
Coronavirus Tidbits #246 May 21, 2023
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.
Reminder, Resilience: One Family's Story... is increasingly pertinent, as some of our politicians shift rightward. All proceeds go to Holocaust education.
Available here.
News
Clotting in arteries in STEMI w Covid
The findings show patients with an ST-elevated myocardial infarction, or STEMI, and COVID-19 had a significant amount of clotting in their arteries both before and after intervention. Importantly, clots were seen in multiple arteries in close to 30% of patients, a phenomenon observed in less than 5% of patients with heart attacks who do not have COVID-19.
In the United States, someone experiences a heart attack every 40 seconds (CDC). Of these patients, more than 25% will experience a more severe type of heart attack, an ST-elevated myocardial infarction, or STEMI caused by the sudden, total blockage of a coronary artery. Pre-COVID-19 mortality in STEMI patients was below 5% (JACC). Previous NACMI research has shown that mortality jumps to 20% to 25% in patients who present with COVID-19 and a heart attack.
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Why is COVID life-threatening for some people? Genetics study offers clues
Immune genes could play a part in the risk of needing intensive care when infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Nature Heidi Ledford 17 May 2023
An analysis of DNA from more than 24,000 people who had COVID-19 and required treatment in intensive care has yielded more than a dozen new genetic links to the risk of developing extreme illness from the disease.
The study, which was published on 17 May in Nature1 and has more than 2,000 authors, highlights the role of the immune system in fuelling the later stages of particularly severe COVID-19. The results could one day contribute to the development of therapies for COVID-19 — and potentially other diseases that cause acute respiratory distress or sepsis.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01655-0
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COVID pos were subsequently more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and stroke.
2/ #COVID19 infection causes a flood of proinflammatory cytokines & chemokines in the brain. This sets the stage for profound, permanent neuro-damage. The 1918 #influenza #pandemic was also associated with an increased rate of Parkinson’s disease.
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Monkeypox:
Mpox Vax Flops in Chicago
When the global mpox outbreak began in May 2022, various health agencies quickly authorized a vaccine to be administered based on historical clinical data.
However, those vaccine effectiveness decisions may have been premature compared to new real-world data.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently confirmed a cluster of mpox cases in greater Chicago, Illinois.
And more than 50% of the new mpox cases in Chicago were in previously vaccinated people.
Unfortunately, this indicates the virus is still spreading in the U.S., even among over 1.2. million vaccinated people.
The CDC stated on May 10, 2023, 'We don't know why people in this cluster of cases (Chicago) have gotten mpox after vaccination.'
And 'we don't know if immunity after vaccination has decreased in these cases or how long the vaccine protects against mpox infection.'
'We don't know if the virus has changed,' wrote the CDC.
https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/mpox-vax-flops-chicago
Diagnostics:
Dogs can detect COVID-19 with greater than 80% sensitivity
A review of 27 studies reveals that dogs have more than 80% sensitivity and more than 90% specificity for detecting #COVID19 in people through scent
Drugs:
***Long Covid -- Post-COVID conditions and sequelae
Curated hub of over 13,000 published articles on the long-term effects of COVID-19:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/research/coronavirus/docsum?filters=e_condition.LongCovid
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WHO advisers recommend switch to monovalent XBB COVID vaccine
The World Health Organization (WHO) COVID vaccine composition advisory group met last week to discuss the latest SARS-CoV-2 changes and impacts on the vaccine and today recommended that vaccine makers drop the ancestral strain and switch to a monovalent (single-strain) vaccine that contains an XBB.1 descendant lineage such as XBB.1.5.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/
Devices:
Masks and portable air cleaners reduced the spread of COVID-19 in schools, study shows
Daily average aerosol number concentrations without interventions were 177 ± 109 1/cm3 and decreased by 69% (95% CrI 42% to 86%) with mask mandates and 39% (95% CrI 4% to 69%) with air cleaners. Compared to no intervention, the transmission risk was lower with mask mandates (adjusted odds ratio 0.19, 95% CrI 0.09 to 0.38) and comparable with air cleaners (1.00, 95% CrI 0.15 to 6.51).
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004226
Epidemiology/Infection control:
“Teen suicides plummeted in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S
... returning from online to in-person schooling was associated with a 12-to-18 percent increase teen suicides.” nber.org/papers/w30795
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Effect of Gender on care in serious illness
Life-threatening illness creates severe stress that may result in marital discord, separation, or divorce and may adversely impact treatment, quality of life, and survival. The few studies that are available to date have suggested that the risk of divorce is not higher in cancer patients, but to the authors’ knowledge, no data exist to date that have examined the effect of gender on this rate.
METHODS:A total of 515 patients were prospectively identified as having either a malignant primary brain tumor (N¼214), a solid tumor with no nervous system involvement (N¼193), or multiple sclerosis (N¼108) who were married at the time of diagnosis. Basic demographic information and data regarding marital status were com-piled. Patients were followed prospectively from enrollment until death or study termination.
RESULTS:Women composed 53% of the patient population. Divorce or separation occurred at a rate similar to that reported in the literature (11.6%). There was, however, a greater than 6-fold increase in risk after diagnosis when the affected spouse was the woman (20.8% vs 2.9%;P<.001). Female gender was found to be the strongest predictor of separation or divorce in each cohort. Marriage duration at the time of illness was also correlated with separation among brain tumor patients (P=.0001). Patients with brain tumors who were divorced or separated were more likely to be hospitalized, and less likely to participate in a clinical trial, receive multiple treatment regimens, complete cranial irradiation, or die at home (P<.0001).
CONCLUSIONS: Female gender was found to be a strong predictor of partner abandonment in patients with serious medical illness. When divorce or separation occurred, quality of care and quality of life were adversely affected.
Cancer 2009;115:5237–42
https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cncr.24577
Tips, general reading for public:
Ventilate.
Mask.
Vax.
Politics:
COVID emergency orders are among `greatest intrusions on civil liberties,′ Justice Gorsuch says
COVID-19 has killed more Americans than combat in every war since 1775.
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re why CDC now rec 5 air changes/hour:
@LadyDoctorSays
Abortion/Reproduction:
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AI
Here's the downside. Look how that gap has grown since 2019 between parties-- and this is for the MMR, not COVID vaccines. https://t.co/oowqaPxxfk
— Dr. Tara C. Smith (@aetiology) May 16, 2023
It’s really hard to overstate how acutely dangerous this is: All strands of the Right - leading Republicans, the media machine, the reactionary intellectual sphere, the conservative base, the donor class - are openly and aggressively embracing rightwing vigilante violence. pic.twitter.com/VVPlVDTtTJ
— Thomas Zimmer (@tzimmer_history) May 14, 2023
Elsevier is losing editors pic.twitter.com/FDaQFe1eqS
— Dr. Glaucomflecken (@DGlaucomflecken) May 14, 2023
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LGBTQ:
officers demeanor / behavior. Marchand found it to be extremely rude and demeaning. As for the Hertz worker, she seen on video saying to the customer, Humberto Marchand: “Because you recorded as you’re not gonna be able to rent from Hertz ever!” That’s not true. Hertz has already apologized to Mr. Marchand publicly and stated that the employees were wrong and will be retained. It is clear that neither the officer, nor the Hertz employee, know that Marchand is right: his driver’s license is as valid as any other license issued in any other state. He didn’t need to show a passport to anyone. The officer could’ve provided clarity to the situation based on the fact that Puerto Rico is not a foreign country. He did not or was unaware of that fact. In my initial report, I stated that Marchand heard the officer say that he would call border authorities. The body cam video does not show that. As
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Florida:
New College of Florida graduates turn backs, wear masks in protest of leadership, changes forced by DeSantis, boos Scott Atlas
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The law passed in Florida this year allowing medical professionals to refuse care for religious (and other) reasons is abhorrent. It isn’t clear to me if EMTs and paramedics are included. Emergency care in an ER is not covered, only because EMTALA creates a Federal preemption, but most EMS agencies are not hospital-based anymore, and thus not beholden to EMTALA the same way. If this bill allows EMS providers to refuse care, it is unbelievably dangerous.
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Iowa:
Missouri:
Republicans who control the Missouri House passed a budget that doesn’t give its public libraries a single cent of state money. https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/missouri-defund-libraries-book-ban-rcna78014?
New Hampshire:
New York High School SUSPENDS 13 Female Athletes Who Started Petition To Wear Sports Bras During Training
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Pennsylvania:
Texas:
Feel good du jour:
NH State Rep @WendyENThomas
The last-placed runner who became toast of Cambodia https://t.co/9m5qJz7o5F
— Judy Stone (@DrJudyStone) May 13, 2023
Comic relief:
https://twitter.com/MarkHamill/status/1658206221822984192?s=20
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The cat train.. 😅 pic.twitter.com/AogmspDEnh
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) May 19, 2023
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https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1659829217658302466?s=20
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https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1659124126450167810?s=20
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https://twitter.com/buitengebieden/status/1658058991048564736?s=20
Perspective/Poem
“I do not mean to be sentimental about suffering…. but people who cannot suffer can never grow up, can never discover who they are.
~ James Baldwin
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Bits of beauty:

