Coronavirus (COVID-19) Research

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1eye
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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Fortunately some things don't have to be 'vetted'.

They are quite obviously true or false, or just fun.

Here is a link to my latest version of an op-ed...

http://sullivanweb.me/mystuff/75%20year ... wa%202.pdf

All youtube links have been removed.

For entertainment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMOOG7r ... p0&index=4

:smile:
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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haven't watched this either but fwiw:

A message from President and CEO Cyndi Zagieboylo about the coronavirus (April 6, 2020)


The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is providing a variety of resources online to help you stay connected during the pandemic. We’re updating the information all the time.
Please see more at http://www.nationalmssociety.org
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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Treating multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2, 2020)
https://n.neurology.org/content/early/2 ... 7.abstract

"The emergence of novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and the subsequent pandemic present a unique challenge to Neurologists managing patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and related neuroinflammatory disorders, such as neuromyelitis spectrum disorder (NMOSD).'"

fraid i can't do any better than that atm..
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

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Why Some COVID-19 Patients Crash: The Body's Immune System Might Be To Blame

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... e-to-blame

It's a strange and tragic pattern in some cases of COVID-19: The patient struggles through the first week of illness, and perhaps even begins to feel a little better.

Then suddenly they crash.

"We've seen some patients rapidly worsen," says Dr. Pavan Bhatraju, an assistant professor at the University of Washington who works in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. "They initially were just requiring a little bit of oxygen. In 24 hours they're on a ventilator."

A recent study by Bhatraju and others found that the patients' lungs appeared to deteriorate quickly. The crash typically happens seven days into the disease and can occur in young, otherwise healthy victims of COVID-19.

Now doctors and researchers are increasingly convinced that, in some cases at least, the cause is the body's own immune system overreacting to the virus. The problem, known broadly as a "cytokine storm," can happen when the immune system triggers a runaway response that causes more damage to its own cells than to the invader it's trying to fight.

Cytokines are a wide cast of small molecules in the body that are released by certain cells to help coordinate the battle against infection.

Although there's limited data on how the release of too many of these molecules (the cytokine storm) affects COVID-19 patients, some doctors are already treating people who have the disease with powerful anti-inflammatory drugs to try and slow or stop the process. Anecdotally, they say that the approach appears to be helping.

"The impact was dramatic," says Dr. Daniel Griffin, chief of infectious disease for ProHEALTH Care Associates, a group of physicians that serves the New York City area. The first six patients he treated all appear to be improving, at least for now, he says. "Yesterday was a good day."
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

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Masks may be ineffective blocking SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Effectiveness of Surgical and Cotton Masks in Blocking SARS–CoV-2: A Controlled Comparison in 4 Patients
https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2764 ... comparison

Annals of Internal Medicine, Letters: 6 April 2020

Background: During respiratory viral infection, face masks are thought to prevent transmission (1). Whether face masks worn by patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevent contamination of the environment is uncertain (2, 3). A previous study reported that surgical masks and N95 masks were equally effective in preventing the dissemination of influenza virus (4), so surgical masks might help prevent transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV-2). However, the SARS–CoV-2 pandemic has contributed to shortages of both N95 and surgical masks, and cotton masks have gained interest as a substitute.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of surgical and cotton masks in filtering SARS–CoV-2.

Methods and Findings: The institutional review boards of 2 hospitals in Seoul, South Korea, approved the protocol, and we invited patients with COVID-19 to participate. After providing informed consent, patients were admitted to negative pressure isolation rooms. We compared disposable surgical masks (180 mm × 90 mm, 3 layers [inner surface mixed with polypropylene and polyethylene, polypropylene filter, and polypropylene outer surface], pleated, bulk packaged in cardboard; KM Dental Mask, KM Healthcare Corp) with reusable 100% cotton masks (160 mm × 135 mm, 2 layers, individually packaged in plastic; Seoulsa).

A petri dish (90 mm × 15 mm) containing 1 mL of viral transport media (sterile phosphate-buffered saline with bovine serum albumin, 0.1%; penicillin, 10 000 U/mL; streptomycin, 10 mg; and amphotericin B, 25 µg) was placed approximately 20 cm from the patients' mouths. Patients were instructed to cough 5 times each onto a petri dish while wearing the following sequence of masks: no mask, surgical mask, cotton mask, and again with no mask. A separate petri dish was used for each of the 5 coughing episodes. Mask surfaces were swabbed with aseptic Dacron swabs in the following sequence: outer surface of surgical mask, inner surface of surgical mask, outer surface of cotton mask, and inner surface of cotton mask.

The median viral loads of nasopharyngeal and saliva samples from the 4 participants were 5.66 log copies/mL and 4.00 log copies/mL, respectively. The median viral loads after coughs without a mask, with a surgical mask, and with a cotton mask were 2.56 log copies/mL, 2.42 log copies/mL, and 1.85 log copies/mL, respectively. All swabs from the outer mask surfaces of the masks were positive for SARS–CoV-2, whereas most swabs from the inner mask surfaces were negative (Table).

Discussion: Neither surgical nor cotton masks effectively filtered SARS–CoV-2 during coughs by infected patients. Prior evidence that surgical masks effectively filtered influenza virus (1) informed recommendations that patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 should wear face masks to prevent transmission (2). However, the size and concentrations of SARS–CoV-2 in aerosols generated during coughing are unknown. Oberg and Brousseau (3) demonstrated that surgical masks did not exhibit adequate filter performance against aerosols measuring 0.9, 2.0, and 3.1 μm in diameter. Lee and colleagues (4) showed that particles 0.04 to 0.2 μm can penetrate surgical masks. The size of the SARS–CoV particle from the 2002–2004 outbreak was estimated as 0.08 to 0.14 μm (5); assuming that SARS-CoV-2 has a similar size, surgical masks are unlikely to effectively filter this virus.

Of note, we found greater contamination on the outer than the inner mask surfaces. Although it is possible that virus particles may cross from the inner to the outer surface because of the physical pressure of swabbing, we swabbed the outer surface before the inner surface. The consistent finding of virus on the outer mask surface is unlikely to have been caused by experimental error or artifact. The mask's aerodynamic features may explain this finding. A turbulent jet due to air leakage around the mask edge could contaminate the outer surface. Alternatively, the small aerosols of SARS–CoV-2 generated during a high-velocity cough might penetrate the masks. However, this hypothesis may only be valid if the coughing patients did not exhale any large-sized particles, which would be expected to be deposited on the inner surface despite high velocity. These observations support the importance of hand hygiene after touching the outer surface of masks.

This experiment did not include N95 masks and does not reflect the actual transmission of infection from patients with COVID-19 wearing different types of masks. We do not know whether masks shorten the travel distance of droplets during coughing. Further study is needed to recommend whether face masks decrease transmission of virus from asymptomatic individuals or those with suspected COVID-19 who are not coughing.

In conclusion, both surgical and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface.
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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i made a no-sew folded cloth mask with a small lightweight scarf and two rubber bands. my impression is that it's meant to protect against asymptomatic transmission in the context of proper distancing and hand hygiene. our local bylaw re 2m went into effect yesterday. minimum fine $500. i think at a minimum DIY masks will provide a visual reminder to adhere to distancing regulations.
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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Hydroxychloroquine: how an unproven drug became Trump’s coronavirus 'miracle cure' (April 7)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... virus-drug

some valuable study design critique in that one.. ^

spoiler: raoult's credibility suffers
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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Someone I know made a two-layer mask: silk on the inside and cotton soaked in soapy water and dried, for the outside.

This construction is meant to deactivate virus particles coming towards the wearer and prevent them going from the wearer when they sneeze or cough.

I have had one older relative die and one niece who has recovered.

Masks will not protect your eyes. Soap can protect when washing hands.

The best thing is to stay away from others if you can.
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

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Tips for shopping safely during the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... hop-safely
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

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People With Disabilities Fear Pandemic Will Worsen Medical Biases

https://www.npr.org/2020/04/15/82890600 ... cal-biases

It's a moment that people with disabilities have long feared: there's a shortage of life-saving equipment, like ventilators, and doctors say they may be forced to decide who lives and who dies.

People with disabilities worry those judgments will reflect a prejudice that their lives hold less value.

State health officials have drafted rationing plans that exclude some people with significant disabilities from ventilators and other treatment.

Mostly, though, the belief among people with disabilities that they will get lesser treatment is based on something even more concrete — their own harsh experiences in the medical system before the pandemic.

Almost every person with a disability, or their family, can tell a story of a time when they were treated dismissively or even denied the care they needed.

(continued)
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

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EPA database of antiviral cleansers effective against SARS-CoV-2.

https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registrat ... sars-cov-2
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

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There have been 12,889 covid19 deaths in the US in just the last 4 days.

https://apps.npr.org/dailygraphics/grap ... table.html

- Covid19 US Deaths -
2020-04-14, 8 PM: 25,775
2020-04-16, 8 PM: 33,318
2020-04-17, 9 PM: 36,773
2020-04-18, 11 PM: 38,664
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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Double Therapy With IFN-beta 1b and Hydroxychloroquine (April 17)
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT ... w=2&rank=2
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