Do people acquire long-term immunity to coronavirus? Will there be a second wave? Will there be more lockdowns? Some recent news helps shed light on these questions.
Disease
While coronavirus is obviously concerning and a very real threat to some people (namely, the elderly and immunocompromised), these data also show that the risk for the rest of the population is quite low.
Much of the concern about social distancing and the use of masks centers around the airborne transmission of the virus. A recent study looks at how other factors, like temperature and humidity, make COVID-19 more or less viable when it comes to transmission.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, is a limitation of how much air a person can inhale and exhale. Smoking has long been considered a major risk factor, but some smokers avoid the problem while some non-smokers develop COPD. A new study identifies a risk factor we haven't really considered that seems to play as large a role as smoking.
Many in mainstream media recently reported on the possibility of COVID-19 being transmitted during the flush of a toilet. While the physics involved appeared to be well modeled, the biologic implications are fuzzy at best. Here's how this scenario plays out.
Sixteen people walk into a bar... Sounds like an old joke, right? Except it isn't funny. Florida allowed some bars to open on June 5. One day later the 16 met in a packed Jacksonville Beach bar. All 16 came down with Covid-19. Perhaps someone ought to rethink that decision.
The BBC reports that the first life-saving drug for COVID-19 has been identified. While that is strictly true, without more context and numbers the impact of dexamethasone is obscured. Is this drug just click-bait material or actually a "major breakthrough"?
This past weekend at West Point, President Trump had trouble drinking a glass of water and he displayed an unsteady gait when descending a ramp. It is possible these problems indicate some type of neuropathy. And while it's unlikely, one potential cause is hydroxychloroquine.
Remember the wisdom of the not-so-distant past? Leaving delivered boxes outside for 24 hours, then donning gloves to wipe them down before carefully opening the cartons? It’s time to shed a bit of scientific light on what we know now.
The more recent cases of COVID-19 seem to be coming from homes and family contacts, rather than from strangers. And there, with the "opening up" of social mobility, is an increasing interest in the spread and dispersion of airborne COVID-19 particles. There are lessons to be learned from atmospheric science, especially when it pertains to the dispersion of small particles.
Are bald men more likely to get severe COVID-19? There are more than 30,000 news stories about this, almost all of which without question, accept the findings of a flawed epidemiological study from Spain. Is this a valid conclusion? Let's ask a biostatistician.
Making life or death decisions has been brought into sharp relief by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the estimated 500,000 people on dialysis in the U.S., that is a bridge already crossed. Having chosen a life requiring continuous life support, do any of them have second thoughts?