Questions tagged [covid-19]
Describes the clinical disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus
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Does COVID-19 have a case fatality rate of 41%? Is this formula correct?
According to the data on the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracker, as of 3rd February 2020 there were 17491 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, 536 total recoveries and 362 deaths.
From my non-expert ...
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Would the human seasonal coronaviruses be just as deadly as COVID-19 in a population with no prior immunity?
Presuming that we were able to find a person who was never exposed to any of the human seasonal coronaviruses (part of the viruses that cause the common cold), would the virus be just as deadly for ...
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What is the main way COVID-19 spreads?
Reading numerous news articles about COVID-19, I got confused as to what is its main transmission route. In particular, I am confused as to whether it is
direct landing of respiratory droplets in ...
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Is SM-102 a safe ingredient in the Moderna vaccine, despite these safety warnings?
I recently saw a post online which called into question the safety of the Moderna vaccine through an interesting argument. One of the ingredients in the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is the ionizable amino ...
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How accurate are coronavirus tests?
As of time of writing it's quite common to see headlines about so-and-so who have tested positive for Covid-19, e.g. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie, tests positive for coronavirus, ...
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Why will there be vaccines first before a cure for COVID-19?
I found this link on the internet:
70 vaccines are getting ready for coronavirus: 3 very promising
Why is it that there will be vaccines before a cure? Shouldn't it be the other way around? What is ...
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Why do corticosteroids harm COVID-19 patients?
This Science Daily article states that steroids could do more harm than good in treating coronavirus (COVID-19), referring to this The Lancet article.
Understanding the evidence for harm or ...
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Why use a placebo in some potential COVID-19 vaccine trials?
With potential COVID-19 vaccine trials beginning around the globe, one vaccine approach is to induce the creation of antibodies in the participants.
The first phase of the trial will check whether ...
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A cheap and easy inactivated vaccine for COVID-19
Suppose a person with COVID-19 coughs into a bag. Let the bag sit in the sun for, say, 72 hours -- so as to make the virus inactive.
Could a healthy person breathe in the inactivated virus from the ...
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If a SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic infected individual is exposed to a high viral load, could they develop COVID-19 disease?
I would add my own research if I could to respect site rules, but I can't. There are no studies on SARS-CoV-2, all I can find is for SARS-CoV-1 and some Chinese information based studies.
My ...
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Will COVID-19 survivors develop immunity from future infections?
For this question, assume that the virus does not mutate.
Can survivors be expected to develop immunity?
Why or why not (what is the thought process)?
The CDC FAQ indicates that they do not know:
Q: ...
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COVID-19 mutation nomenclature
Consider:
Source: Where Do COVID Vaccines Stand Against the Variants?
The nomenclature seems to follow a hierarchical pattern. What does the first letter and the subsequent numbers indicate? Location ...
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Rapid Response COVID-19 Antigen Test: What can be assumed by the control bar?
Rapid COVID-19 antigen tests include a control line similar to this:
From Case Western Reserve rapid testing instruction available here.
What does the control bar/strip control for?
All the ...
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Was there ever a vaccine candidate that showed negative side effects many months or years after the patient was injected?
The current prognosis for a COVID-19 vaccine to become available is "12-18 months" and a big part of the reason for such a long timeline is the fact that scientists want to ensure that the vaccine is ...
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Is a nightly curfew an effective intervention strategy for limiting the spread of an infectious disease?
The governing bodies of several geographic areas hit by disease outbreaks will sometimes impose a nightly curfew on their citizens, restricting or limiting the ability of their citizens from going ...
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Why does the World Health Organization still treat COVID-19 as a pandemic, when it is now reportedly causing fewer deaths than influenza?
Supposedly the World Health Organization is the top authority worldwide for public health. One would hope that they base their decisions on empirical data and not beliefs. However, from my perspective,...
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Why isn't COVID-19 just called SARS-2? Isn't it a second SARS? [duplicate]
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a disease caused by SARS-CoV—the "SARS CoronaVirus".
We now have a second disease caused by a second coronavirus, which we call SARS-CoV-2.
So why ...
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Is there any identified policy Australia is doing to successfully control the covid-19 pandemic and have no deaths, other countries aren't using?
According to,
Australia COVID
Australia had 3 deaths for covid-19 in the last 8 months, and they succesfully controlled the pandemic at least 9 months ago, 3 months before starting vaccinations. ...
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Does Ivermectin treat COVID-19 coronavirus infection?
Does the anti-parasitic Ivermectin work in actual human studies versus the Petri dish in vitro studies, when treating coronavirus COVID-19 infection? And if so, is it safe in humans?
An in vitro ...
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Are Covid-19 vaccines much more deadly than people (and scientists) think?
The other day I read this chart on an Italian newspaper article
I looked for the source, and I found only this tweet:
https://twitter.com/Drs4CovidEthics/status/1432193260949172230
from Doctors for ...
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Is there a reason to be anxious about claim that COVID-19 vaccine could turn out to be inducing infertility in females?
There is a petition written on December 1, 2020 to European Medicines Agency (EMA) by Dr. med. Wolfgang Wodarg and Dr. Michael Yeadon. You can see it here. Both of them are well known for spreading ...
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Can the specificity of a COVID-19 antibody test be improved by testing twice?
My question is fairly simple: There is a COVID-19 antibody test with a worst-case specificity of 98%, meaning that it yields potentially up to 2% false positives.
While that number is not bad it is ...
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Are there diseases for which infection does not grant lasting immunity but a vaccine does?
There has been a lot of discussion about whether people who have COVID-19 and recover will have long-lasting immunity. At the same time, work is underway to create a vaccine for this disease. But if ...
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Which DIY mask is most effective?
There have been a number of do-it-yourself (DIY) mask designs released and tested by both universities and other institutions on account of world wide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) shortages. ...
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What data and research is available on the mortality risk (infection fatality rate) of COVID-19?
Given controversy and confusion over aspects of COVID-19, particularly over comparisons and contrasts with the mortality risk of seasonal flu, this question seeks data and findings on the mortality ...
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Is there any identified policy China is doing to successfully reduce COVID-19 the other countries aren't using?
Over the last days (beginning of March 2020), active cases of COVID-19 from China have dropped at a rate of 1,000-2,000 per day. China is the only country which seems able to reduce the amount of ...
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Why is the flu more deadly to children than COVID-19?
Or better framed: Why are children not developing as severe reactions from COVID when they tend to fare much worse from seasonal flu?
Is the answer something along the lines of: Those that don't die ...
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Is there any figure about the accuracy of COVID-19 tests? [duplicate]
Recently I saw the local media (Romania) presenting a case that was initially considered COVID-19 positive and two subsequent tests led to negative results. As far as I know no official bothered to ...
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Why hasn't Russia's daily COVID-19 cases decreased as a result of its vaccine?
On August 11, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a new vaccine for COVID-19. Since then Russia's COVID charts have looked like this:
Evidently the vaccine has had a weak-to-no effect on both ...
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How/when can a doctor say that someone will no longer transmit Covid?
Source
This may sound like yet another anti-trump post, but, really I am more concerned for my own health, and that of my family. He is just an easily accessible example (feel free to migrate this to ...
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Will the COVID-19 vaccine grant immunity to other coronaviruses?
As I understand it, the mRNA vaccine teaches the immune system to recognize and attack the spike protein on the surface of the novel coronavirus. Don't all coronaviruses share this same spike protein? ...
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Can a RT-PCR test claim 100% sensitivity and specificity?
A recent RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 from a private laboratory lists the test's sensitivity and specificity as 100%. The test certificate lists this next to the result:
Ref. value/Норма
Negative (...
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How is Lopinavir + Ritonavir expected to stop COVID-19?
There are four drugs being tested for effectiveness against COVID-19 in the SOLIDARITY trial. Three of them have obvious potential mechanisms of action:
Remdesivir is an RNA polymerase inhibitor. ...
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Does viral load of the initial COVID-19 infection affect its severity?
If someone gets infected by a droplet containing a high load of the SARS-CoV-2 virus would he be more likely to develop more severe symptoms compared to someone who gets infected by a droplet ...
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BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine efficacy after 1st dose - explain the statistics
Pfizer's paper (Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine) published recently states the following in the Efficacy subsection of the Results section:
Between the first dose and the ...
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What protects Chinese provinces other than Hubei from COVID-19 outbreak?
In China, the largest number of reported COVID-19 infections was in Hubei province.
Other countries are experiencing exponential increase in reported infections, while the remainder of China is ...
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Why should males use contraception for longer after taking molnupiravir for COVID?
Molnupiravir (brand name Lagevrio) is a small-molecule antiviral prodrug active against SARS-Cov-2 and in one trial was found to reduce risk of hospitalization or death from COVID by 52% (Jayk Bernal ...
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Did covid vaccine studies use an active placebo (with side effects)?
I know that the studies done by Pfizer, et al, used standard methods with a placebo control group. If you read about blinded experiments here, it mentions:
A common cause for unblinding is the ...
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Are there any central trackers for COVID-19 trials?
There are several aggregate central trackers for the spread of COVID-19. Like this one, for example.
Is there anything similar for trials? Or trials in the pipeline? Either vaccines or treatments?
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Can CPAP devices connected with oxygen sources be used as ventilators?
I want to inquire if CPAP devices can act as low performance ventilators, if they are connected to an oxygen source as well.
I am asking this question in regards to the covid-19 pandemic. There are ...
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Why does COVID-19 appear more infectious than SARS?
The COVID-19 R0 factor is 2-3, while SARS had an R0 factor of 2-5. However, COVID-19 has infected around 130,000 people and growing, while SARS totalled just under 9000 people infected.
Why is COVID-...
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Are betadine mouthwashes really effective against COVID-19?
Recently news have come up that betadine/povidone-iodine mouthwashes should be used for prevention of COVID-19.
Betadine is an antiseptic. We use it in our clinic to clean a wound or after minor ...
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How do mRNA vaccines work and what are their advantages over traditional vaccines?
How do mRNA vaccines work?
To my intuitive understanding, for an mRNA vaccine to work, the mRNAs injected into the patient need to first enter a cell and get translated into proteins. Those proteins ...
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How do pharmaceutical companies deal with people who received a placebo?
I would like to know what happens to the people in the vaccine studies who received a placebo.
Essentially they have not been vaccinated. However, in order for the study to stay blind so that long ...
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COVID-19 vaccination second doses: why two doses and why the specified interval?
Certain COVID-19 vaccines such as the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna are specified to be administered in two doses separated by a 21 and 28 day interval, respectively. My questions are:
Why administered ...
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If COVID-19 isn't spread through even food, why is it recommended to disinfect common objects?
Currently, researchers say that there is no evidence of COVID-19 spreading through food:
"The risk of getting COVID-19 from food you cook yourself or from handling and consuming food from ...
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What is the expected false positives/negatives for COVID-19 tests?
As of March 13, 45/301 people have tested positive/negative for COVID-19
in Florida. What is the expected false positives/negatives here?
UPDATE (March 14): 71/478 from what I consider the best ...
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Transmission of COVID-19 through domesticated animals
This is an exploratory question.
If a COVID-19 infected person (person is unaware that he is infected) milks the cow for couple of days, is there a possibility of him infecting the cow thereby ...
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Why are most people who contract COVID-19 asymptomatic?
Why are most people who contract COVID-19 asymptomatic?
Does it mean that they can fight COVID-19 and recover fast?
Does it mean they have a good immune system to fight coronavirus?
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Why were so many Covid-19 negative tests among close contacts of the early Chinese cases?
In an ECDC report from Jan 17, it is said that
In China, 763 close contacts have been identified and monitored. Of these, 644 have completed the observation
period, while 119 remain under medical ...
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