[msdivy]

Some interesting stats here - Sept was worst as India added 41% of cases & 34% of deaths ... news link: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/78417623.cms

In other news Unlock 5.0 is announced Unlock 5.0
A question, what is the basis for these unlock editions? It seems MHA announces these unlock relaxations and it is up to state governments to exercise or not? Why not just leave everything to State Govts?

Originally Posted by poloman

After observing the trends for past two months, I am now convinced that no lockdown or quarantine is going to help you. The moment you step out, you may get infected if there is a virus out there. So if you are willing to spend time at your house till a potent vaccine is discovered, then only sit at home. Else start doing your daily routines with caution.

Just stepping out won't get you infected. You have to be in close contact, or closed space with poor ventilation with infected person to contact the infection. It is possible to take pre-cautions and outwait the virus before the epidemic subsides. Though not at same scale, H1N1, SARS was defeated this way.

[AltoLXI]

The symptoms of the volunteers who took the vaccine appear to be pretty uncomfortable.

Luke Hutchison woke up in the middle of the night with chills and a fever after taking the Covid-19 booster shot in Moderna’s vaccine trial. Another coronavirus vaccine trial participant, testing Pfizer’s candidate, similarly woke up with chills, shaking so hard he cracked a tooth after taking the second dose.

After getting the first shot on Aug. 18, he said he felt a little under the weather for several days with a low-grade fever. He got his second shot at a clinic on Sept. 15. Eight hours later, he said he was bed bound with a fever of over 101, shakes, chills, a pounding headache and shortness of breath. He said the pain in his arm, where he received the shot, felt like a “goose egg on my shoulder.” He hardly slept that night, recording that his temperature was higher than 100 degrees for five hours.

and then the reluctance of people not to go for the vaccination once available

Hutchison said he’s concerned that the pharmaceutical manufacturers have not sufficiently informed the public about potential side effects. If the vaccines are approved, he fears, it might cause a widespread backlash if word spreads, which is why he decided to go public now. Polls show some 35% of Americans say they won’t get a coronavirus vaccine when it is available, because of misinformation or mistrust.

Link

[Samurai]

US President Trump, first lady Melania test positive for Covid-19

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world...OAv9aRBAM.html

He is a notorious germaphobe, still that didn't help him. He is the most protected person in the world, still he couldn't escape COVID-19.

[AnandB]

Wouldn't put it past him to use this for elections.

[AZT]

Came across this today



Read More : https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...rticle/2771265

[RSR]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

The symptoms of the volunteers who took the vaccine appear to be pretty uncomfortable.

God bless folks like Luke Hutchison who speak out about the side effects of these rushed vaccines against the coronavirus!

Just imagine, if such is the reaction in perfectly healthy & strong adult volunteers, then what would be the nasty effects if injected into a little child.

I'm very surprised to see that the mainstream media are even reporting this.

If mainstream media are even mentioning side effects of these rushed vaccines, then it's quite possible that there is even more going on.

[CarNerd]

Originally Posted by Samurai

US President Trump, first lady Melania test positive for Covid-19.
He is a notorious germaphobe, still that didn't help him. He is the most protected person in the world, still he couldn't escape COVID-19.

He is the most protected in the world not those whom he meets everyday. Also he doesn't seem to wear mask all the time and he is not the type to follow what his advisors tell him. Being a germaphobe doesn't matter as the virus spreads via air. He even mocked Biden for wearing a mask in the debate.

[BoneCollector]

As per a report published in JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association) on 1st October 2020, flying is still a safe option during COVID19. They've analyzed the airflow in cabin of a plane and reported accordingly. Indigo infact publicizes that it's aircraft have HEPA filters in their air circulation units.

JAMA

[Thad E Ginathom]

I too am very concerned about early adoption of Corona vaccine. Not only from the standpoint of possible bad things happening to us, which is the primary concern of course, but also because it would play into the hands of antivax nuts, who have done enough harm already.

Yes, there may have been concerns and problems with individual vaccines. That doesn't negate the good that has been done. Big Pharma be imperfect, but antivax nonsense will turn the health clock back a century.

Yes, a big yes... To the core problem that pharma research has become entirely commercial and thus corporate. That's a bigger thing than coronavirus even, and highly unlikely to change. Those who think it can be done had better stand for election in their various countries. Good luck to them! But I'm not optimistic.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

To the core problem that pharma research has become entirely commercial and thus corporate.

It's not necessarily only a corporate or commercial thing, Thad.

As much as I dislike Big Pharma, they're by no means alone in this.

Take the Russian vaccine. It wasn't developed by any corporate for commercial purposes.

Praising the developers at the state-run Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Putin declared in August that Russia had registered a shot for public use, making it the first vaccine worldwide to gain such clearance. Russia named it Sputnik V after the Soviet-era satellite that set off the space race in 1957 — a clear signal of the geopolitical importance Putin has attached to the project.

The president’s live-TV announcement glossed over one key point. Russia approved the vaccine after tests in fewer than 80 people, with larger trials needed to assess safety and effectiveness just underway. Putin’s claim of victory has met with skepticism and disapproval from health experts in the West, where shots will have to be tested in tens of thousands of subjects before being cleared.

Link

Who would have thought?

[ankan.m.blr]

I need a few pointers towards reference values of covid19 Igg antibody and total antibody (Igg Igm) test result. A family member recovered from covid few weeks back. Igg antibody values are now around 5 ( tested today). What does it signify?

[Thad E Ginathom]

The products of Big Pharma have probably saved my life once or twice. A good friend of mine works for one of the big American companies: he loves his job, and believes that the kind of work that he does is doing more good than he would have done as a practising physician. And, whoever develops things, they have to manufactured and distributed in large quantities. Big pharma is not all bad.

And yes, there is other research in the world, military/government, academic, etc. Personally, I wish that there was much more publicly funded and owned academic research. But that costs money. And we have brainwashed with a certain political-economic dogma.

The article you quoted previously seems to have been fairly selectively quoted and interpreted. I only took a quick look as I had to go out, but a better gist is that some side effects can be intense, but it is only short lived. A very few were more severe. Even for usual flu vaccine, a day or so of fever is possible.

Is it sensible to rush to be first in the queue? Probably not. How about us elders, who are supposed to among the priority people in the queue: should we be? I am completely in two minds about this. Just don't know. And... no point in putting too much stress into the question until the thing becomes actually available anyway. We have a while (maybe longer) before any of us have to decide.

[adrian]

Kerala is soaring with positive cases. No surprises though. I work in a Government Department and the way people behave explains what is going wrong.

1. Employees were divided into two groups and were assigned alternate working days through Office order. People neglected this and will come to Office as per their convenience.

2. Strict directions were issued that employees of one section should not visit other sections. People of different sections eat their lunch around a table sharing curries as in good old days.


3. When an employee got positive, all his contacts / people who present on the duty day were directed to go in quarantine. But the funny thing that happened was that his actual contacts came to Office every day and the smart alecs who hadn't even come in the vicinity of the infected person took a week long quarantine.

4.There was a time when canteens were allowed only to issue parcels. But the employees of the two Offices in our complex were seated and served the food. Public were issued parcels and during the early hours (before Office hours) they were also allowed to eat food from the canteen.

5.People still don't observe social distancing. Some don't wear a mask properly.

As for me, despite the Office having facility for the employees to work from home, I have to attend Office everyday and I have added a face shield to my protection along with my mask. And due to the increased intelligence of the people around me, I have my lunch inside my car and that is the only time I remove my mask.

This is what is happening inside a Government Office where educated (?) employees thrive. People don't care. Don't care for others. Don't have discipline. Way to go corona.

[vivek95]

I am too lazy/tired to type these days, may be because I am saturated with Covid ICU duties, hence been a silent spectator of this thread of late. Hope everyone is staying safe.

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

I need a few pointers towards reference values of covid19 Igg antibody and total antibody (Igg Igm) test result. A family member recovered from covid few weeks back. Igg antibody values are now around 5 ( tested today). What does it signify?

So basically, the IgG antibody level is 5.0 AU/mL ( Arbitrary unit/mililitre ) . Does the report mention the cut off value as >1.0 AU/mL ?? I am pretty sure its 1.0 above which its "reactive" or positive for antibodies in simple terms. It signifies that the level of IgG antibodies roughly corresponds to a dilution titre of 1:300 ish something. 1 part of serum ( patient's serum ) diluted in 300 parts of diluent. So kind of good, because CDC specifies more than 6.5 as an eligible candidate for donating his/her plasma. IgG is the last antibody to appear after initial IgM and IgG is known to stay for longer periods of time in most viral illnesses. IgG indicates past infection. In Sars-1 , IgG was seen upto 45 weeks or even 2 years. T-cell immunity is the key player though rather than antibodies ( B-cells ) and let's hope more evidence is generated w.r.t T-cell immunity in Covid-19.

My value was 46.2 AU/mL ( done on August 8th ) which signifies extremely high level of antibodies, corresponding to a dilution titre of 1:20000 +. In simple terms, despite such extensive dilution, antibodies could still be detected in my serum because of their high numbers ( mine was IgM+IgG though ). I am repeating a test on myself in a day or two and will separately get done "only IgG" as well this time. Some articles recently mentioned about antibodies weaning off in 1.5 months or so but those were inconclusive studies. Let me see what's the deal with me this time.

[AltoLXI]

Big Pharma will never have the incentive to come with the Universal vaccine though the research efforts are going on for quite a while now.

As there are thousands of known Corona viruses out there in nature, humanity will face these pandemics whenever these viruses jump from animals to humans. Rapidly mutating virus structure will always prove to be a challenge for the vaccine makers as this article explains.

Both influenza and coronaviruses have an inherent capacity for rapid mutation due to the low fidelity of RNA polymerase and a capability to form novel viruses through reassortment with a vast reservoir of zoonotic viruses. Influenza surface proteins have non-conserved regions which can accommodate mutations that limit the effect of antibodies without impairing enzyme activity (antigenic drift), potentially leading to loss of immunity in infected or vaccinated individuals from one season to the next

Interestingly, an alternate approach is being tried upon where self-disseminating vaccines are being looked into. Meaning humans will not be vaccinated, instead the animals/birds, will be vaccinated.

A promising approach for mitigating the public health burden of chronic spillover and reducing the threat of future pandemics is to shift our focus to target high-risk pathogens within their animal reservoirs before viral spillover and/or emergence can occur. Precedent for this approach is long-standing, with wildlife vaccination programmes in Europe and North America substantially reducing the risk of rabies infection for the human population. An additional advantage of proactively vaccinating the animal reservoir rather than the human population itself is that long-term risk reduction through pathogen elimination or eradication becomes possible.

Link