COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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Pugsy
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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by Pugsy » Tue Dec 22, 2020 12:46 pm

Viruses mutate...it's how they survive and perpetuate their species. It's not a new virus but instead just a new variant or mutation of the original strain that has learned how to infect people more effectively and faster. It loves humans.

I would bet my last dollar it is already here in the US...this new variant that everyone is talking about.
The flu viruses have always done it (mutate). That's why we get to get a new flu shot every fall. :lol: I am so crossing my fingers that we don't need a new Covid shot every fall....can you imagine the logistical problem of so many people needing another booster every year.
Covid is just another coronavirus just like the flu viruses or even the common cold viruses....I really didn't expect it to behave any differently than all the others. It just unfortunately has the potential for some very serious outcomes where the flu or common cold doesn't normally cause such serious outcomes and mortality. It's a nasty little bastard for sure.

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by ChicagoGranny » Thu Dec 24, 2020 9:31 am

Arlene1963 wrote:
Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:37 am
Recently it has emerged that a variant of Covid19 has been identified in the exact area (Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape Province) where my family lives in South Africa. It is similar to the UK variant, however the South African variant would appear not only to be much more transmissible but there is some speculation that it could be causing more severe symptoms in younger people with no comorbidities.
In yesterday's podcast by Dr. Vincent Racaniello and Amy Rosefield, they stated that this variant has now disappeared. It's not unusual for a virus variant to have a "short run."

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by Arlene1963 » Thu Dec 24, 2020 11:04 am

Hi CG,
Could you please post a link to the podcast, I would very much like to listen to it.
I sure hope it has, that would be great news.

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by chunkyfrog » Thu Dec 24, 2020 11:54 am

Mutations are often caused by unstable DNA, which is not durable enough
to maintain itself over numerous iterations.

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by ChicagoGranny » Thu Dec 24, 2020 12:00 pm

Arlene1963 wrote:
Thu Dec 24, 2020 11:04 am
Hi CG,
Could you please post a link to the podcast, I would very much like to listen to it.
I sure hope it has, that would be great news.
It's mentioned in the first few minutes of this podcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRfQ9fEfe4U&t=884s

Vincent also did a special 24-minute podcast about the new variant - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRfQ9fEfe4U&t=884s (Kind of a calm-down-people podcast.)

You might want to subscribe to his channel. He did a the-sky-is-not-falling podcast last night - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6qD1EO1T9c&t=807s I hope to watch it in the next day or two.

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by Arlene1963 » Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:35 pm

Thanks. I watched the first podcast you linked to, and actually really enjoyed it, but am wondering why Amy has concluded the SA variant has died out, she seems very sure of her position but she doesn't provide the evidence for why she has stated this. I would love to know why she has says this.

The number of cases continues to rise in SA and so I am curious as to which variant is now dominant there.

Here is a link to the official latest update re numbers in SA.

https://www.nicd.ac.za/latest-confirmed ... -dec-2020/

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by McSleepy » Thu Dec 24, 2020 4:05 pm

FWIW:

Virus nomenclature below the species level: a standardized nomenclature for natural variants of viruses assigned to the family Filoviridae

"Unfortunately, there is no universally accepted definition for the terms “strain”, “variant”, and “isolate” in the virology community, and most virologists simply copy the usage of terms from others."
"Consequently, “a virus”, “a strain”, “a variant”, or “an isolate” always refers to populations and not to single physical entities, and their descriptions are therefore based on average properties."
"According to Van Regenmortel, a (natural) virus strain is a “variant of a given virus that is recognizable because it possesses some unique phenotypic characteristics that remain stable under natural conditions”"

McSleepy

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by ChicagoGranny » Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:58 pm

McSleepy wrote:
Thu Dec 24, 2020 4:05 pm
a (natural) virus strain is a “variant of a given virus that is recognizable because it possesses some unique phenotypic characteristics that remain stable under natural conditions”"
In layman's terms, a new strain is one that has different and observable biological effects. It could be the rate of transmission or the effects on the infected animal or the ability to evade a vaccine.

There is no evidence that the SA variant creates these effects. It can't be told by an epidemiology study that the variant has a higher transmission rate. The higher transmission rate is likely due to the people with the variant exposing themselves to many people.


Arlene1963 wrote:
Thu Dec 24, 2020 1:35 pm
Thanks. I watched the first podcast you linked to, and actually really enjoyed it, but am wondering why Amy has concluded the SA variant has died out, she seems very sure of her position but she doesn't provide the evidence for why she has stated this. I would love to know why she has says this.
That's a good question. Especially so since SA (and the US) does little tracking at the variant level. I will look for more discussion soon in the podcast.

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by Arlene1963 » Fri Dec 25, 2020 8:23 am

Arlene1963 wrote:
Tue Dec 22, 2020 7:37 am

For example a cousin of mine who lives in the UK flew to the Eastern Cape this past weekend, hours before the flights were grounded. Sigh.
Just heard that my Uncle and his wife in South Africa have both now got Covid19. My cousin (who is their son) from the UK has to stay away from them. I am not at all sure of the details but my Uncle let me know this morning.
What a shit storm.
My Uncle is my mother's brother. He is 83 years old and his wife is 81. They both have co-morbidities.

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by Arlene1963 » Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:23 pm

ChicagoGranny wrote:
Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:58 pm

Especially so since SA (and the US) does little tracking at the variant level. I will look for more discussion soon in the podcast.
On the contrary, South Africa been very active in tracking Covid 19 at the variant level.

https://www.krisp.org.za/

Also, according to South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize (quoted today in an article in the Globe and Mail which is published in Canada), South Africa is part of a group of countries that are leading in the field of genomic surveillance: Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/a ... th-africa/

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by ChicagoGranny » Fri Dec 25, 2020 3:36 pm

Arlene1963 wrote:
Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:23 pm
On the contrary, South Africa been very active in tracking Covid 19 at the variant level.

https://www.krisp.org.za/
The article I see is referring to HIV genomic sequencing. Another article there says about Africa in general,
The use of genomics to support the response to COVID-19 and containment of the virus in Africa is currently low.
In the below article, SA does not appear in the top 10. US is number 43 with a pitifully low 0.3 genome tests. Hopefully, our President-Elect will change this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... -variants/

I'm glad to see this in print.
There is no evidence to suggest the South African variant is more transmissible, causes more severe disease or increased mortality than Britain’s variant or any other variant that has been sequenced in the world, said Mkhize.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/a ... th-africa/
Let's stay in touch.

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by Arlene1963 » Fri Dec 25, 2020 5:19 pm

Hi CG,

The first link provided clearly discusses Covid 19, I am not sure what you are referring to about HIV?

As to the other point you make, If the South African Minister of Health is making incorrect claims about the extent of South African genomic tracking, then I am rather leery of his other claims regarding transmissibility. :?

I will try to keep in touch, but at the moment am very concerned about very close elderly relatives in South Africa with this virus.

For me it is very real and quite emotional, and not so much an exercise in intellectual discovery. I am still mourning my mother.

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Re: COVID 19, CPAP, Ventilator MEGA THREAD...everything go here please

Post by Cpapian » Sat Dec 26, 2020 12:56 am

Arlene1963 wrote:
Fri Dec 18, 2020 6:15 pm
My mother passed away from Covid19 related complications yesterday. I just wanted to update from my last post.
I am so sorry Arlene. It is hard to lose a mother in normal times, but to lose her earlier due to Covid somehow seems worse. My sincere condolences.

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Re: MMR Vaccine Could Protect Against COVID-19

Post by Cpapian » Sat Dec 26, 2020 1:00 am

ChicagoGranny wrote:
Sat Dec 19, 2020 8:07 am
MMR Vaccine Could Protect Against COVID-19

Here is a study with evidence that an MMR vaccine might offer protection against the worse cases of COVID-19. The study has given rise to an idea that would explain why younger groups do not experience significant symptoms when contracting COVID. Younger people have been more recently vaccinated than older people.

One of our nation's top virologists, Vincent Racaniello, has stated that he took a MMR vaccine recently because of the evidence it will offer some significant protection from COVID.

You can get an MMR vaccine without a doctor's order. GoodRx has coupons for about $90. I don't know whether Medicare or other insurance plans will pay.

https://mbio.asm.org/content/11/6/e02628-20
Interesting information. I never had a vaccine since I developed my antibodies the hard way.

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Re: MMR Vaccine Could Protect Against COVID-19

Post by southerndoc » Sat Dec 26, 2020 1:10 am

Cpapian wrote:
Sat Dec 26, 2020 1:00 am
ChicagoGranny wrote:
Sat Dec 19, 2020 8:07 am
MMR Vaccine Could Protect Against COVID-19

Here is a study with evidence that an MMR vaccine might offer protection against the worse cases of COVID-19. The study has given rise to an idea that would explain why younger groups do not experience significant symptoms when contracting COVID. Younger people have been more recently vaccinated than older people.

One of our nation's top virologists, Vincent Racaniello, has stated that he took a MMR vaccine recently because of the evidence it will offer some significant protection from COVID.

You can get an MMR vaccine without a doctor's order. GoodRx has coupons for about $90. I don't know whether Medicare or other insurance plans will pay.

https://mbio.asm.org/content/11/6/e02628-20
Interesting information. I never had a vaccine since I developed my antibodies the hard way.
Some of this information is wrong. 50% of people who test positive for COVID-19 are not asymptomatic. The number is around 20%. The 1% fatality rate is from COVID-19 itself and not from subsequent outcomes (i.e., it induces a hypercoagulable state; I've seen 20 year olds have devastating strokes while recovering from a recent COVID-19 infection).

I can't say with certainty that an MMR vaccine doesn't help somewhat, but I think 80 patients is far too low of a number to show any correlation. I did not see the age breakdown of MMR titres correlated with mortality by age. Why? 80 patients isn't enough to do that.

I've read thoroughly about COVID-19 because I'm an ER physician and associate medical director in a tertiary-care hospital that is leading the nation in number of cases of COVID-19 we are seeing (>160 patients admitted currently with COVID-19). I've read about vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, remdesivir, plasma, steroids, etc. Although it's interesting the suggestion that MMR is correlated, it's hardly enough to say definitively and I certainly wouldn't go get an MMR booster.

On another note, I haven't had any side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine other than dizziness for a few hours. Will see what happens with the second dose.

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