outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

BTW seasonal flu is at ~.1%

Question for caek (or anyone else). Since the covid vaccines seem to be a runaway medical success, is it possible that similar highly effective vaccines could be soon made for flu, or is the issue with flu is that it is a much older virus with so many strains that the current flu vaccines (with lower effectiveness) are as good as we can expect?

Shared from a friend there with a young kid in school. You can guess his feelings.

Oklahoma COVID-19 Report - August 20

New Cases - 2851*
*521,525 to 524,376

Active Cases - 20,483 (UP)

New COVID DEATHS per CDC - 19
10-Aug, 8-July, 1-May

Total - 8956

In Hospital - 1487* (UP!)
(493 Tulsa / 345 OKC)

In ICU 398 (Up)

**56 pediatric hospitalizations (DAMN!)

— COVID-19 in Oklahoma... (@OklahomaCovid) August 20, 2021

I know people are excited that mRNA vaccines may effectively eliminate malaria, which is 1) cool 2) an indictment of the way we prioritize disease in the global south, given mRNA technology is not new.

i haven't heard anything about mRNA applied to flu. extremely not a virologist so no idea if it makes sense. and given flu evolves and has multiple strains, it would probably have the same limitations as current vaccines (i.e. different cocktail every year). but you might reasonably assume an mRNA vaccine would be more effective. current annual flu vaccines are like 20-60% effective, depending on the year.

the relative ineffectiveness of flu vaccines is one of the reasons most countries don't offer them to everyone. they save lives, but arguably "not enough" lives to be worth the cost. i don't think the US is more compassionate in this respect. it just has a very unusual (broken) set of financial incentives that mean it makes sense to offer the flu vaccine to everyone every year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/04/11/mrna-flu-shots/

Thanks, caek.

And thanks to rob for the link.

Gov. Abbott loses this round in Texas Supreme Court to @CDMenefee, the top civil attorney for the state’s largest county.

Harris County and school districts can keep enforcing mask mandates—for now.https://t.co/GNyH0xMdaH

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) August 20, 2021

i read somewhere that the main advantage in applying mRNA to flu vaccines will be in reducing how soon they can roll them out, which is currently anywhere between 4 months to 6 months or more. with mRNA, expect that number to be reduced to 1-2 months. the other advantage is being able to target a more common spike protein that can potentially cover more strains in a given season, which results in protection from more strains, but that still needs to be tested out.

(sorry if any of that is mentioned in the article rob posted; i did not read it.)

yep

One limitation of the current flu vaccines is that they take about six months to develop, meaning scientists must choose which strains they think will be prevalent in the next flu season — even before the current one is over. So by the time the vaccines are ready for distribution, a different strain may have emerged as the better target.

An mRNA flu vaccine, on the other hand, can be developed in about a month or so, giving researchers much more time to determine which strains to protect against.

there are some other problems (the cold storage we're all familiar with), and development is slow—apparently they've been working on a mRNA flu vax since 2018—but it does sound v promising

good job everyone

The city of Orlando is asking residents to reduce water consumption IMMEDIATELY. Liquid oxygen used to treat water is being diverted to the hospitals to treat COVID patients. They believe if water consumption doesn’t change, water treatment could hit a critical point in a week.

— Dave Puglisi (@DavePuglisiTV) August 20, 2021

It's getting beyond crazy out there.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/chris-johansen-maine-lawmaker-whose-wife-cindy-johansen-died-of-covid-joins-anti-vaxx-rally

And that story links to this one:

https://people.com/health/south-carolina-gop-leader-pressley-stutts-dies-from-covid-19/

the 15th percentile of journalism xp moodles

looking forward to the final collapse of the USA here in a few weeks

Meanwhile in Oregon

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/inside-icu-bend-oregon-overwhelmed-covid/283-a0b54c1e-1069-46bf-97b2-510674ce8516

I live in Winter Park, wonder if that'll also affect me here since that's on the outskirts of Orlando.

just watch, now all the "freedom" folk are gonna take six showers a day.

and then wind up in the hospital for drinking bad water

Possibly could - Winter Park does do ozonation: https://cityofwinterpark.org/departments/water-wastewater-utilities/water-treatment/

Looks like they primarily chlorinate as treatment but ozonation helps with taste.

There have been times over the last couple of years when I've genuinely wondered if there's something in our genetic makeup that exists to detect when we're no longer a viable species and then steer us towards hastening our own end. This (see news items posted this afternoon) is one of those times.

i just sent that oregon article to my mom, first correspondence to her since early april. maybe THAT will convince her!!!!

In terms of limiting covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths per thousand, Oregon was a success story up until late July. Of course, the success of NPIs meant Governor Brown was targeted for massive criticism by the usual suspects: business owners objecting to limitations, anti-vaxxers, Republican politicians riding the wave of resentment, parents clamoring for school reopening, rural people who felt safe from infection, even sports fans who wanted to attend games. She finally relented and on June 30 passed all responsibility for setting NPI policies down to the county governments. That, plus low vaccination rates and delta has meant an onrushing, almost instantaneous disaster. Now she's being widely criticized for not taking strong enough steps to stop the surge.

On a grimly lighter note, I guess

https://www.thedailybeast.com/gun-makers-afraid-of-covid-abandon-nras-big-party

And but of course

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/568730-city-hosting-trumps-rally-in-alabama-declares-covid-19-emergency

Has there been a breakdown of pediatric infections or hospitalizations by age? Because "pediatric" is anyone under 18, but as I understand it the risks of covid more or less increase the older you get, with teens much more at risk than the single-digit set.

Meanwhile:

Cavalier Daily: UVA “has disenrolled 238 students, primarily undergraduates, for not complying with the University’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement” https://t.co/CoCL38HcIX

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) August 21, 2021

A useful story in what it doesn't say:

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/08/20/covid-sf-city-employees-suspended-not-disclosing-vaccination-status/

Namely that 20 employees were suspended (eight from the SFPD but only two of them officers), and if you're thinking that's a pretty small number in general, you're right -- the entire city workforce is around 35,000 people. So when you've got less than .1 percent acting this way, that's good.

Started following Prof Balloux and he is just hilarious on twitter. Yesterday he was probably the last person from the sage group blocked him. Here he is just going after someone else via his academic record.

Second, in his follow-up replies he presents himself as a 'world leading public health expert'. which according to his publications record, I'm not convinced he really is. For a senior academic of his age, this is not a stellar publication record.
2/https://t.co/42dJLl9HyC

— Prof Francois Balloux (@BallouxFrancois) August 21, 2021

*he was boasting about the last member of the sage group blocking him on the platform*

i'm very sorry to report that people are taking a livestock medicine, Ivermectin (a deworming treatment) for Covid.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/mississippi-officials-warn-livestock-ivermectin-prevent-covid-19/story?id=79569021

i'm also very sorry to report that my mom fell for it. she believes that ivermectin works 100% of the time, but doctors aren't allowed to prescribe it because of the government, or something. she believes that the doctor who "came up with it" was banned from all social media and has been suppressed. you're supposed to take ivermectin just after feeling sick, along with Vitamin D. she says the "research was peer reviewed". her sister, my rich aunt, is also pushing this idea on her. my aunt has a "special" doctor who is willing to prescribe it. just to be clear, i'm still talking about livestock deworming medicine. my mom has this doctor on speed dial, in case she feels sick.

sometimes, seemingly at random, i dissociate for a second and i turn into a "village idiot" character where i just stare distantly and say whatever the first words are, "i like hot dogs", "air in my mouth", whatever comes to mind. it's because of this stuff. some aspects of reality are so overwhelmingly bizarre and stupid that the only way to absorb the information is just to put yourself in the st00pid zone for a minute and let it all marinate together

ivermectin's been used (unofficially) in South Africa for ages. They were doing trials but I lost track of whether they ever found anything useful.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-27/south-africa-allows-use-of-parasite-drug-to-treat-covid-patients

Just to be clear, I would not take this drug. But it is not uncommon for humans to take it.
https://www.principletrial.org/news/ivermectin-to-be-investigated-as-a-possible-treatment-for-covid-19-in-oxford2019s-principle-trial

It's so weird to me that someone would sneer at the vaccine but willingly take a livestock parasite drug. Or, for that matter, sneer at the vaccine but go to a doctor for *anything*, let alone covid. Like, they trust them to take care of them, treat their illness, fix their bones, correct their eyes, look in ears and stick fingers in butts, save their lives again and again through science and medicine, required vaccines and radioactive x-rays alike, but when they suggest the best way to take care of yourself against covid, specifically, suddenly that trust evaporates.

Meantime

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/08/21/scott-apley-covid-death-vaccine/

xp - I think you’re overestimating the extent of interaction most people have with doctors and their trust of them.

A father of two young children, Davis said that Apley’s death was a reminder to be “responsible, so that I can be here for them.” For 28-year-old Davis, responsibility means getting a coronavirus test if you feel sick, or isolating, or telling your close contacts about an infection. He said he worries about the long-term consequences of the vaccine even as he believes they have done “a tremendous amount of good.”

Apley’s death “challenged” his thinking, said Davis, a conservative who met Apley through the local political scene.

He talked with his wife afterward, and they wondered, “What do we do?” They are praying at the end of every day, he said, waiting to get the vaccine until they have some answer from God.

https://i.imgur.com/sQskrg1.gif

wump.

wump.

wump.

...

It's so weird to me that someone would sneer at the vaccine but willingly take a livestock parasite drug. Or, for that matter, sneer at the vaccine but go to a doctor for *anything*, let alone covid.

Yes! It's like the "I just need to do some more research" people. Ok, so I guess you're going to be sifting through online medical journals over the next few weeks/months and also acquiring enough schooling to be able to understand the latest advances in epidemiology and vaccine research... as opposed to just reading FB or watching a Rumble video.

Even more bizarre bc so many of these ppl are avowedly religious. So basically their faith extends to all that stuff, plus everyday medical things, which the avg person cannot claim expertise in, but somehow the line is drawn at vaccines. I can understand squeamishness around needles, and certainly distrust of govt and other authorities... but, c'mon. Why does your unthinking faith which otherwise informs almost every area of life suddenly stop at this one point (pun not intended)?

Could one of the anti-vaxxers come up with an 'freedom vaccine', formulated after doing FB research, that all of these people would actually go for to own the libs or something? (And obviously it's just the real vaccine)

It would just be straight rosemary oil.

Or a lavender/rosemary mix if you want to inoculate against COVID and anxiety.

Or an air-filled syringe

i forgot if this was posted here. bret weinstein's response was to say that he's just putting out information and people don't HAVE to listen to him. disgusting.

COVID denier dies of COVID after being "red pilled" on vaccines, ivermectin and natural immunity by medical quack Youtuber Brett Weinstein pic.twitter.com/HiD5n0Hn2Z

— Nathan Bernard (@nathanTbernard) August 10, 2021

Xposts

Hell yeah. I mean, it's kind of the only way.

Not entirely dissimilar from my recurring fantasy over the past month or so which involves some universally respected on both sides of the political spectrum person buying up universal airtime and hype
(Pretend it's a penitent Kanye or something. Anyway...) giving a speech just saying, "look. All of you ppl who are anti-reality and projecting your grievances onto political issues need to stop. You're ruining it for the rest of us. You're creating an insane world in which everyone is suspicious of everyone else 24/7, everyone is armed to the teeth in daycare centers, places of worship, grocery stores, strip clubs. Just stop this shit. Work out your personal unhappiness. But ffs don't project onto the rest of us, who are just trying to get through the day and raise our kids and grandkids amd take care of our pets and water out plants. It's fine if you don't believe in global warming, but what are you going to do if Jesus or Trump doesn't come back for 15 years or more? Address your own unhappiness (you freaks) Figure out your shit!! Your problem is likely your spouse/parent/employer and not biden/obama/hillary. Shame on you. [fifty seconds of hissing] The planet, the system that actually allows matt gaetz the literal air to say things is collapsing, at least in terma of human viability if you want more MGT, then at least make breathing a thing. Also, you guys are Nazis, just ftr. "

schwarzenegger basically did the perfect facebook post about antivaxers, the kind of thing you dream about saying to them. fat lot of good it did.

some universally respected on both sides of the political spectrum

You could try bringing back Jesus but the right would just hate him.

Tell me more Ivan Fyodorovich

Tracer, excellent point, as yeah, he woulda been a presumably non-objectionable figure to the right, but that moment of his came and went w/o much. Sucks.

Which adds to the seemingly constant
refrain these days -- why is there the constant expectation that the presumably willful ignorance, or, patently worse, malevolent bad faith spiteful grift of the right should be endlessly catered to and tiptoed around. I mean, if it were some abstract policy point, then fine to debate pro-wrestling style. Bring your absurd logic bad arguments to the table, by all means. But this is literally the future of your grandkids and theirs. I don't have kids, and am an extremely selfish shitty person, hate everyone, blah blah blah, and it still makes me apoplectic. There needs to be a universal uncompromising scolding of these people. Or else carve the country in two, unceremoniously, bc fuck this shit. Otherwise the future is global Alabama to put it at once mildly and starkly. (Ignoring a lot of global reality but this is a msg board, so)

separatism is not the answer sadly, there's lotsa cool folks in red country

yr frustration speaks to the larger issue for sure, compassion fatigue among health care workers and such

prob too much to hope for but this might be the tipping point in terms of the general public losing patience with these assholes

Sorry if my above post is alternately inarticulate or unhinged-sounding, but see karl malone's post upthread. We all have to read the news these days, just to function in basic sense, and constantly being exposed to all the weird other-sideism that is on the face irrational and sometimes just evil, to put it lazily, makes one feel like the simpsons frank grimes character