Covid in Asia

Several articles include information on covid in Asia.

 
StrategyPage includes this information:

September 10, 2022: Currently China has 33 cities and about 65 million people under covid19 lockdowns. Those cities account for a disproportionate amount of the national GDP because factories in these cities supply vital components for manufacturing operations all over China, and the world.

The heavy use of lockdowns to achieve zero covid19 cases Initially (2020) this was a success and allowed China to claim far fewer covid19 deaths than it actually suffered. Other industrialized East Asian nations (South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore) adopted similar policies with similar success but also accurately reported covid19 deaths. This annoyed China, but worse was yet to come. Covid19 evolved into strains that spread more easily but were much less likely to kill. The other East Asian nations adjusted to this and did not use large scale shutdowns because of the economic damage. These nations trusted their citizens to test themselves and self-quarantine if infected. China was not as trusting of its citizens and continued with large scale lockdowns that did more damage to the Chinese economy without reducing covid19 deaths much.

Another difference with China was their refusal to buy the more effective Western mRNA vaccines or license the technology. There were hacking efforts against the mRNA vaccine developers early on but those hacks failed to get the mRNA tech. China used less- effective vaccines developed locally. These vaccines were less successful in preventing infections and this resulted in strict lockdowns to overcome this problem. China now has an mRNA vaccine design that is being tested.

 There is a minor scandal in the USA about how covid and/or the vaccines for covid are causing myocardopathy and sudden death in young people.

the scandal was not because of the problem, but because the anti vax types noticed this first, but it took months for the government to admit they had a problem. 

Here in Asia, there is a genetic factor that causes sudden death (we lost a cousin and our cook lost her son from this). But now there is a report that Japan is planning to put automatic defibrillators in schools. making one wonder if there has also been an increase in sudden cardiac deaths in recent years.

Almost all schools in Japan now have an AED, and cases of sudden cardiac death have been gradually decreasing. However, 12 children died in 2017 of cardiac arrest in schools, accounting for about 20 percent of all deaths in schools that year.

Here in the Philippines, the death rate has stablized:

Updates

• 2,619 new cases and 32 new deaths in the Philippines [source]

 

but there is a lot around: “NCR’s positivity rate increased from 13.2% last week to 16.4% at present

here everything is open and things are busy: And in the farms folks are busy at the rice fields. (Hope that the typhoons stay away).

But we are seeing dengue cases but no one has sprayed the open drainage ditches yet.

I had two AZ shots, but didn't get the booster even when the mRNA shot became available because it gave limited immunity against omicron and newer covid versions.

However, there is now a bivalent vaccine that is supposed to hit them, and Moderna is going to make it in Japan.

latest opioid from China can be bought on line

 

 synthetic opioids such as Nitazene, which is stronger than Fentanyl, have been seen in Europe and in the USA for a couple of years, but now seem to be spreading in the USA.

CDC report on it's use in Tennesee notes 

During 2019–2021, a total of 52 nitazene-involved fatal drug overdoses were identified using TN SUDORS data, including no cases in 2019, 10 in 2020, and 42 in 2021

the average person was a middle aged white male, but the article notes that many overdose deaths from this new synthetic opioid are probably missed since the specific test is not done in many areas.

So where is this coming from? Anyone? Anyone?

well, a simple google shows you where you can buy it (you don't even have to go to the dark web to find it)

Place of Origin:ChinaBrand Name:HuiduoCertification:SGSModel Number:Lab Research Chemical

 who brags you can buy it from them instead of buying it on the street where you can't be sure of the quality of the drug.

The substance is one of the latest products of our specialists. Its formula was improved and researched and now it is ready to be sold online. To provide our customers with the opportunity to test the substance our online vendor offers to purchase online a sample of this legal powder at a reasonable price and free delivery. For the smaller research chemicals suppliers which are intended to resell the substance we can consider the wholesale terms of collaboration in order to promote the substance at the research chemicals market and among the clients. You can also figure out a lot of other already well known designer chemicals for sale at our web-site. The substance can bring a lot of pleasant emotions. The lasting of this legal powder is extremely long and it causes absolutely no comedown. You can enjoy the mild euporia from the substance or it can help you to stimulate your organism to work longer. But there will be no consequences the day after. The process of research chemical online purchase here is simple. You need to fill in the electronic order from at the page of item you have chosen, then pay for the package and then wait. The delivery of product will not take long.

Product Details:

Place of Origin:	China
Brand Name:	Huiduo
Certification:	SGS
Model Number:	Lab Research Chemical

Payment & Shipping Terms:

Minimum Order Quantity:	10g
Price:	300$
Packaging Details:	By standard sea worthy package
Delivery Time:	Within 7 days after payment
Payment Terms:	Western Union, MoneyGram, T/T, D/P, D/A, L/C
Supply Ability:	100mt/month

two years ago the FDA noted that you could buy it illegally on certain websites (and didn't have to use the Dark web to find it).

wikipedia notes: 

While several substances in this class have found applications in research, they have never been used in clinical medicine due to their profound risk of respiratory depression and death,.

But hey, the US government is right up there stopping this legal drug use: 

.the FDA has proposed to make them illegal as of last December...

this video is from last year and includes a lot of pharmacology information 

 

Sad news day

a malaria vaccine?

 late last year there were reports of a malaria vaccine. the hope about this was that it would hit the falciparum form, that is most lethal and is more resistant to anti malarial medicines.

But now the BBC (and Lancet) reports initial studies suggest 70 to 80 percent protection.

 A good discussion here not just about malaria but about how public health authorities implement disease protection: Start at 9 minutes if you are in a hurry.

WHO report on malaria.

Serotonin, placebo and depression: new questions

 

Infectious disease: ignore the rules if the disease is Politically correct

 

The latest monkey pox news is that someone "discovered" you could use a smaller dosage of the vaccine by giving the vaccine subcutaneously. Well, duh.

Did the US get around to importing the millions of dosese they stored in Denmark? Who knows. 

Just like no one knows why it is taboo to say it is being spread by promiscuous MSM, or that the government that closed churches for 2 years won't close raves and other places where this is being spread. 

The reason no one will shut these high risk festivals down is politics, of course: They remember when Diane Feinstein faced a recall after trying to shut down the bath houses that were the source of a local hepatitis and Syphillis outbreak.

1986 Jan. 23: Mayor Dianne Feinstein told a U.S. Conference of Mayors session on AIDS that gay organizations in San Francisco "will regret" opposing her campaign to close the city's bathhouses. "It has been established that the bathhouses contribute to the spread of AIDS and they ought to be closed," Feinstein said. She said that her two-year campaign to close the bathhouses has been blocked by courts and gay groups "who have turned this into a civil rights issue rather than a public health issue.

As for the kids who caught it: well, if you have a lesion and don't wash your hands, you can spread it to kids. 

so maybe those diagnosed with lesions, or those with lesions who suspect they might be infected, should just self isolate? 

Or should the government legally impose isolation on those who are still infectious: i.e. people with active disease, as we used to do for scarlet fever, measles, etc. and indeed do with those exposed to Covid?

Here in the Philippines, we were quite strict about isolation of covid cases during the epidemic of the delta strain over the last two years (less strict now with the weaker omicron strain)

For example, here in the Philippines, Dr. Angie had to self isolate three times last year because she was exposed to someone, and the bank had to close down twice last year fot the same reason. Ruby, on entering the Philippines, had to go into ten days of strict isolation even though she had been vaccinated in the USA. 

And yes, the Philippines isolated the person who came to the Philippines with monkey pox, and also isolated his ten contacts.

in contrast, in the USA, the CDC recommends isolation but adds:

Ideally, people with monkeypox would remain in isolation for the duration of illness, which typically lasts two to four weeks. However, if a person with monkeypox is unable to remain fully isolated throughout the illness, they should do the following:

they then list obvious things like wearing a mask for a disease that is spread by skin to skin contact. 

But of course unless there is someone checking that the patients are actually staying isolated, and this includes arresting those who break quarantine, the precautions are nonsense.

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I have pretty well been ignoring the news from the Ukraine, but apparently the danger is now about attacking a nuclear power plant.

Dr. C explains:

 Dr. C has a headsup about what is going on there: 

............

Monkeypox update

 not just an STD probably spread via orgies, but a large percentage of the victims have HIV or other STDs, suggesting that they are a subgroup of gays who are very very promiscuous.

41% had HIV median age 38 Transmission suspected to have occurred through sexual activity 95% of cases Presentation in this series 95% rash (with 64% having less than 10 lesions) 73% anogenital lesions 41% had mucosal lesions (with 54 having a single genital lesion)