Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #49

[ilovewings]

Detroit girl, 5, dies of COVID-19. She's Michigan's youngest victim

I am posting about this death because she was the youngest victim of the virus in Michigan: also because she had unusual symptoms- such a nice family and the little girl was absolutely adorable and sweet looking: my heart just breaks for her and her family. This is a ruthless disease.

 

[10ofRods]

I'm curious (hopeful) whether people who survived the 1918 pandemic, or are direct descendants of those who survived, have increased immunity.

We know that people whose ancestors survived Bubonic Plague back in medieval times do indeed have a higher percentage of "super immune" systems. It seems to be virus-specific.

Innate resistance to HIV - Wikipedia

At any rate, the people with that gene are almost entirely descendants of Plague survivors.

We're seeing those really old people who survived the Spanish Flu pull through this virus at ages of 102-105!

At the same time, it seems that the vaso-destructive capacity of CoVid-19 is novel and that some humans are simply way more susceptible to that deadly action of the virus. There's a bit of evidence that having had a previous coronavirus version may confer some protection in this domain.

What's scary is that we don't have ongoing genomic studies of the survivors. We need really good studies of those who had severe cases of CoVid and survived, those who are asymptomatic but developed antibodies, and those who got CV19 but had mild symptoms. Knowing which genes may be involved in human resistance to CV would aid in vaccine development, I'm sure that's being organized at the big universities.

But it will take a while.

 

[Ragnarok]

Especially liked today's Dilbert cartoon about not shaking hands anymore.

 

[MimosaMornings]

I have always had a special place in my heart for the elderly. I am helping many of my neighbors and church members that are in this population. I used to visit the nursing home every weekend, and now I can't. So my heart is breaking for their social-emotional well-being right now. I pray for them often, and still visit, care for, and get supplies for those that need them.I don't want them to lose their will to live

P.S. Two of my neighbors, a married couple, 85 and almost 91, told me some days they just want to take a handful of pills together and cover up in bed and just die. That is heart-breaking to hear!

I have heard this quite frequently in the past 3 weeks. What’s the point if you are confined to your house and family can not safely come visit with you. At times I don’t know what to tell them.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Hey everyone,

Please just move on from the discussion about the protesters and who's right or who's wrong. It's resulting in nothing but back and forth bickering that is going nowhere and is not productive.

Thanks.

Bringing this forward.

 

[Warwick1991]

RSBM



The first difference I see is housing density. There is only one apartment complex in The Villages proper, and it isn't finished yet. The vast majority are single family homes. There are a number of assisted living and memory care facilities. A few cases there. Almost all buildings are single floor. No elevators.

I also suspect social behavior. The Villages is very social during normal times, but for the most part we roll up the golf cart path at 9:30 PM, after the squares close. The last time I was in Palm Beach (a few years ago) bars were elbow to elbow. I had to leave. I need space.

I live in Palm Beach County, which is a fairly large county. The area that I live in is very suburban, with mainly single story housing. I live in a multiple dwelling, but each unit has its own entrance - no elevators or common pathways. There are densely populated areas, though, like West Palm Beach. I attribute the rapid - and continuing spread of the virus to another factor.

In this area, there are thousands of homeowners who do not live here all year round. I attribute the spread to the travel between areas that are hotspots in the Northeast, like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and seasonally occupied homes. Many of the cases here, especially early ones, were people who either traveled (tourism) or came here from their homes in the Northeast. Family members traveling to visit probably increased case numbers, too. Of course, many had no symptoms and didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. However, there was a case of a couple traveling to their second home in Boynton Beach, who boarded a JetBlue aircraft - all while knowing that the husband tested positive and the wife needed to self-quarantine. They exposed many people around them, and from what I can tell, they seeded multiple new cases.

I know someone who lives in the Villages, and one difference seems to be that more people live there all year round. There’s no major airport nearby, and it isn’t a tourist destination. So, I think there are fewer opportunities for the spread of the virus.

 

[otto]

We know that people whose ancestors survived Bubonic Plague back in medieval times do indeed have a higher percentage of "super immune" systems. It seems to be virus-specific.

Innate resistance to HIV - Wikipedia

At any rate, the people with that gene are almost entirely descendants of Plague survivors.

We're seeing those really old people who survived the Spanish Flu pull through this virus at ages of 102-105!

At the same time, it seems that the vaso-destructive capacity of CoVid-19 is novel and that some humans are simply way more susceptible to that deadly action of the virus. There's a bit of evidence that having had a previous coronavirus version may confer some protection in this domain.

What's scary is that we don't have ongoing genomic studies of the survivors. We need really good studies of those who had severe cases of CoVid and survived, those who are asymptomatic but developed antibodies, and those who got CV19 but had mild symptoms. Knowing which genes may be involved in human resistance to CV would aid in vaccine development, I'm sure that's being organized at the big universities.

But it will take a while.

Bubonic plague survivor descendant is also good news, I think. I am 100% European and quite certain that ancestors survived plagues.

It would be very interesting to see the relationship between genetics and strengthened immunity to the virus.

 

[Teche]

Ok... admitting that some of this information is still going in and out with not enough retention...however, I feel this information is going to have to become strong learnings in these new days. Those of us who worked in big corporate buildings for our careers, always felt that there were "sick buildings" out there....


Wow... as i say every day these days.. I learned something. I had to look up what "chow chow" is! Such fun youtubes!!! There are such differences...but I am going to keep this tabasco pepper in mind. IS it the peppers that are the only heat?? I don't think i am going to wait for my plants though...i want to try to make it now.. and I know my farm stand does have different kinds of peppers for sale. And I have a fire pit just built out of concrete block and stones... I definitely want to make it outside! Thanks for sharing some imagination !

The seeds are hot. If y’all have seen/tried McIlheney’s Tabasco sauce, it’s the same peppers. The brand is shipped worldwide.

 

[10ofRods]

Detroit girl, 5, dies of COVID-19. She's Michigan's youngest victim

I am posting about this death because she was the youngest victim of the virus in Michigan: also because she had unusual symptoms- such a nice family and the little girl was absolutely adorable and sweet looking: my heart just breaks for her and her family. This is a ruthless disease.

This is one of the realities of this highly communicable disease. Some little kids (all the way up to teens) are more vulnerable to meningitis (which can be caused by many different viruses or bacterium, as I understand it). Meningitis has a terrible mortality rate, and this seems to be the third case of a small child with no known pre-existing conditions getting meningitis.

People who are susceptible to meningitis who go into military service at 18-19 and live in barracks have a higher incidence, as there are so many different viruses they are introduced to. Something about how the meninges is susceptible to particular viruses.

CoVid-19 seems to attack membranous cells/epithelial cells in a particular way.

For adults, it would be important to know the symptoms of meningitis. For kids, it's probably hard to get a 5 year old to describe their symptoms very well. Wikipedia has a good article on the basics.

 

[Tillicum]

Tractor-trailer hauling coveted N95 coronavirus masks catches fire on Tennessee highway

A tractor-trailer hauling much needed N95 coronavirus masks and other medical personal protective equipment caught fire over the weekend on a highway in Tennessee.

“The fire fully engulfed the trailer and burned it and its contents,” says a Tennessee Highway Patrol incident report obtained by the Smith County Insider.

 

[bluedivergirl]

I live in Palm Beach County, which is a fairly large county. The area that I live in is very suburban, with mainly single story housing. I live in a multiple dwelling, but each unit has its own entrance - no elevators or common pathways. There are densely populated areas, though, like West Palm Beach. I attribute the rapid - and continuing spread of the virus to another factor.

In this area, there are thousands of homeowners who do not live here all year round. I attribute the spread to the travel between areas that are hotspots in the Northeast, like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and seasonally occupied homes. Many of the cases here, especially early ones, were people who either traveled (tourism) or came here from their homes in the Northeast. Family members traveling to visit probably increased case numbers, too. Of course, many had no symptoms and didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. However, there was a case of a couple traveling to their second home in Boynton Beach, who boarded a JetBlue aircraft - all while knowing that the husband tested positive and the wife needed to self-quarantine. They exposed many people around them, and from what I can tell, they seeded multiple new cases.

I know someone who lives in the Villages, and one difference seems to be that more people live there all year round. There’s no major airport nearby, and it isn’t a tourist destination. So, I think there are fewer opportunities for the spread of the virus.

We do get snowbirds. Some of them own homes, others rent to 1 - 3 months. Short term visitors are few and usually family members who are not looking to party, just relax and let grandma and grandpa spoil the kids.

Your theory makes perfect sense.

 

[10ofRods]

Bubonic plague survivor descendant is also good news, I think. I am 100% European and quite certain that ancestors survived plagues.

It would be very interesting to see the relationship between genetics and strengthened immunity to the virus.

Yes, it will be. I'm half European (and the other half is native groups that have absolutely no longterm history of immuunity - except for my ~1/8th Chinese/Taiwanese part). Typically, my immune system is pretty good. But someone who is 100% European is much more likely to have that specialized immune system.

There's some reason to think that people who had severe cases of measles as kids may have a bit of immunity to other diseases.

Subsaharan Africans, Australian aborigines, Native Americans, Polynesians, Melanesians, etc = all at higher risk.

 

[Herat]

We know that people whose ancestors survived Bubonic Plague back in medieval times do indeed have a higher percentage of "super immune" systems. It seems to be virus-specific.

Innate resistance to HIV - Wikipedia

At any rate, the people with that gene are almost entirely descendants of Plague survivors.

We're seeing those really old people who survived the Spanish Flu pull through this virus at ages of 102-105!

At the same time, it seems that the vaso-destructive capacity of CoVid-19 is novel and that some humans are simply way more susceptible to that deadly action of the virus. There's a bit of evidence that having had a previous coronavirus version may confer some protection in this domain.

What's scary is that we don't have ongoing genomic studies of the survivors. We need really good studies of those who had severe cases of CoVid and survived, those who are asymptomatic but developed antibodies, and those who got CV19 but had mild symptoms. Knowing which genes may be involved in human resistance to CV would aid in vaccine development, I'm sure that's being organized at the big universities.

But it will take a while.

Curious.

The Plague is a bacterial infection that is fairly antibiotic-sensitive.

Very different infectivity and mechanism of serious illness than SARS-Cov-2.

 

[rodneymullenmg]

In 1918, Philadelphia didn't cancel an important parade in the midst of a pandemic. The results were devestating - CNN

In September 1918, Philadelphia held a planned Liberty Loan Parade to promote the government bonds that were being issued to pay for World War I.
But the parade took place when the pandemic commonly called the Spanish flu -- the H1N1 virus -- arrived in the city of 1.7 million people....

...
Yet Philadelphia didn't cancel its Liberty Loan Parade, scheduled for just a little more than a week later. Meant to be a patriotic wartime effort, the parade went on as scheduled on September 28, bringing 200,000 Philadelphians together.
By October 1, there were 635 new cases in Philadelphia, according to UPenn.
Philadelphia was one of the hardest-hit US cities. More than 12,000 people died in six weeks, with about 47,000 reported cases, according to UPenn. By the six-month mark, about 16,000 had died and there were more than half a million cases.

 

[Trino]

In 1918, Philadelphia didn't cancel an important parade in the midst of a pandemic. The results were devestating - CNN

In September 1918, Philadelphia held a planned Liberty Loan Parade to promote the government bonds that were being issued to pay for World War I.
But the parade took place when the pandemic commonly called the Spanish flu -- the H1N1 virus -- arrived in the city of 1.7 million people....

...
Yet Philadelphia didn't cancel its Liberty Loan Parade, scheduled for just a little more than a week later. Meant to be a patriotic wartime effort, the parade went on as scheduled on September 28, bringing 200,000 Philadelphians together.
By October 1, there were 635 new cases in Philadelphia, according to UPenn.
Philadelphia was one of the hardest-hit US cities. More than 12,000 people died in six weeks, with about 47,000 reported cases, according to UPenn. By the six-month mark, about 16,000 had died and there were more than half a million cases.

Well, July 4 is coming up.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Here's an article from 2019 on why more Swedish young people live alone: Why so many young Swedes live alone

Despite the cultural isolation of their young people, I fear Sweden will be quite a tragic situation. We are already starting to see hints of it. Some recent links and quotes on Sweden:

Sweden is seeing an unsettling rise in coronavirus deaths, as comparatively lax restrictions across the country are coming under scrutiny.

The Nordic country had reported 1,540 deaths tied to the coronavirus pandemic, an increase of 29 from Saturday. Last week, the Public Health Agency of Sweden said 1,333 people had died of COVID-19.

Sweden’s figures are considerably more than in the rest of Scandinavia. While its population of over 10 million nearly doubles those of Denmark, Norway and Finland individually, its COVID-19 death toll was up to 17 times higher than those countries, according to reports.

Sweden sees jump in coronavirus deaths with less restrictive guidelines under scrutiny

Sounds tempting – keep your economy going whilst limiting the spread of the disease. Sweden has been the darling of the calls in the west to re-open economies and get back to work. At best, it’s been a risky policy, in contrast to the recommendations of the World Health Organisation and other science published on the spread of Covid-19. But has the bold health gamble worked?

No.

There is already enough data to suggest that a widespread laissez-faire is just a dangerous gamble with human life. Sweden is experiencing a higher death toll than its neighbouring countries. While the Scandinavian countries reported their first fatalities at roughly the same time, at the start of April Sweden had 239 fatalities, now they have 1,540, a 6-fold increase in just under 3 weeks. Meanwhile Denmark has had a 3-fold increase in deaths during they time and Norway 2-fold. In pure per capita terms, the three countries have around the same rate of total infections but Sweden’s mortality rate is much higher, and higher again compared to neighbouring Finland.

And whilst the curve of new infections is starting to flatten in Norway, Finland and Denmark, Sweden’s new infection rate is still rising at a faster rate than its neighbours.

There are now alarming reports, including in the Washington Post, that the virus has spread to one-third of nursing homes in the capital Stockholm, resulting in rising fatalities. There is also little indication that the Swedish economy has weathered the coronavirus economic storm any better than comparable countries.

Read more: Sweden's massive public health gamble is failing | The Thaiger


Like Australia, the country [Sweden] had banned non-essential visitors to its aged care homes.

However, the Government’s advice to aged care homes was that staff should not wear masks or use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) unless they are dealing with a resident in the home, they suspect is infected – and that staff should stay home if they detect any symptoms in themselves.

“The worst thing is that it is us, the staff, who are taking the infection in to the elderly,” one nurse told Swedish public broadcaster SVT. “It’s unbelievable that more of them haven’t been infected. It’s a scandal.”

Lena Einhorn, a virologist who has criticised Sweden’s coronavirus policy, said the Government and its Health agency has failed to acknowledged that staff are the likely route.

“They say it’s very unfortunate, that they are investigating, and that it’s a matter of the training personnel, but they will not acknowledge that pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic spread is a factor,” she said.

Read more: Sweden’s COVID-19 strategy sees 500 residents die in its aged care homes - The Weekly SOURCE

Einhorn was one of 22 researchers who on Tuesday called for Sweden’s politicians to break with the country’s tradition of entrusting policy to its expert agencies, and to seize control of Sweden’s coronavirus strategy from the agency.

She argues that the reason why Sweden has a much higher number of cases in care homes than in Norway and Finland is not because of the homes themselves, but because of Sweden’s decision to keep schools and kindergartens open, and not to shut restaurants or bars.

“It’s not like it goes from one old age home to another. It comes in separately to all of these old age homes, so there’s no way it can be all be attributed to the personnel going in and working when they are sick. There’s a basic system fault in their recommendations. There’s no other explanation for it.”

Tegnell’s colleague AnnaSara Carnahan on Friday told Sveriges Radio that the number of deaths reported from old people’s homes was “probably an underestimate”, as regional health infectious diseases units were reporting that many elderly who died were not being tested.

Anger in Sweden as elderly pay price for coronavirus strategy

I hope it works.. but not holding my breath. I will want to keep up on this evolving country story that is for sure. I do feel it is good to see different models at work.
Gardner, thanks so much for the first article. It felt as if it were a few different stories being woven together in the one article. I have always felt I understood Swedish culture somewhat, being 50% Swedish, and my kids are 75%...but heck I just learned soooo much. Now I want to learn more about Swedish marriage, familying and senior citizens. There are some very depressing aspects to that article!

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Just plant sweet peppers. If you want a little spice to make homemade salsa, plant jalapenos. I'm not super tolerant of spicy peppers but with jalapeno if you remove the seeds (use gloves!) it's not very spicy at all. Jalapenos are perfect for a mild to medium salsa. We have an heirloom variety of Kung Pao peppers we grow every year that are super spicy that we use to make hot sauce. I make Kung Pao chicken with them a couple times when I have them fresh but the peppers are way too hot to eat-- we remove them after cooking them whole in the sauce.

MOO.

Maybe I am just not a pepper person... I like red sweets, but not green. So is Jung Pao a good flavoring pepper--and isn't too hot in the meal when removed? I guess that is what I am trying to find out...are there any peppers that are really unique flavors, but don't make the dish hotter than blazes!

 

[nhmemorymaker]

We plant Anaheim peppers and one called a Mexibelle or Cajun Bell.

How do you rank heat? or unique flavor? I don't think i see Anaheim on the East Coast..but I think i saw Cajun Bell...

 

[Tony1902]

Bubonic plague survivor descendant is also good news, I think. I am 100% European and quite certain that ancestors survived plagues.

It would be very interesting to see the relationship between genetics and strengthened immunity to the virus.

My mtDNA is Helena3. Allegedly this mt & all variants of Helena have somewhat of a protection against sepsis & HIV. Probably occurring from the Franco-Cantabrian bottleneck from the Ice Age?

 

[mickey2942]

RSBM
A few days ago I was wondering why folks in the 90's and even 100's were recovering from this. I was speculating decades of exposure to various coronavirus may have 'taught' their bodies to fight back.

I'd love to hear what people who know what they are talking about think. I'm just a guesser.

My grandparents and great grandparents on both sides lived into their 90's and 100's. Lifestyle choices. Due to their religious beliefs, they never drank alcohol, or smoked, they lived on farms, and meat was a Sunday dinner treat, not 3 meals a day, 7 days a week.

Living on a farm, work starts at 4am, milking cows, and keeps on going.

I bet that those older folks who had light cases, and survived the virus probably lived similar lives. And are probably very healthy, active people, even in their 80's.

There is a woman here in Montana, who trains and does triathlons. At age 86! She is amazing!
Competition never stops for 86-year-old Molly Hayes