[msdivy]

I was planning to write this for the past few weeks and finally was able to make time. This is based on my observation as 1st, 2nd & 3rd party in the last 2 months of the pandemic. I see everyone is offering the vaccines now - companies to their employees, schools to the parents, malls to the shoppers, and gyms to their members. Around the same time, 2nd wave is waning and Govt is opening up in stages. There is no guarantee another wave won't hit us and if it hits, no guarantee that we are in a position to tackle it. I wanted to put all these in perspective.

Solving COVID-19 pandemic

1) Short term - Use of masks, washing hands, sanitizers, lock-down.
Washing hands, sanitizer kills germs already on hand. It offers no protection against germs that are yet to land on hands. Masks offer few hours of protection assuming all are masked. Lock-down slows the transmission and it cannot solve. If the transmission is fast, lock-downs offer no help. As an adverse effect, lock-downs will prevent people from earning a livelihood. Hence these cannot be sustainable solutions.

2) Mid-term - Vaccines
Vaccines are not medicines. They will help to prevent the disease and there is data to show the severity of infection is less if someone is vaccinated. The vaccine for a variant may not be effective against other variants. The current covid vaccine's immunity may last for a year. So the vaccine is 50-50 solution. But, it is highly advised to get a vaccine in the current situation, whichever is available at the earliest.

3) Long-term - Clinical diagnosis
The medical advisory group must fix the clinical protocol for treating COVID-19. Every effort should be made to finalize the protocol. What we saw in April-May was mayhem, with the protocol being changed every week. Many drugs were recommended and later withdrawn. Since the protocol was shared on social media, people took these drugs without consulting a physician.

I am not blaming doctors but organizations like IMA, ICMR, and MoHFw who issued the guidelines, protocol, and cocktail of drugs.

We must get to a stage where COVID-19 is triaged at OPDs, not in-hospital emergencies. During the 2nd wave, people were getting into emergency situations and hospitals are trying to salvage the situation. Once in an emergency, the result may go either way. We must empower the neighborhood physician to start consultation safely and prevent patients from going into hospitals for emergencies. Neighborhood physicians also take the patient load off hospitals.

If we achieve this, we need not fear 3rd wave or subsequent waves. The doctor community will ensure people get over the sickness. This requires expanding the current healthcare infrastructure to reach every citizen.

[anandtheleo]

Got my Covid antibody report today. I was infected in the last week of April and it was a mild infection, hence was curious to figure out my resistance and evaluate if I would need to take the vaccine now or wait for the government mandated 3 months (comes in end-July).

Any pointers on how to interpret this result? Seems low level of antibodies to me!

[lapis_lazuli]

The discussion on this thread has reduced, which is good news! I just came across this today:

https://journals.lww.com/americanthe..._of.98040.aspx

Just when Ivermectin has been dropped from national treatment guidelines, I was wondering if this publication changes the contrarian view on Ivermectin as an effective repurposed drug.

Clearly, the disease is here to stay, and this drug may be a lifesaver like this publication says.

Our resident doctors, any views please?

[drrajasaravanan]

Originally Posted by anandtheleo

Any pointers on how to interpret this result? Seems low level of antibodies to me!
Attachment 2168601

Hi,
The antibody titers and level of protection is not predictable. It's reasonable to expect protection by natural infection up to a period of 6months during which your titers will fall but your immune system will retain the memory of infection and hopefully respond when there is a second exposure.
Regarding vaccination unless you have risk of exposure or travel plans waiting for a period of 3months is fine, if not you can get the vaccine after recovery.

Originally Posted by lapis_lazuli

Just when Ivermectin has been dropped from national treatment guidelines, I was wondering if this publication changes the contrarian view on Ivermectin as an effective repurposed drug.
Clearly, the disease is here to stay, and this drug may be a lifesaver like this publication says.
Our resident doctors, any views please?

Hi,
As of Jan 2021 around 100 drugs were evaluated by CDC, NHS, WHO of which Ivermectin is also included. The in vitro response is not sustained and it's not standard of care.
There are quite a lot of reference but as medical professional we don't go by just a cluster of papers but look for further validation. Till now there is scant evidence for recommending this for all.

[anandtheleo]

Originally Posted by drrajasaravanan

Hi,
The antibody titers and level of protection is not predictable. It's reasonable to expect protection by natural infection up to a period of 6months during which your titers will fall but your immune system will retain the memory of infection and hopefully respond when there is a second exposure.
Regarding vaccination unless you have risk of exposure or travel plans waiting for a period of 3months is fine, if not you can get the vaccine after recovery.

Thanks for the clear and detailed feedback Doctor, puts my doubts to rest

[mooza]

Originally Posted by msdivy

...We must get to a stage where COVID-19 is triaged at OPDs, not in-hospital emergencies. During the 2nd wave, people were getting into emergency situations and hospitals are trying to salvage the situation. Once in an emergency, the result may go either way. We must empower the neighborhood physician to start consultation safely and prevent patients from going into hospitals for emergencies. Neighborhood physicians also take the patient load off hospitals.
If we achieve this, we need not fear 3rd wave or subsequent waves. The doctor community will ensure people get over the sickness. This requires expanding the current healthcare infrastructure to reach every citizen.

Very aptly summarized.

Most of the cases that I have heard of till date, wherein physicians were consulted in the very early stages, never needed admission in hospitals.

The 4 fatalities in my known circles (RIP) were all patients who approached medical consultation almost a week after symptoms developed, resulting in a lot of precious time lost.

It is therefore very vital to immediately connect to a physician upon falling sick, as many experienced physicians have already handled hundreds if not thousands of COVID patients by now, and will therefore know what works and what doesn't, when it comes to curing COVID patients without too many complications.

[Fillmore]

Just curious what the others and the experts have to say about this

Shycocan Virus Attenuation Device
They claim to kill 99.9% of the Corona virus in a confined space.

Also have run a full page front Ad today in the Times of India.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by Fillmore

Just curious what the others and the experts have to say about this

Shycocan Virus Attenuation Device
They claim to kill 99.9% of the Corona virus in a confined space.

Also have run a full page front Ad today in the Times of India.

Seems like a scam of the highest order .

I'm not a fan of the wire but it seems to have an article on this pseudoscientific device

https://science.thewire.in/the-scien...pseudoscience/

[Thad E Ginathom]

If they claim to be able to kill/inactivate the corona virus, then they must have done experiments with actual samples of this highly dangerous virus. In labs, like we see pictures of, with positive-pressure PPE suits and all the sort of thing.

Errm, right?

How would one go about obtaining such samples and doing such experiments? It can't be easy to go out and buy a bottle of corona. Some sort of authorisation would be required?

Errm, right?

[PearlJam]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

How would one go about obtaining such samples and doing such experiments? It can't be easy to go out and buy a bottle of corona.

Maybe, just gather a bunch of Covid positive patients and dump them in a closed room, and let the virus pervade the air? I guess medical research has always been a "don't ask, don't tell" philosophy.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

If they claim to be able to kill/inactivate the corona virus, then they must have done experiments with actual samples of this highly dangerous virus...

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Seems like a scam of the highest order...

I didn't bother to read the ad or the article, but there are plenty of chemicals / methods that will kill or deactivate bacteria and viruses. Ozone, UV (of the correct wavelength), heat, chlorine, etc., etc. Filters of the right type can trap most of the viruses. Aren't we washing our hands to deactivate the virus with ordinary soap? How about isopropyl or ethyl alcohol?

In a closed room, it should be possible to sterilize the air, but can the device intercept viruses on the way from an infected transmitter to the recipient and deactivate them? My guess is that they will have plenty of conditions/fine print to be fulfilled by the users of the device.

Vaccines themselves seem premature, and with the kind of caveats they come with, they are as good as useless (my opinion). Vaccine experts said that the goal was to create a vaccine by August 2021, when the typical vaccine takes close to 13 years.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...d-vaccine.html

Or how about the reassurances on how airflow inside aircraft cabins and appropriate filters in the HVAC system would safeguard passengers? Why not question the authorities on this?

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by mvadg

I didn't bother to read the ad or the article, but there are plenty of chemicals / methods that will kill or deactivate bacteria and viruses. Ozone, UV (of the correct wavelength), heat, chlorine, etc., etc. Filters of the right type can trap most of the viruses. Aren't we washing our hands to deactivate the virus with ordinary soap? How about isopropyl or ethyl alcohol?

In a closed room, it should be possible to sterilize the air, but can the device intercept viruses on the way from an infected transmitter to the recipient and deactivate them? My guess is that they will have plenty of conditions/fine print to be fulfilled by the users of the device.

The only way to sterilize air would be via forced circulation by filters in the HVAC system or strong UV radiation. These are the only foolproof methods.

The former is pretty self explanatory. The latter would be injurious to humans as well along with the virus .

Ozone is poisonous, so is chlorine. Also these are mostly used as surface disinfectants not air.

This device doesn't even claim to use any of the above methods. It says some voodoo nonsense about firing electrons. The only source of constant electrons are beta decay radioactive elements such as Tritium and C14. I seriously doubt they are using those elements.

[deathwalkr]

On the topic of virus killing devices, Philips has come out with a convenient option.

They call it the Air Guard and comes with a UV light hidden behind a conventional light.

https://www.smartmedicalbuyer.com/pr...cool-day-light

Thinking it could be effective in lifts and other small places.

[RavSam]

Guys! I got my 1st dose today at around 9:25 am after slot booking.
I saw my name on their system and saw them hit "approve" on the screen.

BUT! I didn't receive any message after the dose (my friends and relatives who got the 1st dose earlier got it instantly) and neither do I see the certificate. it's still showing "Not vaccinated" on the cowin app.

Should I wait? Or what can I do? :(

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by mvadg

I didn't bother to read the ad or the article, but there are plenty of chemicals / methods that will kill or deactivate bacteria and viruses. Ozone, UV (of the correct wavelength), heat, chlorine, etc., etc. Filters of the right type can trap most of the viruses. Aren't we washing our hands to deactivate the virus with ordinary soap? How about isopropyl or ethyl alcohol?

Ahh, yes indeed. All without expensive unproven devices. Nice down-to-earth reply!

Originally Posted by RavSam

Guys! I got my 1st dose today at around 9:25 am ... ... ... it's still showing "Not vaccinated" on the cowin app.

Should I wait? Or what can I do? :(

I don't know, but if I were you I'd give it 24 hours. After that... I seem to remember there is an option on the cowin app to raise an issue, or complaint, or similar wording.