#infectious diseases
TSK: Ddx includes xray vision
Patient (peering into a water bottle of her own sputum): I think I see parasites in here.
Cranquis:
I never knew I had so many options besides clean-shaven.
Question: Wouldn’t the Villain intentionally cross the seal?
Has Covid burnout permanently changed part of me as a doctor? - STAT
“It took me four months to write this sentence.
I wanted to capture my feelings as a doctor in training who has been bludgeoned by the Covid-19 pandemic the last year and a half. But I’ve been too burned out to write about burnout.”
This article captures the emotions that have kept me from trying to write anything substantial about the pandemic, the massive systemic failures involved, and the social selfishness/ignorance it has revealed.
Wearing a face mask takes some getting used to. To get the most benefit, you need to avoid these common mistakes.
Masks in a variety of colors, styles and materials have appeared on the faces of people around us. While it’s good news that many people are doing their part to slow the spread of coronavirus, the bad news is that many people are wearing their masks wrong.
“Wearing a mask takes some getting used to, for sure,” said Dr. Scott Segal, chairman of anesthesiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health. “You are probably wearing it exactly right if it’s a little stuffy.”
One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they fidget with their masks, and pull them under their noses or completely off their faces to rest under their chins. “You should absolutely not be pulling up and putting down your mask while you’re out,” said Shan Soe-Lin, a lecturer at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. “If you’re going to go to the trouble of using a mask, leave it on.”
Here are the dos and don’ts of wearing a mask.
And once you’ve figured out the correct position for wearing your mask, follow these tips to stay safe:
- Always wash your hands before and after wearing a mask.
- Use the ties or loops to put your mask on and pull it off.
- Don’t touch the front of the mask when you take it off.
- For apartment dwellers, put the mask on and remove it while inside your home. Elevators and stairwells can be high-contamination areas.
- Wash and dry your cloth mask daily and keep it in a clean, dry place.
- Don’t have a false sense of security.
Masks offer limited protection, and work better when combined with hand washing and social distancing. “It’s not that one excludes the other,” said Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University. “They compound the effects of the other.”
ByTara Parker-Pope (The New York Times). Illustrations by Eleni Kalorkoti.
Won’t lie, I’m terrible about fidgeting with my mask! This is definitely a good reminder of how to properly wear this type of PPE.
Got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine couple days ago!
My left arm throbbed for an hour, less than a flu shot – and then it calmed down to “tender only when bumped” (which the Cranquis Boys managed to bump regularly). No fatigue, headache, sore throat, not even a software update notification from Bill Gates.
Posted about it on Facebook (my first covid-related post in 8 months), offering to answer any serious questions about the vaccines “but randos spouting jibberish will be ignored”. Surprisingly, responses were positive!
- 50% people saying they can’t wait to get the vaccine
- 49% people with legit concerns based on various myths who wanted education to help them decide
- 1% some dude posting screen-shots from a French website that apparently “proves that mRNA turns humans into GMOs”… THAT was a fun block. :)
I’m glad healthcare workers are getting the vaccine first. NOT (just) because we are a limited resource that is vital to keeping our country alive while we trudge through this pandemic, and NOT (just) because it’s the least our country can do to acknowledge the sacrifices and strain we’ve endured (not gonna rant about politics not gonna rant about politics) – but because this gives us a vital opportunity to prove that we believe in vaccines.
There is tragically little leadership on convincing the public about vaccine safety (not – gonna – rant – about —) so we have to step up once again and educate our communities. We can do this, we’re trained for this, we’re putting it all on the line for this. The only hope we have for getting out of this nightmare is to achieve high levels of vaccinations.
(oh, and it goes without saying, right: anti-vaxx comments will be ignored, anti-vaxxers will be blocked)
This existential crisis has me cryin’ behind my eyelids. Someone asleep next to me, so my screams are only silent. Paranoia creepin’ in, got people feelin’ kinda violent. All because of selfish deeds from that orange tyrant.
Editing a case report, working on my CLABSI talk, reviewing infection control cases, prepping for meetings. Gotta have something to amp me up.
I designated myself emergency manager of infection control, designed a pager schedule and protocol to guide new people through how to field COVID19 calls, worked on algorithms with our infection control practitioners, took samples to the lab for testing, returned calls from physicians and other healthcare providers on COVID risk stratification.
This was just today.
And we have four ID physicians and three hospital epidemiologists also on the phones answering calls from concerned healthcare workers, patients, and administrators.
Whatever happens, just remember: a strong public health response leads to calm, organized responses. Not this. Fuck Pence. Fuck Trump. Fuck all this shit.
If you work anywhere and interact with infectious diseases or infection control, please take time tomorrow to offer them a coffee, a kind word, buy them a snack. We need it right now.
Finally some relatable fucking content.
As a millennial infectious diseases and infection control I just tested this by putting the song on and washing my hands. It got me to 23 seconds!
So you’re probably like me: your family and friends see you’re in the medical profession. Or maybe you’re not in the medical profession but you’re pretty well read and you keep up with news. And they want to know if they should believe the panic. What’s accurate? What’s old? What’s new? What’s reliable?
I’ll tell you right now that keeping on top of the information itself has been an Olympic-level task unto itself.
This is not meant to be comprehensive, but designed for folks who need a few key, reliable resources to touch upon.
Those with NEJM access: Use it. The front page is doing a great COVID19 update every day, so check that out!
For American updates on travel advisories (changing nearly every day or two): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html
For American updates on screening criteria: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/clinical-criteria.html
For international summaries, the WHO daily COVID19 situation reports: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/
For the visual learners (like me) to keep up with case numbers and locations: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
For the latest scientific literature on epidemiology, transmission, testing, and treatment: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/research/coronavirus/
For recommendations in your backyard: go to your state and county department of public health websites.
For little ones (or for those who like comics like me): https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus
Those on twitter, three good places to start:
@CarlosdelRio7, @HelenBranswell, @MackayIM
ID enthusiasts and nerds probably already follow Dr Paul Sax’s blog, but he writes a great, clear FAQ right here:
Infectious Disease Doctor: What Does (And Doesn’t) Scare Me About The Coronavirus
As an infectious diseases fellow working in the infection control division, I want to let you guys know that there’s so much I want to share with everyone but just not enough hours in the day to get it all in writing. I’m going to think about how best to get things out in a timely manner, but would love everyone’s suggestions and input for strategies to keep updates consistent without them being too time consuming and what kind of COVID19 content would help people right now.
My phone is very extra, but optimistic. Weirdly…Aragorn-like?
A well written, calm, practical primer amid the ocean of fear and paranoia. Worth a read today, guys.
Plate 7: microscopy of the mouth and nasal cavity
Plate 8: microscopy of the sputum
From Atlas of methods of clinical investigation, with an epitome of clinical diagnosis and of special pathology and treatment of internal diseases
by Jakob, Christfried, 1866-1956