General Coronavirus chit chat thread - non-travel specific

The Indian Variant, B.1.6.17 strain affecting Taiwan, Singapore and the like seems more likely to affect children :



But right back at you from Indian politicians who want to rebrand it the "Singapore strain" and stop all flights from Singapore ....

 
Lots more research coming out.Those who have recovered from covid produce a wide range of antibodies not just to the spike protein.Antibodies have been identified to parts of the virus that appear not to mutate so a potential future for a better vaccine.

However high titre convalescent plasma does not help in treatment.'

Also a lot of research into tissue obtained from those who have died giving a lot more on how covid effects human cells.

Neurologic symptoms are reasonably common and not good news.
 
Studies continue to come out.
It appears men who have lower testosterone levels appear to be more at risk of severe Covid.

Also seems that treatment with colchicine can reduce the severity.
 
Given the current frenzy around Covid-19 and the (thankfully at long last faded) Australian 'world-first breakthroughs' (TM) this may be of interest to any scientists, or those interested in science, out there:


And, for anyone who has never read it, I have always loved the opening par of Watson & Crick's (1 page... ;)) paper that described the structure of DNA: http://dosequis.colorado.edu/Courses/MethodsLogic/papers/WatsonCrick1953.pdf

The rest is history.
 
Given the current frenzy around Covid-19 and the (thankfully at long last faded) Australian 'world-first breakthroughs' (TM) this may be of interest to any scientists, or those interested in science, out there:


And, for anyone who has never read it, I have always loved the opening par of Watson & Crick's (1 page... ;)) paper that described the structure of DNA: http://dosequis.colorado.edu/Courses/MethodsLogic/papers/WatsonCrick1953.pdf

The rest is history.
Excellent. Re-inforces my-long held dislike against the worshipping of 'peer review' in the popular press and media (and which I've expressed occasionally in this august site :) ) . And yes, I also love Watson & Crick's modest introduction of the double helix structure ...
 
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Some facts on Hotel Quarantine that are not widely known.From June to September 2020 1 in 6 HQ residents in Sydney attended RPAH ED.This article discusses the Mental health problems at those visits.

And simple nasal swab tests can have serious consequences.
 
A little more on the value - or not - of peer review.


Anyone interested in the shambolic state of much science these days, scope Retraction Watch.

Subscribe and you will be inundated...
 
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Some facts on Hotel Quarantine that are not widely known.From June to September 2020 1 in 6 HQ residents in Sydney attended RPAH ED.This article discusses the Mental health problems at those visits.

It's not 1/6 in "Hotel Quarantine", but 1/6 of those in "Special Health Accommodation" hotels (where those with health concerns or test positive are transferred to), so it is a heavily biased subset of overall HQ, and not at all surprising given those in the special hotels are there for a reason. The article mentions "During June – September 2020, 2774 people were registered for accommodation in Special Health Accommodation hotels, of whom 461 (16.6%) presented at least once to the RPA ED (542 ED presentations in total)." This is different to stock standard HQ, as 2774 is less than one weeks intake into the overall HQ program.
 
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It's not 1/6 in "Hotel Quarantine", but 1/6 of those in "Special Health Accommodation" hotels (where those with health concerns or test positive are transferred to), so it is a heavily biased subset of overall HQ, and not at all surprising given those in the special hotels are there for a reason. The article mentions "During June – September 2020, 2774 people were registered for accommodation in Special Health Accommodation hotels, of whom 461 (16.6%) presented at least once to the RPA ED (542 ED presentations in total)." This is different to stock standard HQ, as 2774 is less than one weeks intake into the overall HQ program.

Thanks, good pick up!

When I read the article initially I dismissed it because the figures didn't seem right in the context of the headline. I'm not sure if this is deliberate by the authors, but it undermines whatever point they were trying to make. For example:

The COVID‐19 pandemic continues to have significant direct and indirect health care consequences, including effects on mental health. Mental health presentations to the RPA ED comprised 19% of presentations by people from Special Health Accommodation hotels, five times the proportion for all ED presentations in Australia (3.6%).
Those are alarming figures and make it look like HQ is responsible for 5 x the number of mental health presentations... but one of the reasons why a person might have been in special HQ was because of mental health in the first place.
 
... but one of the reasons why a person might have been in special HQ was because of mental health in the first place.

Yes, the exact language from the report is:

People with identified acute or ongoing health care needs were referred to the Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) Virtual Hospital, including those who tested positive for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV‐2), and were housed in three Special Health Accommodation hotels to facilitate remote monitoring of their symptoms and signs according to the RPA Virtual Hospital model of care.2
 
Given the current frenzy around Covid-19 and the (thankfully at long last faded) Australian 'world-first breakthroughs' (TM) this may be of interest to any scientists, or those interested in science, out there:


And, for anyone who has never read it, I have always loved the opening par of Watson & Crick's (1 page... ;)) paper that described the structure of DNA: http://dosequis.colorado.edu/Courses/MethodsLogic/papers/WatsonCrick1953.pdf

The rest is history.
And came across this today.An interview with an old scientist.

And a bit of the dialogue.
What is science?

People coming out of the university with a master’s degree, or PHD, you take them into the field, and they literally don’t believe anything unless it’s a peer reviewed paper.

That’s the only thing they accept.

And you say to them… Let’s observe, let’s think, let’s discuss…

They don’t do it!

Only when it is in a peer reviewed paper or not.

That’s their view of science. I think it’s pathetic.

Gone into universities as bright young people, they come out of them brain dead — not even knowing what science means.
 
And came across this today.An interview with an old scientist.

And a bit of the dialogue.
What is science?

People coming out of the university with a master’s degree, or PHD, you take them into the field, and they literally don’t believe anything unless it’s a peer reviewed paper.

That’s the only thing they accept.

And you say to them… Let’s observe, let’s think, let’s discuss…

They don’t do it!

Only when it is in a peer reviewed paper or not.

That’s their view of science. I think it’s pathetic.

Gone into universities as bright young people, they come out of them brain dead — not even knowing what science means.

I think he’s right to a degree.

But I’d disagree regarding science and research undertaken in the private sector. A lot of science happens in the private sector which does not involve publication nor the traditional peer review process. in my experience (private sector) is that publication of research is only done to try to establish credibility.

Unfortunately though, many in the community don’t trust private science, and see universities and peer review as the gold standard. Often (not always) private companies expect and demand a lot of rigour from their in house scientists as there is usually a lot at stake (sales, litigation, investor perceptions etc).
 

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