Arthritis drug that helps Covid ICU patients has wider benefits, trial finds
Researchers say tocilizumab could also help patients on general wards and relieve pressure on NHS
www.theguardian.com
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In Mexico as they struggle to do anything right and by most accounts has the worst pandemic response world wide...front line workers are being told that a second vaccine is likely months away, nowhere within the 21-25 day window for a second dose.
In San Diego a couple of old Sears locations are being used as super vaccine centers. Petco Park is also being used and the abandoned Chargers stadium just sits there..it looks like having a deep alternate list is key to success. Once the drugs are defrosted you have some time, any appointment no shows look like they are quickly replaced by people on a ready waiting list.
One thing that is funny,is that local news was incorrectly reporting that vaccine centers were asking for minimum identification \ eligibility info..honor system. When health care workers start making there way up long lines of cars w clipboards and tablets, a few dishonorable folks need to make a U-turn after they are discovered to not be part of any eligible group but instead thought just because they look old nobody would ask..
They had the cops and CHP on TV and radio saying don't get in line if you are not part of the group.causes traffic problems. So kind of a Disneyland, gotta be this tall to ride thing, only for adults
not to be a wet blanket here. You have to be cautious when introducing devices that require or produce high CFM outputs. Yes you can put stand alone purification systems all over,but during a smoke or fire condition, you need to be able to control air circulation. If you have a bunch of devices that are not controlled by the fire alarm you can have serious safety problems. Normally during a fire, smoke damper devices in the HVAC system will create a condition as to not pump smoke or fresh air into an alarm area. There are door locks that automatically drop so as to compartmentalize the fire or smoke.Hard to understand why authorities are moving so slowly on this:
The simple and cost-effective solution that could reduce the risk of airborne COVID-19 in hotel quarantine
Health authorities have vowed to get to the bottom of the role that ventilation has played in the spread of COVID-19 within hotel quarantine — and one engineer says there's a simple solution that could help to reduce the risk.www.abc.net.au
No end to Covid pandemic without equal access to vaccine, experts say
Disease researchers argue vaccine stockpiling in wealthier countries will only prolong the crisiswww.theguardian.com
Thanks for that explanation!not to be a wet blanket here. You have to be cautious when introducing devices that require or produce high CFM outputs. Yes you can put stand alone purification systems all over,but during a smoke or fire condition, you need to be able to control air circulation. If you have a bunch of devices that are not controlled by the fire alarm you can have serious safety problems. Normally during a fire, smoke damper devices in the HVAC system will create a condition as to not pump smoke or fresh air into an alarm area. There are door locks that automatically drop so as to compartmentalize the fire or smoke.
If the air purifier units utilize a fan that created significant air flow that needs to be shut down in an emergency..so fart fans in the bathrooms don't usually need to be controlled, hood fans in kitchens of a certain size are dumped during fire..so if the fans used to scrub the air are small,not a big deal, but to move significant quantities of air usually require a bigger fan..
Lots of western countries have elaborate fire codes.
WHO investigator claims China refused to hand over key Covid information
Australian infection expert, part of a team visiting Wuhan, says they were provided only with a summary of datawww.theguardian.com
There was a large team of scientists and the Australian Dominic Dwyer disagrees with the above statements it seems. He also has not refuted the NY Times report as he would have if he thought they had misquoted him. Three or four opinions doesn't speak for the entire team............The experts in question have provided clarification for their quotes that were deliberately twisted, manipulated, and taken out of context by the NYT and echoed across all MSM outlets to fit their agenda, as expected.
@PeterDaszak - This was NOT my experience on @WHO mission. As lead of animal/environment working group I found trust & openness w/ my China counterparts. We DID get access to critical new data throughout. We DID increase our understanding of likely spillover pathways.
View: https://twitter.com/PeterDaszak/status/1360551108565999619
@TheaKFischer - This was NOT my experience either on the Epi-side. We DID build up a good relationsship in the Chinese/Int Epi-team! Allowing for heated arguments reflects a deep level of engagement in the room. Our quotes are intendedly twisted casting shadows over important scientific work.
View: https://twitter.com/TheaKFischer/status/1360590441817772034
@PeterDaszak - Hear! Hear! It's disappointing to spend time w/ journalists explaining key findings of our exhausting month-long work in China, to see our colleagues selectively misquoted to fit a narrative that was prescribed before the work began. Shame on you @nytimes !
View: https://twitter.com/PeterDaszak/status/1360591411469516801
There was a large team of scientists and the Australian Dominic Dwyer disagrees with the above statements it seems. He also has not refuted the NY Times report as he would have if he thought they had misquoted him. Three or four opinions doesn't speak for the entire team............
If you read the paper, that is not actually how the patients were assigned. The patients were assigned by the ward that they were located in and it appears that the patients in the wards that did not get treatment had a significantly lower level of Vitamin D before the treatment even started. That is a red flag as it indicates that the wards are not randomly populated. It is broadly accepted that Vitamin D levels are associated with worse outcomes. The question is whether supplementation helps. Another red flag is that they did not do their statistics correctly based on how they designed the study. The correct statistical test suggests that it is possible that there is no benefit at all.I've seen excuses before saying correlation doesn't prove causation, but that narrative should be put to bed now surely?
Latest I've seen is a big study in Barcelona that found treating patients with Calcifediol reduced chance of death with a whopping 64%!
This study proves causation as patients were randomly assigned to either treatment or control group, and only difference in treatment between the 2 groups was wether they were treated with Calcifediol or not .
The study is still awaiting peer-review, but pre-print can be found here.
For those not into reading science papers, Dr. John Campbell goes through the study here.
If you read the paper, that is not actually how the patients were assigned. The patients were assigned by the ward that they were located in and it appears that the patients in the wards that did not get treatment had a significantly lower level of Vitamin D before the treatment even started. That is a red flag as it indicates that the wards are not randomly populated. It is broadly accepted that Vitamin D levels are associated with worse outcomes. The question is whether supplementation helps. Another red flag is that they did not do their statistics correctly based on how they designed the study. The correct statistical test suggests that it is possible that there is no benefit at all.
They couldn't even successfully balance by gender. There is a significantly higher proportion of men in the non-treatment arm. And we know that is also associated with worse outcomes.