Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

thetimes.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 142 posts

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#121

Post by nradov »

criticaltinker wrote: post #115
nradov wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CDC estimates that 36% of Americans have been infected. Of those, only 15% were completely asymptomatic but most had mild symptoms. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burd...

Thanks for pointing that out and doing the math. I did some digging, here is the paper outlining the methods and data sources for the numbers on the page you linked to [1]. That paper cites two other papers used to estimate the asymptomatic proportion [2][3]. Here is a more recent systematic review [4], which estimates that at least 33% of infections are asymptomatic. And another recent paper which estimates the lowe…

Asymptomatic is kind of a fuzzy concept so the numbers will vary based on methodology. If you test positive and then have a bit of diarrhea one day is that a COVID-19 symptom or the consequences of a bad burrito? In mild cases there's no way to be sure.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/s...

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#122

Post by TMWNN »

jMyles wrote: post #90
IfOnlyYouKnew wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that more people are in the hospital in Florida right now than at any time in the last two years would seem to disprove any speculation of here immunity.

Can we stop with this please? > The fact that more people are in the hospital in Florida right now than at any time in the last two years THIS IS NOT TRUE. The metric you are describing is hospital census , which is _not_ at an all-time high right now. What is at an all time high? The percentage of people in the hospital who have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, regardless of their presentation. The roundtable just ye…

>I just don't understand the point of constantly misrepresenting this metric. It muddies the waters of actual concerns about the spread of the virus by making it seem like those are are concerned are dishonest.

>Stop it.

It's hopeless. The exact same thing happened last year, driven off of media that loved talking about how the local hospital is at the brink of collapse because "the ICU is 90% full". The few voices that pointed out that 90% ICU occupancy is a) normal and b) what hospitals plan for were overwhelmed.

The only time US hospitals anywhere were actually overrun with patients was a brief time in NYC in March 2020. Even that cleared up quickly; the US military hospital ship sent to NYC was barely used and soon left, and I don't believe the one sent to LA was used at all. All those tents built in hospital parking lots everywhere? Not used either.

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#123

Post by scotty79 »

AndrewBissell wrote: post #119
scotty79 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should scan their brains to enure there's no damage. Or we may find out with a crime wave in 20 years (like with lead) that we didn't protect our children adequately.

The idea that children can be prevented from contracting SARS-CoV-2 in perpetuity is a scientific/technological fantasy tale. We don't even have sterilizing vaccines.

We should still transform education into remote one instead of halfassing remoting till we can drop it.

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#124

Post by criticaltinker »

nradov wrote: post #121
criticaltinker wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for pointing that out and doing the math. I did some digging, here is the paper outlining the methods and data sources for the numbers on the page you linked to [1]. That paper cites two other papers used to estimate the asymptomatic proportion [2][3]. Here is a more recent systematic review [4], which estimates that at least 33% of infections are asymptomatic. And another recent paper which estimates the lowe…

Asymptomatic is kind of a fuzzy concept so the numbers will vary based on methodology. If you test positive and then have a bit of diarrhea one day is that a COVID-19 symptom or the consequences of a bad burrito? In mild cases there's no way to be sure. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/s...

I agree there can be many confounding factors.

To clarify your point: this leads you to the conclusion that the asymptomatic proportion is likely under-estimated? And conversely, the symptomatic proportion is likely over-estimated?

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#125

Post by 74d-fe6-2c6 »

That plus ...

- https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01442-9

- https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01557-z

... actually implies that we do not need widespread vaccination campaigns.

But guess what stocks the members of your government have in their depot and you bet they make sure you get your jab and the booster and the update and another booster ...

This is biggest scam in the history of the earth.

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#126

Post by mrhands69 »

logifail wrote: post #107
criticaltinker wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO an even more important question is, why aren't we pursuing early outpatient treatment with combinations of existing over the counter medicines? Such techniques have proven to be very effective at preventing hospitalization and death for SARS-CoV-2 [1][2], yet you will rarely find anyone advocating for them. The papers I've cited are some of the most highly cited in the literature, with world-wide support from exp…

> why aren't we pursuing early outpatient treatment with combinations of existing over the counter medicines Doesn't this come back (yet again) to the financial incentives? Go to FDA.gov and read up on "Emergency Use Authorization"[0]: > FDA may authorize unapproved medical products or unapproved uses of approved medical products to be used in an emergency to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life-threatening di…

You're making too much sense; someone is going to call you a conspiracy theorist.

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#127

Post by criticaltinker »

giantg2 wrote: post #94
zamalek wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vaccine results in more robust immunity.[1] That is an outcome. [1]: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2103825?query=TOC

What this shows is that a single dose administered to a previously infected person provides greater antibody production than a non infected person's recieving two doses. The study also says that they are unsure if those higher levels affect a patient's ability to get sick or transmit the virus. What I would be looking for is a study showing that prior infection has x% effectiveness as measured against a vaccine on a…

I concur, thanks for helping folks stay informed.

GP's takeaway that "The vaccine results in more robust immunity" is completely unsupported by the provided source.

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#128

Post by nradov »

scotty79 wrote: post #123
AndrewBissell wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that children can be prevented from contracting SARS-CoV-2 in perpetuity is a scientific/technological fantasy tale. We don't even have sterilizing vaccines.

We should still transform education into remote one instead of halfassing remoting till we can drop it.

That would be child abuse. A lack of socialization and proper education is a greater risk to children than a minor respiratory virus. Remote learning isn't an adequate replacement.

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#129

Post by kcartlidge »

phreeza wrote: post #111

Amazing to see that the UK has >90% positive vaccine sentiment, and close to 90% with at least one dose of vaccines now. Am I reading that right? How did they manage to avoid the politicization of the issue that is keeping people from getting the shot in other Western countries?

There were a few things that strike me (I'm British) as being quite relevant.

The first is that from very early on the PM was flanked by medical professionals who appeared to be apolitical and were considered by all 'sides' on the vaccine debate to be honest (even if their opinions were sometimes contentious). That credibility meant they were listened to.

The second is that the NHS is almost a religion over here - this contributes to the medical profession being extremely well trusted.

In many places in the world the frontline medical staff are trusted but the system isn't. We're lucky here in that largely both aspects retain their respect. Note that I'm not commenting on other nations health systems or their population's opinion of it. We (the UK) are not unique in having reasonable healthcare; this is more about our high perception of the system providing it.

Finally, as a society we are very compliant, and also with the not-for-profit AZ vaccine there was a certain feeling of a national champion who was also helping to save the world.

Re: 94% of English adults have Covid antibodies, ONS data shows

#130

Post by jMyles »

KarlKemp wrote: post #112
aix1 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the media is at least partly to blame for this. I have the greatest respect for the BBC, but look at this headline: Covid third wave: Florida surpasses all-time record for hospital admissions . Totally unsupported by the article. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58077209 With regards to metrics that are peaking, FT reports that "Occupancy in the south-eastern US state’s intensive care units is on co…

The first line of the article is "The number of Covid patients in Florida hospitals has risen to a new high, breaking records set during previous waves before vaccines were available." Then, there's a quote to that effect from a doctor, specific to their hospital.

Right. The headline is about hospital census; the article does not support that point, and instead is about a different (and much less important, from a public health perspective) metric - admissions which are coincident with a positive test for a specific pathogen.
Post reply on HN