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Masking Smartly Makes A Difference

by RDavis | Health

Are people who are getting infected and re-infected with COVID using masks? Are they using masks correctly? When we hear about numbers of cases or individual cases there does not seem to be any reporting about mask use. This got me to wondering if people who use masks are using them to maximum benefit.

I have read a number of peer-reviewed medical journal articles and I also looked at data from the CDC and the EPA(Environmental Protection Agency) to determine the most effective masks and how they should be used.

COVID’S Bigger Lessons

by RDavis | Health

It is two years since the emergence of the first versions of the COVID virus. The world was slow to figure out what was going on and even slower to figure out ways to deal with this new deadly disease. Despite all of the technology and science that we have developed over the years, COVID continues to make fools of the humans who are trying to beat it.

On the surface it may seem that the best way to contain COVID and to make it less of a threat to humans is to develop effective vaccines and get those vaccines to as many people as possible. It sounds like a simple plan and it makes sense from a scientific perspective.

False Hope and Deadly Consequences

by RDavis | Health

Just when it seemed that the validity of science was gaining credibility among the masses the story of Aducanumab (Aduhelm) shows that profit still rules. Aducanumab is a drug that claims to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug in June despite the fact that an advisory committee of experts outside of the FDA, as well as many Alzheimer’s specialists, said that that it was not clear if the drug provided benefit to patients. They noted that the drug presented a high level of risk because of serious side effects.

Are Vermont’s Hospitals Capable of Big Changes?

by RDavis | Health

The Green Mountain Care Board, the entity that oversees and regulates Vermont’s health care system, commissioned a consultant’s report, “Green Mountain Care Board: VT Hospital Quality Review and Capacity Planning in Preparation for Value-Based Care October 27, 2021” to point the way for long-overdue systemic reform. Hospitals do not take kindly to being told what to do. They have become institutions that have been resistant to big change because of the power they wield in local communities. But pressure is mounting for real change. That is what this report points out.

We hear talk about the high cost of health care and about how something needs to be done. The only way this country is ever going to control health care costs is for there to be bold change and bold change in not something hospitals are good at. The consultant’s report calls for bold change.

Don’t Forget The Flu!

by tomaidh | Health

Influenza (flu) is a contagious viral infection that can cause mild to severe symptoms and life-threatening complications, including death, even in healthy children and adults.

There was an epidemic of H1N1 Influenza that began in 1918 and petered out in about 1950. At the time, the spread of “The Flu” was blamed by many on the electrification of homes. Another H1N1 pandemic began from 1970 and is still with us today. A more severe flu variant, H3N2, has been running parallel. Electrification has nothing to do with any of it.

Privatizing Medicare A New Threat Beyond Medicare Advantage

by RDavis | Health

Seniors are being bombarded with advertising for Medicare Advantage plans because the open enrollment period for Medicare is from October 15 to December 7. Insurance companies make piles of money if people switch from traditional Medicare to an Advantage plan.

The Advantage plans were created to move Medicare into the private marketplace and provide a financial windfall for the insurance companies.

They are good plans if you never get sick because the initial premiums are low and you get a few extra benefits not available in traditional Medicare.

But if you try to use the insurance in an Advantage plan you are subject to network restrictions and out of pocket expenses. It is not uncommon for a plan to have you pay $6000 out of pocket if you need care.

We Are Pawns In A Deadly Game

by RDavis | Health

The American people have become pawns in a deadly game being played between the pharmaceutical industry and Washington politicians. This should not be news to anyone who has to pay for prescription drugs, especially those who struggle with medications such as insulin and other life-sustaining drugs that they have to ration in order to pay all their other bills.

News of this horrific situation is surfacing again because there are a few legislative initiatives in Washington aimed at lowering U.S. prescription drug prices. Our drug prices are the highest in the world because we do not allow negotiation for prices with the drug manufacturers.

According to the Center for American Progress, “Legislation such as H.R. 3—the Lower Drug Costs Now Act—would allow the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate prices directly with drug companies to the cost of drugs. The bill ensures that both Medicare enrollees and privately insured patients will benefit from these prices, and it establishes an upper limit of 120 percent of the drug’s average price in several peer nations if drug companies refuse to come to the negotiating table.”

Town of Brattleboro COVID-19 Response Status – August 11, 2021 – Masks Required in Town Buildings

by Not Signed In | Health

Update to the Community from Brattleboro Town Manager Peter Elwell: 

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) has reclassified Windham County from an area of “moderate public transmission” of COVID-19 to an area of “substantial public transmission” of the virus. 

All Town of Brattleboro government facilities remain open to the public at this time, but we have reinstituted the requirement that anyone inside Town buildings must be wearing a face covering. This applies equally to employees and to visitors. It applies equally to vaccinated people and to unvaccinated people. The CDC guidance on this matter is clear: all “people [should] wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission.” 

The Delta Variant

by SK-B | Health

I superficially looked at the CDC site, and learned 2 things about delta:

1. CDC sayszz the Delta Variant is one and a half times as contagious as Alpha (which I understand is the first new iteration after original Covid-19. What they mean is that if a person infected with Alpha would (under a particular set of circumstances) infect 2 additional persons; then a person infected with Delta, under the same set of circumstances, would infect 3 people. (Of course a major epidemic management goal would be to get the that number down to .9 or less.).

Only 55.8% In Windham County Are Fully Vaccinated, Says CDC

by cgrotke | Health

According to the CDC’s website, 64.4% of the total population of Windham County has had at least one does of a COVID vaccine.  55.8% are fully vaccinated.

Keep this in mind as we crow about Vermont’s high vaccination rates.  We haven’t hit 70% in Windham County yet. We’re much closer to “half way there” than the “almost 100%” people like to assume.

An Open Letter To The Unvaccinated

by RDavis | Health

If you are choosing to not get the COVID vaccine then you need to accept complete responsibility for your behavior. That means acknowledging the fact that you may be responsible for the suffering and death of others. It means that you should make an effort to keep away from other people while you wear a mask. But your selfish behavior has made it clear you will not make the effort to protect others.

American society is putting a lot of effort and money into trying to convince the unvaccinated to get the shot, but those efforts are resulting in less than adequate outcomes. The time has come to give up on the unvaccinated and start punishing them for putting the rest of us in danger.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

by Lise | Health, Nature

It’s an ill wind that blows no good…  Just kidding. As most of us are probably aware, there’s been a lot of smoke in the air recently, although what zephyr it blew in on I have no idea.  We noticed it last night around sunset, and by the time we went to bed, we could see this strange fog enveloping the area, detectable even in the dark.  The trees seemed really distant, we could only see one star, and when a car drove by, there was complete white-out and all the trees disappeared.  Although the National Weather Service forecast was calling it “haze,” it seemed pretty smoky to me.

This morning, it cleared off, but after noon, it rolled back in like gangbusters.  I was surprised to discover that not only can you see the smoke, you can smell and taste it too. I even noticed my eyes burning which is normal if you’re in a smoky environment, but frankly, you just don’t expect to be in a smoky environment as a result of a fire 2500 miles away.  

Cutting to the chase, it’s worth noting that for this afternoon at least, out air quality puts us in an Orange zone as indicated on the EPA air quality web page; this means “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.  If you cross the river to NH or drive over to NY, the adjacent areas there are Red zones — which is simply “unheathy air.” You can see the regions highlighted on the map at the link below.

Minority Rules in Government and COVID

by RDavis | Health

It’s bad enough that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his band of idol-worshipping Trumpies are controlling much of what goes on in congress, but many of their supporters around the country are also in control of the course of COVID.

Federal politics has always been less than representative of the will of the people and that kind of imbalance has increased over the last few years. Even though Democrats have a slim majority in the Senate they have great difficulty passing any significant legislation because of issues like the filibuster and the need for 60 votes for bill passage. This situation has all but crippled the body politic and it will continue for the foreseeable future.

That future is starting to look at little grimmer when it comes to COVID in this country. A minority of Americans are determining the course of COVID because of their refusal to get vaccinated. The unvaccinated are not a monolithic group but it seems clear that states that lean Republican and places that have bought into the Trump lies have the lowest vaccination rates.