How the USAF Limited Covid-19 Transmission

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USAF Covid

Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI) introduced among 10,579 basic trainees at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland limited COVID-19 incidence to five cases (47 per 100,000 persons), three of which were in persons who were contacts of the first patient.

Citation for this article: Marcus JE, Frankel DN, Pawlak MT, et al. COVID-19 Monitoring and Response Among U.S. Air Force Basic Military Trainees — Texas, March–April 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 2 June 2020. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6922e2external icon.

An Interview With Erin Bromage

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For every extra body you take out of a room, you are lowering the risk that somebody infected is in there to start off with. Then assuming that someone in that environment is infected, there is a gradient of respiratory droplets from that person that radiates out. So, certainly, having people spread out more in enclosed environments is an important way to reduce infection, but it’s not the solution to controlling all infections. Having a restaurant at half capacity that is still enclosed and has no or very little air exchange is going to be just as risky, but to fewer people.

Memo to Self:

Add the concept of dose-time to your Covid-19 risk reduction strategy.

Add a link to the Medscape interview with Erin Bromage.

An Interview With Erin Bromage

Covid-19 Buzz Cut – Done – 05.31.20

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Getting WAY longer.  Note the Andy Rooney eyebrows.  The time had come to go back to my barber.

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Meanwhile in Oklahoma…we’re reopening but nearly nothing appears to be pre-Covid.  The outside world feels different from all of the behavioral changes.

SITUATION UPDATE: COVID-19

Screenshot_2020-05-31 COVID-19 Oklahoma State Department of Health

One of the changes at the barbershop was opening on Sunday mornings for cleaning and taking a few customers for haircuts by appointment only.  Business at the shop has been slow which tells me the customers here are still pretty much staying at home and sheltering in place.  They may have discovered the joys of cutting your own hair.  Or maybe money is tight, less frequent trips.  Or worse…

But for me this visit was about trust.  Trust in a man who has cut my hair for nearly fifteen years.  This is a man who would not put himself, his customers nor his business at risk.

Thanks Kevin.  I’ll see you again in a couple of weeks.

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Half of newly diagnosed coronavirus cases in Washington are in people under 40

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Half of newly diagnosed coronavirus cases in Washington are in people under 40

cv-age-group-cases-W

Oops.

This shit is real and it is scary. COVID is taking patients down, and we do not know how to stop it. The images of overflowing EDs, overworked providers, patients who cannot breathe—these are real and it is happening. Do not let anyone tell you its not.

Rebecca Karb MD

This shit is real.  Don’t ever forget that.

More Drugs Please

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According to Ginger, an organization that provides mental health services to companies, compared to January and February of this year, prescriptions for psychotropics, most of which were antidepressants, were up 86% for the months of March and April.

The stress of unemployment, social isolation and health concerns are all cited by Americans who say the lock down is having a serious impact on their mental health.

Pharmacy group Express Scripts also revealed that prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications were up 34.1% between mid-February and mid-March, while prescriptions for antidepressants increased 18.6%.

Link to the source article.

Wow.

Anorexia Nervosa – More Dangerous Than You Think

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This article is written by an Emergency Medicine doctor for other Emergency Medicine doctors as a quick primer on recognizing and diagnosing anorexia.  While those of us in the life insurance business are not diagnosticians  you will definitely benefit from this short ten minute article on the next case you encounter where Momma Bear is applying for $2,000,000 on her skinny 15 year old daughter who can’t seem to gain weight no matter how much the kid eats.

AN is a common, severe psychiatric illness. It is often present with co-morbid psychiatric illnesses. There is a high mortality rate, 5.6% per decade. It is notoriously difficult to treat with psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy.

Anorexia Nervosa – More Dangerous Than You Think

House Hunters International (Pandemic Version) – Mexico

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Citation: California Border Hospitals Hit by Surge in COVID-19 Cases From Mexico – Medscape – May 20, 2020.

Here’s the link:

California Border Hospitals Hit by Surge in COVID-19 Cases From Mexico

Here’s an excerpt:

Imperial County has registered fewer than 800 known coronavirus infections and just 15 deaths to date. Baja California, by comparison, has reported 3,458 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 134 deaths.  Two main medical centers in Baja’s state capital – Mexicali Hospital General and IMSS Regional Hospital 30 – are both “saturated” by the outbreak, Mario Cervantes, head of relief services for the Red Cross of Mexicali, told Reuters.  Some arriving ambulances have had to wait hours to deliver new patients, while others were turned away altogether, he said.  Baja health department officials said neither Mexicali hospital had exhausted its bed space, but Dr. Rafael Abril, president of the Mexicali College of Surgeons, told local news in April that half the IMSS hospital’s doctors were infected with COVID-19, which could lead to staffing shortages.