Week of February 21, 2022
This week, I began exploring the finer points of driver education YouTube videos. At 10 (out of 60) hours into my son's required driving practice, I discovered my severe lack of technical jargon. But now, with 50 hours to go, I can articulate "strategic turning distances," "taillight signaling," and the concept of vehicle positioning. Some things the internet can teach you, for better or worse.
---- Latest Data
Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to decline.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
and
https://theuscovidatlas.org/map
(You need to play with the variables on this one)
Country Comparison from FT.com
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=eur&areas=usa&areas=gbr&areas=rus&areas=rou&areas=lva&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usla&areasRegional=usnv&areasRegional=usar&areasRegional=usks&areasRegional=usmo&cumulative=0&logScale=1&per100K=1&startDate=2021-06-01&values=cases
The CDC weekly review discusses the pandemic's impact on adolescent mental health.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html
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John Burn-Murdoch (F.T. data visualization guy) illustrates the role vaccinations play in decreasing the U.K.'s mortality rate through the COVID waves.
https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1493649102428680195
THE Omicron BA.2 variant is the predominant strain in Hong Kong and Denmark (and other places). A few details of note:
https://twitter.com/EnemyInAState/status/1494313246052032518
Animal data hints that BA.2 may be more transmissible and more rapidly cause lung injury.
https://twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel/status/1494812959100612610
However, there are competing opinions about BA.2's hospitalization and severe illness rates.
https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1495136668403310592
Time will tell, but BA.2 is undoubtedly no better than Omicron BA.1
And, irrespective of BA.2's pathogenicity, masks and vaccines will likely help prevent spread. Dr. Bob Wachter offered this fantastic thread on gauging risk and following case rate data to guide activities.
https://twitter.com/Bob_Wachter/status/1495165503106543618
and if you don't make it through the Tweets, here is an infographic from another commenting physician.
https://twitter.com/KashPrime/status/1495149915181301767
Good data gathering and research take time. Several studies were released this week, adding to our knowledge about treating COVID.
There is increasing data from well-designed studies that Ivermectin, when given during early illness due to COVID-19, DOES NOT decrease the risk of developing more severe disease.
https://twitter.com/boulware_dr/status/1494778006946127874
and
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/968855
and
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/968827
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 55 patients looked at the over-the-counter antacid, Famotidine (brand name Pepcid in the U.S.), as a treatment for COVID-19. "In [unvaccinated] adults with mild to moderate COVID-19, treatment with a high dose of famotidine (80 mg three times a day for 14 days) led to early resolution of symptoms and inflammation." Famotidine improved resolution of 14 of 16 assessed symptoms, including loss of smell and taste, difficulty breathing, and abdominal pain, and [demonstrated a] statistically significant increased rate of symptom recovery."
https://www.mdedge.com/internalmedicine/article/251897/covid-19-updates/heartburn-drug-shows-promise-against-covid-19
from
https://gut.bmj.com/content/early/2022/02/09/gutjnl-2022-326952
Infographics
An amazingly complex and interactive visualization of the Marvel cinematic universe's timelines, using Tableau:
commentary
https://twitter.com/SParsonsDataViz/status/1410197353420705794
Things I learned this week:
Though much of my media consumption was related to world events this week, I caught up on Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History, season 6. Not only did Gladwell include an episode about disease-sniffing dogs (one of my favorite topics), but he had a fantastic 3-part series on Disney's The Little Mermaid.
https://www.pushkin.fm/show/revisionist-history/
If you listen, I suggest spending some time with Professor Jack Zipes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Zipes). Zipes specializes in fairy tales and comparative literature and is highly critical of the Disneyfication of modern storytelling. https://youtu.be/khX9pmvPkxU
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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