Coronavirus spreads. But don't panic! (topical thread)

[mordant]

"Normal" evolves.

That could be the epitaph on 2020's gravestone.

One needs to adapt, but one also cannot normalize the unacceptable.

Trump for example has normalized such a low bar for public office that we have what the Daily Show styled as "Joe Biden: Acceptable Under the Circumstances" in a fake campaign ad.

Meanwhile we have people saying you can't draw any parallels to the bywords, laughinstocks and object lessons of the past, lest people dismiss you as overwrought or get pissed off because you're ruined some bandwagon effect or other. You can't point out the past record of public officials someone supports because that's living in the past and being uncharitable. Where, oh where does it end?

Personally I think the meteor heading toward us the day before the election is exactly emblematic of all this. It could put us decisively out of our misery, but it will probably miss and if it doesn't it will explode harmlessly in the atmosphere. We can't even get a credible apocalypse out of 2020. Just more dystopia.

Can hardly wait to see how 2021 will top this, but I'm sure it will manage.

[RobbyPants]

NYT: First Documented Coronavirus Reinfection Reported in Hong Kong

A 33-year-old man in Hong Kong was infected with covid a second time, over four months after the first time. Tests show it was due to exposure to a new acquired virus rather than the first exposure. His immune system did seem to keep the second infection somewhat in check, as he didn't show symptoms on the second infection.

While this can be concerning, it does appear that most people build durable antibodies that can help against future infections. There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding what this means long term.

[Dom]

NYT: First Documented Coronavirus Reinfection Reported in Hong Kong

A 33-year-old man in Hong Kong was infected with covid a second time, over four months after the first time. Tests show it was due to exposure to a new acquired virus rather than the first exposure. His immune system did seem to keep the second infection somewhat in check, as he didn't show symptoms on the second infection.

While this can be concerning, it does appear that most people build durable antibodies that can help against future infections. There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding what this means long term.

It is also an good prognosis for an effective vaccine to be found.

[mordant]

The only person I'm personally acquainted with who contracted Covid called this morning to catch up. I had only heard about her difficulties third-hand as she was hospitalized for some time and lived on the other side of the continent from me. She's 50 to 60 years old; as a gentleman I've never asked.

Apparently she had the disordered blood clotting thing because she had kidney and liver failure. She was in intensive care for a few days, though didn't make it onto a ventilator. She was on dialysis for several weeks. Eventually she was released and has now returned to work. Apparently strategically administered steroids were instrumental in her survival.

I asked her how she's faring in the physical well-being department and she said she slept last night from 8:30pm to 6:30 am and that was after a do-nothing Sunday, so she's struggling with ongoing fatigue. She's been told it will take 6 months to fully recover.

She's a cancer survivor who is missing part of her soft palate. She returned home to find that her husband had cheated on her while she was in hosptial, so she shit canned him and moved cross country to be near relatives. She's a tough bird and she'll be okay but her story is consistent with what you hear in general: if you have significant symptoms you may be a long time recovering, and some may never be 100% again.

I've known her since the late 90's through three different companies we've both worked for, and I'm glad she recovered at least.

[SYZ]

Australian Church leaders have raised concerns the proposed Oxford Covid-19 vaccine may include
cell lines from an electively aborted foetus.

Australian official dismisses Catholic bishop's objections to Covid-19 vaccine.

Australia's deputy chief medical officer, Dr Nick Coatsworth, has downplayed concerns from prominent
church figures in Australia that some Christians could refuse a Covid-19 vaccine on ethical grounds.

His defence of the vaccine follows a warning from Catholic archbishop of  Sydney, Anthony Fisher, that
Catholics would be presented with an "ethical dilemma" if the vaccine was proved successful as it relies
on cell lines from an aborted foetus.

Fisher called on the government to "pursue similar arrangements for alternate vaccines that do not raise
the same ethical concerns" about the formulation of the vaccine.

In a letter to the Federal government, the church leaders warned that "while some will have no ethical
problem" others "will draw a straight line from the ending of a human life in abortion through the cultivation
of the cell-line to the use for manufacturing this vaccine. Even if the cells have been propagated for years
in a laboratory far removed from the abortion, that line of connection remains" they said.

The church leaders called for the government not to pressure Australians to use the vaccine if it goes against
their religious or moral beliefs.  (What a pity their "religious or moral beliefs" seemingly didn't apply to the
hundreds of paedophile priests they knowingly harboured for decades.)

        

—Well, that's just fine and dandy ain't it?  Are we gonna have these apparently brain-dead Catholics running
around infecting everybody else with coronavirus?  Don't they understand that most other vaccinations are
also based on cell-lines developed from aborted foetuses?     Just how fucking stupid are they?

PS:  This arsehole Anthony Fisher is the same one, as bishop of Sydney, who was dismissive of three young
sibling victim's distress—one of whom committed suicide—saying that people such as these were "dwelling
crankily on old wounds".  Does he maybe mean like the wounds his mythical hero Jesus allegedly suffered?

[M.Linoge]

This afternoon, Trump tried to change the news trend when he called a press conference to announce what he called a “safe and effective treatment” for Covid-19. The FDA has approved an Emergency Use Authorization for convalescent plasma, a treatment involving giving anti-body rich plasma from those who have had the virus to those ill with it. Studies show that the treatment has some potential, but there has been little scientific study of it, and it is certainly not established as an effective treatment. Federal health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have objected to the EUA until there is more information; Trump has accused the doctors of delaying approval for political reasons. He walked out of the press conference after a reporter asked about the discrepancy between his triumphant announcement of a treatment and a doctor's explanation that plasma has potential.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.co...tent=share

At least it doesn't seem to be dangerous. I guess it's considered progress now when the president is just lying about the efficacy of a treatment.

[Minimalist]

The first case of a patient getting re-infected with Covid-19 was reported today.  The virus must be trying to mess up Fuckface's re-election, too!

[Thumpalumpacus]

This afternoon, Trump tried to change the news trend when he called a press conference to announce what he called a “safe and effective treatment” for Covid-19. The FDA has approved an Emergency Use Authorization for convalescent plasma, a treatment involving giving anti-body rich plasma from those who have had the virus to those ill with it. Studies show that the treatment has some potential, but there has been little scientific study of it, and it is certainly not established as an effective treatment. Federal health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have objected to the EUA until there is more information; Trump has accused the doctors of delaying approval for political reasons. He walked out of the press conference after a reporter asked about the discrepancy between his triumphant announcement of a treatment and a doctor's explanation that plasma has potential.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.co...tent=share

At least it doesn't seem to be dangerous. I guess it's considered progress now when the president is just lying about the efficacy of a treatment.

Another bit of progress is reporters calling Trump on his lies, and him shutting up.

[Minimalist]

Roll Tide?

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/univers...reopening/

University of Alabama sees 1,000 virus cases since reopening

The school has published a COVID-19 dashboard which shows a total of 566 positives since last Wednesday when term started, in addition to 400 people who tested positive when arriving.

Yee-haw, Billy Bob.

[brewerb]

Synthetic Cannabinoid Drug For Covid-19 Approved For Phase-1 Clinical Trials: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyearlen...67897d3329

"The researchers at Tetra Bio-Pharma, a pharmaceutical company focused on cannabinoid-derived drug discovery and development, created ARDS-003 with the hopes that it could help fight against the ARDS that is common in severe cases of Covid-19. While ARDS-003 isn’t derived from the cannabis plant, as a synthetic cannabinoid, it does modulate the same internal system that cannabis does (called the endocannabinoid system)."

[brewerb]

Robust T cell immunity in convalescent individuals with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092...20)31008-4

"SARS-CoV-2-specific memory T cells will likely prove critical for long-term immune protection against COVID-19. We here systematically mapped the functional and phenotypic landscape of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses in unexposed individuals, exposed family members, and individuals with acute or convalescent COVID-19. Acute phase SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells displayed a highly activated cytotoxic phenotype that correlated with various clinical markers of disease severity, whereas convalescent phase SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells were polyfunctional and displayed a stem-like memory phenotype. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells were detectable in antibody-seronegative exposed family members and convalescent individuals with a history of asymptomatic and mild COVID-19. Our collective dataset shows that SARS-CoV-2 elicits robust, broad and highly functional memory T cell responses, suggesting that natural exposure or infection may prevent recurrent episodes of severe COVID-19."

[Dom]

Synthetic Cannabinoid Drug For Covid-19 Approved For Phase-1 Clinical Trials: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyearlen...67897d3329

"The researchers at Tetra Bio-Pharma, a pharmaceutical company focused on cannabinoid-derived drug discovery and development, created ARDS-003 with the hopes that it could help fight against the ARDS that is common in severe cases of Covid-19. While ARDS-003 isn’t derived from the cannabis plant, as a synthetic cannabinoid, it does modulate the same internal system that cannabis does (called the endocannabinoid system)."

Well, the synthetic cannabis given for severe, ongoing nausea doesn't work, while actual cannabis works like a charm. At least that was the case for my husband, who was unable to eat or drink anything for 5 weeks in the hospital, and started to gag even at the scent of food being transported in the hallways. He was given every nausea med there was, including synthetic cannabis, to no avail.  I brought him home, and after dissolving some cannabutter in his mouth (no swallowing possible then), started to consume liquified food an hour later.

[Cavebear]

The only person I'm personally acquainted with who contracted Covid called this morning to catch up. I had only heard about her difficulties third-hand as she was hospitalized for some time and lived on the other side of the continent from me. She's 50 to 60 years old; as a gentleman I've never asked.

Apparently she had the disordered blood clotting thing because she had kidney and liver failure. She was in intensive care for a few days, though didn't make it onto a ventilator. She was on dialysis for several weeks. Eventually she was released and has now returned to work. Apparently strategically administered steroids were instrumental in her survival.

I asked her how she's faring in the physical well-being department and she said she slept last night from 8:30pm to 6:30 am and that was after a do-nothing Sunday, so she's struggling with ongoing fatigue. She's been told it will take 6 months to fully recover.

She's a cancer survivor who is missing part of her soft palate. She returned home to find that her husband had cheated on her while she was in hosptial, so she shit canned him and moved cross country to be near relatives. She's a tough bird and she'll be okay but her story is consistent with what you hear in general: if you have significant symptoms you may be a long time recovering, and some may never be 100% again.

I've known her since the late 90's through three different companies we've both worked for, and I'm glad she recovered at least.

Anecdotal evidence is uncertain. But I never expected exposure or infection from Covid19 to provide lasting immunity. It is too new and probably mutating rapidly. We are a new host, so it will be changing. I'm not a DR, but I understand evolution reasonably well.

[brewerb]

Synthetic Cannabinoid Drug For Covid-19 Approved For Phase-1 Clinical Trials: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyearlen...67897d3329

"The researchers at Tetra Bio-Pharma, a pharmaceutical company focused on cannabinoid-derived drug discovery and development, created ARDS-003 with the hopes that it could help fight against the ARDS that is common in severe cases of Covid-19. While ARDS-003 isn’t derived from the cannabis plant, as a synthetic cannabinoid, it does modulate the same internal system that cannabis does (called the endocannabinoid system)."

Well, the synthetic cannabis given for severe, ongoing nausea doesn't work, while actual cannabis works like a charm. At least that was the case for my husband, who was unable to eat or drink anything for 5 weeks in the hospital, and started to gag even at the scent of food being transported in the hallways. He was given every nausea med there was, including synthetic cannabis, to no avail.  I brought him home, and after dissolving some cannabutter in his mouth (no swallowing possible then), started to consume liquified food an hour later.

Apples/Oranges, different synthetic chemicals addressing different symptoms and biologic processes.

I have no doubt that mary jane helped your husband.

[Minimalist]

if you have significant symptoms you may be a long time recovering,

Fuckface calls such people "losers."

[Dānu]

The assertion was breathtaking: Out of 100 people who suffered from the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, 35 were saved by the injection of antibody-rich plasma from people who had survived the disease.

That’s how Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn described the blood product’s effectiveness on Sunday at a news conference at the White House, when President Trump announced the agency was authorizing use of the plasma on an emergency basis to treat covid-19, the condition sparked by the coronavirus.

The FDA, in an analysis of subgroups from an observational study, had concluded that one of those subsets of patients had a substantial reduction in mortality as a result of being treated with plasma.

“Many of you know I was a cancer doctor before I became FDA commissioner,” Hahn said at the White House. “And a 35 percent improvement in survival is a pretty substantial clinical benefit. What that means is — and if the data continue to pan out — 100 people who are sick with covid-19, 35 would have been saved because of the administration of plasma.”

---

But the 35-out-of-100 claim wasn’t accurate, scientists said Monday. The FDA commissioner appeared to have mixed up absolute risk reduction and relative risk reduction, which are basic concepts in economics and in the presentation of data from clinical trials.

---

David Steensma, an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, tweeted earlier that “The head of the United States Food and Drug Administration (!) @SteveFDA does not understand the difference between relative and absolute risk reduction — a basic, fundamental concept in medicine, statistics and clinical trial interpretation. It just gets worse and worse.”

---

Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said on Twitter that data gathered on the use of plasma in covid-19 patients indicates that 3 people out of 100 would be saved at seven days of treatment and 5 at 30 days — not 35.

The FDA declined to answer questions Monday about Hahn’s statement. But the controversy comes at a particularly fraught moment. In recent weeks, Hahn has been trying to convince the public that the FDA will make upcoming coronavirus vaccine decisions based only on data and science. Scientists say it is a dangerous time for the FDA to take a hit to its credibility.

Remarks by Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Sunday also raised eyebrows among scientists — or drew ire.

Trump called plasma a “historic breakthrough,” which scientists insist it is not. And he and Azar repeatedly highlighted the 35 percent reduction in mortality. Even FDA scientists said more studies need to be conducted to get definitive evidence about plasma’s efficacy.

But scientists said the study was not the kind that could draw that type of conclusion. It was not a gold standard trial typically used to make decisions about whether a drug is safe and effective. In those studies — known as randomized controlled trials — certain patients get the real medication that is being analyzed while others receive a placebo. That way, scientists can establish with greater certainty that a medication works and that it is not causing dangerous side effects.

The data on plasma came from a nationwide program run by the Mayo Clinic that gave hospitalized patients early access to convalescent plasma, which is obtained from people who have survived covid-19 and who have marshaled an army of disease-fighting antibodies. The FDA oversaw the program, which has treated more than 70,000 patients. It was an observational study, which is used to generate a hypothesis. FDA officials acknowledged that randomized clinical trials were needed to provide definitive answers about plasma.

(Washington Post)

[brewerb]

Observational Trial Finds Famotidine Benefits Hospitalized COVID Patients: https://www.mdedge.com/internalmedicine/...famotidine

https://journals.lww.com/ajg/Documents/A...074_R1.pdf

"Among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the use of famotidine was significantly associated with a reduction in death and either death or intubation. It also demonstrated lower levels of serum markers for severe disease."

"Mr. Mather acknowledged certain limitations of the study, including the fact that patients who did and did not receive famotidine were propensity-matched for age. “The risk factors that others have shown for adverse events are equivalent in the groups, but anytime you do a retrospective study like this there is the potential for underlying factors that may play a role in the outcomes that you’re not considering,” Mr. Mather said. “That’s why the gold standard is the randomized trial, to wash those effects out. There’s only an association here, and it supports the need for a randomized trial.”

[Minimalist]

It was an observational study, which is used to generate a hypothesis.

"Hypothesis" is way too big a word for the Orange Shitgibbon and his gang of morons. 

That's what happens when you hire people to take the tests for you in school.

[Tres Leches]

Observational Trial Finds Famotidine Benefits Hospitalized COVID Patients: https://www.mdedge.com/internalmedicine/...famotidine

https://journals.lww.com/ajg/Documents/A...074_R1.pdf

"Among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the use of famotidine was significantly associated with a reduction in death and either death or intubation. It also demonstrated lower levels of serum markers for severe disease."

"Mr. Mather acknowledged certain limitations of the study, including the fact that patients who did and did not receive famotidine were propensity-matched for age. “The risk factors that others have shown for adverse events are equivalent in the groups, but anytime you do a retrospective study like this there is the potential for underlying factors that may play a role in the outcomes that you’re not considering,” Mr. Mather said. “That’s why the gold standard is the randomized trial, to wash those effects out. There’s only an association here, and it supports the need for a randomized trial.”

I wonder how medical researchers get to the point where they say "Let's study whether a heartburn remedy helps Covid-19 patients."

-Teresa

[Aliza]

Observational Trial Finds Famotidine Benefits Hospitalized COVID Patients: https://www.mdedge.com/internalmedicine/...famotidine

https://journals.lww.com/ajg/Documents/A...074_R1.pdf

"Among hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the use of famotidine was significantly associated with a reduction in death and either death or intubation. It also demonstrated lower levels of serum markers for severe disease."

"Mr. Mather acknowledged certain limitations of the study, including the fact that patients who did and did not receive famotidine were propensity-matched for age. “The risk factors that others have shown for adverse events are equivalent in the groups, but anytime you do a retrospective study like this there is the potential for underlying factors that may play a role in the outcomes that you’re not considering,” Mr. Mather said. “That’s why the gold standard is the randomized trial, to wash those effects out. There’s only an association here, and it supports the need for a randomized trial.”

I wonder how medical researchers get to the point where they say "Let's study whether a heartburn remedy helps Trump-virus patients."

-Teresa

Fixed! (Your welcome!)

[brewerb]

I wonder how medical researchers get to the point where they say "Let's study whether a heartburn remedy helps Covid-19 patients."

-Teresa

It started out as an observation from data in the early Chinese cases of a lower morbidity/mortality rate.

But then, they noticed the same kind of data in smokers. Until the studies are complete (yep it's under study) we won't know.

Edit: Hold the phone............... is there a big G on my forehead?

[Dānu]

Polio is officially eradicated from Africa.

~ CNN

[Gawdzilla Sama]

One of the cousins was found dead in his home. One of the benefits of being utterly antisocial is that nobody "BOTHERS" you when you're at home.

[Thumpalumpacus]

One of the cousins was found dead in his home.  One of the benefits of being utterly antisocial is that nobody "BOTHERS" you when you're at home.

Condolences, for what they're worth. Covid, or unrelated?

[isbelldl]

CDC no longer recommending testing for people not showing symptoms after exposure to infected people:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/...d-testing/