Wednesday, February 24, 2021
The myriad of topics I have been reading about this week - justice, racism, viral variants, and the improving pandemic data - are swirling in my head. I woke up early from an "anxiety dream" today. I angrily walked off stage just before a live lecture on COVID in front of a hate group in the dream. And, I was late for my mother's birthday. I woke up feeling the stress of wanting to do a good job, reneging on an obligation, educating a hate group, and the guilt of a Jewish mother. I need mindless entertainment before bed.
-----Latest Data---
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/
-----
The NY Times offers a visual guide to the coronavirus variants.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/health/coronavirus-variant-tracker.html
I found (and loyal readers sent) several versions of the same article about new variants found in California - B1427 and B1429 - in the N.Y. Times and the L.A. Times. What is interesting is these articles cite data that is not yet released. And, it is still not clear what is going on with these variants. Statistical geneticist Jeffery Barrett discusses the L.A. times article. While monitoring, understanding, and being wary of variant spread, Barrett cautions against drawing too many conclusions about the impact of the "antibody escape" these variants exhibit.
https://twitter.com/jcbarret/status/1364294858035372037
article
The newspaper article in question is now in numerous papers: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/science/story/2021-02-23/california-homegrown-coronavirus-strain-looks-increasingly-transmissible-and-dangerous
Here is an excellent example of real-world vs. benchtop data. The B.1.1.7 variant has demonstrated some ability to evade native and vaccine-induced antibodies in lab settings. A loyal reader shared this very comforting pre-release article. The data looks at the vaccinated U.K. hospital staff during the peak of the B.1.1.7 spread.
"[The] study demonstrates that the BNT162b2 vaccine effectively prevents both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection in working-age adults; this cohort was vaccinated when the dominant variant in circulation was B1.1.7 and demonstrated effectiveness against this variant.]
Adam's take-aways - Pfizer vaccine was effective at stopping both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection. Even a single dose was helpful. And the fact that B.1.1.7 was circulating didn't seem to matter.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3790399
Slate published another article exploring the question, "why are the case and death rates improving so quickly?" Not a lot new here, but it is a well-written and organized look at the variables. And, the author hits on my favorite - the known unknowns.
https://slate.com/technology/2021/02/why-are-covid-cases-falling.html
Overall, I think the news is cautiously hopeful (again) today.
Infographic of the day: Venn Diagrams of Unclear Utility (VDUU)
https://twitter.com/Gbemideyforyou/status/1362942351879069697/photo/1
more:
https://twitter.com/PenseeComplexxe/status/1363203988775198720/photo/1
Learn about John Venn (and other types of logic charts!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Venn
----Bonus Round: Cool Physical Exam Findings
Here is something I loved learning about in medical school, Frank's Sign - the implication of bilateral diagonal earlobe creases (seen here: https://twitter.com/drcopps/status/1363588302666821633?s=20)
A fantastic podcast and transcript on this: http://bedside-rounds.org/episode-1-franks-sign/
(It is totally normal to look in the mirror having read the above. AND REMEMBER - Frank's sign speaks to a statistical probability, not a diagnosis!) And now that I have found the Bedside Rounds podcast, my weekend entertainment is lined up. Let's hope it doesn't give me nightmares.
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
The myriad of topics I have been reading about this week - justice, racism, viral variants, and the improving pandemic data - are swirling in my head. I woke up early from an "anxiety dream" today. I angrily walked off stage just before a live lecture on COVID in front of a hate group in the dream. And, I was late for my mother's birthday. I woke up feeling the stress of wanting to do a good job, reneging on an obligation, educating a hate group, and the guilt of a Jewish mother. I need mindless entertainment before bed.
-----Latest Data---
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/
-----
The NY Times offers a visual guide to the coronavirus variants.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/health/coronavirus-variant-tracker.html
I found (and loyal readers sent) several versions of the same article about new variants found in California - B1427 and B1429 - in the N.Y. Times and the L.A. Times. What is interesting is these articles cite data that is not yet released. And, it is still not clear what is going on with these variants. Statistical geneticist Jeffery Barrett discusses the L.A. times article. While monitoring, understanding, and being wary of variant spread, Barrett cautions against drawing too many conclusions about the impact of the "antibody escape" these variants exhibit.
https://twitter.com/jcbarret/status/1364294858035372037
article
The newspaper article in question is now in numerous papers: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/science/story/2021-02-23/california-homegrown-coronavirus-strain-looks-increasingly-transmissible-and-dangerous
Here is an excellent example of real-world vs. benchtop data. The B.1.1.7 variant has demonstrated some ability to evade native and vaccine-induced antibodies in lab settings. A loyal reader shared this very comforting pre-release article. The data looks at the vaccinated U.K. hospital staff during the peak of the B.1.1.7 spread.
"[The] study demonstrates that the BNT162b2 vaccine effectively prevents both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection in working-age adults; this cohort was vaccinated when the dominant variant in circulation was B1.1.7 and demonstrated effectiveness against this variant.]
Adam's take-aways - Pfizer vaccine was effective at stopping both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection. Even a single dose was helpful. And the fact that B.1.1.7 was circulating didn't seem to matter.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3790399
Slate published another article exploring the question, "why are the case and death rates improving so quickly?" Not a lot new here, but it is a well-written and organized look at the variables. And, the author hits on my favorite - the known unknowns.
https://slate.com/technology/2021/02/why-are-covid-cases-falling.html
Overall, I think the news is cautiously hopeful (again) today.
Infographic of the day: Venn Diagrams of Unclear Utility (VDUU)
https://twitter.com/Gbemideyforyou/status/1362942351879069697/photo/1
more:
https://twitter.com/PenseeComplexxe/status/1363203988775198720/photo/1
Learn about John Venn (and other types of logic charts!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Venn
----Bonus Round: Cool Physical Exam Findings
Here is something I loved learning about in medical school, Frank's Sign - the implication of bilateral diagonal earlobe creases (seen here: https://twitter.com/drcopps/status/1363588302666821633?s=20)
A fantastic podcast and transcript on this: http://bedside-rounds.org/episode-1-franks-sign/
(It is totally normal to look in the mirror having read the above. AND REMEMBER - Frank's sign speaks to a statistical probability, not a diagnosis!) And now that I have found the Bedside Rounds podcast, my weekend entertainment is lined up. Let's hope it doesn't give me nightmares.
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
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