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(Thread IKs: PoundSand)
 
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HoAssHo
Mar 10, 2005

:love::love::love:
Started just laughing out loud halfway through this twitter thread. Crack ping is a tired catchphrase but I don't know what else to call that feeling.

Lexx.mp4

HoAssHo has issued a correction as of 15:04 on Feb 23, 2024

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sonatinas
Apr 15, 2003

Seattle Karate Vs. L.A. Karate
guess it’s a good thing I got updated mmr 2 yrs ago and my wife and kid are up to date.

not sure what else people are experiencing with the “ mystery virus” but my wife and I were covid tested multiple times and were negative. might not mean anything unfortunately. however we had 0 congestion. like I was so sick but I never needed to blow my nose. it was real odd. I’m now starting to feel a lot less fatigue and my heart rate is normal now.

so there could be some other virus cookin in these Covid people being transmitted. just anecdotal of course.

I am just irritated that when my wife was in the ER there was no diagnosis at all. all blood, urine, x ray labs were fine . all she got was just fluids and pain meds. “there are other viruses than Covid around” is what the ER doc said when she had to go to the ER a month earlier and had all the same tests come back negative for a separate infection.

NeonPunk
Dec 21, 2020

sonatinas posted:


I am just irritated that when my wife was in the ER there was no diagnosis at all. all blood, urine, x ray labs were fine . all she got was just fluids and pain meds. “there are other viruses than Covid around” is what the ER doc said when she had to go to the ER a month earlier and had all the same tests come back negative for a separate infection.

Other viruses going around eh? Did they even bothered trying to test and see what viruses it could be or did they just completely dismissed y'all?

sonatinas
Apr 15, 2003

Seattle Karate Vs. L.A. Karate

NeonPunk posted:

Other viruses going around eh? Did they even bothered trying to test and see what viruses it could be or did they just completely dismissed y'all?

completely dismissed. all they tested for was flu, covid , and RSV.

then they look at the labs and go OK looks all good wait a few hrs later and get a big bill later.

NeonPunk
Dec 21, 2020

Yeah that sucks. I think what my brother had to go through with his heart attack at the hospital isn't all that rare nowadays. I've also heard so many people saying that they got really lovely experience and just having the nurses and doctor straight up giving them the minimal effort (plus that story of that poor lady who got placed in seclusion who got posted in here)

Who knew when we made things worse for healthcare workers, the good ones just straight up leaving, and the lovely folks who stay behind could lead to a terrible outcome for everyone??

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003


My wife went in for a colonoscopy a few months back and nobody in the unit she was on was wearing a mask at all. A patient advocate came back, saw us masking, and refused to mask. When they wheeled my wife back out from the procedure they'd removed her mask for some reason. Good stuff. We got lucky

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
the lovely folks who stayed behind currently getting constantly rocked by a virus that damages their brains. it’s like we replaced all our healthcare workers with 50-year-old ex-boxers and football players.

mags
May 30, 2008
Probation
Can't post for 23 hours!

tuyop posted:

the lovely folks who stayed behind currently getting constantly rocked by a virus that damages their brains. it’s like we replaced all our healthcare workers with 50-year-old ex-boxers and football players.

my MIL caught a “mysterious” pneumonia in the hospital and her PCP’s admin blamed the RSV vaccine she got a month prior, and said that “most people shouldn’t get that vaccine” even though my MIL helps care for a child and is over the age of 70

U-DO Burger
Nov 12, 2007




NeonPunk posted:

So some folks in Italy found measles got some few mutations that made the tests less sensitive to detect it.

https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.29.7.2400079

That's not a encouraging trend


quote:

None of the other 614 strains (453 D8 and 161 B3) detected by our laboratory between 2017 (the beginning of surveillance activities) and 2023 possessed these mutations. However, our results suggest that MeV with the specific mutations detected through the Swiss molecular surveillance are already circulating in Italy, in line with the results obtained by Pérez-Rodríguez et al., who reported a local case with travel history to Italy.

We commend Pérez-Rodríguez and colleagues for the rapid communication as they raise awareness on the circulation of a MeV variant that can be detected with reduced sensitivity by many currently used diagnostic tests. This letter confirms their finding and reports that the identified variant is spreading. This highlights the importance of promptly updating diagnostic tests to detect all currently circulating MeV strains.

yes of course, I'm sure we'll get right on that

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003


I can't get over the insanity of that Adjala article about how we "consented to sickness when we started living together" and how "we must embrace the biology of the virus."

NeonPunk
Dec 21, 2020

mags posted:

my MIL caught a “mysterious” pneumonia in the hospital and her PCP’s admin blamed the RSV vaccine she got a month prior, and said that “most people shouldn’t get that vaccine” even though my MIL helps care for a child and is over the age of 70

I misread this at first. Why the gently caress is an administrator giving out medical advice in a clinical setting? That's not their job

mags
May 30, 2008
Probation
Can't post for 23 hours!

NeonPunk posted:

I misread this at first. Why the gently caress is an administrator giving out medical advice in a clinical setting? That's not their job

that was my first question!

NeonPunk
Dec 21, 2020

mags posted:

that was my first question!

After thinking, I got it. Their job involves lot of stuff including reducing any legal liability. They told you that so you'll have a weaker legal case if you sue them for loving it up. Blaming the vaccine means that the hospital wasn't responsible for giving your MIL something that could've killed her

JAY ZERO SUM GAME
Oct 18, 2005

Walter.
I know you know how to do this.
Get up.


Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

I can't get over the insanity of that Adjala article about how we "consented to sickness when we started living together" and how "we must embrace the biology of the virus."
we have always been at war with eurasia

Cabbages and VHS
Aug 25, 2004

Listen, I've been around a bit, you know, and I thought I'd seen some creepy things go on in the movie business, but I really have to say this is the most disgusting thing that's ever happened to me.

GATOS Y VATOS posted:


Also oh boy people weren't kidding about Paxlovid bitterness happening. Bleh

I was so sick the first two days I didn't give a gently caress, after that I just took like 300mg of edibles and sipped ginger ale

I found the paxmouth way less scary or annoying than not being able to smell or taste food for parts of a week, thank God that didn't last, shame about the vision loss

If you get conjectivitis with COVID, try to keep your eyes clear...

text editor
Jan 8, 2007

Baddog posted:

We *all* should be calling our local hospitals and pushing them on their covid policies, not just the immune compromised. I don't understand what you are not getting about "the time to push for policy change is when you are healthy(ish), not when you need someone to change your wet bedsheets". At that point you're absolutely at their mercy, and some of them are vindictive and petty as gently caress. This isn't just a masking issue - getting on the wrong side of someone when you are in pain is surprisingly easy. That's part of why you need a friend there, to hopefully smooth things over and mediate and remember to say "please and thank you" for you. Or just to run down and get a blanket off the stack, instead of you hammering the call button and becoming "omg that guy in 4 wants something AGAIN."

How many staff members do people normally interact with on a short stay, especially outpatient procedures?

When I think of trying to get workers to be accommodating for requests they don't normally get, I'm reminded of some article I read years ago (probably here) where someone did a social experiment of sorts to see what kinds of plane/hotel upgrades and other comps just by discreetly greasing palms with $20 bills and they were able to get a lot out of it.

Part of me wants to try slipping $20 maybe folded into a heart or something with a wrapped aura and see if that works. It's not insultingly low or suspiciously high, it's "thank you for being accommodating, lunch is on me" money


*Obviously other creative non-cash bribes could work too

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud
Apr 7, 2003


From November:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/11/18/measles-deaths-nearly-double-globally-past-year/71622796007/

quote:



'Staggering': Measles deaths have nearly doubled globally, according to new CDC data. Here's why.
The 43% spike is attributed to a dramatic decrease in vaccinations during the pandemic, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization

Measles data in the US

According to CDC data, U.S. measles cases more than doubled between 2022 and 2021, increasing from 49 to 121 reports. So far, there have been 41 cases reported this year.

From 2019 through 2020, in the thick of the pandemic, 1,287 cases were reported in 31 states. That's the largest number of cases since 1992, mostly among the unvaccinated and consistent with the global trend.

The last reported measles-related death in the U.S. was in 2015 when a Washington resident, exposed to measles at a medical facility, developed a rash and later died of pneumonia. Before that, there had not been a death in 12 years, USA TODAY previously reported.

Illinois:State reports first case of measles in 4 years

Measles vaccination data in the US

Measles vaccination rates are still hanging around 90% in the U.S. In 2022, about 93% of U.S. kindergarteners had received state-required vaccinations for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), according to CDC data from November.

Vaccination rates vary by state, however. Here's how that breaks down.


Measles is running wild because of reduced vaccination rates. Also US vaccination rates haven't changed much!

NeonPunk
Dec 21, 2020

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

From November:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/11/18/measles-deaths-nearly-double-globally-past-year/71622796007/

Measles is running wild because of reduced vaccination rates. Also US vaccination rates haven't changed much!

That's really outdated because I'm seeing like triple digits of increase now lol

mawarannahr
May 21, 2019
Probation
Can't post for 3 days!
lol + lmao
WA health officials throw away millions of pandemic supplies

crosscut.com posted:

The state’s Department of Health confirmed it junked more than 14 million gowns, 5 million surgical masks and 140,000 face shields as of July 2023 — supplies the agency paid about $1.5 million to acquire. Washington is not alone in tossing its painstakingly acquired surplus – at least 15 states have dumped pandemic stockpiles, The Associated Press reported last December.

A DOH official said the agency disposed of expired supplies with no market value and little demand among hospitals that otherwise would have continued to cost money and space for storage. They also kept some expired N95 respirators for emergency use and put out notices to community groups offering items before junking them. 

“Folks are not seeking those supplies out anymore,” said Cory Portner, director of the DOH’s Office of Emergency Medical Logistics. “If they need them, they can get them in the quantities that they need.”

A state health spokesperson also emphasized that the agency donated hundreds of thousands of masks and gloves to the Marshall Islands in September 2022 following a hurricane. 

But some public health professionals say the offloading highlights continued shortcomings in national disaster preparedness, and said states could work harder to find alternative uses for stockpiled gear before tossing it in the trash.

Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said expired surgical masks could still be utilized by janitors, garbage collectors or other non-medical settings where the mask does not need to be sterile, it just needs to block particulate matter.


“The problem is we went from famine to feast, and I suspect we will go back to famine again,” Benjamin said. “An expired mask is better than no mask.”

### Pandemic panic-buying

Washington purchased some $364 million of protective equipment during the first year of the pandemic, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise Services, which led PPE procurement for the state during that time.

The department suspended competitive bidding requirements, ordering tens of millions of masks with no-bid contracts, The Seattle Times reported in December 2020. Most of the state’s current stockpile of N95 masks came from a single Chinese car manufacturer to which Washington paid nearly $100 million.

Public health professionals say the recent junking illustrates a national public health system that remains ill-prepared for disasters due to reliance on a limited pool of mostly overseas manufacturers. A disorganized national response to the virus and inadequate stockpiles left state health departments scrambling to source masks anywhere they could.

The executive director of the Washington State Public Health Association wrote in an email that agencies trashing pandemic gear was “a shame,” but declined to comment for this story.

Expired masks can largely continue to meet protection standards if properly stored, according to research by the CDC and French universities, which found the biggest issue was the breaking strength of the elastic ties. When COVID-19 first hit, Washington health officials actually distributed 10-year-old masks left over from the swine flu pandemic. And the federal government also sent tens of thousands of expired N95 masks to Oregon and New York City in March 2020, The New York Times has reported.

Dr. John Balmes, a professor of environmental health science at UC Berkeley, told Business Insider in March 2020 that “N95 masks really don't expire in terms of their functionality. The only part that is subject to damage over time are the elastic bands that attach the mask to the user's face, which can be damaged by sunlight."

“N95” refers to a mask that filters at least 95% of airborne particles, according to the CDC.

### Culling the stockpile

While expired items could prove useful in another emergency, it costs the state money to store them. When deciding what stockpiled items to keep, the state looks at the level of demand for the item, its market value and whether it can be tested to ensure performance past its expiration date, said Portner of the Department of Health.

Once the department determines an item is worth zero dollars and is no longer in demand, the agency seeks to offload it. Hospitals can now source their own supplies thanks to an improved supply chain, Portner said, and some stockpiled N95 masks were made to fit larger face shapes than hospitals need. The state decided that any possible future use for the surgical masks, gowns and gloves was not worth the cost to store them.

“They are expired, there’s no demand, and ultimately they then incur a cost to the state because storage is not free,” Portner said. “At this point, with the market’s ability to support that demand, … expired versions which don’t have that manufacturer endorsement just aren’t sought after.”

The department held on to some items that could be tested and validated for use past their expiration dates, such as N95 masks approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. This process previously allowed masks left over from the swine flu/H1N1 outbreak in the 2000s to be used during the COVID-19 pandemic, Portner said. But there is not a similar process to verify the efficacy of expired surgical masks, he added.

The discarded items also included more than 70,000 expired N95 masks that were not approved by NIOSH. Scrambling to find whatever protection they could, states obtained these at the federal government’s suggestion in 2020, but the FDA no longer endorses their use.


The agency first reached out to medical schools and community groups to gauge interest in the expired supplies, Portner noted.

The DOH maintains a warehouse of medical supplies in Thurston County. That stockpile currently includes pandemic supplies equivalent to 20% of peak demand during the worst COVID-19 spikes, Portner said. The state currently has more than 13 million N95 masks, about 2 million Antigen and PCR test kits, and more than 50 million gloves, according to an inventory report provided on Feb. 15.

### Fixing the supply chain

Benjamin, of the American Public Health Association, traced the fundamental challenge back to supply chains. Governments rely on a small pool of companies to produce supplies, he said, rendering them unable to handle sudden surges in demand. After decades of outsourcing, nearly all protective supplies used in the U.S. in 2020 were made in other countries, The Associated Press reported. Those foreign manufacturers prioritized supplying their own countries, and the resulting shortages in U.S. hospitals cost lives.

For years before COVID-19 hit, medical experts and even some federal officials warned the country would be unprepared for a pandemic, according to the AP. They called on lawmakers to enhance stockpiles and make long-term purchasing commitments to the few remaining American mask producers. The pandemic renewed some interest in kick-starting U.S. mask production, but many of those efforts quickly ran aground

Being prepared for the next disaster may require maintaining some level of overcapacity that could seem inefficient or wasteful, Benjamin said, but that surplus could help us avoid devastating consequences. 

“We will have shortages of gowns and gloves and masks again,” he said, if not from another pandemic then perhaps due to wildfires or some other unforeseen disaster. “We’re going to wish we hadn’t thrown some of that stuff out.”
At least give some out during wildfire season. cmon

Rochallor
Apr 23, 2010

ふっっっっっっっっっっっっck

mawarannahr posted:

lol + lmao

quote:

Expired masks can largely continue to meet protection standards if properly stored, according to research by the CDC and French universities, which found the biggest issue was the breaking strength of the elastic ties. When COVID-19 first hit, Washington health officials actually distributed 10-year-old masks left over from the swine flu pandemic. And the federal government also sent tens of thousands of expired N95 masks to Oregon and New York City in March 2020, The New York Times has reported.

Dr. John Balmes, a professor of environmental health science at UC Berkeley, told Business Insider in March 2020 that “N95 masks really don't expire in terms of their functionality. The only part that is subject to damage over time are the elastic bands that attach the mask to the user's face, which can be damaged by sunlight."

Hey, some good news buried in the bad news. I was kinda wondering about this after buying that 400 masks for like 20 bucks deal last year.

Salt Fish
Sep 11, 2003

Cybernetic Crumb
It never ends

"Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said expired surgical masks could still be utilized by janitors, garbage collectors or other non-medical settings where the mask does not need to be sterile, it just needs to block particulate matter."

U-DO Burger
Nov 12, 2007




NeonPunk posted:

Maybe we're too negative about measles. An measles infection wipes clean *all* of your immune memory and you have to re-take every vaccine again.

That includes the Covid boosters and shots. If we look at this positively instead of dwell on the negative, it means we can just reformulate the Covid shots to JN.1 and we won't have to worry about OAS anymore!

Measles heals your immune system

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
wiping my computer fixes its issues. immune system will work the same way!

The Oldest Man
Jul 28, 2003

It wipes out all your immunity debt

Fur20
Nov 14, 2007

すご▞い!
君は働か░い
フ▙▓ズなんだね!

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

I can't get over the insanity of that Adjala article about how we "consented to sickness when we started living together" and how "we must embrace the biology of the virus."

i thought the part in world war z where america had zombie rights advocates was an absurd parody of aughts-style performative handwringing, but now i realize that's just reality

Gunshow Poophole
Sep 14, 2008

OMBUDSMAN
POSTERS LOCAL 42069




Clapping Larry

The Oldest Man posted:

It wipes out all your immunity debt

Joe Biden has launched an unprecedented program of Immunity Debt Relief what has The Cheeto Benito done lately??

cenotaph
Mar 2, 2013



So I talked to the pharmacy yesterday and I had a good conversation with someone who told me that they also haven't had sharps containers in a while (not surprising). Apparently she had been asking around and nobody knows anything! We jad a decent chuckle about the swing from "mail them in amd get a receipt from the incinerator" to "pit them imn the trash." Anyway I'm on two waiting lists now.

Steely Dad
Jul 29, 2006



The Oldest Man posted:

It wipes out all your immunity debt

Measles: the immunity debt jubilee

Rochallor
Apr 23, 2010

ふっっっっっっっっっっっっck
Don't call it losing all previous immunity, call it disease prestiging

Stutes
Oct 13, 2005

Tonight's the Night
put me down for the ‘mystery virus’ going around. on the fifth day of fever, an uncomfortable cough, and my blood oxygen is in the low 90s so I’m out of breath from any minor exertion. I’ve tested negative for flu and covid multiple times though.

NeonPunk
Dec 21, 2020

Stutes posted:

put me down for the ‘mystery virus’ going around. on the fifth day of fever, an uncomfortable cough, and my blood oxygen is in the low 90s so I’m out of breath from any minor exertion. I’ve tested negative for flu and covid multiple times though.

Try pooping and don't flush, wait 10 minutes then swab the water and test it for covid.

Like since we know that lately the newer variants just love to set up shop in the gut and apparently some folks had success in getting a positive test that way.

You need to keep a eye on your blood oxygen. It's not a good thing and you need to be prepared to get yourself to the ER immediately. If it keeps on dropping or it gets to 88 - 90, call 911 right away.

U-DO Burger
Nov 12, 2007




NeonPunk posted:

You need to keep a eye on your blood oxygen. It's not a good thing and you need to be prepared to get yourself to the ER immediately. If it keeps on dropping or it gets to 88 - 90, call 911 right away.

Stutes
Oct 13, 2005

Tonight's the Night
I did see a doctor earlier today, and I’m waiting on walgreens to fill a prescription for a steroid inhaler that will hopefully turn things around.

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
https://tradmag.ca/season3/meat/

sort of a vampire story but pretty good, really recommend reading in full. it’s appropriate because it’s set in the present, which is rare for fiction. seems like everything else is set in 2019 forever for some reason

cw: there is violence against animals in this story

edit: the author posted it on reddit, where I found it https://www.reddit.com/r/ZeroCovidCommunity/s/ZbJsWMLT6n

tuyop has issued a correction as of 23:50 on Feb 23, 2024

NeonPunk
Dec 21, 2020

Stutes posted:

I did see a doctor earlier today, and I’m waiting on walgreens to fill a prescription for a steroid inhaler that will hopefully turn things around.

Did your doctor at least gave you some oxygen before you left?

E: I can't really help much over the web but here's a YouTube video that I recommended to people I know, it might help some, but keep a eye on your O2 level and have someone irl check in on you time from time

https://youtu.be/-Y2imt1UCMY?si=MhXRIqOPUe1VIHrx

NeonPunk has issued a correction as of 23:58 on Feb 23, 2024

dxt
Mar 27, 2004
METAL DISCHARGE
Coworker sent out an email today that he started feeling sick after work yesterday, took a covid test and it was positive so he was out today. He did everything the CDC says you're supposed to do and could have infected dozens of people, what a great system we have lol

Hopefully I will continue to dodge it, worked with him a bit yesterday, but only in a large open area and of course I was the only one wearing a n95. Aura don't fail me now!

Oracle
Oct 9, 2004

The Oldest Man posted:

loving thing is kiting our population immune response like its a WoW raid

boy my husband picked a great time to decide he’s done masking outside the home.

DickParasite
Dec 2, 2004


Slippery Tilde

tuyop posted:

https://tradmag.ca/season3/meat/

sort of a vampire story but pretty good, really recommend reading in full. it’s appropriate because it’s set in the present, which is rare for fiction. seems like everything else is set in 2019 forever for some reason

cw: there is violence against animals in this story

edit: the author posted it on reddit, where I found it https://www.reddit.com/r/ZeroCovidCommunity/s/ZbJsWMLT6n

I'll read the story later when I have time. Just wanted to highlight this:

The author on Reddit posted:

It feels important to me to see our reality reflected in art instead of obscured by it. The erasure of COVID from all forms of media is part of the process of manufacturing consent for ongoing mass infection. We need to push back against that process with whatever tools we have.

:hai:

Why Am I So Tired
Sep 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/michael_hoerger/status/1761128480362643908

https://covid-for-therapists.my.canva.site/

Something to send to our lovely therapists.

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sonatinas
Apr 15, 2003

Seattle Karate Vs. L.A. Karate
very cool that a kid now has measles in my county.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/n...19/72717153007/

quote:

Statewide, vaccine coverage for the MMR (two doses) vaccine for children ages 4 to 6 years old has decreased from 89.4% in 2017 to 84% in 2022," the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported. "For children ages 19 through 35 months of age, vaccine coverage has decreased from 84.7% in April 2020 to 83.6% in December 2023."

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