PlagueWatch 2020-23 - Coronavirus

[budwom]

Bill Schaffner is a friend of mine. I did my Peds ID training at Vanderbilt. Yes, I'm name dropping. He's a big deal in the adult ID world, especially in the realm of public health. He's also a genuinely nice guy.

NBC News routinely drags Bill out in front of the camera every time talk turns to flu or other high profile infectious diseases. Genial chap.

[MChambers]

One of the major concerns right now is that people with the virus can still spread it before showing symptoms, at least according to China's health minister: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/26/healt...als/index.html

"This is a game changer," said Dr. William Schaffner, a longtime adviser to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's much harder to contain a virus -- to track down a patient's contacts and quarantine them immediately -- if the patient was spreading the disease for days or weeks before they even realized they had it.

"It means the infection is much more contagious than we originally thought," said Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "This is worse than we anticipated."

That's very concerning. Hard to see how it can be contained if this is true.

[BD80]

That's very concerning. Hard to see how it can be contained if this is true.

Well, I'm proud of the two sons I've raised, and I've seen the Blue Devils win 4 Nattys, the Steelers win 6 Super Bowls, the Pirates win 3 World Series, the Pens win 5 Stanley Cups, the Pistons win 3 Championships, and the Pittsburgh Pipers and Connie Hawkins win the first ABA title.

I was at "The Immaculate Reception" game and the 7-0 at halftime "Air Ball" game.

As long as the Blue Devils win it all this year, I guess I'm ready ...

[MChambers]

Here’s a good summary of the open questions about the virus: https://www.statnews.com/2020/01/28/...wHmBf8qbICW2sw

[chris13]

Should I be concerned?

[cato]

Should I be concerned?

Are you a gunslinger?

[OldPhiKap]

Should I be concerned?

Who is the Jim Cantore of communicable diseases?

[bundabergdevil]

My point was that the horrors he described - things like workers falling into machinery and being sold as part of the end product, were false. They weren't part of "discoveries" he made while undercover. The understanding of the book at the time, and now, is centered around that sort of thing, and perpetuates a myth regarding actual conditions and standards at the time. I try to discourage people from holding false beliefs.

The subsequent regulations that passed as a result of public clamor were essentially written by the meat packing industry (and they had already been trying to get some of these regulations put in place; the whole thing is a great example of regulatory capture, so you might want to update your belief about it catalyzing changes in the industry, as opposed to creating barriers to it). Sinclair himself remarked on that. His hope was that the book would spur people to socialism and nationalization of industry, not create some sort of public health-related regulatory structure - but people were much more alarmed by his fantastic descriptions of what was going into their food than they were interested in fomenting a workers' revolution.

Some of the horrors described may have been false but many were found to be true during an investigation launched at the request of Roosevelt, who had read The Jungle. He commissioned a couple of reports - one from the USDA which not surprisingly found no issue. The second from a special committee he appointed. This second investigation found appalling conditions consistent with Sinclair's descriptions. Portions of the report are available online and here is Roosevelt's speech to Congress on the state of the meatpacking industry following the investigation.

You're correct on Sinclair's socialist intentions and, yes, he famously remarked that his book missed its intended mark. That's fine, artist intent and legacy diverge all the time. I'm still very comfortable using his descriptions as a reference point for appalling food preparation conditions that existed in the early 1900s. They did exist even if not in lockstep with how Sinclair described them. That is not a false belief and any argument to the contrary is wrong. Your comments regarding the meatpacking industry and regulatory capture also aren't on the mark IMO but that's not for this board.

[OldPhiKap]

Who is the Jim Cantore of communicable diseases?

I wish you could Spork direct message responses . . . .

Oh, and Brevity wins the internet for the day. Just take my word on this one.

[bundabergdevil]

Our evacuees touched down today and are heading for a two week quarantine.

[BeachBlueDevil]

I have been following the spread of Coronavirus at this link - https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/a...23467b48e9ecf6

I like this map because I'm very visual and this does more than satiate that for me. I looked yesterday morning at it was at 4500 cases world wide, now 6K+. Still a HUGE majority in China.

[JasonEvans]

I have been following the spread of Coronavirus at this link - https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/a...23467b48e9ecf6

I like this map because I'm very visual and this does more than satiate that for me. I looked yesterday morning at it was at 4500 cases world wide, now 6K+. Still a HUGE majority in China.

Watch the yellow line... when that one starts to move in a meaningful way, that is when it is time to head into your bunker for a few years.

[LasVegas]

Potential case in Las Vegas. Waiting on test results.

[LegoBatman]

Potential case in Las Vegas. Waiting on test results.

You or the city?

[bundabergdevil]

Potential case in Las Vegas. Waiting on test results.

<Staring at your screen name like a monkey doing a math problem>: IN LasVegas or in Las Vegas?

[LasVegas]

Hah! In the city! Although I work in healthcare, I sit behind a desk now and build in the EHR world all day.

[budwom]

And now we have our first U.S. case and confirmation of the virus passing from person to person (wife to husband):

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/30/healt...cdc/index.html

[bundabergdevil]

And now we have our first U.S. case and confirmation of the virus passing from person to person (wife to husband):

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/30/healt...cdc/index.html

Probably still his fault.

[budwom]

Probably still his fault.

that's funny..."you could have at least washed your hands!"

I wonder if all the cheap Chinese stuff I get (reluctantly, not because it's Chinese, but because it's flimsy/cheap) at Ace Hardware will be affected? Vast numbers of Americans travel to China to supervise the manufacturing of so many items, this is bound to have some effect.

[JasonEvans]

The WHO just declared a global health emergency.



-Jason "the fact that they are saying you can spread this thing for up to 2 weeks before developing any symptoms is a real problem... thank goodness it is not more deadly!" Evans