Coronavirus

[dales]

Simple solutions from the simple-minded.

"Herd Immunity" will not occur until 80 to 90 percent of persons become infected.

Let a few hundred thousand more die off so we can re-open the economy?

Yeah, right.

[Jarlaxle]

Seems to have worked in Sweden.

[Scooter]

Sweden has a death rate 10 times higher than its neighbours without achieving anything close to herd immunity.

[Big RR]

Dales--90% is very high and applies only to highly infectious diseases; the numbers I have read are around 60 - 70%; still high numbers, but nowhere near 90.

Scooter--for herd immunity it is the infection rate that is important, not the death rate.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Seems to have worked in Sweden.

Sweden: 477 deaths per million of population
Denmark: 102 dpmp
Norway: 45 dpmp
Finland: 59
USA: 351
France: 450

Yep, them Swedes be showing what works

ETA what Scooter wrote above (or below)(after this post anyway)

[Scooter]

Scooter--for herd immunity it is the infection rate that is important, not the death rate.

What I'm saying is that it hasn't "worked" in Sweden. They haven't achieved the infection rate needed for herd immunity (or anything close to it), but their approach has caused grossly excessive mortality.

[Big RR]

I agree they haven't acieved anywhere near the infection rate needed, but I also think the antibody tests done in Stockholm are misleading, if we assume the stated infection rates are correct. There is no reaso to assume that all those infected who are still alive would not have acquired some form of immunity (perhaps for those immunocompromised, but this would be a low porportion of that group), which would place the immunity rate at around 20%, well on the way to the 60% needed. Time will tell, but absent a vaccine or robust therapeutic regime to treat the infection (and none of these appear to be forthcoming in the near future), ultimate herd immunity and/or a viral mutation which affects the death rates appear to be all we can depend on to ameliorate the crisis. We'll have to see how Sweden's experiment ultimately has worked.

[BoSoxGal]

Even Sweden’s head epidemiologist has now recognized that their approach was disastrous for their elderly population. The last figures indicated an exposure rate below 10%. Herd immunity isn’t going to happen short of a widely vaccinated population.

[Jarlaxle]

Which is vanishingly unlikely...there are few (I'm not sure there are ANY) vaccines for any coronavirus...they mutate too quickly.

[Scooter]

No, in fact this virus has not mutated quickly. Neither did the original SARS coronavirus (for which work on a vaccine was abandoned when it disappeared on its own, but that same work is now being put to use for SARS-CoV2).

[BoSoxGal]

Just got a reminder that I’m scheduled for a dental cleaning next week.

I’m not sure I’m ready to have two folks breathing right over my unmasked mouth - even if they’re both gloved and masked.

Anybody else had routine dental work done since pandemic?

I just had a cleaning 6 months ago, so it wouldn’t kill me to skip it.

[Crackpot]

My son did last week. We had our temperatures taken in the foyer as well as a covid questionnaire. The waiting room had it’s chair population dramatically thinned and I wasn’t allowed back with my son so I can’t say what other procedures they had in place.

[Scooter]

The risk is probably exponentially higher to them, because all manner of stuff will be flying at them out of a patient's mouth, so I would imagine that whatever measures they will have to take to protect themselves will also protect you.

[RayThom]

Just got a reminder that I’m scheduled for a dental cleaning next week.

I’m not sure I’m ready to have two folks breathing right over my unmasked mouth - even if they’re both gloved and masked.

Anybody else had routine dental work done since pandemic?

I just had a cleaning 6 months ago, so it wouldn’t kill me to skip it.

I canceled my regular check up prior to my surgery in February, and then COVID became a thing.

My dentist recently called me to reschedule but I declined due to my current regimen of chemotherapy. I'm constantly out of sorts, and nothing feels quite "natural." I don't need someone poking dental tools in my mouth and getting the wrong feedback in the process.

I have good dental hygiene so I'm not particularly worried by putting the visit off for another six months.

[Long Run]

I had mine cleaned this week. When you figure that dentists were already about 99 yards down the field in terms of sanitizing before Coronavirus, and now they are well across the goal line. My hygienist wore her regular mask, plus a second mask, plus a plexi face shield. There are usually two clients in the cleaning area (separated by a partial wall), but I was the only one there. And the waiting room was empty as they have spread out their scheduling to limit/prevent overlap. Almost all the tools that are normally set on the small work tables were put away, and that makes it easier for them to scrub down the chair and all surfaces between client visits. And, of course, they did a thorough pre-screening with questions and temperature/blood pressure readings. I know the dental insurers are allotting extra pay to help reimburse the extra measures dentists are taking to ensure a sanitary environment.

When judging whether to do a particular activity, I balance the benefit of the activity against the risk of the activity. And for risk, I equate every activity with the extremely low risk of going to the grocery store. I felt my visit to the dentist was far safer than going to the grocery store. As for the benefit of the dental cleaning visit, you can skip one, but you are also skipping having your dental issues reviewed to see if there are any new things popping up that could cause problems. I've always treated the dental visit as important as a periodic medical physical. That's my experience and take.

[Econoline]

Watch this animated bar graph. Scary.

Selected Global Causes of Deaths Due to Various Causes and COVID-19, Jan-May 2O2O

[MajGenl.Meade]

With any luck, the Trumpanzees will not be able to get any until September . . . 2021.

Researchers in England say they have the first evidence that a drug can improve COVID-19 survival: A steroid called dexamethasone reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalized patients.

Results were announced Tuesday and researchers said they would publish them soon. The study is a large, strict test that randomly assigned 2,104 patients to get the drug and compared them with 4,321 patients getting only usual care.

The drug was given either orally or through an IV. It reduced deaths by 35% in patients who needed treatment with breathing machines and by 20% in those only needing supplemental oxygen. It did not appear to help less ill patients.

“This is an extremely welcome result,” one study leader, Peter Horby of the University of Oxford, said in a statement. "The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide.”

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/0 ... /24525564/

[Big RR]

That would be great, but I wonder why they went to the press before they published the results; a bit strange for academics. Hopefully the results will bear these conclusions out.

[BoSoxGal]

In which Trump refers to the AIDS vaccine in assuring folks we’ll have a coronavirus vaccine very soon

[Econoline]

OFFS