April 29, 2020
Wednesday
(For real this time. Only one person noted that I messed up the day/date yesterday. Oy vey. Back to two-source date verification. Damn quarantining calendar confusion.)
There is increasing tension in the media regarding the difficult choices that we have before us. The struggle of how to approach restarting public facilities, businesses, and activities is now THE topic. And, this is where science and data can only inform (and not dictate) an answer since there are no perfect solutions. I only hope the discussions include some comments on relative risk and trade-offs. I think the hardest part is helping people think through the situations they are facing in the context of group/population-level data.
-----------
Latest data
FT data (No change in the presentation)
https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest
Death vs. Cases in the US.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-covid-cases-deaths?country=US
An estimate of the effective reproduction number by state (not updated daily)
https://rt.live/
What is this analysis about? http://systrom.com/topic/coronavirus/
This article offers a number of salient points outlining the practical and political dilemmas of "reopening" the country. I was particularly intrigued by the measurement of business interruption call the Waffle House Index.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/americans-are-not-going-wait-sufficient-testing/610807/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index
A twitter review of COVID-related articles
https://twitter.com/NakedCapsid/status/1255196120109776899
He does an outstanding job summarizing his reading with graphics, weekly.
I have found numerous articles and editorials in the last day or so commenting on thinking critically about publicly discussed science data.
The Journal Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01266-z
Take a free Yale program on Coursera on understanding medical data for non-clinicians
https://www.coursera.org/learn/medical-research?utm_source=YALE&utm_medium=institutions&utm_campaign=Newsletter-202004-Email-UMR
More Twitter comments on the physicians from Bakersfield, CA
https://twitter.com/DrRobDavidson/status/1254865812797534211
Here are the effects of not thinking clearly about data:
Don't drink methanol
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-28/hundreds-dead-in-iran-after-drinking-methanol-to-cure-virus/12192582
UV light and Lysol are not suitable for the body either
https://www.wired.com/story/heres-what-disinfectants-and-uv-light-really-do-to-your-body/
Here is a fascinating article on a respected, but well connected and well-known oncologist. In recent weeks, as he made public comments, they have been interpreted, labeled, and politicized. I think this is an excellent example of why it is so hard to control messaging and nuance, even if your agenda is, for the most part, apolitical and reasonable.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/29/david-agus-trump-white-house-coronavirus-response/?utm_content=buffer95876&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter_organic
I don't like ties, but here is my favorite infographic of the day:
https://i.redd.it/6soa1ewgldv41.jpg
Bonus Round - Some History of Vaccine Development
I came across Dr. Haffkine in my review of doctors who focused on epidemics of the past. He was a Russian physician in the late 1800s that advanced knowledge of vaccine development and had success with Plague and Cholera inoculation. He was a strong proponent of control-group and safety testing of vaccines and protected many people in Europe and Asia in the early 1900s.
Background https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldemar_Haffkine
Readable overview article: https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-1897-a-scientist-tests-a-bubonic-plague-vaccine-on-himself-1.5387995
Albert Calmette is the "C" in BCG vaccine. He was a French physician who developed several anti-venom agents in his early career. He turned to tuberculosis and worked to develop a less virulent strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which became the foundational work behind the BCG vaccine. Also, for many years, he was a physician leader at the Pasteur Institute. The BCG vaccine is still used in many parts of the world today.
Background on Calmette: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Calmette
About the vaccine https://tbfacts.org/bcg/
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
(For real this time. Only one person noted that I messed up the day/date yesterday. Oy vey. Back to two-source date verification. Damn quarantining calendar confusion.)
There is increasing tension in the media regarding the difficult choices that we have before us. The struggle of how to approach restarting public facilities, businesses, and activities is now THE topic. And, this is where science and data can only inform (and not dictate) an answer since there are no perfect solutions. I only hope the discussions include some comments on relative risk and trade-offs. I think the hardest part is helping people think through the situations they are facing in the context of group/population-level data.
-----------
Latest data
FT data (No change in the presentation)
https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest
Death vs. Cases in the US.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/daily-covid-cases-deaths?country=US
An estimate of the effective reproduction number by state (not updated daily)
https://rt.live/
What is this analysis about? http://systrom.com/topic/coronavirus/
This article offers a number of salient points outlining the practical and political dilemmas of "reopening" the country. I was particularly intrigued by the measurement of business interruption call the Waffle House Index.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/americans-are-not-going-wait-sufficient-testing/610807/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index
A twitter review of COVID-related articles
https://twitter.com/NakedCapsid/status/1255196120109776899
He does an outstanding job summarizing his reading with graphics, weekly.
I have found numerous articles and editorials in the last day or so commenting on thinking critically about publicly discussed science data.
The Journal Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01266-z
Take a free Yale program on Coursera on understanding medical data for non-clinicians
https://www.coursera.org/learn/medical-research?utm_source=YALE&utm_medium=institutions&utm_campaign=Newsletter-202004-Email-UMR
More Twitter comments on the physicians from Bakersfield, CA
https://twitter.com/DrRobDavidson/status/1254865812797534211
Here are the effects of not thinking clearly about data:
Don't drink methanol
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-28/hundreds-dead-in-iran-after-drinking-methanol-to-cure-virus/12192582
UV light and Lysol are not suitable for the body either
https://www.wired.com/story/heres-what-disinfectants-and-uv-light-really-do-to-your-body/
Here is a fascinating article on a respected, but well connected and well-known oncologist. In recent weeks, as he made public comments, they have been interpreted, labeled, and politicized. I think this is an excellent example of why it is so hard to control messaging and nuance, even if your agenda is, for the most part, apolitical and reasonable.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/29/david-agus-trump-white-house-coronavirus-response/?utm_content=buffer95876&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter_organic
I don't like ties, but here is my favorite infographic of the day:
https://i.redd.it/6soa1ewgldv41.jpg
Bonus Round - Some History of Vaccine Development
I came across Dr. Haffkine in my review of doctors who focused on epidemics of the past. He was a Russian physician in the late 1800s that advanced knowledge of vaccine development and had success with Plague and Cholera inoculation. He was a strong proponent of control-group and safety testing of vaccines and protected many people in Europe and Asia in the early 1900s.
Background https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldemar_Haffkine
Readable overview article: https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-1897-a-scientist-tests-a-bubonic-plague-vaccine-on-himself-1.5387995
Albert Calmette is the "C" in BCG vaccine. He was a French physician who developed several anti-venom agents in his early career. He turned to tuberculosis and worked to develop a less virulent strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which became the foundational work behind the BCG vaccine. Also, for many years, he was a physician leader at the Pasteur Institute. The BCG vaccine is still used in many parts of the world today.
Background on Calmette: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Calmette
About the vaccine https://tbfacts.org/bcg/
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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