickly, you will not progress to the later, more severe stages that a small percentage of people experience.

Disrupt the Viral Replication

Phase 2: Early Inflammatory (20% may progress to this phase)

Phase Two

  • Phase 2: “Early Inflammatory”. 7-14 days after symptoms.

(THE OTHER 20% MAY PROGRESS TO THIS PHASE)

Initially described as the “cytokine storm phase” or the “pulmonary phase” (but has additional complexity). While most individuals who contract the SARS-CoV-2 infection exhibit a well coordinated immune response and recover, others display a dysfunctional immune response leading to serious complications.

For approximately 20% that contract COVID-19, there is a Phase Two Illness with main symptoms of increasing cough, shortness of breath, fever, worsening fatigue, brain fog, dizziness and mood instability.

Other symptoms may include low-oxygen in the blood, increasing respiratory rate, rise in inflammatory markers, D-dimers, and several cytokines.

Abnormal swings in heart rate and blood pressure when going from lying or sitting to standing may also occur; these can explain the dizziness and fatigue. They may indicate dehydration and a need for more salt and water, or might indicate damage to the autonomic nervous system. The elderly and those with comorbidities may experience an earlier onset of these symptoms.

If you are experiencing worsening symptoms, this is the time to get in touch with your trusted health professional. I will publish a post on what is understood about this phase and what we need to look out for, as well as what we need to ‘stop’ doing that may ‘increase’ the possibility of a cytokine storm (such as Elderberry and the like which are useful in the early phase but dangerous once the disease progresses), and taking care of your blood vessels to prevent the vascular damage, but I won’t give full-depth protocols for the more severe phases as there are doctors for that and I am trying to be the missing-gap for the protocols they don’t cover (when you are first infected & sent home to quarantine to ‘wait and see’), and as such, am more focused and researched on preventing these later phases altogether.

That being said, I can point you in the direction of those who are covering the more severe stages:

Phase 3: Severe COVID (not many experience this phase)

Phase Three

  • Phase 3: Possible 2nd infection &/or “Multisystem Inflammatory Phase”. 3rd-4th week.

(NOT ALL PATIENTS EXPERIENCE THIS PHASE)

Characterized by peak levels of IgG, secondary infections, and many manifestations that are suspected to be secondary to autoimmune phenomena. This stage is where you’ll see vasculitis (such as blood clots), Guillain-Barré syndrome, facial palsies, or immune mediated thrombocytopenia. This is the phase that makes the headlines and requires hospitalization.

The major indicators for hospitalization, in addition to low blood oxygen levels, are complications of blood clots like strokes and pulmonary embolism, neurological or cardiac problems, kidney failure and bone marrow suppression. A low lymphocyte count is predictive of poor outcome. Lymphocytes are one of the two major classes of white blood cells, routinely measured whenever a CBC (complete blood count) is ordered. (01)

If you have reached a severity of this nature, a blog post is not going to be useful – you need critical care by a medical team.

For further information visit FLCCC – Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance

Phase 4: Long Covid (approx. 32% of recovered patients)

Phase Four

  • Phase 4: “Long-COVID or Long-Haulers”. Tail Phase.

(32% OF RECOVERED PATIENTS EXPERIENCE THIS PHASE)

This is when a patient passes through the peak period but continues to have residual symptoms, often experiencing a bimodal pattern of diseases (improvement followed by worsening or recurrence of symptoms).

Symptoms are characterized by prolonged malaise, headaches, generalized fatigue, sleep difficulties, hair loss, smell disorder, decreased appetite, painful joints, dyspnoea, chest pain and cognitive dysfunction.

Long-COVID is different for everyone – each case has different precursors. Therefore there is no ‘standard protocol’ or ‘common therapeutic targets’ as it really depends on whether it’s because you still have the disease, if your cells or organs were damaged, your existing underlying conditions, and other factors.

Persistent inflammation is one possible cause of Phase Four illness. Other factors that may contribute include changes to intestinal microbes caused by the infection, damage to cellular powerhouses called mitochondria, damage to the heart or nervous system, scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs, and persisting depletion of the enzyme ACE2. (02)

This phase is the least-understood out of all of the phases and they are still learning what to do to help people recover. I haven’t researched this in depth yet because I’m focusing on prevention, but I am collecting videos of doctors who are treating Long-COVID (which also includes any protocols I discover) in the meantime.

See also: FLCCC Alliance guide to the management of COVID-19 by Dr. Paul Marik (PDF)

My main motivation for these posts is that I don’t think anyone needs to live in fear thinking they are defenceless against this invisible enemy or feeling pressured to get a vaccine that has seemingly random life-threatening side-effects, whilst still trying to get answers to their questions and concerns.

We need more time to understand the vaccines, and what we need to know to make them safer, to know who they are safe for, to understand the worrisome emerging data, and get answers to the unknowns.

There are also those that cannot take the vaccines, so we need knowledge on what ‘else’ we can do to protect ourselves. And, since the vaccines will not stop people from actually getting it, those who get vaccinated also need to know how to protect themselves. To do that, we need a much better understanding of how this virus differs from ‘the normal flu’.

This is by no means a full and complete explanation – I may not understand everything there is to know and new information is constantly emerging – but we’ll at least have a much more thorough understanding than what we get from the news headlines or social media. I’ve dedicated all of my time to learning about the vaccines and the virus and to trying to be as informed as I possibly can.

See your trusted health advisor for dosages, also check out FLCCC for the most up-to-date recommendations, and check for any medication interactions on drugs.com.

Useful Downloads for Everyone

For Family & Friends that already trust that I have done intensive non-stop research on this, 20 hour days for months, scouring through the latest studies to understand how the virus infects the body and exactly what we need to know to protect ourselves:

Shopping List

It needs to be updated as it was one of the first documents I did, but if you are overwhelmed with all the information on this site, this is the easiest place to start. It just contains the basic dietary & supplement information like a shopping list.

Innate Immune System Optimization

The main reason healthy people and children are less likely to have severe COVID-19 is because their innate immune system functions differently than adults. This is the summary of research in targeting the first-responders / front line defence of the body. This is mostly used for ‘life’ in general, and before you get symptoms, to build a more robust immune system.

Mediterranean/COVID-19 Diet

A healthy diet will naturally help reduce your chances of having a severe response to the virus (and illness in general). This is a ‘cheat sheet” of the healthiest foods to include in your diet.

Reduce Viral Load

Might look a little complicated if you haven’t spent a few months with your head stuck in COVID-19 literature – but ignore the names (which for the most part are the places the virus targets) and just look what is in the boxes. The more of ‘those things’ we do, the less the virus can replicate (reducing your viral load will prevent disease severity and spread). I will adjust the shopping list file to be more user-friendly when I get time, but if you start feeling symptoms, this is the most important file to have.

Dietary Sources of Vitamins

Useful for understanding which foods in your diet already contain vitamins that will help decrease virus replication and strengthen the immune system & inspire you with added understanding on how diet contributes to your overall health.

Downloads for Fellow Research Nuts

For those who are like me and don’t trust anyone else’s research and like to understand and cross-reference and check everything for yourself, you can download some of my research to combine with your own.

(Sadly, I never thought to download all the files I referenced, and mostly referenced directly, but there’s still a lot here that will save you a lot of time & I’ve created a spreadsheet with the full list of references here).

It’s also important to note that just because I downloaded the file whilst researching – doesn’t mean that I used that file in anything I published, it’s just something I happened to download into that folder in this mind-boggling journey of trying to understand.

Specific to Treatment

COVID-19 (Different Protocols needed for Different Phases)
Map of Viral Phases, Grid of Targets vs Treatment, Grid of Dietary Targets.
View/Download XLS
COVID-19-GRID+REFS
Some people have requested my messy spreadsheet with the links to the refs. Just know – it’s “messy”. Not created with any intention of sharing, but since you are doing the same research as I am, it may be useful.
View/Download XLS
Full Treatment Guides put together by others (Folder)Browse/Download
Ivermectin (Folders)Browse/Download
Long Covid (Folder)Browse/Download
Drugs & Non-Dietary Treatments (Folder)Browse/Download
Supplements & Dietary (Folders)Browse/Download

Google Drive Tips

Tips to make saving easier.
Choose the little down arrow next to the folder name and select one of the following:

Download as Zip File

TIP: Instead of downloading one-file-at-a-time, you can download the whole folder as a zip file within google:

Add Shortcut to your Google Drive

TIP: Instead of downloading the files, you can just add a shortcut to your own Google drive.

Diagnostic Files (PCR Tests, Cause of Death Reporting, etc.)

PCR Tests – any files I’ve downloaded in an attempt to understand PCR-Testing or lab instructions, etc.Cause of Death – any files I’ve download in an attempt to understand how they record a COVID death
Challenging PCR-Tests – any files I’ve downloaded in an attempt to understand the problems with PCR-TestsHIV (Relevant to PCR-Testing) – any files I’ve downloaded to understand why the same concerns happened during the HIV/AIDS era.
Other Diagnostic Files – any other diagnostic files I’ve downloaded that are not related to PCR (like antibody tests, etc.)

SARS-COV-2 & COVID-19 Files

SARS-CoV-2 Makeup – Any files I’ve downloaded in an attempt to understand what SARS-CoV-2 isVariants – Any files I’ve downloaded in an attempt to understand the elusive ‘variants’.
Stages of COVID-19 – Any files I’ve downloaded in an attempt to understand the phases and stages of COVID-19 and how it effects the body and why we choose specific therapeutic targets.Other – Any other relevant SARS-COV-2 / COVID-19 files such as Asymptomatic, Cytokines, Immunological, Lab-Created, and More

Vaccines

Antibody Dependent Enhancement – Any files I’ve downloaded in an attempt to understand the new concern about Antibody Dependant Enhancement that may worsen the severity of disease.Natural Infection vs Vaccination – Any files I’ve downloaded in an attempt to understand this argument.
Vaccines – By Brand – Any files I’ve downloaded in an attempt to understand the specific vaccines or technology.Concerns and Warnings – Any files I’ve downloaded that are warning about the vaccines.
Government – ABS, CDC, FDA, etc. – Any official documents from governments that I’ve downloaded in regards to the vaccines.Misc & Vaccine Guides – Any files I’ve download that are related to the vaccines but don’t cover the above topics.

Mapping out the Phases in a Spreadsheet:
(Scroll up/down, left/right for different therapeutics that are implemented at different stages)

Penny... on Health
Penny... on Health

Truth-seeker, ever-questioning, ever-learning, ever-researching, ever delving further and deeper, ever trying to 'figure it out'. This site is a legacy of sorts, a place to collect thoughts, notes, book summaries, & random points of interests.

DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is not medical science or medical advice. I do not have any medical training aside from my own research and interest in this area. The information I publish is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, disorder, pain, injury, deformity, or physical or mental condition. I just report my own results, understanding & research.