Wuhan Coronavirus

[Joker]

Originally Posted by PedOncoDoc

Word from a close colleague at Mt. Sinai is that in NYC they are using a lot of chloroquine and tocilizumab (anti-IL-6 antibody - used to shut down massive inflammation). I can't speak to the efficacy, but use seems to be fairly liberal.

Good info. Thanks Doc.

[Pete]

This story is from yesterday.

"Clinical trials may begin next week in New York for coronavirus treatments: Health official"

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/clinic...ry?id=69817703

This is from the "if it only saves one life" crowd.

Pretty sure this past weekend they said they would start in on Tuesday. So Tuesday to Monday at 100 deaths a day works out to, lets see, 700 deaths.

Orange Man's Fault

It appears not all Docs are waiting for it to be official.

[Stobey]

Originally Posted by Cynic

Here in tri-county Detroit area, we are reaching critical care bed capacity. Staff is to put their mask in the paper bag at the end of their shift, take it home, and bring it back to wear the NEXT day.
I sure wish someone had replenished our national stockpile 5-10 years ago. Ford and GM are taking point on ventilators but it all takes time. Some PPE is being created with 3-D printing. Yay us, I hope it's all in time.

The MyPillow factory is gearing up to make face masks.

"
The all-American company MyPillow has started making medical masks to help do their part in combating the coronavirus outbreak.
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, posted a video explaining that the company has already started producing masks and expects they will soon be able to pump out as many as 40,000 per day."


https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/202...t-coronavirus/

[PSM]

Originally Posted by Stobey

The MyPillow factory is gearing up to make face masks.

I Guarantee it will be the most comfortable face mask you’ll ever wear!

[Old Dog New Trick]

Originally Posted by PSM

I Guarantee it will be the most comfortable face mask you’ll ever wear!

Oh thanks for that LMFAO! Need to clean the virus off my screen now.

[Stobey]

Originally Posted by PSM

I Guarantee it will be the most comfortable face mask you’ll ever wear!

Maybe they will call them "MyFaceMask"?

[WarriorDiplomat]

My response to a Brit on another forum

We should be treating this like any other infectious corona virus....it appears that we have neglected the years of institutional recommendations of washing our hands, avoiding contact if possible, etc...the things that give us the advantage in western society over third world countries is our knowledge of how to prevent disease spread and the resources to do so. The other Coronas we have had kills thousands every year after years of research, meds development, vaccines we cannot stop the deaths associated with the seasonal flu, URI and the common cold why? because the viruses are living breathing animals that are highly adaptable and evolve faster than we can solve it....Covid19 is a lot of hyperbole by a storyline hungry media giving bad incomplete information that has gone overboard in creating fear and panic.....remember the song by Don Henley Dirty Laundry?. Its unfortunate we didn't show the same care for our vulnerable during the cold and flu season any other time....our daily and seasonal habits are lacking and covid19 shows that.

Case in point my brother in law and their 4 kids are sick...they called the doctor who recommended them to the hospital they went to the hospital with fevers and were denied treatment there but were given medication but not a single test to confirm whether or not it is simply the cold going around their home or a flu...this is the season....but NO TEST...I say again NO TEST but they were labeled as having it without a test. According to them over the phone that it feels like a flu that turned into a cold and chest congestion which is typical for them annually.....my wifes family are medical at varying levels from RN to surgeon and they can't tell the difference. Understandably the hospital is taking precautions to prevent spread as they were told to isolate themselves but again NO TEST...NO CONFIRMATION....just precautions however they are factored in has confirmed cases notice I said confirmed without confirmation? They may just have the latest virus floating around not Covid19 or they may have Covid19.....the fact is nobody knows. The media are taking an awful lot of liberties by giving statistics that are not necessarily true and it is this that is creating the fear and panic that has driven the public perception and cries for answers that drives political decisions that may very well see the economy crashed....if it crashes you Brits will wish you had the right to bear arms and protect what you have from looting and violence.

The irresponsible thing is to create the fear and panic to the extent it is that is on the verge of wrecking our global economy which is far more dangerous.......you wanna see the primal animalists natural of man in the fallen state? I have while in the military and it is not what we want to become it is eerily post apocalyptic.....create more fear and panic and then pull the economy out from under them and watch what they are willing to do to survive. IMO the one advantage a authoritarian government has over western civilization in this scenario is it controls the media messaging and if it becomes subversive of government like ours has it can take immediate action.As of now due to the media causing more fear and panic we are kind of at the mercy of the policies....the media is really in control of this and that is the vulnerable underbelly of a Democratic society the 1st amendment being abused and the elected officials require consent of the governed to keep power.

[Ret10Echo]

Thanks WD for the cross post. We as a society are highly vulnerable to waves of fear and panic because people strongly desire purpose. Alongside that we have developed a herd mentality that exasperates the circumstances.

What occurs is the intersection of PC taboos and real life that don't allow us to act.

I'd also add that our medical system in the US has become all about pharmaceutical medicine and suppression of symptoms not getting to the origin of the problem. Result - super viruses and a people that demand a solution in an easily swallowed pill form.

[Badger52]

Tip of the spear testing & results in 15 minutes?
Abbott Labs has apparently just received accelerated FDA approval for their test.

Fox Business News had the link - you can click past the fact that they don't like your ad blocker...

From the company itself:

ABBOTT LAUNCHES MOLECULAR POINT-OF-CARE TEST TO DETECT NOVEL CORONAVIRUS IN AS LITTLE AS FIVE MINUTES
- The Abbott ID NOW™ COVID-19 test brings rapid testing to the front lines
- Test to run on Abbott's point-of-care ID NOW platform - a portable instrument that can be deployed where testing is needed most
- ID NOW has the largest molecular point-of-care installed base in the U.S. and is available in a wide range of healthcare settings
- Abbott will be making ID NOW COVID-19 tests available next week and expects to ramp up manufacturing to deliver 50,000 tests per day
- This is the company's second test to receive Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA for COVID-19 detection; combined, Abbott expects to produce about 5 million tests per month.

The company's press release can be read here in full.

Something to watch perhaps, with massive testing capability being one of the facets of the fight, insofar as my understanding goes.

[JJ_BPK]

I found a couple articles of interest.

1st USATODAY, not my favorate.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...on/5080571002/

That leads to this little nugget. The 1st comment listed is by Bill Gates on twitter and points the lead to the next site.

Nextstrain, Real-time tracking of pathogen evolution

Nextstrain is an open-source project to harness the scientific and public health potential of pathogen genome data. We provide a continually-updated view of publicly available data alongside powerful analytic and visualization tools for use by the community. Our goal is to aid epidemiological understanding and improve outbreak response. If you have any questions, or simply want to say hi, please give us a shout at hello@nextstrain.org.

https://nextstrain.org/

BG pointer

Real-time tracking of Zika virus evolution
avatarBuilt with nextstrain/zika. Maintained by Trevor Bedford.
Showing 543 of 543 genomes sampled between Feb 2013 and Jul 2019.

https://nextstrain.org/zika?l=clock&m=div

I hope this can be useful to some of you..

[JJ_BPK]

We have some success

Dr. Vladimir (Zev) Zelenko
Board Certified Family Practitioner
501 Rt 208, Monroe, NY 10950
845-238-0000
March 23, 2020



To all medical professionals around the world:



My name is Dr. Zev Zelenko and I practice medicine in Monroe, NY. For the last 16 years, I have cared for approximately 75% of the adult population of Kiryas Joel, which is a very close knit community of approximately 35,000 people in which the infection spread rapidly and unchecked prior to the imposition of social distancing.

As of today my team has tested approximately 200 people from this community for Covid-19, and 65% of the results have been positive. If extrapolated to the entire community, that means more than 20,000 people are infected at the present time. Of this group, I estimate that there are 1500 patients who are in the high-risk category (i.e. >60, immunocompromised, comorbidities, etc).

Given the urgency of the situation, I developed the following treatment protocol in the pre-hospital setting and have seen only positive results:

1. Any patient with shortness of breath regardless of age is treated.
2. Any patient in the high-risk category even with just mild symptoms is treated.
3. Young, healthy and low risk patients even with symptoms are not treated (unless their circumstances change and they fall into category 1 or 2).

My out-patient treatment regimen is as follows:

1. Hydroxychloroquine 200mg twice a day for 5 days
2. Azithromycin 500mg once a day for 5 days
3. Zinc sulfate 220mg once a day for 5 days

The rationale for my treatment plan is as follows. I combined the data available from China and South Korea with the recent study published from France (sites available on request). We know that hydroxychloroquine helps Zinc enter the cell. We know that Zinc slows viral replication within the cell. Regarding the use of azithromycin, I postulate it prevents secondary bacterial infections. These three drugs are well known and usually well tolerated, hence the risk to the patient is low.

Since last Thursday, my team has treated approximately 350 patients in Kiryas Joel and another 150 patients in other areas of New York with the above regimen.

Of this group and the information provided to me by affiliated medical teams, we have had ZERO deaths, ZERO hospitalizations, and ZERO intubations. In addition, I have not heard of any negative side effects other than approximately 10% of patients with temporary nausea and diarrhea.

In sum, my urgent recommendation is to initiate treatment in the outpatient setting as soon as possible in accordance with the above. Based on my direct experience, it prevents acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), prevents the need for hospitalization and saves lives.

With much respect,



https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...48/mobilebasic

[Pete]

Usually spend Sunday afternoons cruising the net.

Lots of little stories here and there about "Regulations" getting in the way of getting things done.

Stuff like a few days ago where there were some construction N95 masks that the makers wanted to donate but couldn't. Seems construction masks are certified by one government agency while the same mask for medical use is certified by another agency.

I don't think the President has time to walk around stomping out little fires here and there.

He needs to put out to his department leaders that he wants this shit to stop. Get 'er done. The next minion that says no due only to bureaucracy is fired or the department head is.

Just my opinion of course.

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

We have some success

That's the kind of thing worth noting and, besides, I like his attitude. Sounds like a team that went out and ferreted the best info they could find - based on results - and didn't wait for 'permission' from higher HQ. Renegades!!!

[SF_BHT]

Originally Posted by Pete

Usually spend Sunday afternoons cruising the net.

Lots of little stories here and there about "Regulations" getting in the way of getting things done.

Stuff like a few days ago where there were some construction N95 masks that the makers wanted to donate but couldn't. Seems construction masks are certified by one government agency while the same mask for medical use is certified by another agency.

I don't think the President has time to walk around stomping out little fires here and there.

He needs to put out to his department leaders that he wants this shit to stop. Get 'er done. The next minion that says no due only to bureaucracy is fired or the department head is.

Just my opinion of course.

Not just agency heads. I went through our hazmat room that had no inventory and came up with a list of everything in it. Suggested that a large quantity of excess PPE be dropped off at the local PD or university hospital to help out and we still would have a large number of gear to cover our needs. You would have thought I was offering to rob a bank. They almost had a cow. Not no but Hell no.

Now other than me they did not know this stock was even in the building.....

I was even lectured that I should have not gotten other employees involved with the inventory and organizing of the room as that violated The 6ft rule.

Boy are we screwed with indecisive people like this. I just walk around shaking my head each day.

[Ret10Echo]

Originally Posted by SF_BHT

Not just agency heads. I went through our hazmat room that had no inventory and came up with a list of everything in it. Suggested that a large quantity of excess PPE be dropped off at the local PD or university hospital to help out and we still would have a large number of gear to cover our needs. You would have thought I was offering to rob a bank. They almost had a cow. Not no but Hell no.

Now other than me they did not know this stock was even in the building.....

I was even lectured that I should have not gotten other employees involved with the inventory and organizing of the room as that violated The 6ft rule.

Boy are we screwed with indecisive people like this. I just walk around shaking my head each day.

Similar occurrence (Federal space as well). Instead of F/S/L fining the construction company for hauling a load of dirt, maybe they should be raiding shut - down or limited staff Federal Buildings for PPE.