Originally Posted by Bwana:
Once again, don't come in this thread with some kind of political agenda, or you will be shown the door. If you want to go that route, there is a thread about this in DC.
Originally Posted by Dartgod:
People, there is a lot of good information in this thread, let's try to keep the petty bickering to a minimum.
We all have varying opinions about the impact of this, the numbers, etc. We will all never agree with each other. But we can all keep it civil.
Thanks!
Click here for the original OP:
Spoiler!
Apparently the CoronaVirus can survive on a inanimate objects, such as door knobs, for 9 days.
California coronavirus case could be first spread within U.S. community, CDC says
By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA, JACLYN COSGROVE
FEB. 26, 2020 8:04 PM
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating what could be the first case of novel coronavirus in the United States involving a patient in California who neither recently traveled out of the country nor was in contact with someone who did.
“At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown. It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States,” the CDC said in a statement. “Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. It’s also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.”
The individual is a resident of Solano County and is receiving medical care in Sacramento County, according to the state Department of Public Health.
The CDC said the “case was detected through the U.S. public health system — picked up by astute clinicians.”
Officials at UC Davis Medical Center expanded on what the federal agency might have meant by that in an email sent Wednesday, as reported by the Davis Enterprise newspaper.
The patient arrived at UC Davis Medical Center from another hospital Feb. 19 and “had already been intubated, was on a ventilator, and given droplet protection orders because of an undiagnosed and suspected viral condition,” according to an email sent by UC Davis officials that was obtained by the Davis Enterprise.
The staff at UC Davis requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, but because the patient didn’t fit the CDC’s existing criteria for the virus, a test wasn’t immediately administered, according to the email. The CDC then ordered the test Sunday, and results were announced Wednesday. Hospital administrators reportedly said in the email that despite these issues, there has been minimal exposure at the hospital because of safety protocols they have in place.
A UC Davis Health spokesperson declined Wednesday evening to share the email with The Times.
Since Feb. 2, more than 8,400 returning travelers from China have entered California, according to the state health department. They have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days and limit interactions with others as much as possible, officials said.
“This is a new virus, and while we are still learning about it, there is a lot we already know,” Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California.”
It is not clear how the person became infected, but public health workers could not identify any contacts with people who had traveled to China or other areas where the virus is widespread. That raises concern that the virus is spreading in the United States, creating a challenge for public health officials, experts say.
“It’s the first signal that we could be having silent transmission in the community,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. “It probably means there are many more cases out there, and it probably means this individual has infected others, and now it’s a race to try to find out who that person has infected.”
On Tuesday, the CDC offered its most serious warning to date that the United States should expect and prepare for the coronavirus to become a more widespread health issue.
“Ultimately, we expect we will see coronavirus spread in this country,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “It’s not so much a question of if, but a question of when.”
According to the CDC’s latest count Wednesday morning, 59 U.S. residents have tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus — 42 of whom are repatriated citizens from a Diamond Princess cruise. That number has grown by two since Messonnier’s last count Tuesday, although the CDC was not immediately available to offer details on the additional cases.
More than 82,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported globally, and more than 2,700 people have died, with the majority in mainland China, the epicenter of the outbreak.
But public health leaders have repeatedly reminded residents that the health risk from the novel coronavirus to the general public remains low.
“While COVID-19 has a high transmission rate, it has a low mortality rate,” the state Department of Public Health said in a statement Wednesday. “From the international data we have, of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, approximately 80% do not exhibit symptoms that would require hospitalization. There have been no confirmed deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States to date.”
CDC officials have also warned that although the virus is likely to spread in U.S. communities, the flu still poses a greater risk.
Gostin said the news of potential silent transmission does not eliminate the possibility of containing the virus in the U.S. and preventing an outbreak.
“There are few enough cases that we should at least try,” he said. “Most of us are not optimistic that that will be successful, but we’re still in the position to try.”
Extended social isolation can have serious health implications, from heart disease and dementia to depression and death. During the pandemic, our diets and lifestyles got worse, increasing our vulnerability to the very disease that isolation is meant to help address
Our mental health suffers, too. The psychological effects of loneliness are a health risk comparable with risk obesity or smoking. Anxiety and depression have spiked since lockdown orders went into effect. The weeks immediately following them saw nearly an 18 percent jump in overdose deaths and, as of last month, more than 40 states had reported increases. One in four young adults age 18 to 25 reported seriously considering suicide within the 30-day window of a recent study. Experts fear that suicides may increase; for young Americans, these concerns are even more acute. Calls to domestic violence hotlines have soared. America’s elderly are dying from the isolation that was meant to keep them safe.
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Thousands die from drug abuse, depression, and poverty. Why aren't you starting 1000 posts about that?
we have had this discussion. You care about this? What’s your problem? Don’t you know there is kids with cancer? Starving families? Homeless? Etc. [Reply]
Originally Posted by TLO:
Indian Chief, if you're still around -
Have you seen any success with the monoclonal antibodies that were approved?
Not first hand, no, but full disclosure -- back in April & May our inpatient census was around 50% COVID positive patients. Many of those were severe. Right now our % of COVID patients is under 10%. Near the end of the summer we had days with no COVID admissions at all. The majority of current cases are mild to moderate with very short inpatient stays. [Reply]
Originally Posted by MahomesMagic:
What Has Lockdown Done to Us?
Extended social isolation can have serious health implications, from heart disease and dementia to depression and death. During the pandemic, our diets and lifestyles got worse, increasing our vulnerability to the very disease that isolation is meant to help address
Our mental health suffers, too. The psychological effects of loneliness are a health risk comparable with risk obesity or smoking. Anxiety and depression have spiked since lockdown orders went into effect. The weeks immediately following them saw nearly an 18 percent jump in overdose deaths and, as of last month, more than 40 states had reported increases. One in four young adults age 18 to 25 reported seriously considering suicide within the 30-day window of a recent study. Experts fear that suicides may increase; for young Americans, these concerns are even more acute. Calls to domestic violence hotlines have soared. America’s elderly are dying from the isolation that was meant to keep them safe.
Originally Posted by R Clark:
So I guess I am a dumb ass enlighten me, I understood that this delivery system hadn’t been used before?
The delivery system is the rate-limiting approach, not the mRNA approach. mRNA is a small, simple set of genetic instructions, but as such, it's fragile. The difficulty in drug development of these vaccines comes from being able to introduce them into the cell without damaging or destroying them or initiating an immune response to soon. That's why they are kept at such cold temperatures, and that's why they are protected by liposomal formulations and that's why they tweaked the mRNA.
Here's how it works:
You inject the vaccine into the upper arm. The mRNA complex enters the cell, but not the nucleus (which means it can't hijack or otherwise interfere with your DNA--it's not a retrovirus, and the people worried about this have no idea what they are talking about). In the cytoplasm of the cell, a ribosome reads the instructions on the mRNA and translates this into a protein--in this case, a spike protein. The spike protein is made and is then carried to the outside of the cell.
Your immune system recognizes this spike protein (an antigen) as foreign and initiates an immune response. The antibodies formed neutralize the spike protein.
In the future, if you are exposed to SARS-CoV-2, your body's immune system will recognize the spike protein on the virus, quickly deploy neutralizing antibodies, and clear the infection before a viral reservoir can be established with around 95% efficacy.
It does not change your DNA
It does not make systemic alterations to the cellular structure of your body
There is absolutely no reason to believe long term effects will occur from the introduction of a simple set of coding instructions. Titin is the largest protein in the human body with a size of approximately 3000 kDa. The spike protein is 200 kDa. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigRedChief:
we have had this discussion. You care about this? What’s your problem? Don’t you know there is kids with cancer? Starving families? Homeless? Etc.
I've given money and time to kids with cancer. I've given food to starving families and shelter to homeless people.
Or I could spend my time on a message board acting holier-than-thou about it instead.
You know, like you do.
I mean if you're SO concerned about people's health, high fructose corn syrup in this country kills millions and contributes to a few of the most common COVID comorbidities outside of age, like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
Why don't you have a 1000 posts telling everyone here how they're destroying America because they refuse to give up Mt. Dew?
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins:
COVID is a public health issue that can be minimized by very simple measures that people willingly choose not to adopt
Obesity is a public health issue that can be minimized by very simple measures that people willingly choose not to adopt.
But I'll be damned if they aren't wearing a mask in between bites of their Big Mac and gulps from their 44oz. Coca-Cola. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Obesity is a public health issue that can be minimized by very simple measures that people willingly choose not to adopt.
And just to be clear, I'm not overtly trying to pick a fight here, I'm just making a point.
I've made it to BRC before but he apparently doesn't want to understand it.
For sure, there are some people for which this is about science. Or human decency. For a lot more, it has nothing to do with altruism. It has everything to do with political expediency or the ability to feel morally or intellectually superior.
That happens A LOT on this thread right here on CP and if that's what helps people cope with COVID, I guess I can understand that.
What I can't understand is the need to try and hide behind the facade of actually caring about fellow human beings when that's not what this is about at all. If it was, all of the other issues we have wouldn't be ignored.
Some people just can't resist the lure of the soapbox. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
It costs the economy billions a year, a cost we all bear whether we are obese or not.
Sure, but the cost of obesity doesn't shut down the economy either. We're dealing with a completely new situation. This issue prevents people from going to work, which obesity does not. [Reply]
Does anybody have any factual information on what the % of somebody who already had Covid getting Covid again? How many people have gotten it a second time? [Reply]