Coronavirus Tidbits #257 Aug 6, 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.
Ohio Election is going on now => Aug 8
Please remind your friends in Ohio to VOTE NO on Proposition 1, the only thing on the ballot.
Abortion access and gerrymandering are especially on the line.
- On August 8, the only thing on your ballot will be Issue 1 to permanently end majority rule in Ohio.
- A yes vote is a vote to end majority rule
- A no vote defends majority rule and the sacred principle of ‘one person, one vote’
to volunteer: https://www.mobilize.us/opalmissionvote/event/568468/
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New post:
Kidney Transplants From HIV-Positive Patients Likely To Save Lives
News
U.S. COVID hospitalizations climb for second straight week.
Levels are still low, but Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by more than 12% across the country, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking a second straight week of this key indicator of the virus climbing.
At least 8,035 hospital admissions of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were reported for the week of July 22 nationwide, the CDC said late Monday, up from 7,165 during the week before.
Another important hospital metric has also been trending up in recent weeks: an average of 0.92% of the past week's emergency room visits had COVID-19 as of July 28, up from 0.51% through June 28.
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Moderna is safest, most effective mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 for older adults, study shows
While mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 have been found to be safe and effective for the general population, in-depth evidence about safety and effectiveness for older adults and individuals with chronic health conditions is more limited.
the Moderna vaccine was associated with a slightly lower risk of adverse events than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine: a 4% lower risk of pulmonary embolism, and a 2% lower risk of thromboembolic events. (Both were already very low, w PE at 9/100,000). The Moderna vaccine was also associated with a 15% lower risk of diagnosed COVID-19 compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
JAMA Network Open (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.26852
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-moderna-safest-effective-mrna-vaccine.html?
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Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a breath test that quickly identifies those who are infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. The device can detect SARS-CoV-2 in one or two breaths and provide results in less than 1 minute
The study is has been published online in the journal ACS Sensors.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssensors.3c00512
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Why Some People Had Asymptomatic COVID-19?
Genetic predisposition likely
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2808158?
Long Covid:
Other:
Researchers suggested leprosy may be endemic in the southeastern U.S., especially in central Florida, after a rise in cases. (Emerging Infectious Diseases)
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Chiggers carrying scrub typhus were found in some North Carolina state parks and recreation areas. (Raleigh News & Observer)
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People continue to get sick from flu coming from pigs. This creates the potential for a new pandemic if the animal flu combines with human flu becoming more transmissible.
Flu also jumps from peoplet to pigs...-
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What Happens When Ancient Pathogens Are Released From Melting Ice?
Science fiction is rife with fanciful tales of deadly organisms emerging from the ice and wreaking havoc on unsuspecting human victims.
From shape-shifting aliens in Antarctica, to super-parasites emerging from a thawing woolly mammoth in Siberia, to exposed permafrost in Greenland causing a viral pandemic – the concept is marvellous plot fodder.
But just how far-fetched is it? Could pathogens that were once common on Earth – but frozen for millennia in glaciers, ice caps and permafrost – emerge from the melting ice to lay waste to modern ecosystems? The potential is, in fact, quite real.
Dangers Lying in Wait
In 2003, bacteria were revived from samples taken from the bottom of an ice core drilled into an ice cap on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. The ice at that depth was more than 750,000 years old.
In 2014, a giant “zombie” Pithovirus sibericum virus was revived from 30,000-year-old Siberian permafrost.
And in 2016, an outbreak of anthrax (a disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis) in western Siberia was attributed to the rapid thawing of B. anthracis spores in permafrost. It killed thousands of reindeer and affected dozens of people.
Diagnostics:
still an incredible, negligent last of testing.
Drugs:
Devices and Masks:
New study in @JAMANetworkOpen shows that the reintroduction of universal #masking in Ottawa #schools in spring 2022 reduced student absenteeism.
— Mike Hoerger, PhD MSCR MBA (@michael_hoerger) July 29, 2023
Students gained nearly 2,000 days of learning in the schools studied.
The study likely considerably underestimated the real benefit… pic.twitter.com/XgCArRHoIv
Epidemiology/Infection control:
Tips, general reading for public:
Ventilate.
Mask.
Vax.
Politics:
Beautiful (and simple) idea from WWF Germany. Credit to McCann Germany. Copy reads: “Protect our wildlife, before it’s too late.” @WWF pic.twitter.com/w6BnvgMFmu
— Fer Machado (@fer_machado123) July 28, 2023
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So i made this#RIPTwitter #RIPTwitterBird #TwitterLogo #TwitterX pic.twitter.com/SkZOrUuU9W
— ♥ M e i ♥ (@gratest_mei) July 24, 2023
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Abortion:
Yellowhammer Fund, an abortion advocacy group sued Alabama's Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) for threatening to prosecute anyone who assists residents of the state who want to travel to another state for abortion services. (The Hill)
“The Attorney General’s threats violate Yellowhammer Fund’s constitutional rights to free expression, association, travel, and due process and intrude on the sovereignty of states where abortion is legal,” the group wrote.
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A sweeping ban that would prohibit most abortions is set to go into effect in Indiana today. (NPR)
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A U.S. judge temporarily blocked Idaho's ability to prosecute healthcare providers who refer patients to out-of-state abortion services. (Reuters)
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A federal judge ruled that the free speech rights of Idaho medical providers would be violated if the state attempted to sanction them for referring patients for out-of-state abortion services.
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A Texas judge has sided with a group of women who challenged the state's abortion ban, meaning people with pregnancy complications or fatal fetal anomalies will have access to the procedure, but the ban remains in place for everyone else. reproductiverights.org/wp-content/upl
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LGBTQ:
Primary care physicians are learning how to provide gender-affirming care to fill gaps in healthcare access for transgender individuals. (STAT)
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GOP rel:
Ron DeSantis:
Throughout his trip to New Hampshire, he appeared bent on demonstrating that no candidate talks tougher. He promised that, under his presidency, Mexican drug cartels would be “shot stone cold dead,” and vowed that when it comes to federal bureaucrats, “we are going to start slitting throats on Day One.”
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Medicaid:
New: With data now from 37 states, over 3.6 million people have been dropped from Medicaid with the unwinding of pandemic enrollment protections. Half a million people have been dropped in Texas alone, but this is occurring all over as renewals resume. kff.org/medicaid/issue
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Climate/Environment:
#Florida wildlife officials suspect blue-green algae toxins to be the cause of fatal #panther disease winknews.com/2023/08/01/wil via
This @Patagonia ad is freaking brilliant. Read down, then back up. pic.twitter.com/7faAML0P5N
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) August 3, 2023
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Greed:
Gilead Sciences devised a plan to delay release of a new HIV drug’s release to maximize profits, even though executives had reason to believe it might turn out to be safer for patients. @RebeccaDRobbins @SherylNYT
free article here
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Arkansas: Child labor comes back thanks to Sarah Huckabee
Starting Aug 1, young children no longer need work permits to get a job in Arkansas. arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/
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Florida:
Texas:
The largest public school district in Texas is eliminating librarian positions and libraries to make them into discipline centers.
https://abc13.com/hisd-libraries-librarians-media-specialists-houston-isd/13548483/
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Greg Abbott has imitated a hostile takeover of the local school district in Houston, TX — taking control away from the local school board so that it’s now run by the state.
— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) August 4, 2023
Parent and activist Lauren Ashley read the superintendent for FILTH pic.twitter.com/8lMISVG4qS
Feel good du jour:
Two San Diego residents cleared out the Pride month display at their library and said such materials shouldn’t be available to children, one of several recent clashes over L.G.B.T.Q. issues in California. They informed the librarian that they had gotten nearly all of the books in the Pride display checked out and would not return them unless the library permanently removed what they considered “inappropriate content.”
When the story ran in the local paper, not only did people replace the books, they donated $15,000 so more books could be purchased, and the city matched the amount. Now, the library has $30,000 for more LGBTQ themed books.
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Robert Emmett Fletcher Jr. was an American agricultural inspector who quit his job to manage fruit farms of Japanese families sent to internment camps during WW2. Upon learning about the looming relocation of Japanese farmers in his area, Fletcher grew concerned. This led to the Tsukamoto family, who owned a grape ranch in Florin near Sacramento, proposing that he take care of their farm while they were away. They offered him their home and all net profits from the crops (though Fletcher would only take half) after covering farming costs, mortgages, and taxes. Two other families, the Okamotos and Nittas, also proposed similar arrangements. Deciding to leave his inspector job, Fletcher took on the responsibility of managing all three farms. Single-handedly farming three farms meant 18-hour days and endless work. Fletcher saw his task as caretaking, so instead of living in the Tsukamotos' home, he lived in the bunkhouse meant for migrant workers. His decision did not go down well with some local white farmers, who thought their Japanese counterparts should forfeit their properties. Despite threats, Fletcher carried on, committed to his newfound responsibility. When the families returned home in the fall of 1945, their farms and homes were intact—the Tsukamotos' home had even been cleaned by Fletcher's wife Teresa—and half of the profits were waiting for them.
-- @fasc1nate Jul 28
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Dad sees a car in a restaurant parking lot that looks like his old one, which he had to sell to support the family. He gets emotional, sharing stories, and then the daughter surprises him by handing him the keys. ❤️🚗 pic.twitter.com/2u89LOrbyK
— Tansu Yegen (@TansuYegen) August 4, 2023
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Rainbow ballet!
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) July 25, 2023
This photo captures the exact moment the sunlight penetrates the wings of a Black and white Jacobin hummingbird revealing a secret of nature that cannot be seen with our eyes.
The photo contains no digital manipulation.
🎥 IG: christianspencerphoto pic.twitter.com/qoJxvy3Tbg
Comic relief:
The jump.. 😂 pic.twitter.com/I4srg9Nelg
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) July 30, 2023
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https://twitter.com/TansuYegen/status/1686710673739223040?s=20
Perspective/Poem
Bits of beauty:
