Coronavirus prep
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Report from WBUR's Here and Now program, broadcast on US National Public Radio (NPR):
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/03/23/malaria-drug-shortage-coronavirus
Summary: Hydroxycholoquine (brand name Plaquenil) is an anti-malaria drug being tested for potential use against COVID-19/coronavirus. CDC sounds hopeful, but says proof is needed. US President has touted the drug in press conference as "a tremendous breakthrough" and "a game changer".
The drug is also important for treatment of people with other conditions, including autoimmune conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
In some areas, demand has risen to the point where supplies are challenging to get, for people with the relevant health conditions who routinely need them.
Some of the increased use is potentially health professionals understandably doing anything possible (even if unproven) to avoid contagion in a context of inadequate protective equipment, but speculative over-prescription and hoarding are also suspected.
I'm trying really hard here to keep this post a simple factual summary, in light of the MFP community guidelines against political content. I think the core issue would be of common interest, but especially so to those who currently depend on hydroxychloroquine prescriptions.
I've read two stories about people dying from trying to treat themselves with choloquine. One was about this couple in the link already posted: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/489097-man-dies-after-taking-malaria-medication-in-effort-to-prevent-coronavirus
And here's the other story: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/23/africa/chloroquine-trump-nigeria-intl/index.html3 -
SisterSue, you get a 10++ for your very thoughtful action of offering freebies to those who need it!!
I've stuck with my usual once a week shopping, am a little ahead on a couple things, mainly for my dogs. But am finding stores have little to none of: paper products, cleaners, and bread. I haven't been able to get one loaf of bread in 10 days now. Not even frozen bread dough. I'll have to resort to homemade but I remember trying that a couple times, years and years ago.
Lots of great recipes and tips for making bread in this thread! https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10454582/so-i-was-going-to-bake-my-first-bread/p1
All you need is flour, water, salt, and yeast
I prefer the Dutch oven method these days, but I have definitely made good bread in regular bread pans, and flatbread, and rolls...
Here's a fabulous bread book: Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza
Under normal circumstances I would suggest seeing if your library system has it (mine does) but likely your library is now closed3 -
Follow up to my post about the Connie Willis book (The Doomsday Book). Now I'm at a point where the unpleasant characters in the book are calling the mysterious illness striking in 2054 the "Indian flu" (the first person known so far to have come down with it is descended (3rd gen) from Pakistani immigrants), and people are picketing and blaming the unidentified flu on the EC (book published in 1992, precursor to the EU) and demanding that England get out since immigrants bringing in the flu can come from Europe.
Not meaning to be political and obviously details are different, but again weird parallels. (Also, in the Plague subplot, discussion of how the Plague moved from China to Italy and later England -- much slower progress for a while, though.)3 -
Follow up to my post about the Connie Willis book (The Doomsday Book). Now I'm at a point where the unpleasant characters in the book are calling the mysterious illness striking in 2054 the "Indian flu" (the first person known so far to have come down with it is descended (3rd gen) from Pakistani immigrants), and people are picketing and blaming the unidentified flu on the EC (book published in 1992, precursor to the EU) and demanding that England get out since immigrants bringing in the flu can come from Europe.
Not meaning to be political and obviously details are different, but again weird parallels. (Also, in the Plague subplot, discussion of how the Plague moved from China to Italy and later England -- much slower progress for a while, though.)
I belong to three library systems and would normally be able to get a book published in 1992 right away, but "The Doomsday Book" is in high demand these days. I'm on the wait list.
Meanwhile, I'm reading "Station 11" and have Robin Cook books in my queue.
Unfortunately, I just reread "The Stand" last year.2 -
Are we supposed to be reading virus books? I didn't get the required reading list. Since I have been in a weight loss induced midlife crisis of sorts I am going back through a bunch of books from my youth. I will probably not re-read the 50 or more Star Trek books I must have read in HS. One of them probably had a space virus which would relate to corona though since it is an astrological term.1
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Lol at you guys reading those books.
The regular 5 o'clock news isn't scary enough, huh?17 -
Meanwhile I'm mucking around trying to get my hair to curl...
(it's my apocalypse project #priorities)6 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Meanwhile I'm mucking around trying to get my hair to curl...
(it's my apocalypse project #priorities)
The news should be enough to make your hair curl.10 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Meanwhile I'm mucking around trying to get my hair to curl...
(it's my apocalypse project #priorities)
The news should be enough to make your hair curl.
Maybe that's actually what's happening!!
(my hair used to be straight, it's been getting wavier, way more so than I realised because it often gets plaited/braided or stuck in a ponytail as soon as it's washed, I'm pretty sure with not too much effort I can get ringlets)4 -
Are we supposed to be reading virus books? I didn't get the required reading list. Since I have been in a weight loss induced midlife crisis of sorts I am going back through a bunch of books from my youth. I will probably not re-read the 50 or more Star Trek books I must have read in HS. One of them probably had a space virus which would relate to corona though since it is an astrological term.
I'm about halfway through the last season of TNG and Data is on some planet and has lost his memory and he is carrying a case that says, "Radioactive." He sold some of the metal pieces in it and now there is an epidemic of radiation sickness but no one knows what "radioactive" means so they're all getting sick...I have it on pause right now while I log my dinner...Data is trying to diagnose and he's honing in on the metal..."When did this illness start? What were they doing when they got sick? What is new and different to those people?"
I suppose he's gonna lock everyone down.4 -
kshama2001 wrote: »SisterSue, you get a 10++ for your very thoughtful action of offering freebies to those who need it!!
I've stuck with my usual once a week shopping, am a little ahead on a couple things, mainly for my dogs. But am finding stores have little to none of: paper products, cleaners, and bread. I haven't been able to get one loaf of bread in 10 days now. Not even frozen bread dough. I'll have to resort to homemade but I remember trying that a couple times, years and years ago.
Lots of great recipes and tips for making bread in this thread! https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10454582/so-i-was-going-to-bake-my-first-bread/p1
All you need is flour, water, salt, and yeast
I prefer the Dutch oven method these days, but I have definitely made good bread in regular bread pans, and flatbread, and rolls...
Here's a fabulous bread book: Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza
Under normal circumstances I would suggest seeing if your library system has it (mine does) but likely your library is now closed
I've made bread the old fashioned way and like it, but I came across the 5 minute method a while ago and love it - its not quite as smooth as the kneaded kind, but good enough anyway, and makes great loaves. I've seen the basic recipe for it online before for free, but the book has all kinds of other tips.
Speaking of bread: I experimented with making my own homemade yogurt this weekend, and had decent results on the second try - 1/2 gallon of milk produced 2 cups of yogurt and about a quart jar and a half of whey - course there was some yogurt sediment in my whey jars that filtered through with the whey; I'm not sure how to stop that.
Anyway, I read somewhere that suggested using the whey in place of milk or water in bread making. I made dinner rolls yesterday at mom's request and did just that - and they were fabulous! The whey made them very soft and silky and the best rolls I've ever produced. I found I could freeze the left over whey, which I did just for the purpose of bread making. Which means I"ll probably have to keep making the yogurt just so i can get the whey byproduct lol
WV is issuing shelter at home starting the evening of 3/24 at 8 am. Meanwhile, my 90 year old grandfather insisted on going to church yesterday......*sigh* he is such a stubborn man, and I know he watches the news constantly, so I know he knows what's going on. He and my grandmother still live at home and take care of themselves. My grandmother can't get around very well physically, but her mind is still clear and my grandfather at 90 is still able to take care of her. I just wish that he'd think of that before deciding he's going to bull his way through all this; if he catches it and perishes, grandma can't care for herself and will have to leave their home. Worse still, if he catches it, he'll bring it home to her!11 -
If you really want nightmares, re-read Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death". 😄4
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bmeadows380 wrote: »...
I ran some math numbers for my mother yesterday which I hope she understood and took to heart: if you have 50% of the some 330 million people in the US get this, with 10% of that number being hospitalized for serious cases, you have some 16.5 million people needing extreme care. If only 1% of those people die from this, that's still 165,000 people. And yet there are still some people who claim this isn't any worse than the flu!...
My understanding is NOT that 1% of people who are hospitalized die. It's 1% of people who get infected will die. So if you run your numbers again, if half the people get it, then 1% of that half dies = 1,650,000. That's 10 times as many.3 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Meanwhile I'm mucking around trying to get my hair to curl...
(it's my apocalypse project #priorities)
I'm going to have to go for it and cut my bangs pretty soon. I did it routinely when I was younger but it's been years. I'm not optimistic.7 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »...
I ran some math numbers for my mother yesterday which I hope she understood and took to heart: if you have 50% of the some 330 million people in the US get this, with 10% of that number being hospitalized for serious cases, you have some 16.5 million people needing extreme care. If only 1% of those people die from this, that's still 165,000 people. And yet there are still some people who claim this isn't any worse than the flu!...
My understanding is NOT that 1% of people who are hospitalized die. It's 1% of people who get infected will die. So if you run your numbers again, if half the people get it, then 1% of that half dies = 1,650,000. That's 10 times as many.
maybe so, but that just means my estimate was extremely conservative; in any case, the big question is whether or not my mother took me seriously. My family typically dismisses me as a "know it all" who don't know what she's talking about.......like when I tried to explain to my mother that baldness does not pass through from the mother's side of the family as that's not how genes work. She insists though that because her father had a full head of hair, that my brother will never need to worry about going bald because "it comes from the mother's side". *sigh*5 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »Meanwhile I'm mucking around trying to get my hair to curl...
(it's my apocalypse project #priorities)
I'm going to have to go for it and cut my bangs pretty soon. I did it routinely when I was younger but it's been years. I'm not optimistic.
I always cut my own. Start longer than you want them, so you have extra for straightening up. Also, if you have thick bangs, it can be easier to get straight if you do it in layers. And at worst, no one's gonna see them for a while!7 -
Report from WBUR's Here and Now program, broadcast on US National Public Radio (NPR):
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/03/23/malaria-drug-shortage-coronavirus
Summary: Hydroxycholoquine (brand name Plaquenil) is an anti-malaria drug being tested for potential use against COVID-19/coronavirus. CDC sounds hopeful, but says proof is needed. US President has touted the drug in press conference as "a tremendous breakthrough" and "a game changer".
The drug is also important for treatment of people with other conditions, including autoimmune conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
In some areas, demand has risen to the point where supplies are challenging to get, for people with the relevant health conditions who routinely need them.
Some of the increased use is potentially health professionals understandably doing anything possible (even if unproven) to avoid contagion in a context of inadequate protective equipment, but speculative over-prescription and hoarding are also suspected.
I'm trying really hard here to keep this post a simple factual summary, in light of the MFP community guidelines against political content. I think the core issue would be of common interest, but especially so to those who currently depend on hydroxychloroquine prescriptions.
I am really upset by this because my grandmother is one of those who is prescribed hydroxychloroquine for a medical reason. Now she has yet one more thing to worry about, in addition to being in a very high risk group.
It's unbelievably irresponsible to tout that something might be helpful with only anecdotal evidence - both for those who currently rely on the medication and those who might be tempted to take it because of what-ifs.
ETA: just in case it's not clear, I'm not saying Ann is irresponsible for sharing.
If it makes you feel any better, I think it was pretty clear (for me, at least) that you weren't referring to Ann, and I completely agree with what you said.
I truly hope your grandmother doesn't have issues getting her meds.
Hugs to you and your family!1 -
My husband’s 83 year old grandfather is still cutting hair (he’s a barber) because “I know my customers and none of them have traveled to China or those other countries.” Doh! Thankfully I think NC is shutting down beauty/barber shops on Wednesday - I know it’s unfortunate for their income, but it’s safest.10
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Nony_Mouse wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »Meanwhile I'm mucking around trying to get my hair to curl...
(it's my apocalypse project #priorities)
I'm going to have to go for it and cut my bangs pretty soon. I did it routinely when I was younger but it's been years. I'm not optimistic.
I always cut my own. Start longer than you want them, so you have extra for straightening up. Also, if you have thick bangs, it can be easier to get straight if you do it in layers. And at worst, no one's gonna see them for a while!
Thanks! And yeah, if I botch it, it's not like the fashion police are coming for me 😄5 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »...
I ran some math numbers for my mother yesterday which I hope she understood and took to heart: if you have 50% of the some 330 million people in the US get this, with 10% of that number being hospitalized for serious cases, you have some 16.5 million people needing extreme care. If only 1% of those people die from this, that's still 165,000 people. And yet there are still some people who claim this isn't any worse than the flu!...
My understanding is NOT that 1% of people who are hospitalized die. It's 1% of people who get infected will die. So if you run your numbers again, if half the people get it, then 1% of that half dies = 1,650,000. That's 10 times as many.
Latest numbers from China are 1.4% mortality rate for those who tested positive. Other information indicates around half of those infected never show symptoms and thus never are tested. That puts the mortality rate at closer to 0.7%. This is still a lot of deaths.3
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