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In biblical era plagues were punishments from God. (Some people think so even these days.) We are not dealing with a plague but a pandemic, some will say. Whatever. ...(I will learn the difference if someone doesn't point out the difference between a plague and a pandemic.)

However, as us humans and science evolved, we are more aware of bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. How they infect us and how they spread.

Anyway, understanding science is not a strength I am born with.

Just like Trump, none of us are medical experts to talk about medications and treatment. And as we all know internet and media are full of shit and lots of non experts giving expert advice. One moment you think you have learnt something, the next article tells that it is not true. (That is if you read in research mode rather than believe everything mode )

At this moment in time, it is better to understand our bodies and it's systems and functions than fall for every bullshit.

Our immune system is designed to protects us from infections through various lines of defence. It's a complex system. The function of our immune system is made up of the reciprocal reaction between our diet, stress, lifestyle and environment other than our genetic material and various types of cells and even memory cells that are stored to combat similar pathogens.

There are lots of bullshit about boosting the immune system these days.

But the truth is, the immune system is not designed to be Boosted. The correct message should be of maintaining a healthy immune system so that it would function when necessary to fight diseases,
by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, balanced diet and minimum stress levels.

Yes, there are certain nutrients, vitamins and minerals required for the function of our immune system. Lack of them in our diets will hinder the functions. But no secret ingredient, super food or a magic supplement can boost our immune system.

Non expert Usha marveled by the immune system signing off on a glorious Wednesday in month of April, year 2020.

Be safe. Stay home but not glued to a screen.
Have a nice day.!

Feel free to add any other facts about the immune system and its functions.

Dang it all cause I was looking forward to it happening.

A few weeks ago, I got into a discussion and made some blog comments that hospitals in China and Italy where coronavirus patients in ICU where placed on their stomachs in a face-down prone position instead of the usual position of being slightly propped up were recovering without the use of ventilators.
One theory was to drain fluids in the lungs and another (more importantly) was to relieve pressure on the diaphragm from the effects of gravity.

The technique is called "proning" and it's helped patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) increase the amount of oxygen in their blood without the use of intubation!




I've seen a few articles that confirm this:

From The New Yorker;



Andy was particularly spot on with this one from over a month ago.
If Trump stayed away allowing Fauci to handle the pandemic,
things would have been much better, than the chaos Trump fostered.
Less infections would have occurred, more centralized equipment & supplies acquistion at the federal level and more lives would have been saved.

Welcome back. Before we begin, just a bit on lecture hall decorum. At the Vierk Institute, our division for pedagogy has suggestions for seating, which several studies show contribute to a much better learning.environment. I am asking all young ladies to move closer to your director instructor, right here at the front of the hall. The males can all go to the back higher levels of the room. That's it. I may have a few suggestions on female attire at a later time as well.
I'll henceforth refer to epidemiology as Epid, to save time. Few in medicine would not agree that Epid forms the backbone of public health. The craft basically is a meld between clinical medicine, and biostatistics. In clinical nursing and medicine, the focus typically is on the individual patint. In Epid, it's on populations, of various sorts, and, specifically, on rates/proportions of disease or health indices in these populations, and of their exposures to various factors. Naming these populations, and the exposures, provides a format for better describing the field, as follows:
Broadly speaking, the craft can be understood as consisting of three sub fields, again with reference to populations. At a basic level, there is descriptive Epid, which attempts to study a population in terms of the rates of health/disease, and various exposures. Analytical Epid then attempts to understand how these are linked causally, using varioius study designs and analyses. Finally, clinical Epid applies various principles to understand and to predict how various interventions, individually, or on populations, affect health outcomes. In large part, much of the predictive work on just how to best respond to C-19 combines ideas from all three of these subfields, mostly of the last.
A listing of types of exposures and "outcomes" (illnesses/health), is one way to understand the various divisions of the field.
So, there are infectious and chronic disease branches of the field. Examples of these include the study of viruses, as now with C-19, in the former, and a focus on, say, cancers, or obesity, in the latter.. There's psychiatric Epid, to keep the beauticians of medicine busy. Epid of the workplace, of accidents, and so on. Likewise, the divisions of Epid can be cast in terms of exposures. So we have environmental, radiation, stressor, and other branches of the field. Even the best uses of health services yield to Epid study approaches.. Most recently, genetic and molecular parts of the science have become quite important.
OK, class dismissed, except for those three young ladies to my right, with high hemline skirts, deep cut tops, and the FM red high heels going. Please retreat to my office after class.

Today from Bloomberg;



Deaths are a lot easier to determine than infections, especially since adequate testing is unavailable and most people have not been tested. Indeed, some tests have proven to be faulty. While some areas have seen a reduction in deaths recently, other areas have seen an increase and the net this week was an increase.

It would be prudent to not ease back on social distancing for the near future, especially since we do not yet know who is infected.

I came across a website that gets masks directly to healthcare workers 'on the front lines' where they don't have any. It sppears to be If you have masks (N95, surgical, etc.) and want to donate, they can arrange pickup to your door via the USPS. Since it's donation and volunteer you have to pay shipping. Need masks? The same site can find a match for you.

Their website now claims to have already delivered over 300,000 masks.

Every night I read the dashboard results for the COVID-19 data in the state of Florida. I'll do a screenshot and check it again in the morning to see changes as the numbers are usually higher. Probably a recount or late entry from the previous day causing the numbers to change.
The website data can do a detailed map by zip code. Because the area where I live has several communities packed in high density, the amount of reported cases are higher here than a few miles away that is used for farming. However, it's many people in a few square miles that concerns me.

It's mandatory to have some form of face covering when in public. Security won't let you into the grocery store without one. Many of the stores have added plastic barriers at the cash registers. Every building entrance and register has 6' markings on the floor as distancing reminders. I went to the Post Office on Saturday and they have a plastic curtain from ceiling to counter all the way across the service area.

I'm still in contact (by phone) with people I used to work with. They probably networked with a few hundred. Last month, I heard the wife of the warehouse supervisor who works in the medical field had tested positive for the virus. I didn't hear any more details on that. An associate who's wife works for an air conditioning service with more than 50 employees is able to do her job from home. She said none of their crew have been directly affected. Another friend's wife is a nurse and she recently tested negative. These are all good signs of containment.

Hearing of one episode about 2 weeks ago that annoyed me... a client went to the showroom without an appointment to see the sales rep to go over her order. When the rep said you need to make an appointment, the woman said it was her only opportunity as her son tested positive and is home under quarantine. The rep was angered and shouted "You tell me this? I've got family with young children at home. No we cannot have a meeting! Please leave." So far the rep is okay and has no symptoms.

The Condo Association president sent out a message (a few weeks ago) that anyone who has the virus MUST notify them and special precautions will be taken to disinfect hand rails, elevator interior and control panels, etc. I'm thinking that information should be noted on the condo bulletin board so the other residents can avoid those units. So far, I've seen no notices.

This morning my wife was listening to a documentary in English which is unusual as nearly everything she listens to is in Chinese. It was about the use of TCM in the cure for COVID-19. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) takes the approach to strengthen the body's immune system to block the effects of the virus.
In the past months she's mentioned they have been successfully using Chinese medicine on people with COVID-19 virus. The English version video was for my benefit. Her phone was purchased in China and it doesn't appear to be running Android. All the apps are in Chinese. She was able to save the video to her cellphone and I was able to upload it to my computer, but I'm unable to figure out the actual link where the video came from as she uses QQ which is a Chinese based social media system similar to WhatsApp.
The video has a watermark: china.org.cn and I'll search the site (later for the link)

The benefits of using TCM is it's reported to be highly effective, especially when administered early on in the first stage of the virus and low cost.