Tuesday, September 01, 2020

The 13 Most Outrageous Covid-19 Myths and Misconceptions

No, viruses can’t travel on 5G networks, and herd immunity is not a good option

Robert Roy Britt
Only a highly politicized, historically deadly pandemic could generate this number of outlandish and sometimes deadly myths, conspiracies, hoaxes, and misconceptions. There are so many false Covid-19 claims floating around — more than 2,000, according to a recent study — that even the sharpest minds can be excused for a little coronavirus confusion amid this great global infodemic, fueled by hucksters and pranksters and facilitated by social media.

“The stuff that gets shared by people makes people walk away thinking this is no big deal, that the virus is as trivial, and most people do fine, and for 99% of people it’s harmless,” says Ashish Jha, MD, a practicing internist and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

While some of the fabrications might do little more than make your head spin, others are downright dangerous, and collectively, they fuel distrust in science, in media, and in the governments and institutions that are, or at least should be, trying to protect public health.

Here’s a reality check on a dozen or so of the more inaccurate, outrageous, and sometimes dangerous Covid-19 falsehoods.
1. The coronavirus spreads on 5G networks

This would be fascinating were it true… or even possible! Star Trek fans would recognize the stunning breakthrough as the first instance of biological teleportation. The myth, spread in part by a handful of celebrities, holds that cell towers broadcast Covid-19 over 5G frequencies or that the electromagnetic fields (EMFs) generated by 5G smartphones somehow cause the disease or make it worse. For the record, 5G is nothing more than radio waves at higher frequencies than 4G.

“EMF exposure from 5G devices does not cause Covid-19, nor does it have any effect on the disease process or health outcomes of those who are infected by the new coronavirus,” states the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection.

The Mayo Clinic puts it bluntly: “Viruses can’t travel on radio waves.” (Well, some viruses can, but they’re not the biological variety.)
2. The virus was made in a laboratory

By mid-March, 23% of Americans were convinced Covid-19 was developed intentionally in a laboratory, and another 6% thought it was accidentally made in a lab, a Pew Research Center poll found. The percentage of infectious-disease experts who agree is roughly 0%.

There are variations on this conspiracy theory, as Yasmin Tayag reports in Elemental, including that it’s a scheme for population control or that Bill Gates is behind it as a way to boost vaccine sales. Or that either China or the U.S. developed it as a bioweapon.

In fact, the novel coronavirus, like many viruses before it, originated in animals and hopped to humans. Numerous scientists have analyzed the genome of the virus and come to the same conclusion. A July 28 study in the journal Nature Microbiology confirmed what many others have indicated: The virus came from bats.
3. It’s not that bad

This is just total B S— a product of political efforts to detract from the seriousness of the pandemic or outright denial of facts.

Sure, early on we didn’t have a clear picture of the full extent of the ravages of Covid-19. But scientists now say it’s about five times as deadly as the flu. The pandemic has already killed more Americans in a few months than any disease outbreak has in an entire year since 1918 (and no, the death toll is not inflated — in fact, it’s thought to be well below the real total). In addition, the notion that only old people suffer is bunk. More than 12,000 Americans under age 55 have died of Covid-19, according to the CDC.

Meanwhile, thousands of American at various ages are dealing with dozens of crippling long-haul symptoms, ranging from exhaustion to confusion to pain — weeks and months after their supposed recoveries.
4. The coronavirus is mutating into something more (or less) dangerous

Yes, the virus has mutated, surprising exactly zero virologists. No it hasn’t changed in any way important to our understanding of its seriousness.

“Viruses mutate all the time,” says Jha, the Harvard doctor. “Most of them have no clinical biological significance,” adding: “I haven’t seen any data at least that I’m aware of that compels me to think that the virus has become any more or any less lethal.”

A review of the existing research in Science magazine, citing several experts, concludes there is no firm evidence that the mutations have had any effect — positive or negative — on how infectious or deadly the virus is.
5. Drinking alcohol can protect you from the coronavirus

Unlike 5G networks, alcohol does have an effect on Covid-19: It raises your risk. “Alcohol use, especially heavy use, weakens the immune system and thus reduces the ability to cope with infectious diseases,” the World Health Organization states. And for the record, drinking alcohol-based hand sanitizer won’t help, either. In fact it could kill you straight away, as it has a few folks already.
6. Ingesting garlic, bleach, or hot peppers will kill coronavirus

Let’s take these one by one. Drinking bleach can destroy your organs and kill you. Spraying it on your body will irritate your skin. Neither is effective against any virus that’s inside you.

Garlic? Save it for the vampires.


Drinking bleach can destroy your organs and kill you. Spraying it on your body will irritate your skin. Neither is effective against any virus that’s inside you.

It’s a healthy food, but “there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Hot peppers? If they’re super hot, you might feel the pain, but the coronavirus won’t.
7. Hydroxychloroquine might work. Who knows?

No matter how many times someone with a big audience says this, it continues to be a fantasy, scientists know. The Food & Drug Administration says “recent results from a large, randomized clinical trial in hospitalized patients” found hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine phosphate (the stuff of fish-tank cleaners that an Arizona man fatally drank) “showed no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery.” That study was in line with other research, the FDA says. What does it have? A long list of side effects.


“This is already being presented as serious science on FOX News.”

The hydroxychloroquine ruse has, of course, been pitched by the U.S. president. It’s also promoted by professional-looking websites riddled with plausible-sounding disinformation about supposed supporting scientific evidence. “This is an infuriating new frontier in Covid-19 disinformation,” says Carl Bergstrom, PhD, a professor of Biology at the University of Washington and author of the new book Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World.

Worse, the false claims get picked up by popular media outlets and relayed as factual or possible. “This is already being presented as serious science on Fox News,” Bergstrom says of one of the bogus sites.
8. Kids aren’t contagious

First there was the false notion that kids didn’t catch Covid-19. As of late May, nearly 10% of American believed that one, according to an Ipsos poll. The Coronavirus in Kids project, which draws on state and federal data and does its own research to find cases not in the official numbers, estimates that about 3 million American children 17 and younger have been infected.

Talk shifted to “Well, yeah, but kids don’t pass it on.” And, lo and behold, they do. Kids 10 and older are thought to be as contagious as adults. Younger children can pack a boatload of coronavirus in their snot, and one study estimated they are about half as contagious as adults, though subsequent research has suggested the rate may be lower.

Still, there’s this myth…
9. Kids don’t get sick with Covid-19

It’s true that children and also young adults seem less likely to become seriously ill or die from the disease, but less risk is clearly not no risk. The CDC data is not thought to paint a complete picture of childhood Covid-19 deaths, given poor reporting by some states and reporting lags, but here are the agency’s numbers as of Aug. 22:

17 infants

12 kids ages 1–4

28 kids ages 5–14

The Coronavirus in Kids project paints a fuller picture. As of Aug. 27, the project counts 1,240 pediatric intensive care admissions and 118 deaths of children and teens 19 and younger, with only 27 states reporting such data.

Some people are quick to note how low these numbers are, to which others might respond: They are not low if your child is among them. And the picture is changing: The CDC recently said cases among kids are rising — perhaps a reflection of lockdowns being lifted — as is the rate of hospitalization among children. We’ve only begun to experience, let alone analyze, what happens in communities where classrooms open and children are reintroduced into society after being largely locked down since the early days of the pandemic.

Recent data from the American Academy of Pediatrics actually finds Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths are now rising at a faster rate in children and teens than among the general public, The New York Times reports Aug. 31.
10. Six feet is the golden rule

It would be nifty if the coronavirus, when emitted by coughing, sneezing, or just breathing, always fell to the ground within 6 feet. While it makes really good sense to stay six feet away from other people to reduce the risk of infection, this guideline is rooted in data from the 1930s.

Scientists have since learned that while large respiratory droplets do fall within a few feet, smaller droplets called aerosols can go farther.

Scientists and health organizations like the WHO now agree that the coronavirus can become airborne and travel throughout a room. This is why experts say six feet is great, 10 feet is better, and neither are fully effective in crowded rooms with poor ventilation.
11. Masks don’t help

Well, um, how do we say this? Masks work. Admittedly, public health officials messed up the messaging on this big time. But the basic science is settled: Properly worn, masks provide some protection to the wearer, and they are even more effective at protecting others. While not a silver bullet (see the six-foot rule above), masks are a key tactic in layers of mitigation needed to get the pandemic under control.
12. Neck gaiters may actually spread the virus

If you heard neck gaiters are worse than nothing, that’s wrong, too. Unfortunately, several media outlets misinterpreted a recent study and fueled this misconception. Any cloth face covering is better than nothing at reducing the amount of coronavirus an infected person releases, research shows.

And no, wearing a mask “does not lead to CO2 intoxication nor oxygen deficiency,” WHO says. We know this from the millions of doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals who wear them constantly.
13. Herd immunity can end the pandemic

There could be some truth to this one, but before you follow the herd of disingenuous proponents of the idea, you might want to know the “ifs” and “buts.”

If a successful vaccine is developed, and most people get the vaccine, the virus finds fewer people to infect and eventually goes sub-pandemic. Yet, we don’t know for sure that a safe and successful vaccine will emerge, nor when, nor just how effective it will be. But herd immunity can also occur naturally. If no vaccine is developed, and sans serious prevention efforts, the idea is that enough people would catch the coronavirus, creating sufficient population-level immunity to significantly slow or stop the spread. But we don’t yet know how much immunity develops from a Covid-19 infection, nor how long it lasts. Regardless, at least 40–50% of people would have to develop immunity for the herd effect to work, experts say, maybe as many as 70% (it depends on just how effective the immunity actually is).

But that level of natural immunity would result in at least 1 million U.S. deaths. That’s a “but” with six zeroes.

Still, natural herd immunity — letting the virus spread rapidly while letting the nation get back to business as usual — is reportedly being promoted to the president by Scott Atlas, who joined the White House recently as a pandemic adviser, according to the Washington Post. Angela Rasmussen, PhD, a virologist at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, reacted on Twitter to the news: “If herd immunity through natural infection is even achievable, it will result in thousands — if not millions — more deaths,” she said


WRITTEN BY
Robert Roy Britt
Explainer of things, science & health journalist, author, former editor-in-chief of LiveScience & Space dot com, seeker of a more just and equitable world.
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A Supercomputer Analyzed Covid-19 — and an Interesting New Theory Has Emerged
A closer look at the Bradykinin hypothesis


Thomas Smith

Photo: zhangshuang/Getty Images

Earlier this summer, the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee set about crunching data on more than 40,000 genes from 17,000 genetic samples in an effort to better understand Covid-19. Summit is the second-fastest computer in the world, but the process — which involved analyzing 2.5 billion genetic combinations — still took more than a week.

When Summit was done, researchers analyzed the results. It was, in the words of Dr. Daniel Jacobson, lead researcher and chief scientist for computational systems biology at Oak Ridge, a “eureka moment.” The computer had revealed a new theory about how Covid-19 impacts the body: the bradykinin hypothesis. The hypothesis provides a model that explains many aspects of Covid-19, including some of its most bizarre symptoms. It also suggests 10-plus potential treatments, many of which are already FDA approved. Jacobson’s group published their results in a paper in the journal eLife in early July.

According to the team’s findings, a Covid-19 infection generally begins when the virus enters the body through ACE2 receptors in the nose, (The receptors, which the virus is known to target, are abundant there.) The virus then proceeds through the body, entering cells in other places where ACE2 is also present: the intestines, kidneys, and heart. This likely accounts for at least some of the disease’s cardiac and GI symptoms.

9 Things Experts Have Learned About Covid-19 So Far

The disease has not changed, but scientific understanding has evolved dramatically

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But once Covid-19 has established itself in the body, things start to get really interesting. According to Jacobson’s group, the data Summit analyzed shows that Covid-19 isn’t content to simply infect cells that already express lots of ACE2 receptors. Instead, it actively hijacks the body’s own systems, tricking it into upregulating ACE2 receptors in places where they’re usually expressed at low or medium levels, including the lungs.

In this sense, Covid-19 is like a burglar who slips in your unlocked second-floor window and starts to ransack your house. Once inside, though, they don’t just take your stuff — they also throw open all your doors and windows so their accomplices can rush in and help pillage more efficiently.

The RAS controls many aspects of the circulatory system, including the body’s levels of a chemical called bradykinin, which normally helps to regulate blood pressure. According to the team’s analysis, when the virus tweaks the RAS, it causes the body’s mechanisms for regulating bradykinin to go haywire. Bradykinin receptors are resensitized, and the body also stops effectively breaking down bradykinin. (ACE normally degrades bradykinin, but when the virus downregulates it, it can’t do this as effectively.)

The end result, the researchers say, is to release a bradykinin storm — a massive, runaway buildup of bradykinin in the body. According to the bradykinin hypothesis, it’s this storm that is ultimately responsible for many of Covid-19’s deadly effects. Jacobson’s team says in their paper that “the pathology of Covid-19 is likely the result of Bradykinin Storms rather than cytokine storms,” which had been previously identified in Covid-19 patients, but that “the two may be intricately linked.” Other papers had previously identified bradykinin storms as a possible cause of Covid-19’s pathologies.


Covid-19 is like a burglar who slips in your unlocked second-floor window and starts to ransack your house.

As bradykinin builds up in the body, it dramatically increases vascular permeability. In short, it makes your blood vessels leaky. This aligns with recent clinical data, which increasingly views Covid-19 primarily as a vascular disease, rather than a respiratory one. But Covid-19 still has a massive effect on the lungs. As blood vessels start to leak due to a bradykinin storm, the researchers say, the lungs can fill with fluid. Immune cells also leak out into the lungs, Jacobson’s team found, causing inflammation.

Coronavirus May Be a Blood Vessel Disease, Which Explains Everything

Many of the infection’s bizarre symptoms have one thing in common

elemental.medium.com

And Covid-19 has another especially insidious trick. Through another pathway, the team’s data shows, it increases production of hyaluronic acid (HLA) in the lungs. HLA is often used in soaps and lotions for its ability to absorb more than 1,000 times its weight in fluid. When it combines with fluid leaking into the lungs, the results are disastrous: It forms a hydrogel, which can fill the lungs in some patients. According to Jacobson, once this happens, “it’s like trying to breathe through Jell-O.”

This may explain why ventilators have proven less effective in treating advanced Covid-19 than doctors originally expected, based on experiences with other viruses. “It reaches a point where regardless of how much oxygen you pump in, it doesn’t matter, because the alveoli in the lungs are filled with this hydrogel,” Jacobson says. “The lungs become like a water balloon.” Patients can suffocate even while receiving full breathing support.

The bradykinin hypothesis also extends to many of Covid-19’s effects on the heart. About one in five hospitalized Covid-19 patients have damage to their hearts, even if they never had cardiac issues before. Some of this is likely due to the virus infecting the heart directly through its ACE2 receptors. But the RAS also controls aspects of cardiac contractions and blood pressure. According to the researchers, bradykinin storms could create arrhythmias and low blood pressure, which are often seen in Covid-19 patients.

The bradykinin hypothesis also accounts for Covid-19’s neurological effects, which are some of the most surprising and concerning elements of the disease. These symptoms (which include dizziness, seizures, delirium, and stroke) are present in as many as half of hospitalized Covid-19 patients. According to Jacobson and his team, MRI studies in France revealed that many Covid-19 patients have evidence of leaky blood vessels in their brains.

Bradykinin — especially at high doses — can also lead to a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. Under normal circumstances, this barrier acts as a filter between your brain and the rest of your circulatory system. It lets in the nutrients and small molecules that the brain needs to function, while keeping out toxins and pathogens and keeping the brain’s internal environment tightly regulated.

If bradykinin storms cause the blood-brain barrier to break down, this could allow harmful cells and compounds into the brain, leading to inflammation, potential brain damage, and many of the neurological symptoms Covid-19 patients experience. Jacobson told me, “It is a reasonable hypothesis that many of the neurological symptoms in Covid-19 could be due to an excess of bradykinin. It has been reported that bradykinin would indeed be likely to increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. In addition, similar neurological symptoms have been observed in other diseases that result from an excess of bradykinin.”

Increased bradykinin levels could also account for other common Covid-19 symptoms. ACE inhibitors — a class of drugs used to treat high blood pressure — have a similar effect on the RAS system as Covid-19, increasing bradykinin levels. In fact, Jacobson and his team note in their paper that “the virus… acts pharmacologically as an ACE inhibitor” — almost directly mirroring the actions of these drugs.

By acting like a natural ACE inhibitor, Covid-19 may be causing the same effects that hypertensive patients sometimes get when they take blood pressure–lowering drugs. ACE inhibitors are known to cause a dry cough and fatigue, two textbook symptoms of Covid-19. And they can potentially increase blood potassium levels, which has also been observed in Covid-19 patients. The similarities between ACE inhibitor side effects and Covid-19 symptoms strengthen the bradykinin hypothesis, the researchers say.

ACE inhibitors are also known to cause a loss of taste and smell. Jacobson stresses, though, that this symptom is more likely due to the virus “affecting the cells surrounding olfactory nerve cells” than the direct effects of bradykinin.

Though still an emerging theory, the bradykinin hypothesis explains several other of Covid-19’s seemingly bizarre symptoms. Jacobson and his team speculate that leaky vasculature caused by bradykinin storms could be responsible for “Covid toes,” a condition involving swollen, bruised toes that some Covid-19 patients experience. Bradykinin can also mess with the thyroid gland, which could produce the thyroid symptoms recently observed in some patients.

The bradykinin hypothesis could also explain some of the broader demographic patterns of the disease’s spread. The researchers note that some aspects of the RAS system are sex-linked, with proteins for several receptors (such as one called TMSB4X) located on the X chromosome. This means that “women… would have twice the levels of this protein than men,” a result borne out by the researchers’ data. In their paper, Jacobson’s team concludes that this “could explain the lower incidence of Covid-19 induced mortality in women.” A genetic quirk of the RAS could be giving women extra protection against the disease.

The bradykinin hypothesis provides a model that “contributes to a better understanding of Covid-19” and “adds novelty to the existing literature,” according to scientists Frank van de Veerdonk, Jos WM van der Meer, and Roger Little, who peer-reviewed the team’s paper. It predicts nearly all the disease’s symptoms, even ones (like bruises on the toes) that at first appear random, and further suggests new treatments for the disease.

As Jacobson and team point out, several drugs target aspects of the RAS and are already FDA approved to treat other conditions. They could arguably be applied to treating Covid-19 as well. Several, like danazol, stanozolol, and ecallantide, reduce bradykinin production and could potentially stop a deadly bradykinin storm. Others, like icatibant, reduce bradykinin signaling and could blunt its effects once it’s already in the body.

Interestingly, Jacobson’s team also suggests vitamin D as a potentially useful Covid-19 drug. The vitamin is involved in the RAS system and could prove helpful by reducing levels of another compound, known as REN. Again, this could stop potentially deadly bradykinin storms from forming. The researchers note that vitamin D has already been shown to help those with Covid-19. The vitamin is readily available over the counter, and around 20% of the population is deficient. If indeed the vitamin proves effective at reducing the severity of bradykinin storms, it could be an easy, relatively safe way to reduce the severity of the virus.

Other compounds could treat symptoms associated with bradykinin storms. Hymecromone, for example, could reduce hyaluronic acid levels, potentially stopping deadly hydrogels from forming in the lungs. And timbetasin could mimic the mechanism that the researchers believe protects women from more severe Covid-19 infections. All of these potential treatments are speculative, of course, and would need to be studied in a rigorous, controlled environment before their effectiveness could be determined and they could be used more broadly.

Covid-19 stands out for both the scale of its global impact and the apparent randomness of its many symptoms. Physicians have struggled to understand the disease and come up with a unified theory for how it works. Though as of yet unproven, the bradykinin hypothesis provides such a theory. And like all good hypotheses, it also provides specific, testable predictions — in this case, actual drugs that could provide relief to real patients.

The researchers are quick to point out that “the testing of any of these pharmaceutical interventions should be done in well-designed clinical trials.” As to the next step in the process, Jacobson is clear: “We have to get this message out.” His team’s finding won’t cure Covid-19. But if the treatments it points to pan out in the clinic, interventions guided by the bradykinin hypothesis could greatly reduce patients’ suffering — and potentially save lives.


WRITTEN BY
Thomas Smith
Co-Founder & CEO of Gado Images. I write, speak and consult about AI, privacy, photography, tech and the Bay Area. Send any inquiries to tom@gadoimages.com.
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WRITTEN BY
Thomas SmithFollow

Co-Founder & CEO of Gado Images. I write, speak and consult about AI, privacy, photography, tech and the Bay Area. Send any inquiries to tom@gadoimages.com.
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Coronavirus can spread through drain pipes in bathrooms, study suggests



As the coronavirus pandemic evolves, more information emerges on how the virus spreads in the community. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), spreads through aerosols, which are small droplets that remain suspended in the air.
Now, a new study reveals that the virus may spread via aerosols through drain pipes in bathrooms, after scientists examined an abandoned apartment in Guangzhou, China. The findings add to the body of evidence suggesting the virus is transmissible via aerosols.
Study: Aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2? Evidence, prevention and control.
 Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

Airborne transmission

Several studies have revealed that COVID-19 can spread through aerosols in the hospital setting.
Airborne transmission is defined as the spread of an infectious agent through the dissemination of droplet nuclei (aerosols) that remain infectious when suspended in the air for long distances and time, the WHO reports.
Initially, the WHO said that the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 could occur during medical procedures that produce aerosols, such as nebulization. However, recent evidence has shown that airborne transmission can also spread in enclosed areas where there is poor ventilation, such as offices.
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Spread in bathrooms

A team of researchers from the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC), the University of Utah, and the Nanjing Medical University aimed to review the evidence of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
To arrive at the study findings, the scientists conducted an “on-site tracer simulation experiment” to evaluate if the virus could spread through waste pipes through tiny airborne particles, which are generated by the force of a toilet flush.
The team noted an incident in February, when SARS-CoV-2 RNA on surface samples, such as those from the shower handle, faucet, and sink, was found in a bathroom of an unoccupied apartment. The bathroom is located on the 16th floor, which was right above the apartment of five people with COVID-19, which were diagnosed between Jan. 16 and Jan. 30.
The team said that an on-site trace simulation experiment also confirmed the possibility of aerosol transport through drainage pipes after flushing the toilet on the 15th floor. The team showed that aerosols were found in the restrooms of apartments on the 25th floor and the 27th floor of the building.
“Although transmission via the shared elevator cannot be excluded, this event is consistent with the findings of the Amoy Gardens SARS outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003,” the authors wrote in the paper, citing unpublished data from the CCDC.

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In the Amoy Gardens case in 2003, warm and moist air from the bathroom of a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patient excreting high concentrations of the virus in feces and urine has established a plume in the air shaft that spread the pathogen to other apartments.

Other sources of airborne transmission

Aside from bathrooms through sewage pipes, the team also cited other instances that airborne spread of the SARS-CoV-2 is more likely. For instance, a choir rehearsal in Washington in the United States has led to the infection of 53 out of the 61 attendees, while two of these patients had died. The rehearsal imposed adequate precautions for droplet transmission, and none of the attendees had symptoms.
Health experts suspect that the virus may have spread through singing, wherein the forceful inhalation and exhalation may have aerosolized the virus, leading to high levels of disease transmission.
“This indoor transmission risk may have been increased because of high occupancy, long duration, loud vocalization, and poor ventilation. A recent study addressed the potential long distances covered by SARS-CoV-2 through cough and sneeze and revealed that small droplets emitted during a sneeze, could reach distances of 7–8 meters,” the authors noted.
Other reports of airborne transmission have been mentioned, such as outbreaks involving cases in relatively confined or crowded environments, including hospitals, public vehicles, offices, shopping malls, and prisons.
“Poor ventilation for a relatively long time and lack of mask use may have increased the risk of aerosolized infection. Taken together, this suggests the possibility of aerosol transmission, especially in confined settings after exposure to high concentrations of viral aerosols for a long time,” the researchers said.
The team urges governments and healthcare settings to impose precautionary control strategies that are essential for the protection of public health. They should inform the general public, particularly the vulnerable groups, about avoiding crowded and poorly ventilated environments.
Since there is a risk of airborne transmission in closed spaces, providing adequate natural ventilation, increasing air exchange rates, and reducing the use of central air conditioning, are all critical. Public transport vehicles should be disinfected regularly, and restrooms should also be thoroughly cleaned regularly.
Most importantly, wearing masks, avoiding crowded places, physical distancing, and proper hand hygiene are still the best ways to prevent infection and spread of COVID-19.
The study is published in the journal Environmental International.
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Newly approved drugs in Canada lack key pediatric drug information

Newly approved drugs in Canada lack important pediatric drug information in their product monograph, according to an analysis led by McMaster University and McMaster Children's Hospital.
This absence of pediatric information perpetuates "off-label" drug use which could be dangerous for this vulnerable population, say the authors. They add that Canadian regulatory mechanisms are needed to ensure submission of pediatric data by manufacturers when use in children is anticipated.
The findings were published today in Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Open.
Less than one-third of new Canadian drugs are approved for pediatric patients. Dosing information was missing for the majority of pediatric age groups, but most concerningly for newborns. In addition, we found that many important drugs that treat critical diseases are not approved for use in newborns or children."
Samira Samiee-Zafarghandy, Study Senior and Corresponding Author and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, McMaster University
Samiee-Zafarghandy is also a neonatologist and pediatric clinical pharmacologist at Hamilton Health Sciences' McMaster Children's Hospital.
Diseases with no new drug development approved for children include, among others, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), seizure, depression and severe pain.
The detailed analysis was conducted of product monographs, which are intended to provide the necessary information, especially for health professionals, for the safe and effective use of a new drug.
The research team manually reviewed monographs of all new drugs approved by Health Canada between 2007 and 2016. During this time, Health Canada approved 281 drugs, 270 of which had clear benefit for children.

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However, only 75 (28 per cent) of the drug monographs were approved for children and there were only 10 (4 per cent) drugs approved for use in newborns.
For a few oral drugs with approval in children (15), only nine (60 per cent) were available in child-friendly, age-appropriate dosage forms.
"Although we were aware that information present in the drug labels are usually more focused on adult patients, the extent of the absence of prescribing information available for children was much, much greater than we anticipated," said Samiee-Zafarghandy.
"We were also confounded by how many drugs used in critical conditions for pediatric and newborn patients did not have any information for their proper use in these children. Many of these drugs are being prescribed to children anyway, and the lack of pediatric data in their monograph can make it difficult for physicians and pharmacists to optimize treatment. The result may be inadequate treatment or increased side effects."
Samiee-Zafarghandy said regulatory mechanisms to require the submission of pediatric data by manufacturers to Health Canada are urgently needed to promote both neonatal and pediatric drug development.
"Our study is the first to report this severe lack of necessary information in labeling of Canadian drugs for pediatric patients," she said.
"The results of this study will serve as a foundation for future comparisons of pediatric drug information availability between Canadian drug labels, and drug labels of medications approved in other advanced countries."
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Scientists say insect repellent kills the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus on surfaces


The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is ravaging across the globe and has now infected more than 24.1 million people and claimed over 825,000 lives. There is no known vaccine or treatment for COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but physical distancing, proper hand hygiene, and wearing of masks are known ways to prevent infection.
Now, a team of scientists at Britain's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) has shared preliminary findings of their research, showing that a product in insect repellent can kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Defense scientists conducted the study to see if insect repellents would provide a protective layer against COVID-19, which contains Citridiol, a clinically proven insect repellent that is naturally sourced and a flagship product of Citrefine International Ltd.

Insect repellent study

In the study, which has not yet been externally peer-reviewed, DSTL was tasked by MoD Surgeon General to examine the antiviral activity of Citriodiol, and Mosi-Guard Natural spray against SARS-CoV-2 virus. The team released two trials, which were performed by the United Kingdom government laboratory at Proton Down.
The team adopted two approaches of the antiviral activity of the product – when directly applied to the virus as a liquid drop and assessment of the product after application to latex synthetic skin.

The trials

In the standard assay or liquid contact, the team mixed a virus suspension with Mosi-guard Natural spray, or selected constituent components have reduced the SARS-CoV-2 strain, England-2, isolate titers after just one minute.
The first trial confirmed that the product, traditionally sold as in insect repellent containing 30 percent Citriodiol, has a significant effect on SARS-CoV-2. When the mixture was slightly diluted, the product still demonstrated at least 99.99 percent inactivation of the coronavirus within just one minute. In the test, there were 10,000 live virus particles, but in just ten minutes, the number went down to 10 active particles.
In the second test, the team studied the effect of Mosi-guard Natural on a surface. The researchers chose to dry off any alcohol in the product, which can interfere with the results of the experiment. They found that the product had reduced the viruses on the surface by up to 99 percent almost immediately and continuing to inactivate the remaining particles over the next four hours. After four hours, about 99.99 percent of the virus particles have been inactivated.
"We are very excited by these findings and have several new studies either already going through laboratories or planned," Jacqueline Watson, Managing Director of Citrefine, said.
The team said that the experiments used the SARS-CoV-2 England-2 isolate, which was isolated from a patient in the United Kingdom obtained from the Public Health England (PHE) Colindale.
"Although other isolates may behave differently within the experimental design described, it is assumed that all isolates and subsequent passages will behave similarly," the researchers said.

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Sky News reports that Military troops are being given the insect repellent that may provide a new layer of protection against the coronavirus disease.

What is Citriodiol?

Citriodiol® is a trading name for commercial preparation of Eucalyptus citriodora oil, which contains the major component, p-menthane-3,8-diol. Formulations containing Citriodiol® are widely used as mosquito repellents. A major component of Citriodiol® is p-menthane-3,8-diol (PMD).
The product is considered the most effective insect repellent and is a naturally sourced active ingredient against several biting insects. It is derived from the oil of the Eucalyptus cirtriodora tree, also called Corymbia citriodora.
Close-up of gum nuts and citrus scented eucalyptus leaves of the Lemon Scented Gum, Australia (Eucalyptus citriodora) or (Corymbia citriodora). Image Credit: Peter Krisch / Shutterstock
Close-up of gum nuts and citrus-scented eucalyptus leaves of the Lemon Scented Gum, Australia (Eucalyptus citriodora) or (Corymbia citriodora). Image Credit: Peter Krisch / Shutterstock

COVID-19 situation

The COVID-19 pandemic has now reached 188 countries and territories, wherein the United States and Brazil are the hardest-hit nations. The U.S. has seen over 5.82 million people infected with the coronavirus, while more than 179,000 people have died. In Brazil, there are at least 3.71 million confirmed cases and more than 117,000 deaths.
India and Russia follow with more than 3.3 million cases, and at least 968,000 people are infected, respectively.
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Blood pressure medication could be an effective tool for reducing cardiovascular risk

Blood pressure medication can prevent heart attacks and strokes - even in people with normal blood pressure. That's the finding of late breaking research presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2020.
Greater drops in blood pressure with medication lead to greater reductions in the risk of heart attacks and strokes. This holds true regardless of the starting blood pressure level, in people who previously had a heart attack or stroke, and in people who have never had heart disease."
Professor Kazem Rahimi, Principal Investigator, University of Oxford, UK
"The fact that the relative effects are similar for everyone does not mean that everyone should be treated," he added. "This decision will depend on an individual's likelihood of suffering cardiovascular disease in the future - there are a number of risk calculators health professionals can use. Other factors to consider are the potential for side effects and the cost of treatment."

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There has been controversy about whether pharmacological blood pressure lowering is equally beneficial in people with versus without a prior heart attack or stroke, and when blood pressure is below the threshold for hypertension (typically 140/90 mmHg). Evidence from previous studies has been inconclusive, leading to contradictory treatment recommendations around the world.
This was the largest - and most detailed - study ever conducted to examine these questions. The researchers combined data on individuals who had participated in a randomized clinical trial and conducted a meta-analysis. The study included 348,854 participants from 48 trials.
Participants were divided into two groups: those with a prior diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and those without. Each group was divided into seven subgroups based on systolic blood pressure at study entry (less than 120, 120-129, 130-139, 140-149, 150-159, 160-169, 170 and above mmHg).
Over an average four years of follow-up, each 5 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure lowered the relative risk of major cardiovascular events by about 10%. The risks for stroke, ischaemic heart disease, heart failure and death from cardiovascular disease were reduced by 13%, 7% and 14% and 5%, respectively.
Neither the presence of cardiovascular disease nor the level of blood pressure at study entry modified the effect of treatment.
Professor Rahimi said: "The decision to prescribe blood pressure medication should not be based simply on a prior diagnosis of cardiovascular disease or an individual's current blood pressure. Rather, blood pressure medication should be viewed as an effective tool for reducing cardiovascular risk when an individual's probability of having a heart attack or stroke is elevated."
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Law created in wake of 9/11 drives powers behind COVID-19 research, medical trials

By Dan Ashley & Tim Didion
Monday, August 31, 2020 

The historic attacks of September 11 may seem to have little in common with the COVID-19 crisis. But 9/11, and the mysterious Anthrax attacks that followed, triggered a series of emergency laws that wield critical power today.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- For months the Trump administration has turned to an arsenal of special emergency powers to battle COVID-19, even releasing some drugs on a trial basis.

Now in an interview with the "Financial Times," FDA head Dr. Stephen Hahn is quoted as saying they would consider possibly using them again, to approve an early release of a coronavirus vaccine. But to understand where that power comes from, you have to turn the clock back to another major American crisis.

The historic attacks of September 11 may seem to have little in common with the COVID-19 crisis. But 9/11, and the mysterious Anthrax attacks that followed, triggered a series of emergency laws that wield critical power today.

"There was considerable concern in the Bush administration that we would be attacked again," says retired Rear Admiral, USPHS, Kenneth Bernard, M.D.

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Dr. Bernard helped head up a special bioterrorism team in the wake of 9/11. Their mission resulted in a wide ranging law called the BioShield act of 2004. Among their first priorities was to create a pipeline of vaccines as quickly as possible.

"Of course it sped things up, because the biggest impediments to moving a new product to the market are the testing for the safety and the efficacy," explains Dr. Bernard.

First, millions of federal dollars poured into a market-fund for vaccine development. Pharmaceutical companies were ultimately granted protection from most liability, in follow-up legislation. And the Secretary of Health and Human Services along with the FDA were given special authority to speed the release of promising drugs and vaccines before the normal course of clinical trial, using a device known as an E.U.A., or emergency use authorization.

"The Emergency Use Authorization gave the government the ability to declare a health emergency or a need for that product that was more important than the full licensure process," says Dr. Bernard.

And flashing forward, that fast track power may be even more critical today. The BioShield powers and those of related bills are now the legal driver for much of the government's emergency Covid 19 response. The Federal funding system kick started a race for a Covid vaccine that's proceeding at an unprecedented pace. And Golden Gate University Law professor Kathleen Morris says it's also empowered federal agencies.

"In many ways, it's like a lot of laws where congress delegates broad authority to a federal agency, to solve a specialized problem," says professor Morris.

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But the Trump administration has wielded other BioShield powers early and often with some mixed results. An emergency use authorization for the drug Hydroxychloriquin, touted by the President, was ultimately reversed. While another for the use of convalescent blood plasma was ultimately approved after a back and forth over the scientific data. And now come published reports that the administration may consider a fast track release of a vaccine, possibly before the November election. While the BioShield laws do provide emergency power, professor Morris says oversight responsibility ultimately rests with Congress.


"And that if someone starts to act in bad faith, congress will step and do something about it," she explains.

Dr. Bernard says he's proud of what BioShield has accomplished in the decades since 911, and in battling the COVID-19 crisis. He's also hopeful that the checks and balances in place will ensure its used responsibly in the weeks and months ahead.

"Scientists reaching out from everywhere, giving counter arguments when they think that the national leadership has gone off line, especially on the science," he points out.

Protecting a set of powers that may be needed to protect America again in the future.
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Trump Is a Coward
Biden calls the president weak on crime, Russia, and the coronavirus. Trump proves him right.

By WILLIAM SALETAN AUG 31, 2020





One of Donald Trump’s biggest frauds is that he’s a strong leader. He says he’s tough on China, tough on borders, and tough on looters and anarchists. But when toughness really counts, he’s craven. He sucks up to Vladimir Putin, writes love letters to Kim Jong-un, begs Xi Jinping for help in getting reelected, and causes thousands of deaths by refusing to face a catastrophic virus. On Monday, Joe Biden launched a frontal assault on Trump’s cowardice. And Trump, in a press conference afterward, validated Biden’s indictment.

Trump thinks the recent wave of violence in certain cities—some of it related to protests against shootings by police—can help him change the subject from COVID to law and order. Biden, speaking in Pittsburgh, directly addressed that issue. “If Donald Trump wants to ask the question, ‘Who will keep you safer as president?’, let’s answer that question,” said Biden. “When I was vice president, violent crime fell 15 percent … The murder rate is up 26 percent across the nation this year under Donald Trump.”

Biden argued that in street clashes between left- and right-wing extremists, real political courage consists of standing up to the miscreants on your own side. Trump hasn’t just failed that test, Biden said; he’s ducked it. “He’s got no problem with right-wing militia, white supremacists, and vigilantes with assault weapons, often better armed than the police,” said Biden. Trump’s “failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia in this country shows how weak he is.”

Biden coupled this attack with a scathing assessment of Trump’s appeasement of Russia. “The Kremlin has put bounties on the heads of American soldiers,” said Biden. But “instead of telling Vladimir Putin … that there’d be a heavy price to pay if they dare touch an American soldier, this president doesn’t even bring up the subject in his multiple phone calls with Putin.” Biden also pointed to reports that “Russian forces just attacked American troops in Syria, injuring our service members. Did you hear the president say a single word? Did he lift one finger? Never before has an American president played such a subservient role to a Russian leader. It’s not only dangerous. It’s humiliating.”
Above all, Biden lambasted Trump for shrinking from his duties.

Trump has surrendered to the novel coronavirus as well, Biden noted. The former vice president likened the disease to a wartime adversary, noting that it had killed more Americans than “every war since Korea combined.” He observed that COVID’s death toll dwarfs the current threat from street violence. “More cops have died from COVID this year than have been killed on patrol,” said Biden. While hyping manageable threats, Trump ignores the big one.

Above all, Biden lambasted Trump for shrinking from his duties. Images of urban violence in Trump’s ads, Biden noted, “are images of Donald Trump’s America today. He keeps telling you if only he was president, it wouldn’t happen. … He is president.” This flight from responsibility—running away from bad news in Syria and Afghanistan, blaming violence on mayors, abandoning governors to deal with COVID on their own—defines Trump’s failure as a leader. He is, in Biden’s words, “a bystander in his own presidency.”

Against this cowardice, Biden promised to govern the country with backbone. He rebuked left-wing vandals who abuse the protest movement. “Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting,” Biden declared. “It’s lawlessness … And those who do it should be prosecuted.” He mocked Trump’s simultaneous caricatures of him as an establishment dinosaur and a communist stooge. “Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters?” he joked.

But Biden also argued that to lead with strength, a president must do more than bluster. He must listen and heal. The reason Trump can’t extinguish racial unrest, said Biden, is that “he refuses to even acknowledge that there’s a racial justice problem.” And the reason Trump can’t get aid to people whose livelihoods have been wrecked by COVID is that he can’t “pull together the leaders in Congress.” Biden contrasted Trump’s insecurity and rigidity with his own record of bringing people together: police; nonwhite communities; and lawmakers, mayors, and governors from opposing parties.

At a press conference hours after Biden spoke, Trump vindicated Biden’s criticisms of him. The president disowned responsibility for the violence in cities, calling them “Democrat-run.” When a reporter asked Trump why he wasn’t meeting with the family of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot in the back seven times by police last week, the president said it wasn’t safe, because the family wanted its attorney to join the conversation by phone. “I thought it would be better not to do anything where there are lawyers involved,” he pleaded.

Another reporter asked Trump why he hadn’t said anything about his fans who drove trucks through Portland on Saturday, firing paintballs and pepper spray at adversaries and bystanders. “That was a peaceful protest,” Trump said of the truck caravan, and “paint is not bullets.” When a third reporter asked about Kyle Rittenhouse, the white vigilante who shot two people to death in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, Trump defended the shooter. “He was trying to get away from them,” said Trump. “They very violently attacked him.” If Rittenhouse hadn’t shot them, Trump argued, “he probably would have been killed.”

Trump is a coward. He hides from COVID. He refuses to confront Putin about the alleged bounties. He refuses to criticize assailants and killers who support him. He won’t even talk to a Black family about a loved one shot by police. He’s afraid of the family’s lawyer. Lots of people are cowards, but you can’t give them this kind of responsibility. When the president is a coward, people die.
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