Tag Archives: COVID

COVID-19: What it is, what you need to know

In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus (COVID) from China a global health emergency. Cases of this new infection were first reported in Wuhan, China, in early December 2019. Since then, cases have been reported in several other countries. All cases have been linked to travel to China. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and WHO are monitoring the situation.

What is COVID-19?

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases, such as MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Coronaviruses are transmitted between animals and people. The new strain is called COVID-19 acute respiratory disease (novel coronavirus), and it had not previously been identified in humans.

The new virus appears to be spreading from person to person. It may be spread by respiratory droplets when someone coughs or sneezes. But it’s unclear exactly how it spreads or how contagious it is. Research is ongoing. This virus is new, so not much is known about it yet.

What are COVID-19 symptoms?

Symptoms of COVID-19 can be mild to severe. Some common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. A vaccine isn’t currently available.

What can I do to prevent the spread of infection?

The W.H.O. and C.D.C. recommend that you take the usual precautions to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses:

  • Wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
  • Cover your mouth and nose with your elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth if your hands aren’t clean.
  • Avoid close contact with anyone who is sick.
  • Clean surfaces that you touch often.
  • Stay home from work, school and public areas if you’re sick.
  • Test for COVID when you think you may have it.

The W.H.O. further recommends these steps:

  • Check with your health care provider if you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and tell him or her about any recent travel.
  • Avoid eating raw meat or animal organs.
  • If you’re visiting live markets in areas that have recently had cases of the new coronavirus, avoid contact with live animals and surfaces they may have touched.

Here is a four-page pdf which also might help answer some questions you might have.

In this video, Gregory Poland, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic’s vaccine research group, explains the ecology of coronaviruses:

SOURCE: https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/featured-topic/coronavirus-what-it-is-what-you-need-to-know

Best Materials to Use for Face Masks

After watching surgeon general’s Twitter video on face masks, doctor sent him research on the best materials to use

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/some-fabrics-are-more-effective-than-others-for-making-diy-face-masks-heres-which-ones-are-best-2020-04-07

Scott Segal, chairman of anesthesiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health, met Jerome Adams on Feb. 4 when Trump’s surgeon general visited the North Carolina medical facility to discuss HIV in Indiana and the opioid crisis

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams posted a video demonstrating how to make a face covering from a T-shirt. Shortly before the video was posted, the CDC recommended that all Americans wear a such a cloth covering in public settings.

U.S. Surgeon General

After a reversal late last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all Americans wear a facial cloth covering in public settings.

To preserve the supply of N95 and surgical masks for health-care workers treating patients who have contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, the CDC has advised all Americans to instead wear (and routinely wash) “cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.” Examples include grocery stores and pharmacies, the CDC says.

Scott Segal, chairman of anesthesiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina, studies the effectiveness of materials used to make homemade masks.

But some of the materials you can use to make do-it-yourself face masks offer more protection than others. The CDC’s recommendation comes following numerous reports on transmission of COVID-19 from asymptomatic people.

These people don’t have fevers, coughs or runny noses or other common symptoms of COVID-19, and may be unknowingly spreading the virus to others, according to one study published earlier this month, which examined infections of residents of a nursing home in King County, Wash.

Because seemingly healthy people could end up infecting someone, public-health officials are now recommending that all Americans wear a face covering in public, but still advise against buying surgical N95 masks, as they say there is a shortage of these medical-grade masks in hospitals, and they’re needed by health-care workers who are putting their lives on the line.

(***Ed. Note: This post is older and now there are plenty N95 masks available for the general public. To buy KN95 Masks at Target, click here. KN95 Masks on Amazon, click here.)

On Feb. 29, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said he was against members of the public wearing face masks, and tweeted, “Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching COVID, but if health-care providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”

By April 4, Adams changed his stance and released a video on Twitter detailing how to make your own mask. Adams suggested using items you could find around the house like “an old scarf, a bandanna or a hand towel … or an old T-shirt,” to make a mask. He folded the material over several times to make the improvised face mask as nonporous as possible; Adams also added two rubber bands to hang it in place around his ears.

 

(***Ed. Note: To buy KN95 Masks at Target, click here. KN95 Masks on Amazon, click here.)

The Coronavirus Test

The United States has bungled basically every aspect of its coronavirus response, but one of the most concerning setbacks has been its limited testing. Though the country has tested more than 1.2 million people for the coronavirus as of April 1, the tests came too late for a South Korea–style clampdown on the disease, and they’re still not widespread enough. But even as more and more Americans are finally being checked, a new concern has emerged: The tests seem to have a problematically high false-negative rate, meaning that many people who get tested are receiving a negative test result despite having the virus.

No one is certain exactly how many tests are spitting back false negatives. One preprint paper relying on biological specimens from 213 patients in China suggested a false-negative rate as high as 30 percent. In a New York Times op-ed, Harlan M. Krumholz, director of the Yale New Haven Hospital Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, wrote, “Some of my colleagues, experts in laboratory medicine, express concerns the false-negative rate in this country could
be even higher.” Patients have received suspicious results suggesting they don’t have the coronavirus infection despite having symptoms that are completely consistent with what we know about the virus, including high temperatures and a telltale cough. Perhaps the most notable example of a false negative is Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist in Wuhan, China, who brought COVID-19 to international attention. Li died of the virus, but only after he repeatedly tested negative for the disease.

No test is perfect. The latest rapid influenza test, for example, has a false-negative rate around 20 percent. In the case of COVID-19 testing, some misdiagnoses could come from lab issues. There’s always a degree of error involved in any testing, through some combination of flawed human action and flawed baseline testing. But these days, machines are more capable than ever of calling out and correcting these issues. And the primary test for the novel coronavirus—the RT-PCR, or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction—is “actually really good,” said Jen Pothof, chief quality officer at UW Health. “So good that if we can capture a single strand of RNA, we can get a result.” The real problem likely lies not in the lab but in the samples doctors are taking from their patients to send in for testing.

Why the coronavirus test gives so many false negatives. 4/11/20, 10(37 AM
https://slate.com/technology/2020/04/coronavirus-testing-false-negatives.html Page 3 of 6
Every virus has its preferred place in its host’s body. But the coronavirus “is a little sneakier than viruses we’ve seen in the past,” said Nam Tran, an associate clinical professor at the University of California, Davis. COVID-19 is primarily a disease of the lungs, but it also hangs out in the nasopharynx, a hard-to-reach cavity halfway between your nose and your throat. The main strategy for testing has been to stick a long swab so deep into people’s noses it actually lands in
the nasopharynx—a process one TikTok user described as akin to “being stabbed in the brain.”
Both Pothof and Tran think that one of the primary reasons RT-PCR tests are getting false negatives is because doctors and nurses aren’t getting all the way into the nasopharynx. Patients may back away in discomfort. And people administering the test may be rushing from patient to patient, so the quality of each individual swab may suffer. When a swab with no COVID-19 on it arrives in the lab, it doesn’t matter how sensitive the RT-PCR is. “If the sample is junk, just to be blunt, you’re not going to find anything,” Tran said.

False negatives may also be a matter of timing. “There’s a misconception if a person has
COVID, the virus is all over the place,” Tran said. “That’s not true.” It mostly concentrates in
the lungs, which is why some doctors have advocated for chest CT scans or lower
respiratory tract specimens as means of testing. It doesn’t appear in the blood, though
eventually people who survive the disease begin to produce antibodies to the virus that
can be detected in a blood sample. And though COVID-19 can be found in the nasopharynx
and even the nasal cavity itself, the concentration of the virus varies over time. Right now,
the test appears to be most effective in patients who have been showing symptoms
(specifically a fever and cough) for three to five days, said Omai Garner, an assistant
professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UCLA. No one knows how well it
detects the virus in people who are asymptomatic, or how reliable it is after a patient has
begun to recover.

That doesn’t mean the COVID-19 test itself is a failure. But its imperfections do have serious implications for how we manage the pandemic. We need more research to better understand how the coronavirus appears in different parts of the body and at different times throughout the illness. Doctors need better training and information on how to administer the tests, and when. People with serious symptoms who test negative need multiple tests, in order to ensure their diagnosis is certain. And most importantly, patients with symptoms that are consistent with COVID should still behave as though they are infected, no matter what their lab results suggest.

How To Clean A Fabric Coronavirus Face Mask

How To Clean A Fabric Coronavirus Face Mask And How Often _ HuffPost Life,…

is just as important as wearing them to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

By Vartika Puranik
04/10/2020 05:45am EDT

As we continue our fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention recommend wearing a face mask in public while
shopping for essential items. It is especially advisable for people living in areas
hit hard by the spread of the COVID-19 disease. But there’s one thing many of us
don’t realize: Washing face masks is as important as wearing them.

Ever since the global pandemic hit us, researchers have been studying how long
it can live on various surfaces. A new report published in The Lancet says the
infectious virus could still be present on the outer layer of a mask for up to seven
days.

“Strikingly, a detectable level of the infectious virus could still be present on the
outer layer of a surgical mask on Day Seven,” the researchers wrote. They also concluded      that various disinfectants can be used to kill the novel coronavirus to clean the mask properly. We reached out to some experts to find out how to effectively wash face masks.

How To Clean A Fabric Coronavirus Face Mask And How Often | HuffPost Life 4/11/20

Is your mask susceptible to the virus?
Homemade masks are definitely susceptible to viruses. Wearing a mask reduces
the concentration of virus particles that can be inhaled from respiratory droplets,
which in turn reduces the transmission of COVID-19, but masks can also carry
the virus.

“Cotton cloth is not designed to fully filter virus particles in the nanometer range. However, it could be very helpful for asymptomatic individuals who would normally be wearing nothing,” said Rodney Rohde, associate dean for research at the College of Health Professions at Texas State University. Dimitar Marinov, assistant professor in the department of hygiene at the Medical University of Varna, told HuffPost that up to 97% of the air’s virus particles can easily penetrate cloth masks. “This is why we advise the use of cloth masks as a method to protect others but not for self-protection,” he added.

How often should we wash our masks?                                                                                            The C.D.C. recommends washing your mask at least once a day. “It should be washed typically when you are done with it,” Rhode said.

Robert Amler, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice at New York Medical College and a former C.D.C. chief medical officer, suggested washing your fabric mask after every use. “Avoid touching your face and wash your hands before and after,” he said.

Emily de Golian, a board-certified dermatologist at Dermatology Consultants in
Georgia, told us that, ideally, masks shouldn’t be worn for more than 30 minutes
because the dampness from our breath makes it less effective as a barrier against
coronavirus transmission.

If you’re a frontline worker or spend your time in public where social distancing
measures are difficult to maintain, consider washing your fabric mask every two
hours, if possible, Marinov advised. What’s the best way to wash and dry a fabric face
mask? It is important to note that detergents with bleach-like compounds or other
active ingredients should be used when washing masks. Those kill microbes
more effectively than standard detergents, Rhodes explained.

Machine washing is optimal, and the material of your face mask will determine
the temperature of the water. “Fabric masks can be washed in the warmest
possible water that the fabric will tolerate,” de Golian said. Marinov advised keeping                  the World Health Organization’s specifications in mind. “The temperature should be                   at least 60 degrees Celsius [140 degrees Fahrenheit]. We do not have studies on SARS-CoV-2, but the similar SARS-CoV1 dies quickly at temperatures above 60,” he said.

You can also disinfect masks by ironing or putting them in an oven for 20 minutes at           about 160 degrees Fahrenheit, Marinov said. If hand washing is your only option,                      de Golian suggested lathering the masks with soap and scrubbing them for at least 20 seconds with warm to hot water. “Washing should be followed by hot air drying,” Almer said.

Dry your mask on the highest possible heat the fabric will allow. Again, this will
depend on what material was used to construct your mask.

A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus
Stay up to date with our blog as we cover the COVID-19 pandemic.
Everything you need to know about face masks right now.
How long are asymptomatic carriers contagious?
What to do if you can’t pay rent now?
How to switch off from work when home is your office?
8 sleep tips if coronavirus anxiety is keeping you up at night.
How long does coronavirus live in the air?
The HuffPost guide to working from home
What coronavirus questions are on your mind right now?                                                                    We want to help you find answers.
Everyone deserves accurate information about COVID-19.

 

(***Ed. Note: To buy KN95 Masks at Target, click here. KN95 Masks on Amazon, click here.)

Coronavirus Is Aerosolized

Alicia Ault
April 04, 2020

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s
https://www.medscape.com/resource/coronavirus

An expert committee has concluded that the novel coronavirus is aerosolized
through talking or exhalation, but it’s not yet clear if the viral particles are
viable and emitted in doses sufficient to cause infection.
“While the current SARS-CoV-2 specific research is limited, the results of
News > Medscape Medical News Coronavirus Is Aerosolized Through
Talking, Exhalation, New Report Says Alicia Ault April 04, 2020

Coronavirus Is Aerosolized Through Talking, Exhalation
“…available studies are consistent with aerosolization of virus from normal
breathing,” wrote Harvey Fineberg, MD, PhD, chair of the National Academies
Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century
Health Threats, in a rapid expert consultation issued April 2. Although aerosolization            could be considered a third potential route of transmission — along with large                 droplets emitted from sneezing or coughing and the transfer of viral particles after touching a contaminated surface — the relative contribution of each mode is uncertain, Fineberg told Medscape Medical News.

Information from Industry Hypothetical case study: Young woman with key symptoms Hypothetical case study: Young woman with key symptoms of narcolepsy of narcolepsy.         See video US-NDS-0371(1) It’s also still unclear what it takes to cause infection through aerosolization, he said.

“The best approach without that clear description is all three are possible and we have to guard against all three,” he said. Asked if there is any risk to operating on the assumption that the novel coronavirus can be transmitted through aerosols, Fineberg said, “I see no downside at this time at all.”

But, he said, that assumption does not change what he thinks are the best
precautions in healthcare facilities, which include handwashing and wearing
of personal protective equipment (PPE). Although N95 masks provide the
greatest measure of protection, it’s not realistic to expect that they can be
worn by all personnel, said Fineberg.

“This is a question of prioritization, of risk, and of availability,” he said. In
addition, N95s are difficult to wear for extended periods of time and may not
be necessary in every circumstance, said Fineberg, citing a gradient of risk.

The committee looked into the issue of aerosolization at the request of the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Fineberg said.
The report cited several studies it said supported the idea that SARS-CoV-2 is
airborne. One study (still in preprint and not yet peer reviewed) by Joshua
Santarpia, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, has
gotten a lot of attention. The researchers collected air and surface samples
from 11 rooms of patients with COVID-19, and found viral RNA in the air both
inside and outside the rooms and on ventilation grates.

Another study in preprint looking at hospitals and public areas in Wuhan
found that the highest concentrations of virus were in toilet facilities and in
PPE removal rooms. Doffing of the PPE may potentially have aerosolized the
virus, the researchers hypothesized.

Differential Diagnosis of Tardive Dyskinesia Differential Diagnosis of Tardive Dyskinesia Check your knowledge with this Fast Five quiz. Begin quiz now Fineberg and colleagues, however, approached the finding with caution, stating that “it may be difficult to re-suspend particles of a respirable size.” More likely, “fomites could be transmitted to hands, mouth, nose, or eyes
without requiring direct respiration into the lungs,” they write.

The report did not cite a recent overview in the Journal of the American
Medical Association by Lydia Bourouiba, PhD, of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in Cambridge. The report noted that recent research has found
that “exhalations, sneezes, and coughs not only consist of mucosalivary
droplets following short-range semiballistic emission trajectories but,
importantly, are primarily made of a multiphase turbulent gas (a puff) cloud
that entrains ambient air and traps and carries within it clusters of droplets
with a continuum of droplet sizes.”

She said that the lifetime of a droplet could be extended “from a fraction of a
second to minutes,” and that the cloud carrying viral particles could travel as
Coronavirus Is Aerosolized Through Talking, Exhalation.

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) still contends (in a report dated March
29) that current evidence shows that “COVID-19 virus is primarily transmitted
between people through respiratory droplets and contact routes,” and that it
can only become airborne during procedures or treatments that generate
aerosols.

For more news, follow Medscape on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Medscape Medical News © 2020
Citation: “Coronavirus Is Aerosolized Through Talking, Exhalation”, New Report Says        Medscape – Apr 04, 2020.

 

(***Ed. Note: To buy KN95 Masks at Target, click here. KN95 Masks on Amazon, click here.)