MEDICAL MATTERS

[chinatyke]

God bless Dr Li. He was young and has a pregnant wife. He knew he was doomed. He held his identification up as he was struggling to breathe. Later photos have cropped that, but I can tell by the colour of his cheeks that he was in respiratory distress at that time. I also see fear in his eyes.
I do not trust the Chinese government. I know they need to control an immense population, and panic will not help. But I see the desperation in that doctor’s eyes. He is a hero.

He is certainly a hero and would be fully aware how desperate his medical condition was. He is being hailed a hero too in Chinese TV news reports.

A new word has appeared today - infodemic - to describe the explosion of information on the Internet and Social Media. I think it was someone in the WHO that coined the word.

[Stanley]

I like that word, very descriptive.

[Tripps]

That bit of evidence contradicts the previous message that the virus only kills the old and those with existing medical problems. He was neither. I read he was an opthalmologist treating someone for glaucoma. I think the world is in for a tough time.

[chinatyke]

That bit of evidence contradicts the previous message that the virus only kills the old and those with existing medical problems. He was neither. I read he was an opthalmologist treating someone for glaucoma. I think the world is in for a tough time.

We're told that it is mainly the aged and those with compromised health who are dying.
The death of Dr Li is being investigated:
click to read about it

The death rate is still low but I notice that infected people are spending a long time in hospital and the number released is still low.
Figures here

[Tripps]

Yes - mainly is a much more suitable word than only.

PS. Dr Li has just been shown on Sky news. When he first spoke about this outbreak to some of his students, he was arrested, and made to sign a 'confession' (photo shown), saying that he was spreading false rumours.

[Tizer]

A virus expert on the radio yesterday said something I hadn't heard so far about the coronavirus. We already know it can infect us by being inhaled and by being picked up on our skin and then transferred to body fluids when we touch our eyes, mouth, nose etc with our fingers. In the case of colds and flu this usually occurs mostly through aerosols. By definition aerosols are very fine particles suspended in air and they can remain suspended for a long time and travel long distances. However, the coronavirus is being spread in droplets emitted from sneezes and coughing. These droplets don't travel far but they quickly land on surfaces close by and then get passed on to us by skin contact. My interpretation of this is that unless you are standing within droplet firing range you'll be better off wearing gloves and not touching your eyes, mouth, nose than wearing a mask. If this virus were spread by the cold and flu aerosol mechanism perhaps we would have seen many more cases already. Let's hope it stays in droplet mode!

[Stanley]

I see that WHO is saying that the world shortage of face masks and the rip-off prices being charged are a consequence of panicked people wearing face masks unnecessarily.
Thanks to 'MD' in PE for this.

[plaques]

In the midst of the coronavirus scare spare a thought for those people who are on various chemotherapy programmes that drive their immune system down. The general advice for these people is to avoid crowds, supermarket hand rails and trolley handles. In spite of all this advice and also being our seasonal flu season I've yet to see supermarkets taking any preventative action. Perhaps a general programme of education needs promoting.

[Cathy]

Do your supermarkets provide cleansing wipes next to the trolleys/baskets bays? (Not that they can be expected to kill all germs or viruses)
I would hope that someone with special medical problems would undertake advised special care in all sorts of situations.

[Tizer]

Cathy, I'm always ranting about the supermarket trolley handles as an effective contamination route for colds, flu, norovirus etc. No wipes are provided here and as far as I know the supermarkets don't do anything about cleaning handles. At this time of year I try to remember to wear gloves!

Today's Guardian...LINK
`Revealed: how drugs giants can access your health records: Experts say information sold on by Department of Health and Social Care can be traced back to individual medical records'
`The Department of Health and Social Care has been selling the medical data of millions of NHS patients to American and other international drugs companies having misled the public into believing the information would be “anonymous”, according to leading experts in the field. Senior NHS figures have told the Observer that patient data compiled from GP surgeries and hospitals – and then sold for huge sums for research – can routinely be linked back to individual patients’ medical records via their GP surgeries. They say there is clear evidence this is already being done by companies and organisations that have bought data from the DHSC, having identified individuals whose medical histories are of particular interest. Concerns that the data is not truly “anonymous” have been raised by senior NHS officials, who believe the public are not being told the full truth. But the DHSC insists it only sells on information after thorough measures have been taken to ensure the complete anonymity and confidentiality of patients’ personal information. In December, the Observer revealed that the government had raised £10m in 2018 by granting licences to commercial and academic organisations across the world that wanted access to so-called anonymised data. If patients do not want their data to be used for research they have to actively “opt out” of the system at their GP surgery...'.

[Stanley]

Couldn't agree more Tiz about sensible precautions against infection. Maz pulls my leg about my "bleach sodden kitchen" but even my medical team at Airedale have noted my freedom from infections. Could it have anything to do with how careful I am about my drinking pot and sink? I once had an interesting conversation with my friend John Wilfred Pickard, a well loved retired local GP.



I asked him about STDs and their transmission as I knew he was once a volunteer in the old 'VD' Clinic at Burnley. He was very interesting on that subject and had strong views about contacts, particularly hand rails on stairs and door handles in public toilets! What he said made sense. We mustn't get paranoid but at the same time we should recognise the dangers. Possibly the dirtiest thing we ever handle in daily life is money!

Data mining..... I heard a man from Google defending his organisation's links with hospitals whereby they get access to medical records. Despite the flood of management speak it was obvious what was really going on, access to more and more sensitive data. I don't think we can stop this now and have long held the view that it is useless to try. Efforts should be directed elsewhere to cut back on the profits they make from their activities and apply the income generated to improvement of systems. Many in the field advocate doing this and creating a 'Sovereign Fund' which can be used for the public good.

[Stanley]

I am revelling in my freedom from the side effects of BCG over the last 24 hours.... Like getting out of gaol free!
Some effects linger but will fade very soon.

[Tizer]

`Coronavirus: Senior Chinese officials 'removed' as death toll hits 1,000' BBC
`China has "removed" several senior officials over their handling of the coronavirus outbreak - as the death toll passed 1,000. The party secretary for the Hubei Health Commission, and the head of the commission, were among those who lost their jobs. They are the most senior officials to be demoted so far. The deputy director of the local Red Cross was also removed for "dereliction of duty" over "handling of donations". The two Hubei party officials will be replaced by a national figure - the deputy director of China's National Health Commission, Wang Hesheng. On Monday, some 103 died in Hubei province alone, a daily record, and the national death toll is now 1,016. But the number of new infections nationally was down almost 20% from the day before, from 3,062 to 2,478. Hubei's health commission confirmed 2,097 new cases in the province on Monday, down from 2,618 the previous day.

`According to state media, there have been hundreds of sackings, investigations and warnings across Hubei and other provinces during the outbreak. But removal from a certain role - while regarded as a censure - does not always mean the person will be sacked entirely, as it can also mean demotion. As well as being removed from their posts, officials can also be punished by the ruling Communist Party. For example, the deputy head of the Red Cross, Zhang Qin, was given "a serious intra-Party warning as well as a serious administrative demerit", state media said. Earlier this month, the deputy head of the Wuhan bureau of statistics was removed, also with a "serious intra-party warning as well as a serious administrative demerit for violating relevant regulations to distribute face masks". The head of the health commission of Huanggang, the second-worst hit city in Hubei after Wuhan, has also been removed...'.

[Tripps]

The WHO has officially named the virus Covid-19.

I've seen it flippantly called Wu Flu, or if you prefer Flu Manchu.

I think we''ll need a sense of humour before long. I've just heard an 'expert' from the USA saying the current tactics of tracing and isolating won't work, and best prepare to mitigate the effects, as best we can. Says it will join the list of other seasonal viruses.
We'll see. . . .
PS.
I'm watching this Contagion on BBC Four. Seems it first went out two years ago. Timely to show it again.

PPS - Having watched it - I don't feel so flippant any more.

[chinatyke]

I've seen it flippantly called Wu Flu, or if you prefer Flu Manchu.
I think we''ll need a sense of humour before long.

How are illness outbreaks (like mad cow disease) in animals controlled? Isolation, containment and culling. Unfortunately people are slightly different.

Corrupt officials deserve stringing up for dereliction of duty in a crisis.

[Stanley]

Tracing and isolation may yet fail us but the fact remains that at this stage it is the best strategy we have.
Stringing them up..... Bit drastic China. You'd finish up with no administration at all except the ones good at covering their arse!

[plaques]

I've been saying for some time we have been relying on some possibly out of date mathematical model to assess the spread of seasonal flu can't possibly tell you the full story. How can you get a true assessment when the instruction is to don't visit your Doctors stop at home take paracetamol and suffer in silence. Now with the coronavirus the instruction is all of the above plus self isolation which if there is any logic to it means ALL the family. Now imagine a family on the breadline with say three people earning a pittance having to stop work. It just isn't going to happen.
The seasonal flu, doesn't sound that bad when you call it seasonal a bit like a bad spell of weather, only kills under 1% of the people who catch it. If the coronavirus pandemic becomes endemic that's another 1% to add to the list, Soon no pensioners.

[Tizer]

I've been reading an article about the effects of `Covid-19' on China's economy and, more generally, the world economy. Chinese importers of oil and gas have declared force majeure on shiploads arriving at the ports because they can't sell on the products due to factories closing down or reducing output. Giant tankers are now lying at anchor acting as oil and gas stores. Wuhan is a centre of Chinese car manufacture and plants have shutdown. Companies such as Honda, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai have closed their plants. Car manufacturers elsewhere in the world are facing stoppages because they rely on Chinese-made parts and those businesses are shutting down. As one Indian car manufacturer said, `If I import only one part from China I have to stop production because I can't put our cars on the road without that part. We've all become much more reliant on Chinese goods than we were at the time of the SARS outbreak.

[chinatyke]

The fact that a lot of migrant workers have stayed at home and have not returned to their work place has put pressure on manufacturers. The government has taken some measures to redirect workers to essential places of work. The Government is well aware of the problem and it will damage the economy. We're watching the news and it is showing virtually empty airports and transport hubs which are usually heaving at this end-of-holiday period. The government are playing down the cost of this outbreak at the moment.

Our town is still like a ghost town although I'm about 7km from the industrial area and don't know if that is operating normally. People are definitely scared.

[Tripps]

we have been relying on some possibly out of date mathematical model to assess the spread of seasonal flu can't possibly tell you the full story.

The programme 'Contagion' was done only about two years ago. I didn't catch the start, but they used a smartphone 'app' to simulate the spread of the virus. Quite how that works and whether it has been adopted as authoritative, I don't know. Worth a look though. . .

Interesting - that simply washing your hands many times more than usual, reduced the spread of the virus significantly.

[plaques]

Stanley leads the field again.

Advice on keeping coronavirus at bay....
However, the good news from the study is that if nCoV2019 is similar to SARS and MERS, it is likely to be sensitive to disinfectants such as those containing alcohol, sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite, the latter of the two of which are common ingredients in household bleach. When used at appropriate concentrations, these chemicals have been shown to be effective against previous coronavirus strains.

[Tizer]

Interesting - that simply washing your hands many times more than usual, reduced the spread of the virus significantly.

Some of the disinfectant hand washes sold in supermarkets now claim not only to kill the bugs already on your hands but to leave a residue of the chemical which will kill any further bugs getting on them in the next hour.

Advice on keeping coronavirus at bay....
However, the good news from the study is that if nCoV2019 is similar to SARS and MERS, it is likely to be sensitive to disinfectants such as those containing alcohol, sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite, the latter of the two of which are common ingredients in household bleach. When used at appropriate concentrations, these chemicals have been shown to be effective against previous coronavirus strains.

Simple chemicals like bleach, caustic soda and ethanol have the great advantage that they'll kill just about anything. No fancy trickery with inhibiting specific enzymes or whatever, just a devastating destruction of the whole organism! And there's very little chance of microorganisms becoming resistant to them - if it were possible it would have happened long ago.

Another comment on protecting ourselves from inhaling viruses and bacteria. I read somewhere a lady saying that before entering an airliner's bug infested atmosphere she always spread vaseline on the inner surfaces of her nose. She claimed she hasn't picked up any respiratory infections from flights since she started doing it. I don't fancy trying it!

[Big Kev]

Another comment on protecting ourselves from inhaling viruses and bacteria. I read somewhere a lady saying that before entering an airliner's bug infested atmosphere she always spread vaseline on the inner surfaces of her nose. She claimed she hasn't picked up any respiratory infections from flights since she started doing it. I don't fancy trying it!

When I worked outside I used to do this to stop pollen going up my nose, I suffered with hayfever when younger and I'm convinced it helped. I seem to have grown out of it now although my eyes do itch when the count is exceptionally high. There are benefits to working in an air conditioned office and driving an air conditioned car with pollen filters

[Stanley]

Bleach etc. In 1967 we had a really big outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease and I was carrying cattle at the time. Disinfecting of the boxes was mandatory as were foot washes. The price and availability of disinfectants rose rapidly and it wasn't until near the end of the outbreak that it was announced that by far the most effective agent for killing the virus was the cheapest chemical available. A solution of washing Soda! They said that bleach was similarly effective but WS was cheaper. Take note!
Later, memory has been stirred! I seem to remember that the reason why bleach, soda etc. was so efficient was because it was alkaline, the virus couldn't tolerate an alkaline environment.
That reminded me of something I once read about the 19th century discovery of economic ways of making chlorine in large quantities. The author speculated that this could have been a major factor in lowering the burden of bacterial and viral organisms in the environment and this could possibly have been as big a life-saver as the later antibiotics.

[chinatyke]

Hubei province reported 14,840 new coronavirus cases, including 13,332 clinically diagnosed cases, on Feb 12. The hard-hit province also reported 242 new deaths from the infection on the same day.
That brings the total number of confirmed cases to almost 60,000.

That's a massive increase, over 30%, in one day.