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The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

61–70 of 298 posts

Re: The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

#62
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, only a N95 or better mask would protect you from incoming, as opposed to outgoing, viruses, and these masks are both impractical for everyday wear and need to be conserved for public health users.

I'm not sure I would call them impractical for everyday wear. I wear N95 masks when commuting during active wildfires. The news always says not to wear them because you won't put them on properly, but it's really not that hard to ensure the fitment is correct. It's not like the construction workers that wear them occupationally are rocket scientists. My partner is more vulnerable to respiratory problems and has alway…

Telling people they should wear masks because they don't put them on properly is like telling people they shouldn't drive cars because some people drive them into trees.

Re: The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

#63

As a side observation: most reporting seems rather binary, i.e. you either die or survive, period. What interests me the most, however, is how often survival means full recovery, especially now that the nervous system comes up. Are there any long term effects? Should one generally expect to come out of it worse, the same, or stronger? I'm much less afraid to die from this than to end up with chronic respiratory and/o…

EDIT - Just to be clear, I'm not saying that people shouldn't take precautions or that it's not worth protecting vulnerable groups. I'm simply suggesting that perhaps there is news coverage about other things (remember the whole Hong Kong situation that we aren't hearing about suddenly?) that might still deserve some air time.

The media is profiting off this story big time. It's like when the plane went missing and a news station actually put some moron on the air who said there's technically a chance a black hole swallowed the plane. It's disgraceful, to be honest.

That said, it looks like the rate of fatalities is overblown significantly [0](0.2% in a healthy population (COMPARED WITH THE 3.4% NUMBER BEING SPOUTED ALL OVER THE PLACE). I've yet to see coverage that is remotely reputable about long-term health effects after recovery.

EDIT 2 - Case in point about premature statements being made.

> [1]“I think it is likely we’ll see a global pandemic,” said Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “If a pandemic happens, 40% to 70% of people world-wide are likely to be infected in the coming year. What proportion of those will be symptomatic, I can’t give a good number.”

followed by:

> [2]"Because I am now less certain of where the R0 will end up (and how it may vary geographically) I am going to revise downward the range of outcomes I consider plausible to 20%-60% of adults infected. This involves subjectivity about what range of R0 may turn out to be true."

[0] https://institutefordiseasemodeling.github.io/nCoV-public/an...

[1]https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-many-people-might-one-perso...

[2]https://twitter.com/mlipsitch/status/1234879949946814464

Re: The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

#64
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This suggests an advantage to purposeful infection by oral/eye rather than accidental by intranasal. It'll be interesting to see what the case fatality rate is when segmented by infection route.

It's been suggested to me, in addition to hand washing, to use soap to rinse a bit of my nostrils. Not sure if it makes any difference at all, but I've been doing it on the off-chance.

Presumably in anticipation of upper respiratory tract infection. COVID-19 is a lower respiratory tract infection.

I haven't heard of nasal irrigation using soap; hypertonic saline solution is usually recommended.

http://www.elvisstudy.com/

Re: The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

#65
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, only a N95 or better mask would protect you from incoming, as opposed to outgoing, viruses, and these masks are both impractical for everyday wear and need to be conserved for public health users.

I have a small box of N95 masks in my shop - bought last summer for dust protection. When is the right time for me to put them on my family. Part of this is how long will they last before I must replace them. Or should I put them on eBay for a million dollars and hope I life to enjoy my new found wealth?

Surely you have elderly friends and relatives, give each one one of your masks (once things are dire enough that people will actually learn to use masks properly and not waste it.)

Re: The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

#66
I've only read the abstract, and it seems to clearly say that the virus can get to the brain via the lungs. So I have no idea what people ITT are on about regarding purposeful infection or masks for prevention. Regardless, this abstract also does not explain the mildness of the disease except for the immunocompromised and elderly, which to me renders the link between how you get the infection and fatality a bit suspicious.

Re: The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

#67
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is super scary. Before I read this I was happily thinking hey it's no worse than flu. Now... I'm wishing I didn't live in a huge city riding the subway daily.

I keep trying to not look up Coronavirus news online, but I can't help it... and after reading this I'm genuinely terrified. The word "potential" on the title is entirely invisible to me.

Oddly enough, I was on the "pandemic" bandwagon early enough that my period of anxiety and insomnia has now passed already. People get used to new states of affair pretty quickly.

Re: The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It may also be expected that the symptoms of the patients infected via facal-oral or conjunctival route will be lighter than those infected intranasally. That seems like the hypothesis they suggest. Interesting implications.

All the people who were made fun of in middle school for being a 'mouth breather' will have the last laugh.

'mouth breathing' is actually really bad for you.

Re: The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

#69
post #18

Not a biologist, but reading the paper, the chain of reasoning appears to be summarized in this section: > Taken together, the neuroinvasive propensity has been demonstrated as a common feature of CoVs. In light of the high similarity between SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV2, it is quite likely that SARS-CoV-2 also possesses a similar potential. Based on an epidemiological survey on COVID-19, the median time from the first sym…

> There's also this rather disquieting anecdote used as evidence of a link to the nervous system: > According to the complaints of a survivor, the medical graduate student (24 years old) from Wuhan University, she must stay awake and breathe consciously and actively during the intensive care. She said that if she fell asleep, she might die because she had lost her natural breath. Would that explain people collapsing…

No, I think that'd be very unlikely because it'd be a late symptom after substantial damage has been done. Compared to the frequency of syncopal episodes I'd expect in people sick with any other cold or flu, I think it's overwhelmingly more likely to be from other causes.

And if it actually were causing neurological damage, I'd expect still more causes like seizures and the like.

Re: The neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV2

#70
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep trying to not look up Coronavirus news online, but I can't help it... and after reading this I'm genuinely terrified. The word "potential" on the title is entirely invisible to me.

Oddly enough, I was on the "pandemic" bandwagon early enough that my period of anxiety and insomnia has now passed already. People get used to new states of affair pretty quickly.

I hardly ever have to deal with anxiety, but now I have a headcold and my coworker sitting 6-feet to my right has a mask on...
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