№ 615. 12 Signs of Fake N95, KN95, or KF94 Masks

At best, fake respirator masks are just a waste of money. At worst, they give those who need protection most a potentially dangerous false sense of security.

 

Philadelphia Inquirer

12 signs to separate the real masks from the fake:

№ 580. Research & Disinformation

 

 

 

 

№ 579. Ivermectin

The Scientist

 

Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug commonly used for livestock, should not be taken to treat or prevent Covid-19, the Food and Drug Administration said on Saturday.

The warning came a day after the Mississippi State Department of Health issued a similar statement in response to reports that an increasing number of people in Mississippi were using the drug to prevent a Covid infection.

 

Ivermectin, which is also formulated for use by people to treat parasitic worms, had been controversially promoted as a potential Covid treatment earlier in the pandemic, but recent studies found that the drug’s efficacy against the coronavirus is thin, and the F.D.A. has not approved the drug for Covid treatment.

 

Some of the symptoms associated with Ivermectin toxicity include rash, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, neurological disorders and potentially severe hepatitis that could require hospitalization, Mississippi health officials said.

№ 577. The Delta Variant

 

№ 576. V for Vaccines 5

Strategies to Boost Vaccine Penetration in Communities

 

Twitter

 

“It’s not a public health strategy for any condition to just blame somebody into treatment and prevention,” said Rhea Boyd, a pediatrician and public health advocate. Telling the unvaccinated that they’re being selfish “really runs counter to all the work it’s going to take to convince those folks to be vaccinated, to trust us that we have their best interests in mind.”

№ 546. Not All Masks Are Created Equal

Is there a hierarchy of masks?
 

A new study in Duke University ranked 14 types of commonly available masks, finding that medical masks offer significantly more protection against droplet spread than cotton alternatives – while bandanas protect less, and neck fleeces don’t do much at all.
 

The study revealed that different masks eliminated droplet spray by the following percentages, from the best to worst:

1. N95 - 99.9%
2. Surgical or polypropylene masks - 90%
3. Cotton face coverings - 70% to 90%
4. Bandanas - 50%
   

Neck fleeces, meanwhile, were found to expel more droplets than with no mask at all, probably by dispersing the largest droplets into many smaller droplets.

"The notion that 'anything is better than nothing' didn't hold true," said Eric Westman, one of the study's co-authors.

 

№ 486. Covid 19 Deaths in Numbers: Finding a Context

Newsday

According to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tally, today July 7, 2020, the total global deaths from the coronavirus is 538,796.

It is a staggering number.

To help understand this statistic, I'll try to compare it with other data generated on deaths caused by catastrophic events in the past. Just a few examples:

1. The total number of deaths in World War I was about 15 to 22 million.

2. An estimated total of 70–85 million people perished in World War 2, which was about 3% of the 1940 world population (est. 2.3 billion).

3.  A total of 1.5 million people died from TB in 2018 (including 251,000 people with HIV).

4. Haiyan, one of the deadliest Philippine typhoons on record, killed at least 6,300 people in 2013.

5. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused a combined total confirmed deaths and missing of more than 22,000 (nearly 20,000 deaths and 2,500 missing).

№ 473. Vitamin S (Science)

Taiwan scientists find antibody that fights coronavirus.

BUT...

As many experts have reminded us, it will take about 12-18 months AT BEST to have a vaccine. 

Many viral diseases like polio, flu, chicken pox, hepatitis, etc. took many years, even decades, to manage with an effective and affordable vaccine. We will have to put in a community of resources --- time, scientists, governments, funds, cooperation and goodwill, etc. --- to invent another "miracle" of science. 

We need unity in diversity.

AND...

To be philosophical about this collective pandemic experience, it makes me appreciate how wonderful it is to be alive and how truly worth saving humanity is. Because what is the other path? Death? Despair? Descent into chaos?