geoffrey modest medical blogs

  A disturbing article was just published in pre-print and pre-peer review form of a large second wave of Covid-19 infections in Houston, with clear evidence of significant genetic changes in the virus (see  covid genetic change houston 2nd wave  in dropbox, or  https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.22.20199125v2.full.pdf ). this article was mentioned in a recent Washington Post article:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/23/houston-coronavirus-mutations/?arc404=true     Details:  -- the 1 st  cases of Covid-19 in Houston were reported on March 5, 2020. The epidemic curve peaked around April 11-15 (peaking at around 200 cases per week), followed by a decline until May 11  -- there was a sharp uptick in confirmed cases on June 12 (peaking at about 1400 cases per week)      -- the  1 st  wave was defined as March 1 through May 11; and the 2 nd  wave as May 12 through July 7  -- patients in the 2 nd  wave were considerably younger, had fewer comorbidities, were more

  Dilute solutions of povidone-iodine inactivate SARS-CoV-2 virus and may be usable for nasal antisepsis ( see  covid nasal antiseptic jamaotol2020  in dropbox, or doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2020.3053) Details: --SARS-CoV-2 virus  (strain USA-WAI/2020) viability was tested against aqueous  povidone-iodine (PVP-I) solutions  diluted to concentrations of 0.5%, 1.25% and 2.5%, and compared to controls ( 70% ethanol  as a positive control and water as a negative one) --the virus was incubated at room temperature (22 deg C) for 15-30 seconds --the resulting solutions of virus plus the various dilutions of PVP-1 and controls were then cultured and titers measured --primary outcome: log reduction after 15 seconds and 30 seconds; surviving virus was quantified and compared with the negative water control Results: --at 15 seconds:      --all 3 PVP-I concentrations completely inactivated SARS-CoV-2 within 15 seconds:         --the virus titer for all three concentrations was below the limit of detectio

  A small study confirmed symptomatic improvement for knee osteoarthritis   with the spice tumeric  ( see  knee arthritis tumeric helps AIM2020  in dropbox, or doi:10.7326/M20-0990) Details: -- 70 people with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, older than 40yo, knee pain of at least 40 mm on the Visual analog scale (VAS) of 0-100, and symptomatic osteoarthritis along with a moderate amount of ultrasonographically-defined  effusion-synovitis       --Mean age 61, 56% female, BMI 30, -- mean VAS score 55, mean effusion-synovitis 24 mL, mean cartilage T2 relaxation time 44 ms, radiographic joint space narrowing in 71%,   -- mean  Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC)   score 1000 (score from 0-2400)     --WOMAC pain score 200 (0-500), function score 720 (0-1700), stiffness score 92 (0-200) -- baseline pain medications: acetaminophen 22%, NSAIDs 10%, opioids 3% -- supplements: glucosamine with or without chondroitin 18%, vitamins 38%, fish oil 20%, coenzyme Q 3