Week of May 16, 2022
Accompanying our pursuit of trivia during a family game of Trivial Pursuit was a mix of 80s music. While songs like Footloose have self-evident meanings (and a movie), I struggled to explain songs like The Safety Dance. Moreover, I found myself in a quagmire of double entendre with lyrics like, "Everybody have fun tonight, everybody Wang Chung tonight." My kids were not buying that Wang Chung was a name used as a verb. Sadly, as a "child of the 80s," I feel compelled to defend neon, mullets, and synthesizers. Next time, I will choose more straightforward and angry protest songs from the 60s and the disaffected grunge of the 90s. I am not, apparently, accountable for those decades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Chung_(band)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Safety_Dance (read the meaning of the song section)
---- Latest Data
Case rates and hospitalizations are still rising. Death rates are still falling slightly. I am glad to be wrong, so far, that death rates would increase.
N.Y. Times Tracker
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
Country Comparison from FT.com
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areas=hkg&areas=chn&areas=jpn&areas=aus&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usla&areasRegional=usnv&areasRegional=usar&areasRegional=usks&areasRegional=usmo&cumulative=0&logScale=1&per100K=0&startDate=2021-06-01&values=cases
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Dr. Eric Topol captured many concerns expressed in articles and Tweets over the last few weeks. We are in a poorly monitored surge of COVID with an evolved variant more able to escape the immunity conferred by vaccines. Dr. Topol suggests a messaging shift from zero COVID to zero COVID deaths.
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/the-covid-capitulation
The Washington Post editorial on this topic - "Be Less Alarmed, More Prepared."
"Clearly, we are a long way from the fraught early days of 2020, and another wave should not trigger the same alarm. But given the transmissibility of the latest variant, wearing face masks indoors in crowded situations remains an important defense measure, and it matters that they are quality and properly fitted. Frequent testing — even with the less precise antigen rapid tests — is another line of defense. And vaccines remain effective and free."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/14/new-covid-wave-ba-subvariant-be-prepared-not-alarmed/
Along the same lines, a loyal reader shared this preprint (non-peer-reviewed) article that using a case-control methodology indicates Omicron causes the same morbidity and mortality as previous variants. The notion that Omicron was more "mild" looks inaccurate. I recommend reading this article's discussion section about covariates, confounders, and quantifying "severity of illness."
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1601788/v1
Article about the article:
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-severe-previous-covid-variants-large-study-finds-2022-05-05/
The NY Times offers an interactive report marking the 1-million deaths from COVID so far in the United States. The article sums up numerous trends and thoughts from the first two years of this pandemic.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/05/13/us/covid-deaths-us-one-million.html
A loyal reader also shared a fantastic podcast on the fractured public health data reporting system and the emergence of the COVID Tracking Project. I highly recommend listening - the learnings about how important it is to coordinate data definitions are valuable for anyone trying to understand complex problems at scale.
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/pandemic-tracking-and-the-future-of-data/
Random Medical Realities and Technologies
A challenging aspect of being a physician is helping patients make complex medical decisions, often referred to as shared decision making. The problem is striking a balance between respecting patient preferences and offering them objective guidance, even with no technical or experiential knowledge. In other words, what do healthcare providers do when a patient does not comprehend the implications and ramifications of their choices? An excellent example of this is helping patients understand the elements of choosing between dialysis, home dialysis, and transplant. Without significant and time-intensive education, it is not unusual for patients to ask, "what would you do if you were me?" Unfortunately, this introduces the possibility of paternalism. But when a decision is urgent, or there are no meaningful educational opportunities, how can we help patients make decisions? It is a delicate dance between supportive and unethical. I recently found this article that captures that balance well:
https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/selective-paternalism/2012-07
Some further background:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_paternalism
Infographics!
How do solar panels work?
https://cen.acs.org/energy/solar-power/Periodic-Graphics-solar-panels-work/100/i11
I challenge each of us to subtly slip "methylammonium lead halide Perovskite solar cell" into casual conversation this week.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perovskite_solar_cell
Things I learned this week
Science fiction is hitting reality. The Hill offered a comprehensive and link-filled article about the spate of reports about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs).
https://thehill.com/opinion/3488406-ufo-sleuths-make-extraordinary-discoveries-congress-should-take-note/
Of note, there will be congressional hearings on UAP this Tuesday, May 17. I do not believe any extraterrestrials will be testifying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSDweUbGBow
Here is an interesting blog post on the topic
https://www.toddheberlein.com/blog/2022/5/14/the-first-congressional-hearing-on-ufos-in-50-years
The Polyester Bees returned to our backyard this weekend. Solitary bees that manufacture polyester-like bioplastics are both fascinating and a little sad. They don't look lonely, but who knows what a bee is feeling?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/metro/urban-jungle/pages/110315.html
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
Adam
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