wuhan - coronavirus

[ElizabethB]

8 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Indonesia study.

 I find myself confused by where it says “ a majority” then cites a percent under 50%    I’ll try to bold the sort of thing I mean in excerpt below: 

Can’t bold within excerpt, but here are quotes examples:

   “majority of the cases had normal Vitamin D status (49.7%)”

Of the 213 cases with insufficient Vitamin D status, majority (49.1%) died. The same distribution was observed in Vitamin D deficient cases where majority (46.7%) died due to the disease.

 

They must have some extreme rounding going on!!  I can see rounding 49.7 to majority, but I wouldn't round 46.7 that way.  They are probably working round the clock, though, so I'll cut them some slack.  Or, maybe something is lost in translation and they really mean some type of word that means a large number of people.

Edited April 26, 2020 by ElizabethB

[Ausmumof3]

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/26/virologist-christian-drosten-germany-coronavirus-expert-interview?__twitter_impression=true
 

very interesting interview with the German virologist leading their handling.  Sad that he is getting death threats though.

[Ausmumof3]

8 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Yes, but very different in different places (excellent in some areas in poor in others... possibly exact opposite of where needed, as places with many people  in need of meals on wheels tend to lack people to do it, and places with plenty of young healthy volunteers to do it tend to lack the people who need the services.  (Because communities tend to have lots of older and disabled people living in different areas than younger single people and well families.).   And in bad CV19 areas, it also seems in somewhat of a mess due to the CV19 situation ...   volunteers more afraid...

I think working out restaurants is great.  I saw that was being done in UK.  Glad California started it, and hope other places will follow . 

 

Yes, they have had trouble here with getting volunteers I think as well.

[Pen]

21 minutes ago, ElizabethB said:

They must have some extreme rounding going on!!  I can see rounding 49.7 to majority, but I wouldn't round 46.7 that way.  They are probably working round the clock, though, so I'll cut them some slack.  Or, maybe something is lost in translation and they really mean some type of word that means a large number of people.

 

A word meaning large number mistranslated makes sense.

[Paige]

2 hours ago, square_25 said:

I guess so? But it doesn't say anything about how the groups were chosen. If it was this, you would expect groups that are matched for something or another? 

Anyway, this paper raises more questions than it answers for me. I would need to know how they chose the people to include. 

It says enough to know that it is not 60% of males died but that 60% of deceased were males:

This is a retrospective cohort study which included two cohorts (active and expired) of 780 cases with laboratory-confirmed infection of SARS-CoV-2. Data between March 2, 2020 (start of outbreak in Indonesia) and April 24, 2020 were obtained from medical records of Indonesia government hospitals.

They do not say how the cases were selected, but my guess is that they asked for everything they could get- it does not say anything about exclusion criteria, and I think they would have needed to mention that if they had excluded cases.

 

[TCB]

4 hours ago, Acadie said:

 

I do this for my once-a-week shopping trip. I have one surgical mask I wear to the store, then take it off and store in a paper bag until the following week. But I'm wearing it for only 30-40 minutes, not exerting myself, and the mask still looks pristine.

Are you wondering if health care providers could do this? I think disposable surgical masks can get soaked and beat up when worn in a work environment and the layers may lose integrity and no longer function.

N95s, which are heavier duty, are being decontaminated for reuse by the thousands in the new hydrogen peroxide systems made by Battelle.  

https://www.battelle.org/inb/battelle-critical-care-decontamination-system-for-covid19 

We get 1 surgical mask for a week at work unless it gets contaminated. We have to check them out from the medication dispenser and keep them in a paper bag in between shifts. We do have PAPR masks for going into Covid rooms though. The surgical masks are because we have to wear a surgical mask, at least, at all times at work.

 

ETA - or we can wear a home made mask. I thought initially we were going to get 1 per day but then found out it was 1 per week.

Edited April 27, 2020 by TCB

[melmichigan]

5 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I hope that this isn't a stupid question.  But if COVID19 (and other viruses) only last on a surface (including fabric or other materials) for a certain period of time.  Why can't disposable masks be used and then put aside for whatever period that is and then used again? 

You need to air them or put them in paper bags, not plastic.  CVOID-19 is known to be present for 7 days.

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Ausmumof3 said:

do you guys have meals on wheels or similar there?

https://www.mowca.org/

"Meals on wheels & covid-19 in ca

Meals on Wheels is considered an essential service, and many local programs throughout California are still open and serving seniors. To learn more about the COVID-19 response in CA, read our latest newsletter. If you are in need of services, you can browse our member agencies or look up the program nearest you by zip code here."

[Teaching3bears]

I don’t know if this was already discussed but are they now saying that a person can carry it for 3 weeks instead of 14 days?  I heard a doctor in tv say this.  

[Teaching3bears]

Just now, Teaching3bears said:

I don’t know if this was already discussed but are they now saying that a person can carry it for 3 weeks instead of 14 days?  I heard a doctor in tv say this.  

And does that mean that we should have quarantined travellers for longer and because we didn’t it might have led to more community spread.

[ElizabethB]

Bali not getting virus but rest of Indonesia is, no one knows why. 

https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/balis-mysterious-immunity-to-covid-19/

This medium article has some speculation, but also reports, the first article doesn't, about the number of direct flights to Bali from Wuhan, which should have spread Covid.

https://medium.com/@dominik.vanyi/bali-covid19-an-involuntary-experiment-in-epidemiology-immunology-a62485ce5924

 

[Arcadia]

14 minutes ago, TCB said:

We get 1 surgical mask for a week at work unless it gets contaminated. We have to check them out from the medication dispenser and keep them in a paper bag in between shifts.

That’s sad. I didn’t ask the oncology nurses but they do have adequate supplies for patients. I was given one per visit so now I have a collection of 6 (3 yellow, 2 blue and 1 white)  from April’s doctor appointments (bloodwork, echocardiogram, infusions). I just sun the mask at my family car‘s dashboard and reuse for grocery run on the same trip.

[Pen]

35 minutes ago, Teaching3bears said:

I don’t know if this was already discussed but are they now saying that a person can carry it for 3 weeks instead of 14 days?  I heard a doctor in tv say this.  

 

That’s been true and known for a long time. It can even be longer than 3 weeks.

14 days covers 95% of cases and was thought reasonable to ask for quarantine even though it is known that some outliers would be missed. 

[Pen]

41 minutes ago, ElizabethB said:

Bali not getting virus but rest of Indonesia is, no one knows why. 

https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/balis-mysterious-immunity-to-covid-19/

This medium article has some speculation, but also reports, the first article doesn't, about the number of direct flights to Bali from Wuhan, which should have spread Covid.

https://medium.com/@dominik.vanyi/bali-covid19-an-involuntary-experiment-in-epidemiology-immunology-a62485ce5924

 

 

Sun?

something about Hindu diet or clothes?  I think Bali is more Hindu rest of Indonesia more Muslim?   I sort of picture different skin sun exposure, but could be way wrong.  (Never been There.) 

temporary luck (there was a while when Indians were thinking they were somehow protected, but that seemed to be temporary good fortune)

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by Pen

[TravelingChris]

On 4/24/2020 at 3:32 PM, Arcadia said:

I left home at 8:30am and reached back at 1pm. Had my blood draw at Los Gatos and then did my grocery run. Traffic was bad, like typical Bay Area commute bad. Trader Joe’s Pruneyard was very well stock and many were just buying a few items. No one had a cart full. Costco Kifer parking was so full and the line so long when we reached that we went to Costco Coleman instead. Costco Coleman shelves were well stocked and people were buying less than what would be the usual before March. We bought roti-chapati 🙂

Either people are eating through their stockpiles now that supermarkets are well stocked or they got tired of staying home and go to the grocers every few days just to “see other humans”. I won’t be surprised because DS15 felt so much better after going with us to Safeway. He felt like he hasn’t seen any strangers for a long time and going to Safeway confirms to him that there is still “civilization”. 

I didn;t leave the house at all from March 24th till April 13th  

[Ausmumof3]

10 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Sun?

something about Hindu diet or clothes?  I think Bali is more Hindu rest of Indonesia more Muslim?   I sort of picture different skin sun exposure, but could be way wrong.  (Never been There.) 

temporary luck (there was a while when Indians were thinking they were somehow protected, but that seemed to be temporary good fortune)

 

Might explain why we didn’t get too many Indonesia cases here.

[Arcadia]

@Ausmumof3  Besides the meals on wheels program, we have this

"California Food is Medicine Coalition (CalFIMC), part of the national Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC), is a coalition of six community-based non-profit organizations with a collective 140 years of expertise in engaging volunteers and funders to provide meals and support to individuals facing a serious illness, including many clients who do not qualify for other free and low-cost meal services." https://calfimc.org/

[Pen]

7 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Might explain why we didn’t get too many Indonesia cases here.

 

If you didn’t I would think that helps confirm that the cases there were really low not just not being found.  

Maybe people in Bali tend to do things that improves their vitamin D 😁.   I think it is very equatorial, so well  suited to quite maximum D production . ?     20,000 IU for 20 minutes in sun for a light skinned person ? Somewhat less, but still quite good for a darker skinned person? 

Edited April 27, 2020 by Pen

[ElizabethB]

7 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Might explain why we didn’t get too many Indonesia cases here.

The rest of Indonesia is getting cases.

[Ausmumof3]

2 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

If you didn’t I would think that helps confirm that the cases there were really low not just not being found.  

Maybe people in Bali tend to do things that improves their vitamin D 😁.   I think it is very equatorial, so well  suited to quite maximum D production . ?     20,000 IU for 20 minutes in sun for a light skinned person ? Somewhat less, but still quite good for a darker skinned person? 

We did get some but we got many more from the US.  I’d have to look to verify but typically Bali is a cheap easy holiday so I would think we’d have had more visitors

[Ausmumof3]

6 minutes ago, ElizabethB said:

The rest of Indonesia is getting cases.

Yes but Bali is the cheap and easy holiday destination of choice here.  Not that others don’t go elsewhere but if there was a massive outbreak in Bali you would 100 pc expect a tonne of cases coming back.

this is a couple of years old but numbers would have been similar pre COVID

https://www.traveller.com.au/bali-tourism-numbers-from-australia-indonesia-is-still-our-number-one-destination-gxetxl

people from our local volunteer fire brigade were there just before the travel bans.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Ausmumof3

[ElizabethB]

5 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Yes but Bali is the cheap and easy holiday destination of choice here.  Not that others don’t go elsewhere but if there was a massive outbreak in Bali you would 100 pc expect a tonne of cases coming back.

this is a couple of years old but numbers would have been similar pre COVID

https://www.traveller.com.au/bali-tourism-numbers-from-australia-indonesia-is-still-our-number-one-destination-gxetxl

people from our local volunteer fire brigade were there just before the travel bans.

Oh, that makes sense. The second article did say they have tons of tourists, including many direct flights from Wuhan, and it was strange that they have so few deaths. (They are only starting to test, and not big testing numbers, so low case numbers don't mean much; low deaths vs. the rest of Indonesia is interesting.)

[ElizabethB]

East Idaho doing antibody testing with the accurate Abbot Labs/UW virology test.

https://www.eastidahonews.com/2020/04/new-covid-19-antibody-test-available-to-everyone-in-eastern-idaho-beginning-monday/

I don't think this includes Blaine County, the ski county, the only area that should have numbers more than a few percent.  The Boise area antibody testing was very low.

[lewelma]

Well, it is done. Elimination in NZ.  Just listened to the conference, and the PM and Director of Health said that on the eve of lifting the level 4 lockdown and moving to level 3 tomorrow, we have eliminated Covid19. Elimination from an epidemiological standpoint is not eradication (the extinction in a region), rather it is where *all* cases are known, tracked, and managed. For the past week, we have had all new cases in known clusters and in single digits (today it was 1 confirmed). Zero positive cases in 6000 tests each day of asymptomatic people for the past week.  Borders locked with all returning kiwis in guarded quarantine facilities for 14 days. Contact tracing ramped up to be able to handle 10,000 calls/day.

So tomorrow we loosen our lockdown.  We will now be able to shop on line and have carry out!  Whoo Hoo!  However, for 2 more weeks at least, we will all be working from home unless you cannot work from home (construction workers, cooks, plumbers, gardeners, online-shops filling orders etc). And now we will be allowed to swim, surf, mountain bike, play tennis, golf, hunt! But still no boating, quad bikes, or driving out of your locality. Schools have opened for essential workers or families who need them.  But the PM has asked for anyone who can keep their kids home to do so.  My 1st-grade teacher friend helped her school call all the families and they will have 8 kids out of 210 attend next week.  All other families are doing as asked, and continuing to stay home! We are allowed to enlarge our bubble now to include a caregiver, isolated individuals, or partners who live separately.  But it must stay exclusive. We have been asked to track all people we come in contact with each day to help with contact tracing if required.  These rules are for our LOWER level lockdown!

In 2-4 weeks, we will completely open back up but with restrictions on the size of gatherings and continued border closure. 

 

[ElizabethB]

7 minutes ago, lewelma said:

Well, it is done. Elimination in NZ. 

 

That is great! Congratulations!!  A little heart like didn't seem sufficient.

Edited April 27, 2020 by ElizabethB

[Arcadia]

@mathnerd@sassenach

https://bolinastesting.org/

"Through a collaborative effort between Coastal Health Alliance, the Bolinas Fire Department, Marin County Department of Public Health, Mesa Park, volunteers, and UCSF Infectious Disease experts, all residents of Bolinas aged 4 and up can safely be tested for COVID-19, free of charge.

This is an incredible opportunity for us to protect our elderly, first responders, and town-sustaining workers, while contributing to research that will benefit every Bolinas community member and the entire Bay Area.

TESTING WAS COMPLETED ON APRIL 23RD

1,844 Bolinas residents and West Marin first responders were tested for active virus (PCR) and antibodies.

All participants will receive their PCR results over the next few days.

Aggregate results are expected next week. Results from the antibody test will take a few weeks and will be communicated when they are ready.

...

When will I get my results?

The samples will be analyzed at UCSF and our goal is to communicate results to each positive individual within 7 days. (Please note that if there is a surge in urgent hospital tests, results may take longer.)  While the PCR viral Infection test results are expected to take less than 7 it is important to know that the antibody tests will take 4-6 weeks. "

 

[ElizabethB]

My twitter used to be 99% education people, mostly reading related, a few math folks. 

Now that I'm tweeting about vitamin D and coronavirus, I've accumulated some interesting followers from across the spectrum.  Far left, far right, health nuts, conspiracy theorists, and several Italian doctors, they are the most interesting ones even if I don't fully understand most of their tweets.  My Spanish is fair and I learned a dozen Italian words while living in Germany. Italian doctors are very interested in all Covid research, it seems.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/04/16/tracking-covid-19-excess-deaths-across-countries
 

Excess mortality graphs.  Interestingly NYC does show a slight dip of COVID deaths into the expected deaths line.  So maybe they are misallocating a few or there is a drop in usual deaths due to lockdowns.

98pc of excess deaths are assigned to COVID versus 60-80 pc for the European countries etc 

Note some of the graphs don’t start from zero which can initially make the spike seem bigger

Edited April 27, 2020 by Ausmumof3

[ElizabethB]

15 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/04/16/tracking-covid-19-excess-deaths-across-countries
 

Excess mortality graphs.  Interestingly NYC does show a slight dip of COVID deaths into the expected deaths line.  So maybe they are misallocating a few or there is a drop in usual deaths due to lockdowns.

98pc of excess deaths are assigned to COVID versus 60-80 pc for the European countries etc 

Note some of the graphs don’t start from zero which can initially make the spike seem bigger

That is really interesting, thanks.

[TCB]

2 hours ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

 

That's terrible.  I am glad you have the PAPR masks.  Can you tell us what else you're seeing in short supply?  I've been hearing in online groups for parents of kids on home ventilation, that people are having trouble getting vent filters, and vent circuits in particular.  

I haven’t seen shortages of vent circuits here but I imagine some shortages vary in different locations. We were running short of some medications for a while, particularly sedatives and paralytics, but that seems to have improved lately. 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.15.20066407v1.full.pdf
 

preprint study on COVID antibody development and decline.

over my head but may be interesting to some of you 

[The Governess]

5 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Excellent idea!

do you guys have meals on wheels or similar there?

 

We do, but I’m not sure of the sourcing of their meals/ingredients. It would be nice if they could coordinate rather than offer competing services.

[sassenach]

2 hours ago, Arcadia said:

@mathnerd@sassenach

https://bolinastesting.org/

"Through a collaborative effort between Coastal Health Alliance, the Bolinas Fire Department, Marin County Department of Public Health, Mesa Park, volunteers, and UCSF Infectious Disease experts, all residents of Bolinas aged 4 and up can safely be tested for COVID-19, free of charge.

This is an incredible opportunity for us to protect our elderly, first responders, and town-sustaining workers, while contributing to research that will benefit every Bolinas community member and the entire Bay Area.

TESTING WAS COMPLETED ON APRIL 23RD

1,844 Bolinas residents and West Marin first responders were tested for active virus (PCR) and antibodies.

All participants will receive their PCR results over the next few days.

Aggregate results are expected next week. Results from the antibody test will take a few weeks and will be communicated when they are ready.

...

When will I get my results?

The samples will be analyzed at UCSF and our goal is to communicate results to each positive individual within 7 days. (Please note that if there is a surge in urgent hospital tests, results may take longer.)  While the PCR viral Infection test results are expected to take less than 7 it is important to know that the antibody tests will take 4-6 weeks. "

 

My nursing school classmate was one of the volunteers conducting the tests.

[Pen]

7 hours ago, square_25 said:

I guess so? But it doesn't say anything about how the groups were chosen. If it was this, you would expect groups that are matched for something or another? 

Anyway, this paper raises more questions than it answers for me. I would need to know how they chose the people to include. 

 

Do you know what your own Vitamin D level is?

 I am not sure that you need to know anything about how the Covid19 patients in the study were chosen (though it had seemed to me that it was all the patients with bad enough CV19 to be hospitalized at a couple representative hospitals, but I’m not reading it again now to figure that out.)

 I think what would be more relevant for you personally (or your family) is to ask yourself: are your D levels in the normal to optimal range.  

If so, great.  

If not, you might want to consider getting them there because it is very important for many aspects of physical, emotional, and cognitive health — quite aside from CV19. 

(ETA: I guess a significant difference the CV19 issue could make would be if your levels are low, whether you might feel you would want to get levels up fast,  if you were to believe it might give some benefit during pandemic, versus taking some 18 months to do it at a 4,000 IU / day max officially recommended by some medical organization type dose. And or for CV19 stay home reasons would feel that extra were needed to make up for not getting Natural sunshine .   But if your levels are already good, it makes no difference afaik. ) 

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by Pen

[mathnerd]

2 hours ago, Arcadia said:

@mathnerd@sassenach

https://bolinastesting.org/

"Through a collaborative effort between Coastal Health Alliance, the Bolinas Fire Department, Marin County Department of Public Health, Mesa Park, volunteers, and UCSF Infectious Disease experts, all residents of Bolinas aged 4 and up can safely be tested for COVID-19, free of charge.

This is an incredible opportunity for us to protect our elderly, first responders, and town-sustaining workers, while contributing to research that will benefit every Bolinas community member and the entire Bay Area.

TESTING WAS COMPLETED ON APRIL 23RD

1,844 Bolinas residents and West Marin first responders were tested for active virus (PCR) and antibodies.

All participants will receive their PCR results over the next few days.

Aggregate results are expected next week. Results from the antibody test will take a few weeks and will be communicated when they are ready.

...

When will I get my results?

The samples will be analyzed at UCSF and our goal is to communicate results to each positive individual within 7 days. (Please note that if there is a surge in urgent hospital tests, results may take longer.)  While the PCR viral Infection test results are expected to take less than 7 it is important to know that the antibody tests will take 4-6 weeks. "

 

looking forward to the comparison of the antibody testing numbers between Bolinas and the Mission District.

[ElizabethB]

13 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

looking forward to the comparison of the antibody testing numbers between Bolinas and the Mission District.

I'm looking forward to Idaho's ski county antibody testing, it should be coming soon, but I don't think they've started it yet.

[Arcadia]

5 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

looking forward to the comparison of the antibody testing numbers between Bolinas and the Mission District.

Mission District testing started yesterday so it would be quite some time before results would be out.

https://missionlocal.org/2020/04/mission-residents-gather-for-free-covid-19-testing-a-scene-that-will-likely-become-more-common/
“Update 6:12 p.m. 

At the end of the day on Saturday, UCSF doctors, nurses, and a large cadre of community volunteers had tested some 950 residents at four locations in the Mission, according to Diane Jones, a retired HIV nurse and volunteer for the effort. Up until now, the largest number of residents tested on one day was 577 on April 23. 

Jones said that some sites got off to a slower start because of logistical and infrastructure issues such as porta-potties.  The head of Department of Public Works jumped in to resolve that issue, and other city officials, she said, were exceedingly helpful. 

Jones said there were fewer Latino families among the residents tested today, and to remedy this the volunteers have already planned a door-to-door effort for Sunday to increase Latino participation. By 2:30 p.m., the lines at most of the sites were gone and residents who had not registered could show up and be tested immediately.”

https://missionlocal.org/2020/04/mission-district-mass-covid-19-testing-could-blow-up-the-citys-data-but-thats-okay/

“Because, among all the reasons you should take the test if you’re eligible, one that has been underreported is: It’s not just about you. 

At the massive outbreak at the MSC-South homeless shelter, the majority of the 100-plus positive cases were asymptomatic. The same goes for the deadliest outbreak in the city thus far, at the Central Gardens Convalescent Hospital.

... 

“We want everybody to take the test, regardless of symptoms,” says Dr. Gabriel Chamie of UCSF, who is helping to lead this four-day test-a-thon. If you’re worried about displacing someone needier — don’t. It’s paid for: “We have all of the kits we need for the testing.””

 

[TravelingChris]

15 hours ago, wilrunner said:

I remember reading about breathing issues as the virus takes hold in the body. My dd, a med school student who has been doing nasal and pharyngeal swabs for drive thru testing, has had a dry cough for the last couple of days. Last night, she coughed and said she didn't have shortness of breath, but had a hard time inhaling the next breath. Her description sounded like shortness of breath to me, but she was very specific that it wasn't. She was tested last Saturday before she had any symptoms because in her city everyone can be tested and she was curious about her exposure. They did the nasal swab only and it came back negative. However, this particular test is known for having false negatives. She has been in teletouch with her dr's partner, who is sending her for another test tomorrow. 

Her comments about breathing (not shortness of breath, but similar) rang a bell in my mind about how breathing changes with Covid. Do any of you remember any articles about this? I don't know if it was on this thread or elsewhere, but I'd like to send it to her. In my mind, as a med student, she knows things better than I do, but she's willing to listen to what I tell her. She was unfamiliar with the possible effects of Vit D until I mentioned it to her on Friday, then her dr. told her to start taking it yesterday. (In fact, the things her doctor told her were the same I'd told her to do. She thought that was funny.)

The most important thing to be testing is pulse ox.

[Ausmumof3]

Passed 3,000,000 cases 

[Pen]

49 minutes ago, square_25 said:

No, I don’t know what they are. I’d need to do a lot more research to figure out how relevant they are, though.

 

Sounds like a good idea for while you are probably stuck at home. 

49 minutes ago, square_25 said:

Anyway, back to COVID 19 🙂 

 

Yup. 😊

[Pen]

If anyone needs a good book, I am enjoying http://Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393346617/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_45SPEbRQ0C4ZC

 

I have gotten to the SARS1 parts, and even though we know that SARS2  has many differences, it is fascinating. And eerie. 

 

[Pen]

35 minutes ago, square_25 said:

All of our writing time with DD7 is spent learning about viruses at the moment. Reading about viruses right now is definitely a bit spooky, lol. 

 

I had a lot of biology related education when I expected to take my family’s typical track of medicine or research science, and learned quite a lot about viruses then.  But that was back in the last century 😁, and both advances in what is known now and the viral illnesses that have come in the years since have been amazing.  

 

[Pen]

@square_25 John Campbell has a video today particularly related to NYC:

https://youtu.be/S1LHg-Nv53k

https://youtu.be/S1LHg-Nv53k

 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, square_25 said:

All of our writing time with DD7 is spent learning about viruses at the moment. Reading about viruses right now is definitely a bit spooky, lol. 

I'm kind of glad DD took epidemiology last school year. I think it would be a hard class to make it through now.

[Jaybee]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/24/strokes-coronavirus-young-patients/

This is something dd has been seeing. I don't know details nor how common, i.e., percentage of cases or anything.

[vonfirmath]

3 hours ago, Pen said:

If anyone needs a good book, I am enjoying http://Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393346617/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_45SPEbRQ0C4ZC

 

I have gotten to the SARS1 parts, and even though we know that SARS2  has many differences, it is fascinating. And eerie. 

 

 

The link didn't work for me but i looked it up on Amazon:

https://smile.amazon.com/Spillover-Animal-Infections-Human-Pandemic/dp/0393346617/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1588002575&sr=

It feels eerily like I've at least looked at reading it before (At the end of 2019 I read a book about the Spanish Flu of 1918 and started looking at other books). Will have to pick it up.

[Wildcat]

On 4/26/2020 at 10:37 AM, RootAnn said:

I have seen wildly different ratios. Like, one study had 400 IU  (10 mcg) of Vit D3 to 45 mg of K2. Another paired the same amount of D3 to 200 mg of K2. Yet a third had participants take 8 mcg of Vit D3 with only 1 mg of K2. 

I just take the combo in my preferred D3/K2 supplement which is 125 mcg (5,000 IU) of D3 to 100 mg of K2. I have no idea if this is not enough K2 or too much. None of my other vitamins have K2 in them, so any other Vitamin K comes from my diet (some days, I might get 50-200 mg & others none). My life is too complicated already, so I just try to remember to take my vitamins everyday.

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my question.

The wildly different ratios is what I found, too, and it's all so confusing to me. I can't keep the IU/MCG/MG stuff straight, so that adds to my confusion.

Would you be willing to share the supplement you use? A combination pill would be great as I hate taking multiple pills.

[ElizabethB]

3 hours ago, Pen said:

 

I had a lot of biology related education when I expected to take my family’s typical track of medicine or research science, and learned quite a lot about viruses then.  But that was back in the last century 😁, and both advances in what is known now and the viral illnesses that have come in the years since have been amazing.  

 

And a lot of what you learn in biology is tiny bits of information that later leave the brain.  I took a few sample CLEP tests for various subjects to see how hard they were and see if there were any my daughter could pass with just a bit of study.  I did much better on the history one than the biology one thanks to SWB, just reading through her history to the kids made me score higher than my actual degree!  

My degree in Biology was from 1991.  I got a masters in Industrial Engineering in 1994 and worked as a statistician in the Air Force for a while.  Both degrees come together nicely to easily produce vitamin D charts! Several people on twitter have complemented me on them.  I mention that they were crowdsourced by homeschool moms and that version 10 is much better! 

[Corraleno]

44 minutes ago, Jaybee said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/24/strokes-coronavirus-young-patients/

This is something dd has been seeing. I don't know details nor how common, i.e., percentage of cases or anything.

That is terrifying 😥

[RootAnn]

1 hour ago, Wildcat said:

Would you be willing to share the supplement you use? A combination pill would be great as I hate taking multiple pills.

Sure. Sports Research K2+D3 It comes somehow 'in' or with Coconut Oil. They are supposed to be easier to absorb if taken with a fat, thus I like everything done for me. There are others like this (combined in oil), so don't feel tied to the one I take.

ETA:  My D level was under 20 in December. I started taking these right after getting my lab results. I was supposed to have my level checked again in March but didn't. I'm thinking about doing a home test (mail order lab) to see where it is now & check if I should take 10,000 IU/day or stick with 5,000 IU/day. Haven't decided yet.

Edited April 27, 2020 by RootAnn
Added more info