The increasing polarised and politicised views 1 on whether to wear masks in public during the current COVID-19 crisis hides a bitter truth on the state of contemporary research and the value we pose on clinical evidence to guide our decisions. What do scientists do in the face of uncertainty on the value of global interventions? Usually, they…
Month: August 2020
Chicago Tribune reports “How did the NFL have 77 false positive COVID-19 tests from the same lab?”
Several NFL teams had their weekends disrupted by false positive COVID-19 tests that the league traced to the same New Jersey BioReference laboratory. The Bears had nine positive tests from players and coaches that turned out to be false positives. And according to reports around the league, the Jets, Vikings, Steelers, Bills, Browns, Packers, Eagles, Lions, Patriots…
Birmingham Live reports “Good Hope Hospital’s Dr Ron Daniels says: ‘Don’t fear second wave – coronavirus is getting less angry'”
The intensive care consultant, who works at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust hospitals, says poorly patients are not increasing despite rise in infections Reflecting that range of views, Dr Ron Daniels – an intensive care consultant at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, who has also been based at Heartlands, said he believed the virus was “getting…
Forbes reports “Massachusetts Mandates Flu Vaccinations For Students Of All Ages”
Influenza immunization will be required for all children 6 months of age or older who are attending child care, pre-school, K-12, and colleges and universities in Massachusetts, state public health officials announced Wednesday, in an effort to reduce respiratory illness and flu-related sickness during the coronavirus pandemic. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/08/19/massachusetts-mandates-flu-vaccinations-for-students-of-all-ages/#5b06896c126d
Lifesite reports “Renowned European scientist: COVID-19 was engineered in China lab, effective vaccine ‘unlikely’”
Professor Giuseppe Tritto, an internationally known expert in biotechnology and nanotechnology, says that the China Virus definitely wasn’t a freak of nature that happened to cross the species barrier from bat to man. It will not be possible for the Dr. Fauci’s of the world to dismiss Professor Giuseppe Tritto as a crank. Not only…
National Geographic reports “COVID-19 vaccines could become mandatory. Here’s how it might work.”
YOU WALK TOWARD the arena, ready for a big game, tickets in hand. But what you see is a long line wrapping around the corner of the building and a bottleneck at the entrance as people search their pockets and purses for a small piece of paper. To be cleared to enter, you’ll also need that…
Washington Examiner reports “Hydroxychloroquine works in high-risk patients, and saying otherwise is dangerous”
It seems quite possible that the FDA, a third of whose funding comes from drug companies, is under intense pressure from those companies to be extremely conservative in its handling of hydroxychloroquine. If hydroxychloroquine is used widely and comes to be recognized as highly effective, the markets for expensive and patented COVID-19 medications, including intravenous drugs that…
Business Insider reports “We now have the best evidence yet that everyone develops long-term coronavirus immunity after infection — and it’s not just about antibodies”
Some early studies have suggested that coronavirus antibodies fade relatively quickly, but that doesn’t mean immunity vanishes. A new study found that all participants infected with COVID-19 — even those with asymptomatic or mild cases and patients who didn’t have detectable antibodies — developed virus-specific T cells. T cells identify and kill infected cells, and B cells create new antibodies. Those…
Everist Health reports “COVIDAge Risk Calculator”
The COVIDAge Risk Calculator™ estimates risk for complications of COVID-19, including risk for hospitalization, ICU admission, and risk of mortality. It is a key tool in providing awareness around COVID-19 and knowledge of an individual’s risk that could lead them to making more informed decisions about their health and lifestyle routines. https://calculator.covid-age.com/
Independent reports “Coronavirus: Some scientists believe herd immunity is closer than originally thought”
In New York, London and Mumbai, there might already be substantial immunity to coronavirus To achieve so-called herd immunity – the point at which the virus can no longer spread because there are not enough vulnerable humans – scientists have suggested that perhaps 70 per cent of a given population must be immune, through vaccination or because they survived…