Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

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Darren
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Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by Darren »

Curious and curiouser

Artificial intelligence finds an acorn. This matches the previous articles describing how the virus attacks the blood cells. The body reacts to the damaged blood cells by signaling the bone marrow to produce more. Elevated liver enzymes indicate the organ reacting.

"You may be thinking that this AI tool probably just picked out older individuals or patients with prior health conditions, but that wasn’t the case. Even the technology’s creators were surprised by both the device’s accuracy and its discovery that three main unexpected markers appear to indicate future severe COVID-19 symptoms: high levels of the liver enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT), self-reported muscle pain, and high levels of the protein hemoglobin."

https://www.theladders.com/career-advic ... t-covid-19
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Darren
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Re: Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by Darren »

Walgreens is offering 15 minute testing for COVID-19. Too bad we don't have something besides toilet paper to judge the panic level.

"Walgreens pharmacies in seven states will soon offer drive-thru coronavirus testing stations.

The nationwide retailer announced on Tuesday its partnership with Abbott Laboratories to offer rapid-result coronavirus tests for patients in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas. The COVID-19 test produced by Abbott can deliver results in 13 minutes. In total, 15 stores will offer the testing services."

https://news.walgreens.com/press-releas ... states.htm
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Darren
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Re: Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by Darren »

Good news from Denver.

"DENVER (CBS4) – A Denver family physician has been prescribing a controversial medication to his patients, sick with coronavirus, and believes it is yielding positive results. Dr. Constantine Tsamasfyros, who has been a primary care doctor in Denver for nearly 50 years, told CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass he has prescribed a combination of hydroxychloroquine (also known as Plaquenil) and an antibiotic called azithromycin to about a dozen patients over the last few weeks.

"“They all did well. They seemed to reverse their symptoms in a day or two,” said Tsamasfyros, who said he “absolutely” believed the medication was working."

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/04/06/ ... loroquine/
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rubato
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Re: Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by rubato »

A whole dozen!

Yrs,
Rubato

Darren
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Re: Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by Darren »

I need a new set of pom poms.

"MONTEREY, Calif. —

Researchers at Stanford Medicine are working to find out what proportion of Californians have already had COVID-19. The new study could help policymakers make more informed decisions during the coronavirus pandemic.

The team tested 3,200 people at three Bay Area locations on Saturday using an antibody test for COVID-19 and expect to release results in the coming weeks. The data could help to prove COVID-19 arrived undetected in California much earlier than previously thought.

The hypothesis that COVID-19 first started spreading in California in the fall of 2019 is one explanation for the state's lower than expected case numbers."

https://www.ksbw.com/article/new-study- ... 9/32073873#
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Darren
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Re: Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by Darren »

"JERICHO, N.Y. -- Anna Fortunato, a 90-year-old survivor of COVID-19, has a message for the rest of us:

Do not be afraid. Do not despair."

"As her condition worsened, Gund asked about giving her mother last rites. The hospital said it was too dangerous to bring in a priest.

"=In desperation, Gund said, Fortunato's doctors administered an anti-malaria drug repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump. Its safety or effectiveness against the coronavirus have not been proven; some preliminary reports suggest it might help, but there is no way to know whether it has aided in the recovery of any particular patient.

Whether due to that or any other treatment, Fortunato began to improve.

After 13 days in the hospital, she was discharged."

https://abc7ny.com/corona-news-new-york ... y/6084498/
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Scooter
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Re: Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by Scooter »

FRENCH HOSPITAL STOPS HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE TREATMENT FOR COVID-19 PATIENT OVER MAJOR CARDIAC RISK

A hospital in France has had to stop an experimental treatment using hydroxychloroquine on at least one coronavirus patient after it became a "major risk" to their cardiac health.

The University Hospital Center of Nice (CHU de Nice) is one of many hospitals trialing hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients. It announced it had been selected for the trial on March 22. A statement from the hospital said it was testing four experimental treatments, one of which included hydroxychloroquine. It hoped to establish its effectiveness and side effects of this and the other treatments being tested.

In an interview with the French daily newspaper Nice-Matin, Professor Émile Ferrari, the head of the cardiology department at the Pasteur hospital in Nice, said the side effects had already been identified, with some patients having to stop treatment because of the risk posed.

He said electrocardiogram recordings of patients involved with the trial were being constantly monitored. An ECG measures electrical activity in the heart, and represents this on a graph as a QT interval. Ferrari said these recordings are interpreted and, if anomalies are reported, treatment is stopped.

Asked if this had happened yet, he said: "Yes, from the start of the trial. Thanks to this ECG follow-up, we highlighted the major risks of a very serious accident in a patient, and the treatment was immediately stopped."

The potential cardiac side effects of hydroxychloroquine were highlighted by the Mayo Clinic at the end of March. An article on its website said the drug has the potential to lead to sudden cardiac death in some patients. In a small number of patients it has the potential to lead to a prolonged QTc , which can result in an abnormal heart rhythm.

Hydroxychloroquine, Mayo Clinic said, blocks one of the channels that controls the heart's electrical recharging systems. "This interference increases the possibility that the heart's rhythm could degenerate into dangerous erratic heart beats, resulting ultimately in sudden cardiac death."

In a statement, Michael J. Ackerman, a Mayo Clinic genetic cardiologist, said: "Correctly identifying which patients are most susceptible to this unwanted, tragic side effect and knowing how to safely use these medications is important in neutralizing this threat."

Like the CHU in Nice, the Mayo Clinic cardiologists say there should be guidance on monitoring a person's QTc through ECGs in order to identify patients at increased risk of the potential COVID-19 treatment.

"Right now, it is the Wild West out there, ranging from doing no QTc surveillance whatsoever and just accepting this potential tragic side effect as part of 'friendly fire,' to having ECG technicians going into the room of a patient with COVID-19 daily, exposing them to coronavirus and consuming personal protective equipment," Ackerman said.

Ferrari said that hydroxychloroquine on its own presents only a small cardiac risk. However, when given alongside the antibiotic azithromycin, with which it is being prescribed in combination for the treatment of coronavirus, the risk increases. He said that for some patients being treated with these drugs, "the remedy is more harmful than the disease itself."

In an interview with NBC, Ackerman said he was concerned about how little attention this potential side effect of hydroxychloroquine was being given, even among health professionals.

"What disturbed me the most was when I was seeing not political officials say these medications are safe but seeing on the news cardiologists and infectious disease specialists say [hydroxychloroquine] is completely safe without even mentioning this rare side effect. That's inexcusable," Ackerman said.

The French trial and the side effect seen follows similar experiences in Sweden. Magnus Gisslén at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, told the Gothenburg Post they had stopped the treatment for COVID-19 patients following reports of problems at other hospitals.

"There were reports of suspected more serious side effects than we first thought," he is quoted as saying. "We cannot rule out serious side effects, especially from the heart, and it is a hard-dosed drug. The fact that some seriously ill COVID-19 patients have acute heart problems has raised concerns that chloroquine may be harmful to some patients."
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Darren
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Re: Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by Darren »

"Last month, Herrmann, 54, visited his doctor for a regular check-up after returning to San Antonio from a ski trip to Crested Butte, Colo., with his family. Because he’d traveled to an area where the virus was spreading, his doctor ordered a test, and within days, it came back positive.

But his only symptoms were a brief loss of taste and smell, and a passing fever that never broke 100 degrees.

Herrmann knows others with COVID-19 aren’t as fortunate. So when he saw that the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center was collecting blood plasma from people who had successfully fought off the corona virus to give to those who were still critically ill, it felt like the right thing to do.

His plasma donation on Tuesday afternoon — the city’s first — has kickstarted local efforts to treat the sickest COVID-19 patients with a therapy that has long been used for other diseases without treatment or cure."

https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/ ... 185855.php
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Scooter
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Re: Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by Scooter »

But...but...but...Trump says hydrochloroquine + azithomycin is a miracle cure, so why should it be necessary to explore other options?
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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Joe Guy
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Re: Day 5 in the countdown to an end to the COVID-19 panic.

Post by Joe Guy »

This is an old story but it could happen again....
Image

BBC NEWS | Americas | 'Virgin Mary' toast fetches $28,000

A decade-old toasted cheese sandwich said to bear an image of the Virgin Mary has sold on the eBay auction website for $28,000.

An internet casino confirmed it had purchased the sandwich, saying it had become a "part of pop culture".

Goldenpalace.com says it will take the sandwich on world tour before selling it and donating the money to charity.

Diane Duyser, from Florida, says the sandwich has never gone mouldy since she made it 10 years ago.

By the time the sandwich auction closed on Monday the sale had received over 1.7 million hits on the auction site.

'Mystical power'

"We will definitely use the sandwich to raise money for charity, and we hope it will raise people's spirits as well," said Richard Rowe, the casino's CEO.

"With the... thousands of search engine queries, it is obvious that this is something people want to know more about... and Golden Palace will help spread the word.

"We believe that everyone should be able to see it and learn of its mystical power for themselves."

Last week, Mrs Duyser told reporters the sandwich had brought her luck - including winnings of $70,000 at a casino near her Florida home.

Mrs Duyser says she noticed the image burned into her sandwich as she was about to tuck into it in autumn 1994.

"I went to take a bite out of it, and then I saw this lady looking back at me," she said, according to the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

"I hollered for him," she said, gesturing to her husband, Greg. "It scared me at first."

She says she has done nothing to preserve the sandwich except keeping it in a plastic box, but "it doesn't fall apart or crumble or anything".

Nevertheless, before auctioning her sandwich Mrs Duyser cautioned buyers that it was "not intended for consumption".

The item has inspired sellers to place dozens of spin-off items on the online auction site, including attempts at replica burnt toast, T-shirts, ornamental plates, and domain names.

One seller is even offering a "Virgin Mary" sandwich toaster - though the item description includes the caveat that the item "may or may not reproduce the Virgin Mary image".
old source

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