Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #57

[The Night Watchman]

So I'm a guy. One the horrible things we have to do is to occasionally buy Birthday cards. No, I don't really read the inside other than to make sure it is not too sappy. My turn to buy a card came up for our daughter's boyfriend of three years. And this is what the inside said...



Oops, my bad. I've been pretty distracted by the virus and things I guess. He immediately posted on Facebook, haha.

 

[nightowl1975]

Why use up the antibiotics as a preventative? That just isn't done. IMO.

I've never heard of anyone taking HCQ as a preventative in the front lines.

I work in healthcare and am aware of at least two entire groups of physicians, both neurosurgeons and obstetricians, that procured this specific combo of meds in another country before Trump ever mentioned the drugs. They’ve been taking HCQ as a preventive ever since. I’m not saying it’s a wise course of action, but there are well-respected physicians taking it. There are also literally millions of people who have taken and continue to take these meds for years without serious adverse reaction. Sure, some have significant problems, but that’s true of just about any medication and certainly not unique to these particular drugs.

And certainly, no one should take an antibiotic as a preventative.

This is factually untrue. Preventative antibiotics are given before surgery to prevent well-know risks of post-op infections. My daughter takes a preventative antibiotic and will for a solid decade following minor heart valve damage after strep-induced rheumatic fever. I took a low dose antibiotic for over a year after getting married when nothing worked to stop frequent, repeated urinary tract infections that were leading to kidney infections which damaged my kidneys.

There are absolutely legitimate reasons to consider an antibiotic to prevent infection.

 

[LadyL]

Doctor who delayed retirement to fight pandemic at low-income hospital dies of COVID-19

 

[CSIDreamer]

Your post reminds me of reading about this a while ago:

Along with face masks, pupils have to don 'one-metre hats', which ensure they remember to observe strict physical distancing guidelines that remain in place. Yangzheng School in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province in East China.

Images and video footage from inside the classroom show the children each wearing a surgical mask and their very own homemade one-metre hat, which has a 3-foot-long measuring tool jutting out the sides.

Students In China Wear Homemade Social Distancing Hats As They Return To School

Kids in China head back to school wearing handmade social-distancing hats

Technology News and
Credit: Asia Wire
CNET

Did you notice in the 3rd picture you posted theres a kid in the back with his mask pulled down? It's crazy how fast I notice these things now. Jmo

 

[Cool Cats]

I work in healthcare and am aware of at least two entire groups of physicians, both neurosurgeons and obstetricians, that procured this specific combo of meds in another country before Trump ever mentioned the drugs. They’ve been taking HCQ as a preventive ever since. I’m not saying it’s a wise course of action, but there are well-respected physicians taking it. There are also literally millions of people who have taken and continue to take these meds for years without serious adverse reaction. Sure, some have significant problems, but that’s true of just about any medication and certainly not unique to these particular drugs.



This is factually untrue. I are given before surgery to prevent well-know risks of post-op infections. My daughter takes a preventative antibiotic and will for a solid decade following minor heart valve damage after strep-induced rheumatic fever. I took a low dose antibiotic for over a year after getting married when nothing worked to stop frequent, repeated urinary tract infections that were leading to kidney infections which damaged my kidneys.

There are absolutely legitimate reasons to consider an antibiotic to prevent infection.

You say this about preventative antibiotics:

"There are absolutely legitimate reasons to consider an antibiotic to prevent infection."

But the context of this is does Trump have a legitimate reason to take antibiotics (azithromycin, or Z-Pak) to prevent a Covid 19 infection? I bet no.

Otherwise, I'll ask my Dr. for some, and then why don't we all start taking them?

I'll take my salad with Italian dressing and one side of Z-Pak tablet...

 

[Cool Cats]

Did you notice in the 3erd picture you posted theres a kid in the back with his mask pulled down? It's crazy how fast I notice these things now. Jmo

Yes! I noticed too. Also kids without their hats...Can't be easy for them to run and play etc...

 

[jjenny]

I'll take my coffee at home rather than wear that stupid hat!!

My concern would be not that this hat looks stupid, but are they disinfecting these hats after each customer? If not, it's going to have an opposite effect of what they are presumably trying to achieve.

 

[tabitha111]

My Sister in law was informed today that she tested positive for the antibodies to Covid 19. My brother will be getting his test tomorrow. They live in Dallas. She fell ill after they both went to Las Vegas in February. Was worse than a bad flu she said, took weeks, I believe she said 5 weeks until she felt normal again. By the way, the whole family flew to the coast of Mexico for Spring Break, they rented a house there...not sure how long this was after Las Vegas, but she got sick in between, so Mexico was not where she got infected. Cringing a little thinking of flights she took, places they stayed...they have two daughters college age, I am assuming they are getting tested too...but no one else in the family fell "ill"

 

[nightowl1975]

You say this about preventative antibiotics:

"There are absolutely legitimate reasons to consider an antibiotic to prevent infection."

But the context of this is does Trump have a legitimate reason to take antibiotics (azithromycin, or Z-Pak) to prevent a Covid 19 infection? I bet no.

Otherwise, I'll ask my Dr. for some, and then why don't we all start taking them?

The White House physician says this about Trump taking it as a preventive.

"After numerous discussions, he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks," Conley wrote, adding that Trump has taken multiple tests for coronavirus -- all negative -- and remains symptom free.

I’m not a physician, certainly not a physician for the White House, and I would hope no matter who the POTUS is at the moment, that we don’t hire idiots to take care of our President. ‍ Is it a good idea? Obviously the White House doctor didn’t think it was such a terrible idea that he refused to prescribe it.

If you want to take it, perhaps discuss the pros and cons with your doctor in relation to your specific circumstances and medical history, and go from there.

Trump says he is taking hydroxychloroquine though health experts question its effectiveness - CNNPolitics

 

[tresir2012]

I work in healthcare and am aware of at least two entire groups of physicians, both neurosurgeons and obstetricians, that procured this specific combo of meds in another country before Trump ever mentioned the drugs. They’ve been taking HCQ as a preventive ever since. I’m not saying it’s a wise course of action, but there are well-respected physicians taking it. There are also literally millions of people who have taken and continue to take these meds for years without serious adverse reaction. Sure, some have significant problems, but that’s true of just about any medication and certainly not unique to these particular drugs.



This is factually untrue. Preventative antibiotics are given before surgery to prevent well-know risks of post-op infections. My daughter takes a preventative antibiotic and will for a solid decade following minor heart valve damage after strep-induced rheumatic fever. I took a low dose antibiotic for over a year after getting married when nothing worked to stop frequent, repeated urinary tract infections that were leading to kidney infections which damaged my kidneys.

There are absolutely legitimate reasons to consider an antibiotic to prevent infection.

Many years ago I too had to take antibiotics for a year after having major surgery for the removal of what tested as an infected kidney stone when it was sent away for analysis. I had no infection at the time but it was preventative.

At least President Trump is practising what he preaches. I am not surprised he is taking this considering he seems to have been surrounded by infected persons but I am surprised he told reporters. He is forever surprising with what he says, that's for sure.

 

[jjenny]

Doctor doesn't actually say that Trump is taking it. Just that they had numerous discussions about it.

 

[10ofRods]

Appreciate that, thanks. As well as the discussion of your journey.

The negative result is not a big deal for me, but it would be nice to not be infectious for a period that I think would last through a second wave. I do catch the reports of people getting CV a second time etc, but until I see some real data proving this, I won't take a lot of notice. The media has misled me too many times thus far (or tried to mislead me).

The research is unclear, but it looks like some milder or asymptomatic cases do not form appropriate antibodies. But the data are coming from the U.S. Navy, via StarsandStripes, so I tend to believe them:

Eight more sailors aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt test positive a second time

Each of these sailors tested positive, recovered, went through two negative CoVid tests and were deemed "recovered." However, now they test positive again (the Navy likes to test people for obvious reasons). They are now infectious. There are not many, but it is something to be aware of.

 

[tresir2012]

Cafes Make Customers Wear Stupid Hats to Enforce Social Distancing
https://summit.news/2020/05/18/publi...al-distancing/

This^^^ seems really silly to me. Are people going to want to wear hats like that in a restaurant? And how do you sanitize them after each use?

And they are not big enough.

 

[10ofRods]

I feel the whole world is benefiting from watching Sweden. Of course they will also experience economic hardship, but with some of the deeper harder issues we could face in the US, I do think that Sweden's model will be strongly considered if there is a second wave, whether it works or not within a particular culture. Even though, I feel the US would be one of the worst to try to adopt, because we don't like to pay attention to rules!!!

The US way of life is just based on credit. It will kill us. Large US corporations have been binging on debt for a long time. Drying up lines of credit for corps as well as consumers is going to be a huge part of the economic pain and misery.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-p...ebt-risk-tipping-point-after-pandemic-passes/

For cash-strapped Americans, loans are hard to come by

Sweden relied a lot on their own, prior set of social rules. For example, some Swedish sociolinguists noted that Swedes often don't stand face to face when speaking, but stand shoulder to shoulder and further apart. Garrison Keillor made gentle fun of this in his books about Lake Wobegon. Swedes apparently don't have the café life that's as intensely packed and social as some other nations. Not a lot of major sporting events at nodes throughout the country. People knew there was a virus, they relied on the common sense of the Swedish people to get people at risk to assess risk on their own, and take preventative action.

We can't rely on those things in the US and in some cases, people (especially essential workers) have no choice but to be crowded up against infectious others.

Further, Sweden's central bank says their economy will contract just the same as in the neighboring countries:

Sweden had no lockdown but its economy is expected to suffer just as badly as its European neighbors

Their economic hardships seem to be about equal to everyone else in that region. People stopped going to restaurants and theaters, those industries are hard hit. Sweden did implement social distancing measures for restaurants at some point, which of course made them less profitable and still CoVid spread at rates higher than in neighboring lands.

Coronavirus deaths per million by country | Statista

 

[Cool Cats]

Coronavirus: France reports 70 new COVID-19 cases linked to schools one week after reopening

Coronavirus flare-ups force France to re-close some schools

May 18, 2020, 10:09 AM EDT

Children in a classroom in Lyon, France, on Monday. (AFP via Getty Images)
There have been 70 new cases of COVID-19 linked to schools in France just one week after they reopened.

The spike in coronavirus cases came just days after a third of French children returned to school as the country eased its coronavirus lockdown.

Pupils in protective face masks attend a lesson in a classroom at a school in Lyon, France, on Monday. (AFP via Getty Images)

 

[10ofRods]

I work in healthcare and am aware of at least two entire groups of physicians, both neurosurgeons and obstetricians, that procured this specific combo of meds in another country before Trump ever mentioned the drugs. They’ve been taking HCQ as a preventive ever since. I’m not saying it’s a wise course of action, but there are well-respected physicians taking it. There are also literally millions of people who have taken and continue to take these meds for years without serious adverse reaction. Sure, some have significant problems, but that’s true of just about any medication and certainly not unique to these particular drugs.



This is factually untrue. Preventative antibiotics are given before surgery to prevent well-know risks of post-op infections. My daughter takes a preventative antibiotic and will for a solid decade following minor heart valve damage after strep-induced rheumatic fever. I took a low dose antibiotic for over a year after getting married when nothing worked to stop frequent, repeated urinary tract infections that were leading to kidney infections which damaged my kidneys.

There are absolutely legitimate reasons to consider an antibiotic to prevent infection.

Are you saying that the physicians are taking antibiotics to prevent CoVid? Can you say more about that? Surely not.

Preventive antibiotics prescribed by a surgeon before surgery - yes. Preventive antibiotics (and we now know that Trump's own doctors didn't prescribe them according to his own interview in the links above) for CoVid?

Really? You know people who are taking Z-pac in advance for CoVid? I'm truly curious.

I know a lot of physicians too. A good friend of mine is head of pediatric infectious disease unit at a major university hospital. She hasn't heard of this. Is it regional? She's in Northern California.

I wasn't speaking at all about people who take HCQ prescribed by their doctor for a condition for which it was approved. And, I suppose, if physicians wish to experiment on themselves they will (although I am surprised that it's this particular drug).

No one wants to take a preventative antibiotic for a decade, unless they have to. Surely. For an actual condition for which said antibiotic is ordinarily prescribed.

But to each their own. I just find it interesting that no doctor will come out and actually say anything in public to support this. Even, apparently, the well-placed doctors you know. When people post as you did just did, I can definitely see why so many people don't trust doctors. It makes it sound like they're hoarding drugs and taking them, themselves, while not recommending the same drug to the general public.

Are they at least enrolled in some kind of study?

 

[Chelly]

Exactly.

And the thing that bothers me, if I sometimes feel "it" hasnt quite gone, two months' later (a random day where fatigue is immense, or the fact my son and I still havent regained a full sense of smell) does that mean its still active within me? And therefore potentially contagious? I dont understand enough about these things to feel reassured.

So glad you are here and posting

 

[pocketaccent]

You say this about preventative antibiotics:

"There are absolutely legitimate reasons to consider an antibiotic to prevent infection."

But the context of this is does Trump have a legitimate reason to take antibiotics (azithromycin, or Z-Pak) to prevent a Covid 19 infection? I bet no.

Otherwise, I'll ask my Dr. for some, and then why don't we all start taking them?

I'll take my salad with Italian dressing and one side of Z-Pak tablet...

The last time I asked my doctor for antibiotics as a preventative measure, he gave me a short lecture on problems with antibiotic resistance. I knew that, but I just wanted to have some at home in case my cough turned into bronchitis. He still said no.

 

[tresir2012]

He shows a chart in this one that answers @CSIDreamer's question--- US 252/milllion.
He was comparing this to India's 2/million.

Think about how amazing this is when India is so crowded with over a billion people...

Possible reasons in addition to others already mentioned - India life expectancy is only 67 for men and 70 for women. PLus COVID deaths are much higher for over 70's.

Life expectancy in India improves marginally - Long live, India

 

[firebird]

Doctor doesn't actually say that Trump is taking it. Just that they had numerous discussions about it.

Trump himself said he was taking it. If I thought covid was a threat to my health, I'd be taking it, too. Hundreds of thousands of people take it every day without problems, and if it's good enough for Tom Hanks and Trump, it's good enough for me.

Coronavirus: Trump says he's taking hydroxychloroquine