Coronavirus
Comments
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Multiple studies conclude that N95 masks reduce SARS contagion risk. If you have them, definitely wear them to the hospital. It's just another layer of defense along with hygiene and social distance:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC57798...
But make sure you know how to wear and remove them properly:Eye protection is also a good idea.
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Karen or other UK-based posters - have you received any information about what this 'shielding' stuff is coming in to effect supposedly this weekend? It is to include people undergoing active chemo or radiotherapy and are immunosuppressed. Do those of us on I/L come under that?
I have a total hot mess happening right now as we are supposed to be moving middle of April, but have been informed the people moving out, who are the owners, are now in a holding pattern because they are moving to the US and now cant due to the travel ban. Our place has already rented so Im not entirely sure what is going to happen here, and am instead scrambling for find a potential backup. We went out to look at a place yesterday (horrible) and its pretty empty on the public transport at least so everyone had room. Im keeping calm as there are solutions to this problem in the short term, work has us all at home for the next 12 weeks and a) we both are guaranteed work and paychecks and b) no one really cares if we are working or not, so at least THAT is taken care of. I limit going out otherwise, beyond a walk in the area to get some air.
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Don’t feed the troll, PM the mods.
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Divine Mrs. M, I have never loved you more.
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Husband11- I agree with the social/ physical distancing and all the measures we are doing right now. It is the right thing to do. And, in the short term, it is tolerable. I do hope they develop a vaccine and life can move on at some point, though. Kind of freaked out that this could be my new norm (and all of us with compromised systems). I just leave the house to go to MO appt or pharmacy (mine does not have delivery). No church, no shopping (online shopping now--cannot actually pick out groceries), no haircuts, no volunteer activities, no nothing. Live alone. And after months of being confined to my house I fear I will go bat crap crazy. We talk about our treatments and QOL issues with the side effects. Well this physical distancing thing after months could become a QOL issue too.
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@pajim--I get treated at a hospital, but its the Karolinska University Hospital. My US doctor friends say its probably one of the best cancer facilities in the world in terms of research. Its a large facility but brand new (only opened a half year ago) and is limited to specialized care. So "regular" people can't get treated there or go to the emergency room. Now they have banned folks from having additional people to appointments, chemo etc (except small children who can have a parent). I feel quite secure in going to the facility but less so about the chemo attacking my beloved bone marrow. But agree that things aren't going to be better in 3 weeks. Oncologist has switched to telephone-only (just as well) and we always have to do our blood tests 2 days before treatment. The angels from the home care team come to my apartment and draw my blood there.
I can't really isolate fully because I don't have any support system and am a single mother. So I do have to go to the grocery store and run other errands, my kids help carry.There are delivery services that I have been gratefully using for the past year but now they are swamped so it's a week's wait if you want food. I will get better organized to order things well in advance.
I see you're in Cambridge? I grew up in Concord. Have actually contacted a MO at MGH for a remote second opinion.
stay well all!
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roseo - I don't have any masks. I read that N95 masks are difficult to use correctly even with proper training. Given the massive shortage, I wouldn't want to risk wasting a mask while health care workers are going without.
candy - I can't imagine having to do this alone. It sounds like you know what physical distancing to do, so you need to improve your QOL given our circumstances. Can you walk outside? Can you schedule online chats with friends? Learn something new? My daughter has decided to learn Latin, of all things. There are more virtual activities available such as museum tours and concerts. What do you like to do?
Here's another incentive to continue physical distancing: give doctors and researchers time to test out treatments and vaccines.
My hospital called to confirm my CT scan on Friday. She screened me for covid-19 risk. We'll drive to avoid public transit. Hope the waiting room isn't too crowded, but there is a long, wide hallway to get there. I'll check in and stand just past the waiting room until they call me.
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KangaRoo - always good to jave some humor to get through the tought times. I've been looking for doggy cartoons of social distance............BUTT I might have to make my own.
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There are some drugs in clinical trials- FujiFilm has a drug that in a clinical trial of 80 patients cut symptoms from 11 days to 4. Gilead has two phase 3 trials testing an anti-HIV drug. These drugs don't help the really severe cases, but would give docs something to block progression to severe symptoms, shorten hospital stays, and allow increase patient turnover- progress!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/japa...
https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/gilead-re...
In two new papers, it is reported the Gilead drug causes elevated liver enzymes and significant GI distress, altho the company PR says side effects were "well-tolerated"!
....something all too familiar to us!!!
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The CTV News link above had an example of an elderly patient surviving:
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SerenitySTA
About that, let me quote from this NYT article which echoes my thoughts:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/opinion/coronav...
"Many health experts, including the surgeon general of the United States, told the public simultaneously that masks weren't necessary for protecting the general public and that health care workers needed the dwindling supply. There were attempts to bolster the first message, that ordinary people didn't need masks, by telling people that masks, especially medical-grade respirator masks (such as the N95 masks), needed proper fitting and that ordinary people without such fitting wouldn't benefit. This message was also deeply counterproductive. Many people also wash their hands wrong, but we don't respond to that by telling them not to bother. Instead, we provide instructions... Telling people they can't possibly figure out how to wear a mask properly isn't a winning message. ...
... It is of course true that masks don't work perfectly, that they don't replace hand-washing and social distancing, and that they work better if they fit properly... but places like Hong Kong and Taiwan that jumped to action early with social distancing and universal mask wearing have the pandemic under much greater control.. Hong Kong health officials credit universal mask wearing as part of the solution and recommend universal mask wearing.
...a call for people who hoarded masks to donate some of them to their local medical workers would probably work better than telling people that they don't need them or that they won't manage to make them work.".Ideally one would conduct a formal fit check annually (not to be confused with the fit test shown in the video, which should be performed with each use):
https://safetynetwork.3m.com/blog/fit-test-vs-fit-...
Even so studies confirm a protective effect in the general public, who most likely don't ever conduct formal fit checks:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC57798...0 -
just a heads up that Memorial Sloan Kettering has reported cases
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/rosalindadams...
At my center, we can no longer bring someone to sit with us in the chemo room
kind of sad and lonely to sit there for hours alone. Also if we get fever during treatments, we are no longer to go to emerg immediately. Instead we stay home and call our oncologists and if we need to be admitted, they would arrange it. They're worried being in ER is too risky for us.
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Oh, DivineMrsM, I just love you.
Tina
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roseo - Here's my thinking:
There's no shortage of soap. There is a shortage of masks outside of Asia no matter the messaging. If I wear a mask, I protect only myself since I likely am not sick. I'm isolating myself as much as possible. I do have to go to the hospital on Friday, but I can use the entrance far away from the ED. I know the path all too well. A health care worker with a mask who sees sick patients face-to-face all day long protects themselves and everyone else around them (other patients and other health care workers). And I want them to stay healthy enough to keep working, especially in case my family or I need them. I would prefer there were enough masks for everyone, but that's not the reality.0 -
moth - I’m sorry you have to be alone during chemo. Hope the side effects are few and manageable. My MO also told me to let him know first if I get sick.
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candy , if many people contract the virus in the next couple of months and recover from it then new cases may plato or decrease and all these restrictions could be lifted slightly/ one by one to allow for normal society functioning without too much of a danger of swamping ICUs.
That's my understanding.
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Social distancing is so important, even if it leaves us feeling sad! Here is a game to brighten your day
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That's why we're doing the social distancing and washing hands. That's why non-essential services are closed. Health care workers cannot help sick patients from a distance.
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Hey, y'all- NYT has a story about a company that makes a "Smart Thermometer" that includes an app where you can track your temperature over time to show your doctor, etc. Customers also have to agree that the company can collect their temperature readings. They have sold many over the past few years and given many away at schools, etc, so they have readings from every zip code in the US.
Based on the quality of the data they are able to forecast flu each season, about 12 days ahead of the CDC (which depends on reports from doctors and local health officials). Now that the CDC has so botched testing, we don't know where the virus is, other than where the largest outbreaks are found- so what are they finding this year?
They (Smart Thermometer) found high fever readings 2-3 times the normal levels in Brooklyn and other areas that were subsequently determined to have Covid-19 outbreaks. Right now they are seeing unusually high readings in spots in Michigan, Arizona, new areas of Florida, and eastern Texas, in areas not (yet) reported to have lots of Covid cases.
Most importantly, as a public service, they will be posting their data so people everywhere can see areas with unusually high numbers of people with fevers- the most recent data will be uploaded Friday onto MedRxiv as well as to a new website they have created:
So we can at least check out some information from our own localities, for which otherwise we currently have no clue
Here is the story: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/health/coronavi...
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That’s fascinating, Cure-ious.
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There appears to be early evidence that chloroquine can be used to treat the disease:
https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/12404492951169310720 -
Here are a couple links to a great series on youtube about Coronavirus: In the first link is from yesterday, they discuss the preclinical data showing that Hydroxychloroquine, a zine ionophore, has a strong anti-viral effect on Covid-19. It should not be taken without a zinc supplement (zinc lozenge) if you are zinc-deficient (how would we know that?) altho a little zinc can go a long way so don't over-do the zinc either.
they speculate that part of the reason Korea has done so well is that they were giving this to their patients. The other link has more background information and discusses a supplement well known to many of you, called QUERCETIN, that works similarly and is available over the counter in the vitamin aisle. I've seen in blogs where nurses have started taking quercetin prophylactically
We know that quercetin is also used for anti-cancer properties and there are some on this site already taking it. It feels good to know there is something we can do to try to protect ourselves. Not to take massive quantities, whatever is the normal dosage for supplements at least does not cause any problems and is more than we are getting normally...
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The hysteria and shut downs keep getting worse. I'm not surprised. There are so many moving pieces to the puzzle of how to contain the virus and keep people safe. The restrictions become more and more each day.
It's actually a little hard to find updated coronavirus numbers for the United States only. Hyped-up news articles lead with total people in the world who have coronavirus and how many have died. The articles are vague about U.S. numbers. It will say how many new cases for the day, but not a total tally so far. It would calm me more to know specifically, how many have coronavirus in each state, how many deaths in each state and how many overall with the virus and how many deaths overall in just the United States. I cannot extend my thought processes towards Italy, South Korea and China numbers on this virus as its too overwhelming. It feels like the media only wants to project the really super big numbers...click bait.
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divine
Coronavirus.ohio.gov
Ohio 1 death
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DivineMrsM - is this what you are looking for: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ . You can click on "USA" and get state by state results. I have been checking two states as I live in one and very close to another and I just go to their state health department websites to get the current status on the coronavirus.
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Divine- My State, Illinois, has a website for our Dept of Health----IDPH.gov----- that has the numbers for us. 585 confirmed cases and 5 deaths. Also shows what counties affected. Your State should have something like that. Also the site has a link to the CDC for nationwide numbers--- 15,219 in U.S. with 201 deaths. And I think the CDC site shows breakdown of numbers by State. Our State of Illinois just announced a Shelter in Place Order to start at 5pm Saturday.
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Thanks, everyone. I like the CDC website mentioned and will use it for current information:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Cases in U.S.:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
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Divine,
Our provincial health office summed it up well just a moment ago during the daily news conference when asked about why they are not specifically identifying where the cases are here in my province in Canada. She said the risk is equal regardless of where we live at this point. The cases are everywhere in our province so we all have to take the necessary precautions around social distancing, etc.
Scary times but I have to say, there have been positive notes. I have been overwhelmed by the display of goodwill that I am seeing. Young people organizing to pick up groceries for the elderly and at risk. Stores limiting numbers but setting aside specific times for at risk individuals. Efforts underway to try to support businesses struggling through the impacts of forced closures. And yesterday, it became known that several of our local distillers have switched to producing sanitizer for hospitals and care workers given the shortage. There are a lot of good people out there and a community ready to support.
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