We are living in the middle of the emergency over coronavirus all over the world. The reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on societies and economies around the world cannot be understated. Because an estimated 15% of COVID-19 patients require hospitalization and 5% require intensive care (Z. Wu and McGoogan 2020), the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has the potential of posing a substantial challenge to medical systems around the world (Remuzzi and Remuzzi 2020; Grasselli, Pesenti, and Cecconi 2020).
Necessity is the mother of invention. A need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or solve the problem. This saying appears in the dialogue Republic, by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
“Necessity is the mother of invention” is an English-language proverb. It means, roughly, that the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need. When the need for something becomes imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.
Here are some examples of sort of ingenuity we need now in the middle of pandemia. Already many people contributed those efforts. Check out on those links what is already done if you can find any useful information or can contribute to those efforts you see as good idea. Start your reserach with 7 open hardware projects working to solve COVID-19 article.
I have collected here a list of interesting open hardware project and instructions that can be useful or educational. Hopefully this list I have contributed here will be useful for someone. Keep in mind that many of those ideas are potentially dangerous if the instructions are not entirely correct, implemented exactly right and used by people that know what they are doing. You have been warned: Do not try those at home yourself! We are dealing here with things that can easily injure or kill someone if improperly implemented or used – but at right place the best ideas from those could potentially save lives.
Repairing hospital equipment
The right thing to do in his situation is that medical companies to release service manuals for ALL medical equipment so they can be repaired and maintained where they are most needed.
In the face of ventilator shortages for COVID-19 victims, iFixit is looking to make maintaining and repairing equipment as easy as possible. iFixit Launches Central Repository for Hospital Equipment Repair and Maintenance Manuals
https://www.ifixit.com/News/36354/help-us-crowdsource-repair-information-for-hospital-equipment
Site http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com offers links many service manuals
Robotics
COVID-19 pandemic prompts more robot usage worldwide article tells that the coronavirus has increased interest in robots, drones, and artificial intelligence, even as some testing of autonomous vehicles pauses on public roads. It is believed that these technologies can help deal with massive staffing shortages in healthcare, manufacturing, and supply chains; the need for “social distancing;” and diagnosis and treatment.
Here are some robotics related links that could be useful:
Medical robotics expert Guang-Zhong Yang calls for a global effort to develop new types of robots for fighting infectious diseases.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/medical-robots/coronavirus-pandemic-call-to-action-robotics-community
Elements of Robotics Open Access Textbook
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-62533-1
Ventilators
A ventilator is a machine designed to provide mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators are sometimes colloquially called “respirators”.
A ventilator, also called a respirator, is designed to provide mechanical ventilation by oxygen into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. The machines can be used to help a person breath if they have conditions making it difficult to breathe, such as lung diseases, during and post-surgery. For patients critically ill with coronavirus access to a ventilator could be a matter of life or death.
In its simplest form, a modern positive pressure ventilator consists of a compressible air reservoir or turbine, air and oxygen supplies, a set of valves and tubes, and a disposable or reusable “patient circuit”. Modern ventilators are electronically controlled by a small embedded system to allow exact adaptation of pressure and flow characteristics to an individual patient’s needs.
They work by placing a tube in a person’s mouth, nose or small cut in the throat and connect it to a ventilator machine. The air reservoir is pneumatically compressed several times a minute to deliver room-air, or in most cases, an air/oxygen mixture to the patient.
Because failure may result in death, mechanical ventilation systems are classified as a life-critical system, and precautions must be taken to ensure that they are highly reliable. Modern commercial ventilator is a relatively complex piece of equipment with lots of components and a dedicated supply chain.
Because there is a lack of ventilators on many hospitals in several countries, there has been a lot of creative work done to help this problem.
There has been projects going on to repair old and non-working ventilators to a working conditions. For repairing some older devices, there has been problem to get spare parts from the manufacturer and that those spare parts can be very expensive. Also getting the service information for repairing those equipment seems to be hard to get from manufacturer, Ifixit has started a project Help commit industrial espionage for the greater good! to get the service information on-line at https://www.ifixit.com/News/36354/help-us-crowdsource-repair-information-for-hospital-equipment
In middle of the emergency some people have worked on to make their own spare parts when official parts are not available, thus making more devices available. For example a startup 3D-printed emergency breathing valves for COVID-19 patients at an Italian hospital in less than 6 hours. An Italian hospital that ran out of life-saving equipment for coronavirus patients was saved by a ‘hero’ engineer who used cutting-edge technology to design oxygen valves within a matter of hours. At least 10 lives were saved in this way.
So great thinking for 3d printing of valves. Are they sterilized and suitable? 3D printing has been used in numerous cases for medical parts already. Most 3D printing operates at relatively high temperatures and printed objects are actually naturally sterilized when they are made. Anyway the right kind of plastic needs to be selected and the part needs to be built in exactly right way that is works reliably as designed. If they are used and the individual gets worse, does the fact that equipment not medical certified (environment, storage, shipping, etc) put the hospital in additional jeopardy for a lawsuit? All valid questions each medical liability officer will have to address. But if people are going to literally die if you do nothing, then taking a risk with a part that you 3D print seems like an idea that is worth to try.
Links:
A startup 3D-printed emergency breathing valves for COVID-19 patients at an Italian hospital in less than 6 hours
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-italian-hospital-3d-printed-breathing-valves-covid-19-patients-2020-3?r=US&IR=T
https://it.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-manca-la-valvola-per-uno-strumento-di-rianimazione-e-noi-la-stampiamo-in-3d-accade-nellospedale-di-chiari-brescia/
Firm ‘refuses to give blueprint’ for coronavirus equipment that could save lives
https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/16/firm-refuses-give-blueprint-coronavirus-equipment-save-lives-12403815/
3D printed life-saving valves: already a dozen in operation
https://www.embodi3d.com/blogs/entry/436-3d-printed-life-saving-valves-already-a-dozen-in-operation/
Volunteers produce 3D-printed valves for life-saving coronavirus treatments
Volunteers made the valves for about $1
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/17/21184308/coronavirus-italy-medical-3d-print-valves-treatments
Another tried trick is try to use one ventilator with more than one patient. Daily Mail writes that ventilators can be modified to help FOUR coronavirus patients breathe at the same time if the NHS is still critically short of the machines when the outbreak peaks, scientists say. Here are some links to material on using one ventilator to more than one patient:
https://emcrit.org/pulmcrit/split-ventilators/
SAVING 4 PATIENTS WITH JUST 1 VENTILATOR
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/19/saving-4-patients-with-just-1-ventilator/
Here has been work going on in creating an open source ventilator design project. Here are some links to this project and some other DIY ventilator designs.
There’s A Shortage Of Ventilators For Coronavirus Patients, So This International Group Invented An Open Source Alternative That’s Being Tested Next Week
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandrasternlicht/2020/03/18/theres-a-shortage-of-ventilators-for-coronavirus-patients-so-this-international-group-invented-an-open-source-alternative-thats-being-tested-next-week/
Open-source Oxygen Concentrator
https://reprapltd.com/open-source-oxygen-concentrator/
https://blog.arduino.cc/2020/03/17/designing-a-low-cost-open-source-ventilator-with-arduino/
https://www.instructables.com/id/The-Pandemic-Ventilator/
Macgyvilator Mk 1 (3-19-2020) – “ventilator” for disasters and/or low resource environments
Macgyvilator Mk 1 is a disaster “ventilator”, a simple apparatus to compress a bag-valve-mask with some control over tidal volume and rate. Constructed quickly and simply using wood, PVC, velcro, common fasteners, and easily sourced and assembled electronic components.
An Arduino based Open Source Ventilator to Fight against COVID-19?
https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/03/21/an-arduino-based-open-source-ventilator-to-fight-against-covid-19/
Low-Cost Open Source Ventilator or PAPR
https://github.com/jcl5m1/ventilator
Low-cost Ventilators
https://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2020/03/low-cost-ventilators.html
Arduino Respirator Prototype (pen source solution from Reesistencia Team, which is undergoing testing)
https://www.facebook.com/official.arduino/videos/2557115014604392/
OxyGEN project
https://oxygen.protofy.xyz
“OxyGEN is an open hardware project to build an emergency mechanism that automates an AMBU type manual ventilator in extreme shortage situations such as the one caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) in some parts of the world.”
NOTE: Take a look at the expression VILI before thinking about trying one of these. It is hard making a ventilator that doesn’t harm the lungs. It is easy to get Ventilator-associated lung injury or die if the ventilator does not work exactly correctly all the time.
Testing for infection
There are many approaches thought to be helpful to finding out if someone is infected or something is contaminated.
Thermal scanners are effective in detecting people who have developed a fever (i.e. have a higher than normal body temperature) because of infection with the new coronavirus. However, they cannot detect people who are infected but are not yet sick with fever (it can take 2-10 days before infected people get the fewer).
Open-Source Collaboration Tackles COVID-19 Testing
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/10/open-source-collaboration-tackles-covid-19-testing/
Low-cost & Open-Source Covid19 Detection kits
https://app.jogl.io/project/118?
This Open Source Device Can Detect Coronavirus on Surfaces
The Chai team has developed a detection test that works with their Open qPCR tool.
https://www.hackster.io/news/this-open-source-device-can-detect-coronavirus-on-surfaces-3da1d7b1c73a
Prevent touching face
It is recommended to stop touching your face to minimize spread of coronavirus and other germs. People touch their faces frequently. They wipe their eyes, scratch their noses, bite their nails and twirl their mustaches.
Not touching your face is a simple way to protect yourself from COVID-19, but it’s not easy. If you can reduce face-touching, you can lower people’s chances of catching COVID-19. Why is it so hard to stop? Face-touching rewards us by relieving momentary discomforts like itches and muscle tension.
If you you want to change, you can try to replace it with a competing response that opposes the muscle movements needed to touch your face. When you feel the urge to touch your face, you can clench your fists, sit on your hands, press your palms onto the tops of your thighs or stretch your arms straight down at your sides. Some sources recommend object manipulation, in which you occupy your hands with something else. You can rub your fingertips, fiddle with a pen or squeeze a stress ball.
Related links:
This pair of Arduino glasses stops you from touching your face
https://blog.arduino.cc/2020/03/10/this-pair-of-arduino-glasses-stops-you-from-touching-your-face/
Don’t Touch Your Face
Don’t touch your face — easy to say, hard to do. This device, worn like a watch, will buzz whenever your hand aims for trouble.
https://www.hackster.io/mike-rigsby/don-t-touch-your-face-e8eac3
Hand sanitizer
Hand sanitizer is a liquid or gel generally used to decrease infectious agents on the hands. It depends on the case if hand washing with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer is preferred. For Covid-19 WHO recommends to wash your hands with soap and water, and dry them thoroughly. Use alcohol-based handrub if you don’t have immediate access to soap and water.
It seems that there are many places where there is shortage of hand sanitizers. This has lead to situation where people have resorted to making their own. Recipes for DIY hand sanitizer are popping all over the internet. A quick search reveals news articles, YouTube how-to’s and step-by-step visual guides. But think twice about joining them — experts are wary and even caution against the idea. The World Health Organization even has an official guide to making hand sanitizer. But it’s intended for populations that do not have clean water or other medical-grade products in place. Don’t try to make your own hand sanitizer just because there’s a shortage from coronavirus.
Can’t get your hands on hand sanitizer? Make your own
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/hand-sanitizer-coronavirus-make-your-own/
Photos show why hand sanitizer doesn’t work as well as soap and water to remove germs
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-photos-why-you-should-wash-hands-with-soap-water-2020-3?amp
Emergency DIY hand sanitizers (read the description)
“Every time a new health incident occurs there’s a rush on hand sanitizers, often causing shops to sell out.
Here’s how to make some simple emergency sanitizers at home, noting that they are not as effective as just washing your hands, and only some viruses can be damaged by simple sanitizers. These options are offered as a last resort when commercial versions are not available.”
“For the alcohol one the higher the percentage of alcohol the better, up to around 70-80%.”
Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer At Home When It’s Sold Out Everywhere
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2020/03/03/make-your-own-hand-sanitizer-at-home-when-its-sold-out-everywhere/
Sanitizing things
With deadly coronavirus spreading worldwide at an alarming speed, personal hygiene has become paramount importance to contain the infection spread further. Mobile phones are known to house several germ, and if you thing they are contaminated, you should maybe disinfect them. The CDC recommends that everyone “clean all “high-touch” surfaces every day” to protect against the spread of COVID-19.
How to Disinfect Your Smartphone article says CDC recommends that for your smartphone you should use 70% rubbing alcohol or alcohol-based disinfectant spray to wipe down the back and sides of your device. For example Apple recently updated its official cleaning advice, so ccording to Apple, it’s now safe to clean your iPhone with disinfecting wipes if you do it correctly. You should not try to spray any liquid to your phone.
The other option is to use a smartphone sanitizer device that cleans using UV rays. Sanitizers that use ultraviolet (UV) rays to kill bacteria and viruses have been around for a while now and they can kill 99% of bacteria in as little as five minutes. However its efficacy hasn’t been tested against nasties like SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Coronavirus effect: Samsung offers UV-C sanitizing service for Galaxy devices. Samsung is using Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) disinfection technology, which uses of uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) light to kill or inactivate bacteria, virus, molds and other pathogenic microorganisms on smartphones.
The UV-C light is capable of destroying nucleic acids and DNA. It will kill many things, but you don’t want that hitting your eye or skin. World Health Organization only states: “UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands, or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation.”
Here are some UV C related links:
https://www.light-sources.com/blog/killing-bacteria-with-uv-light/
https://russellsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-gtl3-bulb-simple-and-inexpensive.html?m=1
Good UV versus bad UV. All available on eBay.
Protective masks
The protective mask ratings used by hospitals are typically N95, FFP2 or FFP3. FFP2 protection level is 94%. FFP3 protection level is 99%. N95 protection level is 95%. An N95 FFR is a type of respirator which removes particles from the air that are breathed through it. These respirators filter out at least 95% of very small (0.3 micron) particles. N95 FFRs are capable of filtering out all types of particles, including bacteria and viruses. The N95 mask is mainly for use if you already have the virus to keep it from spreading and many have argued that coronavirus is smaller than the 0.3 micron filter rating of the mask and thus, not that helpful, for people outside of healthcare. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General wants consumers to stop buying masks.
Due to the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, there has been a huge shortage of N95 masks. Promoting simple do-it-yourself masks: an urgent intervention for COVID-19 mitigation claims that widespread use of masks by the general population could be an effective strategy for slowing down the spread of COVID-19: “Since surgical masks might not become available in sufficient numbers quickly enough for general use and sufficient compliance with wearing surgical masks might not be possible everywhere, we argue that simple do-it-yourself designs or commercially available cloth masks could reduce the spread of infection at minimal costs to society”.
With masks sold out during the coronavirus outbreak, many people will have to make do with what some scientists have called “the last resort”: the DIY mask. Many people have been working on designs for a DIY mask that may be able to protect those who haven’t been able to secure their own masks. It seems that cotton homemade masks may be quite effective as alternatives and there are also other ideas. For any DIY ideas, be warned that there is no guarantee that those designs are effective. So I don’t recommend to use them as alternative to proper mask when they are available. Bit of proper marks are not available, they can be better than nothing.
Keep in mind the right filter type to use: Hepa filters do have the ability to filter particles and viruses, but they wont protect you 100% of the time. The real secret is layers. The problem is, more layers, more restriction. Keep in mind that charcoal filters will make your air fresher, but have almost no effect on cleaning the air of viruses. Coronavirus virions (or ‘particles’) are spherical particles with diameters of approximately 125 nm (0.125 microns). The smallest particles are 0.06 microns, and the largest are 0.14 microns. This means coronavirus particles are smaller than PM2.5 particles, but bigger than some dust particles and gases.
General information:
Guide to Dust Mask Ratings
https://www.seton.co.uk/your-guide-to-dust-masks-ratings
Can Masks Protect People from The Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/coronavirus-pollution-masks-n95-surgical-mask/
Hengityksensuojaimet
https://www.tays.fi/fi-FI/Ohjeet/Infektioiden_torjunta/Mikrobikohtaiset_ohjeet/Hengityksensuojaimet(51207)
DIY project links:
Homemade N95 Masks In A Time Of Shortage
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/18/homemade-n95-masks-in-a-time-of-shortage/
“According to a studied performed at Cambridge University during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, while surgical masks perform the best at capturing Bacillus atrophaeus bacteria (0.93-1.25 microns) and Bacteriophage MS virus (0.023 microns), vacuum cleaner bags, tea towels, and cotton T-shirts were not too far behind. The coronavirus is 0.1-0.2 microns, well within the range for the results of the tests.”
What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/
“Data shows that DIY and homemade masks are effective at capturing viruses. But if forced to make our own mask, what material is best suited to make a mask? As the coronavirus spread around China, netizens reported making masks with tissue paper, kitchen towels, cotton clothing, and even oranges!”
Can DIY Masks Protect Us from Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/diy-homemade-mask-protect-virus-coronavirus/
“DIY masks to protect against from viruses sounds like a crazy idea. Data shows masks work incredibly well, and they’re also really cheap. Surgical masks cost a few pennies, and they’re capable of filtering out 80% of particles down to 0.007 microns (14 times smaller than the coronavirus).”
“The homemade cotton masks captured 50% of 0.02-1 micron particles, compared with 80% for the surgical mask. Although the surgical masks captured 30% more particles, the cotton masks did surprisingly well. The researchers concluded that homemade masks would be better than nothing.”
“The Cambridge data shows that homemade masks made using cotton t-shirts can filter out some particles that are 0.02–1 microns in size. That’s pretty good, however its only one test.”
Professional and Home-Made Face Masks Reduce Exposure to Respiratory Infections among the General Population
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/
Can Masks Protect People from The Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/coronavirus-pollution-masks-n95-surgical-mask/
This old hack doesn’t require any cutting or sewing:
http://how2dostuff.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-to-make-ninja-mask-out-of-t-shirt.html
Copper 3D makes the free N95 mask design to fight COVID-19 pandemic spread
https://3dprintingcenter.net/2020/03/18/copper-3d-makes-the-free-n95-mask-design-to-fight-covid-19-pandemic-spread/?fbclid=IwAR2iXJD5ybU8ReADakvCyDKsfzuRDOBEWxZ3ACCjZoz2dKNwvy07htUhon4
“Copper 3D – A Chilean manufacturer of innovative antibacterial filaments designed the own version of the popular N95 protective mask and prepared it perfectly optimized for 3D printing on desktop 3D printers of the FDM / FFF type. The project is released under an open-source license and has been simultaneously patent pending to prevent other entities from commercializing it.”
“Copper 3D team quickly got to work on developing the patent for a model similar to a standard N95 mask but with some peculiarities (Antiviral, Reusable, Modular, Washable, Recyclable, Low-Cost), which were completely designed in a digital environment so that it could be downloaded anywhere in the world and 3D printed with any FDM/FFF equipment, even a low cost one. The mask was called “NanoHack”.”
#HackThePandemic site offers the technical details of the N95 mask and download set of STL files for printing on own 3D printer
https://copper3d.com/HACKTHEPANDEMIC/
SaltMask
https://robots-everywhere.com/re_wiki/pub/web/Cookbook.SaltMask.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39956
“This is NOT a straight replacement for a N95 mask. In a real emergency it is recommended to combine a full face shield with a filter mask.”
Prusa Protective Face Shield – RC2
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/25857-prusa-protective-face-shield-rc1
“In a real emergency it is recommended to combine a full face shield with a filter mask.”
Promoting simple do-it-yourself masks: an urgent intervention for COVID-19 mitigation
https://medium.com/@matthiassamwald/promoting-simple-do-it-yourself-masks-an-urgent-intervention-for-covid-19-mitigation-14da4100f429
“Since surgical masks might not become available in sufficient numbers quickly enough for general use and sufficient compliance with wearing surgical masks might not be possible everywhere, we argue that simple do-it-yourself designs or commercially available cloth masks could reduce the spread of infection at minimal costs to society”
“Potentially, simply wrapping a suitable, large cloth around the face is easy to implement (Fig. 2), would arguably be more socially acceptable than surgical masks, and would be superior to a complete lack of face mask use.”
1,350 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210705-how-children-are-spoofing-covid-19-tests-with-soft-drinks
Tomi Engdahl says:
C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/health/covid-cdc-delta-masks.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yhdysvaltain tautikeskus: Deltamuunnos on yhtä tarttuva kuin vesirokko – ”Sota on muuttunut” https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000008159866.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahrosenbaum/2021/07/30/why-hasnt-the-fda-fully-approved-any-covid-19-vaccines-yet/?utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainFB&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook&sh=20b1f01e646d
Tomi Engdahl says:
Virtual contact worse than no contact for over-60s in lockdown, says study
Staying in touch with friends and family via technology made many older people feel more lonely, research finds
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/26/virtual-contact-worse-than-no-contact-for-over-60s-in-lockdown-says-study
Virtual contact during the pandemic made many over-60s feel lonelier and more depressed than no contact at all, new research has found.
Many older people stayed in touch with family and friends during lockdown using the phone, video calls, and other forms of virtual contact. Zoom choirs, online book clubs and virtual bedtime stories with grandchildren helped many stave off isolation.
But the study, among the first to comparatively assess social interactions across households and mental wellbeing during the pandemic, found many older people experienced a greater increase in loneliness and long-term mental health disorders as a result of the switch to online socialising than those who spent the pandemic on their own.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“It’s not only loneliness that was made worse by virtual contact, but general mental health: these people were more depressed, more isolated and felt more unhappy as a direct result of their use of virtual contact,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Näin deltakorona leviää – apulaisylilääkäri kertoo tuoreet neuvot tartunnan välttämiseksi: ”Epidemia ei ole todellakaan ohi” https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000008165538.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
The top infectious disease official has escalated his warnings about the threat of virus mutation.
Fauci: Failure To Control Delta Variant Could Lead To ‘Worse’ Mutations That Evade Vaccines
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/08/05/fauci-failure-to-control-delta-variant-could-lead-to-worse-mutations-that-evade-vaccines/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie&sh=412cc70622d9
Top infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday highlighted the importance of the U.S. quickly gaining control of the delta variant, warning continued community spread could lead to even more dangerous mutations of Covid-19, including those capable of evading the protection of vaccines.
Allowing the virus to spread through unvaccinated populations—as it is doing rapidly now—gives it “ample opportunity to mutate,” explained President Biden’s top medical advisor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can The Vaccine Stop Long-COVID? Here’s What We Know So Far
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/can-the-vaccine-stop-longcovid-heres-what-we-know-so-far/
One of the questions weighing on many people’s minds at the moment is whether you can still get long-COVID after you’ve been fully vaccinated or if the vaccine will help remedy some of your lingering symptoms. There’s currently very little hard data on the question, but there have been a few studies and surveys that hold promise.
Long-COVID remains a bit of an enigma. It generally refers to a range of new or ongoing symptoms that can last weeks or months after first being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Unusually, it doesn’t just impact those who fell severely ill with the disease but can also affect people who had a mild illness and barely experienced symptoms. Estimates vary, but it’s thought to affect between 5 and 10 percent of people who’ve caught COVID-19.
Typically, symptoms include shortness of breath, a lingering cough, tiredness or fatigue, and a “foggy” feeling in the brain that makes it hard to concentrate. However, practically every single symptom has been reported, ranging from hair loss and tinnitus to recurrent toe rashes and changes in period cycles.
Scientists and doctors aren’t also totally sure how to define this condition either. In some cases, it presents like a post-viral fatigue syndrome, which can be common in many nasty viral infections including the flu, but in others, it appears to be the effects of permanent organ damage.
survey [PDF], published May 2021 by the University of Exeter and the University of Kent in the UK, asked over 900 people about their experiences with long-COVID after receiving the vaccine, concluding that 56.7 percent saw an overall improvement in their symptoms. Some saw all of their symptoms disappear, while others found that only a select few symptoms had been resolved. On the other hand, 18.7 percent saw a worsening of their symptoms and 24.6 percent remained unchanged. Altogether, that’s relatively promising.
“I’ve heard from people who say they no longer have ‘brain fog,’ their gastrointestinal problems have gone away, or they stopped suffering from the shortness of breath they’ve been living with since being diagnosed with COVID-19,”
The question, however, gets more complex when we consider variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. There’s an ever-mounting stack of evidence that the Delta variant is far more contagious, which helps to explain why it has become so prevalent across much of the world. There’s some evidence the vaccines may be fractionally less effective at preventing infection from the Delta variant too.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This was unexpected, to say the least.
Up To 40 Percent Of Wild Deer In The US Have COVID-19 Antibodies
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/40-percent-of-wild-deer-in-the-us-have-covid19-antibodies/
Up to 40 percent of white-tailed deer living wild in parts of the northeast US appear to have been exposed to the coronavirus behind COVID-19, according to a preliminary new antibody survey by the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS).
Luckily, none of the deer appear to be visibly suffering from the disease, but it’s concerning as the first evidence for widespread exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in wild animals potentially from human-to-animal transmission. It raises worries of another common animal that could potentially act as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2, ready to spill back into humans and spark new flare-ups of the disease.
The researchers also found three positive samples from January 2020, very early in the pandemic. Altogether, around one-third of samples from 2020 and 2021 had antibodies for SARS-CoV-2. They also found one positive sample from 2019. Currently, there’s no concrete evidence that the virus was in the US at this time and it’s possible this case could simply be a false-positive result.
All of these results need further confirmation, but it appears that a surprising number of wild deer had some exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
“The finding that wild white-tailed deer have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 is not unexpected given that white-tailed deer are susceptible to the virus, are abundant in the United States, often come into close contact with people, and that the CDC estimates that more than 114 million Americans have been infected with SARS-CoV-2,” the USDA-APHIS said in a statement given to IFLScience.
Deer are far from the only animal that can be infected with SARS-CoV-2. There have been reported infections in a range of captive animals and pets, including dogs, cats, tigers, gorillas, and minks, to name just a few. Outbreaks among farmed and domestic animals have caused some worries, although the outbreaks can be kept in check through both vaccination and culling. When it comes to wild animals, like deer, it can be much harder to control.
While the risk of deer-to-human transmission is assumed to be low, it’s possible that deer — as well as other wild and domesticated animals — could silently harbor the virus and spark outbreaks of COVID-19 in the future.
Currently, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading SARS-CoV-2
Tomi Engdahl says:
Delta variant renders herd immunity from Covid ‘mythical’
Head of Oxford Vaccine Group rules out overall immunity, but also questions need for booster jabs
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/10/delta-variant-renders-herd-immunity-from-covid-mythical
Reaching herd immunity is “not a possibility” with the current Delta variant, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group has said.
Giving evidence to MPs on Tuesday, Prof Sir Andrew Pollard said the fact that vaccines did not stop the spread of Covid meant reaching the threshold for overall immunity in the population was “mythical”.
“The problem with this virus is [it is] not measles. If 95% of people were vaccinated against measles, the virus cannot transmit in the population,” he told the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on coronavirus.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/08/15/covid-19-booster-shots-now-approved-for-immunocompromised-but-fauci-nih-director-say-no-third-shot-for-elderly-and-other-groups-yet/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie&sh=7e79c885635e
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hand Dryers Spread Bacteria So Dramatically That Scientists Think They’re A Public Health Threat
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/hand-dryers-spread-bacteria-so-dramatically-that-scientists-think-theyre-a-public-health-threat/all/
In 2014, a team of researchers from the University of Leeds dropped a disturbing truth bomb on the public by announcing that the no-touch jet-air dryers in public restrooms are anything but sanitary. They found that these increasingly popular devices blast bacteria from people’s poorly washed hands (most people don’t wash their hands correctly) into the air and onto nearby surfaces in disturbing quantities, increasing the likelihood that you’ll walk out of the bathroom covered in other people’s germs.
In lab-based experiments recreating a public washroom, jet-air dryers introduced 27 times more bacteria into the air than good-old-fashioned paper towels, and these microbes circulated for 15 minutes afterward.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Without Ian MacLachlan’s innovative delivery system, Moderna and Pfizer couldn’t safely get their mRNA vaccines into your cells. So why does hardly anyone acknowledge the Canadian biochemist’s seminal contributions—or pay a dime in royalties?
Covid’s Forgotten Hero: The Untold Story Of The Scientist Whose Breakthrough Made The Vaccines Possible
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2021/08/17/covids-forgotten-hero-the-untold-story-of-the-scientist-whose-breakthrough-made-the-vaccines-possible/?sh=71e968c3354f&utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainFB&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
The technology has been able to also identify malaria, diabetes, sickle-cell anemia, and other diseases through blood samples
Inexpensive 3D-Printed Microscope Can Spot Coronavirus in Blood
https://spectrum.ieee.org/inexpensive-3d-printed-microscope-can-spot-coronavirus-in-blood
The digital holographic machine, faster than a PCR test, relies on deep learning
The digital microscope is comprised of a laser diode, a microscope objective lens, a glass plate to induce lateral shearing of the object wavefront, and an image sensor.
A digital microscope that uses holography and deep-learning technology could detect COVID-19 in a drop of blood. A diagnosis could be made on the spot in a matter of minutes instead of the hours or sometimes days it can take for PCR test results to come back.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The South Pacific nation has managed to completely eliminate local transmission of the coronavirus by almost completely isolating itself from the rest of the world.
Covid-Free New Zealand Plans To Reopen Borders Early Next Year
https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/08/12/covid-free-new-zealand-plans-to-reopen-borders-early-next-year/?utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainFB&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook&sh=3318dbf65154
Tomi Engdahl says:
Design Improvements Make DIY Oxygen Concentrator Even Better
https://hackaday.com/2021/08/18/design-improvements-make-diy-oxygen-concentrator-even-better/
A lot of projects we feature on these pages are of the “one and done” variety — tactical builds that serve a specific purpose with little need for further development. Some projects, though, come out as rough prototypes and then go through multiple rounds of refinement, a process we really enjoy tracking down and following. And when the project is something as important as an oxygen concentrator that can be built and maintained easily, all the better.
M19O2 Oxygen Concentrator
https://hackaday.io/project/181201-m19o2-oxygen-concentrator
“If you teach a person how to make an oxygen concentrator, they will go on to save a village!”
Open source hardware oxygen concentrator
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.yrittajat.fi/uutiset/655075-nain-arvioit-koronatartuntariskia-tyopaikalla-katso-lista-toimenpiteista?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=some_ad&utm_campaign=sy_jatkuva&fbclid=IwAR0d6sxF5snCNpUA5AfX2_q0XEorZbZq5IHPkiFKwiTEapOkG87jcYIJZUw
Tomi Engdahl says:
How does COVID-19 affect the brain? A troubling picture emerges.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-does-covid-19-affect-the-brain-a-troubling-picture-emerges
Researchers find that people who only suffered mild infections can be plagued with life-altering and sometimes debilitating cognitive deficits.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fauci: Herd Immunity Unreachable Unless Vaccine Hesitant Get The Jab Or Get Infected
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/08/24/fauci-herd-immunity-unreachable-unless-vaccine-hesitant-get-the-jab-or-get-infected/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie&sh=1ca05c6f2605
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Pfizer shot was 88% effective at preventing infection a month after the second dose, but that fell to 74% after five to six months, the study found.
Vaccine Protection Wanes Within Six Months Of Second Covid Shot, Study Warns, But They’re Still Effective Against Delta
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/08/25/vaccine-protection-wanes-within-six-months-of-second-covid-shot-study-warns-but-theyre-still-effective-against-delta/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie&sh=25d0aa2e5a80
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s what you should know about the Covid-19 vaccine boosters: https://trib.al/tpL7HcP
Tomi Engdahl says:
Time Is Running Out To Find The Source Of SARS-CoV-2, WHO Report Authors Says
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/time-is-running-out-to-find-the-source-of-sarscov2-who-report-authors-says/
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was identified almost 20 months ago but its exact origin remains uncertain. The World Health Organization commissioned an initial report on this matter and the authors of the report have now written a piece arguing that if we want an answer, work needs to be done now. Time is running out to find how the pandemic began.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A large U.K. study found the delta variant increases the risk of hospitalization 2.26-fold compared to the alpha variant.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/08/27/delta-variant-more-than-doubles-risk-of-covid-hospitalization-uk-study-finds/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie&sh=4577523a5f33
Tomi Engdahl says:
If you’re a new or returning college student this fall, here’s what you need to know about vaccination policies on campus. Via Forbes Advisor
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/student-loans/college-covid-19-policies/?utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainFB&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yhdysvaltain tiedusteluelimet eivät päässeet yksimielisyyteen siitä, pakeniko koronavirus kiinalaisesta laboratoriosta
Presidentti Biden syyttää Kiinaa tiedon peittelystä ja kansainvälisten tutkintojen estämisestä.
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12076602?origin=rss
Tomi Engdahl says:
Largest Real-World COVID-19 Vaccine Study Confirms Overwhelming Safety
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/largest-real-world-covid-19-vaccine-study-confirms-overwhelming-safety/
Tomi Engdahl says:
As expected, the European Union is telling its member states to keep out American travelers due to sky-high Covid infection rates in the U.S.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/08/30/its-official-eu-recommends-travel-ban-for-american-tourists/?sh=621f15a03070&utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainFB&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to use: FFP2 flat-fold respiratory protection mask uvex silv-Air lite 4200 (EN)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MSkoAVoM4zA
Are you using respirators correctly? This video is a guide on how to put on an FFP2 respirator uvex silv-Air lite 4200 folding mask correctly.
Please follow the correct procedure and sequence so that the maximum safety performance of the respirator can occur. uvex safety has explained the procedure step by step.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to tell if your respirator and N95-style mask is counterfeit or poor quality (Marketplace)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yHy937FF16o
CBC Marketplace tested KN95 and KF94 masks sold online and at big box stores. Half of them didn’t offer the level of protection they’re supposed to, according to the lab test results.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tutkimus: FFP2-maski suojaa miestä paremmin kuin naista
Reunoistaan vuotavien maskien pelätään edistäneen tartuntoja. Tutkijat vaativat maskeja, jotka huomioivat sukupuolten erot kasvojen rakenteessa.
https://www.hs.fi/tiede/art-2000008211863.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.emjreviews.com/microbiology-infectious-diseases/article/the-ppe-pandemic-sex-related-discrepancies-of-n95-mask-fit-j100121/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Surgical Masks Indisputably Reduce COVID-19 Spread, “Gold Standard” Study Finds
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/surgical-masks-indisputably-reduce-covid19-spread-gold-standard-study-finds/
The wearing of face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has been a polarizing topic since they were mandated in many countries following the start of the pandemic. There has been lots of previous research that has shown their efficacy, but a huge, new trial in Bangladesh has shown categorically, scientists say, that surgical masks do reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19.
The randomized trial – the gold standard of clinical trials – provides real-world evidence that should “end any scientific debate about whether masks can be effective in combating covid at the population level,” Jason Abaluck, an economist at Yale who helped lead the study, told The Washington Post.
Mask wearing more than tripled after the intervention, with an increase of 28.8 percent between the control and intervention groups. The researchers estimate an 11.9 percent reduction in COVID symptoms in the mask-wearing group and a 9.3 percent reduction in symptomatic infections.
“Our results should not be taken to imply that masks can prevent only 10% of COVID-19 cases, let alone 10% of COVID-19 mortality,” the authors write in the study. They report that while mask-wearing did increase after the intervention, it was not universal – only 29 more people out of every 100 chose to wear masks. “The total impact with near-universal masking – perhaps achievable with alternative strategies or stricter enforcement – may be several times larger than our 10% estimate.”
As we previously reported, not all masks are created equal, and this new study found no different. In groups given surgical masks, symptomatic infections were 11.2 percent lower than in the control group. In the over-60s this reduction was even more dramatic: 34.7 percent. Cloth masks, on the other hand, had no effect on the number of infections. They did, however, reduce COVID symptoms, although the effect was much less – 30 to 80 percent – than in surgical mask villages. Abaluck emphasized to the Post that these findings are by no means evidence that cloth masks are ineffective.
As for the longevity of the intervention, after five months “the impact … faded,” with fewer people maintaining regular mask-wearing. But 10 percent more people in the intervention group wore masks compared to those in the control, suggesting the team’s intervention strategy was effective
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tutkimus: FFP2-maski suojaa heikommin naisia – ja parrakkaita miehiä
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12080096
Tuoreen yhdysvaltalaistutkimuksen mukaan viruksilta suojaavat FFP2-maskit eivät istu naisten kasvojen muotoon tarpeeksi tiukasti. Myös parrakkailla miehillä maski vuotaa. Huonosti istuva maski lisää tartuntariskiä esimerkiksi terveydenhuollossa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/what-makes-the-delta-covid19-variant-so-dreadfully-successful/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Something of a paradox exists with respect to smoking cigarettes and COVID-19. Active smoking is associated with increased severity of disease, but at the same time, many reports have suggested lower numbers of COVID cases amongst smokers than amongst non-smokers.
Drugs that mimic effects of cigarette smoke reduce SARS-CoV-2′s ability to enter cells
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-09-drugs-mimic-effects-cigarette-sars-cov-.html
Researchers have identified a potential reason why lower numbers of COVID cases have appeared amongst smokers compared to non-smokers, even as other reports suggest smoking increases severity of the disease.
Researchers have identified two drugs that mimic the effect of chemicals in cigarette smoke to bind to a receptor in mammalian cells that inhibits production of ACE2 proteins, a process that appears to reduce the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter the cell.
Something of a paradox exists with respect to smoking cigarettes and COVID-19. Active smoking is associated with increased severity of disease, but at the same time, many reports have suggested lower numbers of COVID cases amongst smokers than amongst non-smokers.
“Something strange was going on here,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pulse Oximeters; An Amazing Use of Light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pZZ5AEEmek
You might have been seeing a lot about these little devices lately. Have you ever wondered how they work? Well, let’s find out!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pfizer ja Biontech: Rokote todettu turvalliseksi ja tehokkaaksi myös 5-11-vuotiailla lapsilla
Pfizer ja Biontech kertovat rokotteen olevan turvallinen ja toimiva myös 5–11-vuotiaille lapsille.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/koronavirus/a/200c4054-a0b3-435a-b359-44843ae64c09
Pfizerin ja Biontechin tekemän kliinisen tutkimuksen mukaan heidän koronarokotteensa on turvallinen ja toimiva myös 5–11-vuotiaille lapsille. Tutkimuksen tulokset julkaistiin maanantaina.
Lääkeyhtiöt aikovat hakea lupaa lääkeviranomaisilta lasten rokotuksiin Yhdysvalloissa, Euroopassa ja muualla maailmassa mahdollisimman pian.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.microcovid.org/
This calculator lets you estimate COVID risk and find effective safety measures for customizable situations. Examples: how risky is a trip to my grocery store? What’s the safest way to see a friend? How much would it help to wear a better mask at my workplace?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mechanisms Behind Vaccine Side-Effects: The Science That Causes That Sore Arm
https://hackaday.com/2021/09/21/mechanisms-behind-vaccine-side-effects-the-science-that-causes-that-sore-arm/
After receiving a vaccination shot, it’s likely that we’ll feel some side-effects. These can range from merely a sore arm to swollen lymph nodes and even a fever. Which side-effects to expect depend on the exact vaccine, with each type and variant coming with its own list of common side-effects. Each person’s immune system will also react differently, which makes it hard to say exactly what one can expect after receiving the vaccination.
What we can do is look closer at the underlying mechanisms that cause these side-effects, to try and understand why they occur and how to best deal with them. Most relevant here for the initial response is the body’s innate immune system, with dendritic cells generally being among the first to come into contact with the vaccine and to present the antigen to the body’s adaptive immune system.
Key to the redness, swelling, and fever are substances produced by the body which include various cytokines as well as prostaglandin, producing the symptoms seen with inflammation and injury.
Tomi Engdahl says:
#COVID19 is, unfortunately, not going away anytime soon. Rapid, mobile, portable testing will be necessary to return to some semblance of normal life. Here, then, are five swab-free COVID breathalyzers.
COVID Breathalyzers Could Transform Rapid Testing Five technologies that could eliminate the swab
https://spectrum.ieee.org/covid-breathalyzers-could-transform-rapid-testing
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ivermectin Shows Us How Hard It Is To Use Old Drugs For COVID. Here’s How To Do Better Next Time
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/ivermectin-shows-us-how-hard-it-is-to-use-old-drugs-for-covid-heres-how-to-do-better-next-time/
Many hopes have been pinned on repurposing existing drugs, such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, to treat COVID-19. However, we shouldn’t be too surprised these drugs haven’t yet lived up to the hype.
Tomi Engdahl says:
COVID Green Pass Validator With Raspberry Pi
https://hackaday.com/2021/09/25/covid-green-pass-validator-with-raspberry-pi/
It seems like every nation is dealing with the plague a little differently. In June, the EU instated a COVID Green Pass which comes in the form of a paper or digital QR code. It was designed to grease the wheels of travel throughout Europe and allow access to nursing homes. As of early August, the Green Pass is now required of those 12 and older in Italy to gain access to bars and restaurants, museums, theaters, etc. — anywhere people gather in sizeable groups. The Green Pass shows that you’ve either been vaccinated, have had COVID and recovered, or you have tested negative, and there are different half-lives for each condition: nine months for vaccinated, six for recovered, and just forty-eight hours for a negative test.
[Luca Dentella] has built a Green Pass validator using a Raspberry Pi and a Raspi camera. Actual validation must be done through the official app, so this project is merely for educational purposes. Here’s how it works: the user data including their status and the date/time of pass issuance are encoded into a JSON file, then into CBOR, then it is digitally signed for authenticity. After that, the information is zipped up into a base-45 string, which gets represented as a QR code on your phone. Fortunately, [Luca] found the Minister of Health’s GitHub, which does the hard work of re-inflating the JSON object.
Let’s learn together: Raspberry Pi and Green Pass
http://www.lucadentella.it/en/2021/09/20/impariamo-insieme-raspberry-pi-e-green-pass/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microneedle Patch COVID Vaccine Shows High Efficacy In Animal Models
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/microneedle-patch-covid-vaccine-shows-high-efficacy-in-animal-models/
ZyCoV-D still needs to be refrigerated so the microneedle patch has that specific advantage. This is one of the reasons why this could be a game-changer for immunization, especially in developing countries. Another reason that makes this approach particularly exciting is where it delivers the vaccine.
Conventional vaccines are delivered intramuscularly, but delivery in the skin is believed to lead to better immune responses. Our skin – the human body’s largest organ – has an abundance of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), so delivering a vaccine there allows the body to learn about the pathogen in a more effective way. As with the other, intramuscular vaccines, this approach teaches the immune system to recognize the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein – the molecular hook used by the COVID-19 virus to attach itself to the cells before penetrating them. Alternatively, it can also use the virus nucleocapsid protein.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Much of COVID-19′s origin story remains unknown, but this discovery is another clue pushing scientists towards understanding how SARS-CoV-2 first emerged.
Bats In Laos Harbour “Closest Ancestors Of SARS-CoV-2 Known To Date”https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/bats-in-laos-harbour-closest-ancestors-of-sarscov2-known-to-date/
Deep in the limestone caves of northern Laos, scientists have discovered bats that harbor coronaviruses with startling similarities to SARS-CoV-2 — that’s the coronavirus that’s responsible for much of the world’s worries over the past 21-or-so months. Much of COVID-19′s origin story remains unknown, but this discovery is another clue pushing scientists towards understanding how SARS-CoV-2 first emerged.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Koronapassin lukusovellus on pian täällä – kuka tahansa voi ladata sen puhelimeensa https://www.is.fi/digitoday/mobiili/art-2000008286704.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Recovered COVID Patients May Have Significantly Reduced Intelligence, Suggests Large Study
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/recovered-covid-patients-may-have-significantly-reduced-intelligence-suggests-large-study/
People who have previously been infected with COVID-19 and recovered may have significantly reduced intelligence, suggests a new study published in EClinicalMedicine. The research adds to a growing list of concerns about the long-lasting impact of COVID-19 on the body and brain, and suggests that long-term studies should begin immediately to assess just how severe the effects could be.
After controlling for factors including age, sex, education, first language, and handedness amongst others the researchers discovered a decrease in cognitive deficits in those that had previously contracted COVID-19, which was further exacerbated by more severe cases. Those with respiratory symptoms scored more poorly on the test than those without respiratory issues, and there was a marked increase in deficits with those that went to hospital for their symptoms.
While there may be many reasons for these results, the researchers extensively explored possible confounding factors, including pre-existing conditions and any ongoing COVID-19 symptoms, and found that controlling for these factors left the results relatively unchanged.
“This isn’t just about long covid – this compares people who had had covid with those who hadn’t, regardless of ongoing symptoms. Most people who had had covid reported being recovered, but about 25% with confirmed covid reported ongoing symptoms (I.e., long covid),” tweeted Professor Christina Pagel, director of University College London’s Clinical Operational Unit, in another thread explaining the results.
“The cognitive deficits remained whether ongoing symptoms were there or not, and did not depend on time since covid either. This seems to suggest it is a long-lasting effect. It also doesn’t depend on pre-existing health problems.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
One of the largest studies of Long-COVID yet conducted reveals that more than a third of people who test positive for the virus have at least one symptom three to six months later.
Months After Infection 37 Percent of COVID-19 Survivors Have At Least One Symptom
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/months-after-infection-37-percent-of-covid19-survivors-have-at-least-one-symptom/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Philadelphia doctor develops rapid COVID test with results on smartphone
https://6abc.com/upenn-rapid-covid-test-microbubbling-university-of-pennsylvania-school-medicine/11061907/
Dr. Ping Wang’s test uses nasal swabs and something called “microbubbling.”
“The PCR is great. It’s sensitive, but at the same time, it’s only residing in the core laboratories. So you can’t really do PCR at home for most settings,” she explained.
Her test uses nasal swabs and something called “microbubbling.” The more virus a person has, the bigger the bubbles show up on your device’s camera.
Out of 4,000 samples, the test was accurate 97% of the time, which is on par with PCR testing.
Dr. Wang’s dream for this technology goes far beyond the pandemic. She says it will allow more diagnostic tests to be performed at home and that will be a game-changer for patient care and access.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Late-stage trials of the drug show it is 77% effective in reducing the risk of Covid-19 symptoms if administered as a preventive treatment.
AstraZeneca Seeks Emergency Use Authorization In U.S. For Covid Prophylaxis Drug
https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/10/05/astrazeneca-seeks-emergency-use-authorization-in-us-for-covid-prophylaxis-drug/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie