Week of August 30, 2021
I'm seeing and hearing signs that the collective healthcare empathy reservoir is near empty. Burnout is prevalent amongst my colleagues. But there is a new level of weariness in the voices of my doctor and nurse friends. I have limited interactions with the surge of hospitalized, unvaccinated people. But, (as I have recounted from my clinical practice), I struggle to find patience or compassion for people demanding to unmask and stay unvaccinated (the equivalent of demanding the right to drive drunk through crowds). As the surge continues this week, I hope the increasing frustration and anger from front-line healthcare workers channels into positive public health messages and moments of individual empathy.
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U.S. Hotspot Map via N.Y. Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
And, it is time to add back the case count graphs. We are approaching case rates and hospitalizations equivalent to January 2020. (CDC link below has hospitalization data.)
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=eur&areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usla&areasRegional=usnv&areasRegional=usar&areasRegional=usks&areasRegional=usmo&cumulative=0&logScale=1&per100K=1&startDate=2021-06-01&values=cases
CDC Weekly Review of Data and Variant Tracking
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html
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There is increasingly clear data that both age and time from the second dose of the vaccine correlate with waning immunity.
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1432054828633444358
Here is an Israeli study:
https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/reports/vaccine-efficacy-safety-follow-up-committee/he/files_publications_corona_immunity-waning-082021.pdf
From MMWR
"During May 23–June 12, 2021, 26 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases occurred among Marin County, California, elementary school students and their contacts following exposure to an unvaccinated infected teacher. The attack rate in one affected classroom was 50%; risk correlated with seating proximity to the teacher."
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7035e2.htm
Discussion
https://twitter.com/DrTomFrieden/status/1431336808609103878
Schools need masks, vaccinate teachers and staff, and preparations for remote learning.
"The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released new data showing that unvaccinated people were 15.4 times, or 1,540 percent, more likely to die from COVID-19 during the four-week period ending August 21, 2021."
https://www.wbtv.com/2021/08/27/report-unvaccinated-people-are-more-than-15-times-more-likely-die-covid-19/
Here is a fantastic visual guide to how viral variants form:
https://www.cell.com/trends/microbiology/fulltext/S0966-842X(21)00162-1
Commentary
https://twitter.com/alinouriphd/status/1431607932790116354?s=10
Israeli data suggests that those who have had both a SARS-CoV-2 infection AND at least one dose of an mRNA vaccine have superior protection against the Delta variant compared to those protected only with 2-dose vaccination. The problem is, purposefully getting sick to achieve this immune protection is foolish and dangerous. There is no way to predict the severity of illness.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/08/having-sars-cov-2-once-confers-much-greater-immunity-vaccine-no-infection-parties
Infographics!
I did not know logging was one of the deadliest jobs by fatal injuries per 100,000 workers. Fishermen (or, more inclusively, Fisher people?) and pilots are a close second and third. Computer and mathematical jobs are the safest. I guess I can take off my hard hat and goggles at my desk?
https://www.yourlawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/deadliest-safest-jobs-america-6.png
Some animals have purple blood.
https://i2.wp.com/www.compoundchem.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Chemistry-of-Blood-Colours-2015.png
Things I learned this week:
You can embarrass teenagers by reading (aloud, to them) from this book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91842.Dr_Tatiana_s_Sex_Advice_to_All_Creation
I highly recommend this New Yorker article about rationality and Bayesian thinking - as a hobby.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/23/why-is-it-so-hard-to-be-rational
In turn, I found the referenced 2014 article on a statistical analysis of Bob Ross's paintings. Ninety-one percent have at least one tree, but only 23% had cumulus (happy little?) clouds.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-statistical-analysis-of-the-work-of-bob-ross/
Cuttlefish are neither fish nor cuddly. But they have an excellent memory.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/08/cuttlefish-remember-the-what-when-and-where-of-meals-even-into-old-age/
The cephalopod husbandry community is a valuable resource for addressing my instantaneous thought after reading this article - "Why don't I own a cuttlefish?"
http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/cuttle3.php
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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