Monday, February 22, 2021
During my time off, we spent some time at the Delaware beaches. I was comforted to see so many masks, even outdoors. To be sure, it was a low-key vacation. Airbnb lodgings; only carry out from the fantastic Rehoboth restaurants; and lots of board games. On the upside, double-crossing my younger son during a long game of Risk was a life-lesson about international politics only a game-filled pandemic vacation can facilitate. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Inconceivable!
https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/104366/meaning-of-never-get-involved-in-a-land-war-in-asia-in-the-princess-bride
-----Latest Data---
Despite weeks of improving trends in the case and death rates, the U.S. 7-day average deaths (~1900 per day) has only recently dropped below the April 2020 peak death rates (~2100 per day). The U.S. is vaccinating at a rate of 1.3-1.4 million doses per day.
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=casesf
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The U.S. Regionally - N.Y. Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
Vaccine Tracker
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/
-----
Among the writers I follow, improving case and death rates is the most common topic. Most wisely discuss the correlated variables (vaccine, seasonality, adherence to masks, and distancing) but clearly state that exact causation is unclear. All are happy to see the improvements and are quick to caution against too much celebration.
The COVID tracking project breaks down the data for minority communities and highlights the impact of weather in Texas.
https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates/more-good-news-this-week-covid-19-data-feb-18
The New England Journal of Medicine's Infectious disease blog has a very well-written discussion of the variables, including the somewhat mysterious notion of "seasonality."
https://blogs.jwatch.org/hiv-id-observations/index.php/why-are-covid-19-case-numbers-dropping/2021/02/21/
The Atlantic offered a more in-depth version of the "COVID-19 cases are dropping" story. It is an excellent supplement to the above. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/why-covid-19-cases-are-falling-so-fast/618041/
Writing this email has demonstrated I have a considerable bias against USA Today. Nevertheless, I found this USA Today article (originally from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) about biologist Tom Brock, who studied the bacteria living in Yellowstone's hot springs. Brock's many discoveries include a heat-stable enzyme critical for PCR technology (the testing used for COVID swabs, amongst many other things.)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/21/covid-pcr-tests-made-possible-yellowstone-finding-thermus-aquaticus/4533258001/
This weekend, a loyal reader helped bring light to the shadows of ignorance in my mind. It appears it is wiser to NOT PROPHYLACTICALLY TAKE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MEDICATIONS PRIOR TO RECEIVING A NEW VACCINE.
This 2016 article is floating around social media. It is a review (but not meta-analysis) of the known trials exploring the antibody blunting associated with antipyretics used around vaccination time. I was initially skeptical, but this is a well-done review with compelling data. The article covers several vaccines and antipyretic agents (acetaminophen (Tylenol) and NSAIDs (like ibuprofen)). The discussion links the data to animal and bench-top science. And the many open questions are discussed. The critical paragraph is:
"The timing of administration of antipyretic analgesics appears to be paramount. In all studies that reported a negative effect on antibody response, the medications were given prophylactically. Interestingly, this effect was not seen when acetaminophen was given only four hours after immunization. Additionally, all reported decreases in antibody response occurred only with novel antigen vaccination, with little to no impact observed following booster immunizations. These findings underscore the notion that the relationship between antigen exposure and the timing of the [antipyretic] dosage plays a vital role in modifying the immune response, and this set of observations can direct the focus of future research to explore the underlying mechanism."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5027726/
Infographic of the day: Santa in Britain.
I hope I am no longer writing this email in December 2021. As such, I offer this 12/2019 highly amusing breakdown of the Santa Characters from the various regions of the U.K. Was I British (and not Jewish), I would leave offerings for Cymrawd Nadolig Barfog and Gef the Talking Mongoose. I cannot believe this is real. U.K. friends - fact check this!
https://starkeycomics.com/2019/12/24/who-brings-presents-in-different-british-regions/
----Bonus Round - Happy Lister Week‽
I am not sure who gets to declare a week, but this is the right combination of on-topic and quirky. This week, The Royal Glasgow Infirmary offers numerous free, virtual events this week celebrating the namesake of Listerine, the Victorian surgeon Joseph Lister.
http://friendsofgri.org/events/
Lister was not a technically great surgeon (and exhibited many Victorian social biases) but operationalized Louis Pasteur's microbial theories. Despite being mocked by his colleagues (until he wasn't), Lister gathered data and did clinical experiments. Perseverance and science put Lister on the right side of history. But for a decade (~1865-1875), Lister was considered a radical.
Background:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Lister
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3468637/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/idea-sterilizing-surgical-instruments-only-150-years-old-180962498/
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
During my time off, we spent some time at the Delaware beaches. I was comforted to see so many masks, even outdoors. To be sure, it was a low-key vacation. Airbnb lodgings; only carry out from the fantastic Rehoboth restaurants; and lots of board games. On the upside, double-crossing my younger son during a long game of Risk was a life-lesson about international politics only a game-filled pandemic vacation can facilitate. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. Inconceivable!
https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/104366/meaning-of-never-get-involved-in-a-land-war-in-asia-in-the-princess-bride
-----Latest Data---
Despite weeks of improving trends in the case and death rates, the U.S. 7-day average deaths (~1900 per day) has only recently dropped below the April 2020 peak death rates (~2100 per day). The U.S. is vaccinating at a rate of 1.3-1.4 million doses per day.
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=casesf
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The U.S. Regionally - N.Y. Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
Vaccine Tracker
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/
-----
Among the writers I follow, improving case and death rates is the most common topic. Most wisely discuss the correlated variables (vaccine, seasonality, adherence to masks, and distancing) but clearly state that exact causation is unclear. All are happy to see the improvements and are quick to caution against too much celebration.
The COVID tracking project breaks down the data for minority communities and highlights the impact of weather in Texas.
https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates/more-good-news-this-week-covid-19-data-feb-18
The New England Journal of Medicine's Infectious disease blog has a very well-written discussion of the variables, including the somewhat mysterious notion of "seasonality."
https://blogs.jwatch.org/hiv-id-observations/index.php/why-are-covid-19-case-numbers-dropping/2021/02/21/
The Atlantic offered a more in-depth version of the "COVID-19 cases are dropping" story. It is an excellent supplement to the above. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/why-covid-19-cases-are-falling-so-fast/618041/
Writing this email has demonstrated I have a considerable bias against USA Today. Nevertheless, I found this USA Today article (originally from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) about biologist Tom Brock, who studied the bacteria living in Yellowstone's hot springs. Brock's many discoveries include a heat-stable enzyme critical for PCR technology (the testing used for COVID swabs, amongst many other things.)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/21/covid-pcr-tests-made-possible-yellowstone-finding-thermus-aquaticus/4533258001/
This weekend, a loyal reader helped bring light to the shadows of ignorance in my mind. It appears it is wiser to NOT PROPHYLACTICALLY TAKE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MEDICATIONS PRIOR TO RECEIVING A NEW VACCINE.
This 2016 article is floating around social media. It is a review (but not meta-analysis) of the known trials exploring the antibody blunting associated with antipyretics used around vaccination time. I was initially skeptical, but this is a well-done review with compelling data. The article covers several vaccines and antipyretic agents (acetaminophen (Tylenol) and NSAIDs (like ibuprofen)). The discussion links the data to animal and bench-top science. And the many open questions are discussed. The critical paragraph is:
"The timing of administration of antipyretic analgesics appears to be paramount. In all studies that reported a negative effect on antibody response, the medications were given prophylactically. Interestingly, this effect was not seen when acetaminophen was given only four hours after immunization. Additionally, all reported decreases in antibody response occurred only with novel antigen vaccination, with little to no impact observed following booster immunizations. These findings underscore the notion that the relationship between antigen exposure and the timing of the [antipyretic] dosage plays a vital role in modifying the immune response, and this set of observations can direct the focus of future research to explore the underlying mechanism."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5027726/
Infographic of the day: Santa in Britain.
I hope I am no longer writing this email in December 2021. As such, I offer this 12/2019 highly amusing breakdown of the Santa Characters from the various regions of the U.K. Was I British (and not Jewish), I would leave offerings for Cymrawd Nadolig Barfog and Gef the Talking Mongoose. I cannot believe this is real. U.K. friends - fact check this!
https://starkeycomics.com/2019/12/24/who-brings-presents-in-different-british-regions/
----Bonus Round - Happy Lister Week‽
I am not sure who gets to declare a week, but this is the right combination of on-topic and quirky. This week, The Royal Glasgow Infirmary offers numerous free, virtual events this week celebrating the namesake of Listerine, the Victorian surgeon Joseph Lister.
http://friendsofgri.org/events/
Lister was not a technically great surgeon (and exhibited many Victorian social biases) but operationalized Louis Pasteur's microbial theories. Despite being mocked by his colleagues (until he wasn't), Lister gathered data and did clinical experiments. Perseverance and science put Lister on the right side of history. But for a decade (~1865-1875), Lister was considered a radical.
Background:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Lister
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3468637/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/idea-sterilizing-surgical-instruments-only-150-years-old-180962498/
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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