General Coronavirus chit chat thread - non-travel specific

[dajop]

The Indian Variant, B.1.6.17 strain affecting Taiwan, Singapore and the like seems more likely to affect children :

Indian variant ‘appears to affect children more’ says health minister

THE COVID variant first detected in India affects children more, according to Singapore's health minister. As schools in Singapore prepare to shut, should the UK follow suit?

www.express.co.uk

But right back at you from Indian politicians who want to rebrand it the "Singapore strain" and stop all flights from Singapore ....

Coronavirus variant found in Singapore can be India's 3rd wave, extremely dangerous for kids, warns Arvind Kejriwal

The virus, Kejriwal said, is extremely dangerous for children and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to immediately halt air services with Singapore and prioritise vaccination drive for children.

www.hindustantimes.com

 

[drron]

Lots more research coming out.Those who have recovered from covid produce a wide range of antibodies not just to the spike protein.Antibodies have been identified to parts of the virus that appear not to mutate so a potential future for a better vaccine.

Human Antibodies Target Many Parts of Coronavirus Spike Protein

For many people who’ve had COVID-19, the infections were thankfully mild and relatively brief. But these individuals’ immune systems still hold onto enduring clues about how best to neu…

directorsblog.nih.gov

However high titre convalescent plasma does not help in treatment.'

Data from RECOVERY trial show that high-titre convalescent plasma does not improve survival, other clinical outcomes in patients hospitalised with COVID-19

High-titre convalescent plasma did not improve survival or other prespecified clinical outcomes in patients hospitalised with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to findings from the Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial published in The Lancet.“RECOVERY is the...

dgalerts.docguide.com

Also a lot of research into tissue obtained from those who have died giving a lot more on how covid effects human cells.

How Severe COVID-19 Can Tragically Lead to Lung Failure and Death

More than 3 million people around the world, now tragically including thousands every day in India, have lost their lives to severe COVID-19. Though incredible progress has been made in a little mo…

directorsblog.nih.gov

Neurologic symptoms are reasonably common and not good news.

Neurological manifestations prevalent in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 and associated with higher in-hospital mortality: Study

Neurological manifestations were prevalent among patients hospitalised with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and were associated with higher in-hospital mortality, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. In addition, preexisting neurological disorders were found to be associated...

dgalerts.docguide.com

 

[drron]

Studies continue to come out.
It appears men who have lower testosterone levels appear to be more at risk of severe Covid.

Men with low testosterone levels at admission may have higher risk of severe COVID-19

Low testosterone concentrations may play a mechanistic role in worse outcomes observed in men with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), underscoring the need for clinical trials to test this hypothesis, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.“This cohort study found that men with...

dgalerts.docguide.com

Also seems that treatment with colchicine can reduce the severity.

Effects of colchicine on composite of COVID-19-related death or hospital admission among community-treated patients with COVID-19

In community-treated patients including those without a mandatory diagnostic test, the effect of colchicine on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related clinical events was not statistically significant. However, among patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19, colchicine led to a lower rate of the...

dgalerts.docguide.com

 

[boomy]

New variant found in Melbourne.

Victoria COVID cases LIVE UPDATES: New Delta variant found in Melbourne

A major report into workplace behaviour at Parliament House has found half of all the complaints related to the conduct of politicians. National cabinet agrees to expand the vaccine rollout. Victoria finds a new variant. Follow the latest here.

www.afr.com

 

[VPS]

They walk among us

 

[I love to travel]

They walk among us

View attachment 249657

Oh dear.....,,

 

[PineappleSkip]

Inside info from elsewhere in the tin hat brigade?

 

[JohnM]

Given the current frenzy around Covid-19 and the (thankfully at long last faded) Australian 'world-first breakthroughs' (TM) this may be of interest to any scientists, or those interested in science, out there:

The Absurdity of Peer Review

What the pandemic revealed about scientific publishing

elemental.medium.com

And, for anyone who has never read it, I have always loved the opening par of Watson & Crick's (1 page... ) paper that described the structure of DNA: http://dosequis.colorado.edu/Courses/MethodsLogic/papers/WatsonCrick1953.pdf

The rest is history.

 

[RooFlyer]

Given the current frenzy around Covid-19 and the (thankfully at long last faded) Australian 'world-first breakthroughs' (TM) this may be of interest to any scientists, or those interested in science, out there:

The Absurdity of Peer Review

What the pandemic revealed about scientific publishing

elemental.medium.com

And, for anyone who has never read it, I have always loved the opening par of Watson & Crick's (1 page... ) paper that described the structure of DNA: http://dosequis.colorado.edu/Courses/MethodsLogic/papers/WatsonCrick1953.pdf

The rest is history.

Excellent. Re-inforces my-long held dislike against the worshipping of 'peer review' in the popular press and media (and which I've expressed occasionally in this august site ) . And yes, I also love Watson & Crick's modest introduction of the double helix structure ...

 

[JohnM]

And yes, I also love Watson & Crick's modest introduction of the double helix structure ...

And the second last sentence of their paper is exquisitely masterful understatement…

 

[drron]

Some facts on Hotel Quarantine that are not widely known.From June to September 2020 1 in 6 HQ residents in Sydney attended RPAH ED.This article discusses the Mental health problems at those visits.

Emergency department presentations by residents of Sydney quarantine hotels during the COVID‐19 outbreak

People in hotel quarantine need Increased psychological support and other mental health services

www.mja.com.au

And simple nasal swab tests can have serious consequences.

COVID‐19 swab‐related skull base injury

A 67-year-old woman was referred to our ear, nose and throat department with confirmed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhoea

www.mja.com.au

 

[JohnM]

A little more on the value - or not - of peer review.

Quick retraction of a faulty coronavirus paper was a good moment for science

The flawed #coronavirus paper was withdrawn before a single news outlet with any reach covered it, but not fast enough for critics of preprint servers, which publish studies without peer review.

www.statnews.com

Anyone interested in the shambolic state of much science these days, scope Retraction Watch.

Subscribe and you will be inundated...

 

[suze2000]

Currently in HQ and apart from gaining weight at a rapid pace, no apparent mental health issues.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Currently in HQ and ... no apparent mental health issues.

I bet you're getting a lot of calls from officials to check on that! They rang me every other day it felt like.

Cheers skip

 

[Pushka]

DIL as GP contacts people in overseas quarantine very regularly. That contact is very much needed.

 

[dajop]

Some facts on Hotel Quarantine that are not widely known.From June to September 2020 1 in 6 HQ residents in Sydney attended RPAH ED.This article discusses the Mental health problems at those visits.

Emergency department presentations by residents of Sydney quarantine hotels during the COVID‐19 outbreak

People in hotel quarantine need Increased psychological support and other mental health services

www.mja.com.au

It's not 1/6 in "Hotel Quarantine", but 1/6 of those in "Special Health Accommodation" hotels (where those with health concerns or test positive are transferred to), so it is a heavily biased subset of overall HQ, and not at all surprising given those in the special hotels are there for a reason. The article mentions "During June – September 2020, 2774 people were registered for accommodation in Special Health Accommodation hotels, of whom 461 (16.6%) presented at least once to the RPA ED (542 ED presentations in total)." This is different to stock standard HQ, as 2774 is less than one weeks intake into the overall HQ program.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It's not 1/6 in "Hotel Quarantine", but 1/6 of those in "Special Health Accommodation" hotels (where those with health concerns or test positive are transferred to), so it is a heavily biased subset of overall HQ, and not at all surprising given those in the special hotels are there for a reason. The article mentions "During June – September 2020, 2774 people were registered for accommodation in Special Health Accommodation hotels, of whom 461 (16.6%) presented at least once to the RPA ED (542 ED presentations in total)." This is different to stock standard HQ, as 2774 is less than one weeks intake into the overall HQ program.

Thanks, good pick up!

When I read the article initially I dismissed it because the figures didn't seem right in the context of the headline. I'm not sure if this is deliberate by the authors, but it undermines whatever point they were trying to make. For example:

The COVID‐19 pandemic continues to have significant direct and indirect health care consequences, including effects on mental health. Mental health presentations to the RPA ED comprised 19% of presentations by people from Special Health Accommodation hotels, five times the proportion for all ED presentations in Australia (3.6%).​

​

Those are alarming figures and make it look like HQ is responsible for 5 x the number of mental health presentations... but one of the reasons why a person might have been in special HQ was because of mental health in the first place.

 

[dajop]

... but one of the reasons why a person might have been in special HQ was because of mental health in the first place.

Yes, the exact language from the report is:

People with identified acute or ongoing health care needs were referred to the Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) Virtual Hospital, including those who tested positive for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV‐2), and were housed in three Special Health Accommodation hotels to facilitate remote monitoring of their symptoms and signs according to the RPA Virtual Hospital model of care.2

 

[drron]

Given the current frenzy around Covid-19 and the (thankfully at long last faded) Australian 'world-first breakthroughs' (TM) this may be of interest to any scientists, or those interested in science, out there:

The Absurdity of Peer Review

What the pandemic revealed about scientific publishing

elemental.medium.com

And, for anyone who has never read it, I have always loved the opening par of Watson & Crick's (1 page... ) paper that described the structure of DNA: http://dosequis.colorado.edu/Courses/MethodsLogic/papers/WatsonCrick1953.pdf

The rest is history.

And came across this today.An interview with an old scientist.

And a bit of the dialogue.
‘What is science?

‘People coming out of the university with a master’s degree, or PHD, you take them into the field, and they literally don’t believe anything unless it’s a peer reviewed paper.

‘That’s the only thing they accept.

‘And you say to them… Let’s observe, let’s think, let’s discuss…

‘They don’t do it!

‘Only when it is in a peer reviewed paper or not.

‘That’s their view of science. I think it’s pathetic.

‘Gone into universities as bright young people, they come out of them brain dead — not even knowing what science means.

 

[dajop]

And came across this today.An interview with an old scientist.

And a bit of the dialogue.
‘What is science?

‘People coming out of the university with a master’s degree, or PHD, you take them into the field, and they literally don’t believe anything unless it’s a peer reviewed paper.

‘That’s the only thing they accept.

‘And you say to them… Let’s observe, let’s think, let’s discuss…

‘They don’t do it!

‘Only when it is in a peer reviewed paper or not.

‘That’s their view of science. I think it’s pathetic.

‘Gone into universities as bright young people, they come out of them brain dead — not even knowing what science means.

I think he’s right to a degree.

But I’d disagree regarding science and research undertaken in the private sector. A lot of science happens in the private sector which does not involve publication nor the traditional peer review process. in my experience (private sector) is that publication of research is only done to try to establish credibility.

Unfortunately though, many in the community don’t trust private science, and see universities and peer review as the gold standard. Often (not always) private companies expect and demand a lot of rigour from their in house scientists as there is usually a lot at stake (sales, litigation, investor perceptions etc).