Coronavirus/COVID-19 Post for 3/26/2020

Submitted by WGoNerd on March 26th, 2020 at 8:37 AM

Per a comment Seth made in the Mod Sticky, coaching search rules apply to the coronavirus now. One board post a day with exceptions for breaking news.

Latest update at the time of posting:

- Late last night the Senate passed the $2 Trillion dollar stimulus bill 96-0, it now moves to the House, and if passed there, to the President.

 

Stay safe, stay at home, wash your hands, and GO BLUE!

Midukman

March 26th, 2020 at 8:57 AM ^

My sister was tested yesterday. She works in a nursing home with no known cases but woke up with a 102 fever and was also diagnosed with pneumonia once she cleared all the red tape to see a doc. My nephew (who was over Monday) for supper woke up Tuesday with diahrrea and throwing up, which can be a symptom for a six yr old. What a mess! There’s flu and pneumonia going around the area and only adds to the already bad situation. 

xtramelanin

March 26th, 2020 at 8:57 AM ^

Dear friend hospitalized and struggling for over a week.  Transferred to U of M in AA and given the anti-malaria drug.  Huge improvement and released to home last night.

wolpherine2000

March 26th, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^

I'm happy for your friend and it is encouraging to hear that hospitalized patients are recovering. What you are seeing is in response to the minority of folks on this blog and elsewhere that are  persistently peddling false hope, bogus science and encouraging behavior that will ultimately hurt all of us. You can excuse my mild correction - I found this morning that two of my close friends ( both emergency room physicians in NY, and one a Michigan grad) both have tested positive and are now off the front lines for possibly weeks while they attempt to personally recover.

bluebyyou

March 26th, 2020 at 12:46 PM ^

Most people would hope like crazy that a treatment is successful.  Anecdotal evidence isn't the scientific process.

A new study from China just released showed relatively little difference in outcomes between those treated with anti-malarial drugs and those that weren't.  The study only had 30 people participate and was too small to be conclusive.  We shall know soon enough as many places are using anti-malarial meds to make a determination using established protocols.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-25/hydroxychloroquine-no-better-than-regular-covid-19-care-in-study

blue in dc

March 26th, 2020 at 1:58 PM ^

 It is possible to be hopeful for and believe that we will find a good medical treatment for covid-19, while still believing it is better to do some robust testing before deciding based on anecdotal evidence that we have.

it is scary that even on a blog where presumably a large portion of the contributors are graduates of one of the premier research universities in the world, disdain for science is somehow seen as a badge of honor.

Sambojangles

March 26th, 2020 at 2:55 PM ^

You don't get it. We don't have time for robust testing. People are in hospitals now, and any treatment that has a trend toward success and being used by medical professionals is worth exploring.

I'll make it into a sports analogy. You and others are like GMs who have models and analytics about everything. But when it's 3rd and 4 and you need a stop, it's the football coach who decides what LB to put in and what play to run. The doctors are the coaches. They have to take action and make decisions on the fly with imperfect information. There is no other choice.

Blue_by_U

March 26th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^

Great to hear XM...if it doesn't fit the echo chamber mindset it MUST be wrong is one of the most tiresome issues here. Instead of saying cool, someone is better...maybe there is hope for SOME...it has to be all or nothing. Keep up the positives XM...it's one of the things I do appreciate here. Glad they are doing better and hope everything continues to improve.

Sopwith

March 26th, 2020 at 11:30 AM ^

XM, it's still anecdotal. Your friend could have eaten a clove of garlic and then recovered, and would have quite accurately reported "first garlic, then felt better." The point of anecdotal evidence is that it has no statistical significance and therefore doesn't inform people as to whether a particular treatment is useful for others. Only a randomized, double-blind clinical trial can do that.

For the record, hydroxychloroquine has a long track record in malaria treatment, but it's not a malaria "cure." Nearly half a million people still die of malaria every year despite most of them having access to chloroquine. 

It's great news for your friend and anyone else who has been helped. It's bad news to the extent self-treating folks beg, borrow, steal, buy chloroquine and result in patients for whom it has been prescribed (e.g. lupus, rheumatoid arthritis) can't get it, which is now happening.

xtramelanin

March 26th, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^

sopwith, it is the treatment your/our great school prescribed and it worked. my buddy was in dire condition and on oxygen, having been in one hosptial (beaumont) and them U of M for a period covering 10 days.  so i guess U of M is using anecdotal treatments? 

its good news. might not be efficacious in all cases but sure seems like a very positive development.  i don't understand how some can rain on any parade - and you, with your excellent humor, of all people. 

Sopwith

March 26th, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^

"Anecdotal" isn't a pejorative, it just means you can't extrapolate it. There's no such thing as an anecdotal treatment, but are anecdotal reports that reach the wrong ears and, unfortunately, those lay people take medical decisions into their own hands. 

I love that UM is trying it, and anyone who has sufficient supplies should try it, because treatment options are so incredibly limited it's not like it's substituting for something more proven. But experimental is just that, experimental. I'm bullish on it, personally, but realize it's a long way from proven. Placebos also work and should be considered-- including telling people they are getting hydroxychloroquine even if they're not-- because the placebo is still the greatest medicine in the history of mankind.

The fact your friend is better is unmitigatedly awesome.

xtramelanin

March 26th, 2020 at 12:19 PM ^

i appreciate all that you are saying, but with one important difference:  U of M isn't using 'anecdotal' treatments.  it works.  might only work for some % less than 100, but its a real treatment that brought a long-time buddy (huge U of M fan by the way, one of his sons went, also) back from a dangerous time.  

xtramelanin

March 26th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^

even someone as dim-witted as i am understands that idea.  the issue is that a.) it really happened and b.) U of M uses that treatment which to me is about as solid of a recommendation and endorsement that its not just an 'experiment' as one could find.  

but sure, good news is bad news, bad news is great, so the worse things are the happier folks will be.  makes perfect sense. 

blue in dc

March 26th, 2020 at 2:20 PM ^

http://www.med.umich.edu/asp/pdf/adult_guidelines/COVID-19-treatment.pdf
 

This is straight from Michigan:

“There is no current evidence from RCTs to recommend any specific anti-COVID-19 treatment for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection.
Treatment should be considered in symptomatic patients requiring hospitalization or those with conditions associated with severe disease (Table 2). All agents described in Table 3 are considered investigational/for compassionate use, and decision to use these should be made only with close attention to the patient’s clinical status, comorbidities, and interacting medications.”

Table 3 includes Hydroxychloroquine.

Yes, the fact that Michigan and many other highly respected medical institutions are testing it is very positive.   Clearly it has passed a threshold that it is worthy of further testing and clearly there is anecdotal evidence that it works.   But it is still experimental and unproven regardless if whether Michigan is using it.
 

Regardless of whether hydroxychloroquine was the reason your friend got better or not, I am glad he is better.