
Coronavirus Tidbits #142 5/30/21
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News Diagnostics Drugs Devices Epidemiology/Infection control Tips Politics Feel good du jour Comic relief Perspective/Poem Bits of beauty
Announcements:
First, there is now a Resources Page here for the most commonly asked questions I’m getting.
Happy to continue to answer your questions/concerns as best I can, so don’t be shy about that.
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Great #scicomm friend, virologist Ian Mackay is donating all profits from his infographic to charity–currently MSF. The image is available on shirts, mask, mugs, etc. at https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/65034354 Love the image…and Ian’s been a friend since first Ebola days a lifetime ago. Hope you’ll help spread the word & support.
News
Neat infographic on Variants of Concern – and interview w Angie Rasmussen
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Covid’s Deadliest Phase May Be Here Soon
OpEd by Zeynep Tufecki
There’s troubling new evidence that the B.1.617.2 variant, first identified in India, could be far more transmissible than even the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in Britain, which contributed to some of the deadliest surges around the world.
In countries with widespread vaccination, like the United States and Britain, we can expect that Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths will continue to decline or stay low, especially because lab tests and real world experience show that vaccines appear to defend recipients well against the severe effects of both variants.
For much of the rest of the world, though, this even more transmissible new variant could be catastrophic.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/
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Influencers say Russia-linked PR agency asked them to disparage Pfizer vaccine
Popular French and German YouTubers and bloggers were offered money by an agency with possible Russian ties to falsely claim the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was responsible for hundreds of deaths. (The Guardian)
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent last of testing.
Drugs and Vaccines:
Stunning visualization of Covid-19 vaccine inequity
— Madhu Pai, MD, PhD (@paimadhu) May 25, 2021
Nearly all countries in Africa are at 2% or less coverage for a single dose@MaxCRoser @OurWorldInData pic.twitter.com/ve1mTI2TKC
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Tom Frieden on Herd Immunity
the fact is it’s not like a light switch: you have herd immunity and suddenly magically COVID is gone. The way immunity works is the more we build up in the population, the fewer outbreaks there will be. Unfortunately, what we’re seeing in the U.S. is some pockets, demographic, geographic, even ideological, which are getting much less vaccination coverage.
And in those pockets, we’re likely to continue to see clusters and potentially outbreaks.
And we’re not about to eradicate COVID. It’s going to be with us for the indefinite future. We’re going to have to learn to live with it and help people not die from it….
One thing that’s really important to understand is that herd immunity is proportional to the R0…With the variants, we’re seeing much higher infectivity. And because of that, we need to get even higher levels of vaccination….
in the fall. I say we will be at the ‘new normal.’ That new normal may include, for example, you go to a theater and everyone’s wearing a mask just to be on the safe side.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/podcasts/trackthevax/92789?
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With little fanfare, the FDA gave Pfizer permission to store its COVID-19 vaccine in a normal refrigerator for one month—freeing the vaccine from the need to be shipped in cumbersome boxes stuffed with dry ice.
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Low on antibodies, blood cancer patients can fight off COVID-19 with T cells
Antibodies aren’t the only immune cells needed to fight off COVID-19—T cells are equally important and can step up to do the job when antibodies are depleted, suggests a new Penn Medicine study of blood cancer patients with COVID-19 published in Nature Medicine. The researchers found that blood cancer patients with COVID-19 who had higher CD8 T cells, many of whom had depleted antibodies from cancer treatments, were more than three times likelier to survive than patients with lower levels of CD8 T cells.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-antibodies-blood-cancer-patients-covid-.html?
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Monoclonal antibodies
In a guideline update, the NIH now recommends using either baricitinib (Olumiant) or tocilizumab (Actemra) with dexamethasone alone or plus remdesivir (Veklury) for hospitalized patients on high-flow oxygen or noninvasive ventilation who have evidence of clinical progression or elevated inflammation markers.
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Covid vaccine "rollout" sounds so smooth & easy…
— Hilda Bastian, PhD (@hildabast) May 23, 2021
Here's Jandira Pinheiro doing whatever it takes to get second doses to elderly people in Oeiras, Brazil https://t.co/M019q78xgv pic.twitter.com/J8Za7La5Cq
Devices:
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1395444425719910400?s=20
Epidemiology/Infection control:
Exactly! Adjusted numbers show case rate among unvaccinated people are as high as the peak of Covid infections.
— Carlos del Rio (@CarlosdelRio7) May 25, 2021
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Real-life evidence validating the benefits of masks, ventilation, and filtration in reducing COVID-19 transmission. Note: distancing of >6' and use of barriers NOT associated with reduced cases. /1 https://t.co/EVBTUEGNB0
— Linsey Marr (@linseymarr) May 21, 2021
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Real-world flight data shows continued need for social distancing
Current vaccination programs alone will have a limited effect in stopping the second wave of COVID infections in the U.S., according to a study conducted by scientists from Reykjavik University, University of Lyon, University of Southern Denmark and University of Naples Federico II, and published in the Nature Group journal Scientific Reports today. The findings suggest that strict social distancing and other non-pharmaceutical methods are still necessary to end the ongoing second wave in the US and prevent a new one from rising.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-05-real-world-flight-social-distancing.html?
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Not surprised since virus shedding occurs before onset of symptoms. I hypothesize COVID-19 and flu transmit similarly: mainly via inhalation of virus carried by respiratory aerosol particles. "Contagiousness" differs b/c pre-existing immunity and other factors. https://t.co/5ZYHmTyFDX
— Linsey Marr (@linseymarr) May 20, 2021
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Mystery in India – Why is there an outbreak of deadly Mucor fungus now? Not seen in 1st wave…
compounded by shortages of essential antifungals.
There has been a lot of panic in India about the “black fungus” which has caused substantial concern, morbidity and even deaths in patients with COVID. This is a short thread to explain what we know about it pic.twitter.com/LFeuPuyii8
— Pramesh CS (@cspramesh) May 26, 2021
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According to some estimates India can expect to see 2000 new cases of mucor/day in the next few days
— Priya Sampathkumar (@PSampathkumarMD) May 27, 2021
✅Judicious steroid use and ✅ Glucose control are key to prevention
See this useful infographic from https://t.co/KHBsuiJ8wE@camwolfe @GermHunterMD @IndiaCOVIDSOS pic.twitter.com/m6l9Z8G4t3
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My op-ed in The Hindu on the impending mucormycosis crisis. Our role in exacerbating it’s occurrence, and how prevention is the only solution for India. https://t.co/kGytoEuTo3 @ananthkrishnan @vrsrini @MathewsVikram @cspramesh @netshrink @paimadhu @Subramanian_ma @RAKRI1 pic.twitter.com/8Jq54NfYpR
— Nikita Mehra (@DrNikitaMehra) May 26, 2021
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In our refusal to count our COVID Dead the Indian State is telling citizens they are not even significant enough to be a statistic. My piece for @washingtonpost https://t.co/SPgkQkVxIw
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) May 26, 2021
Tips, general reading for public:
StayAtHome
Wash your hands.
Rinse and repeat.
Politics:
Important thread:
Greene is disturbed. She is also promoting a familiar violent narrative meant to incite. Greene is equating those who support masking with Nazis. That's obvious. But it is more than horrifying. It is code. If we are Nazis, then violence towards us is justified. Wink and nod. 2/
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) May 23, 2021
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My statement on my termination from The Associated Press. pic.twitter.com/kf4NCkDJXx
— emily wilder (@vv1lder) May 22, 2021
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…who did this pic.twitter.com/8xEtndUOM9
— Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) May 21, 2021
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https://twitter.com/Vaccinologist/status/1396449286792036356?s=20
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Pretty damn spot on pic.twitter.com/XsLoed7CaW
— Jesus Chrysler aka RealJesusChrysler (@JesusChrysler1) May 22, 2021
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and you don’t even need to know the person… what this boils down to essentially is a bounty system (with attorney reimbursement if you “prove” the miscarriage was intentional)
— Tricia Pendergrast (@traependergrast) May 23, 2021
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WE DID IT!! We capped the out-of-pocket cost of insulin in Texas!
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) May 24, 2021
Our bill is headed to the Governor’s desk for a signature! #txlege https://t.co/EMe4zfph4n
Feel good du jour:
A boy is battling cancer. His teacher visits him every day for a private lesson. https://t.co/M7zgbOD4WB
— Judy Stone (@DrJudyStone) May 30, 2021
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I've been hoping to witness this ever since I saw the parents building the nest over two months ago. And it came out even better than I hoped for.
— Michael Fogleman (@FogleBird) May 22, 2021
THREE BABY PILEATED WOODPECKERS BEING FED BY MAMA! pic.twitter.com/bT5LhJKfk5
Comic relief:
In anticipation of her coming arrest, Ivanka Trump launches " House Arrest " ankle accessories. pic.twitter.com/mmlFKg2Ccz
— JFK (@JFKtheone) May 23, 2021
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Okay hear me out:
— Laurenn (@laurenncarterr) May 28, 2021
A restaurant where you sit down and have a pizza while you talk to a therapist, and it’s called The Meltdown.
Yes, the toppings are extra but the sessions are free with purchase.
@RobertVore: I’ve always thought of opening a food truck called Let’s Taco Bout It where you get nachos or whatever and can eat them with a therapist.
@OhmygodTARA yes and customers can get some Pizza Mind @HelmanDaniel: And next door is a wine and cheese shop. It’s called: Sweet Baby Cheeses. @RNComic: Or also referred to as a *Whine* and cheese shop. @DrMPaff: “The Meltdown” works better if this is a fondue restaurant. Meeting with a therapist while stabbing small bites of food and immersing them in scalding cheese or chocolate is either the worst, or the best, idea ever. ~ ~ ~
Perspective/Poem
Like every aspect of global health, high income countries have cornered COVID-19 vaccine doses.
— Madhu Pai, MD, PhD (@paimadhu) May 27, 2021
Four strategies to right a ‘scandalous inequity’ by @sciencecohen & @kakape https://t.co/EBzXQOX0Cb
Bits of beauty:


2 Comments
lydia A.P. Martin
Thank you for all your interesting information and the beautiful nature pictures. The video of the piliated woodpecker is precious!
Judy Stone
I’m so glad that you are still enjoying the newsletter, Lydia!
Hope you all are well. Thank you!
Judy