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Discussion thread VI - COVID-19 (new coronavirus)

Emily said:
We are going backwards.

https://www.newstatesman.com/scienc.../10/why-scientists-fear-toxic-covid-19-debate
Click to expand...

Agree. This site got bashed for carrying articles about hydroxychloroquine when we are covering ALL of the potential treatments for COVID-19. We have scientific data and news articles about: plasma, various antibodies, vaccines, vitamin D, Pepcid, various ACE2 inhibitors, steroids, blood thinners, etc. etc. etc.

None of the above are proven to prevent or cure COVID-19 at this time. Many are used in a combination approach.

Yet - out of all of the treatments under development - only the hydroxychloroquine discussion drew unreasonable reaction. Even temper tantrums. Why is that? I suspect because Trump liked it. What treatment he likes is irrelevant. Nothing is gained by irrational evaluations driven by political bias.

We do not do cancel culture here. All potential treatments are treated equally. Some are a complete failure. Some work in combination with other factors. Some are eventually proven to be really effective. If we do not keep an open mind as we review all potential treatments then we should just close down this site with a notice to follow the accepted mantra of the day.
 
Steroids and NSAIDs are examples of treatments that initially showed problems and were not widely used but then found to be important tools. HCQs just kept accumulating data showing they did more harm than good, serum data is currently not favourable but may well have a use if used very early in disease but we do not have data yet. We learn as we go but it is still early days and as evidence accumulates recommendations will change. Much that has been tried under EUAs has been limited to severe hospitalised patients, even when they are not the drugs target by design, which is bound to limit their apparent usefulness.
 
science has failed to help us in this pandemic.
It has become an institution with the main purpose to figure out
the education, careers publishing bureaucracy , who gets credit
and rewards for what.
The purpose to help mankind advance is becoming secondary.
That's the feeling which I get from following scientists at twitter
and checking the _multitude_ of recnt papers at bioxriv,medrxiv etc.
The lacking and withdrawn reviews, the ever more lengthy, tedious,
uninformative wordings and abstract, sensational headlines without content,
and hidden conclusions/if any ("more research is needed")

All the pandemic research in the last 14 years - did they even mention
lockdowns, social distancing, closing bars+events and such ?
Masks first discouraged then enforced - still unclear whether and how much
they really helped to reduce infections or make diseases milder.
What causes these waves how they travel, how to prevent them - not well understood.

What countries did well ? Praised ones in wave 1 "failed" in wave 2. Or was it just luck ?
They don't know.
 
it turns out Jose Gefall had a pre-agenda anti-lockdown and that probably motivated the posting of these
(good) reports. He -like most epidemiologists- misses the best anti-lockdown argument :cost.
With that enourmous costs I wonder, how we could fail to eradicte it in Lombardy
and Iran in February, as China did. An international effort was needed, but even
the EU failed to help Italy.
 

FluTrackers.com
@FluTrackers
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4m
Hi Everyone! There is some promising news on a #COVID19 vaccine today - BUT....

Please do not stop your personal safety measures. A safe & effective vaccine for "regular" people will not be available for a while.

Assess your situation and act accordingly.

#coronavirus

------------------------------------------------------------

Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is strongly effective, early data from large trial indicate - Key information about the vaccine is not yet available - November 9, 2020
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54874010

One in every 17 people who have had Covid-19 could be diagnosed with anxiety, depression or insomnia for the first time, a study of millions of US patient health records suggests.

That is about double the risk from other illnesses, the researchers say.

Unexpectedly, they also found existing psychiatric patients were 65% more likely to be diagnosed with Covid-19.
Click to expand...

Other articles suggest up to one in five patients are affected.
 
now USA (and Canada,North Africa) has the surge which almost all European countries had
starting at around Oct04.
Still I haven't seen anyone examing this or even noticing that it's somehow strnge, unusual,
when unrelated regions get it simultaneously
When it's the weather, the sun then we should be able to find the corresponding weather event.

Just "seasonal" doesn't explain it, to abrupt, too many countries simultaneously.
 
Not an answer, but this question has been looked at with other respiratory viruses, where there are clear patterns discernible - even if there is not a complete understanding as to why these patterns exist. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573019/ and https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(19)30264-5/fulltext For SARS CoV 2 the picture is confused by a high proportion of the populations being susceptible, and perhaps there are other climactic or seasonal drivers that have to also be present for a large scale outbreak to occur.
 
Again not a full answer but there are two main differences between flu season and SARS-2's first season. Flu starts from a very low level and needs to build cases before it can really get going, SARS-2 is already at a high level and can capitalise on improved environmental conditions immediately. Very little immunity in the population and its higher R0 lets it spread very fast from its already substantial base.
 
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gs I do not think science has failed us in this pandemic, I think the funding of science failed us before this pandemic (and every other pandemic). We never invested adequately in finding out what was out there just waiting to come and bite us. Therefore we started from an appalling knowledge base and the scientist have done a good job in researching CoVs now they have been funded to look but research takes time and doing it once the pandemic is underway is always going to be a game of catch-up which we will lose. A tiny fraction of the money being spent now could have provided us with a sound base from which to ramp up anti-virals, vaccines and cheap rapid tests. The WHO, CEPI, GAVI, Ecohealth alliance and other similar organisations are where we should have invested - had we done so we would not be in this mess.
 
Coronavirus: North Korea and Russia hackers 'targeting vaccine'

4 hours ago

It said a Russian group nicknamed "Fancy Bear" and North Korean groups dubbed "Zinc" and "Cerium" were implicated in recent cyber-attacks.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has previously said Russian hackers were targeting vaccine research.

But Russia denied it was responsible.

Microsoft, which develops cyber-security software, said it had detected attempts to break into the computer systems of seven pharmaceutical companies.

Vaccine researchers in Canada, France, India, South Korea, and the United States were also targeted.
...

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54936886
 
sharon sanders said:
I just wanted to say that I am not spending much time on the US because it is so widely published that we are screwed. I try to spend my time on lessor known situations, like China developments. The combination of the US media and the various tracking sites do a good job of letting everyone know where the hot spots are and what the general situation is. Please refer to your local news frequently to see what is happening in your local area.

If you are in the US just assume you are living in an environment where COVID-19 is prevalent. Act accordingly. As this site said in the spring - you are responsible for protecting yourself. Do not wait for the government. I related several times on previous threads my experiences with hurricane relief (not). I also said not to wait for vaccines.

So, bottom line, no matter what the government does, it is spread so thin that you personally will barely feel any results of their efforts. Establish your own "flu friend" network and support group.

Take care everyone.
Click to expand...

Hi Everyone. I just wanted to bump this post because the US numbers have been increasing since I wrote this.

Moving into the holidays and over the weeks into 2021, it will be the same thing. As of this writing two vaccines look promising - but do not wait for them.

Apparently, various economic relief measures will end on December 30, 2020. Hopefully everyone has connected with family and friends to form "flu friends" for mutual support.

Please remember no one has total control in a pandemic. You are not at fault for finding yourself unemployed or without housing. It is crappy.

This situation has happened many times in human history and things will get better. It is like each of us has lost at least a year. If you are young and just graduated...you will have a slower start to your career. It is not your fault.

If you have food and housing insecurity....just try to get along in some fashion for some months....there are a lot of places to get some meals. Do not rush the situation. It will get better when it gets better. This is a "time out" in your life. You will always refer back to this time period..."Remember when we lived in our car for six months and we ate dinner at the church every night"?

You are not at fault. This is a life "time out". Do the best you can.

We are with you.
 
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