OT: - COVID-19 Presentation from CROI Meeting | The Boneyard

OT: COVID-19 Presentation from CROI Meeting

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I thought it may be helpful to the group to provide a link to this overview given at the "virtual" Conference on Retrovirus and Opportunistic Infections (CROI Meeting). Live meeting was cancelled due to the COVID Outbreak.

Excellent presentations from the head of the Chinese CDC, a presenter from the US CDC, a virologist from the University of North Carolina that is a corona virus expert, & Antony Fauci.

https://special.croi.capitalreach.com/
 

Chin Diesel

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We had this sent to throughout my company via email today. Guy wrote this about a month ago and has been copy/pasted/shared a bunch over the interwebs.

From James Robb, MD UC San Diego.



Subject: What I am doing for the upcoming COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.



Dear Colleagues, as some of you may recall, when I was a professor of pathology at the University of California San Diego, I was one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses (the 1970s). I was the first to demonstrate the number of genes the virus contained. Since then, I have kept up with the coronavirus field and its multiple clinical transfers into the human population (e.g., SARS, MERS), from different animal sources.



The current projections for its expansion in the US are only probable, due to continued insufficient worldwide data, but it is most likely to be widespread in the US by mid to late March and April.



Here is what I have done and the precautions that I take and will take. These are the same precautions I currently use during our influenza seasons, except for the mask and gloves.:



1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a fist bump, slight bow, elbow bump, etc.



2) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons, etc.. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.



3) Open doors with your closed fist or hip - do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door. Especially important on bathroom and post office/commercial doors.



4) Use disinfectant wipes at the stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery carts.



5) Wash your hands with soap for 10-20 seconds and/or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you return home from ANY activity that involves locations where other people have been.



6) Keep a bottle of sanitizer available at each of your home's entrances. AND in your car for use after getting gas or touching other contaminated objects when you can't immediately wash your hands.



7) If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have to. The clothing on your elbow will contain infectious virus that can be passed on for up to a week or more!



What I have stocked in preparation for the pandemic spread to the US:



1) Latex or nitrile latex disposable gloves for use when going shopping, using the gasoline pump, and all other outside activity when you come in contact with contaminated areas.



Note: This virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! BUT all the surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about a week on average - everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious. The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells (it only infects your lungs) The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.



2) Stock up now with disposable surgical masks and use them to prevent you from touching your nose and/or mouth (We touch our nose/mouth 90X/day without knowing it!). This is the only way this virus can infect you - it is lung-specific. The mask will not prevent the virus in a direct sneeze from getting into your nose or mouth - it is only to keep you from touching your nose or mouth.



3) Stock up now with hand sanitizers and latex/nitrile gloves (get the appropriate sizes for your family). The hand sanitizers must be alcohol-based and greater than 60% alcohol to be effective.



4) Stock up now with zinc lozenges. These lozenges have been proven to be effective in blocking coronavirus (and most other viruses) from multiplying in your throat and nasopharynx. Use as directed several times each day when you begin to feel ANY "cold-like" symptoms beginning. It is best to lie down and let the lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat and nasopharynx. Cold-Eeze lozenges is one brand available, but there are other brands available.



I, as many others do, hope that this pandemic will be reasonably contained, BUT I personally do not think it will be. Humans have never seen this snake-associated virus before and have no internal defense against it. Tremendous worldwide efforts are being made to understand the molecular and clinical virology of this virus. Unbelievable molecular knowledge about the genomics, structure, and virulence of this virus has already been achieved. BUT, there will be NO drugs or vaccines available this year to protect us or limit the infection within us. Only symptomatic support is available.



I hope these personal thoughts will be helpful during this potentially catastrophic pandemic. You are welcome to share this email. Good luck to all of us! James



Dr. James Robb received his MD degree at the University of Colorado and took a residency in pathology, as well as training in molecular biology, at Yale University. He has worked for the National Institutes of Health, and been a consulting pathologist at the National Cancer Institute. He is board certified in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, cytopathology, and dermatopathology.



AS RECEIVED: The new NCP coronavirus may not show sign of infection for many days, how can one know if he/she is infected. By the time they have fever and/or cough and goes to the hospital, the lungs is usually 50 % Fibrosis and it's too late! Taiwan experts provide a simple self-check that we can do every morning: Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you complete it successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stuffiness or tightness, etc.,it proves there is no fibrosis in the lungs, basically indicating no infection. In critical times, please self-check every morning in an environment with clean air.



SERIOUS EXCELLENT ADVICE by Japanese Doctors treating COVID-19 cases: Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat is moist, never DRY. Take a few sips of water every 15 mins at least. WHY? Even if the virus gets into your mouth...drinking water or other liquids will WASH them down through your oesophagus into the stomach. Once there in tummy...your stomach ACID will kill all the virus. If you don't drink enough water more regularly...the virus can enter your windpipes and into the LUNGS. That's very dangerous. Pls send and share with family, friends and everyone.
 
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We had this sent to throughout my company via email today. Guy wrote this about a month ago and has been copy/pasted/shared a bunch over the interwebs.

From James Robb, MD UC San Diego.



Subject: What I am doing for the upcoming COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.



Dear Colleagues, as some of you may recall, when I was a professor of pathology at the University of California San Diego, I was one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses (the 1970s). I was the first to demonstrate the number of genes the virus contained. Since then, I have kept up with the coronavirus field and its multiple clinical transfers into the human population (e.g., SARS, MERS), from different animal sources.



The current projections for its expansion in the US are only probable, due to continued insufficient worldwide data, but it is most likely to be widespread in the US by mid to late March and April.



Here is what I have done and the precautions that I take and will take. These are the same precautions I currently use during our influenza seasons, except for the mask and gloves.:



1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a fist bump, slight bow, elbow bump, etc.



2) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons, etc.. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.



3) Open doors with your closed fist or hip - do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door. Especially important on bathroom and post office/commercial doors.



4) Use disinfectant wipes at the stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery carts.



5) Wash your hands with soap for 10-20 seconds and/or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you return home from ANY activity that involves locations where other people have been.



6) Keep a bottle of sanitizer available at each of your home's entrances. AND in your car for use after getting gas or touching other contaminated objects when you can't immediately wash your hands.



7) If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have to. The clothing on your elbow will contain infectious virus that can be passed on for up to a week or more!



What I have stocked in preparation for the pandemic spread to the US:



1) Latex or nitrile latex disposable gloves for use when going shopping, using the gasoline pump, and all other outside activity when you come in contact with contaminated areas.



Note: This virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! BUT all the surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about a week on average - everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious. The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells (it only infects your lungs) The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.



2) Stock up now with disposable surgical masks and use them to prevent you from touching your nose and/or mouth (We touch our nose/mouth 90X/day without knowing it!). This is the only way this virus can infect you - it is lung-specific. The mask will not prevent the virus in a direct sneeze from getting into your nose or mouth - it is only to keep you from touching your nose or mouth.



3) Stock up now with hand sanitizers and latex/nitrile gloves (get the appropriate sizes for your family). The hand sanitizers must be alcohol-based and greater than 60% alcohol to be effective.



4) Stock up now with zinc lozenges. These lozenges have been proven to be effective in blocking coronavirus (and most other viruses) from multiplying in your throat and nasopharynx. Use as directed several times each day when you begin to feel ANY "cold-like" symptoms beginning. It is best to lie down and let the lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat and nasopharynx. Cold-Eeze lozenges is one brand available, but there are other brands available.



I, as many others do, hope that this pandemic will be reasonably contained, BUT I personally do not think it will be. Humans have never seen this snake-associated virus before and have no internal defense against it. Tremendous worldwide efforts are being made to understand the molecular and clinical virology of this virus. Unbelievable molecular knowledge about the genomics, structure, and virulence of this virus has already been achieved. BUT, there will be NO drugs or vaccines available this year to protect us or limit the infection within us. Only symptomatic support is available.



I hope these personal thoughts will be helpful during this potentially catastrophic pandemic. You are welcome to share this email. Good luck to all of us! James



Dr. James Robb received his MD degree at the University of Colorado and took a residency in pathology, as well as training in molecular biology, at Yale University. He has worked for the National Institutes of Health, and been a consulting pathologist at the National Cancer Institute. He is board certified in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, cytopathology, and dermatopathology.



AS RECEIVED: The new NCP coronavirus may not show sign of infection for many days, how can one know if he/she is infected. By the time they have fever and/or cough and goes to the hospital, the lungs is usually 50 % Fibrosis and it's too late! Taiwan experts provide a simple self-check that we can do every morning: Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you complete it successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stuffiness or tightness, etc.,it proves there is no fibrosis in the lungs, basically indicating no infection. In critical times, please self-check every morning in an environment with clean air.



SERIOUS EXCELLENT ADVICE by Japanese Doctors treating COVID-19 cases: Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat is moist, never DRY. Take a few sips of water every 15 mins at least. WHY? Even if the virus gets into your mouth...drinking water or other liquids will WASH them down through your oesophagus into the stomach. Once there in tummy...your stomach ACID will kill all the virus. If you don't drink enough water more regularly...the virus can enter your windpipes and into the LUNGS. That's very dangerous. Pls send and share with family, friends and everyone.

One important thing here, DO NOT stock up on surgical masks. There are shortages for healthcare workers that most need them. You should not be using them just to avoid touching your face.
 
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We had this sent to throughout my company via email today. Guy wrote this about a month ago and has been copy/pasted/shared a bunch over the interwebs.

From James Robb, MD UC San Diego.



Subject: What I am doing for the upcoming COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.



Dear Colleagues, as some of you may recall, when I was a professor of pathology at the University of California San Diego, I was one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses (the 1970s). I was the first to demonstrate the number of genes the virus contained. Since then, I have kept up with the coronavirus field and its multiple clinical transfers into the human population (e.g., SARS, MERS), from different animal sources.



The current projections for its expansion in the US are only probable, due to continued insufficient worldwide data, but it is most likely to be widespread in the US by mid to late March and April.



Here is what I have done and the precautions that I take and will take. These are the same precautions I currently use during our influenza seasons, except for the mask and gloves.:



1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a fist bump, slight bow, elbow bump, etc.



2) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons, etc.. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.



3) Open doors with your closed fist or hip - do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door. Especially important on bathroom and post office/commercial doors.



4) Use disinfectant wipes at the stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery carts.



5) Wash your hands with soap for 10-20 seconds and/or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you return home from ANY activity that involves locations where other people have been.



6) Keep a bottle of sanitizer available at each of your home's entrances. AND in your car for use after getting gas or touching other contaminated objects when you can't immediately wash your hands.



7) If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have to. The clothing on your elbow will contain infectious virus that can be passed on for up to a week or more!



What I have stocked in preparation for the pandemic spread to the US:



1) Latex or nitrile latex disposable gloves for use when going shopping, using the gasoline pump, and all other outside activity when you come in contact with contaminated areas.



Note: This virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! BUT all the surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about a week on average - everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious. The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells (it only infects your lungs) The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.



2) Stock up now with disposable surgical masks and use them to prevent you from touching your nose and/or mouth (We touch our nose/mouth 90X/day without knowing it!). This is the only way this virus can infect you - it is lung-specific. The mask will not prevent the virus in a direct sneeze from getting into your nose or mouth - it is only to keep you from touching your nose or mouth.



3) Stock up now with hand sanitizers and latex/nitrile gloves (get the appropriate sizes for your family). The hand sanitizers must be alcohol-based and greater than 60% alcohol to be effective.



4) Stock up now with zinc lozenges. These lozenges have been proven to be effective in blocking coronavirus (and most other viruses) from multiplying in your throat and nasopharynx. Use as directed several times each day when you begin to feel ANY "cold-like" symptoms beginning. It is best to lie down and let the lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat and nasopharynx. Cold-Eeze lozenges is one brand available, but there are other brands available.



I, as many others do, hope that this pandemic will be reasonably contained, BUT I personally do not think it will be. Humans have never seen this snake-associated virus before and have no internal defense against it. Tremendous worldwide efforts are being made to understand the molecular and clinical virology of this virus. Unbelievable molecular knowledge about the genomics, structure, and virulence of this virus has already been achieved. BUT, there will be NO drugs or vaccines available this year to protect us or limit the infection within us. Only symptomatic support is available.



I hope these personal thoughts will be helpful during this potentially catastrophic pandemic. You are welcome to share this email. Good luck to all of us! James



Dr. James Robb received his MD degree at the University of Colorado and took a residency in pathology, as well as training in molecular biology, at Yale University. He has worked for the National Institutes of Health, and been a consulting pathologist at the National Cancer Institute. He is board certified in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, cytopathology, and dermatopathology.



AS RECEIVED: The new NCP coronavirus may not show sign of infection for many days, how can one know if he/she is infected. By the time they have fever and/or cough and goes to the hospital, the lungs is usually 50 % Fibrosis and it's too late! Taiwan experts provide a simple self-check that we can do every morning: Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you complete it successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stuffiness or tightness, etc.,it proves there is no fibrosis in the lungs, basically indicating no infection. In critical times, please self-check every morning in an environment with clean air.



SERIOUS EXCELLENT ADVICE by Japanese Doctors treating COVID-19 cases: Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat is moist, never DRY. Take a few sips of water every 15 mins at least. WHY? Even if the virus gets into your mouth...drinking water or other liquids will WASH them down through your oesophagus into the stomach. Once there in tummy...your stomach ACID will kill all the virus. If you don't drink enough water more regularly...the virus can enter your windpipes and into the LUNGS. That's very dangerous. Pls send and share with family, friends and everyone.
Thank you this was very helpful! Appreciate it
 
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One important thing here, DO NOT stock up on surgical masks. There are shortages for healthcare workers that most need them. You should not be using them just to avoid touching your face.

Right. And most people that will wear them they won't be fitting right. This actually can INCREASE the velocity of the air you're breathing into your nose/mouth...at least theoretically forcing more particles into your respiratory tree.

If the goal is less touching of your face, you probably would be better off wearing an old-school cowboy bandana or maybe one of those dog neck cone things!
 
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Thanks, I wish I had this 2 weeks ago. The amount data from Fairfield County is growing.
 

Chin Diesel

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Right. And most people that will wear them they won't be fitting right. This actually can INCREASE the velocity of the air you're breathing into your nose/mouth...at least theoretically forcing more particles into your respiratory tree.

If the goal is less touching of your face, you probably would be better off wearing an old-school cowboy bandana or maybe one of those dog neck cone things!

Not saying I have a personal tale to tell here, but IF you are going to wear the bandana, AND you have to go inside the bank, you may want to remove it to avoid created a "scene".
 

Chin Diesel

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Here's another letter from a doctor I've seen and has been vetter as legit through the interwebs...……….

The coronavirus is here. But fear not.

Mass panic is also here. Fear.

I’m a doctor and an infectious diseases specialist. I’ve been at this for more than 20 years seeing sick patients on a daily basis. I have worked in inner-city hospitals and in the poorest slums of Africa.

HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis, TB, SARS, measles, shingles, whooping cough, diphtheria ... there is little I haven’t been exposed to in my profession. And with the notable exception of SARS, very little has left me feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed or downright scared.

I am not scared of COVID-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil. I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of COVID-19.

What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world.

I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for frontline health-care providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others. I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they “probably don’t have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know ...” and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess.

I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize. And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games ... that could be kiboshed, too.

Can you even imagine?





I’m scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise, and ultimately culminate in a global recession.

But mostly, I’m scared about what message we are telling our kids when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, openmindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.

COVID-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member near you at some point. Expect it. Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and “fight for yourself above all else” attitude could prove disastrous.

I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society. Let’s meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing.

Facts, not fear. Clean hands. Open hearts.

Our children will thank us for it.

Dr. Abdu Sharkawy is a doctor and an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto in Canada.
 
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One important thing here, DO NOT stock up on surgical masks. There are shortages for healthcare workers that most need them. You should not be using them just to avoid touching your face.

I don't know if I agree with this. Healthcare workers get them in bulk from distribution centers. Me buying them from CVS shouldn't impact that.
 
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Hans Sprungfeld

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Not saying I have a personal tale to tell here, but IF you are going to wear the bandana, AND you have to go inside the bank, you may want to remove it to avoid created a "scene".
...even if it seems profitable in the short term.
 
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I don't know if I agree with this. Healthcare workers get them in bulk from distribution centers. Me buying them from CVS shouldn't impact that.
At this point healthcare workers are trying to find them anywhere since there is a significant shortage. My guess is the retail masks will become far less available as producers focus on the bulk orders but that doesn’t negate the advice, do not buy them just to stop yourself from touching your face. That has been the advice from basically every reputable source.
 

pj

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I don't know if I agree with this. Healthcare workers get them in bulk from distribution centers. Me buying them from CVS shouldn't impact that.

There is a real shortage of masks. But, it should be possible to ramp up production. It is shameful how US manufacturing capacity has been so thoroughly hollowed it that we can't ramp up production of something as simple as surgical masks to meet demand. It should be possible to get masks to everyone. Healthcare workers would benefit hugely by the general public wearing masks -- it would greatly reduce their workload and risk of infection.
 
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There is a real shortage of masks. But, it should be possible to ramp up production. It is shameful how US manufacturing capacity has been so thoroughly hollowed it that we can't ramp up production of something as simple as surgical masks to meet demand. It should be possible to get masks to everyone. Healthcare workers would benefit hugely by the general public wearing masks -- it would greatly reduce their workload and risk of infection.
The masks are made in China and they prevented export so they had them internally

Hopefully this is a wake up for maintaining US capacity for key industry
 
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Here's another letter from a doctor I've seen and has been vetter as legit through the interwebs...……….

The coronavirus is here. But fear not.

Mass panic is also here. Fear.

I’m a doctor and an infectious diseases specialist. I’ve been at this for more than 20 years seeing sick patients on a daily basis. I have worked in inner-city hospitals and in the poorest slums of Africa.

HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis, TB, SARS, measles, shingles, whooping cough, diphtheria ... there is little I haven’t been exposed to in my profession. And with the notable exception of SARS, very little has left me feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed or downright scared.

I am not scared of COVID-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil. I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of COVID-19.

What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world.

I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for frontline health-care providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others. I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they “probably don’t have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know ...” and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess.

I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize. And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games ... that could be kiboshed, too.

Can you even imagine?





I’m scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise, and ultimately culminate in a global recession.

But mostly, I’m scared about what message we are telling our kids when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, openmindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.

COVID-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member near you at some point. Expect it. Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and “fight for yourself above all else” attitude could prove disastrous.

I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society. Let’s meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing.

Facts, not fear. Clean hands. Open hearts.

Our children will thank us for it.

Dr. Abdu Sharkawy is a doctor and an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto in Canada.
Sorry but this doc sounds like a dipstick. "I'm not going to contradict myself but here I'll contradict myself..."


Abdu Sharkawy on Twitter: "No more non essential travel or public gatherings please. I am not contradicting earlier advice. I'm adapting to reality" / Twitter
 
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Sorry but this doc sounds like a dipstick. "I'm not going to contradict myself but here I'll contradict myself..."


Abdu Sharkawy on Twitter: "No more non essential travel or public gatherings please. I am not contradicting earlier advice. I'm adapting to reality" / Twitter

Lmfao
 

cohenzone

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We had this sent to throughout my company via email today. Guy wrote this about a month ago and has been copy/pasted/shared a bunch over the interwebs.

From James Robb, MD UC San Diego.



Subject: What I am doing for the upcoming COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.



Dear Colleagues, as some of you may recall, when I was a professor of pathology at the University of California San Diego, I was one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses (the 1970s). I was the first to demonstrate the number of genes the virus contained. Since then, I have kept up with the coronavirus field and its multiple clinical transfers into the human population (e.g., SARS, MERS), from different animal sources.



The current projections for its expansion in the US are only probable, due to continued insufficient worldwide data, but it is most likely to be widespread in the US by mid to late March and April.



Here is what I have done and the precautions that I take and will take. These are the same precautions I currently use during our influenza seasons, except for the mask and gloves.:



1) NO HANDSHAKING! Use a fist bump, slight bow, elbow bump, etc.



2) Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches. elevator buttons, etc.. Lift the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.



3) Open doors with your closed fist or hip - do not grasp the handle with your hand, unless there is no other way to open the door. Especially important on bathroom and post office/commercial doors.



4) Use disinfectant wipes at the stores when they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery carts.



5) Wash your hands with soap for 10-20 seconds and/or use a greater than 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer whenever you return home from ANY activity that involves locations where other people have been.



6) Keep a bottle of sanitizer available at each of your home's entrances. AND in your car for use after getting gas or touching other contaminated objects when you can't immediately wash your hands.



7) If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have to. The clothing on your elbow will contain infectious virus that can be passed on for up to a week or more!



What I have stocked in preparation for the pandemic spread to the US:



1) Latex or nitrile latex disposable gloves for use when going shopping, using the gasoline pump, and all other outside activity when you come in contact with contaminated areas.



Note: This virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! BUT all the surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about a week on average - everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious. The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells (it only infects your lungs) The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.



2) Stock up now with disposable surgical masks and use them to prevent you from touching your nose and/or mouth (We touch our nose/mouth 90X/day without knowing it!). This is the only way this virus can infect you - it is lung-specific. The mask will not prevent the virus in a direct sneeze from getting into your nose or mouth - it is only to keep you from touching your nose or mouth.



3) Stock up now with hand sanitizers and latex/nitrile gloves (get the appropriate sizes for your family). The hand sanitizers must be alcohol-based and greater than 60% alcohol to be effective.



4) Stock up now with zinc lozenges. These lozenges have been proven to be effective in blocking coronavirus (and most other viruses) from multiplying in your throat and nasopharynx. Use as directed several times each day when you begin to feel ANY "cold-like" symptoms beginning. It is best to lie down and let the lozenge dissolve in the back of your throat and nasopharynx. Cold-Eeze lozenges is one brand available, but there are other brands available.



I, as many others do, hope that this pandemic will be reasonably contained, BUT I personally do not think it will be. Humans have never seen this snake-associated virus before and have no internal defense against it. Tremendous worldwide efforts are being made to understand the molecular and clinical virology of this virus. Unbelievable molecular knowledge about the genomics, structure, and virulence of this virus has already been achieved. BUT, there will be NO drugs or vaccines available this year to protect us or limit the infection within us. Only symptomatic support is available.



I hope these personal thoughts will be helpful during this potentially catastrophic pandemic. You are welcome to share this email. Good luck to all of us! James



Dr. James Robb received his MD degree at the University of Colorado and took a residency in pathology, as well as training in molecular biology, at Yale University. He has worked for the National Institutes of Health, and been a consulting pathologist at the National Cancer Institute. He is board certified in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, cytopathology, and dermatopathology.



AS RECEIVED: The new NCP coronavirus may not show sign of infection for many days, how can one know if he/she is infected. By the time they have fever and/or cough and goes to the hospital, the lungs is usually 50 % Fibrosis and it's too late! Taiwan experts provide a simple self-check that we can do every morning: Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you complete it successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stuffiness or tightness, etc.,it proves there is no fibrosis in the lungs, basically indicating no infection. In critical times, please self-check every morning in an environment with clean air.



SERIOUS EXCELLENT ADVICE by Japanese Doctors treating COVID-19 cases: Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat is moist, never DRY. Take a few sips of water every 15 mins at least. WHY? Even if the virus gets into your mouth...drinking water or other liquids will WASH them down through your oesophagus into the stomach. Once there in tummy...your stomach ACID will kill all the virus. If you don't drink enough water more regularly...the virus can enter your windpipes and into the LUNGS. That's very dangerous. Pls send and share with family, friends and everyone.
Thanks for sharing. I’m sharing with my family, some of whom have already been affected in way way or another. Kid’s school closed for a few days because a parent tested positive, one is a professor who luckily is on teaching sabbatical this semester but still has to interact with his grad students doing field research.
 
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For all you aspiring molecular biologists, here's a link to the gene sequence of Wuhan Hu-1. I'd paste it, but it's ~1.8M# nucleotides long. Several cell-gene bio cos have been working it for 2 months, and vaxes are iminant - clinical trials notwithstanding.

Wuhan seafood market pneumonia virus isolate Wuhan-Hu-1, complete geno - Nucleotide - NCBI

ps - the stock prices of these 6-10 companies all doubled 2-3 weeks ago despite no solid sign of success or revenues / earnings.

ps - it's the sequence of little letters at end (a/c/g/t)
 
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ctchamps

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From @Chin Diesel first post in this thread:

Note: This virus is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! BUT all the surfaces where these droplets land are infectious for about a week on average - everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious. The virus is on surfaces and you will not be infected unless your unprotected face is directly coughed or sneezed upon. This virus only has cell receptors for lung cells (it only infects your lungs) The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth via your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.

I feel additional information about the above note is important for context:

But according to research by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it's not just the person next to us we should worry about: coughing spreads droplets as far as six metres, and sneezing as much as eight metres. These droplets stay suspended in the air for up to 10 minutes.

For the lazy 1 meter equals 3.28084 feet.

Complete information is better than partial information

OR:

The team has found that a subset of pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterial species associated with hospital infections, expelled from a sneeze or cough has a half-life of 10 minutes, and can still hang around for 45 minutes after.

"Our previous research had found that these pathogens travelled up to 4 metres and stayed viable for 45 minutes after being coughed into the air," Lidia Morawska, co-lead researcher at the Queensland University of Technology


Not everybody is familiar with all the Research (Or who do you believe?)

Given that bacteria are bigger and heavier than viruses the above about bacteria would apply to viruses.
 

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While it’s tough to know how accurate it is I check this site like it’s weather.com when a hurricane is tracking towards us
 
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I've mentioned it in a few posts already, but my job involves doing clinical and translational practice & research in infectious diseases. Although I do not directly perform antiviral research, I am well-adept at reading scientific articles, interpreting them, and applying the info to real-life clinical observations.

With that intro, and since I love my BY peeps, thought I'd drop a few interesting insights related to the evolution of the COVID-19 epidemic. I hope it helps you to understand things more and hope it may decrease some fears/unease you may have at least a little bit about everything:

Spread of COVID-19:

1.) Recently-published data (not fully peer-reviewed yet) provides some suggestive evidence that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 infection) can remain aerosolized *in a controlled research environment* for at least 3 hours. It can survive on plastic and stainless steel surfaces for ~72 hours...BUT there is very, very little viable virus left at that 72h timepoint. It doesn't like cardboard as much...no viable virus detected after 24h.

The researchers note in their discussion that their results are similar to those of the SARS-CoV-1 virus (from the 1st SARS outbreak). The aerosolization test result, combined with preliminary evidence that some patients may shed and transmit the virus while pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic provides some support to the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 is capable of causing so-called “super-spreading” events (where one infected person can cause a large number of secondary cases).

Article Link: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v1.full.pdf

What does this mean practically?
  1. While very extreme, the substantial social distancing measures now being implemented are probably a very reasonable idea to slow the spread of COVID-19 (especially since we don't have good ways to treat it/vaccinate). Data from China show that it has worked quite well...since 3/7/2020, the numbers of new reported cases have been less than 50 cases per day compared to a high of 15,000+ cases on 2/13/2020.
  2. We can definitely say it aerosolizes similar to the SARS virus, but the 3-hour time was the limit of time evaluated in their experiment. They use a confined, defined volume drum that contains the air they test. This is a much different environment than when someone coughs and expels virus. The more confined and stagnant the air is, the more likely it will stay aerosolized. ALWAYS cover your mouth when you cough, but don't be paranoid about going outside...there's going to be a lot more dispersion and reduction of viral particles outdoors. Don't let the pandemic stop you from doing things like taking a nice walk or hike on a sunny day!


I will likely split this info up into a few separate posts in this thread to reduce the "tldr"-ness of it...
 
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CL82

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I should somewhat snarkily add that the findings about cardboard viability time undoubtedly make Jeff Bezos and other high-volume online cardboard box delivery businesses breathe a little easier ;)
Makes me feel better. I received a order from China. That bad boy can sit the box for the next three days. Ironically enough, the order was for a pump soap dispenser.
 
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My two questions are:

If we wipe down a surface with anti bacterial cleaner is the surface really cleaned of the threat? I would assume the surface is like our hands which we should thoroughly wash.

Also if talking to someone and they spray spittle (not unusual) on our face, are we immediately contaminated, if they are? You know the peeps who pronounce certain words with spray.

I was at Pepe's getting a pizza to go, and noticed the staff wiping down menus when collected, even salt and pepper shakers, and who knows what else when customers get up from the table.
 

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