How to know and avoid Corona Virus risks

[Vrede too]

Biologist: Avoid these places to protect against Covid-19

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Biology Professor Erin Bromage tells CNN's John Berman which environments have an increased risk of spreading coronavirus.

The list includes workplaces, social gatherings, restaurants, and public transportation.

Interestingly, a point is made that if an indoor place is noisy, then the risk of infection is higher due to people talking more loudly.

Hilarious discussion: viewtopic.php?p=119336#p119336

[Vrede too]

[Vrede too]

New study suggests vitamin D is linked to COVID-19 mortality — how a common vitamin could become pivotal

A new study from researchers at Trinity College Dublin has hypothesized that vitamin D deficiency may be linked to higher mortality rates from COVID-19. Published in the Irish Medical Journal, the report analyzed vitamin D levels of older people in countries heavily affected by the coronavirus and found that places with high death rates from COVID-19, including Italy and Spain, also had rates of vitamin D deficiency....

Still preliminary, but no harm in doubling my daily dose.

[Vrede too]

I've tripled.

Not the perfect thread for this, but very good interactive worldwide data:



COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

US is 12th worst for deaths at 299 per 1M population.

[Vrede too]

Lots of good info:

COVID-19 explainer: Here's what we've learned about the coronavirus so far

COVID-19 also makes frat boys and sorority girls, Repugs, ammosexuals, con Christians, anti-vaxxers, Trumpettes and other right-wingnuts stupid, whether or not they’ve yet been infected.

[Vrede too]

... Not the perfect thread for this, but very good interactive worldwide data:



COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

US is 12th worst for deaths at 299 per 1M population.

More useful links:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3965&p=120517#p120517

Overall state and county specific numbers (Cases & Deaths)

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... in-us.html

By state (Death rates per 100,000 people)

https://www.statista.com/statistics/110 ... -by-state/

...

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viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4072&p=120571#p120571

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New study suggests vitamin D is linked to COVID-19 mortality — how a common vitamin could become pivotal

Still preliminary, but no harm in doubling tripling my daily dose.

Exploring the Links Between Coronavirus and Vitamin D

3000 IU per day for me.

South Korean doctors find risk factors for severe COVID-19 cases

... In a paper published by the Journal of Korean Medical Science on June 2, Ahn and other South Korean doctors wrote that diabetes, high body temperature, low oxygen saturation and pre-existing cardiac injury were shown to be the prognostic factors for severe COVID-19....

Cool, I have none of those. I do have a couple of previously IDed risk factors, though. I wonder if this new info reduces their importance.

[Vrede too]

Flushing the toilet could create a 3-foot vortex of airborne coronavirus poop particles, a new study shows



"you should close the toilet lid before you flush to prevent this cloud from escaping into the bathroom."

Never mind the coronavirus, I'm disturbed enough about the 3-foot vortex of airborne poop particles.

[Vrede too]

FDA issues warning about 9 hand sanitizers made by this company

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use hand sanitizer manufactured by the Mexican company Eskbiochem SA de CV because the products contain methanol, a toxic substance that can cause short- and long-term health problems....

See below for the FDA's list of specific products to avoid:

All-Clean Hand Sanitizer (NDC: 74589-002-01)

Esk Biochem Hand Sanitizer (NDC: 74589-007-01)

CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer 75% Alcohol (NDC: 74589-008-04)

Lavar 70 Gel Hand Sanitizer (NDC: 74589-006-01)

The Good Gel Antibacterial Gel Hand Sanitizer (NDC: 74589-010-10)

CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer 80% Alcohol (NDC: 74589-005-03)

CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer 75% Alcohol (NDC: 74589-009-01)

CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer 80% Alcohol (NDC: 74589-003-01)

Saniderm Advanced Hand Sanitizer (NDC: 74589-001-01)

On June 17, the FDA advised Eskbiochem to take its hand sanitizer products off the market because they contained methanol. As of June 19, the company had not done so, according to the FDA....

[O Really]

Is methanol hazardous?

Yes, methanol is a hazardous chemical that is highly flammable and toxic. Methanol
must be properly stored, transported and used by people that have been properly trained
in its handling. Methanol is extremely toxic to humans if ingested or if vapors are
inhaled. Direct exposure to methanol should be avoided, as methanol can be harmful if
swallowed, absorbed through the skin, or inhaled. Ingestion of as little as one to four
ounces can cause irreversible injury to the nervous system, blindness or even death.
Methanol can cause poisoning, systemic acidosis, optic nerve damage and central
nervous system (CNS) effects. Methanol can also degrease the skin, which may cause
dermatitis. Symptoms of acute methanol exposure may include headache, weakness,
drowsiness, nausea, difficult breathing, drunkenness, eye irritation, blurred vision, loss of
consciousness, and possibly death. Patients may improve and then get worse again up
to 30 hours later.

Methanol Institute

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Is methanol hazardous?

Yes, methanol is a hazardous chemical that is highly flammable and toxic. Methanol
must be properly stored, transported and used by people that have been properly trained
in its handling. Methanol is extremely toxic to humans if ingested or if vapors are
inhaled. Direct exposure to methanol should be avoided, as methanol can be harmful if
swallowed, absorbed through the skin, or inhaled. Ingestion of as little as one to four
ounces can cause irreversible injury to the nervous system, blindness or even death.
Methanol can cause poisoning, systemic acidosis, optic nerve damage and central
nervous system (CNS) effects. Methanol can also degrease the skin, which may cause
dermatitis. Symptoms of acute methanol exposure may include headache, weakness,
drowsiness, nausea, difficult breathing, drunkenness, eye irritation, blurred vision, loss of
consciousness, and possibly death. Patients may improve and then get worse again up
to 30 hours later.

Methanol Institute

FDA warns of 5 more hand sanitizers to avoid, growing list to 14

... According to the release, samples of the Lavar Gel and CleanCare No Germ were tested. The Lavar Gel product "contains 81% methanol and no ethyl alcohol," while CleanCare No Germ "contains 28% methanol."

In early July, the organization identified additional hand sanitizer products containing methanol:

Grupo Insoma's Hand Sanitizer Gel Unscented, 70% alcohol)

Transliquid Technologies' Mystic Shield Protection Hand Sanitizer

Soluciones Cosmeticas' Bersih Hand Sanitizer Gel Fragrance Free and Antiseptic Alcohol 70% Topical Solution Hand Sanitizer

Tropicosmeticos' Britz Hand Sanitizer Ethyl Alcohol 70% ...

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Virus tricks the body into attacking brain; common heartburn drugs linked to coronavirus risk

... The class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) that include omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), pantoprazole (Protonix), and esomeprazole (Nexium) work by stopping the stomach from producing too much acid. Researchers conducted a survey of more than 53,000 people, including nearly 4,000 who said they had tested positive for COVID-19. They found that those taking a PPI once a day had more than a two-fold higher risk of coronavirus infection, and people taking them twice a day had more than a three-fold higher risk than those not using the medicines, according to the study led by Dr. Brennan Spiegel of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and released on Tuesday by the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Individuals taking heartburn drugs called histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) were not at elevated risk, the researchers said. The study only shows a correlation and does not prove that PPIs caused the increase in coronavirus infections. "Further studies examining the association between PPIs and COVID-19 are needed," Spiegel's team says. (https://bit.ly/3iBIakm) ...

I've always been satisfied with the older histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs). Ranitidine (Zantac) for many years, but that's recently been pulled due to a theoretical cancer risk from a contaminant. Famotidine (Pepcid) now, though for some reason I only rarely need it.

The side effects from the proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have long concerned me before this new info.

[Vrede too]

Study of 17 Million Identifies Crucial Risk Factors for Coronavirus Deaths

... Goldacre’s team found that patients older than 80 were at least 20 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those in their 50s and hundreds of times more likely to die than those below the age of 40. The scale of this relationship was “jaw-dropping,” Goldacre said.

Additionally, men stricken with the virus had a higher likelihood of dying than women of the same age. Medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes, severe asthma and compromised immunity were also linked to poor outcomes, in keeping with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. And the researchers noted that a person’s chances of dying also tended to track with socioeconomic factors like poverty....

Particularly compelling were the study’s findings on race and ethnicity, said Sharrelle Barber, an epidemiologist at Drexel University who was not involved in the study. Roughly 11% of the patients tracked by the analysis identified as nonwhite. The researchers found that these individuals — particularly Black and South Asian people — were at higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than white patients....

Regardless of the methodological drawbacks of this study, experts agree that “the causes of disparities, whether in COVID-19 or other aspects of health, are intricately linked to structural racism,” Mitchell said.

In the United States, Latino and African American residents are three times as likely to become infected by the coronavirus as white residents, and nearly twice as likely to die....

Pretty clear proof that COVID-19 was designed by young, skinny, healthy, rich White women. Damn them.

[GoCubsGo]

Wingnuts are trying to take out Soros.

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Wingnuts are trying to take out Soros.

Coronavirus thrives at 4C (39F), scientists find, raising fears of winter resurgence

It likes your frig.

[GoCubsGo]

Wingnuts are trying to take out Soros.

Coronavirus thrives at 4C (39F), scientists find, raising fears of winter resurgence

It likes your frig.

Well that's warm and fuzzy news as we hit new daily highs for new cases, the death count is heading up in the middle of summer and the pino administration is trying to reopen schools.

[Vrede too]

Well that's warm and fuzzy news as we hit new daily highs for new cases, the death count is heading up in the middle of summer and the pino administration is trying to reopen schools.

2 weeks later and we're even more screwed.

Gloves may do more harm than good when it comes to protecting you from COVID-19

I quit using them on the first day I went out. At work we put them on at specific and usually short times when there was risk of contact with body fluids. They just aren't practical or effective for continual use.

[GoCubsGo]

Well that's warm and fuzzy news as we hit new daily highs for new cases, the death count is heading up in the middle of summer and the pino administration is trying to reopen schools.

2 weeks later and we're even more screwed.

Gloves may do more harm than good when it comes to protecting you from COVID-19

I quit using them on the first day I went out. At work we put them on at specific and usually short times when there was risk of contact with body fluids. They just aren't practical or effective for continual use.

Same.
Hand washing is the ticket there.

[Vrede too]

People over 6ft have (more than) double the risk of coronavirus, study suggests

Whew.

You others, bend over.