COVID-19

[Bo Deadly]

... - but even if it's positive it won't help the individual or help control the spread if there is a significant time lag for the results.

Apparently. CA is testing as much as anywhere else and it's still pretty much running free there. We should be focusing our resources better. I can only guess that emotions are tripping us up. We need to be using some cold-blooded Spock logic.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Testing is still not quick enough and can be a little unreliable.  The Ohio Governor tested positive before testing negative. Reportedly there are false negatives too but not as high profile as that.

I read about one new test claiming fast results that still has to be shipped to one US lab for processing. How could that be fast?

Companies are working on self tests (like pregnancy tests) with immediate results, but not ready for wide use yet.

===

The next drama is surrounding the first round of vaccine immunizations. Of course there will not be enough to give every one who thinks they need one.  Obviously first line medical workers will be high on the list, but I suspect the golden rule will occur. Just like professional athletes had no trouble getting tested, does anybody think they won't get vaccines?

We are still learning about this novel virus. The good news is that next time we will be smarter, the bad news this time is not over yet so be careful.

JR

 

[iturnknobs]

We are still learning about this novel virus. The good news is that next time we will be smarter, the bad news this time is not over yet so be careful.

JR

Your positivity is entertaining. People are choosing not to learn. We will not be smarter next time and this is proof as 250,000 gather at Sturgis.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I remain optimistic in general but can already hear the gears turning for the huge drug industry visualizing a chronic annual covid vaccination cash cow not unlike today's flu shots. We already have multiple variant flu shots, and since we don't have a common cold vaccine, Covid also a coronavirus may not be so clean cut.
===
I have read reports of not enough first pass covid vaccine to go around, and simultaneously how many people are expected to refuse vaccination which may cancel each other out (unlikely to be that neat or drama free).  If covid mainly kills old people it seems that group needs the more aggressive prophylaxis.

===
Trying to imagine a post covid future, or whatever the next pandemic gets called, I am still optimistic about a lower cost short wavelength (far UVc) light that is human safe, but deadly to microbes. Not ready for prime time now, but maybe next time.

Social distancing and mask wearing, was mainly meant to bend the curve to not overload hospital capacity, not a long term solution.

JR

 

[crazydoc]

and since we don't have a common cold vaccine, Covid also a coronavirus may not be so clean cut.

Not a pertinent argument as I explained before - no reason to make a cold vaccine so it hasn't been done. SARS-CoV-2 may not be hard, especially if it isn't as susceptible to mutation as influenza.

I have read reports of not enough first pass covid vaccine to go around, and simultaneously how many people are expected to refuse vaccination which may cancel each other out (unlikely to be that neat or drama free).  If covid mainly kills old people it seems that group needs the more aggressive prophylaxis.

Social distancing and mask wearing, was mainly meant to bend the curve to not overload hospital capacity, not a long term solution.

JR

Maybe enough will take the vaccine(s) that the world can approach herd immunity.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Not a pertinent argument as I explained before - no reason to make a cold vaccine so it hasn't been done. SARS-CoV-2 may not be hard, especially if it isn't as susceptible to mutation as influenza.Maybe enough will take the vaccine(s) that the world can approach herd immunity.

Thanks that almost sounds optimistic...  ;D

JR

 

[scott2000]

Brother in law discharged from hospital today......

He's pretty weak and still in some pain...not sure what kind..... but he'll be on blood thinners for the next 6 months and some pain killers I guess....

 

[fazer]

Brother in law discharged from hospital today......

He's pretty weak and still in some pain...not sure what kind..... but he'll be on blood thinners for the next 6 months and some pain killers I guess....

I wish him a speedy recovery Scott. 

 

[scott2000]

Thanks! And to everyone else I didn't acknowledge earlier...

Will update as I hear how he progresses....

 

[JohnRoberts]

@Scott... good news.

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Schools have reopened in MS.. One school has identified 6 students and one staff member with COVID... 116 contacts were instructed to self-quarantine at home. It looks like three different infection vectors at least, maybe more.

Might have been a good idea to test before throwing them all together.  :

We could use a lot more accurate, cheap and fast tests ( not like the Gov of Ohio's test with false positive).

JR

 

[crazydoc]

Something to consider in reopening schools.

Cumulative Number of Child COVID-19 Cases - 338,982 total child COVID-19 cases reported, and children represented 8.8% (338,982/3,835,573) of all cases (4/16 -7/30)

97,078 new child cases reported from 7/16-7/30 (241,904 to 338,982), a 40% increase in child cases

https://downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/AAP%20and%20CHA%20-%20Children%20and%20COVID-19%20State%20Data%20Report%207.30.20%20FINAL.pdf

Also, my uninformed opinion is that young children in schools might infer that getting close to people, touching people and showing your face are bad things - people are diseased, and you'd better stay away from them. Might have some psychological effects that stay with them throughout life.

But of course, we've got to get our kids out of the house because they're driving us crazy. 

 

[crazydoc]

Not a pertinent argument as I explained before - no reason to make a cold vaccine so it hasn't been done. SARS-CoV-2 may not be hard, especially if it isn't as susceptible to mutation as influenza.

Thanks that almost sounds optimistic...  ;D
JR

Bill Gates: "This disease, from both the animal data and the phase 1 data, seems to be very vaccine preventable."

Lots more pandemic stuff here from Gates: https://www.wired.com/story/bill-gates-on-covid-most-us-tests-are-completely-garbage/

 

[boji]

Might have some psychological effects that stay with them throughout life.

I think your point/observation deserves attention given the research on disgust mechanisms, epigenetics...

PS:  Has anyone heard any more news about the strange lung phenomenon radiologists coined 'ground glass',  found on the x-ray films of some covid patients few months ago?  Wonder if there's any new information out on it.

 

[Script]

Ground glass opacity (GGO) is a diagnostics terms to describe a hazy opacity on a CT scan., an opacity that points to inflammation. Can be Covid19-induced but also just pneumonia-induced. If lung inflammation is severe, it can lead to fibrosis (scarring), which means permanently reduced lung function.

So not sure what you mean by "more news" on it.

 

[crazydoc]

PS:  Has anyone heard any more news about the strange lung phenomenon radiologists coined 'ground glass',  found on the x-ray films of some covid patients few months ago?  Wonder if there's any new information out on it.

Ground glass opacification is a very old term used in radiology to describe the visual appearance of an area on a chest x-ray or CT scan of the lungs, and has multiple etiologies, one being covid-19 lung pathology.

For more in depth info, see: https://radiopaedia.org/articles/ground-glass-opacification-3?lang=us

Here's a normal CXR:

Here's a ground glass appearance:

Sorry about the image sizes.

 

[Script]

Yeah, and then there's one phenomenon called "crazy paving" or "marbel" effect. That's when it gets really severe (pneumonia etc)

Some CT scans of Covid19-induced lung pathology can be found in this pdf
http://www.jert.jp/news/covid19/files/COVID-19_CT-finding.pdf
- (not for the faint of heart though, like many if not most other medical images).
- (Sorry text otherwise all in Japanese)
- And pdf already is old. Beginning of April 2020.

 

[living sounds]

A radiologist told me this week that he diagnosed many Covid-19 patients via CT scans of their lungs.

 

[crazydoc]

A radiologist told me this week that he diagnosed many Covid-19 patients via CT scans of their lungs.

Hmmm..." Definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 requires a positive RT-PCR test. Current best practice advises that CT chest is not used to diagnose COVID-19, but maybe helpful in assessing for complications. The non-specific imaging findings are most commonly of atypical or organizing pneumonia, often with a bilateral, peripheral, and basal predominant distribution."

"Multiple radiological organizations and learned societies have stated that CT should not be relied upon as a diagnostic/screening tool for COVID-19. On 16 March 2020, an American-Singaporean panel published that CT findings were not part of the diagnostic criteria for COVID-19. However, CT findings have been used controversially as a surrogate diagnostic test by some. "
https://radiopaedia.org/articles/covid-19-4?lang=us

Nit-picky I know, but "non-specific" means the findings can be present in other conditions, and can be consistent with, but not diagnostic of, a particular disease.

 

[JohnRoberts]

As if on cue I just read a newspaper article suggesting an annual flu and covid shot regimen, so the cash cow stands up to be counted.

Just because somebody makes a profit does not mean we should not embrace regular vaccinations, but I have pretty much punted on flu vaccines for years and survived. Bad luck to temp fate by saying this but I can't remember last time I caught flu perhaps because I am old and forgetful  :. 

Of course covid right now is more deadly than flu for at risk populations (hopefully that will change too).

JR

PS: I will take a covid vaccine if/when available, not sure about every year after that, I will have to see how the pandemic plays out. Some are predicting an annual covid season just like the flu that travels around the world evolving as it goes. 

 

[JohnRoberts]

This is a little hard to fathom after the publicity surrounding the debacle in NY state not adequately protecting nursing home residents.

Hopefully this is an isolated situation but it seems we are not learning obvious lessons.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-24/california-failure-covid-19-test-nursing-home-inspectors

But despite requiring routine testing of residents and employees, there’s one group California health officials have knowingly sent from nursing home to nursing home without first testing them for the lethal virus: state inspectors.

We need to be diligent and alert about potential vectors for virus spread.

JR