We are living in the middle of the emergency over coronavirus all over the world. The reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on societies and economies around the world cannot be understated. Because an estimated 15% of COVID-19 patients require hospitalization and 5% require intensive care (Z. Wu and McGoogan 2020), the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has the potential of posing a substantial challenge to medical systems around the world (Remuzzi and Remuzzi 2020; Grasselli, Pesenti, and Cecconi 2020).
Necessity is the mother of invention. A need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or solve the problem. This saying appears in the dialogue Republic, by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
“Necessity is the mother of invention” is an English-language proverb. It means, roughly, that the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need. When the need for something becomes imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.
Here are some examples of sort of ingenuity we need now in the middle of pandemia. Already many people contributed those efforts. Check out on those links what is already done if you can find any useful information or can contribute to those efforts you see as good idea. Start your reserach with 7 open hardware projects working to solve COVID-19 article.
I have collected here a list of interesting open hardware project and instructions that can be useful or educational. Hopefully this list I have contributed here will be useful for someone. Keep in mind that many of those ideas are potentially dangerous if the instructions are not entirely correct, implemented exactly right and used by people that know what they are doing. You have been warned: Do not try those at home yourself! We are dealing here with things that can easily injure or kill someone if improperly implemented or used – but at right place the best ideas from those could potentially save lives.
Repairing hospital equipment
The right thing to do in his situation is that medical companies to release service manuals for ALL medical equipment so they can be repaired and maintained where they are most needed.
In the face of ventilator shortages for COVID-19 victims, iFixit is looking to make maintaining and repairing equipment as easy as possible. iFixit Launches Central Repository for Hospital Equipment Repair and Maintenance Manuals
https://www.ifixit.com/News/36354/help-us-crowdsource-repair-information-for-hospital-equipment
Site http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com offers links many service manuals
Robotics
COVID-19 pandemic prompts more robot usage worldwide article tells that the coronavirus has increased interest in robots, drones, and artificial intelligence, even as some testing of autonomous vehicles pauses on public roads. It is believed that these technologies can help deal with massive staffing shortages in healthcare, manufacturing, and supply chains; the need for “social distancing;” and diagnosis and treatment.
Here are some robotics related links that could be useful:
Medical robotics expert Guang-Zhong Yang calls for a global effort to develop new types of robots for fighting infectious diseases.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/medical-robots/coronavirus-pandemic-call-to-action-robotics-community
Elements of Robotics Open Access Textbook
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-62533-1
Ventilators
A ventilator is a machine designed to provide mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators are sometimes colloquially called “respirators”.
A ventilator, also called a respirator, is designed to provide mechanical ventilation by oxygen into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. The machines can be used to help a person breath if they have conditions making it difficult to breathe, such as lung diseases, during and post-surgery. For patients critically ill with coronavirus access to a ventilator could be a matter of life or death.
In its simplest form, a modern positive pressure ventilator consists of a compressible air reservoir or turbine, air and oxygen supplies, a set of valves and tubes, and a disposable or reusable “patient circuit”. Modern ventilators are electronically controlled by a small embedded system to allow exact adaptation of pressure and flow characteristics to an individual patient’s needs.
They work by placing a tube in a person’s mouth, nose or small cut in the throat and connect it to a ventilator machine. The air reservoir is pneumatically compressed several times a minute to deliver room-air, or in most cases, an air/oxygen mixture to the patient.
Because failure may result in death, mechanical ventilation systems are classified as a life-critical system, and precautions must be taken to ensure that they are highly reliable. Modern commercial ventilator is a relatively complex piece of equipment with lots of components and a dedicated supply chain.
Because there is a lack of ventilators on many hospitals in several countries, there has been a lot of creative work done to help this problem.
There has been projects going on to repair old and non-working ventilators to a working conditions. For repairing some older devices, there has been problem to get spare parts from the manufacturer and that those spare parts can be very expensive. Also getting the service information for repairing those equipment seems to be hard to get from manufacturer, Ifixit has started a project Help commit industrial espionage for the greater good! to get the service information on-line at https://www.ifixit.com/News/36354/help-us-crowdsource-repair-information-for-hospital-equipment
In middle of the emergency some people have worked on to make their own spare parts when official parts are not available, thus making more devices available. For example a startup 3D-printed emergency breathing valves for COVID-19 patients at an Italian hospital in less than 6 hours. An Italian hospital that ran out of life-saving equipment for coronavirus patients was saved by a ‘hero’ engineer who used cutting-edge technology to design oxygen valves within a matter of hours. At least 10 lives were saved in this way.
So great thinking for 3d printing of valves. Are they sterilized and suitable? 3D printing has been used in numerous cases for medical parts already. Most 3D printing operates at relatively high temperatures and printed objects are actually naturally sterilized when they are made. Anyway the right kind of plastic needs to be selected and the part needs to be built in exactly right way that is works reliably as designed. If they are used and the individual gets worse, does the fact that equipment not medical certified (environment, storage, shipping, etc) put the hospital in additional jeopardy for a lawsuit? All valid questions each medical liability officer will have to address. But if people are going to literally die if you do nothing, then taking a risk with a part that you 3D print seems like an idea that is worth to try.
Links:
A startup 3D-printed emergency breathing valves for COVID-19 patients at an Italian hospital in less than 6 hours
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-italian-hospital-3d-printed-breathing-valves-covid-19-patients-2020-3?r=US&IR=T
https://it.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-manca-la-valvola-per-uno-strumento-di-rianimazione-e-noi-la-stampiamo-in-3d-accade-nellospedale-di-chiari-brescia/
Firm ‘refuses to give blueprint’ for coronavirus equipment that could save lives
https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/16/firm-refuses-give-blueprint-coronavirus-equipment-save-lives-12403815/
3D printed life-saving valves: already a dozen in operation
https://www.embodi3d.com/blogs/entry/436-3d-printed-life-saving-valves-already-a-dozen-in-operation/
Volunteers produce 3D-printed valves for life-saving coronavirus treatments
Volunteers made the valves for about $1
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/17/21184308/coronavirus-italy-medical-3d-print-valves-treatments
Another tried trick is try to use one ventilator with more than one patient. Daily Mail writes that ventilators can be modified to help FOUR coronavirus patients breathe at the same time if the NHS is still critically short of the machines when the outbreak peaks, scientists say. Here are some links to material on using one ventilator to more than one patient:
https://emcrit.org/pulmcrit/split-ventilators/
SAVING 4 PATIENTS WITH JUST 1 VENTILATOR
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/19/saving-4-patients-with-just-1-ventilator/
Here has been work going on in creating an open source ventilator design project. Here are some links to this project and some other DIY ventilator designs.
There’s A Shortage Of Ventilators For Coronavirus Patients, So This International Group Invented An Open Source Alternative That’s Being Tested Next Week
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandrasternlicht/2020/03/18/theres-a-shortage-of-ventilators-for-coronavirus-patients-so-this-international-group-invented-an-open-source-alternative-thats-being-tested-next-week/
Open-source Oxygen Concentrator
https://reprapltd.com/open-source-oxygen-concentrator/
https://blog.arduino.cc/2020/03/17/designing-a-low-cost-open-source-ventilator-with-arduino/
https://www.instructables.com/id/The-Pandemic-Ventilator/
Macgyvilator Mk 1 (3-19-2020) – “ventilator” for disasters and/or low resource environments
Macgyvilator Mk 1 is a disaster “ventilator”, a simple apparatus to compress a bag-valve-mask with some control over tidal volume and rate. Constructed quickly and simply using wood, PVC, velcro, common fasteners, and easily sourced and assembled electronic components.
An Arduino based Open Source Ventilator to Fight against COVID-19?
https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/03/21/an-arduino-based-open-source-ventilator-to-fight-against-covid-19/
Low-Cost Open Source Ventilator or PAPR
https://github.com/jcl5m1/ventilator
Low-cost Ventilators
https://procrastineering.blogspot.com/2020/03/low-cost-ventilators.html
Arduino Respirator Prototype (pen source solution from Reesistencia Team, which is undergoing testing)
https://www.facebook.com/official.arduino/videos/2557115014604392/
OxyGEN project
https://oxygen.protofy.xyz
“OxyGEN is an open hardware project to build an emergency mechanism that automates an AMBU type manual ventilator in extreme shortage situations such as the one caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) in some parts of the world.”
NOTE: Take a look at the expression VILI before thinking about trying one of these. It is hard making a ventilator that doesn’t harm the lungs. It is easy to get Ventilator-associated lung injury or die if the ventilator does not work exactly correctly all the time.
Testing for infection
There are many approaches thought to be helpful to finding out if someone is infected or something is contaminated.
Thermal scanners are effective in detecting people who have developed a fever (i.e. have a higher than normal body temperature) because of infection with the new coronavirus. However, they cannot detect people who are infected but are not yet sick with fever (it can take 2-10 days before infected people get the fewer).
Open-Source Collaboration Tackles COVID-19 Testing
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/10/open-source-collaboration-tackles-covid-19-testing/
Low-cost & Open-Source Covid19 Detection kits
https://app.jogl.io/project/118?
This Open Source Device Can Detect Coronavirus on Surfaces
The Chai team has developed a detection test that works with their Open qPCR tool.
https://www.hackster.io/news/this-open-source-device-can-detect-coronavirus-on-surfaces-3da1d7b1c73a
Prevent touching face
It is recommended to stop touching your face to minimize spread of coronavirus and other germs. People touch their faces frequently. They wipe their eyes, scratch their noses, bite their nails and twirl their mustaches.
Not touching your face is a simple way to protect yourself from COVID-19, but it’s not easy. If you can reduce face-touching, you can lower people’s chances of catching COVID-19. Why is it so hard to stop? Face-touching rewards us by relieving momentary discomforts like itches and muscle tension.
If you you want to change, you can try to replace it with a competing response that opposes the muscle movements needed to touch your face. When you feel the urge to touch your face, you can clench your fists, sit on your hands, press your palms onto the tops of your thighs or stretch your arms straight down at your sides. Some sources recommend object manipulation, in which you occupy your hands with something else. You can rub your fingertips, fiddle with a pen or squeeze a stress ball.
Related links:
This pair of Arduino glasses stops you from touching your face
https://blog.arduino.cc/2020/03/10/this-pair-of-arduino-glasses-stops-you-from-touching-your-face/
Don’t Touch Your Face
Don’t touch your face — easy to say, hard to do. This device, worn like a watch, will buzz whenever your hand aims for trouble.
https://www.hackster.io/mike-rigsby/don-t-touch-your-face-e8eac3
Hand sanitizer
Hand sanitizer is a liquid or gel generally used to decrease infectious agents on the hands. It depends on the case if hand washing with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer is preferred. For Covid-19 WHO recommends to wash your hands with soap and water, and dry them thoroughly. Use alcohol-based handrub if you don’t have immediate access to soap and water.
It seems that there are many places where there is shortage of hand sanitizers. This has lead to situation where people have resorted to making their own. Recipes for DIY hand sanitizer are popping all over the internet. A quick search reveals news articles, YouTube how-to’s and step-by-step visual guides. But think twice about joining them — experts are wary and even caution against the idea. The World Health Organization even has an official guide to making hand sanitizer. But it’s intended for populations that do not have clean water or other medical-grade products in place. Don’t try to make your own hand sanitizer just because there’s a shortage from coronavirus.
Can’t get your hands on hand sanitizer? Make your own
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/hand-sanitizer-coronavirus-make-your-own/
Photos show why hand sanitizer doesn’t work as well as soap and water to remove germs
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-photos-why-you-should-wash-hands-with-soap-water-2020-3?amp
Emergency DIY hand sanitizers (read the description)
“Every time a new health incident occurs there’s a rush on hand sanitizers, often causing shops to sell out.
Here’s how to make some simple emergency sanitizers at home, noting that they are not as effective as just washing your hands, and only some viruses can be damaged by simple sanitizers. These options are offered as a last resort when commercial versions are not available.”
“For the alcohol one the higher the percentage of alcohol the better, up to around 70-80%.”
Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer At Home When It’s Sold Out Everywhere
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2020/03/03/make-your-own-hand-sanitizer-at-home-when-its-sold-out-everywhere/
Sanitizing things
With deadly coronavirus spreading worldwide at an alarming speed, personal hygiene has become paramount importance to contain the infection spread further. Mobile phones are known to house several germ, and if you thing they are contaminated, you should maybe disinfect them. The CDC recommends that everyone “clean all “high-touch” surfaces every day” to protect against the spread of COVID-19.
How to Disinfect Your Smartphone article says CDC recommends that for your smartphone you should use 70% rubbing alcohol or alcohol-based disinfectant spray to wipe down the back and sides of your device. For example Apple recently updated its official cleaning advice, so ccording to Apple, it’s now safe to clean your iPhone with disinfecting wipes if you do it correctly. You should not try to spray any liquid to your phone.
The other option is to use a smartphone sanitizer device that cleans using UV rays. Sanitizers that use ultraviolet (UV) rays to kill bacteria and viruses have been around for a while now and they can kill 99% of bacteria in as little as five minutes. However its efficacy hasn’t been tested against nasties like SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Coronavirus effect: Samsung offers UV-C sanitizing service for Galaxy devices. Samsung is using Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) disinfection technology, which uses of uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) light to kill or inactivate bacteria, virus, molds and other pathogenic microorganisms on smartphones.
The UV-C light is capable of destroying nucleic acids and DNA. It will kill many things, but you don’t want that hitting your eye or skin. World Health Organization only states: “UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands, or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation.”
Here are some UV C related links:
https://www.light-sources.com/blog/killing-bacteria-with-uv-light/
https://russellsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-gtl3-bulb-simple-and-inexpensive.html?m=1
Good UV versus bad UV. All available on eBay.
Protective masks
The protective mask ratings used by hospitals are typically N95, FFP2 or FFP3. FFP2 protection level is 94%. FFP3 protection level is 99%. N95 protection level is 95%. An N95 FFR is a type of respirator which removes particles from the air that are breathed through it. These respirators filter out at least 95% of very small (0.3 micron) particles. N95 FFRs are capable of filtering out all types of particles, including bacteria and viruses. The N95 mask is mainly for use if you already have the virus to keep it from spreading and many have argued that coronavirus is smaller than the 0.3 micron filter rating of the mask and thus, not that helpful, for people outside of healthcare. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General wants consumers to stop buying masks.
Due to the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, there has been a huge shortage of N95 masks. Promoting simple do-it-yourself masks: an urgent intervention for COVID-19 mitigation claims that widespread use of masks by the general population could be an effective strategy for slowing down the spread of COVID-19: “Since surgical masks might not become available in sufficient numbers quickly enough for general use and sufficient compliance with wearing surgical masks might not be possible everywhere, we argue that simple do-it-yourself designs or commercially available cloth masks could reduce the spread of infection at minimal costs to society”.
With masks sold out during the coronavirus outbreak, many people will have to make do with what some scientists have called “the last resort”: the DIY mask. Many people have been working on designs for a DIY mask that may be able to protect those who haven’t been able to secure their own masks. It seems that cotton homemade masks may be quite effective as alternatives and there are also other ideas. For any DIY ideas, be warned that there is no guarantee that those designs are effective. So I don’t recommend to use them as alternative to proper mask when they are available. Bit of proper marks are not available, they can be better than nothing.
Keep in mind the right filter type to use: Hepa filters do have the ability to filter particles and viruses, but they wont protect you 100% of the time. The real secret is layers. The problem is, more layers, more restriction. Keep in mind that charcoal filters will make your air fresher, but have almost no effect on cleaning the air of viruses. Coronavirus virions (or ‘particles’) are spherical particles with diameters of approximately 125 nm (0.125 microns). The smallest particles are 0.06 microns, and the largest are 0.14 microns. This means coronavirus particles are smaller than PM2.5 particles, but bigger than some dust particles and gases.
General information:
Guide to Dust Mask Ratings
https://www.seton.co.uk/your-guide-to-dust-masks-ratings
Can Masks Protect People from The Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/coronavirus-pollution-masks-n95-surgical-mask/
Hengityksensuojaimet
https://www.tays.fi/fi-FI/Ohjeet/Infektioiden_torjunta/Mikrobikohtaiset_ohjeet/Hengityksensuojaimet(51207)
DIY project links:
Homemade N95 Masks In A Time Of Shortage
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/18/homemade-n95-masks-in-a-time-of-shortage/
“According to a studied performed at Cambridge University during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, while surgical masks perform the best at capturing Bacillus atrophaeus bacteria (0.93-1.25 microns) and Bacteriophage MS virus (0.023 microns), vacuum cleaner bags, tea towels, and cotton T-shirts were not too far behind. The coronavirus is 0.1-0.2 microns, well within the range for the results of the tests.”
What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/
“Data shows that DIY and homemade masks are effective at capturing viruses. But if forced to make our own mask, what material is best suited to make a mask? As the coronavirus spread around China, netizens reported making masks with tissue paper, kitchen towels, cotton clothing, and even oranges!”
Can DIY Masks Protect Us from Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/diy-homemade-mask-protect-virus-coronavirus/
“DIY masks to protect against from viruses sounds like a crazy idea. Data shows masks work incredibly well, and they’re also really cheap. Surgical masks cost a few pennies, and they’re capable of filtering out 80% of particles down to 0.007 microns (14 times smaller than the coronavirus).”
“The homemade cotton masks captured 50% of 0.02-1 micron particles, compared with 80% for the surgical mask. Although the surgical masks captured 30% more particles, the cotton masks did surprisingly well. The researchers concluded that homemade masks would be better than nothing.”
“The Cambridge data shows that homemade masks made using cotton t-shirts can filter out some particles that are 0.02–1 microns in size. That’s pretty good, however its only one test.”
Professional and Home-Made Face Masks Reduce Exposure to Respiratory Infections among the General Population
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/
Can Masks Protect People from The Coronavirus?
https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/coronavirus-pollution-masks-n95-surgical-mask/
This old hack doesn’t require any cutting or sewing:
http://how2dostuff.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-to-make-ninja-mask-out-of-t-shirt.html
Copper 3D makes the free N95 mask design to fight COVID-19 pandemic spread
https://3dprintingcenter.net/2020/03/18/copper-3d-makes-the-free-n95-mask-design-to-fight-covid-19-pandemic-spread/?fbclid=IwAR2iXJD5ybU8ReADakvCyDKsfzuRDOBEWxZ3ACCjZoz2dKNwvy07htUhon4
“Copper 3D – A Chilean manufacturer of innovative antibacterial filaments designed the own version of the popular N95 protective mask and prepared it perfectly optimized for 3D printing on desktop 3D printers of the FDM / FFF type. The project is released under an open-source license and has been simultaneously patent pending to prevent other entities from commercializing it.”
“Copper 3D team quickly got to work on developing the patent for a model similar to a standard N95 mask but with some peculiarities (Antiviral, Reusable, Modular, Washable, Recyclable, Low-Cost), which were completely designed in a digital environment so that it could be downloaded anywhere in the world and 3D printed with any FDM/FFF equipment, even a low cost one. The mask was called “NanoHack”.”
#HackThePandemic site offers the technical details of the N95 mask and download set of STL files for printing on own 3D printer
https://copper3d.com/HACKTHEPANDEMIC/
SaltMask
https://robots-everywhere.com/re_wiki/pub/web/Cookbook.SaltMask.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39956
“This is NOT a straight replacement for a N95 mask. In a real emergency it is recommended to combine a full face shield with a filter mask.”
Prusa Protective Face Shield – RC2
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/25857-prusa-protective-face-shield-rc1
“In a real emergency it is recommended to combine a full face shield with a filter mask.”
Promoting simple do-it-yourself masks: an urgent intervention for COVID-19 mitigation
https://medium.com/@matthiassamwald/promoting-simple-do-it-yourself-masks-an-urgent-intervention-for-covid-19-mitigation-14da4100f429
“Since surgical masks might not become available in sufficient numbers quickly enough for general use and sufficient compliance with wearing surgical masks might not be possible everywhere, we argue that simple do-it-yourself designs or commercially available cloth masks could reduce the spread of infection at minimal costs to society”
“Potentially, simply wrapping a suitable, large cloth around the face is easy to implement (Fig. 2), would arguably be more socially acceptable than surgical masks, and would be superior to a complete lack of face mask use.”
1,350 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nasal spray shown to be effective in reducing COVID-19 transmission
https://www.europeanpharmaceuticalreview.com/news/153050/nasal-spray-shown-to-be-effective-in-reducing-covid-19-transmission/
The algae-derived NasitrolTM nasal spray reduced the incidence of COVID-19 in intensive care unit (ICU) workers to one percent in a clinical trial.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cleveland Clinic Study Suggests Steroid Nasal Sprays May Help Improve Outcomes in Severe COVID-19 Disease
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2021/09/28/cleveland-clinic-study-suggests-steroid-nasal-sprays-may-help-improve-outcomes-in-severe-covid-19-disease/
A recent Cleveland Clinic study found that patients who regularly use steroid nasal sprays are less likely to develop severe COVID-19-related disease, including a 20 to 25% lower risk of hospitalization, ICU admission and mortality. The study was published in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
Patients who used intranasal corticosteroids prior to COVID-19 illness were 22% less likely to be hospitalized, 23% less likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit, and 24% less likely to die from COVID-19 during hospitalization compared to patients not on intranasal corticosteroids.
While the findings of the study encourage patients who use intranasal corticosteroids chronically to continue to do so as needed, it does not suggest that intranasal corticosteroids should be used to treat or prevent COVID-19 in any way. The theory behind the study, which was based on reports that intranasal corticosteroid in vitro (in the laboratory) decreased the protein receptor ACE2, allowing the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 to enter cells and, spread the disease.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tällainen riski korona on diabetespotilaalle https://www.is.fi/terveys/art-2000008564230.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Donald Trump vannoi koronan hoidossa malarialääkkeen nimiin – nyt samainen lääke on ainesosana koronasuihkeessa, jolle turkulaisfirma hakee rahoitusta
Kehitteillä olevan lääkkeen tarkoituksena on pyrkiä estämään viruksen tunkeutuminen elimistöön ja siellä monistuminen.
https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/turku/art-2000008535430.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pfizer: Suun kautta otettava yhtiön koronalääke vähentää sairaalahoitoon joutumisen ja koronatautiin kuolemisen riskiä lähes 90 prosenttia
Pfizer on hakenut suun kautta otettavalle koronalääkkeelle myyntilupaa Yhdysvalloissa.
https://www.hs.fi/tiede/art-2000008385428.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists develop Covid-19 testing lab in a backpack
Researchers have created a simple Covid-19 testing lab that fits into a backpack providing a cheap and effective solution for low income or remote areas.
Published on:26 January 2022
https://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/2022/se/scientists-develop-covid-19-testing-lab-in-a-backpack.html
End-to-end system for rapid and sensitive early-detection of SARS-CoV-2 for resource-poor and field-test environments using a $51 lab-in-a-backpack
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259886
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/these-four-factors-are-linked-to-higher-longcovid-risk-study-suggests/
Tomi Engdahl says:
When it comes to N95 face masks, “faking it until you make it” doesn’t quite work.
https://trib.al/W2AlMVi
Is Your N95 Respirator A Counterfeit? How To Spot Fake Face Masks
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftrib.al%2FW2AlMVi&h=AT08O-df6Ln5w6GYu86wMDH_i8SxwENw3G6K_afnOuB8TJ6M1ig86M0FZux3jOdIBtPSskLQKZX85BGBagyFXMa9oSoAfY36Hcy9Bhi9rBWwixT7g0iVC3vzhZWE0DDA1A
The spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant has prompted more public health experts to recommend wearing N95 face masks instead of cloth or surgical face coverings if possible.
When it comes to N95 face masks, “faking it until you make it” doesn’t quite work. You may be searching for N95 respirators to protect yourself against Covid-19, especially with the spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant. The trouble is, and here’s a shocker, people or businesses may try to sell you counterfeit N95 face masks just to make money.
Now, buying a fake designer handbag or a fake real Jon Hamm human hair beard may be one thing. The consequences of using a counterfeit product in such cases may not be that dire. That’s unless you run into Jon Hamm, and he tells you, “dude, I never sold my beard hair” and challenges you to a fight. By contrast, using a fake N95 respirator can put you at serious risk. It can give you a false sense of security and actually allow the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) through to infect you.
Therefore, when you’re purchasing an N95 respirator, the operative phrase should be “caveat emptor,” which is Latin for “let the buyer beware.” As the following CBC News segment showed, the marketplace is filled with counterfeits and “shallow” fakes:
https://youtu.be/yHy937FF16o
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s What We Know About ‘Stealth’ Omicron BA.2 — The More Infectious Subvariant Better Able To Infect Vaccinated People
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftrib.al%2FiMB3pyL&h=AT3yBP6BbwfxwZ1hxaR0GVz66ZiWPj29qUnu8Pzmb2g8lWv4l6b7OacTnpuHloiKV7iiWzvrNtDy37alMKy9ddduRGWb93Zx4R3Zr-CKL7FccIvRE8Km1iia3KKdwzhpUfhIAE6jE6bC7iU5XA
Tomi Engdahl says:
A close relative of the omicron coronavirus variant—known as BA.2 and dubbed “stealth omicron” by some scientists—is more infectious and better at infecting vaccinated people, a Danish study has found, sparking concerns of an even more transmissible strain as it rapidly outpaces other variants around the world.
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftrib.al%2FiMB3pyL&h=AT3yBP6BbwfxwZ1hxaR0GVz66ZiWPj29qUnu8Pzmb2g8lWv4l6b7OacTnpuHloiKV7iiWzvrNtDy37alMKy9ddduRGWb93Zx4R3Zr-CKL7FccIvRE8Km1iia3KKdwzhpUfhIAE6jE6bC7iU5XA
People infected with the BA.2 omicron subvariant were around 33% more likely to infect others than those infected with BA.1, the dominant and “original” omicron form, according to an analysis of infections in more than 8,500 Danish households by researchers at Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut (SSI), the University of Copenhagen, Statistics Denmark and the Technical University of Denmark.
Tomi Engdahl says:
THE ALGORITHM THAT MAPPED OMICRON SHOWS A PATH FORWARD
With antigenic maps, vaccines can evolve with COVID-19 variants
https://spectrum.ieee.org/omicron-covid-variant
Tomi Engdahl says:
This COVID test robot protects the safety of medical staff, since let’s face it, taking these samples is not fun for anyone.
Oral Sampling Robot Can Save Medical Staff From Your Grossness But is it safe to have a robot shove itself down your throat?
https://spectrum.ieee.org/covid-robot?utm_campaign=RebelMouse&socialux=facebook&share_id=6892068&utm_medium=social&utm_content=IEEE+Spectrum&utm_source=facebook
Until we come up with something less unpleasant, all of the most reliable ways of determining whether you’re playing host to even the teeniest tiniest little bit of COVID-19 that we have right now involve some flavor of jamming a sampling device into a mucus-y orifice that doesn’t appreciate having sampling devices jammed into it. Whether it’s farther up your nose than you thought possible or down your throat to the point at which you involuntarily attempt to punch the nurse in the face (I’m very sorry about that), taking samples of disgusting goo is no fun for patients and probably even less fun for medical professionals, especially when there is a reasonable chance that the mucus you’re now elbow-deep in is effervescing with COVID.
The process of taking oropharyngeal-swab sampling is dull, dirty, and dangerous all at once, making it an ideal task for a robot to do instead—as long as that robot can avoid violently stabbing you in the throat.
Tomi Engdahl says:
An implanted microchip could replace cards as a way to carry a vaccine passport that can’t be lost and is always handy.
READ MORE:
https://foxbaltimore.com/news/coronavirus/implanted-microchip-could-be-used-to-verify-covid-19-vax-status
https://theintercept.com/2022/01/01/covid-vaccine-passports-surveillance/
Tomi Engdahl says:
California researchers found that respirator masks reduce the odds of testing positive for Covid by 83%, reinforcing efforts to phase out cloth masks.
Respirator Masks 48% More Effective Than Cloth Masks, Study Finds
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fzacharysmith%2F2022%2F02%2F04%2Frespirator-masks-48-more-effective-than-cloth-masks-study-finds%2F%3Futm_campaign%3Dforbes%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_term%3DGordie&h=AT2HjNvpO7Vr6zUQeVzI59k-W8mQBust5pJpT7JNM5e7LVnQy-YzF3wEQ-WRVAr3cp6u2Pv9VkqqAFZHpYnRTI2HkoTqZN_uQgBNTpWLMAGKopxXqtnObrPQz2VEBDtEng
N95 and KN95 respirator masks reduce the odds of testing positive for Covid-19 by 83% compared to 66% for surgical masks and 56% for cloth masks, according to a real-world study published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reinforcing efforts to phase out cloth masks in favor of more effective face coverings.
Researchers affiliated with the University of California at Berkeley and the California Department of Public Health determined that any kind of mask offers significant protection against Covid and that it’s “most important” to wear a properly fitting mask that can be used consistently.
These findings reinforce the need to improve access to high-quality masks and to ensure access is not a barrier to use, the researchers said.
N95 and KN95 masks are theoretically similar in terms of filtration, but are certified by different organizations. N95 masks are certified by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health while the more widely available KN95 masks are manufactured in China to meet national standards. NIOSH found that about 60% of KN95 masks don’t work as well as intended.
Though respirator masks are generally more effective than cloth masks, many people choose to wear cloth masks because they are more comfortable, researchers at the University of Virginia concluded. Tests commissioned by the New York Times found that cloth masks with filter inserts blocked from 94% to 99% of the smallest particles tested, performance similar to N95 and KN95 respirator masks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Designed around fears of carbon dioxide rebreathing, this low-cost sensor keeps you informed on CO₂ levels in your face mask.
NFC-Powered “Smart” Face Mask Monitors Carbon Dioxide Levels, Links to a Smartphone App
Designed around fears of carbon dioxide rebreathing, this low-cost sensor keeps you informed on CO₂ levels in your face mask.
https://www.hackster.io/news/nfc-powered-smart-face-mask-monitors-carbon-dioxide-levels-links-to-a-smartphone-app-428cc9c3566b
To strike a balance between the benefits of the mask and concerns over rebreathing, the team set about upgrading an off-the-shelf FFP2-standard filter mask with some smarts. A flexible sensor tag, featuring a custom-designed optochemical carbon dioxide sensor, is fitted within the mask using a polymeric substrate designed for comfort. A near-field communication (NFC) link is used to both power the sensor and to transmit data to a smartphone, which then warns the user if excessive carbon dioxide is detected.
The sensor, which does not require a battery, is stated to offer an eight-hour lifetime — “comparable with recommended FFP2 face mask usage times,” the team notes. While the results confirmed the sensor’s ability to detect CO₂ within the mask from the user’s exhalations, no attempt was made to link in-mask levels with CO₂ or O₂ blood concentrations.
The team’s work has been published under open-access terms in the journal Nature Communications.
Smart facemask for wireless CO2 monitoring
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27733-3
The use of facemasks by the general population is recommended worldwide to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Despite the evidence in favour of facemasks to reduce community transmission, there is also agreement on the potential adverse effects of their prolonged usage, mainly caused by CO2 rebreathing. Herein we report the development of a sensing platform for gaseous CO2 real-time determination inside FFP2 facemasks. The system consists of an opto-chemical sensor combined with a flexible, battery-less, near-field-enabled tag with resolution and limit of detection of 103 and 140 ppm respectively, and sensor lifetime of 8 h, which is comparable with recommended FFP2 facemask usage times.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HDD Centrifuge Puts COVID-19 Testing Lab In A Backpack
https://hackaday.com/2022/02/05/hdd-centrifuge-puts-covid-19-testing-lab-in-a-backpack/
Throughout this two-year global COVID-19 nightmare, one thing that has been sorely lacking is access to testing. “Flu-like symptoms” covers a lot of ground, and knowing if a sore throat is just a sore throat or something more is important enough that we’ve collectively plowed billions into testing. Unfortunately, the testing infrastructure remains unevenly distributed, which is a problem this backpack SARS-CoV-2 testing lab aims to address.
The portable lab, developed by [E. Emily Lin] and colleagues at the Queen Mary University of London, uses a technique called LAMP, for loop-mediated isothermal amplification.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0259886
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists Find Putting Pantyhose on Your Head Makes Your Mask Safer
After testing seven ways to make masks seal better around the face, researchers found that a pair of hosiery does the trick best.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/akvng5/mask-hacks-better-fit-research
Tomi Engdahl says:
N95 and KN95 respirator masks reduce the odds of testing positive for Covid-19 by 83% compared to 66% for surgical masks and 56% for cloth masks, according to a real-world study.
Respirator Masks 48% More Effective Than Cloth Masks, Study Finds
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftrib.al%2FgzYf3HF&h=AT1JoQmOA-qLCZF2F_mfSuluUniZWwLPLHwROtXU8othwDDvsn_cHtJnOlVQZ0lIi47puuQWNHrt8-FWHBkrsGRNRvw6XD1ifOo5h-dw8Fr3qmUWxNxvZp9rXG_sRhD8rg
N95 and KN95 respirator masks reduce the odds of testing positive for Covid-19 by 83% compared to 66% for surgical masks and 56% for cloth masks, according to a real-world study published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reinforcing efforts to phase out cloth masks in favor of more effective face coverings.
These findings reinforce the need to improve access to high-quality masks and to ensure access is not a barrier to use, the researchers said.
N95 and KN95 masks are theoretically similar in terms of filtration, but are certified by different organizations. N95 masks are certified by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health while the more widely available KN95 masks are manufactured in China to meet national standards. NIOSH found that about 60% of KN95 masks don’t work as well as intended.
Though respirator masks are generally more effective than cloth masks, many people choose to wear cloth masks because they are more comfortable, researchers at the University of Virginia concluded. Tests commissioned by the New York Times found that cloth masks with filter inserts blocked from 94% to 99% of the smallest particles tested, performance similar to N95 and KN95 respirator masks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Laajalti käytetty antihistamiini hävitti ”pitkän koronan” oireet kahdelta potilaalta lähes täydellisesti – Olo oli parempi jo seuraavana päivänä
https://tekniikanmaailma.fi/laajalti-kaytetty-antihistamiini-havitti-pitkan-koronan-oireet-kahdelta-potilaalta-lahes-taydellisesti-olo-oli-parempi-jo-seuraavana-paivana/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1644579236
The Journal for Nurse Practitioners -tiedelehdessä julkaistussa tapauskertomuksessa kuvaillaan, kuinka kaksi kalifornialaista pitkästä koronasta kärsivää henkilöä saivat lievitystä oireisiinsa päivittäisellä antihistamiinin käytöllä.
Toinen antihistamiinista apua saanut potilas on keski-ikäinen nainen, joka sai koronatartunnan tammikuussa 2020. Hänen pitkäaikaisoireensa alkoivat helpottaa vasta, kun hän alkoi ottaa antihistamiinia juustoallergiaansa saman vuoden kesällä. Hänen käyttämänsä antihistamiini on difenhydramiini, jota saa Suomessakin reseptillä.
Tapauskertomuksessa kuvaillaan, kuinka 50 milligramman päivittäisannos difenhydramiinia on yhdeksässä kuukaudessa lähes poistanut hänen pitkittyneet koronaoireensa, joita olivat muun muassa väsymys, aivosumu, rasitusväsymys ja rintakivut.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Endemic strains can certainly seed new epidemic waves… potentially even pandemic ones,” Dr. Aris Katzourakis told Forbes.
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Froberthart%2F2022%2F02%2F14%2Fwhy-endemic-covid-could-lead-to-another-deadly-outbreak%2F%3Futm_campaign%3Dforbes%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_term%3DGordie&h=AT0X_Id13ZToXNDnKHu038Mt5r9nfuOmpQOWJrCYimhL2ehTrvYP3PwUhT_UhZo-6_hc3pLHC187z_ER6raQnDZ5r9JgRllkgLDd6HQuBnTN9IGNy-2pn3UyNgzynIYJZmvnQSaaUIYwOfTHBA
As more and more countries ease Covid restrictions and prepare to “live with the virus,” experts warn Covid-19 will remain a permanent fixture in our lives and could still cause widespread and serious disease, possibly even giving rise to another coronavirus pandemic in the future.
Worrisome mutations in “endemic strains can certainly seed new” outbreaks and potentially new pandemics, he explains.
Animals could be a potential source of these new coronaviruses with “pandemic potential,” Dr. Elizabeth Halloran, an epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, told Forbes, pointing to the family of influenza viruses able to “recombine in other animal hosts” and then spread between humans.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Easily-Accessible Over-The-Counter Drug Reduces COVID-19 Symptoms, Suggests Study
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/easilyaccessible-overthecounter-drug-reduces-covid19-symptoms-suggests-study/
BY JACK DUNHILL
14 FEB 2022, 17:52
A new diverse digital trial has highlighted a cheap, easily-accessible drug that could speed up the rate of recovery for people with COVID-19. The drug, called famotidine and commonly found in the heartburn drug Pepcid, led to a significantly reduced time with COVID-19 symptoms in the 55 patients treated. Scientists hope it could act as a viable answer to the limited number of treatments available to the millions of daily COVID-19 patients worldwide.
“In our fully remote, outpatient, randomized controlled trial of famotidine (Pepcid), we found that patients on the medication saw 50 percent of their symptoms get better in just eight days of their 14 days treatment course, versus 11 days for the non-medicated group,” Christina Brennan, MD, Vice President of Clinical Research at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and first author on the paper, told IFLScience.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Some unvaccinated people suffering from long Covid found symptoms improved after getting the shot, the U.K. Health Security Agency review found.
Unvaccinated More Likely To Get Long Covid—And Suffer Symptoms For Longer—Studies Find
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People who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 are less likely to suffer from long Covid if they catch the virus than people who haven’t, according to a new review of studies by the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA), underscoring the wide-ranging benefits of vaccination beyond protecting against infection.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bad boomer memes aren’t the only problem.
Viral Thread Reveals How COVID Misinformation Gets Into Top News Outlets And Medical Journals
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/viral-thread-reveals-how-covid-misinformation-gets-into-top-news-outlets-and-medical-journals/
There’s a whole lot of COVID misinformation out there, from whether or not the vaccines are safe in pregnancy (they are) to whether or not they are responsible for your cousin’s friend’s gigantic balls (they aren’t.)
It can be tempting to assume that all such rumors are the result of bad boomer memes on social media, but sometimes it’s possible to wind up believing false claims through perfectly cromulent outlets. As a viral Twitter thread from University College Dublin Professor of Architecture Orla Hegarty has recently shown, it’s all too easy sometimes for a soundbite to become received wisdom – even when that soundbite isn’t in fact accurate.
Despite Hegarty’s warnings, the journalist went ahead with the piece – “one in 1,000” statistic included. Soon it had been picked up in the UK press, who mysteriously cited the HPSC reply as “a study,” and before long, the factoid had spread across the world.
And despite Irish health officials pointing out that the figures were misleading, things then got even weirder. The “one in 1,000” statistic – which, just to remind you, was a back-of-an-envelope calculation done by a journalist who had already been told it was inaccurate – started turning up in academic papers.
It even made it into the British Medical Journal.
Lawmakers and special interest groups started lobbying for it to be used to inform public health policy.
It is true that most experts agree you’re less likely to catch COVID in an outdoor setting, but the exact numbers are hard – if not impossible – to quantify. That’s why when places like the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) try to come up with estimates based on hard data, they’re invariably accused of misrepresenting the truth.
Hegarty’s thread should be taken as a stark reminder that just because we want something to be true, doesn’t mean it is – and to always check our sources. After all, as Hegarty tweeted back in April, “it’s a fast moving situation & media are under pressure… but we all have ethical responsibilities when speaking publicly in a health emergency.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ivermectin, lauded by some as a Covid-19 miracle cure, does nothing to prevent patients with the virus from developing more severe symptoms, a study published Friday found.
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fzacharysmith%2F2022%2F02%2F18%2Fivermectin-doesnt-help-covid-patients-study-finds%2F%3Futm_campaign%3Dforbes%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_term%3DGordie&h=AT2iSo5Ry4GnqudTX9jaImyvsOGmx7eDTCaIpmfRyEGHCMjBL8VrvdaxFKAa9x4bSyfAJKXkUtGb9saa-6-4MzXdXqWHFJbYgw20G6-ArHxKxWLhDPmWdZamK46EF84cuw
Tomi Engdahl says:
Covid-19: Common cold may give some protection, study suggests
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59911257
Tomi Engdahl says:
Revealing the hidden value of vaccines
Vaccines are one of the most successful public health measures ever designed. Understanding their full value could steer investment in the right direction.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-021-00520-w?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=MLSR_BRCON_ENGM_GL_MPSS_SABIN_T3-Sep21-4&fbclid=IwAR12q1caHhFx1vtEMXWYQYcD0SXK3ERXLXg6dWsVHvu6CDPWApiFEoWH0DY
Tomi Engdahl says:
A new COVID-19 vaccine has achieved 100 percent efficacy against severe disease and hospitalizations, announced manufacturers Sanofi and GSK.
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/new-vaccine-with-100-percent-efficacy-against-severe-covid19-seeks-approval/
A new COVID-19 vaccine has achieved 100 percent efficacy against severe disease and hospitalizations, announced manufacturers Sanofi and GSK on Wednesday. The companies are now set to apply for regulatory authorization from bodies like the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) to release the vaccine as both a two-dose vaccine and booster shot.
Unlike vaccines based on mRNA technology, the new Sanofi-GSK offering is a protein-based vaccine – a “well-established approach that has been applied widely to prevent infection with other viruses including pandemic flu,” said GSK President Roger Connor in a statement today.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/02/28/mask-sanitization-that-anyone-can-build/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vaccine economics is undergoing an overhaul, and new estimates of vaccines’ full value could help deliver vaccines to the Global South.
Revealing the hidden value of vaccines
https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-021-00520-w?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=MLSR_BRCON_ENGM_GL_MPSS_SABIN_T3-Sep21-4&fbclid=IwAR2QFcQOZwoHgUUSL6P6XTEbQSGHSXVuCjs60RxYusB-0dNu15SWttuQk0c
Vaccines are one of the most successful public health measures ever designed. Understanding their full value could steer investment in the right direction.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kun huoltovarmuus horjui, luovuus alkoi kukkia – biopohjaisista maskeista toivotaan vientituotetta
Monella on tuoreessa muistissa, miten hankalaa koronapandemian aluksi Suomeen oli saada riittävästi maskeja. Nyt Suomessa kehitetään aivan uudenlaisia maskeja maailman tarpeisiin
https://www.op-media.fi/yrittajyys/kun-huoltovarmuus-horjui-luovuus-alkoi-kukkia–biopohjaisista-maskeista-toivotaan-vientituotetta/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.ledfuture.fi/post/vr-lasien-ja-kannettavien-tietokoneiden-desinfiointi-viruksista-ja-bakteereista-kouluymparistossa?fbclid=IwAR1T1HxunPWrFLrM4Xu3VnVvoGE6ch87goGRRRqeUIfV6h9CkmPSjHYvtRg
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cryogenic Electron Microscopy Method Assists in COVID-19 Vaccine Development
March 7, 2022
Learn how a cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) system leveraging advanced imaging, sample handling, and software technologies assisted in COVID-19 vaccine development.
https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/embedded-revolution/article/21235373/association-for-advancing-automation-a3-cryogenic-electron-microscopy-method-assists-in-covid19-vaccine-development
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lieväkin korona lisää mielenterveyden ongelmia – vaikutuksia myös uneen
Tuoreen suurtutkimuksen mukaan mielenterveysongelmat lisääntyivät koronainfektion jälkeen.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/terveysuutiset/a/d695e4e4-3f32-4458-bb28-b7c346034e21
Koronavirusinfektion sairastaneet ovat suurentuneessa vaarassa sairastua moniin mielenterveysongelmiin.
Tämän osoittaa tuore lääketieteellisessä BMJ-lehdessä julkaistu tutkimus, josta kertoo uutispalvelu Duodecim.
Koronan sairastaminen lisäsi myös neurokognitiivisten toimintojen heikentymistä ja uniongelmien määrää.
Edellä mainittuja ongelmia havaittiin eniten niillä koronapotilailla, jotka olivat joutuneet koronainfektion vuoksi sairaalahoitoon, mutta ongelmien määrä oli selvästi kasvanut myös niillä, joilla oli ollut lievempi tautimuoto.
Mielenterveysongelmat yleisiä koronainfektion jälkeen
https://www.terveysportti.fi/terveysportti/uutismaailma.duodecimapi.uutisarkisto?p_arkisto=1&p_palsta=18&p_artikkeli=uux26108
Koronavirusinfektion sairastaneet ovat suurentuneessa vaarassa sairastua moniin mielenterveysongelmiin, tuore tutkimus vahvistaa. Samaan viittaavia havaintoja on tehty aiemminkin, mutta nyt julkaistu yhdysvaltalaistutkimus lisää näyttöä huomattavasti.
Tulosten perusteella koronavirusinfektion sairastaneet ja siitä selvinneet sairastuvat masennukseen, ahdistuneisuushäiriöön, stressioireyhtymiin ja päihdeongelmiin todennäköisemmin kuin terveet verrokit. Myös unihäiriöt ja neurokognitiivisten toimintojen heikentyminen olivat koronapotilailla yleisempiä. Erot havaittiin sekä verrattuna koronaepidemian aikaisiin verrokkeihin että epidemiaa edeltävään tilanteeseen.
Jos tulokset pitävät paikkansa, koronavirusinfektion takia noin 60 potilasta tuhannesta sairastui johonkin mielenterveysongelmaan tai tarvitsi lääkityksiä yhden vuoden aikana. Nämä sairastumiset olisivat toisin sanoen jääneet tapahtumatta ilman koronavirusinfektiota.
Risks of mental health outcomes in people with covid-19: cohort study
https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj-2021-068993
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nearly three dozen pharmaceutical companies around the world have signed agreements to produce generic versions of Pfizer’s oral Covid-19 antiviral medication nirmatrelvir.
35 Manufacturers Granted Licenses To Produce Generic Version Of Pfizer’s Covid Antiviral Pill For Developing Countries
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftrib.al%2FD1zmmCc&h=AT1LcOlbhUCUgt926gXDVKEllzUrQTukEpnfUznPgYDVc0tTwqnWedOCfv8AMycEPM6AMaWkkQZr5etWOZ494ouxprnCgo_1l4tMpRpJYaJzb8uudSXHb4zJJGgm5sfkpQ
Nearly three dozen pharmaceutical companies around the world have signed agreements to produce generic versions of Pfizer’s oral Covid-19 antiviral medication nirmatrelvir, the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool announced in a Thursday release, in an effort to bring the treatment to low- and middle-income countries.
The agreement grants 35 manufacturers across 12 countries the ability to produce the raw components of nirmatrelvir or the finished version packaged with the anti-retroviral medication ritonavir.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer in December for a combination of the two drugs that the company is marketing under the brand name Paxlovid to treat Covid in adults and children aged 12 and up.
The nirmatrelvir sublicensing agreement will enable a generic version of Pfizer’s treatment to be distributed in 95 low and middle-income countries, he MPP said.
Chinese companies have signed five sublicenses, the most of any country, and a license will be granted to a Ukrainian manufacturer which can’t currently sign the agreement due to the Russian invasion of the country.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Delta ja omikron saivat yhteisen jälkeläisen, lieväkin korona näkyy kuukausia aivoissa ja kolme muuta tuoretta tutkimusta COVID-19:stä
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12357641
Koronapandemiassa alkoi tässä kuussa kolmas vuosi. Viruksen vaikutukset ovat edelleen monella tavalla arvoitus, mutta kokonaiskuva myös täydentyy tutkimus tutkimukselta.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FDA Begins Releasing Pfizer COVID Vax Documents
— Court-ordered release runs risk of “cherry picking and taking things out of context”
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/97544
The FDA turned over thousands of documents related to its review of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine last week, marking the first of several releases mandated by a court in Texas earlier this year.
The agency released 55,000 pages of COVID-19 vaccine review documents last Tuesday, following a loss in court months earlier that forced it to expedite its process to make the information available to the public. In a January court order, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas required the FDA to release around 12,000 documents immediately, and then 55,000 pages a month until all documents are released — totaling more than 300,000 pages.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Excess_mortality_-_statistics#Excess_mortality_in_the_European_Union_between_January_2020_and_January_2022
Tomi Engdahl says:
“It has always been my goal to translate my research into something that positively impacts society,” says Albert Cheng, the apps developer.
This App Gauges Your Risk of COVID-19 Exposure in Public Places The University of Houston professor’s app uses public data
https://spectrum.ieee.org/gauging-risk-of-covid-exposure
As COVID-19 mandates are lifted, those who are immunocompromised or elderly will be looking to protect themselves from coronavirus exposure by avoiding public places that are packed with people.
Albert Cheng, a professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering at the University of Houston, is developing a smartphone app to help them do that. The cloud-based app uses publicly available databases to tell when banks, grocery stores, parks, and pharmacies are less crowded. He is currently piloting the app in Houston and Seattle.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Molecule Found In Green Veg Fights SARS-CoV-2 In Cells And Mice
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/molecule-found-in-green-veg-fights-sarscov2-in-cells-and-mice/
A compound found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables has been found to hinder the replication of coronaviruses in human cells and live rodents. When everyone from your parents to nutritionists told you to eat your greens, they may have been more right than they knew.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/scientists-are-working-on-contagious-vaccines/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/we-could-prevent-future-pandemics-by-switching-on-a-new-type-of-light/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Used Facemasks Turned Into Rapid Antigen Tests With Injection Molding
https://hackaday.com/2022/03/24/used-facemasks-turned-into-rapid-antigen-tests-with-injection-molding/
Here’s a little eye-opener for you: next time you’re taking a walk, cast your eyes to the ground for a bit and see how far you can go without spotting a carelessly discarded face mask. In our experience, it’s no more than a block or two, especially if you live near a school. Masks and other disposal artifacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have turned into a menace, and uncounted billions of the things will be clogging up landfills, waterways, and byways for decades to come.
Unless they can be recycled into something useful, of course, like the plastic cases used for rapid antigen tests. This comes to us by way of [Ric Real] from the Design and Manufacturing Futures lab at the University of Bristol in the UK. If any of this sounds or looks familiar, refer back to October when the same team presented a method for turning old masks into 3D printer filament. The current work is an extension of that, but feeds the polypropylene pellets recovered from the old masks into a desktop injection molding machine.
Injection Moulding Plastic LFD Cases with Recycled Facemasks
https://dmf-lab.co.uk/blog/recycling-facemasks-into-covid-test-cases-with-rapid-prototyping/
In a recent announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care Health Minister Edward Argar discussed government plans to explore the recycling of pandemic-related PPE plastic waste into new products, ranging from curtains and mattress covers, to the many other healthcare products used daily across hospitals and clinics in the UK. In addition to this, Minister Argar stated that NHS Test and Trace was “exploring alternatives to current test devices” which would be “safe, effective and made of predominantly recyclable or biodegradable materials” in an effort to curb the UK’s pandemic related plastic waste.
TLDR: Injection moulding with recycled Polypropylene facemasks could potentially be viable, particularly for low cost prototyping. Also, 3D printed mould tools work pretty well and worth having a look at if you get the chance.
Whilst 3D Printing has its benefits, speed is often not considered one of them. For example, to print a complete LFT case would take about 2 hours on a conventional desktop 3D printer. With over 1 million tests used a week in the UK, meeting such demand with 3D Printing could be a challenge
The injection moulding process involves injecting a volume of molten material into a mould over a controlled period of time. Naturally, this requires the use of a machine designed for such a task.
The outcome is far better than expected. Of course it could do with some refinement; fine internal details could be modified to facilitate moulding with mechanical machines, or improvements made to the mould design itself. However, it is a functional LFT case, made from recycled facemasks, using 3D Printed tools, on a desktop moulding machine.
The injection molding machine is fitted with 3D-printed molds for the shells of lateral flow devices (LFD) used for COVID-19 rapid antigen testing. The mold tooling was designed in Fusion 360 and printed on an Elegoo Mars MSLA printer using a high-strength, temperature-resistant resin.
Coronavirus Testing Follow-Up: Rapid Immunologic Testing
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/30/coronavirus-testing-follow-up-rapid-immunologic-testing/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Milloin kyseessä on pitkittynyt koronatauti, milloin normaali toipuminen? Ylilääkäri vastaa
On yleistä, että toipumisvaiheessa on vielä esimerkiksi väsymystä ja kipuja eri puolilla kehoa. Ylilääkäri kertoo, milloin kannattaa mennä lääkäriin.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/terveysuutiset/a/10f05185-4a51-4d48-9595-6c2c5f3ca36b
Pitkittynyt koronatauti koskee arvioitua harvempaa – yksi ikäryhmä on isoimmassa riskissä
Ylilääkäri Helena Liiran mukaan on tapauksia, joissa pitkästä koronasta alkaa toipua jopa puolentoista vuoden oireilun jälkeen.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/terveysuutiset/a/31d779c1-d457-4a6b-a7fc-4c7f76676b23
Tomi Engdahl says:
UV-C Disinfection Desk Lamp | Kill 99.99% Viruses in 25-30 Minutes
https://www.electronicslibrary.org/post/uv-c-disinfection-desk-lamp
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kymmeniä hengityksensuojaimia poistettiin markkinoilta Suomessa https://www.is.fi/taloussanomat/art-2000008722384.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comparing brain volume before and after individuals were exposed to Covid-19, this study documents significant cortical gray matter loss, equivalent to nearly 10 years of aging.
A Case Of Shrunken Brains: How Covid-19 May Damage Brain Cells
https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2022/03/21/a-case-of-shrunken-brains-how-covid-19-may-damage-brain-cells/
Thanks to a new study from the UK we are now beginning to uncover the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the brain. Comparing brain volume before and after individuals were exposed to SARS-CoV-2, this study documents significant cortical gray matter loss, equivalent to nearly 10 years of aging. Gweanaelle Douaud, the study’s first author and Professor at the University of Oxford, says that infected individuals display structural “differences over time above and beyond any potential baseline differences.” Most strikingly, individuals that experienced no or only mild symptoms with Covid-19 displayed specifically significant changes, but cortical damage seems to occur regardless of disease severity, age, or sex. The effect of vaccination status not yet been investigated. It may be years before the long-term consequences of these structural differences are fully understood.
Between the first and second brain scans, individuals previously infected with Covid-19 experienced a 0.7% reduction in overall cortical gray matter on average, compared to the control group. To put that into perspective, people middle aged and beyond only lose 0.2% to 0.3% of volume per year.
Although it is clear that SARS-CoV-2 can damage the brain, how this damage occurs without directly infecting nerve cells remains a mystery. Current theories suggest there may be multiple factors contributing to these deficits. Structural abnormalities in the brain may in fact be secondary to infection occurring in other sites around the body, including the olfactory epithelium. Considering how close the nose is to the brain, this Oxford University Study considered whether losing the sense of smell may be linked to other neurological damage.
Loss of smell is a consistent clinical feature of Covid-19, with recent studies suggesting that 86% of individuals exposed to the virus may experience partial or complete loss of smell. A smaller percentage of people also develop additional neurological complications, including brain fog, fatigue, impaired cognitive function, and encephalography, characterized by impairments in brain structure and function. For some, these symptoms may continue to linger anywhere from a few months to more than a year after the initial infection. These effects, however, do not discriminate between mild and severe disease.
It is important to note that not every individual infected with Covid-19 will experience a reduction in brain volume, while others will experience much greater losses. Those hospitalized with Covid-19, for example, had more widespread tissue damage and atrophy, compared to those not hospitalized for infection. Beyond hospitalized vs. non-hospitalized, there was limited data from this study showing how severity of infection may contribute to these effects.
Finally, Douaud et al. asked whether these structural changes in the cerebral cortex are linked to new neurological symptoms following Covid-19 infection. They did not find significant correlations between structural changes and the prevalence of new neurological symptoms. However, does not mean that these changes will not impact brain function. They did find infected participants had a greater decline in their ability to perform a complex task, compared with the non-infected participants.
For a vast majority of people, the regenerative properties of the olfactory bulb restores the sense of smell within a few weeks or months. What about the rest of the brain? Damage to brain cells cannot be reversed. When tissues die, cerebrospinal fluid and other biomolecules fill the excess space to maintain the integrity of the brain. Perhaps, this explains why neurological complications associated with long-haul Covid-19 show little improvement over time. Years of additional research are needed before the consequences of losing so much gray matter are fully understood. Identifying these changes now will help us to better support and treat what will be a growing class of people with cognitive impairments.
Although the loss of smell is often one of the first symptoms of Covid-19 preceding any respiratory complications, the hypothesis that the SARS-CoV-2 damages the brain when it infects cells in the olfactory epithelium remains heavily-debated. Researchers do seem confident that the virus does not directly infect brain cells. If the nose is a window to the brain, it may be time to develop new vaccines that aim to close it off from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Tomi Engdahl says:
While a fourth dose appears to be beneficial at preventing serious illness in older or high-risk people, Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Forbes that repeated boosting is not “a viable strategy.”
https://trib.al/8sWyFyW
We Cannot ‘Boost Our Way Out’ Of The Covid Pandemic, Experts Warn
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/04/04/we-cannot-boost-our-way-out-of-the-covid-pandemic-experts-warn/
U.S. officials greenlit second booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid vaccines last week in an effort to bolster waning immunity ahead of a potential surge of cases driven by the infectious BA.2 omicron subvariant, but experts question whether everyone even needs a fourth shot or if regular boosting is a sustainable strategy to manage the coronavirus long-term.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The U.S. has joined a growing number of countries—including the U.K., Sweden, Israel and Denmark—offering second booster doses to at-risk groups. In Israel, experts advising the government have recommended making fourth doses available to all adults. While frequent booster shots using existing or novel formulations are common for some diseases like flu or tetanus, the practice of successive boosting with Covid has been developed in real time; initial vaccine trials were not able to assess how durable the protection a vaccine provided was beyond a few months. Data now suggests that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, originally considered the least effective of those available in the U.S., is now preventing infections and serious illness as well as, if not better than, Moderna and Pfizer shots. Adalja told Forbes it’s important to remember the primary goals of vaccination: preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death, not stopping infection. When it comes to this goal, studies assessing immunity based on antibodies do not capture the full picture and other parts of the immune system like T cells can still help prevent serious illness even if they cannot stop infection.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/04/04/we-cannot-boost-our-way-out-of-the-covid-pandemic-experts-warn/
Tomi Engdahl says:
China Straps Loudspeakers to Robot Dog So It Can Scream at People to Stay Home
https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-loudspeakers-robot-dog-stay-home
Videos widely circulating online show the small black quadruped scuttling down an empty city street while blaring out instructions via a megaphone loosely slung around its back with what appears to be black and yellow caution tape.
A dystopian nightmare or a cute demonstration of public health tech? We’ll let you decide on that one.
Shanghai is currently facing one of its most serious waves of confirmed cases of COVID yet. The city has been in full lockdown since the end of March, with a new subvariant of the Omicron variant driving a spike in illness.
Robot dogs aren’t the only machines patrolling streets there. Chinese officials have also reportedly used drones that also told residents to stay at home, according to The Times.
According to Reuters, residents aren’t even allowed to leave their homes to take out their trash.
Whether a robot dog with a loudspeaker will prevent those numbers from rising exponentially remains to be seen — but we’ll wager a guess and say it won’t exactly have a very big impact, if any.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s what we know about the new Covid-19 variant found int he U.K., Omicron XE: https://trib.al/dee4vHy