Politeness when using someone else’s name obviously doesn’t figure in your make up? Consistent I guess…
Disappointed in Low Carb gurus and covid-19 (and the Dunning-Kruger effect)
Madeleine
#102
I wasn’t arguing with the COVID diagnosis (I assume you know your diagnosis!); I was just pointing out that unfortunately organ damage can be caused by a number of viruses, including influenza.
Best of of luck as you re-gain your health!
atomicspacebunny
(Bunny)
#105
According to those charts we (USA) are just prolonging our agony for the sake of hospital beds?
Looks like Sweden’s live and let die approach works, but how?
Is it viral-load-herd-immunity?
This is just a wild guess but If you sectioned out a certain percentage of the populous (no masks or face shields) and made sure their vitamin C and ionized zinc levels were in good standing and of biological tolerance maybe the infection and death rates would drop and immunity would go on the incline?
anon81060937
#106
The first chart is misleading because it’s estimated flu death, not actual and the USA population is 33 times that of Sweden.
The second chart is also misleading since the USA population is 33 times that of Sweden.
-https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
Madeleine
#108
I see that some countries have a zero COVID policy. This sounds terrible to me (I mean- it sounds lovely by itself; if only that were doable without devastating society…).
What happened to the idea of flattening the curve?
Eradicating the virus is a completely different goal.
Madeleine
#109
@amwassil
The Sweden trends are now looking better and better, and I think especially if we can take into account the lessons they learned about elderly homes, their approach is an excellent one - but those charts must be absolute numbers and not percentages.
HeleneS
#110
I think Sweden got shunned by the other European countries this summer and that maybe helped them getting a better grip on the virus. There was some travelling happening elsewhere that has led to rising cases. My suspicion is that Sweden may see its small rise as well as it gets welcomed back into the fold.
atomicspacebunny
(Bunny)
#111
From the virology blogs:
”…My response:
Not every individual in a population need be immunized to stop viral spread, but a sufficient number must become immune to impede virus transmission. Infection stops when the viral load drops below the threshold required to sustain the infection in the population. This effect is called herd immunity. Is varies between 80-95% depending on the virus and the population.
OPV can spread to non-immunized individuals because it is shed in the feces (not urine nor antibody, as you wrote). When it infects a non-immune person, it replicates in them and effectively immunizes them. Herd immunity does not depend on the spread of vaccine from one person to another, only the number of immune persons. Inactivated vaccines, which do not spread from person to person, induce herd immunity as well as live vaccines.
OPV spreading contributes to herd immunity because it increases the percentage of the population that is immune. However, spread of vaccine is not the concept embodied by herd immunity.
The vaccine against smallpox, called vaccinia virus, is a live vaccine and also spreads from person to person, effectively increasing the number of vaccinated individuals. However, I wasn’t referring to this virus during my explanation of herd immunity.
The point is that herd immunity is conferred when immunity of the population reaches a certain level. Whether that level is achieved by immunization programs, or by the spread of vaccine virus from a vaccinated to a non-vaccinated individual does not matter. …” …More
Governmental response to Covid-19, Sweden, etc
amwassil
(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.)
#112
Yes, this article was published in Real Clear Politics but it’s a medical article by a medical doctor about hydroxychloroquine. He compares the severity of the illness and fatalities from countries that were smart enough to use hydroxychloroquine as prophylaxis and at onset of illness and those that weren’t so smart. In countries that did not use hydroxychloroquine smartly or at all, a lot of people died who would not have died had hydroxychloroquine been used.
When did a disease/science become political
atomicspacebunny
(Bunny)
#113
Hydroxychloroquine & Quercetin are very similar?
Found this information on Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s quite interesting:
“…One mechanism by which quercetin exerts its antiviral effects might lie in its capacity to serve as an ionophore.
Ionophores can transport ions across cell membranes, which is important in viral disease when it comes to the movement of zinc, an essential mineral. Zinc blocks the replication of viruses, but it can’t enter cells without a transporter[1]. Quercetin is a zinc ionophore.
Clinical trials are currently underway to determine if quercetin (as an ionophore) can prevent the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Learn more about this subject in this clip from our recent COVID-19 Q&A: " Quercetin’s role as a zinc ionophore* ." …” …More
COVID-19 Update 8: Zinc and chloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19?
COVID-19 Insights: Quercetin as Zinc Ionophore and COVID-19 Outpatient Management
Footnotes:
[1] “…Ionophores. There are compounds that can bind to and become incorporated into biological membranes, forming a pathway which increases the membrane permeability to certain ions. They are relatively small molecules with a hydrophobic surface, which allows them to enter the lipid bilayer. Two types of these molecules are known: the mobile carriers and the channel-forming ionophores.
Mobile carriers. These bind the ion on one side of the membrane, trap it inside the molecule, and move it across the other side of the membrane. The antibiotic valinomycin, a ring shaped peptide, is a mobile carrier that transfers K+ from one side of the membrane to the other. Another ionophore of this class is A23187, which transfers Ca2+ and Mg2+ across the membrane. It is used experimentally to study the effect of rapid increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration.
Channel-forming ionophores. These molecules are inserted into the membrane generating a hydrophilic duct through which ions can pass. An example is gramicidin A, a peptide consisting of 15 amino acid residues. This antibiotic forms a transmembrane pore that is formed by the association of two molecules, which allow the movement of monovalent cations (H+, K+, Na+).
Similar to the channels, ionophores allow ion flow only in the direction dictated by the electrochemical gradient. …” …More
ElmosUzi
(Elmo)
#115
Taiwan definitely needed a strict quarantine. Normally, over 2 million people were going back and forth to China…
anon81060937
#116
Comparing Sweden to the USA is like comparing a single US state to Europe.
Sweden isn’t out of the gate yet.
68,263 Currently Infected Patients
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/
I’ll be back on tuesday to see if the Swedish weekend effect @OldDoug was talking about in the past will continue.
Madeleine
#118
definitely! And there are other reasons that the two don’t compare. The main one that comes to mind is the unfortunately the US population is on the whole is much less healthy (actually I don’t have the precise numbers to back that up but I’m pretty sure it’s true).
I think that given the way that viruses move through different areas of a country, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see zero cases in Sweden, so what’s important is the trend, which so far is looking great. The very good news - maybe, hopefully - would be that we’re seeing that a country can follow that very classic virus curve without an extremely high total death rate.
This is their COVID death rate, and I would agree with you that the jump on August 7 is worth looking at carefully (is it going to head back up?). What would “out of the gate” look like to you?
amwassil
(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.)
#120
You can present all the evidence to the contrary you want. People believe what they want to believe.