Posts Tagged: health

Covid-19, March 2021


A year ago, I wrote:

“Good news:
+ The mortality rate of Covid-19 is 5 times lower than that of SARS
+ For most people it is no worse than a common flu
+ It seems like only the elderly and especially those who suffer from a previous health condition is at risk
+ The virus is only spreading after a person has become ill and not during the incubation period

Bad news:
– No one is immune to the virus (Of course – because, this is what the main problem is)
– A vaccine will take at least a year to develop”

Well, a year later we have learned a lot. Some “bad news” turned out not to be as bad as we feared. For instance, the vaccin took less than a year to develop. But other things have had to be added to the list. We have learned that not “only the elderly and especially those who suffer from a previous health condition is at risk”, although those are most at risk, of course. Most notable in my view, howevere: Long Covid. I have had Covid but “no worse than a common flu” and without any lingering problem. For that I am very grateful.

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How Iceland Beat Covid-19 (So Far)

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Another great video on Covid-19.

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Good summary.

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Who is getting sick, and how sick? A breakdown of coronavirus risk by demographic factors

The new coronavirus is not an equal-opportunity killer: Being elderly and having other illnesses, for instance, greatly increases the risk of dying from the disease the virus causes, Covid-19. It’s also possible being male could put you at increased risk” (Sharon Begley).

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Covid-19, March 2020


Good news:
+ The mortality rate of Covid-19 is 5 times lower than that of SARS
+ For most people it is no worse than a common flu
+ It seems like only the elderly and especially those who suffer from a previous health condition is at risk
+ The virus is only spreading after a person has become ill and not during the incubation period

Bad news:
– No one is immune to the virus (Of course – because, this is what the main problem is)
– A vaccine will take at least a year to develop

The big unknowns seem to be, and these are my questions (not discussed in the video), how long will we restrict travel to and from northern Italy and other risk areas? Will we have to wait for a vaccine? Or is there a point when enough people, everywhere, has been infected so that it doesn’t matter anymore? And when is that point reached?

It seems that, ironically, the quicker the population get infected the quicker our problems will be over. Nevertheless,

Stay safe and healthy!

Update: This video address the questions I raise. It turns out that the answer has to do with whether we consider the disease to be an epidemic or a pandemic.

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The end of HIV transmission in the U.S.: A once-unthinkable dream becomes an openly discussed goal

A mere decade ago, 45,000 Americans a year were contracting HIV. Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started collecting data on HIV-related deaths just over 30 years ago, more than half a million of those people have died from AIDS.

And yet, today, the struggle against HIV may be undergoing a sea change.

U.S. health officials and HIV experts are beginning to talk about a future in which transmission in the United States could be halted. And that future, they say, could come not within a generation, but in the span of just a few years.

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I knew it! It is not me, it is global warming that is making me fat. Maybe.

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Have had a slight headache ever since we came to the summerhouse for the (extended) weekend. Turns out, the instant coffee I have been drinking (as if that wasn’t bad enough) is caffeine free. The horror!

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Is everything you think you know about depression wrong?

“If you are depressed and anxious, you are not a machine with malfunctioning parts. You are a human being with unmet needs. The only real way out of our epidemic of despair is for all of us, together, to begin to meet those human needs – for deep connection, to the things that really matter in life.”

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