Coronavirus

[Doggydogworld]

Those numbers are misleading. The real question is what percentage of people who have enough virus to be shedding it does the antigen test catch versus the more expensive PCR test?

The Yale/NBA test, SalivaDirect, is still a RT-PCR test. The antigen tests Michael Mina supports are even faster and cheaper.

 

[dfwatt]

The Yale/NBA test, SalivaDirect, is still a RT-PCR test. The antigen tests Michael Mina supports are even faster and cheaper.

Yes but four bucks a test for a modified PCR technology is pretty damned impressive. That's right there in the antigen cost ballpark. Right now the antigen test cost more than that but they have the potential to get down to 1 to $2 per assay.

 

[bkp_duke]

HCQ and COVID-19: A Journal Gets Stung, and Swiftly Retracts

I literally laughed out of my chair when I read this one.

EXCERPTS:

"The retraction of a Trojan horse paper on the novel coronavirus has called into question the validity of another article in the same journal which found that hydroxychloroquine is effective against Covid-19."

"The goal was indeed to focus attention on predatory journals and also on the scientists using these methods to make the general public believe that their studies are serious because they are published."

"The paper, which is the 32nd one about COVID-19 to be retracted, by our records. has such nuggets as:

* Studies 1 and 2 were conducted in the authors' office chair (Ikea) in France (multicentric), on July 20th, 2020.
* Study 2 was excluded from analysis and from this paper, as it did not results (i.e. the results we wanted).

Unfortunately, the peer reviews for the paper — if they in fact exist — are not yet available, according to the journals."



Proof that not all journals are created equal, and that all studies and authors and their publication record should be inspected closely.

 

[renim]

Aussie researchers to start cancer drug trial to treat COVID-19 - Xinhua | English.news.cn

That drug BromAc was developed from pineapple stem enzyme tested in the lab after it was observed that pigs eating pineapples were resistant to particular gastro conditions.

 

[renim]

Always read the fine print....

 

[JRP3]

Covid spreading on college campuses, who could have guessed?

Coronavirus: Universities begin U-turns as campus life brings outbreaks

 

[bkp_duke]

Covid spreading on college campuses, who could have guessed?

Coronavirus: Universities begin U-turns as campus life brings outbreaks

Exactly.

My alma mater tested every student that returned to campus on the day of return, found 4 positives. We'll see how that spreads and how quickly. I'm assuming they are isolated, but no telling what kind of contact they had before they were isolated.

 

[Doggydogworld]

Yes but four bucks a test for a modified PCR technology is pretty damned impressive. That's right there in the antigen cost ballpark. Right now the antigen test cost more than that but they have the potential to get down to 1 to $2 per assay.

It seems four bucks is the cost of the reagents. They estimated labs would charge $10 per test. The labs may have a different price in mind, ha.

I could see colleges and other large organizations with internal labs switching to this test to improve throughput. As a public health tool it's not a game-changer, though. The big commercial labs are still the bottleneck.

 

[NikolaACDC]

Percentage of Americans who say they'd get a COVID-19 vaccine declines 10 percent in 3 months

"In a poll released by CNN on Wednesday, when respondents were asked if they would personally try to get a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 if one was made widely available at a low cost, only 56 percent said they would, while 40 percent said they wouldn't. The percentage of Americans who say they would get vaccinated is down 10 percentage points from May, when 66 percent in the same CNN poll said they'd get the vaccine.
CNN reports the decline "seems to be concentrated among Trump supporters, 51 percent of whom said they would seek out a vaccine in May compared with 38 percent who say the same now."
----------------------------

I wouldn't have a problem with people not wanting it if it was a purely personal/individual choice. But it ain't.

The CNN article has more statistics for other questions they asked
CNN Poll: Most Americans embarrassed by U.S. response to coronavirus - CNNPolitics

 

[bkp_duke]

Percentage of Americans who say they'd get a COVID-19 vaccine declines 10 percent in 3 months

"In a poll released by CNN on Wednesday, when respondents were asked if they would personally try to get a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 if one was made widely available at a low cost, only 56 percent said they would, while 40 percent said they wouldn't. The percentage of Americans who say they would get vaccinated is down 10 percentage points from May, when 66 percent in the same CNN poll said they'd get the vaccine.
CNN reports the decline "seems to be concentrated among Trump supporters, 51 percent of whom said they would seek out a vaccine in May compared with 38 percent who say the same now."
----------------------------

I wouldn't have a problem with people not wanting it if it was a purely personal/individual choice. But it ain't.

The CNN article has more statistics for other questions they asked
CNN Poll: Most Americans embarrassed by U.S. response to coronavirus - CNNPolitics

Forcing a vaccine on people will never be allowed, it would simply reinforce the conspiracy theorists propaganda.

 

[renim]

Family tax benefit part A (note the vaccination requirement)
Family Tax Benefit - FTB Part A eligibility - Services Australia

Australia has mandatory vaccination but not compulsory vaccination.

Mandatory = welfare etc withheld if no vaccination

Compulsory = illegal if not vaccinated

 

[shinytop]

Proof of vaccination can be a requirement for most employment, all school attendance, and any other public space it can legally be done.

 

[shinytop]

Think all food service people, all health workers, all law enforcement, all retail sales, all people in air travel, all in cruise ships These are nothing but common sense.

 

[bkp_duke]

Proof of vaccination can be a requirement for most employment, all school attendance, and any other public space it can legally be done.

For children, some vaccines are required (not all), and in most states if you home-school your children you can avoid vaccines entirely. For adults, I can think of NONE that are legally required. And the only employers I have EVER seen ask about vaccination were health care institutions or travel-related agencies.

And yes, I'm a board certified pediatrician, I well understand the legal requirements for the majority of vaccines out there.

 

[bkp_duke]

Think all food service people, all health workers, all law enforcement, all retail sales, all people in air travel, all in cruise ships These are nothing but common sense.

Retail sales? HA HA HA. No. There are not legal requirements currently in place for retail sales for vaccinations.

 

[shinytop]

Retail sales, bars, restaurants can all have licenses removed if the rights laws are passed requiring vaccination of all employees. I suspect such laws must follow the release of vaccinations by some period so that lack of harm can be reasonably assured.

 

[bkp_duke]

Retail sales, bars, restaurants can all have licenses removed if the rights laws are passed requiring vaccination of all employees. I suspect such laws must follow the release of vaccinations by some period so that lack of harm can be reasonably assured.

That is a hypothetical that in the current political environment will NEVER PASS. Hell, in the history of this country there have been VERY few FORCED vaccinations. It's a pipe dream.

 

[bkp_duke]

In actual news, this should come as no surprise:
Study finds bacterial coinfection in patients with COVID-19 associated with increased mortality

More than one infection = bad news for survivability

 

[bkp_duke]

I hope that people are not hitting the bong hard while on lockdown due to COVID-19.

Appears that Cannibas use is associated with higher rates of depression:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2769386

Although, this could very well be a correlation, not a causation (i.e. do depressed people hit it more, or does being depressed cause them to hit it more).

 

[bkp_duke]

Found this one very interesting. We've been hearing how there is an association with race and COVID-19 mortality, but this large study indicates that once you factor out for other factors, there is no difference.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2769387

Looks like sociodemographic differences, probably related to housing density and access to care, are the biggest contributors to morality.