It looks more and more like MV Hondius ANDV outbreak was a super spreader event

One person infected 8 to 10 others

Very common with airborne pathogens It's a warning shot across the bow

ANDV spreads very easily

When conditions are right

So do other diseases

Like H5N1

And SARS2

And MERS

And yes, even Ebola

Or any on this list

The hantavirus outbreak has raised a few major concerns for me — and none are directly related to the outbreak itself.

https://twitter.com/nejm/status/2054955065106907644

Starting with ppl continuing to rely completely on minimum guidance from storied institutions like WHO & CDC

Last week, I thought the pandemic potential for ANDV was small

Infinitesimally small

Less than 1% On May 8, WHO updated their guidance

They used words like "airborne" and "respirator"

They announced the change publicly

They upgraded the risk

Several nations followed suit

A plan was announced that included mandatory quarantine

🧵 "Cough into your elbow" has no peer-reviewed origin

Researchers traced it to a 2006 hospital video

And a 1994 quote from a pediatrician who said she learned it from daycare

Neither CDC nor WHO can tell you who invented it

It's just folklore that gained a following Here's what the evidence actually says 👇

📄 Zayas et al. 2013: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC38…

Tomorrow is my Twitter anniversary

6 years of taking on .@WHO directly on Twitter about droplet dogma

Of pointing out their failure to tell the world that COVID is airborne

After they published this rubbish I first referenced a freshly published paper w easy to understand, hard to deny, visuals that showed coughs & sneezes produced 'jets' that could travel 8m or more, included a continuum of particle sizes & persisted in the air

On Tuesday I insisted they remove the IV in my right hand

It was extremely painful

It turns out the needle was out of the vein & the IV was delivering fluids & antibiotics interstitially blowing up my hand

It was just hidden by the dressing My hand is finally back to normal

Here we go again

Knee operation #15
Need to fix this

If you get a Flu vaccine today,

you will be partially protected

against a severe case of Flu

starting in a couple of weeks

but it won't stop transmission If you get a Covid vaccine today,

you will be partially protected

against a severe case of Covid

starting in a couple of weeks

but it won't stop transmission

NEWS FLASH:

Hand Hygiene does NOT stop airborne disease transmission in hospitals

Or anywhere NEWS FLASH 2:

HCWs don't follow IPAC's Hand Hygiene instructions

They don't wash hands & re-glove 100+ times per shift

When no one is standing over them with a clipboard

Well that's been a long day

4 am to 2 am

So far 😊

But all good

After a 4h operation I was delivered to lucky PACU Bed #13

And the love of my life
❤️❤️❤️ I was supported with friendly, attentive, experienced staff

Tim Hortons

Cold compression therapy

Great ventilation

And more love ❤️

Another junk RCT came out

This time claiming "air purifiers don't reduce exposure to viruses in classrooms"

BOLLOCKS 1st clue this was going to be a junk study: they did an RCT

Wrong tool

There is no equipoise, no unknown or barely discernible benefit to weigh against likely harm

I learned something new this morning

Inhaled fine particles can cross the alveolar capillary junction into the bloodstream

Where red blood cells can pick up, carry and deposit the particles into organs and tissue cells throughout the body

😳

https://twitter.com/airqualitynews/status/1973836889275686941

Sadly, fine particles can be quite toxic

Laden with chemicals and heavy metals

Like particles from vehicle exhaust for example

Including diesel exhaust with toxic particles <1 µm in diameter

link.springer.com/article/10.100…

I broke a front tooth recently

And needed an extraction and implant

A 2 hour procedure

So off to the oral surgeon I went yesterday Staff were masked

HEPA Air filter was on

I wore my [breathe]2

As usual

Important Study from Canada 🇨🇦
👏👏👏

Risk mitigation of shared room ventilation and filtration on SARS-CoV-2 transmission: a multicenter test-negative study | Infection Control &amp; Hospital Epidemiology | Cambridge Core - bit.ly/3Vf0RyX ⬆️ ventilation = ⬇️ Covid HAIs

Increasing from 1 to 6 ACH = 50% reduction
(~40% to 20% attack rate)

Increasing from 6 to 10 ACH = more reduction
(~20% to 10% attack rate)

Good News!

Canadian Standards Association (CSA) has called for universal respirator use in healthcare settings & when performing patient care outside of healthcare settings (eg – in the home) in the latest edition of CSA Z94.4, Selection, use and care of filtering respirators. How you can help:

The draft CSA Z94.4 Standard is now out for Public Review until August 19, 2025.

Please weigh in with your positive, constructive comments at .

Public Review comments are open to everyone who registers.publicreview.csa.ca/Home/View/2256…

@alijzimmerman @naner81 @GhostOfSocrates @N0nyM00se @doctor_zeest Thx Alison,

hopefully we can all take the temperature down a few notches, after all, we're all trying to make the system better. 😊

Let's start with 20 ACH Laminar Air Flow (LAF) in ORs. Good idea from the 1960s & generally an improvement over lower airflows. @alijzimmerman @naner81 @GhostOfSocrates @N0nyM00se @doctor_zeest Does it stop all airborne transmission?

Sadly, no.

Is it the best approach to stopping airborne transmission?

Sadly, no.

Does the medical community think it's the best approach to stop airborne transmission?

Sadly, yes. 😢

BREAKING NEWS!

Health Canada PMRA just approved AutoUV.

👏👏👏 Why is that important?

Because Hospital Acquired Infections are way too high & flash disinfecting air & surfaces immediately after occupancy, especially in hospital bathrooms, is a game changer for protecting patients (& HCWs) from exposure to pathogens

Joshua Haldeman, Elon Musk’s maternal grandfather, led the Canadian branch of “Technocracy Incorporated” in the 1930s.

This radical movement advocated replacing democratic governments in the U.S. and Canada with rule by technocrats and businessmen. Under Haldeman’s leadership, the movement adopted fascist characteristics.

Members wore gray uniforms modeled after Nazi attire.

When Canada declared war on Germany in 1939, the group was banned for Nazi sympathies.

I would be excited about this inhaled Covid vaccine being developed at McMaster if it was a traditional protein-based vaccine delivering a known volume of antigen(s) (similar to Novavax)

But it's not

https://twitter.com/meetjess/status/1901722451236491548

Novel vector vaccines (like this one) & mRNA vaccines are a neat trick

And manufacturers like them because they're easier, faster & cheaper to produce than protein-based vaccines

"Quad-demic"?

What do you call this???

Octadeca-demic?

H/T @1goodtern for graphs

https://twitter.com/meetjess/status/1884420336327733441

If you add these 18 to the quad-demic

And add in HMPV for good measure

You would have a
"vigesima-tredecim-demic"

23 diseases on the rise

I enjoy working through thought experiments & math models with Perplexity

Especially ones that challenge the dogma rife in IPC World

Especially simple ones that serve as sanity checks

That everyone in IPC World could & should be asking

But aren't Five or 10 minutes of prompts and interaction can erase 100 years of toxic misinformation

Supported with sources

For example: