The COVID-19 Science and Medicine Question Thread

[Capt13]

Thanks for the info. I'm with Northwell health. They have a lab around the corner (just upstairs from a quest lab). I'll probably end up stopping in there to have it done along with the blood work my Doc has been asking me to get done since January.

 

[TonySmjc]

My test is at 1115 today

 

[Capt13]

What are your thoughts on Moderna ?

"the US government stepped in and picked our platform as one of the major investments that Tony Fauci and the team are making in. And I think if you stay in tuned, you should expect to see us be able to deliver on that."

In quest for vaccine, US makes 'big bet' on company with unproven technology

The FDA green-lit Moderna's product for trial, making it the first vaccine candidate to advance to the first phase of a clinical study, in which an as-yet unapproved vaccine is injected into the arms of a small group of 45 human volunteers. Established in 2010, Moderna, has never brought a...

www.cnn.com

 

[TonySmjc]

I question
About ny and it’s numbers

If ny has reached this plateau with x percentage of its population working I use x because I don’t know for a fact the actual percentage
But it’s a fairly large number

Is it possible to get off the plateau
Without locking the essential ppl down
Or are we doomed to stay at this level for a prolonged period of time

I have my thoughts and suspicions but I’m curious as to what the science says

Second with this level of essential workers out and about
And the current level of infection , are we not forced to accept an increase in the numbers as we open

Short of a total lock down for 2 to 3 weeks is there anyway around this, without dragging it out for months and months on this plateau with our fingers crossed

 

[TonySmjc]

Full blood draw
Not a finger prick

 

[Tigashrk]

Hope you’re doing well Cap. Not a fan but wishing you well and everyone in your circle. This is a crime. No one deserves this.

 

[TonySmjc]

Agreed no one deserves any of this

I’m ok
My circle is healing

hope you and yours are well, also

don’t worry about not being a fan

I don’t have a fan club, and I’m not looking for any

 

[Roccus7]

Full blood draw
Not a finger prick

Attsa mo'betta. The finger prick, self-performing, fast assay is a real POS, that's my professional opinion, verified by my old gang. False positives are rampant on this test.

The blood draw assays that are run on instruments far more reliable and accurate. You'll have results in a few days.

 

[Roccus7]

What are your thoughts on Moderna ?

"the US government stepped in and picked our platform as one of the major investments that Tony Fauci and the team are making in. And I think if you stay in tuned, you should expect to see us be able to deliver on that."

In quest for vaccine, US makes 'big bet' on company with unproven technology

The FDA green-lit Moderna's product for trial, making it the first vaccine candidate to advance to the first phase of a clinical study, in which an as-yet unapproved vaccine is injected into the arms of a small group of 45 human volunteers. Established in 2010, Moderna, has never brought a...

www.cnn.com

Moderna is one of 3 companies looking at a novel vaccine technology, utilizing messenger RNA. One of the other companies is funded by Bill Gates. This technology eliminates an internal "middle man" in eliciting an immune response. Conventional vaccines inject someone with bits of inactivated virus or viral proteins grown in fermenters. Then their body recognizes an infection and makes the nucleic acids necessary to make antibodies against the infection. Moderna's vaccine contains the already prepped nucleic acid, mRNA, that will tell the cells how to make the antibodies.

It will be interesting to see how this progresses. Unfortunately, there are no licensed mRNA assays, so there is a lot of regulatory ground to make up here so people become familiar with the technology.

 

[Tigashrk]

Same, same

 

[WhatKnot]

I figured that I would ask the question in this thread rather than the other one; looking for an informed opinion. Outside of curiosity, what is the practical value in having a Corvid19 ‘antibody test’. My understanding is that the question of immunity is still somewhat of a work in progress.

 

[TonySmjc]

1 if you have anti bodies you may be a plasma donor
2 of you have anti bodies you’ve at least proven to yourself that you have the ability to fight it
3 of you have anti bodies you may be immune for a period of time
4 if you don’t have them it could change an individuals calculus on risk and activities they would be comfortable doing
5 It’s simple more data provided to the scientist

 

[Roccus7]

I figured that I would ask the question in this thread rather than the other one; looking for an informed opinion. Outside of curiosity, what is the practical value in having a Corvid19 ‘antibody test’. My understanding is that the question of immunity is still somewhat of a work in progress.

TS covered that well with:

1 if you have anti bodies you may be a plasma donor
2 of you have anti bodies you’ve at least proven to yourself that you have the ability to fight it
3 of you have anti bodies you may be immune for a period of time
4 if you don’t have them it could change an individuals calculus on risk and activities they would be comfortable doing
5 It’s simple more data provided to the scientist

My comments to the above. It's especially important for the Antibody Test is for the epidemiologists to look at the overall infection rates from people who were sick and never knew it.

I would caution folks on #2 above, based on #3, we just don't know how long you would be protected for a reinfection of COVID-19, so if you're Antibody Positive, it's not a license to forget all the social distancing, hygiene and cautions we've been instilled with. It would be foolish to think you're safe and you need to consider that you could still get a sub-symptomatic infection, kept in check by your Abs, BUT you're still very capable of transmitting that infection to someone else.

I'll expand on the use of Antibody testing a bit, as time passes there will be more different Antibody (Ab) tests. Some will measure Immunoglobulin G (IgG), some IgGM and maybe even IgA and IgE. G & M are the biggies and if you look at both separately you'll get an idea of the stage of infection in that your body raises IgM first, IgG later. There maybe another future blood (serology) test, a test for Antigen (Ag), besides the current diagnostic, Nucleic Acid Test (NAT). As these markers wax and wane, doctors get a better idea of what's going on in your body.

Here's a table to help you understand this, days are variable, numbers below just representative based on other viral infections...

INFECTION STAGE	TIME	NAT TEST	Ag TEST	IgM TEST	IgG TEST
NEVER INFECTED	N/A	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE
INITIAL INFECTION	~ 0 - 2 Days	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE
EARLY INFECTION	~ 2 - 5 Days	POSITIVE	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE
INFECTION	~ 3 - 7 Days	POSITIVE	POSITIVE	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE
INFECTION W/ANTIBODY ACTIVATION	~ 7 - 14 Days	POSITIVE	POSITIVE	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE
INFECTION W/FULL Ab RELEASE	~ 12 - 30 Days	POSITIVE	POSITIVE	POSITIVE	POSITIVE
RESOLVED RECENT INFECTION	~ 1 - 2 Months	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE	POSITIVE	POSITIVE
PAST, RESOLVED INFECTION	> 2 - ? Months**	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE	NEGATIVE	POSITIVE

** - How long IgG persists and is this remaining IgG is effective in fighting off another infection is the billion dollar question right now, along with what specific IgG - Antigen reaction is key to resolving an infection. This is the heart of vaccine work at this moment.

I could go on for pages, but info above is a good start on Immunology 101...

 

[TonySmjc]

I knew you’d put the fine point on it , and that’s not a Knock

My words were chosen very carefully
To include
May in number 2
And period of time in 3

 

[TonySmjc]

Wife goes to her gp today

it’ll be interesting to see if she pops positive

 

[Docfisher]

Dumb question Is it ok to use hand sanitizer on my latex gloves so I dont have to throw them away every time I use them when touching bills ETC when I have to deal with the public

Good question. During the ebola scare we were trained in health care to don and doff our PPE using hand sanitizer every step of the way including on outer surface of gloves. Number 2 mode of transmission of viruses is touching your face with dirty hands or gloves. Number 1 remains droplet spray. Really dont need to wear gloves in public at all as long as you use proper hand washing sanitizing . Touch anything and you must wash or sanitize. And dont touch your face at all. Its good practice all the time although hard to do.

 

[Roccus7]

I knew you’d put the fine point on it , and that’s not a Knock

My words were chosen very carefully
To include
May in number 2
And period of time in 3

Yes, I noted that, nicely done!

Just wanted to make sure that those who read it without catching those nuances were clearly informed...

 

[Capt13]

Antidote as opposed to a vaccine ?

Reuters | Breaking International News & Views

Find latest news from every corner of the globe at Reuters.com, your online source for breaking international news coverage.

in.reuters.com

 

[TonySmjc]

Yes, I noted that, nicely done!

Just wanted to make sure that those who read it without catching those nuances were clearly informed...

its what scientists do

 

[TonySmjc]

Antidote as opposed to a vaccine ?

Reuters | Breaking International News & Views

Find latest news from every corner of the globe at Reuters.com, your online source for breaking international news coverage.

in.reuters.com

either will do nicely