New information. >8000 close contacts of reported cases tested for #COVIDー19. Most interesting/concerning/comforting result is 34% of close contacts were + for COVID. This is very large fraction of contacts infected- suggests much wider spread. But 1/n.
There is a silver lining. The large numbers of contacts found to be positive were largely without symptoms, or at least not requiring medical attention themselves at enrollment.... 2/3
So, despite a potentially larger fraction of close contacts than we might have currently known of (though the rate is not too surprising), the data reinforces that most will NOT have severe diseases and many will be very mild. Very nice work by the authors! 3/3
In addition - they looked at coinfections. The Most Important part for me in this regard was the lack of any evidence for crossprotective immunity between #COVID19 and other coronaviruses. 3% COVID+ had other Coronas vs only 1% of COVID negs had other Coronas....
The data here points towards trend of excess coinfections with other Coronas among COVID (no causal argument being made here).
Alternatively, this could point to a methodological issue- false pos for seasonal Coronas because of presence of #COVID19 ? Cannot rule out here.
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For a number of decades, syphilis has been trending up in the U.S.
The cause isn’t singularly but likely is associated with relaxations of prevention of STIs in the context of more effective prophylaxis for HIV (PrEP). Plus general lack of awareness
When left untreated, Syphilis can have devastating consequences on human health
Luckily there is very simple treatment for it (a form of Penicillin) but it only works if you take it - and you only take it if you know you have syphilis
Here we go again with this asinine cautious approach to testing for H5N1
CDC is NOT recommending that people with no symptoms - but who have had contact w infected animals - be tested at all… and certainly are not recommending a swab w any frequency.
Though we should have learned it in 2020, Here’s why this doesnt make sense:
1/
Firstly, tests are our eyes for viruses. It’s literally how we see where viruses are
If we wait until people are getting sick, we may have missed a major opportunity to find viruses jumping into humans before they learn to become so efficient in us that they cause disease
2/
So waiting until we actually have highly pathogenic strains harming humans - when we have a pretty discreet population at the moment to survey - is short sighted
3/
A particularly deadly consequence of measles is its erasure of previously acquired immune memory - setting kids and adults up for infections that they shouldn’t be at risk from!
We found for example that measles can eliminate as much as 80% of someone’s previously acquired immunity to other pathogens! science.org/doi/full/10.11…