wuhan - coronavirus

[YaelAldrich]

21 hours ago, bookbard said:

I just got a flo mask - your skin doesn't touch the reusable filter, and the rest of it is silicone and so you can wash it over after each use. I also saw another reusable mask advertised which comes with its on UV case to sterilise after each use. 

I keep thinking that this may be a long-term thing, masking. Covid, monkeypox, pollution, bushfire smoke. So I'm hoping the smart people out there are creating super awesome masks. I quite like the flo mask, but it's not 100% fantastic (for one thing it really highlights my double chin . . . and more seriously puts my glasses on a slightly annoying angle). 

I use the Totobobo mask which is modeled off of the KN95 style. Can you please tell me more about the Flo Mask? Can you easily talk and feel like it stays in the face ok? 

[bookbard]

3 hours ago, YaelAldrich said:

Can you easily talk and feel like it stays in the face ok? 

Yes, there's no problem with that at all. I think your speech would be clearer than with a disposable mask because of the space at the front.

Conversation with customer today who was going on about the high covid numbers, and people who won't mask up, it's crazy . . . 

He wasn't wearing a mask. 

Edited July 25, 2022 by bookbard

[bookbard]

Well, Australia has this morning the highest hospitalisations for Covid since the Pandemic began (which properly took off Dec last year).

And in other terrifying news, there may be a link between Covid and CJD (mad cow disease). IE your brain might fold up. 

[ktgrok]

22 hours ago, Malory said:

When a friend comes to eat at my house, she and I understand that we are both healthy and not at great risk of passing covid virus to each other. I don't see the benefit of taking it on and off. Maybe I am projecting my own discomfort. I admit I can't stand wearing the same mask after taking it off. Personally, I am not any more comfortable being around a sick person breathing out viral particles through a days-old cloth/surgical mask than no mask at all. I also tend to assume people aren't infectious unless they are experiencing symptoms (I know asymptomatic transmission can happen).  Others may feel differently.

Obviously you are the only one that determines your comfort level - but none of the bolded is based on actual fact. We know the opposite to be true. 

Heck, I caught it from my husband before he had symptoms, the people he must have caught it from did not have any apparent symptoms, etc etc. They eventually DID get symptoms, but were spreading it before those showed up. Which is true of many illnesses - you can be very contagious right before your symptoms start. By the time you feel sick you are already spreading the virus. 

So although you say others may "feel differently" the actual facts of how this spreads don't have anything to do with how anyone feels. 

[Ausmumof3]

43 minutes ago, bookbard said:

Well, Australia has this morning the highest hospitalisations for Covid since the Pandemic began (which properly took off Dec last year).

And in other terrifying news, there may be a link between Covid and CJD (mad cow disease). IE your brain might fold up. 

Eek what? 

[bookbard]

4 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Eek what? 

An association between Covid and CJD - possible that person already had it though:

Yoni Maisel on Twitter: "Very troubling ⚠️: The 4⃣th case of fatal "CJD" 🧠 in association with #COVID19 🦠 https://t.co/KuhZAa6NzQ #womeninstem #openscience #scicomm #snrtg #immunology #neurology #raredisease https://t.co/7kg3bFqjDb" / Twitter

 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/07/22/how-should-businesses-prepare-for-long-covid/?sh=19c6c6019ff8

on the need for businesses to prepare for long-covid associated costs and issues including increased healthcare costs etc

 

[Ausmumof3]

The average wait time for non-critical cases at my local ED is currently over eight hours. It’s always at its worst this time of day but that is very much the worst I’ve seen it.

[Arcadia]

26 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Eek what? 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19336896.2022.2095185 
“It has been recently demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins show high affinity for amyloid-forming proteins, the highest being for PrP; heparin seems to further increase the affinity in template-based models [18]. This may account for the appearance or worsening of symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases after COVID-19, although a definitive estimate of the neurological burden of COVID-19 will require the creation and analysis of dedicated prospective registries [2]. On the other hand, current world-wide CJD epidemiological data do not show an increase of CJD cases since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic [6,19].

In conclusion, the present case adds sCJD to the growing group of post-COVID-19 neurological diseases and emphasizes the link between neuroinflammation and protein misfolding. Further preclinical and epidemiological studies are needed to establish the actual role of SARS-CoV-2 as an initiator of neurodegeneration.”

[KSera]

While we’re talking about masks again, I just saw this good roundup thread about current mask stuff:

(If anyone has trouble opening Twitter threads here, for me what works is to click on the date at the end. On my phone I hold down on the date and choose “open in new tab”)

A few highlights from the thread:

79% effective in preventing household transmission!

If anyone is still wearing a surgical mask but would like to improve the fit and efficacy:

On N95 reuse:

N95s are very helpful even when not fit tested (The style of N95 makes a difference. The cup shaped ones fit the fewest faces, the Aura boat style ones seem to fit them most):

 

 

[ktgrok]

2 minutes ago, KSera said:

While we’re talking about masks again, I just saw this good roundup thread about current mask stuff:

(If anyone has trouble opening Twitter threads here, for me what works is to click on the date at the end. On my phone I hold down on the date and choose “open in new tab”)

A few highlights from the thread:

79% effective in preventing household transmission!

If anyone is still wearing a surgical mask but would like to improve the fit and efficacy:

On N95 reuse:

N95s are very helpful even when not fit tested (The style of N95 makes a difference. The cup shaped ones fit the fewest faces, the Aura boat style ones seem to fit them most):

 

 

So, what - covering your face to catch the snot and other stuff you spew helps prevent spread of disease? CRAZY!!!! How could ANYONE have predicted such a thing? (end sarcasm now)

[Melissa Louise]

Before I got P2 masks I was knotting and tucking my surgical masks for at least a year - I showed as many ppl as I could the video of how to do it - and in that year I only ever saw a single other random person using the technique. Frustrating! It's so easy. 

[Melissa Louise]

33 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

The average wait time for non-critical cases at my local ED is currently over eight hours. It’s always at its worst this time of day but that is very much the worst I’ve seen it.

I can't remember if I mentioned it, but the last time dd was in ED she was there for 36 hrs before being discharged into my care because there were no beds available anywhere, and no expectation of that changing.  A friend took her dd to ED with pneumonia two weeks ago ( breathing issues in the night ) - they waited 12+ hrs. The system is so screwed. If I was a hcw I think I'd walk at this point. 

 

 

 

 

[bookbard]

4 hours ago, Melissa Louise said:

I can't remember if I mentioned it, but the last time dd was in ED she was there for 36 hrs before being discharged into my care because there were no beds available anywhere, and no expectation of that changing.  A friend took her dd to ED with pneumonia two weeks ago ( breathing issues in the night ) - they waited 12+ hrs. The system is so screwed. If I was a hcw I think I'd walk at this point. 

 

Terrible. A friend (a care worker) took an elderly man to hospital yday - she said it was just insane, chaotic, and they didn't admit him because they just didn't have the time or space to care for him. The daughter is moving in and doing the nursing, hoping the infection doesn't get worse.

Vanessa11🦋 on Twitter: "Another child death due to covid, a boy aged 0-9 years. Five child deaths due to uncontrolled covid have been recorded in Australia in 3 weeks. How is this ok @AlboMP @Mark_Butler_MP ? #auspol 💔 Cc: @BigBadDenis @drkerrynphelps @NjbBari3 @YouAreLobbyLud @drajm @DrShaneRRR https://t.co/F6WsyzxL50" / Twitter

So that's 5 child deaths in 3 weeks from Covid. This is what we feared when this started in 2020, when only a third of parents sent their kids to school out of fear. Now? School camps at both my kids' schools (that they used to attend), and even the cautious parents sending the kids. They've been 'trained' to ignore Covid by the govt institutions such as schools. 

[Malory]

6 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Obviously you are the only one that determines your comfort level - but none of the bolded is based on actual fact. We know the opposite to be true. 

Heck, I caught it from my husband before he had symptoms, the people he must have caught it from did not have any apparent symptoms, etc etc. They eventually DID get symptoms, but were spreading it before those showed up. Which is true of many illnesses - you can be very contagious right before your symptoms start. By the time you feel sick you are already spreading the virus. 

So although you say others may "feel differently" the actual facts of how this spreads don't have anything to do with how anyone feels. 

Yes, I was speaking about my personal comfort level. Maybe I could have used more precise words. I am okay with my risk level of catching the virus when I interact with people in a way that assumes they are not infectious. Some friends feel/see that as too great of a risk so they take more precautions like requesting to eat outdoors, only meeting online, not meeting at all, etc. 

I am aware of pre-symtomatic spread having experienced that in my own family, twice. 

[ktgrok]

13 hours ago, Malory said:

Yes, I was speaking about my personal comfort level. Maybe I could have used more precise words. I am okay with my risk level of catching the virus when I interact with people in a way that assumes they are not infectious. Some friends feel/see that as too great of a risk so they take more precautions like requesting to eat outdoors, only meeting online, not meeting at all, etc. 

I am aware of pre-symtomatic spread having experienced that in my own family, twice. 

ah, ok, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying it wasn't risky, not that it was a risk level you were accepting. Now I get it it, sorry!

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-27/almost-half-of-australians-had-a-recent-case-of-covid-by-june/101271784?sf259141804=1&fbclid=IwAR1D6KpAU_U5-L_PO5E0ZyJKYXyqAlyLNc79hVJYpTsnt-uAEMfRKJCMCXE
 

Antibody testing indicates 46pc of Australians had covid by early June. This tracks pretty well with the people I know - pretty much anyone with kids had had it, the older demographic have dodged it for now. I imagine this BA5 wave will have significantly increased the percentage.

[Ausmumof3]

Over 4000 cases today here again, but lower than last week. The Ref is below 1 and I’m hopeful that we may have passed the peak. Not sure yet if we escaped, DD is still negative on RAT but did take her down for PCR as she’s coughing a lot. Still waiting on the outcome of that. 

[bookbard]

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Over 4000 cases today here again, but lower than last week. The Ref is below 1 and I’m hopeful that we may have passed the peak. Not sure yet if we escaped, DD is still negative on RAT but did take her down for PCR as she’s coughing a lot. Still waiting on the outcome of that. 

Good luck! So many different viruses going around, lots of my extended family ill with various things. 

I feel like NSW prob hasn't passed peak yet. Can't believe VIC has removed PCR testing for most people. I really hope the other states don't follow. 

Very sad article today about a family losing their toddler to Covid. They're expecting a new baby any day. I just can't imagine the pain. Family mourns death of Queensland toddler Ruby Edwards who died with COVID-19 - ABC News

[Melissa Louise]

Poor family 😔

Close contact casual ( family all has Covid) working unmasked at school today, b/c exec told her it was her choice whether or not to mask. 

Came home to find bonus kid 1 is sick - have delivered a RAT but not sure if she's done it yet. Bonus kid 2 had a cough but tested neg twice. Making them mask up anyway. 

 

 

[bookbard]

14 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

Close contact casual ( family all has Covid) working unmasked at school today, b/c exec told her it was her choice whether or not to mask. 

 

Wow that's crazy. I thought it was a legal requirement? 

Got a message from old school that the Dept is having a 4 week "covid blitz". Masks? No. Stopping camps, cross-school activities? No. Just means parents can't enter school grounds. Seriously - what's that got to do with anything?!?

[Melissa Louise]

3 minutes ago, bookbard said:

Wow that's crazy. I thought it was a legal requirement? 

Got a message from old school that the Dept is having a 4 week "covid blitz". Masks? No. Stopping camps, cross-school activities? No. Just means parents can't enter school grounds. Seriously - what's that got to do with anything?!?

Insert hysterical laughter here.

[bookbard]

1 minute ago, Melissa Louise said:

Insert hysterical laughter here.

I know, right?

[Ausmumof3]

Dd is clear on PCR so I guess she has picked up something else. Phew. 

[Ausmumof3]

Local hospital ED near us is two patients short of double it’s capacity right now.

[kbutton]

https://local12.com/health/medical-edge-reports/rates-of-gestational-diabetes-in-pregnant-women-jumped-during-pandemic-cincinnati-ohio-kentucky-indiana-trihealth-weight-stress-exercise-covid-19-babies-children?fbclid=IwAR1KMnMlcY52gR03VSPKw67uFd7Xa2zHJJnhB-wDJV0t9MPy9tUuhC8WUeo

Quote

This study just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows cases of gestational diabetes, which is diabetes during pregnancy, jumped in the first year of this pandemic. Specialists are concerned that this past year that it likely climbed even more.

Researchers in this study say women who were pregnant in the pandemic may have simply not been able to be as active due to COVID-19 precautions. The pandemic also upped the odds of both physical and emotional stress.

I think it's interesting that it mentions stress, stress eating, and less activity, but it makes no mention of Covid itself even though we know that Covid increases diabetes risk. So weird!

It doesn't seem to link to the study, and I cannot find it via Google.

 

[Arcadia]

33 minutes ago, kbutton said:

https://local12.com/health/medical-edge-reports/rates-of-gestational-diabetes-in-pregnant-women-jumped-during-pandemic-cincinnati-ohio-kentucky-indiana-trihealth-weight-stress-exercise-covid-19-babies-children?fbclid=IwAR1KMnMlcY52gR03VSPKw67uFd7Xa2zHJJnhB-wDJV0t9MPy9tUuhC8WUeo

I think it's interesting that it mentions stress, stress eating, and less activity, but it makes no mention of Covid itself even though we know that Covid increases diabetes risk. So weird!

It doesn't seem to link to the study, and I cannot find it via Google.

 

This China study seems clearer though not the CDC study you are looking for

Association of COVID-19 Lockdown With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.824245/full

”This study comprehensively investigates the effect of COVID-19 lockdown measures on GDM risks in pregnant women using a large database from South China. The results suggested that the COVID-19 lockdown measures were associated with an increased risk of GDM in pregnant women. The association was stronger in pregnant women within the first four months of pregnancy during the Level I lockdown period. In addition, we observed a significant exposure-response association between cumulative exposures to lockdown and GDM risk. These findings extend our understanding of the effects of COVID-19 lockdown measures on maternal and fetal health, and suggest taking actions to prevent the risk of GDM in pregnant women during COVID-19 lockdown periods.

A population study in Italy is consistent with our results. Zanardo et al. found a significant increase in the prevalence of GDM among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Experiencing lockdown during the first trimester of pregnancy plays an important role in increasing the GDM risk in pregnant women (21). Moreover, several previous studies had estimated the associations of disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic with adverse human health including pregnancy complications. For example, a study in New York State reported an increased risk of GDM after massive power outages during Hurricane Sandy (22). Another study found a 42.3% (95% CI: 15.0%, 76.0%) increase in emergency department visits for diabetes or abnormal blood sugar in New York State during Hurricane Sandy (23). A study of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 showed a 5% increase in the prevalence of GDM among the most affected residents compared to those who were not affected (24). On top of that, during the COVID-19 lockdown, an Indian cohort study found an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (25), and some other studies found that lockdown measures designed to avoid SARS-CoV-2 transmission may contribute to the deterioration of control in patients with diabetes (9, 10).

These previous studies suggest the plausible causal association between COVID-19 lockdown and GDM, which may relate to several reasons. First, during the COVID-19 lockdown period, most medical services were allocated to tackle the pandemic, and it is difficult for pregnant women to receive timely and adequate prenatal care (26). Pregnant women may also cut back on prenatal care for reasons such as fear of contracting COVID-19 patients in the hospital, following government recommendations to stay home, and restricting transportation (27, 28). Second, social distancing and family economic stress during the lockdown may induce psychological problems in pregnant women who could not attend entertainment venues, play team sports, or meet friends to relax (7, 29). Mental disorders have been regarded as a common risk factor of GDM (30). Third, there is a lot published data, including from China (31), to show that people gain weight during the lockdown. Maternal BMI was an independent risk factor for GDM (32). During the lockdown, snacks and carbohydrates are consumed more (33, 34), and the movement range and mode were greatly restricted (14, 35), which can lead to an elevated maternal BMI.

We further observed that women in the first four months during the Level I lockdown were at a greater risk of developing GDM, which is consistent with previous studies. For instance, Abdo et al. also reported a positive association between exposure to wildfire smoke during early pregnancy and GDM (36). These findings suggest that early pregnancy might be a susceptible exposure window for environmental factors affecting GDM in pregnant women. Changes in environments, behaviors, and the psychological status during the lockdown, such as physical inactivity, low sleep levels, poor diet, and mental health problems, may disturb the normal glycometabolism, and lead to GDM (37). In addition, these women in the early pregnancy during the Level I lockdown would continue to experience lockdown measures even though the Level I lockdown was over, and therefore get more cumulative exposures to lockdown measures in the first 28 GWs. We also observed a positive exposure-response association between cumulative exposure to COVID-19 lockdown and the risk of GDM, which also suggests a higher risk of GDM in women who have experienced the most cumulative exposures to lockdown. Therefore, the government and others should consider how to provide economic, medical treatment, and psychological assistance to pregnant women to reduce the risk of GDM.”

Edited July 27, 2022 by Arcadia
messed up formatting

[kbutton]

10 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

These previous studies suggest the plausible causal association between COVID-19 lockdown and GDM, which may relate to several reasons.

That's a much more thoughtful discussion than what I found. Thanks!

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337#.YuHysg4XP4I.twitter
 

Origin study shows two likely separate animal to human transmission events both clustered around the WuhAn market. 
 

“Discussion

The genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 during the early pandemic presents a paradox. Lineage A viruses are at least two mutations closer to bat coronaviruses, indicating that the ancestor of SARS-CoV-2 arose from this lineage. However, lineage B viruses predominated early in the pandemic, particularly at the Huanan market, indicating that this lineage began spreading earlier in humans. Further complicating this matter is the molecular clock of SARS-CoV-2 in humans, which rejects a single-introduction origin of the pandemic from a lineage A virus. Here, we resolve this paradox by showing that early SARS-CoV-2 genomic diversity and epidemiology is best explained by at least two separate zoonotic transmissions, in which lineage A and B progenitor viruses were both circulating in non-human mammals prior to their introduction into humans (figs. S30 and S31).

The most probable explanation for the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into humans involves zoonotic jumps from as-yet undetermined, intermediate host animals at the Huanan market (34, 38, 39). Through late-2019 the Huanan market sold animals that are known to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and capable of intra-species transmission (40–42). The presence of potential animal reservoirs, coupled with the timing of the lineage B primary case and the geographic clustering of early cases around the Huanan market (39), support the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 lineage B jumped into humans at the Huanan market in mid-November 2019.

In a related study (39), we show that the two earliest lineage A cases are more closely positioned geographically to the Huanan market than expected compared with other COVID-19 cases in Wuhan in early 2020, despite having no known association with the market. This geographic proximity is consistent with a separate and subsequent origin of lineage A at the Huanan market in late-November 2019. The presence of lineage A virus at the Huanan market was confirmed by Gao et al. (43) from a sample taken from discarded gloves.

The high extinction rate of SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains, observed in both our simulations and real-world data (44), indicates that the two zoonotic events establishing lineages A and B may have been accompanied by additional, cryptic introductions. However, such introductions could easily be missed, particularly if their subsequent transmission chains quickly went extinct or the introduced viruses had a lineage A or B haplotype. Failed introductions of intermediate haplotypes are also possible. Critically, we have no evidence of subsequent zoonotic introductions in late-December leading up to the closure of the Huanan market on 1 January 2020. By then, the susceptible host animals that had been documented at the market during the previous months were no longer found in the Huanan market (34).”

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Ausmumof3

[Mom_to3]

Updated boosters in mid-September? Nytimes article about updated boosters and decision to not currently expand eligibility below age 50 right now. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/politics/covid-booster-shots.html

Also note that 

“You can’t get a vaccine shot Aug. 1 and get another vaccine shot Sept. 15 and expect the second shot to do anything,” said Shane Crotty, a virologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. “You’ve got so much antibody around, if you get another dose, it won’t do anything.”

“The antibodies stop that next dose from working” if the next dose is given too early, he added — a pattern that applies to other vaccines, such as tetanus or flu shots, as well."

Not sure if I trust the mid-Sept date. Also, I hope they'll be more precise how they will approach the rollout very soon as people decide whether to get a booster before the start of the school year (I do wish that timeline had been just a bit earlier.). Will the elderly and immunocompromised who are, say, 5 months out from their second booster, say, get priority over other adults that are 10 months out? How long will the rollout take? Will kids again be ignored?

I also hope that Moderna will be widely available (the have not yet contracted with Moderna according to the article). With this being a split booster, there will hardly be any B5 in Pfizer.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Mom_to3

[KSera]

1 hour ago, Mom_to3 said:

Updated boosters in mid-September? Nytimes article about updated boosters and decision to not currently expand eligibility below age 50 right now. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/us/politics/covid-booster-shots.html

Also note that 

“You can’t get a vaccine shot Aug. 1 and get another vaccine shot Sept. 15 and expect the second shot to do anything,” said Shane Crotty, a virologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. “You’ve got so much antibody around, if you get another dose, it won’t do anything.”

“The antibodies stop that next dose from working” if the next dose is given too early, he added — a pattern that applies to other vaccines, such as tetanus or flu shots, as well."

Not sure if I trust the mid-Sept date. Also, I hope they'll be more precise how they will approach the rollout very soon as people decide whether to get a booster before the start of the school year (I do wish that timeline had been just a bit earlier.). Will the elderly and immunocompromised who are, say, 5 months out from their second booster, say, get priority over other adults that are 10 months out? How long will the rollout take? Will kids again be ignored?

I also hope that Moderna will be widely available (the have not yet contracted with Moderna according to the article). With this being a split booster, there will hardly be any B5 in Pfizer.

Agree with all that. They suggest that maybe kids will be included, but that doesn’t help those of us who need to make a decision whether to boost a kid with the old shot now or wait for the new one. I’m not waiting unti December to boost, but I would certainly wait until September if it meant the new one. The uncertainty makes decision making very difficult.

I’m also worried they will preference Pfizer once again and Moderna won’t be available even if it performed better. 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02026-x
 

How long are you infectious after covid? I don’t think there’s much new information here but this seems to be a really common question on the forum and this is a good summary of the knowledge/evidence at the moment.

[bookbard]

107 deaths in Victoria today. Apparently 'catch up deaths'. Oh my goodness. This is just insane. 

 

[Longtime Lurker]

9 hours ago, Mom_to3 said:

“You can’t get a vaccine shot Aug. 1 and get another vaccine shot Sept. 15 and expect the second shot to do anything,” said Shane Crotty, a virologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. “You’ve got so much antibody around, if you get another dose, it won’t do anything.”

“The antibodies stop that next dose from working” if the next dose is given too early, he added — a pattern that applies to other vaccines, such as tetanus or flu shots, as well."

Not sure if I trust the mid-Sept date.

This is my concern. I had my second booster in late September 2021 (was eligible on the early side due to teaching). I was about to get my second booster in May 2022 (I am 50) but then got covid. The doctor said to wait three months for the booster. So I can get it next week, which makes a lot of sense to me since school starts back the third week of August. But then how long would I have to wait to get the new one?

[bookbard]

Already over a hundred deaths reported between NSW/VIC today, other states haven't reported yet. Deaths and hospitalisations higher than the January peak, only reason cases aren't so high is because people aren't testing and reporting. 

 

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, bookbard said:

Deaths and hospitalisations higher than the January peak, only reason cases aren't so high is because people aren't testing and reporting. 

I am sorry to hear this. We have high cases, but the hospitals aren't anywhere close to at peak this time. 

[Melissa in Australia]

Dd and her baby both have covid. They did multiple rat tests and they were negative so she thought she had the flue. She  thought she had tonsillitis as she was having trouble breathing during the night so her husband took her to hospital. They did rat tests there that came back negative as well. She was given a litre of iv fluid and medication to reduce throat swelling. Then sent home. Just before departing the hospital they gave her a pcr test and flue test. Sure enough she was positive. Apparently the rats are less than 60% accurate with latest varients. 

She is feeling way better now and baby only has a slight cough. Apparently he went  all out on cuteness in the ER and got everyone smiling. Dd said it was probably the best medicine for everyone in the waiting room

Edited July 30, 2022 by Melissa in Australia

[KSera]

4 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Dd and her baby both have covid. They did multiple rat tests and they were negative so she thought she had the flue. She  thought she had tonsillitis as she was having trouble breathing during the night so her husband took her to hospital. They did rat tests there that came back negative as well. She was given a litre of iv fluid and medication to reduce throat swelling. Then sent home. Just before departing the hospital they gave her a pcr test. Sure enough she was positive. Apparently the rats are less than 60% accurate with latest varients. 

She is feeling way better now and baby only has a slight cough. Apparently he went  all out on cuteness in the ER and got everyone smiling. Dd said it was probably the best medicine for everyone in the waiting room

I'm sorry to hear. I hope they are both feeling 100% very soon. How old is the baby now?

[Melissa in Australia]

15 minutes ago, KSera said:

I'm sorry to hear. I hope they are both feeling 100% very soon. How old is the baby now?

Thank you 

Baby is 19 weeks

 

[bookbard]

23 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Dd and her baby both have covid. They did multiple rat tests and they were negative so she thought she had the flue. She  thought she had tonsillitis as she was having trouble breathing during the night so her husband took her to hospital. They did rat tests there that came back negative as well. She was given a litre of iv fluid and medication to reduce throat swelling. Then sent home. Just before departing the hospital they gave her a pcr test and flue test. Sure enough she was positive. Apparently the rats are less than 60% accurate with latest varients. 

She is feeling way better now and baby only has a slight cough. Apparently he went  all out on cuteness in the ER and got everyone smiling. Dd said it was probably the best medicine for everyone in the waiting room

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, hope they both recover soon. Agree that RATs just aren't accurate enough. Can just imagine how that cute little baby cheered everyone up!

[Ausmumof3]

7 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Dd and her baby both have covid. They did multiple rat tests and they were negative so she thought she had the flue. She  thought she had tonsillitis as she was having trouble breathing during the night so her husband took her to hospital. They did rat tests there that came back negative as well. She was given a litre of iv fluid and medication to reduce throat swelling. Then sent home. Just before departing the hospital they gave her a pcr test and flue test. Sure enough she was positive. Apparently the rats are less than 60% accurate with latest varients. 

She is feeling way better now and baby only has a slight cough. Apparently he went  all out on cuteness in the ER and got everyone smiling. Dd said it was probably the best medicine for everyone in the waiting room

I’m glad she’s doing better now and hope she continues her recovery. 

[Ausmumof3]

Cases are definitely on the way down here and hospitalisations are dropping as well. Hopefully the worst is this round is over.

[Ausmumof3]

Looks like Biden maybe experiencing the paxlovid rebound?

[Kassia]

10 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Looks like Biden maybe experiencing the paxlovid rebound?

Yes, he and his doctor said that is it.  

[YaelAldrich]

The media keeps saying Paxlovid rebound is rare. It's not that rare. For an old man who is literally one of the leaders of the free world why the heck couldn't they put him on 10 days of Paxlovid? Now this is going to make Pfizer look bad, Paxlovid look bad, and might put President Biden at risk again! 

[wathe]

3 hours ago, YaelAldrich said:

The media keeps saying Paxlovid rebound is rare. It's not that rare. For an old man who is literally one of the leaders of the free world why the heck couldn't they put him on 10 days of Paxlovid? Now this is going to make Pfizer look bad, Paxlovid look bad, and might put President Biden at risk again! 

My colleagues and I have been asking ourselves the opposite question: Why did they put him on paxlovid at all?  He's fully vaccinated.  There is no good evidence to support its use in vaccinated people (immune-compromise not withstanding).  And unless he has greater than 3 risk factors, which as per this report, he does not, he would not meet guidelines for paxlovid use in my jurisdiction - which are transparent and as evidence-based as possible.   Some of his regular meds (apixaban, rosuvastatin), which have proven benefit for his chronic conditions, have significant interactions with paxlovid and would have to be held or adjusted.  So, removing meds with proven benefit in order to administer a different med with no evidence of benefit for someone with his risk profile (vaxed!).

Of course, I don't know his real medical history or risk factor profile, perhaps there's more that's not publicly known.  And he doesn't live in my jurisdiction, so my local guidelines don't apply, of course (but they're really good!) 

Edited to all links

Edited July 31, 2022 by wathe

[Ausmumof3]

Interesting. Paxlovid is being really pushed here but can’t be used by the person I’d be most worried about due to medication interaction. I’m not all “big pharma big profits conspiracy theory” about it, but it does seem like maybe some governments have over invested in it so are pushing it a bit more than warranted at the moment. 

[wathe]

5 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Interesting. Paxlovid is being really pushed here but can’t be used by the person I’d be most worried about due to medication interaction. I’m not all “big pharma big profits conspiracy theory” about it, but it does seem like maybe some governments have over invested in it so are pushing it a bit more than warranted at the moment. 

Yes.  There are politcal and philosophical issues at play.  It would be nice if we could solve a pandemic with a pill, but we can't.  At least not this one.  But it's easier (and more palatable to voters) to pretend that we can, rather than do the hard and unpopular things like mask mandates, mandating indoor air quality standards, paid sick days etc

[wathe]

The Atlantic article on paxlovid uncertainty - who is likely to benefit, murky data, rebound.

It quotes Pfizer's trial rebound rate of 2%.  IME, in the real world it's much higher than that.

Note that Pfizer also reported a dysgeusia (bad taste in mouth) rate of about 20% in the same trial.  Real world experience suggests its closer to approaching 100%.  I've only ever encountered one person who said they didn't have it. And I do a lot of paxlovid follow ups.

ETA - As I've posted before, EPIC-HR is problematic for a lot of reasons, and almost certainly overestimates the benefit of paxlovid.

Edited July 31, 2022 by wathe

[bookbard]

Well, just got alerts from child's old school - they went on a camp last week - the alerts were for 'several' students with covid and conjunctivitis. Friend's husband has been told by Drs to sell business and retire (they're in mid 40s) as he has Long Covid and the stress is damaging his heart. They caught it off daughter who went to school camp 5mths ago. 

Covid numbers may have peaked in Vic and NSW. Someone (smarter than me) pointed out very high death/ICU rates and wondered whether it's the more serious variant or undercounting causing that. Maybe both. 

This is an aside, but I've noticed lots of reports in the last month or so of children murdered by a family member or a foster carer. I have no idea where to find stats on this, whether this is normal or not, but seems like an increase . . . due to stress from the world we live in, crumbling supports due to staff off sick constantly? It seems to be mostly in families who are 'known' to the authorities.