Turns out there was a lot of news this week so another dedicated post. This first entry was really the last but I moved it to the top because it seems very promising.
Researchers at Hadassah-University Medical Center led by Dr. Abd Alrauf Higavi, a specialist in blood clotting, have discovered what they believe causes people to get seriously ill and die from COVID-19. At least 30% of patients develop blood clots that block the flow of blood to the kidneys, heart, brain, and lungs. They discovered that those who form these fatal clots have high levels of alpha defensin protein, which speeds up blood clot formation, in their blood. Patients with low levels develop mild symptoms, those with high levels develop serious symptoms, and those with very high levels die. The research team has concluded it's tests of colchicine, an already approved drug for gout which is caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood, on mice and are now waiting for approval to test it on human coronavirus patients. “The drugs available today in the blood-thinning market do not fully address this clotting, since its (coronavirus) mechanism differs from the mechanisms for which these drugs currently exist”, Higavi said.
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A UK study has found that the readily available and cheap steroid drug dexamethasone cut the risk of death for people on ventilators by a third and those on oxygen by a fifth. This is an enormous breakthrough in the treatment of COVID-19.
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VP Pence is lying to Americans pushing the storyline that the increase in infections is due to the increase in testing which the scientists and healthcare professionals say is not accurate and Pence is calling the governors to tell them to push that story to reassure people that opening is safe. So not only is the VP lying to us, he's asking the governors to lie to us.
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Researchers from LSU Health Sciences have determined that blood clots and hemorrhage in the lungs contributed to the deaths of severely ill patients with COVID-19. Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center has determined that 15 – 20% of patients in the ICU will die from clotting issues. This research underscores previous speculation that this virus is more of a blood vessel disease than a lung disease even though the damage starts in the lungs. When the lungs are full of blood clots they prevent blood flow and the exchange of gases in the lungs making it hard to get enough oxygen into the bloodstream.
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The FDA revoked its emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine sulfate and chloroquine phosphate to treat COVID-19 as studies have shown that these drugs are ineffective in preventing infection or treating those already infected. The NIH has also suspended studies using the malaria drug. And now the US stockpile is stuck with 63 million doses of hydroxychloroquine that Trump expected to make out big on since he and his family are invested in it's manufacture.
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The idiot-in-chief has proposed stopping testing because “if we stop testing right now we'd have very few cases, if any”.
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The myth of the over 60s being the most vulnerable is just that, a myth and it's preventing our young adults and middle agers from understanding how high their risk is. Yes, people with compromised immune systems are at high risk but perfectly healthy young people are also dying. This is the breakdown in our county by age group (when we had only 94 cases) and now that we're at 115 cases the percentages really haven't changed.
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New studies are casting doubt on whether getting and recovering from the virus gives you lasting immunity. Apparently after about four months antibodies start to disappear. The sicker you are the longer the antibodies stay around.
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Multiple studies have shown that 80% of patients with the virus that are intubated have died.
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Texas has been having record breaking case counts every day for the past week and still our governor is going full steam ahead with opening back up.
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Scientists and health care professionals all agree that if everyone wore masks out in public transmission of the coronavirus would be reduced drastically. The confusion over this issue apparently arises from Dr. Fauci initially telling people masks would not protect us, a poorly worded attempt to preserve masks and other PPEs for our health care workers at a time when there were shortages everywhere. The fact is masks do help prevent the spread of the virus and the more people who wear them the more we are protected.
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Current US statistics as of today 6/21/20, 14:17 GMT (last thirteen weeks' totals in parenthesis): cases – 2,332,056 (2,143,646, 1,992,453, 1,837,525, 1,685,367, 1,512,267, 1,384,681, 1,168985, 976,403, 741,230, 534,494, 312,223, 123,958, 38,757); deaths – 122,020 (117,542, 112,141, 106,190, 99,286, 90,206, 81,724, 67,954, 54,965, 39,103, 20,637, 8,483, 2,231, 400); (no longer care about recoveries).
Thanks for this. I had heard bits and pieces about the latest research results, but you summarized it in a most understandable, integrated manner.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that they are making at least some breakthroughs. Otherwise the news is all very grim.
ReplyDeleteThank you, you have saved me from breaking my brain- We are sure about nothing much- and so we remain at home, masks worn to do essential shopping, avoid people. That is the only thing we are sure of.
ReplyDeleteThere was a really excellent editorial in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today, and it was posted to the front page, rather than hidden away inside. You can read it here, although you have to tolerate the usual number of ads, etc. What I liked about it most was the tone: not condemnatory, not snarky, not purely scientific. After all, who wouldn't love an editorial that acknowledges some people may think they look silly wearing a mask, and then says, "We made it through bell bottoms. We can make it through this."
ReplyDeleteThank you for the summary. That's an excellent public service you did there.
ReplyDeleteHow stupid Trump and his ilk are: if you don’t test you have fewer cases. No, that’s rubbish, not counting them is all it is. It is on a par with taking disinfectant to cure Covid. Disinfectant would cure you of life, period. And there are still people who will vote for such idiots.
ReplyDeleteI've belatedly started wearing a mask at work when I'm around other people. I don't know why I felt like I was in a safe little bubble at work, but that's ridiculous. We're ramping up cases too.
ReplyDelete"Stupid" is a word I no longer use, but it is Himself. Thanks for this. I made my husband read.
ReplyDeleteI find it thrilling to read that there are more than 200 ongoing vaccine trials world-wide. No matter what politicians, your stupid leader etc. are making of the situation, it's really important to remember that scientists see this as an enormous challenge. I can see it in the eyes of one of my bosses, he would work through the nights if his family would only let him. Not necessarily just to help human kind but also to be the one team that heads the break through (and gets the patent, the awards, the dosh and the Nobel). I followed a zoom meeting between scientists from various EU universities recently, it sounded like a bunch of nerds high on ideas. And this was supposedly an information event for the public.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I have written this so many times now: When you are out in the social world, act as if you carry the virus and as if the person you spend time with carries it too.
One of our neighbours is Japanese and she has been wearing a mask all winter, every winter for years now, regardless of how people looked at her. Finally, we get it. (Numbers of other virus infections are down too, just to underline it.)