#sars_cov_2

[halftwinmoon]

Helpful tips for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19

Hello everyone,

I was seriously not expecting having many followers for a shared liking of the blessing that is Gakuen Babysitters. Though I am confident that many of you already know how to deal with the pandemic that is COVID-19 (in spite of the US government’s ineptitude), I thought that I as a now-pharmacy student should share some info to provide reassurance for everyone’s health and safety.

1. Washing hands for at least 20 seconds is the best way to remove bacteria and viruses from the hands. The reason why this works is because most viruses are shaped like a ball with protein “spikes”, and the coating of the virus is a lipid/fat layer. Soap molecules have a lipophilic/hydrophobic (fat-loving) tails that help dissolve the lipid layer of viruses to then break the virus open, essentially deactivating the virus. The diagrams below shows how soap works and how to effectively wash hands.

2. If soap and water is not available at the moment, hand sanitizer that has at least 60% alcohol (ethanol/EtOH or isopropyl alcohol/IPA) is sufficient in deactivating viruses and killing bacteria on the hands and skin (though obviously it is not recommended to apply it on the face especially near the eyes). Though more alcohol is better, the final concentration should not reach above 90% because higher concentrations can cause the viruses’ and bacteria’s extracellular proteins to coagulate and create another layer of protection for the microbes (definitely something that we DON’T want). Water within the solution also helps catalyze the reaction that the alcohol does in dissolving the lipid layer and denaturing the proteins of microbes (source). My mother, bless her soul, gave me some handmade hand sanitizer, however the recipe she used did not have the sufficient alcohol concentration in the END PRODUCT (as one of the ingredients used was 70% IPA instead of 99% IPA). A simple recipe of 2/3 cup of 99% medical-grade IPA mixed with 1/3 cup of aloe vera gel would yield an effective hand sanitizer that has 66% IPA. This website is helpful to figure out other combinations to make sufficient hand sanitizer. It should also be noted to beware of shops that are price-gouging ingredients like medical grade IPA, which is obviously reprehensible.

3. Wearing masks is important to help limit the spread of COVID-19 via respiratory droplets as there are many people that could have the virus but be asymptomatic. While the CDC was being a little wishy-washy with their stances on masks, there is a reason why wearing masks is now highly recommended. While I do not know if there are more recent studies about COVID-19 and masks, this study linked here does provide some clarity for the recommendation. To summarize, despite that facial coverings do not completely filter out the virus of the COVID-19 patients’ cough, the viral spread (shown as viral load in log values) of patients who had facial coverings is less than that of those who did not.

Surprisingly, to me at least, the patients who had the double-layered cotton mask had an even lower viral load than with the surgical mask. It is important to note however that the virus is still detectable from the outside of the masks. This is why one should not touch their face often to adjust the mask, as uncomfortable as they are. I also recommend recycling the masks by washing with soap/laundry detergent and warm-to-hot water to then hang them to dry. The sample size of the study is pretty small of n=4 so take it as you will, and there are quite a few criticisms of the study that I agree with.

Other tips are provided by the lovely Ann Reardon from the YouTube channel How to Cook That in this video.

I hope you all stay safe and practice social distancing! :)

[lioninsunheart]

Knight, Death and Devil, 1513, Albrecht Dürer

A rider who has armoured himself against life’s assaults looks straight ahead as he passes through the wild, rugged landscape of this hostile world. His gaze is fixed and rigid because if he glanced around, he’d see the horrors that dog him, and might despair. A grotesque devil follows closely behind, eager to tempt him into sin and madness. Meanwhile Death, the grim rider who accompanies us all, leers at the knight hungrily and holds up an hourglass. This was what it felt like to inhabit Dürer’s plague-ridden world, and what it feels like now. Put on your armour or at least your face mask.

• National Galleries of Scotland

[lioninsunheart]

PANDEMIC OP-ED _ 3-28-2,021 _ PLANET EARTH.

I was simply curious.

Here are eight psychological, likely unconscious, reasons that people ignore or defy COVID-19 precautions:

1. Low frustration tolerance. Through temperament, upbringing, or both, some people get frustrated more easily than others. Not everyone has learned how to ease frustration by practicing optimism, pacing themselves, and self-soothing when life gets tough. This pandemic is a perfect storm for massive frustration: Skyrocketing multiple stresses accompanied by severe restrictions on habitual stress relievers.

2. Confusing care and control. Children raised by controlling, critical, demanding, and domineering parents often cannot tell the very real difference between being cared for and being controlled. As adults, they’re convinced that others want to wrest power and autonomy from them, even when people are offering heartfelt concern and care. With their guard constantly up, they may interpret being asked to wear a protective mask in public not as a caring reminder to stay safe, but as an attack on their independence and decision-making prowess.

3. Growing up with authoritarian, my-way-or-the-highway parents, children must squelch their own anger to survive and often vow that in adulthood, they’ll never let anyone tell them what to do. Later in life, still fighting childhood authority demons, they may react without considering whether their actions are helpful or hurtful to themselves or others. The fact that an authority figure wants them to do something is enough to make them take an opposing stance.

4. Children who had their rights trampled on by parents, teachers, community, or our culture may carry around wounds of victimhood as adults and see slights, insults, and unfairness where none are intended. When adults keep shouting, “I have rights,” it often comes from having had too few growing up. Now that they have the right to say what they want, they’re still fighting to be heard and validated.

5. Sadly, many people were reared by parents who shamed and humiliated them for showing fear. As adults, they continue to hide feeling vulnerable and scared, masking it with a persona of fearlessness. Taking dangerous risks and denying their fear to others and themselves makes them feel strong and invincible. Afraid to be afraid, they instead deny the potential threat of illness or death via pandemic.

6. People who suffer early powerlessness run the risk of frequent bouts of depression and despair, which is helplessness on steroids. A built-in antidote to despair is a rage which makes people feel strong and mighty instead of weak and puny. As long as they are enraged and defiant about restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, they feel powerful, triumphant, and alive. Without it, they surrender to a slow death by despair.

7. Poor self-care. Neglect and abuse in childhood may lead people to believe that they deserved poor treatment and aren’t worthy of health and happiness. Their major and minor personal choices are often self-destructive, repeatedly boomeranging back to convince them of their worthlessness. They believe it doesn’t matter if they take care of themselves, so they don’t.

8. If children are regularly allowed to break rules without suffering consequences, they grow up believing there aren’t any and that they can do whatever they want, and nothing bad will ever befall them. They live in a fantasy world, assuring themselves that what happens to others will never happen to them and that no matter what they do, they and theirs are so special and unique that they will survive COVID-19 unscathed.

Next time you run across someone who’s ignoring or defying COVID-19 safeguards, rather than shake your head in amazement or tut-tut in disgust, think like a therapist and wonder what misfortune befell them growing up that robbed them of rationality, self-worth, a healthy fear of danger, and the innate power we all have to keep ourselves as safe from harm as we possibly can. And, while you’re thinking, make sure to keep your distance.

-Karen R. Koenig-

Image above: Lovely lady bored of Tumblr Pandemic Op-Eds. 

[colizzialmerico]

⚕️ Aggiornamento sulle misure di quarantena e isolamento in seguito alla diffusione a livello globale della nuova variante VOC SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529)

[lazervmax]

【新型コロナ】日本の少な過ぎる検査でも、総感染者数が遂に100万人突破。東京五輪はやはり開催すべきでは無かった。

【新型コロナ】日本の少な過ぎる検査でも、総感染者数が遂に100万人突破。東京五輪はやはり開催すべきでは無かった。 東京五輪は開催すべきでは無かった。 メダルが多いと空虚に騒いでいるが、コロナ禍で極端に開催国有利な条件でのメダルだ。 多数の有力選手が開催前に辞退したり、コロナ陽性で出場不可になった。 開催前には開会式その他が大きく混乱して組織委が醜態を晒し続けた。 開催期間中も酷暑の熱中症で苦しむ選手があちこちで見受けられた。 テニスや女子マラソンも突然の時間変更をした。 医療リソースが大きく五輪に奪われ、五輪以外の感染者は多数放棄されている。 空港検疫もザルだ。 苦しむ患者を見捨てて五輪強行した自民党政府とメディアは責任を取れ。 日本は相変わらず非常に検査数が少ない。 人口が日本より1億人も少ないオーストラリアより、累計検査数が700万回も少ない。 諸外国が希望者には誰でも無料でPCR検…

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[lazervmax]

人口が日本より1億人も少ないオーストラリアより、累計検査数が600万回も少ない日本…

人口が日本より1億人も少ないオーストラリアより、累計検査数が600万回も少ない日本… 相変わらず日本は新型コロナの検査数が少な過ぎる。 そしてその少ない検査数で、東京都は感染者数が過去最多、 対策病床数は100%を超過となっている。 どれくらい検査数が少ないかと言うと、 人口が1/5、総感染者数が1/26、総死者数が1/16のオーストラリアより、 600万回も累計検査数が少ない、という悲惨な状況だ。 アメリカやイギリスは感染者が多いから検査が多いと言う人がいるが、 日本より人口も感染者も遥かに少ないオーストラリアでさえ日本より検査が多い。 検査数が少ないという事は、見逃されている感染者がたくさんいるという事だ。 遺品整理などを行う特殊清掃業者の証言からは、 コロナ死者数も実際にはもっと多いとの示唆がある。 オーストラリア 人口　2500万 累計検査数　2400万回 総感染者　3万3000…

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[jeffreyclarkdds]

COVID-19 (coronavirus) and teeth: Is there a connection?

COVID-19 may affect a person's oral health. Learn more about the possible connection here.

[lost-in-the-spectrum]

Autism and the Pandemic

Hello Folks,

 man, it’s a long time ago when I wrote my last post and I am so sorry fort hat. Besides my depressions which make me feel down and usually too upset to get things done there is this one other annoying thing which got a huge infuelnce on my everyday’s life and routine: Corona.

 I know, for sure you’re – like everyone else – fed up with this sh*t. We want our normal life back. Having parties and meeting people without taking care of distance and how many of your friends you’re allowed to see. We are done with these long, almost never ending queue at our favorite store and we are missing the drinks at our favorite bar. In general no one of us actually wants to hear anything about Corona because this thing is literally everywhere.

Yet I really want to write about it.

 I’ve once seen a post about autistic people and their life with the Corona pandemic. The title of it was (translated into English): 

“The Lockdown hits autistic people at most” 

and I began to wonder if this is really true until I started to notice that also I seem to have issues with this pandemic. It was also a topic in an Autism-Facebook-Group where loads of autistic people wrote about their experiences and feelings about the pandemic. And everyone of them got different things to say – which is indeed interesting and somehow surprising. So I wanted to tell you all the experiences and thoughts of different people with Autism about the current situation and how these people feel about it, how their life and days are going lately and of course I want to tell how I feel about it too. If you’re so fed up with this Corona thing and you’re like ‘Aw come one, there is a report and talk about it in the television and radio every f*cking day, I don’t need it here too!’ ... feel free to ignore this post and enjoy some other ones in maybe other blogs instead. Because this post definetely got Corona.

 Autistic people are usually known for their introvert personality and the fact that they prefer being alone and for themselves instead of spending time with other people – so far they even know people to actually hang out with. Many autistic people told that they cherish the social distance and the fact that not so many people are allowed to be in a market or store at once. Additionally they tell that they couldn’t be happier with their current job because they’re in home office at the moment, which makes them feel much better and less stressed. They can focus and take their time to get things done. And I am not gonna lie: I totally believe in this. Especially the fact that people are not allowed to shake hands for a greet seems to make many autistic people smile because body contact is a usual issue people with Autism have. And guess what: even people without Autism prefer this. I’ve read in the internet that about 86% of the people who were asked would like to dispense with shaking hands and greet people with a smile and normal ‘Hello’ instead. Even 61% of the people who were asked would prefer to wear the mask while traveling by bus even tho the pandemic is over. This fact surprised me at most but at the end: I would prefer too. Wearing a mask in the bus isn’t a problem for me and this protects you not only of Corona but also of many other diseases you don’t want to have.

In contrast to many people without Autism, autistic people have no issues with giving up on events, parties and meeting their friends and other people. They have no problems with using social media and video calling apps instead, yet there are also autistic people who feel incredibly bad about it. Just like I do. Writing with other autistic people I also got to meet some who feel lonely and even depressed because of the pandemic and the fact that they’re not allowed to meet people (friends) or go on special events. These people mentioned that they usually love being for themselves but only if they can decide for themselves too. It feels stressy and depressing for them to know that they’re told to not meet someone or go shopping and visit stores just for fun instead of being the person who decides to give up on all these things. In addition the pandemic seems to have messed up the everyday’s routine of some people. Many things got changed because it didn’t make sense to keep this routine when you got other times to work and you’re forced to plan and organize everything differently now. Autistic parents have to teach their children, do home schooling and take more care of their kids than usual – because usually these are in Kindergarten or School – and this exhausts them pretty much. That does not mean that they don’t love their children and never want to have them around them but few hours to be for yourself and get things done is always good. Other autístic parents do have a job without home office at all and if their children are told to stay at home because of the pandemic these parents are getting exhausted and stressed by looking for a person to take care of them. All these points are a burden for the psyche and for the finances.

 Other issues these people were talking about are for example ‘wearing these shitty masks’, because some autistic people are high sensitive and have got bigger issues to take a breath. But that’s surely just one of  many other problems we have with the pandemic, right? Which problems do you have? Do you even have any? Is the lockdown a curse or a blessing for you? Feel free to write a comment! Hopefully I see you at the next post!