Covid-19

[X-man]

Here's a story on how dangerous and strange the covid virus is, published today in that left wing rag, the Wall Street Journal.

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/really-...=hp_lead_pos11

[Muskie in dayton]

It seems that the health care system in Canada has measured the death from Covid at 22 per 100,000, vs a normal flu season at 13.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/covid...bunk-1.5615872

Your source is from June 19th and compares COVID to a "normal" flu season. The graphic I posted is through August 5, and updates the mortality rate which continues to drop. It also compares to a "bad" flu season of 2018, as COVID is comparable to a bad flu season.

[Muskie in dayton]

Here's a story on how dangerous and strange the covid virus is, published today in that left wing rag, the Wall Street Journal.

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/really-...=hp_lead_pos11

I don't subscribe to WSJ anymore, but the first few paragraphs I can read sounds like any other virus. What did it say?

[paulxu]

Your source is from June 19th and compares COVID to a "normal" flu season. The graphic I posted is through August 5, and updates the mortality rate which continues to drop. It also compares to a "bad" flu season of 2018, as COVID is comparable to a bad flu season.

OK I had trouble reading the graph.
But, I'm curious. If COVID is comparable to a "bad" flu season in Canada, does it mean:

1 - They have therefore twice the deaths this year as a bad flu season (flu + COVID)

2 - Are they doing a much better job than we are, at controlling the new virus. We seem to be at the very least at 3X the deaths of a normal flu season (30-60,00) in addition of course to the flu deaths...I assume. I'm sure there's a lot of merging going on.

[X-man]

I don't subscribe to WSJ anymore, but the first few paragraphs I can read sounds like any other virus. What did it say?

Here are the first few paragraphs. Which part makes it "sound like any other virus"?

"The new coronavirus is a killer with a crowbar, breaking and entering human cells with impunity. It hitchhikes across continents carried on coughs and careless hands, driven by its own urgent necessity to survive.

It has a gregarious side that makes it hard to resist. It loves a party. The persistent social climber claims its victims around the world by riding on moments of the most innocent of human interactions—a shared laugh, a conversation, an embrace. And it is a liar. SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, often misleads the body’s immune systems.

Taken on its own terms, SARS-CoV-2 is the infectious disease success of the past 100 years.

Almost unmatched in the annals of emerging human contagions, it has parlayed a few chance infections into a pandemic of around 27 million confirmed cases so far.

Doctors long expected the advent of such a virus, but even so, the shrewdness of the coronavirus caught many by surprise, and goes a long way to explaining how the world has struggled to contain it ever since.

“We underestimated it,” said Peter Piot, the head of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a co-discoverer of Ebola, who fell victim to the coronavirus himself in March."

And here are the last few paragraphs. You decide.

"Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London used a technique called cryo-electron microscopy to compare this structure to the spike protein of a bat coronavirus most like that of SARS-CoV-2. They saw subtle differences in the spike of SARS-CoV-2 that make it able to bind about 1,000 times more tightly to a human cell than the bat virus, the scientists said.


How SARS-CoV-2 Multiplies: The virus uses its spike protein to attach to a receptor called the ACE-2 in a human cell and pries its way inside. The virus then injects its RNA into the human cell’s nucleus and takes over. The viral RNA uses the host cell to replicate itself. New virus cells are released, sometimes destroying the host cell in the process. (Source: Genome.gov)
Once inside a human cell, the new coronavirus has a rare ability to silence alarms that would normally alert the immune system to mobilize antibodies and virus-killing cells, according to microbiologists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. To do so, it makes special proteins that interfere with the cell’s surveillance system, scientists at the University of Minnesota reported in May.

Bewildering complications
Doctors who first encountered it diagnosed it as a respiratory virus. They looked for symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. But Covid-19 triggered bewildering complications.

People complained of nausea or diarrhea. Some had arrhythmias or even heart attacks. Some suffered kidney damage or liver failure. Some lost their sense of smell or taste. Other patients turned up at clinics with blood clots or swollen purple bumps on their toes.

In most countries where the virus triggered outbreaks, it sent people to the hospital with delirium, blackouts, brain inflammation or strokes, researchers at the U.K.’s Liverpool University reported in The Lancet Neurology in July.

In a separate review, researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons found that up to a third of those infected had neurological symptoms.


By coming into contact with this virus, “you wouldn’t know what kind of effect a meeting with it would have: Maybe you will be unscathed, but maybe you would die,” said the University of Oxford’s Sarah Gilbert, whose team is developing a vaccine against the virus that is in late-stage human trials."

[Xville]

Here are the first few paragraphs. Which part makes it "sound like any other virus"?

"The new coronavirus is a killer with a crowbar, breaking and entering human cells with impunity. It hitchhikes across continents carried on coughs and careless hands, driven by its own urgent necessity to survive.

It has a gregarious side that makes it hard to resist. It loves a party. The persistent social climber claims its victims around the world by riding on moments of the most innocent of human interactions—a shared laugh, a conversation, an embrace. And it is a liar. SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, often misleads the body’s immune systems.

Taken on its own terms, SARS-CoV-2 is the infectious disease success of the past 100 years.

Almost unmatched in the annals of emerging human contagions, it has parlayed a few chance infections into a pandemic of around 27 million confirmed cases so far.

Doctors long expected the advent of such a virus, but even so, the shrewdness of the coronavirus caught many by surprise, and goes a long way to explaining how the world has struggled to contain it ever since.

“We underestimated it,” said Peter Piot, the head of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a co-discoverer of Ebola, who fell victim to the coronavirus himself in March."

And here are the last few paragraphs. You decide.

"Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London used a technique called cryo-electron microscopy to compare this structure to the spike protein of a bat coronavirus most like that of SARS-CoV-2. They saw subtle differences in the spike of SARS-CoV-2 that make it able to bind about 1,000 times more tightly to a human cell than the bat virus, the scientists said.


How SARS-CoV-2 Multiplies: The virus uses its spike protein to attach to a receptor called the ACE-2 in a human cell and pries its way inside. The virus then injects its RNA into the human cell’s nucleus and takes over. The viral RNA uses the host cell to replicate itself. New virus cells are released, sometimes destroying the host cell in the process. (Source: Genome.gov)
Once inside a human cell, the new coronavirus has a rare ability to silence alarms that would normally alert the immune system to mobilize antibodies and virus-killing cells, according to microbiologists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. To do so, it makes special proteins that interfere with the cell’s surveillance system, scientists at the University of Minnesota reported in May.

Bewildering complications
Doctors who first encountered it diagnosed it as a respiratory virus. They looked for symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. But Covid-19 triggered bewildering complications.

People complained of nausea or diarrhea. Some had arrhythmias or even heart attacks. Some suffered kidney damage or liver failure. Some lost their sense of smell or taste. Other patients turned up at clinics with blood clots or swollen purple bumps on their toes.

In most countries where the virus triggered outbreaks, it sent people to the hospital with delirium, blackouts, brain inflammation or strokes, researchers at the U.K.’s Liverpool University reported in The Lancet Neurology in July.

In a separate review, researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons found that up to a third of those infected had neurological symptoms.


By coming into contact with this virus, “you wouldn’t know what kind of effect a meeting with it would have: Maybe you will be unscathed, but maybe you would die,” said the University of Oxford’s Sarah Gilbert, whose team is developing a vaccine against the virus that is in late-stage human trials."

Reads like a whole bunch of fear porn to me. Yeah it is contagious, we already know that. It kills old and unhealthy people, just like every virus.

[xavierj]

Here are the first few paragraphs. Which part makes it "sound like any other virus"?

"The new coronavirus is a killer with a crowbar, breaking and entering human cells with impunity. It hitchhikes across continents carried on coughs and careless hands, driven by its own urgent necessity to survive.

It has a gregarious side that makes it hard to resist. It loves a party. The persistent social climber claims its victims around the world by riding on moments of the most innocent of human interactions—a shared laugh, a conversation, an embrace. And it is a liar. SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, often misleads the body’s immune systems.

Taken on its own terms, SARS-CoV-2 is the infectious disease success of the past 100 years.

Almost unmatched in the annals of emerging human contagions, it has parlayed a few chance infections into a pandemic of around 27 million confirmed cases so far.

Doctors long expected the advent of such a virus, but even so, the shrewdness of the coronavirus caught many by surprise, and goes a long way to explaining how the world has struggled to contain it ever since.

“We underestimated it,” said Peter Piot, the head of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a co-discoverer of Ebola, who fell victim to the coronavirus himself in March."

And here are the last few paragraphs. You decide.

"Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London used a technique called cryo-electron microscopy to compare this structure to the spike protein of a bat coronavirus most like that of SARS-CoV-2. They saw subtle differences in the spike of SARS-CoV-2 that make it able to bind about 1,000 times more tightly to a human cell than the bat virus, the scientists said.


How SARS-CoV-2 Multiplies: The virus uses its spike protein to attach to a receptor called the ACE-2 in a human cell and pries its way inside. The virus then injects its RNA into the human cellÂ’s nucleus and takes over. The viral RNA uses the host cell to replicate itself. New virus cells are released, sometimes destroying the host cell in the process. (Source: Genome.gov)
Once inside a human cell, the new coronavirus has a rare ability to silence alarms that would normally alert the immune system to mobilize antibodies and virus-killing cells, according to microbiologists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. To do so, it makes special proteins that interfere with the cellÂ’s surveillance system, scientists at the University of Minnesota reported in May.

Bewildering complications
Doctors who first encountered it diagnosed it as a respiratory virus. They looked for symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. But Covid-19 triggered bewildering complications.

People complained of nausea or diarrhea. Some had arrhythmias or even heart attacks. Some suffered kidney damage or liver failure. Some lost their sense of smell or taste. Other patients turned up at clinics with blood clots or swollen purple bumps on their toes.

In most countries where the virus triggered outbreaks, it sent people to the hospital with delirium, blackouts, brain inflammation or strokes, researchers at the U.K.Â’s Liverpool University reported in The Lancet Neurology in July.

In a separate review, researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons found that up to a third of those infected had neurological symptoms.


By coming into contact with this virus, “you wouldn’t know what kind of effect a meeting with it would have: Maybe you will be unscathed, but maybe you would die,” said the University of Oxford’s Sarah Gilbert, whose team is developing a vaccine against the virus that is in late-stage human trials."

I will say this. My son had COVID. He is in unbelievable shape, college athlete with about 6% body fat. Was in the best shape of his life before getting some GI issues, eyes hurt, And fatigue so his coaches told him to get tested. He was positive and quarantined for two weeks. Never had a fever but lost his sense of smell.

The aftermath then became a nightmare. He called us the weekend he was finishing up quarantine and he just wasnÂ’t himself. WasnÂ’t making sense and just nothing I had ever seen before. He resemble a head injury and started to sound delusional. He went to practice that Monday and the coaches called us after and said something isnÂ’t right and that his motor skills were off. We took him to Vanderbilt and they admitted him. He spent 8 days at Vandy and then we brought him home. A friend of ours is a athletic trainer in Cincy and he told us about the heart issues and possible embolisms from COVID so he said to send him to UC his I get a full work up, which we did. Brain scans, all blood work, and MRI, EKG and and ECG. His heart turned out OK but his lungs had some fluid. Also had a little inflammation in the brain. They were worried about possible blood clots because his d dimer was much higher than normal. In addition his blood pressure and heart rate was sky high during this time, which was abnormal. After all of that the doctors continued to look him over for another week and he progressed to the point of letting him go back to school. They called it post COVID syndrome that had an adverse affect on his neurological system. Once back at school The team made sure to also run a bunch more tests on his blood, heart and lungs and everything seemed back to normal last week. He is finally cleared to resume team activities.

This COVID thing is an unknown and obviously affects people differently. Here we had a perfectly healthy son who is an athlete, in the best shape of his life, who came down with this and it really messed him up and scared the crap out of us. He is doing much better now but still not like he was 6 weeks ago. Hopefully it doesnÂ’t mess him up long term.

[Xville]

I will say this. My son had COVID. He is in unbelievable shape, college athlete with about 6% body fat. Was in the best shape of his life before getting some GI issues, eyes hurt, And fatigue so his coaches told him to get tested. He was positive and quarantined for two weeks. Never had a fever but lost his sense of smell.

The aftermath then became a nightmare. He called us the weekend he was finishing up quarantine and he just wasnÂ’t himself. WasnÂ’t making sense and just nothing I had ever seen before. He resemble a head injury and started to sound delusional. He went to practice that Monday and the coaches called us after and said something isnÂ’t right and that his motor skills were off. We took him to Vanderbilt and they admitted him. He spent 8 days at Vandy and then we brought him home. A friend of ours is a athletic trainer in Cincy and he told us about the heart issues and possible embolisms from COVID so he said to send him to UC his I get a full work up, which we did. Brain scans, all blood work, and MRI, EKG and and ECG. His heart turned out OK but his lungs had some fluid. Also had a little inflammation in the brain. They were worried about possible blood clots because his d dimer was much higher than normal. In addition his blood pressure and heart rate was sky high during this time, which was abnormal. After all of that the doctors continued to look him over for another week and he progressed to the point of letting him go back to school. They called it post COVID syndrome that had an adverse affect on his neurological system. Once back at school The team made sure to also run a bunch more tests on his blood, heart and lungs and everything seemed back to normal last week. He is finally cleared to resume team activities.

This COVID thing is an unknown and obviously affects people differently. Here we had a perfectly healthy son who is an athlete, in the best shape of his life, who came down with this and it really messed him up and scared the crap out of us. He is doing much better now but still not like he was 6 weeks ago. Hopefully it doesnÂ’t mess him up long term.

Wow completely scary...glad to hear he is ok now!..ok i take back what i just said.

[X-man]

Reads like a whole bunch of fear porn to me. Yeah it is contagious, we already know that. It kills old and unhealthy people, just like every virus.

I'm sure that the Wall Street Journal has been called many things, but a pornographic site is not one of them.

[Lloyd Braun]

Wow completely scary...glad to hear he is ok now!..ok i take back what i just said.

I mean, you aren’t alone in saying what you said... here’s an example:

This is a good question. I know several younger people who work for me that have recently tested positive. Not a single one ever felt sick in any way. Fact of the matter is, is that we have 9,000 deaths under the age of 55 out of 330,000,000 people. Protect the older and vulnerable and get on with life in my opinion. Wear a mask and practice good hygiene. We won’t ever have a full proof vaccine but if we get one that helps, that’s all good too.

It’s definitely scary stuff and it’s all too common to dismiss it as the flu until you see it negatively affect someone first hand. It’s not always about deaths whether it’s here or Canada. Think of the cost that xavierj’s son has incurred as well. We can continue to worry about the economy because of restrictions and lockdown measures in place, but the disease will negatively affect the economy no matter what we do unfortunately.