I got the rubella vaccination around 1969. At that time, I believe it was encouraged primarily for girls so they wouldn’t get it later during a pregnancy due to the severe birth defects.
I remember having the mumps when I was in third grade. UGH, it was awful. While I was infected we had a tornado go through the town we lived in so I remember being on a cot in the basement sick as a dog. Haha, one of the few memories of my childhood that is very vivid. (sorry, I know this has nothing to do with that conversation…)
I apologize for falling behind in this thread! @rjm2018 had asked what my DH thinks about zinc and HCQ as preventative treatments. I’m sorry to report that the study of HCQ for healthcare workers in the NYC area is having trouble getting enough participants registered, and may not be able to go forward. HCQ has gotten a lot of bad press (rightfully so as far as giving it to ICU patients) and even healthy healthcare workers are wary of taking it. DH tells me not to worry. because other trials are ongoing, and his highest hopes are for drugs developed specifically to block SARS-CoV-2. Also, he agrees with @scout59 re the potential dosage issues with ivermectin.
For those who are interested in the (incredibly complex and imperfectly understood) subject of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, this paper has a good diagram with pictures showing a healthy immune response vs a dysfunctional one: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-020-0311-8
Yep. Not a girl but child of the 60s. I had measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, Hong Hong flu and I am sure I am missing something… Lol.
See: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2766182
SARS-CoV-2 Rates in BCG-Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Young Adults
It’s a report of correlational study of 6000 patients tested for Covid, and there doesn’t seem to be much to the BCG-vaccine theory. Basically, infants in Israel were routinely given to infants until 1982, but not since – so they were able to look at the rate of Covid infection in the cohort of people born in the 3 years prior to the change in policy, and then the 3 years after. There was no significant difference in infection rate.
Conclusion: “In conclusion, this study does not support the idea that BCG vaccination in childhood has a protective effect against COVID-19 in adulthood.”
I’m seeing a lot of information out there refuting the mask wearing mandates, some saying that if worn for long periods of time wearing a mask can actually inhibit our immune systems. Can anyone with a medical/scientific background shed some light on whether this is true. Searching this on the Internet takes you down a very deep rabbit hole, haha. Of course, here I am asking on an anonymous message board when I have no idea who any of you are, but I trust people on here to be honest about their background. Thanks!
@CMB625 - WHO has on their website that there is very little evidence that cloth masks are effective in disease prevention and transmission. I haven’t seen anything scientific that masks can inhibit immune system.
I’m not sure on the immune system thing…here is USA Today refuting that: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/05/08/fact-check-wearing-face-mask-does-not-weaken-immune-system/3088954001/
Regarding mask wearing, there isn’t much good data for non-medical masks and whether they prevent infection (either to the wearer, or from the wearer to others).
There has been only one randomized controlled trial (RCT) of masks (3 types-2 medical, 1 non-medical cloth): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/
This doesn’t necessarily mean that non-medical cloth masks don’t help with controlling covid-19 infection, but does explain why some public health officials may have not recommended wearing non-medical masks initially. There is some non-RCT data that show non-medical cloth masks may reduce spread of SARS-Cov-2, the USA today article highlights some of that data.
But, when you add in the fact that many people don’t wear masks the right way, or don’t follow proper procedures when putting them on and taking them off, and touch their faces more when wearing masks…there might not be as good results as found in a healthcare or controlled setting.
I doubt it’s been studied extensively, if at all. There hasn’t really been a need before.
Then why is wearing masks the end all be all to Covid spread right now? I am a rule follower, but I’d like the truth. This ridiculousness of making people wear masks in LA outdoors is beyond comprehension, especially when our government and top medical officially told us in March that wearing masks does nothing and could actually harm. I believe in science and want science. If only surgical masks work, then I want to know since wearing this annoying uncomfortable cloth mask is probably a waste of time. Is it?
Seems ridiculous to me to require them to be worn outside.
For indoors…data seem mixed on non-medical cloth masks so the science is less than clear. Note: I am not a healthcare professional!
This research indicates that in Hong Kong wearing masks had a huge impact in reducing spread. Note the study is being submitted to a journal but not yet published.
Also not a medical professional, so I won’t weigh in on the research itself.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/05/masks-covid-19-infections-would-plummet-new-study-says
Thank you for this article. 2 things come to mind 1) Hong Kong is one of the places that had mass MMR inoculations which in a study we recently saw on this thread may help protect against CV 2) the article doesn’t specify if Honk Kong residents are mostly wearing surgical masks vs homemade. I believe the surgical ones are most effective… if cloth ones don’t work, then we should just say so. I want truth and facts from our health experts.
It’s unclear if the research is based on people wearing only medical or surgical type masks, as the picture in the article link shows, or if it included those wearing non-medical cloth masks.
From the RCT linked above: Medical and surgical masks > no mask > non-medical cloth masks in mitigating infection.
Hopefully ongoing research will clarify the situation.
It wouldn’t be necessary to wear masks outdoors if social distancing rules are followed. But unfortunately, not everyone is a rule follower. That’s especially true when the government sends mixed messages and fails to convince people the necessity of wearing masks, and the penalty for breaking such rules are almost non-existent.
Fred Hutch launches a new study:
Social distance, wash your hands and don’t touch your face. The reason for mask wearing is if your by other people. When I walk my dog I have one in my pocket incase I go get coffee or something else and go into a store. But my area is very busy with joggers running right past me. They can spew aerosols that stay up in the air and then you just gingerly walk by and inhale them. Large droplets fall to the ground but not the very small aerosols droplets. So, if your not by anyone then don’t wear one. If you go to a crowed place put one on.
I got ice cream yesterday from an outside soft serve. I walked up without a mask. But standing in line people got very close so I put mine on. The high school kids did not.
Choices we all have to make.
The mask is just preventing you to infect someone else and vice versa. Cloth masks stop 3%.Surgical masks stop 58% and N95 masks well 95%. Stopping particles reaching you. This is the best I understand it
Thanks for this - "Cloth masks stop 3%.Surgical masks stop 58% and N95 masks well 95%. Stopping particles reaching you. "
Are these the same rates of you infecting others with your particles?
In the other thread, someone posted a link to a writing by Atul Gawande, mostly about protocols to reduce the risk of infection in a hospital. However, he did make some statements of mask effectiveness (both outbound to protect others and inbound to protect the wearer). My summary of his statements on masks can be found here: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22806709/#Comment_22806709
I don’t know that there is data for what you are asking.
Here is the data from the RCT that I linked above:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/
@knowstuff Do you have other sources? Also, it seems some websites (Walmart, Amazon) do have surgical masks available for sale again…are you still having trouble getting these for your office? Should people buy these now instead of wearing non-medical cloth masks?