September 20, 2020
From MNM:
Harrison County’s COVID-19 numbers experienced a great leap on Friday with 13 new cases reported…School Cases Also on Friday, Marshall Independent School District reported three active cases — two at Marshall Early Childhood Center and one at Marshall High School. Of the cumulative total of eight cases for MISD campuses, five have been recoveries, which include one recovery at MECC, two recoveries at MHS and two recoveries at Marshall Junior High School.
HERD IMMUNITY (From THE LANCET) (.”How did herd immunity enter the language of public health? The phrase seems to have first appeared in the work of American livestock veterinarians concerned about “contagious abortion”—epidemics of spontaneous miscarriage—in cattle and sheep. By the 1910s, it had become the leading contagious threat to cattle in the USA. Farmers destroyed or sold affected cows. Kansas veterinarian George Potter realised that this was the wrong approach. Writing with Adolph Eichhorn in 1916 in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, he envisioned “herd immunity”. As he wrote in 1918, “Abortion disease may be likened to a fire, which, if new fuel is not constantly added, soon dies down. Herd immunity is developed, therefore, by retaining the immune cows, raising the calves, and avoiding the introduction of foreign cattle.”…..With potential vaccines still likely to be many months away, and with lockdowns and social distancing causing social and economic disruption, there are no ideal options. British public health expert Raj Bhopal likened the situation to being in zugzwang, “a position in chess where every move is disadvantageous where we must examine every plan, however unpalatable”. He sought to overcome the animal connotations of “herd immunity” by encouraging the use of “population immunity” instead. Changing the label of herd immunity might remove the connotations but not fix the problem. Without a vaccine, many people would have to die from COVID-19 before population immunity is achieved.” J. Harris: Click here to read an article that explains “Population Immunity” and which is a good read including attempts at achieving immunity in Diptheria before the vaccine was available,) ….
FROM JOHHS HOPKINS1. Fast Coronavirus Tests: What They Can and Can’t Do (Nature) The United States leads the world in COVID-19 deaths but lags behind many countries — both large and small — in testing capacity. That could soon change. (J. Harris: another good review of tests and testing).
2. Lilly’s Covid-19 Antibody Helps Some Patients Rid their Systems of Virus Sooner in Early Analysis (STAT) A drug being developed by Eli Lilly helped sick patients rid their systems of the virus that causes Covid-19 sooner and may have prevented them from landing in the hospital, according to newly released data. The drug is what is known as a monoclonal antibody, which experts view as being among the most likely technologies to help treat Covid-19. It’s a manufactured version of the antibodies that the body uses as part of its response to a virus.
3. Why Can’t America Make Enough N95 Masks? 6 Months Into Pandemic, Shortages Persist(NPR) Since the coronavirus pandemic began, President Trump and industry officials have talked a lot about the need to ramp up domestic manufacturing of critical protective gear. But six months on, there are still shortages of all kinds of PPE, like N95 respirator masks, while face shields are easy to find. The disconnect can be traced, in part, to the lack of a coherent national plan.
4. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: A Review of Viral, Host, and Environmental Factors(Annals of Internal Medicine) This article presents a comprehensive review of the evidence on transmission of this virus. Strong evidence from case and cluster reports indicates that respiratory transmission is dominant, with proximity and ventilation being key determinants of transmission risk. In the few cases where direct contact or fomite transmission is presumed, respiratory transmission has not been completely excluded. Infectiousness peaks around a day before symptom onset and declines within a week of symptom onset, and no late linked transmissions (after a patient has had symptoms for about a week) have been documented. The virus has heterogeneous transmission dynamics: Most persons do not transmit virus, whereas some cause many secondary cases in transmission clusters called “superspreading events.”
Why a “Wear No Mask” Preacher Changed his Mind
UT researcher: 20% of Houston may already have been infected with COVID
France Encourages Use Of Transparent Masks To Help Those With Hearing Loss
‘A Very Serious Situation’: WHO Says Coronavirus Cases Are Rising In Europe Again
The World Health Organization warned on Thursday that weekly coronavirus case numbers are rising in Europe at a higher rate than during the pandemic’s peak in March.
(J. Harris: Short article, worth the read. We still have a ways to go.)
What do you call a girl with one leg that’s shorter than the other? Ilene.
What did syrup to the waffle? I love you a waffle lot!
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