Coronavirus misinformation is growing increasingly bizarre, and increasingly dangerous

iNews ^ | 03/11/2020 | Ruchira Sharma

[windsorknot]

I enjoy oases of sanity that deal with the Wuhan Virus in a level-headed way.

[Bon mots]

Well, look at this:

An article published in Nature Medicine in 2015 with a co-author from Wuhan institute.
If you read the abstract it says they have assembled a virus in the lab that can transmit from bats to humans.

---

Remember that time when a virus escaped from a Chinese lab...

The 1977 H1N1 human influenza pandemic
Due to lab mishandling, a strain of the H1N1 influenza managed to escape from a Chinese facility that was likely trying to create a vaccine for the disease. The virus spread globally and had an infection rate of 20% to 70% among those exposed. Luckily, the strain of the virus caused only mild disease and few fatalities.

Various SARS outbreaks
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was a global epidemic in 2003 that caused 8,000 infections and 774 deaths across 29 countries.
Since the original epidemic, there have been six escapes of the virus from laboratories — four in Beijing, and an additional one each in Singapore and Taiwan.

In all cases, the virus escaped due to negligence and human error. Fortunately, none of those escapes led to a renewed outbreak.

Outside China too!

The 2007 Foot and Mouth (FMD) outbreak in the UK
FMD is a highly transmissible disease that infects cloven-hoofed animals. Outbreaks of the disease can cause billions of dollars in economic damage as millions of animals may need to be culled to limit the disease's spread. In 2007, 278 animals in the UK became infected with FMD after the virus escaped from a biosafety lab four kilometers away. The outbreak required 1,578 animals to be culled and cost an estimated 200 million pounds.

Smallpox outbreaks in Great Britain
From 1963 to 1978, there were three smallpox escapes from two different laboratories. All three were due to poor standards and bad practices within the labs. Three cases and at least 80 deaths were linked to the outbreaks.

The 1995 Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) outbreak
In 1995, 10,000 people in Venezuela and 75,000 people in Colombia fell ill with a VEE strain that had escaped from a lab. The outbreak caused upwards of 311 deaths and 3,000 cases of neurological complications.

Then there's Russia...

2000 - Russia
Smallpox infected 8 young children in Vladivostock who had played with discarded ampoules of smallpox vaccine has now been confirmed by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. Smallpox Russia

Just last year a lab explosion tore through a Russian bioweapons lab that stores Smallpox, Ebola and other nasty things.

1970 The Aral smallpox incident was a July 30, 1971 outbreak of the viral disease which occurred as a result of a field test at a Soviet biological weapons facility on an island in the Aral Sea. The incident sickened ten people, of whom three died, and came to widespread public notice only in 2002.

[DannyTN]

I saw a video out of Wuhan where they had mounted a styrofoam block outside the elevator and inside as well with toothpicks evenly placed apart.

The toothpick was for pressing elevator buttons.

[null and void]

but but but but "it's just the flu, bro!".

Finger cots. I forgot to buy finger cots!

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[Karliner]

People will start dying from fools leading fools. Quackwatch.

[Bon mots]

I went to my local store last week and stocked up on stuff that is now long gone.

All of these things are now gone, nearly gone or, apparently, soon will be:

• Face masks of any kind
• Rubber gloves
• Hand sanitizer
• Gatorade and/or Powerade
• Toilet Paper and Paper Towels
• Clorox
• Rubbing alcohol
• Cough Syrup
• Bottled water

The ones in red were gone from my local supermarket last night.

I don't get it about the toilet paper...
Bottled water either, do people expect the taps to stop delivering water? This isn't a hurricane!

[kiryandil]

Monitoring your vitamin C intake in the wintertime is ALWAYS a good idea.

Scurvy and the origin of the word "Limey" are not that far in our distant past.

Less well-known is that vitamin D is not a normal part of the American diet, especially in winter.

You mostly get it in fortified milk. For example, my aged mother doesn't drink milk, so she doesn't get it from there.

Vitamin D has been linked to tamping down upper respiratory tract infections.

It's mostly in fatty fish (salmon, sardines) and in fortified milk.

[Lazamataz]

Everyone is so screwed.

[BenLurkin]

How is any of that “misinformation” dangerous?

Are people going to get hurt putting condoms on their fingers?

[butlerweave]

Only use Vodka internally ,LOL

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Clorox

Time to buy CLX stocks.

[going hot]

I carry a box of number two pencils in my truck to use on various buttons around town.

[Salvey]

I’ve been told that number 3’s work better.

[Vermont Lt]

Vitamin C and D are usually deficient this time of year. They aren’t going to cure Coronavirus...but its not bad to get yourself good with nature.

[Vermont Lt]

My wife has a condition where she needs a lot to TP. Gross, I know. But it is what it is.

I drink bottled water in my truck. All the time. I always have a case of water behind me.

I went to costco the other day and all I bought was a case of bottled water, a big thing of wide charmin, and a case of oranges.

I was getting looks left and right.

Lets leave some for the folks that need it, OK?

[Buckeye McFrog]

IMHO the more dangerous misinformation are “facts” about the virus that are circulating online which are totally unsubstantiated (i.e. it can reinfect you up to 3 times after you recover, it kills by shutting down the part of the brain that controls breathing, etc.)

[Vermont Lt]

I started taking Vitamin D in December. It was a suggestion from a doc, just because I am easily affected by living in the dark confines of my office.

After a month, it was if someone literally turned a light on. I felt 100% better. I was stunned. I usually thought this extra vitamin stuff was a load of crap.

In my case it worked wonders. Your mileage may vary.

[going hot]

As long as you don’t chew the eraser off afterwards on the way home.

[Vermont Lt]

Those facts come from the Chinese studies. They are not peer reviewed.

The reinfected comes from the different strains of virus. It appears there are several mutations. The most common are the S (which is what is on the west coast.) The second is the L, which is in Italy.

If you had S and recovered, it “appeared” that if you got hit with L it would create a pretty fast cytokine (sp) storm. There was some research on it..but I haven’t seen anything more.

I saw the study (again, not peer reviewed) regarding the nervous system impact the other day. I haven’t seen anything else about it.

There ARE sources for some of this stuff. But its like pinning down a rumor at the office—it is elusive. And honestly, in most cases the people passing them along read only the headline. They haven’t read the study—which invites more people to look for things; or they misunderstood the purpose and results of the research.