Can touching a barbell in the gym get you sick with the coronavirus?

[Jankauskas]

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They should make one for grocery stores too

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Duh ... Chips/Cards ...

 

[Michael Scally MD]

As the United States navigates one of the most serious pandemics in history, much of the country has been shut down to prevent devastating local outbreaks that threaten lives and can overwhelm hospitals.

A breakdown in the federal disaster response delayed state and local responses, allowing SARS-CoV-2 to spread rapidly in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Louisiana, and other states. Only astute early interventions in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area seem to have stemmed a potential tide of cases and deaths.

Covid-19 has taken more American lives in 1 month than the Vietnam War claimed over 8 years. Other countries, such as Australia, South Korea, Germany, Singapore, and Taiwan, managed to contain the virus early and are working hard to keep it suppressed as they reopen their economies.

Tragically, the United States, unable to match other countries’ response, has tallied the most cases and deaths in the world — and recent data suggest that those tallies are underestimates. Why has the U.S. response been so ineffectual?

One key answer is testing, which has been a cornerstone of Covid-19 control elsewhere. U.S. testing to identify people infected with SARS-CoV-2 has been slow to start and to this day has not sufficiently ramped up.

Testing was delayed in January and February as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) distributed faulty test kits, then failed to approve a working test developed by the World Health Organization or those developed by local public health laboratories. Since March, the number of tests per day has never reached the number needed because of shortages of reagents, materials, and personal protective equipment (see graph).

Having failed to test early enough to contain outbreaks, the country has fallen back on two mitigation strategies: accelerating drug and vaccine development and an unprecedented strategy of nonpharmacologic interventions (NPIs) involving draconian school and business closures, stay-at-home orders, and physical distancing. Drugs and vaccines are extremely unlikely to alter the early course of the pandemic.

In the short term, only NPIs have slowed the spread of disease. Yet NPIs carry a heavy economic price as well as their own health burdens, as people fail to receive care for other conditions or suffer mental health consequences from isolation, unemployment, and sudden poverty. Whether NPIs are maintained or not, serious health consequences appear inescapable.

…

Schneider EC. Failing the Test — The Tragic Data Gap Undermining the U.S. Pandemic Response. New England Journal of Medicine 2020. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2014836

 

[Michael Scally MD]

A highly influential coronavirus antibody study was funded in part by David Neeleman, the JetBlue Airways founder and a vocal proponent of the idea that the pandemic isn’t deadly enough to justify continued lockdowns.

That’s according to a complaint from an anonymous whistleblower, filed with Stanford University last week and obtained by BuzzFeed News, about the study conducted by the famous scientist John Ioannidis and others. The complaint cites dozens of emails, including exchanges with the airline executive while the study was being conducted.

...

And emails cited within the complaint also suggest that the study’s authors disregarded warnings raised by two Stanford professors who tried to verify the accuracy of the antibody test used. The pair of scientists ultimately refused to put their names on the study because, they told the lead researchers, they could not stand by the test results. The complaint suggests that Neeleman “potentially used financial incentives to secure cooperation from” one of these scientists, who told colleagues by email that she was “alarmed” by aspects of the antibody test’s performance.

Asked if Neeleman donated to the study, Ioannidis said he was “not personally aware” he did. “David Neeleman has a particular perspective and some ideas and some thoughts,” he told BuzzFeed News. “I don’t know exactly who were the people who funded the study eventually. But whoever they were, none of them really told us it should be designed in a given way or done in a given way or find a particular type of result or report a particular type of result.”

 

[ergomaniac]

Duh ... Chips/Cards ...

Chips/Cards... are they disinfecting between hands? And I don't see one pair of gloves.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

A video has been viewed more than 100,000 times in multiple posts on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter in which a purported Philippine doctor claims ingesting semen could cure a patient infected with the novel coronavirus, citing a 2016 scientific study. The claim is false; the authors of the 2016 study told AFP the claim was "ridiculous" and their findings have “nothing to do with COVID-19”; as of May 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said there is no cure for COVID-19.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

The Dutch government has issued new guidance to single people seeking intimacy during the pandemic, advising them to find a "sex buddy".

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) says singletons should come to an arrangement with one other person.

But pairings should avoid sex if one of them suspects they have coronavirus, the advice says.

The guidance comes after critics said there was no sex advice for singles.

But in guidance published on 14 May, the RIVM said "it makes sense that as a single [person] you also want to have physical contact" during the pandemic. https://www.loketgezondleven.nl/advies-ondersteuning/coronavirus/seksualiteit

 

[Michael Scally MD]

[OA] Androgen Sensitivity Gateway To COVID-19 Disease Severity

In this communication, we present arguments for androgen sensitivity as a likely determinant of COVID-19 disease severity. The androgen sensitivity model explains why males are more likely to develop severe symptoms while children are ostensibly resistant to infection. Further, the model explains the difference in COVID-19 mortality rates among different ethnicities.

Androgen sensitivity is determined by genetic variants of the androgen receptor. The androgen receptor regulates transcription of the transmembrane protease, serine 2 (TMPRSS2), which is required for SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. TMPRSS2 primes the Spike protein of the virus, which has two consequences: diminishing viral recognition by neutralizing antibodies and activating SARS-CoV-2 for virus-cell fusion.

Genetic variants that have been associated with androgenetic alopecia, prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia and polycystic ovary syndrome could be associated with host susceptibility. In addition to theoretical epidemiological and molecular mechanisms, there are reports of high rates of androgenetic alopecia of from hospitalized COVID-19 patients due to severe symptoms.

Androgen sensitivity is a likely determinant of COVID-19 disease severity. We believe that the evidence presented in this communication warrants the initiation of trials using anti-androgen agents.

Wambier CG, Goren A, Vaño-Galván S, et al. Androgen sensitivity gateway to COVID-19 disease severity [published online ahead of print, 2020 May 15]. Drug Dev Res. 2020;10.1002/ddr.21688. doi:10.1002/ddr.21688 Error - Cookies Turned Off

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Train to Busan is a 2016 South Korean harrowing zombie horror-thriller that follows a group of terrified passengers fighting their way through a countrywide viral outbreak while trapped on a suspicion-filled, blood-drenched bullet train ride to Busan, a southern resort city that has managed to hold off the zombie hordes... or so everyone hopes.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[MisterSuperGod]

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Modern day cone of silence?

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Modern day cone of silence?

Get Smart - Cone of Silence

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Larger gatherings are still prohibited under strict coronavirus stay-at-home orders.

But that didn’t stop a raging house party Saturday night in the Hollywood Hills that ended when, police say, a man accidentally shot himself in the groin.

Officers received a complaint of a loud party at 1410 Miller Drive at about 11 p.m., said Los Angeles Police Lt. Mark Chong.

When they responded, they found that more than 100 people were gathered at a short-term-rental property that appeared to have been reserved for the occasion, he said.

The officers heard a single gunshot and called for backup units, Chong said. An investigation revealed that a man had been shot in his groin area. The wound is believed to have been accidentally self-inflicted.

The man was taken to a hospital. His injuries were not life-threatening, Chong said.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Leading South Korea club FC Seoul apologised to fans after inadvertently substituting supporters in the stands with sex dolls during their 1-0 win over Gwangju FC on Sunday.

While the season started on May 8, fans are not yet allowed in stadiums because of the coronavirus outbreak.

For Seoul's first home game, around 20 mannequins, many holding banners and all wearing masks, were spaced evenly around the seats behind the goal usually occupied by the club's most active fans.

As the game progressed, however, Korean social media started to light up as it became apparent to viewers that these mannequins, supplied by a local company, Dalkom, whose CEO is a Seoul fan, looked very much like sex dolls.

In addition, some mannequins held signs offering messages of support to players and the team that seemed to reference adult content streaming sites.

 

[Jankauskas]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[DrinkFlintWater]

Gym owners here in NJ have had enough with this lockdown and decided to open against it. Personally, I am starting to see a trend locally as even some barbershops opened up today. Guess the people have had enough already