Coronavirus thread

[Nephrology]

Attachment 50301

It's been nice having my thesis work be suddenly relevant, and to be part of two professions answering our nation's call to action. It is very easy to be cynical in healthcare/biomedical research and I definitely have suffered from a lot of personal doubt and feelings of uselessness during my graduate training. While hardly what I had hoped for, this virus has at least been a reminder that there is a reason I chose the Medical Scientist Training Program to begin with. I am sure it will indelibly shape my future career.

What percentage of cases are presenting with fever? I’ve seen close to 90% on one report.


With seasonal allergies and various other colds, seems the symptoms could be confusing.

Depends on what you read but it seems to be the most predominant symptom, along with cough. Fortunately, the same papers have described nasal congestion as being present in only a minority of cases, so if you have a stuffy/runny nose with no fever, odds are good it is not COVID and instead seasonal allergies or a cold.

Covid also probably won't get better with Allegra either, which is how I reassured myself the other day

[Grey]

Attachment 50301

Right on TGS...

I hope America realizes what heroes we have in these fields and the next time you end up waiting at a doctors office for 30 minutes you'll remember who was on the front lines risking their lives, and in some cases dying, for the rest of us. I know I have been guilty of it so trust me I am taking my own message to heart.

[Nephrology]

Right on TGS...

I hope America realizes what heroes we have in these fields and the next time you end up waiting at a doctors office for 30 minutes you'll remember who was on the front lines risking their lives, and in some cases dying, for the rest of us. I know I have been guilty of it so trust me I am taking my own message to heart.

I will say that your long wait times are reflective of a system that is in need of real improvement, too. It's important to not hold it against the MDs/RNs/etc because realistically they have little control over their schedules much of the time, but I definitely think America deserves a much better healthcare system than it has now.

[OlongJohnson]

As a "lean" six-sigma black belt, I can say that it is a tool and, like any tool, subject to use and misuse. If I had to hazard a guess, many of the issues are financial in nature. For example, having extra of anything, whether it is people or supplies, is bad for financial spreadsheets. So organizations are gradually shaped, using tools like six-sigma, to run all of the time with the absolute minimum of everything needed to do a job in normal times in order to maximize profit.

Never underestimate the ability of upper management to learn exactly the wrong lessons from a crisis. I've been forced against my will to live through a situation that was something like hocking the wedding rings to make the mortgage payment. Rather than getting to the other side and saying, "Alright, what do we have to do to make sure that never happens again?," the bosses at the top explicitly said, "Hey, now we know we can always hock the wedding rings again if we have to."

[Grey]

I will say that your long wait times are reflective of a system that is in need of real improvement, too. It's important to not hold it against the MDs/RNs/etc because realistically they have little control over their schedules much of the time, but I definitely think America deserves a much better healthcare system than it has now.

100% My wife managed multiple offices for multiple specialties and the financial drivers from the corporate side of things drove the insane scheduling and why you see your doc for 5 mins before they run off to the next one.

The corona virus has laid bare a lot of the failings in our system that have been band aided and excused for a long time. Hoping we see some real changes come out of this because frankly this isn't the last time we are going to see something like this (hopefully not again in my lifetime...).

[Nephrology]

100% My wife managed multiple offices for multiple specialties and the financial drivers from the corporate side of things drove the insane scheduling and why you see your doc for 5 mins before they run off to the next one.

You hit the nail on the head.

[Grey]

Some states are giving up on containment. Dont get tested is the new directive in order to save medical supplies for those that are in ICUs.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[Earlymonk]

To the docs/medical SMEs:

First of all, I want to issue the caveat that this is at least third-hand information.

Below is an excerpt of something shared with me by a college classmate who is an MD, ostensibly from a doctor working in Italy. Main takeaways are that a) the virus is more virulent/transmissible than initially reported and b) it's not just about the elderly with pre-existing comorbidities anymore.

Does any of the below track with what you are seeing/hearing?
If it does, I suppose the mantra that goes "most have minor symptoms and recover" could STILL be the case, statistically?


...this is just not some "droplet" thing and is contagious to the person that your merely talking to WITHOUT them coughing on you..

This virus has acutely caused several heart attacks in its victims as well. I suspect this is due to the acute hypoximia the virus causes and can come on VERY rapidly no matter what your age.. My friend was 49 and no health problems... If you already have atherosclerosis its the killer. This virus causes all your inflammatory markers to go up including Troponin levels that are a marker of heart strain or MI. Electron microscopy shows no infiltration of the virus in to the myocardium thus far or cause a myocarditis.

...Further to my medical colleagues ...Also be ready for your patients to develop acute myocardial insufficiency due to the quick onset of viral hypoximia in the lungs and develop a flash pulmonary edema.

[Grey]

Friend of my father died last night.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[Borderland]

Some states are giving up on containment. Dont get tested is the new directive in order to save medical supplies for those that are in ICUs.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

I think LA just caved in. It wouldn't surprise me if NYC isn't next.