Politics, Science, and Other Assorted Musings

Quick links 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. News  Perspective: Thoughtful perspective on our worsening #denial: We’ve Hit Peak Denial. Here’s Why We Can’t Turn Away From Reality by @coopermarianne and @DrMaximVoronov https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weve-hit-peak-denial-heres-why-we-cant-turn-away-from-reality/ ~ ~ ~ Transmission: The US Walgreens Covid positivity rate is now the highest since September 2023! ~ ~ ~ Mike Hoerger:  Expect 400,000 to 500,000 daily Covid infections/day in the U.S. for the following month. This is relatively low at 25% of last winter’s peak, while extremely high in the absolute sense. Get dental/medical care before it is worse. ~ ~ ~ @Alexander_Tin An update on this year’s summer COVID wave – trends are picking up earlier this year vs last year, which didn’t peak until late August – @CDCgov‘s wastewater surveillance is already close to “high” levels across western states https://cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-nationaltrend.html ~ ~ ~ @JPWeiland Ratio…

Quick links 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. News  Wastewater data: Infections are growing, esp in Hawaii, Delaware, Nevada, and Minn https://data.wastewaterscan.org/tracker/? https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/sara.anne.willette/viz/USCompositeWastewaterData/NWSSData Biobot data has disappeared, likely d/t loss of funding We are flying blind: (as of May 1): US hospitals do not report Covid hospital admissions, hospital capacity, or hospital occupancy data. @JPWeiland May 24th update: Infections up 11% this week off of very low numbers. FLiRT mutation group is dominant including KP.3. NWSS data only since Feb 2024. 170,000 new infections/day 1 in every 196 people currently infected ~  ~ ~ Major Study on Masking–An extensive review: First, there is strong and consistent evidence for airborne transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and other respiratory pathogens. Second, masks are, if correctly and consistently worn, effective in reducing transmission of respiratory diseases and show a dose-response effect….

Quick links 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. In this time of rising antisemitism, the warnings and lessons from my family’s story, Resilience, are more pertinent than ever. I had the honor of speaking to faculty at the Allegany College of Maryland this week, sharing the story of my cousin, Mari. She was only 5 years old and an American citizen when she and her family were in concentration camps. I am available to speak to synagogues, churches, sisterhoods, book clubs and community groups on a variety of themes, including short vignettes that bring the impact of the Holocaust to life in a very personal way. Please reach out if your group might like a short talk. Thank you! News  Wastewater monitoring: https://data.wastewaterscan.org/ @michael_hoerger PMC COVID-19 Forecast, May 13, 2024 (U.S.) Expect transmission to hover around 350,000-500,000 infections/day through mid-July. Transmission has increased…

Quick links 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. New Post: 4.95 Million People Die From Treatable Infections Annually. A New Project Tells Their Stories https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2024/05/07/the-global-antimicrobial-resistance-diary-puts-a-face-on-serious-infections/?sh=611bddc643ba News  Mike Hoerger, May 8: “SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater have increased marginally (2%) this week after months of decline. We expect a gradual increase through the end of May, and then a decline again around early June.” ~ ~ ~ @JPWeiland What is “FLiRT”? FLiRT is the clever nickname for two mutations on the spike protein of the highly mutated variant “Pirola”, that accounts for >99% of all Covid right now. F->L at position 456 and R->T at 346. Both escape mutations were present last year, but never on Pirola. ~ ~ ~ WHO declares Covid airborne…and  At the time when @WHO was assuring the world: “COVID-19 is NOT airborne”… …a ‘return to office’-document for WHO…