Merged 2019-nCoV / Corona virus

Status
Not open for further replies.
Giordano said:
I think that the high failure rates associated with masks are the result of people wearing them improperly. All the air one breathes in and out has to go through the mask for maximum protection. Duh. If you look at most people wearing the typical disposable masks (especially the flat kinds that wrap around one's face) there are large gaps at the sides around the nose and chin. Probably over 50% of the air they are breathing in or out is not being filtered. These simple masks can be fitted more effectively but it is difficult to adjust the fit and keep it adjusted correctly. The slightly fancier disposables, which come molded in a shape that better fits the nose, still have to be snugged down carefully to close a gap that typically forms between the nose and eyes.

There are much better that generate a tight fit and are far more effective. But these are much more expensive.

In general people also find masks uncomfortable and sweaty, particularly when fitted correctly, so they don't wear them all the times they should. And as discussed upthread, wearing a mask but not washing your hands is just silly.
Click to expand...

Masks are completely useless for us bearded guys.
 
Asian males more receptive for 2019-nCoV ?

A novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December of 2019. This new coronavirus has resulted in thousands of cases of lethal disease in China, with additional patients being identified in a rapidly growing number internationally. 2019-nCov was reported to share the same receptor, Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), with SARS-Cov. Here based on the public database and the state-of-the-art single-cell RNA-Seq technique, we analyzed the ACE2 RNA expression profile in the normal human lungs. The result indicates that the ACE2 virus receptor expression is concentrated in a small population of type II alveolar cells (AT2). Surprisingly, we found that this population of ACE2-expressing AT2 also highly expressed many other genes that positively regulating viral reproduction and transmission. A comparison between eight individual samples demonstrated that the Asian male one has an extremely large number of ACE2-expressing cells in the lung.
Click to expand...

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.26.919985v1

:confused:
 
ANd what is scary is that you have to wonder if the Chinese Government is low balling the figures. They know better then to out and out try to hide that it's a serous situation, but I would not put trying to downplay how serious it is. Authorarain regimes have a habit of doing that.
 
Giordano said:
I think that the high failure rates associated with masks are the result of people wearing them improperly. All the air one breathes in and out has to go through the mask for maximum protection. Duh. If you look at most people wearing the typical disposable masks (especially the flat kinds that wrap around one's face) there are large gaps at the sides around the nose and chin. Probably over 50% of the air they are breathing in or out is not being filtered. These simple masks can be fitted more effectively but it is difficult to adjust the fit and keep it adjusted correctly. The slightly fancier disposables, which come molded in a shape that better fits the nose, still have to be snugged down carefully to close a gap that typically forms between the nose and eyes.

There are much better that generate a tight fit and are far more effective. But these are much more expensive.

In general people also find masks uncomfortable and sweaty, particularly when fitted correctly, so they don't wear them all the times they should. And as discussed upthread, wearing a mask but not washing your hands is just silly.
Click to expand...

And I always suspected any thing short of a full scale gas mask type protection would be vulnerable to germs eventually getting through.
I think anybody who has gone through NBC protection training in the military would be a bit skeptical of how well face masks protect you.
 
Abooga said:
Something I don´t understand is, according to the John Hopkins data, 170 deaths and 133 recoveries. Does that mean that right now if you have simptoms bad enough to have you hospitalized you are more likely to die than not?
Click to expand...

From a health service PoV this is not necessarily a good thing. Inevitable death is cheap, and low resource. If there is a good chance of recovery with intensive intervention then this is bad.

Viral pneumonias have a good chance of recovery given time and resources. But if you need ECMO this is very resource intensive, double the usual cost of ITU. (At which point I expect Skepticginger to weigh in since unlike me she probably knows what this really means.) Most people who die of viral pneumonias (generalisation not based on specific coronavirus data) die from secondary infections; lungs damaged from viruses are susceptible to infections from bacteria and fungi.
 
dudalb said:
And I always suspected any thing short of a full scale gas mask type protection would be vulnerable to germs eventually getting through.
I think anybody who has gone through NBC protection training in the military would be a bit skeptical of how well face masks protect you.
Click to expand...

Sure for very high levels of protection, although of course it has to be a mask with suitable HEPA (particle) filters rather than chemical (e.g. activated carbon) filters and fitted/worn as taught.

But even simpler masks worn correctly can probably reduce one's risk by 90% (if one washes one's hands too).
 
carlosy said:
Asian males more receptive for 2019-nCoV ?

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.26.919985v1

:confused:
Click to expand...

That's interesting. There's a new count as of yesterday: 840 new cases of pneumonia have occurred.

http://www.hubei.gov.cn/zhuanti/2020/gzxxgzbd/zxtb/202001/t20200129_2015924.shtml

My thought was to look at how many people in China are still smokers. It's very high.

With influenza, smoking puts you at higher risk of pneumonia. Smoking affects the cilia in the trachea. Influenza tends to infect cells in the middle airway (trachea). That's a double whammy on the defenses against bacteria getting into the lung.

I wonder how much smoking is going to be a factor for severe illness.
 
Yesterday I read that bats are still a focus as being the potential source. Snakes were initially targeted and have not been removed as the possible source. It seems that the virus closely resembles (but not identical) ones already known from bats and snakes. I read that snakes are common at the Wuhan market but that bats are seasonal and none were for sale at the market when the outbreak was initially attributed to that market.
 
I'm working in Windsor at the moment and the largest group of tourists are the Chinese, the drop in the number of Chinese tourists is astonishing. When I was walking in front of the castle today I hardly saw a Chinese tourist and not a single tour group of Chinese.
 
a_unique_person said:
Ok. Time to panic.
Click to expand...
Should we hide under the bed now? :)


Speaking of avoiding the virus, when the 2009 flu variant was spreading, before the vaccine was available, I saw all the ways one could not avoid exposure. For example, try buying groceries if the clerk or the bagger are sniffing and coughing.

They both touch every one of your items. So do you wear gloves to put your food away? Leave the bags in the car for a sufficient amount of time for any surface contaminants to die?

But then what about the people you didn't see? At the produce area someone touches everything they put in the bins. Same with the meat in the meat area, someone touched each package of meat. And the plastic wrap in a refrigerated area is perfect for preserving surface contamination. At Whole Foods store employees are constantly spiffing up the shelves pulling all the products to the front.

So what do you do to avoid contaminated surfaces? It's one thing to wash your hands when you come in the house. But what if half the items in your kitchen are contaminated?


Try it: throughout the day see all the things that could have contaminated surfaces you cannot avoid touching.
 
catsmate said:
In a word, bollocks.
Click to expand...

Well, let's give it a few months and see how we go. If I'm wrong, and I might well be, as the early indications are that close contact is needed, then I'll gladly admit that.

If, on the other hand, it more contagious and kills a few million around the world, I'll be looking for you to stand up and say you were sorry for being s dick.

I have no confidence that it would happen, though.

catsmate said:
That comment says far more about you, and your need to believe in a lethal pandemic, than the virus in question.
:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Jeez, there really are some of you people who seem to be wanting to display psychic skills, and like every psychic who ever lived, you have the exact same accuracy rating - nil.

Why would I have a need for a pandemic?

The opposite is in fact the case - I'd far prefer there were no pandemics of diseases that kill people and that places like China would wake up to the fact that animals when used for food need to be treated in ways that minimise the risk of zoonotic disease, not exacerbate them.
 
William Parcher said:
Yesterday I read that bats are still a focus as being the potential source. Snakes were initially targeted and have not been removed as the possible source. It seems that the virus closely resembles (but not identical) ones already known from bats and snakes. I read that snakes are common at the Wuhan market but that bats are seasonal and none were for sale at the market when the outbreak was initially attributed to that market.
Click to expand...


God, that is straight out of "Contagion".....
 
catsmate said:
I assume that also means cinemas? Closing the theatres was general practice in Ye Olde Day to prevent plague spreading.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it applies to theaters of all types.
Not that it matters much, but theaters in common usage refers to any kind of theater, both stage and cinema.
 
catsmate said:
That comment says far more about you, and your need to believe in a lethal pandemic, than the virus in question.
:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yeah, this.
It's not so much that I disagree with what the Atheist is saying...from what I have read this is the most serious threat of a pandemic we have seen in a while...but he seems to take such joy and pleasure in it.
But like I said, he has been overdoing the "Cynical Misanthrope" shitick for a long time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom