Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Global - 253,163,330/5,098,174; USA – 47,145,861/761,426 Michael Hiltzik of the LA Times - Has written another insightful review of the profound weaknesses of the lab leak theory. He exposes Alina Chan of the Broad Institute as someone leaning towards the conspiracy theory who has written a book providing no evidence whatsoever other than conjecture about the lab leak theory (see below). Discussion with Jeff and the medical team today. - Although the cases are starting to surge up in more than 30 states, we have to start preparing for what level of acceptance of infection in the community we are willing to live with. I have been explaining on TV/Radio shows the multiple phases of outbreaks from pandemic phase, to deceleration phase, to control, to elimination , to eradication. We have only eradicated one infection and that is smallpox. We have eliminated infections from the United states such as polio, malaria, and measles. What we have looking forward is “control “. However, there are multiple levels within the bracket of control and we should not accept control at a level of 70 to 80,000 cases per day. We must get it down much, much lower . In my mind that is considerably lower than 10,000 cases per day. Importantly, the number of hospitalizations should also figure into that calculation since as I have been discussing with David Morens and Jeff Taubenberger, systemic vaccination (subcut). Subcutaneous vaccination does not give mucosal immunity very well except when you have very high levels of antibody. When anybody levels fall below certain level one is acceptable to infection . However , B cell memory and T cell memory very often protect against pulmonary infection. And so we can expect that there will be a time as we boost people that we continue to get mild infections such as with the common cold but very few people wind up getting very sick requiring hospitalization. Jeff and David also pointed out that for those vaccines that are required from the respiratory move and do not result in viraemia we do not have good vaccinations to prevent infection although we do have vaccinations that prevent the progression two serious disease. I refer to influenza, parainfluenza , respiratory syncytial virus, and metapneumovirus. However, viruses such as measles, smallpox, and other viruses that result in viraemia and systemic involvement with virus give lifelong immunity after infection as well as after vaccination. These are important considerations that very few people fully appreciate. PRESS: Reuters TV with Julie Steenhuysen; NBC News Medical Unit - TV with Ashkay Syal; These authors wanted to push the COVID-19 lab-leak theory. Instead they exposed its weaknesses By Michael Hiltzik Business Columnist