Health News

Cynthia M. Allen: Dire COVID predictions about end of mask mandate were way off. Let's be glad for thatarcamax.com 10 hours agoRecently, Dr. Anthony Fauci acknowledged something truly shocking. When asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” why COVID-19 cases in Texas have been steadily declining despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to lift the state’s mask mandate and capacity restrictions on businesses one month ago, Fauci half-heartedly conceded: “I’m not really quite sure.”www.arcamax.com

The warning signs of a longer pandemicBy Sam BakerPosted by Axios 5 hours agoAll the things that could prolong the COVID-19 pandemic — that could make this virus a part of our lives longer than anyone wants — are playing out right in front of our eyes. The big picture: Right now, the U.S. is still making fantastic progress on vaccinations. But as...www.axios.com

Texas Covid Stats Reveal Fauci’s FailurePosted by NewsRadio 740 KTRH 4 hours agoNot only is he the highest paid federal employee at over $417,000. Dr. Anthony Fauci has become an idol for Hollywood, and the corporate media. Follow the science they say, even when it's wrong. It's been over a month since Governor Greg Abbott re-opened Texas to 100%. It was also...ktrh.iheart.com

The U.S. may soon hit a COVID-19 vaccine wall. Here’s what that meansBy Herb Scribnerdeseret.com 6 hours agoA new analysis from Surgo Ventures — a global health foundation that provides data for health programs — suggests the United States might meet the demand for COVID-19 vaccine sooner rather than later, and attention will shift to getting people to who don’t want the vaccine to take the vaccine.www.deseret.com

Mixed Messaging by the CDCPosted by American Council on Science and Health 22 hours agoImage by iqbal nuril anwar from PixabayVaccination and masksThe ongoing argument between two physicians, Senator Rand Paul and Anthony Fauci, illustrate the problem. Dr. Paul contends that if you have been vaccinated, you need not wear a mask. Dr. Fauci says we must continue to mask. First, let us look at the science we might consider and then at the messaging problem.None of the vaccines are 100% effective in preventing COVID-19. None. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are both basically 95% effective “at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 illness in people.” 5% of people will still become infected, no one died. But that 5% could act as transmitters of the virus to others; they had undoubtedly developed enough viral multiplication to be identified. This remaining small risk could be most easily mitigated by wearing a mask, which, I hasten to remind you, primarily protects you and me from the one wearing the mask. Dr. Paul wants to move the public towards vaccination by holding our a “reward,” you will no longer need to wear a mask. For him, that small group where the vaccine is ineffective is not important, especially if everyone around them is vaccinated. Dr. Fauci also wants to move the public towards vaccination. Still, for him, the 5% that may act as transmitters is too great a risk and, therefore, to be safe, out of an abundance of caution, whatever catchphrase you wish to use, recommends we continue to wear masks.This is not an uncommon problem when physicians speak with patients. As a physician, my responsibility is to advise my patient about their choices and what I believe is the best path forward. I have to communicate this information to people with varying education, experience, and fears. I have to balance my hoped-for outcome with a relatively known risk – 5% can be both too great or of no concern; it depends on the outcome. [1]Dr. Paul is speaking as a physician to the patient across the desk. Dr. Fauci is talking to the public, a very different audience. It is the different audiences that require different messages. Messaging involves both a speaker and a listener. When I speak to my patient, my word choices reflect my understanding of what they are ready to hear. Telling a patient they might lose their leg is often hinted at before it is explicitly mentioned. “Hanging crepe” was the term used to describe those discussions with families that could not at that moment accept that their loved one was past saving and would linger for a few days at most. Dr. Paul called that behavior by a physician “a noble lie.” Every statement from the CDC is carefully parsed, searching for meaning as one would in tea leaves. In today’s highly politicized climate, our words can have additional emotional, triggering meanings. What is “common sense” to one is “cherry-picking science” to another. Some hear noble; others hear lie.Perfection Is The Enemy Of GoodDr. Paul, in his off-hand way, dismissed Dr. Fauci’s comments about masks as “theater.” A properly fitted N95 mask will filter out 95% of the pathogens of concern. But, in all of your observations, how many individuals are wearing an N95 mask that is indeed correctly fitted. It is doubtful that if you have a beard, that the fit is proper. Wearing it below your nose or somewhere on your chin is not correct either. Again, if I am speaking directly to you, I can show you how to wear it properly and make sure it is indeed an N95. But if I have to talk as a public health official, as Dr. Fauci’s role requires, my audience will not understand the nuances of fit and make sure that it is a certified N95 product. Because perfection is the enemy of good, it is easier to ask people to wear two masks. Will two or three guarantee the efficacy of a properly worn N95? Probably not, but it will get us a lot closer to our target. [1] If your chance of dying from treatment is 30%, a 5% risk is probably acceptable; if the risk of dying from treatment is 2%, 5% more than doubles your peril – it is too great.

South African COVID-19 strain can 'break through' vaccine: researchersPosted by The Hill 19 hours agoAn Israeli study released on Saturday found that the coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa is able to “break through” the antibodies created from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to some extent.The study was carried out by Tel Aviv University and Israel’s largest health care provider Clalit, Reuters reported.The study compared around 400 people who tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving one or more doses of the Pfizer vaccine to the same number of unvaccinated people who had also tested positive. The outlet noted that Israel does not have a high prevalence of the South African variant and that the research has not been peer reviewed.Researchers qualified the results of their study by noting that they were not meant to evaluate overall vaccine effectiveness and added that the sample size was small.The variant, B.1.351, was found in 1 percent of all people studied, but its prevalence rate was eight times higher among those who received two doses of the vaccine than among those who were unvaccinated, at 5.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.“We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group. This means that the South African variant is able, to some extent, to break through the vaccine’s protection,” Tel Aviv University researcher Adi Stern said, according to Reuters.Stern added, however, that "even if the South African variant does break through the vaccine’s protection, it has not spread widely through the population."Reuters notes that a study conducted by Pfizer in South Africa found only nine coronavirus cases out of 800 participants, all of whom had received a placebo dose. Six of the infected individuals were found to have the South African variant. Prior studies have indicated that the Pfizer vaccine is less effective against the South African variant but still offered protection against the strain.

Michigan's COVID cases surge to alarming levels, but governor rejects new mandatesmsn.com 19 hours agoWith her state battling the biggest surge of new COVID-19 cases in the nation, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she will not issue new mandates to blunt the outbreak, relying instead on the common sense of a citizenry now experienced in struggling with the deadly virus for over a year.www.msn.com

Fully Vaccinated Man In Critical Condition After Contracting COVID-19By Danielle OngInternational Business Times 5 hours agoA man in New Jersey is now in critical condition after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated. Laura Eugene, the patient’s wife, said she and her husband each received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on March 6. However, her husband began feeling ill on April 1.www.ibtimes.com53

Murder-suicide probe launched after cancer survivor in her, 68, and husband, 72, found dead at their Suffolk homeBy Sarah Grealish, Mark HodgeThe Sun US 7 hours agoA CANCER survivor and her husband who were found dead at their home died in a horrific murder-suicide, police say. The bodies of Sally Metcalf, 68, and her spouse Jonathan, 72, were found on Saturday evening at their £500,000 home in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Post mortems carried out by a Home...www.the-sun.com2

Thousands of inmates given the chance to serve their sentence at home because of COVID-19 might go back to prison cellsBy Yelena DzhanovaPosted by Business Insider 9 hours agoIn this Aug. 16, 2016, file photo, general population inmates walk in a line at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, Calif. AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File Thousands of people imprisoned for low-level crimes have been serving their sentences at home because of the pandemic. Because of a lingering legal opinion made under the outgoing Trump administration, these people might have to return to prison. The Biden administration has yet to address the legal opinion. See more stories on Insider's business page . A legal opinion made in the remaining days of the Trump administration might force incarcerated people who have been serving their sentences at home to return to prison. Reuters reported that nearly 24,000 incarcerated individuals who've committed low-level crimes have been allowed to serve their sentence at home due to fears of the spread of the coronavirus. But the legal opinion has a clause that says these incarcerated individuals might be removed from their homes and put back into cells. Congressional Democrats have called for the reversal of the legal opinion, written by the Justice Department under the Trump administration. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, along with more than two dozen other congressional lawmakers, asked Biden in a letter last week to prioritize the memo's reversal and rescind it. "We urge you to use your executive clemency authority or direct the Justice Department to seek compassionate release for people who have demonstrated that they no longer need to be under federal supervision," the letter said. The Biden administration has so far left the legal memo untouched. The memo says the at-home sentences only apply to the period of time during which the coronavirus forces social distancing and quarantining. Once it's lifted, the federal Bureau of Prisons "must recall prisoners in home confinement to correctional facilities" if there is no other reason for them to stay at home, according to Reuters. About 7,400 BOP incarcerated individuals have remaining time to serve - and these are the individuals who might most be impacted if this memo isn't rescinded. "Words can't really express how I feel to be home 11 years earlier. To get a job, to get a bank account," said Kendrick Fulton, a 47-year-old man who was sentenced for selling crack cocaine. "I served over 17 years already. What more do you want? I should go back for another 11 years to literally just do nothing?" In the time that he's been home, Fulton got a job at a wholesale auto glass distributor, Reuters reported. A BOP union official told Reuters correctional facilities no longer have the staff to get these individuals back to prison, calling the task "impossible." "We don't have the staff," Joe Rojas, Southeast Regional Vice President at Council Of Prison Locals, said to Reuters. "We are already in chaos as it is as an agency." Neither the BOP nor the Justice Department immediately responded to a request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider 87