Update: Recent Stories on the Pandemic and Public Health
Recent Facebook posts on the Stay Healthy! Research Nutrition & Public Health Policy theme :
• A closer look at U.S. deaths due to COVID-19 (Johns Hopkins, Nov. 22, 2020, updated link)
The newsletter is from Johns Hopkins Univ. “Surprisingly, the deaths of older people stayed the same before and after COVID-19. Since COVID-19 mainly affects the elderly, experts expected an increase in the percentage of deaths in older age groups. However, this increase is not seen from the CDC data. In fact, the percentages of deaths among all age groups remain relatively the same.”
• New Face Masks Relieve Pressure on N95 Supplies (WSJ, Nov. 26, 2020)
It should matter whether the masks we are asked to wear are effective. New mask companies and technologies gradually receiving FDA approval… “New Face Masks Relieve Pressure on N95 Supplies – WSJ”
• Why Is All COVID-19 News Bad News?, (NBER, Nov. 2020)
“We analyze the tone of COVID-19 related English-language news articles written since January 1, 2020. Ninety one percent of stories by U.S. major media outlets are negative in tone versus fifty four percent for non-U.S. major sources and sixty five percent for scientific journals. The negativity of the U.S. major media is notable even in areas with positive scientific developments including school re-openings and vaccine trials. Media negativity is unresponsive to changing trends in new COVID-19 cases or the political leanings of the audience. U.S. major media readers strongly prefer negative stories about COVID-19, and negative stories in general.”
• Doctors Deploy Antibody Drugs Against COVID-19 And Hope Effort’s Worthwhile (NPR, Nov. 25)
FDA approves more treatments. “Antibody Drugs For COVID-19 Finally Make It To Patients : Shots – Health News : NPR” “More than 2,400 hospitals and related facilities have received their first doses of new drugs that are designed to keep mild to moderately ill COVID-19 patients out of the hospital.”
• Coronaviruses closely related to the pandemic virus discovered in Japan and Cambodia (Nature, Nov. 23, 2020)
The novel coronavirus getting less novel with further research: “No matter what the Cambodian team finds, both discoveries are exciting because they confirm that viruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2 are relatively common in Rhinolophus bats, and even in bats found outside China,”
• St. Jude researchers discover cytokine link to COVID, (Daily Memphian, Nov. 19, 2020)
“Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have identified two proteins that may be linked to the inflammatory storm that causes lung damage, organ failure and often death in COVID patients.”
“The University of Chicago, conducted a retrospective study following patients who were already in the hospital system. The results were staggering: those whose records indicated a vitamin D deficiency in the prior year were 77 percent more likely to test positive for COVID-19.” (Though the author refers to 4000 IU/day as a temporary booster, others say 4000 should be standard daily supplement.)
• News You Can Use: Buy a Pulse Oximeter in Case You Catch Covid (Reason, Nov. 23, 2020) Interesting story on testing blood oxygen after Covid. How many who die of pneumonia are counted as dying of Covid (because Covid started the ball rolling). And maybe Covid should be blamed since it opened the door for pneumonia. Or maybe public health officials not recommending inexpensive blood oxygen sensors should share the blame.
• The Blizzard of Bogus Journalism on Covid (AIER, Nov. 20, 2020)
“The New York Times pulled a mighty fast one with this piece: “States That Imposed Few Restrictions Now Have the Worst Outbreaks.” This would be huge news if true because it would imply not only that lockdowns save lives (which no serious study has thus far been able to document) but also that granting people basic freedoms are the reason for bad health outcomes, an astonishing claim on its own.”
• Secret plans helped Brooklyn synagogue pull off massive, maskless wedding (NY Post, Nov. 21, 2020)
This offers a great opportunity to test impact of large gatherings not just for spread of Covid infection but to learn how many actually get sick. It would be nice to know too how many very old and immune compromised people attended. Of course the state’s interest is not to test but to punish.
• Furnace Filters and Air Purifiers: Powerful Tools for Reducing the Risk of COVID-19 (Cliff Mass, Nov. 21, 2020)
“And it is true: a comprehensive search of the medical literature suggests little evidence of outdoor transmission. COVID-19 spread is predominantly a problem in indoor spaces with poor ventilation, particularly when large number of people stay in such spaces for a sustained period of time.
“COVID-19 particle concentration levels are critical–lowering the concentrations can greatly reduce the risk and the severity of the disease if you get it. Outside, there is a huge amount of dispersion of particles, so concentration are inevitably low. …there is a powerful tool you can use to reduce the potential for COVID-19 transmission: filtration of the air with top of the line furnace filters or a high quality air purifier system. …It turns out the high quality furnace filters can very effectively remove particles in these size ranges: filters that are known as MERV 13 or FPR 10 (or better).”
• Sorrento Therapeutics’ Next-Generation COVID-19 Therapeutic Antibody (The Motley Fool, Nov 21, 2020)
“…then we can starting talking about a vaccibody. The vaccibody means it acts like a vaccine, however, is an antibody. You can produce massive quantity, for hundreds million, maybe billions doses that act like a antibody but avoiding all of the pitfall with the vaccine. That’s the thinking behind our approach.”
• Researchers withdraw study showing efficacy of mask mandates after increased virus cases in areas observed (Washington Examiner, Nov. 21, 2020)
“The authors have withdrawn this manuscript because there are increased rates of SARS-CoV-2 cases in the areas that we originally analyzed in this study,” the updated abstract of the study titled “Decrease in Hospitalizations for COVID-19 after Mask Mandates in 1083 U.S. Counties” now reads. “New analyses in the context of the third surge in the United States are therefore needed and will be undertaken directly in conjunction with the creators of the publicly-available databases on cases, hospitalizations, testing rates. Etc.”
• MMR vaccine may protect against severe illness from COVID-19, study finds (UPI Health News, Nov. 20, 2020)
“The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine appears to offer at least some protection against COVID-19, possibly preventing severe illness from the disease, a study published Friday by the online journal mBio found.
Among 41 people born in the United States who received the shot — known as the MMR vaccine — eight had immunity against the new coronavirus or had no symptoms after becoming infected, the researchers said.”
• Vitamin D supplements may significantly lower cancer risk, study claims (NY Post, Nov. 20, 2020)
“The research, published in JAMA Network Open medical journal, found that popping vitamin D pills is linked to a 17 percent overall reduction in the risk of advanced cancer.
But the results are even more significant for those who took the supplement and maintained a healthy body weight — cutting a person’s risk by 38 percent. A healthy weight body mass index (BMI) for an adult is between 18.5 – 24.9, according to the CDC.
Meanwhile, no reduction in risk was observed in overweight and obese study participants, suggesting that body mass significantly influences the effectiveness of vitamin D in decreasing a person’s likelihood of developing advanced cancer.”
• Short term, high-dose vitamin D supplementation for COVID-19 disease: a randomised, placebo-controlled, study (SHADE study) (BMJ Journals)
So as Americans and Europeans hospitalized and in ICU is rising, how many are tested for vitamin D-deficiency, and then receive vitamin-D? “Conclusion Greater proportion of vitamin D-deficient individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection turned SARS-CoV-2 RNA negative with a significant decrease in fibrinogen on high-dose cholecalciferol supplementation.”