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Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
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21 Jan, 4 tweets, 2 min read
The latest round of random testing in England shows infections plateaued in children & rose slightly in teenagers (during a time of distance learning), while infections rose markedly in adults. Overall, 1.5% of population infected; highest since May 2020.
spiral.imperial.ac.uk/handle/10044/1…
Although infections rose in adults, children (aged 5-12 years) and teenagers (aged 13-17 years) were still more likely to be infected than all other age groups except young adults (aged 18-34 years).

1 in 58 children and 1 in 44 teenagers are currently infected.
In contrast to official data which suggested new infections are decreasing in England, the results of the random testing showed no decrease (and possibly an increase instead).
The report concluded with an understated warning:

“If the prevalence of infections ... does not drop substantially in the immediate future ... [this] will lead to very high numbers of additional deaths and potentially long-term negative impact on healthcare delivery in England.”

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More from @DrZoeHyde

Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
22 Jan
(1/6) It may seem hard to believe, but Western Australia has recorded no community transmission of COVID-19 since April 2020.

How? A lockdown to eliminate the virus, followed by border controls and quarantine to keep it out.

#ZeroCOVID is possible.
abc.net.au/news/2021-01-1…
(2/6) But Australia’s an island, I hear you say. That’s true, and it certainly makes elimination easier. However, Australia had major outbreaks elsewhere.

The state of Victoria has recorded 20,433 cases & 820 deaths, mostly during a second wave in August.
dhhs.vic.gov.au/victorian-coro… Image
(3/6) If unchecked, these outbreaks would have spread to the entire country. They didn’t because of internal border controls. Travel within Australia was restricted.

There is no reason why a similar red zone/green zone strategy couldn’t be implemented elsewhere. e.g., in Europe.
Read 6 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
19 Jan
I see people quite excited about a study of households in Wuhan, which suggested children and teenagers were less likely to get infected, but more likely to transmit than adults. However, there are some odd things about it, and I’m sceptical. Read on...
thelancet.com/journals/lanin…
The first issue, is that many people were not tested unless they had symptoms.

We know that children are more likely to be asymptomatic than adults and, lo and behold, children and teenagers were less likely to be tested than adults in this study.
The study was conducted between 2 December 2019 and 18 April 2020.

Prior to 23 February, testing was often symptom-based. Over 80% of cases occurred before this date, and just under half of contacts were not tested.
Read 13 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
13 Jan
“How did it get transmitted? Was it in the air conditioning? Was it movement, was it picking up something? We just don’t know those answers yet.”

I think we do: #COVIDisAirborne.

No more mistakes. The UK strain (B117) isn’t forgiving.
#auspol #COVID19Aus
We’ve evidence to suggest the virus can be carried over long distances by air conditioning.

For example, in this study, viral RNA was detected in a hospital ventilation system more than 50 metres away from patients.
We also know that infectious virus can be cultured from air samples collected at a distance of at least 2 metres from people with #COVID19.

It’s not just fragments of viral RNA that can be found in the air, but complete, infectious virus.
Read 4 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
8 Jan
WA’s PPE guidelines are inadequate. Staff don’t have to wear masks if distance can be maintained, & bus drivers are only provided with surgical masks.

These are inadequate precautions for an airborne virus, and could lead to outbreaks.
#wapol #auspol
@CHO_WAHealth @MarkMcGowanMP
There are now numerous examples of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 around the world, particularly in enclosed environments such as buses.
Here is an example of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurring in a building:
Read 8 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
1 Jan
Anaphylactic reactions may be more likely with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines than other traditional vaccines (1 in 100,000 vs. 1 in 1,000,000); likely a reaction to carrier used to protect RNA component (polyethylene glycol, PEG), rather than the vaccine per se.
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
Persons with a history of allergic reactions associated with polyethylene glycol (or reactions to any of the other components listed) should avoid mRNA vaccines, and receive a different type of vaccine instead.
Note that other kinds of allergies (e.g., hay fever), are not expected to cause a problem.

There is no need to avoid the mRNA vaccines unless there is a specific history of allergic reactions to polyethylene glycol, or the other ingredients of the vaccines.
Read 5 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
30 Dec 20
The evidence is in, and the UK variant does appear to be of great concern. The viral load of infected people is higher, and it seems to be about 50% more transmissible. It doesn’t appear to cause more severe illness, but more cases will unfortunately result in greater mortality.
The estimated viral load of people infected with the new variant is substantially higher, although it is not yet clear why. Further laboratory studies will hopefully explain this.
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
In contrast to early speculation, children do not appear to be markedly more susceptible to the new variant.
Read 9 tweets

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