Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of a routine screening colonoscopy (it was fine, I'm now old enough to earn such a thing). I am happy to report that the first text I received upon arousal from sedation was, "Are you OK? I didn't see your email this morning." I am grateful for loyal readers and Propofol, the excellent anesthetic used for the procedure. And I apologize to anyone I may have texted back while still fuzzy-headed. They probably should have taken my phone for a little longer.
(And get your routine healthcare addressed! It is too easy to put things off in a pandemic!)
Learn about Diprivan (Propofol) (the very quick on-off sedation used these days):
https://bagmask.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Propofol-Infographic.jpg
-----Latest Data---
CDC National Hospitalization trend data
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#hospitalizations
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
The U.S. Regionally - N.Y. Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
Vaccine Tracker
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-trends
---
I found several discussions from CDC leadership on the need to keep mask mandates in place for a few more weeks. This situation feels like a race between reopening and mass vaccination.
https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1376988620452679683?s=20
and
https://twitter.com/hutchinson/status/1376940801431756806?s=20
because unvaccinated people are still getting sick
https://twitter.com/VinGuptaMD/status/1376355603946237953?s=20
New vaccine data from an MMWR paper demonstrates that the mRNA vaccines are very effective in real-world conditions. The study followed vaccinated and unvaccinated healthcare workers in the U.S. from December through March. The infection rate in the vaccinated workers was 90% lower.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e3.htm
more
or you can look at other reports
Dr. Gandhi summed up the recent CDC guidelines with this helpful infographic:
https://twitter.com/MonicaGandhi9/status/1377052900845780993
There have been numerous articles looking at decreased antibody effectiveness to the new variants in previously infected and vaccinated individuals. Here is the first paper I have seen looking at the T-cell response of previously infected individuals to the new variants. It is comforting data.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/t-cells-recognize-recent-sars-cov-2-variants
article
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.11.21251585v1
Infographic of the day: Hockey Pucks
All I know about hockey is ice and lots of equipment. Today I learned about the evolution of the Hockey Puck. In the 1870's they were cubes‽
https://smartereveryday.tumblr.com/image/77315289387
----Bonus Round - There is a market for everything?
I share with you the story of kosher sake, which winds through World War II and involves Japan's chief rabbi.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/kosher-sake-in-japan
I did not know there were enough Jews in Japan to have a chief rabbi, but enlightenment comes in many forms, I suppose.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Japan
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
