[Health] The Infectious Diseases Thread

[stessier]

I found this long thread pretty interesting. A ways down is the link to the German research it is based on.

[Anonymous Bosch]

How a discovery that brought us Viagra could help those battling the coronavirus

Nitric oxide is a gas with a pretty enviable medical resume.

Its discovery gave rise to a treatment that snatches thousands of “blue babies” — newborns starved of oxygen by a heart defect — from the jaws of death every year. Later, research into the gas’s knack for relaxing blood vessels led to the development of the world’s best-known little blue pill — the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra.

In 1992, the journal Science named nitric oxide “molecule of the year.” And in 1998, UCLA pharmacologist Louis J. Ignarro shared a Nobel Prize in medicine for uncovering nitric oxide’s role as a “signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system.”

Nitric oxide may not be done yet. The colorless, odorless gas, inhaled through a mask or even from a small “flute,” is now being tested as an experimental treatment for COVID-19. It may also prove helpful in protecting healthcare workers on the front line of the pandemic from getting sick.

At hospitals in Boston, Alabama, Louisiana, Sweden and Austria, researchers have launched a clinical trial to test inhaled nitric oxide in patients with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19. The trial will test whether the gas can drive down the number of patients who end up needing breathing assistance from a mechanical ventilator, a piece of equipment that’s in critically short supply.

For about 30 minutes two or three times a day, study participants assigned to the trial’s active arm will inhale a high dose of nitric oxide through a mask. A control group will go without the gas.

In Italy, where the gas was used under more haphazard conditions, the treatment appeared to dramatically boost oxygen levels in the blood of COVID-19 patients, said Dr. Lorenzo Berra, the critical-care specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital who is leading the new trial. But it’ll take more rigorous testing to clarify how much nitric oxide helps, he said.

A proposed second trial, still under scrutiny by a research panel at Massachusetts General Hospital, would enroll healthcare workers who are routinely exposed to patients with COVID-19 and are themselves at high risk of infection. For 10 to 15 minutes at the start and end of every shift, doctors and nurses would tug on a handheld device and inhale a high dose of nitric oxide.

[dbt1949]

Olde Goats.

[tjg_marantz]

All you people and your work from home...

Can I get me some of that?

Our call volume is mostly down here but everything takes longer now. Bad fentanyl out there and the covid screening tool takes forever. It's important obviously but holy shit are we doing double work for nothing. Our EMTs do the same screening once on scene yet we also do it completely. Hopefully soon they'll allow us to stop as soon as we got a trigger for PPE.

They added about 40(?) nurses to our building to answer 811 overflow. These issues have daily meetings in small meeting rooms with about 20 of them in there. Like seriously. We're all just waiting for one person to get it and it'll spread like wildfire.

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[Jeff V]

They added about 40(?) nurses to our building

Wow. I mean, I didn't know Saskatchewan had that many people.

Hopefully everyone is wearing hazmat suits at these meetings.

[tjg_marantz]

They added about 40(?) nurses to our building

Wow. I mean, I didn't know Saskatchewan had that many people.

Hopefully everyone is wearing hazmat suits at these meetings.

Scrunchies count as Hazmat? Cuz they all have those.

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[IceBear]

Anyone want some Deadpool merch? Help Haley Wickeniser get some PPE equipment and Ryan Reynolds said he'll send stuff - even raise your kids

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/ryan-reynolds ... -1.5523390

[Kasey Chang]

Hah, the career workshop webinar just got zoom bombed again. Except this time, I spotted the bomber first. It's a dead giveaway when he named himself "Sung Ting Wong" and he must have been trying to turn on the mike as he is like moving up in the participant display order. I told the co-host to watch out for him. Took him another 20 minutes to make his move, but within 2 seconds of him speaking up he got booted. Woohoo! Mission accomplished.

That inspired me to write this:

https://medium.com/@kschang777/how-to-s ... 918aa957ae

[Jag]

Hah, the career workshop webinar just got zoom bombed again. Except this time, I spotted the bomber first. It's a dead giveaway when he named himself "Sung Ting Wong" and he must have been trying to turn on the mike as he is like moving up in the participant display order. I told the co-host to watch out for him. Took him another 20 minutes to make his move, but within 2 seconds of him speaking up he got booted. Woohoo! Mission accomplished.

That inspired me to write this:

https://medium.com/@kschang777/how-to-s ... 918aa957ae

We are doing a family Zoom tonight. First time doing it. My son set it up with a private link. Is that good enough protection? It's only about 10 people.

[Jaymon]

I have started making the cloth face masks. its simple enough, but I didn't like the plain designs like they have on CDC or the surgeon general site.
I have not got any elastic, so I am making tie straps and adding pleats. But in my own twist, I am putting a bit of a fold over along the top, and sliding a pipe cleaner in it, so the top can be shaped to fit snugly over the nose. That really improved it, much less air going out the cheekbones straight up.
The pipe cleaners are removable, so the masks can be machine washed.

I need to get a delicates bag, so I can wash the masks inside the bag without fear of the straps getting tangled or torn off in the machine.

[Blackhawk]

Pipe cleaners... Hmm...

[Kasey Chang]

We are doing a family Zoom tonight. First time doing it. My son set it up with a private link. Is that good enough protection? It's only about 10 people.

You should be fine. My career webinar thing was publicized for months in advance. Just beware of some stranger joining in, but chances of your join link being publicized is practically nil.

[stessier]

It is exceedingly difficult to not touch one's face when one's allergies are running amok.

[Max Peck]

My sewing skills (and supplies) begin and end with reattaching buttons, so I ordered a non-PPE reusable dust mask from Amazon. It looks like a legitimate product (it's been listed since March 2019 and has a handful of reasonably authentic looking reviews), but in the worst case scenario I can use the outer nylon shell and jury-rig a fabric liner to keep my respiratory goo from spraying the cashier at the grocery store.

[Smoove_B]

I picked up something like that last year for wearing around on my lawn tractor - to try and stop breathing in pollen during early spring. I guess they are popular with mountain bikers that rip through dusty trails for the same reason.

[Max Peck]

I lucked out finding it. Last night, it was in stock and available for next day shipping. This morning it was listed as in stock with 4 remaining and now it is out of stock.

[Anonymous Bosch]

If push comes to shove, you could probably just cut the sleeves off of an old t-shirt for use as a washable neck gaiter-style face mask that can be pulled up over one's nose and mouth, something like this:

[Skinypupy]

My 11 year old just broke down sobbing in the middle of playing Legos because "I'm lonely and miss my friends". We're trying to do a ton of stuff together as a family to keep busy, but keeping in contact only virtually with her friends is really taking its toll on her. Poor kid.

It's a good reminder that not everyone is wired like I am to be an entirely solitary hermit.

[gameoverman]

Hah, the career workshop webinar just got zoom bombed again. Except this time, I spotted the bomber first. It's a dead giveaway when he named himself "Sung Ting Wong" and he must have been trying to turn on the mike as he is like moving up in the participant display order. I told the co-host to watch out for him. Took him another 20 minutes to make his move, but within 2 seconds of him speaking up he got booted. Woohoo! Mission accomplished.

That inspired me to write this:

https://medium.com/@kschang777/how-to-s ... 918aa957ae

I liked your article, it was clear and to the point. The line "host should have co-host" is one I'd probably add an 'a' so it's "have a co-host".

[Blackhawk]

But in my own twist, I am putting a bit of a fold over along the top, and sliding a pipe cleaner in it, so the top can be shaped to fit snugly over the nose. That really improved it, much less air going out the cheekbones straight up.
The pipe cleaners are removable, so the masks can be machine washed.

I took the gaiter style ski masks I bought for the family and did this. I actually twisted two long pipe cleaners (well, chenille hobby 'pipe cleaners') and inserted them through the stitched fold. It really improved the fit of the mask considerably. Thank you for the idea.

[pr0ner]

On my walk in the park this afternoon, the majority of people weren't wearing masks. Of the few that were, one woman had the mask down around her chin while she was on the phone...why even bother at that point?

[gameoverman]

On my walk in the park this afternoon, the majority of people weren't wearing masks. Of the few that were, one woman had the mask down around her chin while she was on the phone...why even bother at that point?

I don't wear a mask or gloves cause I'm a fatalist. One reason I can think of for people using masks that way is this:
The idea of the mask is it catches anything you cough out or sneeze, so you don't infect other people. It may also filter out droplets that others have coughed or sneezed out. If that's true, then how is a mask necessary once you are out in the park far from other people? Anything anyone coughs out will blow away or drift to the ground before it affects anyone else. In that woman's case, her phone is going to be crawling with germs but why should she care? If she's infected then it doesn't matter, if she's not infected then her germs on the phone aren't coronavirus germs. So either way she has nothing to worry about.

If she walked up to a group of people while leaving the mask down, now that would be dumb.

[dbt1949]

Our state just passed 1000 cases of Corvid with 18 dead.

[pr0ner]

On my walk in the park this afternoon, the majority of people weren't wearing masks. Of the few that were, one woman had the mask down around her chin while she was on the phone...why even bother at that point?

I don't wear a mask or gloves cause I'm a fatalist. One reason I can think of for people using masks that way is this:
The idea of the mask is it catches anything you cough out or sneeze, so you don't infect other people. It may also filter out droplets that others have coughed or sneezed out. If that's true, then how is a mask necessary once you are out in the park far from other people? Anything anyone coughs out will blow away or drift to the ground before it affects anyone else. In that woman's case, her phone is going to be crawling with germs but why should she care? If she's infected then it doesn't matter, if she's not infected then her germs on the phone aren't coronavirus germs. So either way she has nothing to worry about.

If she walked up to a group of people while leaving the mask down, now that would be dumb.

There are a bunch of people out there (mainly amateur epidemiologists on Reddit) who are insistent that the virus hangs around in the air outdoors for an extended period of time, so if you are asymptomatic and cough, you can infect someone who walks by 30+ minutes later.

It's nuts.

[gameoverman]

There are a bunch of people out there (mainly amateur epidemiologists on Reddit) who are insistent that the virus hangs around in the air outdoors for an extended period of time, so if you are asymptomatic and cough, you can infect someone who walks by 30+ minutes later.

It's nuts.

That's why I'm a fatalist. If that's true, that it can just float around for awhile, then we're all doomed to be infected anyways. I'm willing to entertain the idea that it might be possible in theory. What if I sprayed some Lysol into the air in the park? Is it possible that someone walking by 15 minutes later might be touched by some of that Lysol? In theory, yes. There is no way to say definitely that every bit of that Lysol is gone. If it was a virus all you'd need to be around is a very small sample right? Pot has a strong smell. If someone was smoking weed in the park, how close to them would you have to be able to smell it? How much smoke would they need to create for it to spread around in an open space? These are the life and death questions of our time.

[The Meal]

Our state just passed 1000 cases of Corvid with 18 dead.

There are nine states with fewer cases than our county (two of which border my county). 573. 30.

[hitbyambulance]

my county is at 3,668 cases and 242 dead

[LawBeefaroni]

Chicago + Cook is:
6092 + 4428 = 10,520 cases
177 + 134 dead = 311

Cook is always reported ex-Chicago.

https://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/covid19-statistics

[Jaymann]

Orange County CA, which is huge, only 931/15.

Someone said the spread out urban sprawl of sourthen CA is a major advantage over concentrated places like New York.

[Jag]

Broward is a FL hotspot right now. 2365 cases, 60 deaths. First few were in a nursing home across from my office.

Not surprising given the Spring Break traffic through Ft. Lauderdale + the cruises.

[Blackhawk]

That's why I'm a fatalist. If that's true, that it can just float around for awhile, then we're all doomed to be infected anyways.

We're all doomed to be infected anyway. Well, a significant majority of us at least.

That's not what the masks are meant to avoid. They're meant to spread that eventuality out over months instead of creating a massive wave of people all sick at the same time. And the longer person X takes to catch it, the better the research and the better the treatment options.

[Kasey Chang]

https://medium.com/@kschang777/how-to-s ... 918aa957ae

I liked your article, it was clear and to the point. The line "host should have co-host" is one I'd probably add an 'a' so it's "have a co-host".

Thanks. Just put in the edit and made the spotting a bit clearer as I forgot to count myself in the participant panel. The order is usually host - co-host - yourself - suspect.

[ImLawBoy]

That's why I'm a fatalist. If that's true, that it can just float around for awhile, then we're all doomed to be infected anyways.

We're all doomed to be infected anyway. Well, a significant majority of us at least.

That's not what the masks are meant to avoid. They're meant to spread that eventuality out over months instead of creating a massive wave of people all sick at the same time. And the longer person X takes to catch it, the better the research and the better the treatment options.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

I don't have a problem with someone being fatalistic about themselves, but this isn't just about yourself. It's about not overwhelming the hospitals with all the cases at the same time. It's about helping to save ventilators for those with underlying conditions that put them at a higher risk. Don't be a sociopath - help to flatten the curve.

[Isgrimnur]

Don't be a sociopath

That's a hard ask for some people.

[gameoverman]

The fatalist remark was in the context of wearing a mask in a park. I walk, on the sidewalk, around my neighborhood for exercise. At no time am I within I'd say around 10 feet of anyone, most times not even that close. The closest I might be are people in a car driving by as I'm walking. Even if they had their window open, they are passing by at around 30 mph at least, and I'm on the sidewalk. I'm not infecting them just because I have no mask on. UNLESS this virus does in fact drift around constantly. In that case they are getting infected anyways, whether I wear a mask or not. Their car window is open, the virus is drifting in, it's not like I'm the only person in town.

I don't think it matters if that woman in the park was using the mask correctly while by herself in the park. If the danger is that the virus will drift around in the area, then all the other people who've passed through that area have already seeded it with the virus before she got there. If the virus does not hang around for long, then no one in that park is in danger of her infecting them unless you take it upon yourself to move close to her.

[LawBeefaroni]

The fatalist remark was in the context of wearing a mask in a park. I walk, on the sidewalk, around my neighborhood for exercise. At no time am I within I'd say around 10 feet of anyone, most times not even that close. The closest I might be are people in a car driving by as I'm walking. Even if they had their window open, they are passing by at around 30 mph at least, and I'm on the sidewalk. I'm not infecting them just because I have no mask on. UNLESS this virus does in fact drift around constantly. In that case they are getting infected anyways, whether I wear a mask or not. Their car window is open, the virus is drifting in, it's not like I'm the only person in town.

I went for a run on Tuesday and took a fairly quiet side street along the Metra tracks. There were a ton of people out, walking with kids, dogs, running, etc and even with running in the middle of the street, I was breathing heavy, as you do, and I could just imagine the expanding vapor trail behind me. I ended up cutting into the alleys and running my route that way.

[AWS260]

Quarantine + economic uncertainty + unrelated death in the family is really ramping up the crankiness in my house this week. We're all trying really, really hard to be kind to each other, but man am I ready for this to be over.

[Victoria Raverna]

I read some article about observation that countries with mandatory BCG vaccination have lower infection rate than countries without that.

If that is true, can everyone get BCG vaccine while waiting for COVID-19 vaccine? Or it'll not effective since BCG vaccination is usually given at very young age so maybe need to be given decade ago to be effective now?

I don't think I got BCG vaccine but I know my daughter got BCG vaccine because tuberculosis is still a serious disease in Indonesia.

[em2nought]

Hardware store ventilator
https://news.yahoo.com/not-fancy-works- ... _test=2_06

From my observations dogs have never been walked so much in their lives. Probably gonna have an increase in paw problems at the Vet.

[Alefroth]

The fatalist remark was in the context of wearing a mask in a park. I walk, on the sidewalk, around my neighborhood for exercise. At no time am I within I'd say around 10 feet of anyone, most times not even that close. The closest I might be are people in a car driving by as I'm walking. Even if they had their window open, they are passing by at around 30 mph at least, and I'm on the sidewalk. I'm not infecting them just because I have no mask on. UNLESS this virus does in fact drift around constantly. In that case they are getting infected anyways, whether I wear a mask or not. Their car window is open, the virus is drifting in, it's not like I'm the only person in town.

I went for a run on Tuesday and took a fairly quiet side street along the Metra tracks. There were a ton of people out, walking with kids, dogs, running, etc and even with running in the middle of the street, I was breathing heavy, as you do, and I could just imagine the expanding vapor trail behind me. I ended up cutting into the alleys and running my route that way.