OneGuyFromBarlick

That could be very good news, I hope so Ian. Hassan is a very competent man in my experience.
David, the nozzle of the syringe bulb isn't actually inside the ear, just firing warm water in from outside the ear. All is going well, I can actually hear pretty well now but will continue the treatment for another day or two.
I agree with all you say about private treatment. Bevan gave the doctors a very favourable deal when he was building the NHS. He admitted as much afterwards when he said he got final agreement “by stuffing the doctors' mouths with gold.” This is how they remained self employed and could practice both in the NHS and privately.

PanBiker wrote: ↑22 May 2023, 21:15 Some good news for Sally today. She received a message from our doctor Hassan regarding her contrasted scan. After a few weeks of worry over the "shadow" he reports that he is now in possession of the results which show nothing sinister but a residual infection in one lung.

Good news indeed. Although Covid has been a nightmare for many people the treatment of lung infections has improved enormously. Lets hope it gets sorted quickly.

Something more to worry about. It looks like the UK along with other countries is going down the mRNA vaccine route to treat seasonal flu. On the basis of a 50 person (fit young people) trial the government has ordered 10 years worth of vaccines. The debate on this novel vaccine is that since the covid mRNA vaccine has a good number of undefined side affects will the NEW mRNA influenza vaccine have the same problems.

Dr John Campbell Infuenza.

Sally has just got the antibiotics which are huge in the pill stakes. They have a few contra's in the instructions, cant be taken with any kind of statin or indigestion tablets, twice daily as well. Hoping this will be the end of it. It will just be 4 months since the problem started by the time she finishes this course of meds.

PanBiker wrote: ↑22 May 2023, 21:15 Some good news for Sally today. She received a message from our doctor Hassan regarding her contrasted scan. After a few weeks of worry over the "shadow" he reports that he is now in possession of the results which show nothing sinister but a residual infection in one lung.

A great relief I would imagine, hopefully the ABs will do the job

PanBiker wrote: ↑23 May 2023, 09:12 Sally has just got the antibiotics which are huge in the pill stakes. They have a few contra's in the instructions, cant be taken with any kind of statin or indigestion tablets, twice daily as well. Hoping this will be the end of it. It will just be 4 months since the problem started by the time she finishes this course of meds.

If she has any difficulty swallowing the big pills then suggest she takes them with a spoonful of yoghurt instead of trying to wash them down. The chemist advised Col to do that when he was taking some huge pills after his operation and it worked a treat. He still takes all his drugs that way

Big Kev wrote: ↑23 May 2023, 09:21

PanBiker wrote: ↑22 May 2023, 21:15 Some good news for Sally today. She received a message from our doctor Hassan regarding her contrasted scan. After a few weeks of worry over the "shadow" he reports that he is now in possession of the results which show nothing sinister but a residual infection in one lung.

A great relief I would imagine, hopefully the ABs will do the job

Thats good news. It sounds like it needs specific antibiotics rather than the more usual all purpose ones

She has had two courses of different "normal" antibiotics which didn't clear it up. These are specifically for chest infections so hopefully will sort her out.

PanBiker wrote: ↑23 May 2023, 17:56 She has had two courses of different "normal" antibiotics which didn't clear it up. These are specifically for chest infections so hopefully will sort her out.

The phrase escaped me yesterday….normal ie broad spectrum
Specific…..narrow spectrum.

I used the terms in my various jobs for years but could not remember them yesterday

On a completely different subject, some of you may have picked up the fact that I have been attacking my recent excessive ear wax that had made me completely deaf in my left ear. I have been a good lad following the instructions and have been instilling Otex ear drops for four days and of late, syringing in the afternoon. Up to yesterday only slight evidence I was doing any good, small flecks of wax in the sink. Then yesterday afternoon I got the shock of my life, a comparative flood of fragments when I syringed. Much improved and such a relief. I shall continue the treatment for two more days and then leave it alone.

Is the WHO changing their opinion on the Covid-19 vaccine? They are appearing to say that the current vaccine make up is useless.

The group suggested no longer including the original COVID-19 strain in future vaccines, based on data that the original virus no longer circulates in human beings and shots targeting the strain produce "undetectable or very low levels of neutralizing antibodies" against currently circulating variants.

So why are they offering the booster to the over 75's It now looks like the WHO is a marketing outlet for big pharma peddling the latest snake oil.

The big pandemic worry is the H5N1 bird flu. 50% mortality rate with no vaccines on the horizon. Big pharma should make a killing out of this.

That's all above my pay grade Ken. I shall not be picking any dead birds up!

I shall not be picking any dead birds up!

The worry is that Mink, the animal not the bird, can be host to both avian flu and human flu. The danger is that in big concentrations like Mink farms the two flu variants could combine and be passed on to humans. The question must be asked if the experts know that this combination route is possible why are we allowing Mink farming?

It's interesting to take a look in the rear view mirror. I've been looking at my cuttings - entered at the time. These seem to support what Dr Nurse John Campbell has been saying recently. The goal posts moved and the Government response did not change. My natural instinct is to blame 'cockup' rather than 'conspiracy'.

Thurday 25 November 2021
Absolutely out of the blue. . .
New virus variant from Botswana and Southern Africa is announced. More than 50 variations. Said to be very worrying .
WHO will probably give it a Greek letter tomorrow.
Red travel zones imposed on several African countries. Only just been lifted, and there were currently no Red Zones.
As predicted by the cynics and conspiracy theorists- to emerge so as to control the population.
**********************************
Bad time since a cross channel dinghy sank yesterday with 27 people drowned.


Sat 27 Nov 2021
Botswana variant is named 'Omicron' by the World Health Organisation.
Within 24 hours the name is in common use as if it has been there for much longer. Isolated cases are found all over the place. England, Germany Belgium etc. All seem to have a connection with Southern Africa. All flights banned but not until tomorrow !. Usual rush te get back before the ban starts and the £2k+ quarantine isolation charge. A flight lands and all are freely allowed through. Heard that first time round.
AZ say they can get a vaccine out against it in 100 days. No mention of it at all, when HRH Prince Charles visited Cambridge earlier in the week. That was said about the Indian Delta variant, but it never happened. We still don't know how severe this variant will be. A couple of reports that it's no worse than a cold. That was just web chatter, but let's hope so,

Sky say: "The new variant is considered potentially more dangerous because it has around twice as many mutations as Delta, but experts say how much of a concern is still under investigation. Omicron, also called B.1.1.529, has also been detected in Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong, and possibly in Germany and the Czech Republic."



I later copied this from South Africa. Didn't date it but it was close to the time of the above cuttings.

It occurred to me later that I didn't know the answer to this question so I asked my NBF - Chat GPT. I assumed there must have been several, and I think the answer surprised me a bit. The emphasis is mine, not theirs.

Tripps - before Covid, how many mRNA vaccines existed?

ChatGPT - Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no mRNA vaccines approved for use in humans. However, the mRNA technology had been under development and research for several years, and some clinical trials had been conducted for other diseases.

One notable example is the development of mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases such as Zika virus and rabies. Moderna, one of the companies that developed a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, had been working on an mRNA vaccine for Zika virus prior to the pandemic. Similarly, BioNTech, the other major company behind a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, had been conducting clinical trials for mRNA-based vaccines for various cancers and infectious diseases like influenza.

It is important to note that although mRNA vaccines had not been approved for widespread use before COVID-19, their development and research laid the foundation for the rapid development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines once the pandemic hit. The success of mRNA vaccines in combating COVID-19 has opened up new possibilities and accelerated the interest in mRNA technology for future vaccine development.

Interesting David. I like Dr Coetzee's concluding paragraph. In essence, keep calm and carry on. Learn to live with it.
One of the things that struck me about the AI answer was that it was dispassionate. Th very thing that the SA doctor was asking for when she criticised the UK for over reacting. I can agree with that.

Dr John Campbell has just commented on a paper issue by the WHO where they are reporting that the Covid mRNA vaccine has the ability to attack the major nerve sheets from the brain. The protecting nerves are gradually eroded giving rise to the possibility of Multiple Sclerosis.The WHO have reported five cases where this has happened. Normally the WHO appear to have been reluctant to publish anything negative about these vaccines. Are we now seeing the first signs that all is not well with them?

I think that video is one of his weakest. Seems to based on a single report with miniscule numbers. Best ignored.

He is in danger of becoming to appear to be a bit obssesive.

Tripps wrote: ↑30 May 2023, 09:47 I think that video is one of his weakest. Seems to based on a single report with miniscule numbers. Best ignored.

He is in danger of becoming to appear to be a bit obssesive.

I got the impression he was aiming a bit of sarcasm at YouTube for cancelling him for papers sourced from extreme publications. The WHO which he often criticises for getting things wrong publishes a paper, though plausible, would normally require bigger numbers for it to hold water.

I agree. best ignored until substantiated by other researchers.

Unfortunately I know a lot more about MS than I wish I did. He refers to nerve sheaths rather than sheets.

The important words are Myelin and Oligodendrocytes

All I can say on this matter is that MS is a cruel condition. I have seen it at close hand and any statements made about it should be dispassionate and very well sourced. I haven't seen the video in question and don't intend to but it doesn't sound to me as though it ticks those two boxes.

I think it was Dr Paul Nurse I heard a couple of days ago saying that if the original Covid virus that sparked the pandemic had been the omicron variant there would have been a 5x times greater death toll worldwide. If it had been bird flu that jumped to humans the death toll would have been 50x times greater. We were lucky this time, next time it's likely to be worse. The politicians need to learn a lesson from this. But will they? They were warned before Covid but didn't respond. Too busy trying to keep themselves in power now than thinking about the future for all of us.

My booster last October was a dual booster, original type and omicron. Are both useless. I understood a vaccine was being developed that worked to create immunity using the part of the virus that did not mutate significantly. Ie a more multivariant vaccine.this is taking time to develop.

https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1257

I think I heard the same interview Peter and when he mentioned Bird Flu I thought that it was another reason for being glad I'm old and shortly will stop worrying about anything!
You are quite right about the politicians being too venal to concentrate on matters as serious as this.
(I wonder whether their failure to heed warnings before Covid will be part of the enquiry?)

I think that the BMJ is guilty of some sloppy reporting. https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1257 I know these article have to appear up-beat to keep the research money flowing in but using the term 'immunity' when result is temporary 'protection' is pushing the boat out too far.

Reassuringly, “it showed a superior immune response when they use the variant vaccine in an already immunised population,” says Ward.

If the population is immunised then how can you get a further immune response? The current vaccines are only showing temporary protection that appears to get shorter with each dose of vaccine.

plaques wrote: ↑01 Jun 2023, 07:56 ...I know these articles have to appear up-beat to keep the research money flowing in...

Having been a research scientist I can tell you that research funding depends on grant applications and they have to be truthful and objective. You don't get a grant for being `upbeat'.

plaques wrote: ↑01 Jun 2023, 07:56 If the population is immunised then how can you get a further immune response? The current vaccines are only showing temporary protection that appears to get shorter with each dose of vaccine.

Vaccines don't necessarily prevent you being infected with the target virus, their main job is to protect you against serious illness. If they do offer some protection against initial infection that's a bonus. Immunisation isn't a case of `all or nothing' and that applies to the individual and the population.