LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Los Angeles city and county leaders announced Monday they have purchased 20,000 coronavirus testing kits from a South Korean biotech company.
The L.A. City Council and the L.A. Board of Supervisors jointly spent $1.25 million to immediately purchase 20,000 tests from Seegene Technologies, the two agencies said in a news release.
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**Comment**
This should never have had to happen. Because our conflict-riddled CDC insists upon having their own tests so they can patent them for profit, the U.S. STILL doesn’t have a reliable test for COVID-19.
The CDC has a long and sordid history of dissing any tests but their own. They want to design the test for their purposes so ultimately they can create a vaccine and other patentable products.
ILADS Launches Registry and Crowd-Solving Platform: One Health Lyme
Chevy Chase, MD – March 26, 2020 – The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) is launching a new registry and crowd-solving platform, One Health Lyme, which will provide valuable resources to healthcare providers who are treating patients with Lyme and related diseases. In the planning stages for a while, the launch of the One Health Lyme initiative is being pushed forward expeditiously in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One Health Lyme will give Lyme healthcare providers a unique opportunity to track and communicate the impact of COVID-19 on this specific group of patients. The unique immunological lesions of these patients will help us gain insights of general importance in the battle against COVID-19.
Similar to initiatives operated by specialty societies that treat autoimmune diseases, this project will collect data from physicians about patient experiences and treatments. The goal is to create a vast repository of information about lyme that physicians and researchers can use to study and treat it and related diseases. “Doctors are in the best position to provide insights into patient experiences and treatment efficacy,” says Dr. Robert Mozayeni, president of ILADS. “Our members are medical professionals who treat these vulnerable patients. One Health Lyme gives them a place to collect and centralize treatment response data.”
One Health Lyme will also be used to provide educational material and support crowd-sourcing solutions—such as aggregating information about the efficacy of a new treatment. “Not only do we hope that it will provide real time educational information, but we also hope it will quickly supply data about what works for various subgroups of patients,” says Mozayeni.
Other Lyme organizations, such as MyLymeData, have been collecting patient-focused information, and ILADS plans to seek a partnership with them, allowing medical professionals to benefit from both initiatives.
The initiative is a collaborative effort with Groopit.co, whose software is designed specifically to collect data in real time from members of an extended team. Allowing loosely connected people to work together efficiently, Groopit helps organizations crowd solve, bring people together, and get quick results.
Now is a particularly important time to be collecting this information. ILADS members are in a unique position to understand how COVID-19 affects their patients. By centralizing and sharing their observations and data, ILADS hopes that the One Health Lyme will not only inform how lyme disease patients are cared for, but it may provide insights into COVID-19 itself. “It may be that what we learn from our patients will help everyone,” notes Mozayeni.
About ILADS
ILADS is a nonprofit, international, multi-disciplinary medical society, dedicated to the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of Lyme and its associated diseases. ILADS promotes understanding of Lyme through research and education and strongly supports physicians and other healthcare professionals dedicated to advancing the standard of care for Lyme and its associated diseases. For more information, visit: www.ilads.org
Our nation is in a crisis about novel coronavirus COVID-19, and no one is more fearful than those with pre-existing conditions. These patients, along with the elderly, are at high risk if they contract the virus. Lyme patients are rightfully concerned that their underlying tick-borne infections makes them especially susceptible to COVID-19, and that getting COVID-19 will make their original underlyinginfection worse, landing them in the hospital on a ventilator.
I understand these worries, because I have them, too. While recognizing and not downplaying the risks, I want to give some measure of reassurancebased solely on my own experience as a patient with Lyme, babesia, and ehrlichia, who is also recovering from a suspected case of COVID-19.
I first became symptomatic two weeks ago. As of this writing, my symptoms have diminished dramatically. I haven’t had a fever in five days, and my cough and shortness of breath are becoming less evident by the day. Despite my tick-borne infections, my immune system is fighting this respiratory virus very well. Moreover, the presumed virus does not seem to have worsened my response to tick-borne infections.
I’ve been lucky, and I know that won’t be the case for everyone. But there are steps Lyme patients can take now, either to prevent themselves from getting sick or to treat the virus if it’s a mild case:
Call your doctor. If you are not symptomatic, ask your Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) what you should do to boost your immune system. My doctor had me increase the dose of some of my supplements. Do not just increase supplements or add new ones on your own, or based on advice you get off the internet. If you become symptomatic, call both your LLMD and your Primary Care Doctor before you do anything or go anywhere, unless you are in critical condition.
Do not immediately go to a hospital, doctor’s office, or testing center unless you are in critical condition. If you are mildly symptomatic, call your doctor and ask if it makes sense for you to be tested, if you need acute medical care, or if you can self-treat at home. The latter is the safest option. If you don’t already have COVID-19, you can contract it at a doctor’s office, hospital or testing center. If you do have it, you could infect others while you’re out and about. The exception is if you have a high fever or are in severe respiratory distress. Had I known a week ago what would happen when I did go for a test, I would have just stayed home, assumed I had COVID-19 and self-quarantined.
Do not pre-order hydroxychloroquine or take it prophylactically unless prescribed by your doctor. If you are already on hydroxychloroquine for Lyme and you contract COVID-19, the drug may help kill the virus. But there is not yet evidence taking it as a preventive measure might not help protect you from COVID-19, and it might worsen your Lyme symptoms. More importantly, it will diminish the supply for patients who have a genuine need for the medication, including certain Lyme patients and those with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Electrolyte-enhanced water: COVID-19 is dehydrating. Stock up now, before you get sick, on as much electrolyte water as your family would reasonably need for a two-week period. Don’t buy more than that amount; leave some for other people, too. Do not hoard.
Fever reducers: Again, have these on hand before you get sick, but also do not hoard supplies.
Inhaler: Like hydroxychloroquine, this is not something you can or should use prophylactically, but if you already use an inhaler, this would be a great time to make sure it’s not expired or to get it refilled. If you experience mild COVID-19 symptoms, your doctor may prescribe a non-steroid bronchodilator. This has helped me immensely. Again, if you can, it’s better to use this treatment at home than to require a ventilator at a hospital.
Stay home! This time of social distancing is about you, the immunocompromised. Protect yourself! Don’t socialize with anyone outside of your immediate family. Even if that person seems healthy, they could be a carrier who could unknowingly pass COVID-19 on to you. Order groceries online and wipe them down with antiseptic wipes before bringing them into the house.
Wash and sanitize: Wash your hands as much as possible, for at least 20 seconds with warm soapy water. Sanitize an object before you touch it.
Do not panic! Lyme spirochetes thrive on stress. So don’t give them reason to start replicating while you’re trying to fend off an acute infection. The calmer you can stay, the healthier your body will remain.
And finally, Be Tick AWARE: Don’t let protecting yourself from one illness leave you vulnerable to another. Tick season has started and the ticks are out in full force, expanding their geographical reach more than ever. Make sure to protect yourself and your pets if you do go outside by using repellant and undertaking tick checks.
As Lyme patients, you may be compromised immunologically, but you are ahead of the game when it comes to convalescence and social distancing. You know what it’s like to be sick for much longer than the standard length of time for COVID-19. You know what it’s like to be isolated at home. You know how to take care of yourself and advocate for your needs. You already have resilience.
With these suggestions, appropriately considering, I hope that you will stay healthy, or, that if you do contract COVID-19, that you will fight it off effectively and promptly.
Jennifer Crystal is a writer and educator in Boston. Her memoir about her medical journey is forthcoming. Contact her at lymewarriorjennifercrystal@gmail.com.
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**Comment**
Great advice. Lyme/MSIDS patients are already ahead of the curve in that we’ve had to learn about our bodies, healthy diet, the need for restful sleep, and supplementing for our body’s imbalances. This is huge. Never underestimate all you’ve had to learn and incorporate into your life as it will help you in so many ways. As the author states, social distancing is a way of life for Lyme/MSIDS patients.
I too feel I had COVID-19 (based upon symptoms – I wasn’t tested, but then again please remember testing for this is abysmal), as did the rest of my family, and many of my friends and neighbors. It was severe and laid me out for about a week but thankfully my immune system is functioning well and I bounced back quickly. I have no long-term effects.
I take a different approach to fever-reducers. I rarely use them. I believe in letting a fever do the work it was designed to do – kill pathogens. I’m obviously not alone in this thinking as hyperthermia is one of the main treatments for Lyme used in this German clinic: https://elemental.medium.com/bringing-the-heat-using-hyperthermia-to-treat-lyme-disease-f61f81706c67 FYI: I heard Douwes at a conference on this treatment and am not convinced it is curative for Lyme/MSIDS. Like all other treatments – relapses still occur.
In fact, if you don’t have a fever you can induce one by using saunas, Biomat-type mats, and hot baths. I’ve used heat therapy the entire time I was in treatment for tick-borne illness and it helps with pain, relaxation, and by heating the body to assist it in killing pathogens. I still use it.
Dr. Fauci & COVID-19: Therapeutics Now OR Vaccines Later?
There is a raging debate in our government. How should America respond to the Coronavirus crisis? With therapeutic drugs? Or with a vaccine? Dr. Anthony Fauci is predictably shining a spotlight on risky and uncertain coronavirus vaccines that may not be available for two years, rather than prioritizing the short-term therapies that patients need right now.
In light of the immunity from liability guaranteed by the PREP Act during declared emergencies, fast-tracked vaccines are a sweetheart deal for both biopharma and government. Will Big Pharma and biotech companies be allowed to cash in on this catastrophe with speculative, patentable vaccines at the expense of the therapeutics needed to save lives now?
None of this this new and has been going on for a long time.
Fauci quietly sits on the Leadership Council of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Vaccine Action Plan, which is currently reaching the finality of its so-called “Decade of Vaccines” initiative that began in 2010. This fully explains why he’s gone all-in for a future Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, and why he’s signaled that Americans will continue to be held hostage until they agree to get it. https://www.sgtreport.com/2020/04/anthony-fauci-wants-coronavirus-vaccines-to-be-forced-on-all-americans/
Espionage and Trade Theft: 3 Charged in China-Related Cases
By Dr. Mercola
March 23, 2020
It may sound like a “Mission Impossible” movie plot but, in reality, truth again proves stranger than fiction, with the arrests of two Chinese nationals and a Harvard professor, all charged with espionage, theft of trade secrets and hacking.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced in late January 2020 that an investigation spanning several years had culminated in charges against the three. Charles Lieber, chairman of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, was charged with “making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement.” He allegedly also received $50,000 a month from China’s Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) and other financial perks to establish a research lab at WUT — all while employed at Harvard.
Yanqing Ye was indicted for “visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy;” Zaosong Zheng was arrested in December at Boston’s airport and charged with smuggling goods from the United States and making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements.
Together, the three are suspected of colluding with China’s Wuhan University of Technology in various ways to “seek to lure Chinese overseas talent and foreign experts to bring their knowledge and experience to China and reward individuals for stealing proprietary information.” Additionally, Zheng admitted to stealing 21 vials of biological research and attempting to smuggle them out of the United States aboard a flight destined for China.
What was in those vials has not been publicly divulged, but the very idea that such a thing happened in such close proximity to the coronavirus outbreak leaves an open door for more questions and all kinds of possibilities.
It’s not like things like this haven’t happened elsewhere in other scenarios, especially with university professors double-dipping with payments from nefarious sources. Take University of Florida’s Kevin Folta, for example, who vehemently denied ever receiving any money from Monsanto, was caught doing just the opposite when his email correspondence was released in response to a freedom of information (FOIA) request by US Right to Know.
Folta received a $25,000 unrestricted grant from Monsanto, and Folta wrote back to a Monsanto executive saying: “I am grateful for this opportunity and promise a solid return on the investment.” Subsequently, Folta laid out a three-tiered program that included training the trainers, engaging the public and on-campus training at the University of Florida — all with the intent of hiding important health information about Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide.
That said, the health care industry itself is part of the plot to deny the public the real truth about what some drugs can or cannot do. A ProPublica analysis revealed nearly 9 in 10 cardiologists, and 7 in 10 internists and family practitioners, included in their study receivedpayments from drug or device companies in 2014.
ProPublica analyzed the prescribing habits of doctors who wrote at least 1,000 prescriptions in the Medicare Part D drug program. The doctors belonged to five common specialties: psychiatry, cardiovascular disease, family medicine, internal medicine and ophthalmology.
Not only was the receipt of drug-company money associated with a higher percentage of brand-name drug prescriptions, but the prescriptions rose with the amount of money received.
And, to make matters worse, it appears that sometimes even those who are supposed to be making and enforcing laws are not immune to bribes and buy-offs. Investigations have also shown that when lobbyists for huge corporations want to donate to the associations that fund attorneys general (AG) political campaigns, they can, and do — and in so doing gain greater access to the AG for their favorite causes.
For example, when CBS News investigated in 2018, they found that to attend a lavish four-day retreat with state AGs, corporate lobbyists only needed to donate $125,000. At one such retreat on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, lobbyists could golf, play pool and enjoy yoga on the beach, sign up for a dolphin tour and enjoy an open bar with the top law enforcement officials of each state, CBS said.
It’s certainly a lucrative business for both the givers and the takers — where the only loser is the public. It isn’t right. It isn’t fair. And, in many cases it isn’t for the public good. That’s why it’s important to keep your eyes open and question everything.
Now declared as a pandemic, COVID-19 continues to take its toll on people’s health, and thousands have already fallen victim to this mysterious illness. But as the virus spreads quickly, so does the misinformation surrounding it. In these trying times, you must learn to separate fact from fiction so you can take the right measures to safeguard your health.
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**Comment**
Clearly Science needs an overhaul. Turns out cartoons we watched as children where the mad scientist tries to take over the world is closer to reality than fiction.
