Covid-19 Numbers

[p0rtia]

I am the only person in my family (I'm single, so I mean siblings, sibling spouses, nieces/nephews, great nieces/nephews) who has not had COVID.

I'm sure that's a function of the fact that I shop curbside whenever possible, rarely go to indoor restaurants, and haven't been to a party with more than six people present since, like, before COVID (don't judge me).

I am vaxxed to the max, as well.

Who else?

[Slim Cognito]

Also vaxed to the max and never had it (knock on wood). Of course, when Hubs was sick, we were basically shut-ins and I almost showered in sanitizer if I went out.

But since then I've been dancing in close quarters with my new friends (a dance troupe that does nursing homes, parades, grand openings, etc) and so far so good. I don't know how anyone there feels about masks personally but there have been warnings we may have to dance in them if the nursing home requires. They have done it in the past when required and I note that the ladies all keep sanitizer on them so I feel pretty good about it.

[NewMexGirl]

I am the only person in my family (I'm single, so I mean siblings, sibling spouses, nieces/nephews, great nieces/nephews) who has not had COVID.

I'm sure that's a function of the fact that I shop curbside whenever possible, rarely go to indoor restaurants, and haven't been to a party with more than six people present since, like, before COVID (don't judge me).

I am vaxxed to the max, as well.

Who else?

We mask when we go to stores, ride public transportation, try to avoid crowds, try to avoid eating indoors in restaurants. It’s hopeless, though, since we have so many grandchildren. No COVID so far, but every other respiratory ailment, despite vaccines, has plagued us. The years without being with my tiny, beloved grandchildren (two born during the height of COVID) were the worst years of my life, no question. I can’t go through that deprivation again.

[qbawl]

This current variant seems to be more easily transmitted. The first time I got it I knew exactly where I picked it up (from an orderly in my hospital room). This last time though I really only had one brief encounter with anyone besides my wife for three weeks prior and that was in a dentists office where the staff were all masked and two people in the waiting room who were well spaced out. No I don't know what on.

[NewMexGirl]

This current variant seems to be more easily transmitted. The first time I got it I knew exactly where I picked it up (from an orderly in my hospital room). This last time though I really only had one brief encounter with anyone besides my wife for three weeks prior and that was in a dentists office where the staff were all masked and two people in the waiting room who were well spaced out. No I don't know what on.

Bugs the crap out of me when I go to a dentist or doctor appointment and the staff—sometimes including the dentist or doctor—isn’t wearing masks. I’m a terrible person: When that happens, I cough extravagantly, lushly, lengthily, into my mask. Masks are usually then donned hastily, though not always.

[RVInit]

I am the only person in my family (I'm single, so I mean siblings, sibling spouses, nieces/nephews, great nieces/nephews) who has not had COVID.

I'm sure that's a function of the fact that I shop curbside whenever possible, rarely go to indoor restaurants, and haven't been to a party with more than six people present since, like, before COVID (don't judge me).

I am vaxxed to the max, as well.

Who else?

[Foggy]

I keep planning to get the latest booster, but I've never had a symptom. I'm sure I'm in the 96.4% who have antibodies. I'm sure I've been exposed dozens of times. I might just be asymptomatic.

[Kriselda Gray]

None of us in my house have gotten covid. Hubby and Caretaker both got the vaccines as long as he gvmt was paying for them, but they've since stopped (even though insurance covers them.) I just got the most recent booster.

[pipistrelle]

okay, scheduled COVID and RSV for Friday

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[RTH10260]

Nearly 17,000 people may have died from hydroxychloroquine: study

BY NATHANIEL WEIXEL -
01/04/24 4:14 PM ET

Nearly 17,000 people across six countries may have died because they took hydroxychloroquine (HQC) during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020, according to a new analysis published by French researchers.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malaria drug that was prescribed off-label to treat COVID-19 in the early stage of the pandemic, as researchers and physicians scrambled to find a way to combat the disease. It was also proposed as a preventative measure.

In February and March 2020, the use of this treatment was widely promoted based on preliminary reports suggesting a potential efficacy against COVID-19. However, subsequent studies showed that not only did the drug have no benefit, it also resulted in a significant increase in risk of death.

According to the researchers from Lyon, France, and Quebec, Canada, providers still prescribed hydroxychloroquine to some patients hospitalized with COVID-19 “despite the absence of evidence documenting its clinical benefits.”

The analysis found an estimated 16,990 excess deaths across six countries — Turkey, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and the U.S. — were likely attributed to hydroxychloroquine use.

The researchers analyzed other studies that tracked hospitalizations, exposure to hydroxychloroquine and the relative risk of death from the drug.

The toxicity of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19 was partially due to cardiac side effects, such as abnormal heart rhythms.

However, the researchers noted their numbers were likely an undercoun, but could also be a significant overcount.

The study period was only from March to July 2020, and there was a general lack of data from most countries. The actual number of deaths related to hydroxychloroquine could be between 3,000 and 30,000, they said.

Worldwide, the number of deaths related to hydroxychloroquine “was obviously underestimated because of the lack of studies in regions, such as East Europe, United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavia, Africa, and South America,” the researchers wrote.



https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4 ... ths-study/

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Dr. Vicklund was taking HCQ at the start of Covid. It's pretty nasty stuff, even in low doses, and they closely monitor you (blood draws every 3 months, even more frequent than the drugs that can destroy the liver). We were horrified when they started hawking it as a cure (while it did kill Covid in vitro, it only did so at a serum level well above the lethal dose). There was an inverse correlation between people taking HCQ and getting Covid, but almost everyone that was taking HCQ before Covid was immunocompromised, and much more likely to take precautions.

[pipistrelle]

I started taking hydroxychloroquine a few months ago. Going to see if I can get off it…

[bill_g]

I started taking hydroxychloroquine a few months ago. Going to see if I can get off it…

Yeah. I'd be asking the doctor the justification for that, and seek a second opinion.

[bill_g]

I'm fully vaxxed (flu, covid, RSV, shingles), but still shop at all stores. I eat at food carts and drive-thrus exclusively and haven't been in a sit down restaurant since covid broke out. And this last Christmas was the first family gathering I've attended since covid started.

[pipistrelle]

I started taking hydroxychloroquine a few months ago. Going to see if I can get off it…

Yeah. I'd be asking the doctor the justification for that, and seek a second opinion.

It’s for the inflammatory disease, with inflammation trending up and making bad things worse. Hoping it returns to high but not ridiculous.

[Slim Cognito]

It has its purpose. It's not treating covid.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... -reporting

The Covid death toll in the US is likely at least 16% higher than the official tally, according to a new study, and researchers believe the cause of the undercounting goes beyond overloaded health systems to a lack of awareness of Covid and low levels of testing.

The second year of the pandemic also had nearly as many uncounted excess deaths as the first, the study found.

More than 1.1 million Americans have died from Covid, according to official records. But the actual number is assuredly higher, given the high rates of excess deaths. Demographers wanted to know how many could be attributed to Covid, and they drilled down to data at the county level to discover patterns in geography and time.

There were 1.2 million excess deaths from natural causes – excluding deaths from accidents, firearms, suicide and overdoses – between March 2020 and August 2022, the researchers estimated, and about 163,000 of those deaths were not attributed to Covid in any way – but most of them should have been, the researchers say.

[MN-Skeptic]

The vaccine deniers will claim that excess deaths were attributable to the Covid vaccine, not Covid itself.