Category: learning curve

Massive study suggests that masks cut coronavirus transmission by 19%

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And when I say “massive”, I mean n = 20,000,000.
I mean 92 regions across 6 continents.
With some really novel and sensible statistical work on all those phat, delicious data cakes.

And when I say “19%”, I mean… well… 19%. But that’s a fair chunk as well.

Remembering that the means to getting out of this pandemic are multi-factorial, and follow the “Swiss Cheese” approach:

…whereby none of the measures we try will be 100% effective (some maybe not even close), but using several methods together, we can really limit the spread of infection.

It doesn’t seem like rocket science (because it quite literally isn’t) to work out that somehow limiting the range of someone’s exhalations will result in a reduction in transmission of a virus which we transmit when we breathe out. And yet mask mandates, such as they were observed anyway (something which this study allows for), are being dropped all over the world as we attempt to return to normal life, and to “live with the virus”.

This move was always coming – it has/had to – and I’m all for that return to normal life, but there really doesn’t seem to be any allowance made for the huge morbidity (and yes, the ongoing mortality) from Covid-19. Not just “Long Covid”: no, I’m still not back to full health, 11 months, almost R100,000 of medical expenses and 4 cardiac screenings on from my infection.

We’re still finding new ways in which this virus is affecting the health of people post infection, and many of them are debilitating, chronic conditions: effects on the immune system, diabetes, cardiac conditions etc. Which raises the questions of how many more syndromes related to Covid-19 infection we still don’t know about, and how we plan to deal with the burden on our healthcare systems:

Yes. Like that.

So while I completely understand (and support) a return to whatever passed for “normal life” BTV, sadly (and unpopularly), I don’t think we’re actually ready for that just yet, and it would be very sensible to continue to do everything in our power to limit transmission of the virus until we actually know what else it has in store for us.

Love Island microbiologist revealed

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Spoiler: It’s not me.

Amazingly, he’s one of the contestants. I thought he was just going to be a mandatory part of the healthcare team. We’ve all done our fair share of stints at the local GUM clinic, after all.

But no, “hunky Dublin microbiologist Dami Hope” was revealed to the world as one of the contestants on Love Island 2022. And then it went a bit weird:

…because microbiologists don’t use telescopes very often. We’re probably better known for using microscopes. The hint’s in the name: we’re not “telebiologists”, are we?

In fact, looking back over my long and illustrious scientific career, I don’t think that I have ever used a telescope while in the lab. So they’ve clearly got that one very wrong.

Unless of course “telescope” is just a euphemism for his… Oh god… Oh no.

No.

More microbiology news

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I hinted at a bit of a viral revival just yesterday, but I wasn’t quite expecting the rest of microbiology’s greatest villians to kick in just yet. Still, they did.

Monkeypox goes Iberian:

Portuguese authorities have confirmed five cases and are investigating another 15 suspected cases. In a statement on Wednesday, Portugal’s health ministry said the cases it had detected – all in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region – had all involved men whose symptoms included ulcerative lesions.

While in Madrid:

“Generally speaking, monkeypox is spread by respiratory transmission, but the characteristics of the eight suspected cases point towards fluid contact,” the spokesperson said.

Fernando Simón, an epidemiologist who heads Spain’s health emergencies centre, said while it was unlikely that monkeypox would spread significantly, “that can’t be ruled out”.

Salmonella in Belgian Chocolate:

Obviously not a virus, but still small and nasty, so it fits here.
This one has been going for a while now, but an updated report means that we can include it in this week’s microbiology news. Belgium chocolate is known for its quality and its creamy, luxurious taste, and now also for containing Salmonella typhimurium ST34. Delicious.

Cases, which have now started to decrease, stood at 324 (including both probable and confirmed) in the EU/EEA and the UK, as of 18 May 2022. They have been reported in twelve EU/EEA countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden), the UK, Switzerland, Canada, and USA.

Polio in Mozambique:

Awful news about the first wild poliovirus infection in Moz in over 30 years.

The case was diagnosed in a child in the northeastern province of Tete, it said. “The detection of another case of wild poliovirus in Africa is greatly concerning, even if it’s unsurprising given the recent outbreak in Malawi,” WHO Africa chief Matshidiso Moeti said.
Poliomyelitis – the medical term for polio – is an acutely infectious and contagious viral disease which attacks the spinal cord and causes irreversible paralysis in children.

The virus was tracked back to the outbreak in Malawi from a strain originally circulating in Pakistan. Local countries are now desperately trying get all their children vaccinated before there is any further spread.

Corona continues:

No handy news report to go with this one, but despite the numbers starting to drop in SA, there have been three five more confirmed cases in people I know in the last 24 hours.

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I’d love to see the provincial data: it’s my feeling that a significant decline from the previously high numbers in Gauteng might be masking a steady (or even slightly increasing) case load in the Western Cape. Certainly anecdotally, we’re feeling a bit surrounded by it again. A reminder to please act sensibly and responsibly because this clearly isn’t done yet.

And obviously, a get well soon to those in question. You know who you are.

And that’s it for today this particular hour as far as microbiology news goes. Join us again tomorrow for more happy happy joy joy fun and games as thousands of people get sick thanks to various germs, disease and infection.

Old

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“Do not complain about growing old. It is a privilege denied to many.”

Yeah, I get it, Mark Twain, but wow, I’d be so much happier if my left calf muscle didn’t shred like a wet tissue at the first sign of any vaguely rapid movement.

That never used to happen when I was younger.

And yet… guess what?

So it’s back to walking and weights, avoiding any strain on the calf, because obviously, a week (which would have been fine to have fixed it a few years back) clearly wasn’t enough to fix it this time around. Nothing major, just grumpy and a bit painful. (The calf muscle, not me.) (Although…)

And I know I’m getting on a bit now because 6Music put out an ad for a series of shows they’re doing on Friday to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of OK Computer.
“Twenty-fifth”, indeed! I think you’ll find that OK Computer was actually released in 1997, and that was only… oh… oh my dear god…

A quarter of a century. Wow.

Living in Oxford at the time, and Radiohead coming from Oxford (pre-OKC, you’d regularly see Thom Yorke wandering down St Aldates, but I guess things went a bit mainstream celebrity after that), we stayed up ever so late on that Tuesday (I think?) evening and went into town for the special midnight release at the HMV on Cornmarket Street. Free poster, free sticker, a whole pound off the CD.

And it’s fair to say that, despite all the hype – even the local hype – the album was (and still is) something very special. I wonder how you deal with anything and everything you produce after something like that being measured against it and always falling short.

I’m sure the massive royalties help with the continual disappointment.

A quick review

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A couple of sentences about each of the places we visited on our whistle-stop visit to Franschhoek.

Where we stayed:
La Fontaine – 10/10. Just so good. Staff willing and ready to help, friendly people, amazing room, lovely breakfast, great location. Loved it.

Where we drank wine:
Rickety Bridge – 0/10. I know that the Wine Tram is a big deal from Franschhoek. We did it ourselves a few years back. But wineries must decide if that’s all they are going to rely on for their income. We arrived and were told that we couldn’t stay because the Tram was due and they had to keep all the free tables (and there were several) for it/them. We were told to sling our ‘hoek. Very poor, very disappointing.

So we went to La Bri – 9/10. It’s also on the tram route, but the welcome couldn’t have been warmer and the views couldn’t have been better.

Their Affinity blend was superb, and their Chardonnay was pretty good too. Mrs 6000 did the Chocolate and Wine pairing and was wowed by the cranberry choccies.

Autumnal colours…

And then to Haute Cabrière – 7/10. Commercial, busy, loud, but the bubbly was still everything that you would expect of the place. Some erm… “interesting” poetry on the walls of the bathrooms from the pen of the (allegedly) playboy son of the owner. Maybe for another blog post, another time.

In the evening, the first of our two visits to The Elephant and Barrel – 9/10. The place that does the R35 Chip Cone! A quick drink before dinner. See below for the rest of the review.

Dinner: French Connection Bistro – 6/10. Food pretty good, service generally ok, although the Maitre’D was a bit grumpy with us as we met friends as we arrived and [gasp] wanted to chat! But the place was just so loud and echoey. Lacked the bistro ambience that we were hoping for. So… back to the E&B for a couple more bevvies and some live music.

Look, this place was a bit rough and ready, but staff were super efficient, everyone was very friendly, and the drinks were very reasonably priced. Add in a bit of music from Llevado and we were on to a winner, before staggering home some time after midnight.

Next morning, after a lazy breakfast, we checked out and wandered around the town, finding some more cranberry chocolates in the back room of the Chocolatier, who supplies La Bri, and took a look around a couple of galleries…

…and the small market in front of the church.

All in all, a splendid visit with a lot of wine and a lot of laughter. And some great company (which I’ve known about for 17 years now).

Would definitely recommend a weekend away here.