Losing my mind that this is in a 2013 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene:
"The growing threat of an influenza pandemic presents a unique challenge to healthcare workers, emergency responders, and the civilian population. [OSHA] recommends [NIOSH]-approved respirators to provide protection against infectious airborne viruses in various workplace settings."
JN.1 and JN.1.4 stil dominate the leaderboard, but scientists are especially watching a groiup of new mutations including JN.1.18, JN.1.13, KP.2, JN.1.16, and KQ.1.: https://ibb.co/6RvHcZR
Some of these are moving FAST despite the already-very-fast mutations on the landscape.
Wastewater
We've reached a level of SARS2 material in wastewater low enough to match previous years (2020, 2021.): https://ibb.co/DMyG0k4
CDC
Quite a lot of counties with new hospital admits, especially the Western half of the State. The Southwest corner by Greene Co and from Centre on over to Erie Co and Jefferson are HIGH on the newest chart.: https://ibb.co/m6KYR0Z
The Inpatient Beds chart looks good except for some increases in Lawrence and around Cameron Cos.: https://ibb.co/SPm1wJt
The ICU bed chart looks very good! Most counties are having decreases! However some increases up by Pike Co and significant increases in Franklin and Fulton Cos.:https://ibb.co/sKdK54P
Research
Tuberculosis after recovering from COVID-19 is becoming more common.: https://ibb.co/ZxZ7kHY
Reactivation of underlying pathogens is NOT NEW. We know this factually from the chicken pox/shingles pathogen.
Also, measles is known to reset the ENTIRE immune system and bring protection from everything down to zero, potentially leaving reactivation of underlying pathogens, which is by levels of magnitude more complex than the physical disability it can cause and makes it imperative that you VACCINATE YOUR KIDS.: https://ibb.co/cbFXrRw
Again: NONE of this is brand new, and COVID19 along with other known pathogens, seems to potentially weaken the immune system enough to reactivate underlying pathogens.
Non-SARS2 Pathogens
COVID and RSV thankfully have been downgraded on WastewaterSCAN to "Medium" and "low" respectively.: https://ibb.co/k2SpgLR
However, quite a number of pathogens are still ranking in the HIGH level: FluA, FluB, Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) and the gastro pathogens Norovirus and Rotavirus are still out there.
HMPV often presents with a rash and is related to RSV:
The prevention for all these respiratory diseses is the same!
Be conscious of crowds.
Wear a mask in places with low air filtration.
Keep the air clean!
Stay home if you are sick!
For norovirus and rotavirus, it's important to wash hands with soap and warm water for 20sec.
:ms_arrow_right: DO NOT depend on gloves and hand sanitizer to control Norovirus, the particles are very resistant to alcohol.
H5N1
Nothing above here has scientists sitting up at attention right now except one thing: H5N1 bird flu.
H5N1 has jumped to dairy cattle (after infecting numerous other species such as seals, fox, deer, etc.), has been found in cattle in TX, KS, MI, NM, and now Idaho.: https://ibb.co/1JgGY2v
Before now, almost all transmission was bird-to-other-species. "Cow-to-cow transmission cannot be ruled out" and will be a disaster for the food supply if not controlled.: https://ibb.co/mDKVZ7R
There is resistance amongst dairy farmers in the US and in Europe to get their cattle tested.
The absolute worst case scenario is if it "makes the leap" to pigs. That means, if genetically it mutates (like COVID-19 is doing) to be able to:
---Infect pigs.
---Gain capability of pig-to-pig transmission.
The genetic "leap" from bird to mammals was very large, and will also be the "leap" from cattle to pig.....but the "leap" from pigs and ferrets to humans after that will be really, really small.
This would be the same route the Spanish Flu took 106 years ago: Birds -> pigs -> humans.
It is...really not a good time to consume unpasteurized, raw dairy products.
:ms_arrow_right: I'm spending a lot of words on this because so far, this thing has a 50% kill rate**. That is, 1 out of every 2 people who contract H5N1 will die.
I don't know what else to say. We MUST push for thorough farm testing, biosecurity, and intense transmission research.
Stay safe, I hope you had a GREAT holiday, and don't forget to use some form of source control in your daily adventures! 💐
It's amazing reading all these nytimes and other articles saying "Why are so many kids absent from school nowadays? Must be a new culture of laziness. Probably lockdowns. Or phones. We definitely didn't give a generation Long Covid, because that's not something we're permitted to discuss." #CovidIsNotOver#LongCOVID#WearAMask#uspolitics#nytimes
If your union has already sold out your immune compromised members by refusing to make masks mandatory, why would you expect to be able to build solidarity, chump? #union#WearAMask#CovidIsNotOver
MS patients face much greater risk of hospitalization, death from COVID-19, despite high rates of vaccination.
"These findings indicate that vaccination alone may not adequately protect individuals with MS from severe COVID-19 outcomes, and underscore the urgent need for additional preventive measures against COVID-19 in this vulnerable population, say researchers."
@DenisCOVIDinfoguy@auscovid19 I was diagnosed with MS 30 years ago and have been in remission for many years, but my physician and our county’s public health nurse have been adamant about how crucial it is that I avoid getting infected with COVID. We’ve never stopped taking every precaution (so far successfully) & have gotten every available booster, but sure wish so many people weren’t making a difficult thing increasingly challenging for vulnernable people like me. 😷 #WearAMask
People keep shouting that if disabled people can’t cook or clean they should be institutionalized. Apparently accommodating us so we can live independent lives is angering others. Setting aside how awful many care homes are - do you realize there aren’t nearly enough beds?
I get that many ppl seem to want to completely disappear us from society. Seem to think we would be “better off” institutionalized even though many homes are dangerous places for disabled ppl. Even IF they were all sunshine & lollipops …do you think there’s enough of them?
Do you think they accept people of all disabilities? This idea that we should all have families or full time caregivers to support us is nonsense. It’s unrealistic and in many cases unnecessary. Many of us can & do learn to adapt on our own with part time help where available
The reality is we don’t have enough long term care beds to support everyone who’s chronically ill. Many places won’t take you until you’re a certain age. Many deny if you’re too unstable or don’t have rehabilitation goals. I know. I tried to find one & was repeatedly denied.
Stop assuming there’s some society wide program that places disabled people in homes that suit their unique circumstances. Many congregate settings are vectors for disease and neglect. We have to beg for access to places that often make us worse & reduce our quality of life
When you’re tempted to shout that we belong in a home - consider if it’s where YOU would want to be. Also look around - many countries are rapidly expanding their euthanasia programs to include disabled people with non terminal illnesses. Why do you think that is?
We are seeing rising disability numbers due to Covid - and the sad fact is we didn’t have enough supports for disabled people before the pandemic. We certainly can’t support the influx that’s currently occurring. So we are offering DEATH instead. Dead people cost less money.
I know folks are stuck in denial. They don’t want to accept the society wide risk associated with unmitigated COVID spread. But we are begging you to try. Try and think critically about WHY governments are expanding euthanasia programs.
Believe us when we tell you the dire lack of support available. We aren’t shouting about this because we want sympathy or enjoy complaining - we’re shouting because we can see the writing on the wall. We know our systems can’t support this much disability & people will suffer 1/2
Contrary to popular belief—fueled by policy makers, media, and even medical staff—COVID-19 is not over, rather still an ongoing threat to humanity. #WearAMask#CleanAir
What good is "herd immunity" (and its desperate offshoot, "hybrid immunity") if you damage the herd? Once is heavy enough, but over and over again? Something about insanity
Why not try something different? Like mechanical prevention, since vaccines don't seem to be cutting it?
There is no negotiating with a multisystemic coronavirus. When even MarketWatch got it right... 😮💨
If anyone is curious, I already routinely mask up in most indoor situations and even some outdoor ones but, after working on this story, I actually purchased a portable HEPA filter that I can sometimes carry with me as a way to even further increase my safety. #LongCOVID#WearAMask
It's four years since my last conference. I miss it.
At this point I'd consider attending almost any conference I can actually get to that has a #CodeOfConduct and a robust #HealthPolicy regardless of what the topic was.
I don't care who is speaking, or about what. I'd just like to meet up with some interesting people in a setting where I know everyone will #WearAMask
Unfortunately the pickings are slim in the EU right now, and getting on a plane is not really an option.
#CovidConscious crowd: I’m sure I saw some discussion of techniques for stapling excess #respirator material together under chin to improve fit on small faces …
But I can’t find it now and I don’t want to just start stapling willy-nilly!
Watching other doctors cosplay Expertise in Health while being unmasked during a microglia deranging pandemic is truly more surreal than anything Philip K. Dick or H.P. Lovecraft ever wrote.
I’ve had two doctors mention to me this past week the importance of maintaining good brain health to avoid dementia and Parkinsons-yet neither one mentions avoiding Covid. One was surprised I’ve avoided it this long and didn’t understand how I could maintain that since it’s everywhere.
What am I missing? Why isn’t Covid in their discussions for brain health (and Parkinsons)?
I actually engage in this myself. It's not "nice," I don't like doing it, but I have no choice when so many have normalized microglial dysfunction, neurotropic viral spread, and leaky blood-brain barrier related illness as they won't #WearAMask.
I had a patient show up either high on ketamine or manic, engaging in ideational flight, neologisms, rhyming, not making much sense, decreased need for sleep 6 days. No evidence of being obtunded or alterations in mental status.
I explained I wasn't prescribing them shit until they took an antipsychotic. Particularly when their drugs of abuse screen showed positive methamphetamine result on top of it (they didn't test for ketamine), not just amphetamine consistent with Vyvanse.
Patient engaged in splitting, and went to the PCP, pcp said he looked great (this was 2 weeks later by the way), probably had food poisoning, and delirium. 29yo with delirium from bad food, yeah that's common. "He should be put back on a controlled substance" and he says he ended the appointment with a hug from the patient.
As in, put on the medication again, by me.
Eyeroll.
So I laid it out to the PCP: surely since you are confident this was delirium, you are acquiescing to being the prescriber for his mental health needs correct? And by the way PCP, I did a confussion & assessment method evaluation, he showed no acute fluctuations in attention or alterations in mental status. I will not be prescribing the controlled substance.
The doctor to his credit realized the mistake he had made playing buddy buddy and maintaining poor boundaries, and found out that the patient had lied about someone else telling him to stop the antipsychotic. And that he would not be prescribing the controlled substance in question, or suggesting otherwise.
That's the kind of reality I am dealing with in an era of obvious #COVID19 compromise of the brains of individuals around me. This PCP is not a masker. I've no idea if this is a deviation from his baseline compared to 5 years ago, but I will absolutely treat him with skepticism because he is ignoring COVID & showing poor judgment.