Corona-virus: medical tips and tricks thread


I am using this n95 mask now dont know how good it is but and upgrade on the surgical mask I was using, i am in hospital everyday since one week, even seen suspected covid cases come in, my face shield is too tight and suffocating I feel dizzy after wearing the shield, have ordered a better better larger shield.
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So how do i disinfect n95 masks? there is bright sunshine here i delhi, i have it hanging in the sun for 8 hours, is this enough will this damage the masks?
 
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That's more than adequate, no it won't. However these masks tend to give away after 8-10 days (may be earlier in hot humid weather)
 
Most people i see at the hospital are incorrectly using the n95 and wearing the same mask everyday probably without disinfecting, , if there was virus present at the hospital it could spread fast , people are better off using cloth mask with plastic shield , both can be easily washed and reused.
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It is though the anti-virals may be more effective in the early stages, and the immune drugs later in the disease.
remdesivir is not a magic bullet in this context: the overall benefit in survival was 30%."

Other drugs being investigated for Covid-19 include those for malaria and HIV which can attack the virus as well as compounds that can calm the immune system.
 
AFAIK, not protective.
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It is though the anti-virals may be more effective in the early stages, and the immune drugs later in the disease.
remdesivir is not a magic bullet in this context: the overall benefit in survival was 30%."

Other drugs being investigated for Covid-19 include those for malaria and HIV which can attack the virus as well as compounds that can calm the immune system.
Remdesivir is not new. It's been under discussion since March. However the preliminary report came out on 29th April.
It's an adenosine analogue. Showed some early promises in ebola by causing chain transmission. But later stopped working completely ( possibly that damn RNA replicase)
Moreover Remdesivir has many weird drug interactions lowering the blood levels of it.
 
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Cuomo said it showed that the new infections were down to 'personal behavior' like not wearing masks or not hand washing enough

found treatment with anticoagulants was linked to a 50 percent higher survival rate.
 
That article is strange...the author thinks blood thinners ( antiplatelets) are same as anticoagulants.
Almost all patients in ventilators after 7-10 days need some sort of prophylactic LMWH to prevent DVT, however the dosing is of extreme importance. 40/60 units of clexane possibly don't have any effect.
 
WIth regard to reusing the mask, best method is to use heat. Taiwan FDA says use a pressure cooker without water.
New surgical masks for example are sterilized by using ozone, overdoing this will also destroy the mask.

I have a old bajaj OTG oven, that I will modify with a NTC temperature sensor and controller, to get the desired temperature or alternately I can use my dewalt heat gun, which has a temperature range from 50C to 600c with 10 degree increments.
If you want to understand masks read this post of mine

It clarified a lot of alarmist nonsense that isn't relevant for the general public.

All these N whatever masks are only for those working on infected patients. They need more than that but that isn't a concern for us.

I use 3 ply surgical masks with the elastic band and dispose them off with one use. The ones with the things you tie are reusable.

I don't think any heat treatment will be good to sterlise the masks you have without damaging them in some manner. How will you know you have damaged them

They aren't designed for reuse. Limiting factor.

A friend of mine in NYC uses a fabric mask with a valve that he just throws in the washer after a use. Much more practical. He has three of them.

When i think about it the surgical masks with the ties are probably easiest and cheaper. Seen quite a few people with those about.
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mask just prevents aerosol - not meant to protect you :)
everyone wearing masks protects you
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Most people i see at the hospital are incorrectly using the n95 and wearing the same mask everyday probably without disinfecting, , if there was virus present at the hospital it could spread fast , people are better off using cloth mask with plastic shield , both can be easily washed and reused.
Exactly, i think is a good combo. If you wear glasses then a plastic shield isn't needed.

Read this post and see the graphic. See what they recommend for community health workers caring for C19 patients. No face shield.

Even if there are suspect patients coming into the hospital it does not matter.

Unless you are working on patients your risk will be much lower.
 
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If you want to understand masks read this post of mine

It clarified a lot of alarmist nonsense that isn't relevant for the general public.

All these N whatever masks are only for those working on infected patients. They need more than that but that isn't a concern for us.

I use 3 ply surgical masks with the elastic band and dispose them off with one use. The ones with the things you tie are reusable.

I don't think any heat treatment will be good to sterlise the masks you have without damaging them in some manner. How will you know you have damaged them

They aren't designed for reuse. Limiting factor.

A friend of mine in NYC uses a fabric mask with a valve that he just throws in the washer after a use. Much more practical. He has three of them.

When i think about it the surgical masks with the ties are probably easiest and cheaper.
You probably haven't seen a genuine 3 ply surgical mask mate. Try to feel in 3rd layer of your 3 ply " surgical" mask. There are plenty of idiots who think the carbon layer masks protect better. But in reality those masks are for masking the odour ( during dressing of infected wounds) they allow bacterias thousands times larger than a thread of RNA.
This is what happens, when someone who would probably faint seeing a surgery suddenly becomes expert after reading few online articles.
And your friend @ NYC seems to be a bigger fool than you are ( without any clue about how valves work in a mask.
No, the link you posted about mask, is absolute garbage.
The only mask related guide is available in NIOSH's website ( for years)
Everyone in copying from that guide with their wild imagination mixed in.
@ Arjun, brother, if you have to visit hospital again, please put on a N95 ( valveless) or 2 proper surgical masks ( most private hospitals are giving it for free for family members of patients) and a face shield. Normal glasses provide ZERO protection, as an elephant can pass through a normal eyewear to reach conjunctiva. Please don't listen to this cartoon ( who has never seen a real Corona patient yet and possibly never left his basement since lockdown and knows NOTHING about viral diseases)
 
I wear n95 and face shield everytime i go out of the house, i know how to use it and disinfect it, i sanitize my hands with pocket sanitizer if i touch the shield / mask by mistake.
 
surgical" mask. There are plenty of idiots who think the carbon layer masks protect better. But in reality those masks are for
This is what happens, when someone who would probably faint seeing a surgery suddenly becomes expert after reading few online articles.
And your friend @ NYC seems to be a bigger fool than you are ( without any clue about how valves work in a mask.

@ Arjun, brother, through a normal eyewear to reach conjunctiva. Please don't listen to this cartoon ( who has never seen a real Corona patient yet and possibly never left his basement since lockdown and knows NOTHING about viral diseases)

Feel free to post your degree/marks-cards suitably edited if you are claiming to be an expert and not an idiot - certainly that has some value at least for now.. People here can look at it and trust you a whole lot more. (maybe even take medical advice online in these distressing times)
 
MBBS (CNMC Kolkata) MD ( gen med, CMC Kolkata), MD ( community medicine, AIIH& PH), Kolkata, MPH ( AIIH& PH), PhD (ICMR, India)
Consultant Epidemiologist and Chief, Management of Substance Abuse (MSD, Central Europe) World Health Organisation.

I really don't care if you ( or anyone here for that matter) trust me or not on a personal level. Just go through NIOSH's official website regarding masks.
At least 5 members of this forum take medical advice from time to time. And no, I'm not interested in providing medical advice as I'm not a practicing clinician anymore.
If you're really interested, I've more than 50 articles on Google scholar ( still have the west Bengal medical council registration number for you to search Indian database, but I live in Czech Republic for last 10 years)
You can clarify all your doubts about my credentials and experience from Dr. Balaram Bhargava ( DG, ICMR) , he made me work for ICMR as external consultant ( and take a large amount of taxpayers' money)
His contact number/ email id etc. are all in public domain. If you're important enough, he will definitely let you know.
I'm 43 year old and way past the age of boasting in a tech forum.
I have nothing personal against blr_p, I do take his opinions on computer and other related things very seriously. Despite being in tech forums for more than 15 years I'm still a complete noob.
But this is my area, I earn my bread working as an epidemiologist ( not a clinician)
What will you guys say about me, if I read about some computer languages in Wiki and give expert opinions on writing codes to a professional coder?
It's just like that.
 
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you did call him an idiot 'cartoon' - that's only justified if you can back up your claims (especially on a forum that's related to computer hardware/gadgets) And you did care enough to criticize his advice.. You don't earn your money on an internet forum - you do that irl - in the context of a legal system and regulatory body. (expert opinion on code: someone did raise a dispute recently, I pointed to my source code) While you may be a talented Dr, or bureaucrat - that does not translate into other fields which is why it's important to criticize without making personal remarks.
 
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Ok, I will explain in bit details:
1.the triple layer surgical mask: Even in Europe, 99 percent of surgical masks outside hospitals are fake. I guess the situation is far worse in India, at least 50 people sent me pictures of those masks and most of them are made out of adult diapers or moly sheets. God only knows, what these are capable of ( imagine diaper on your nose/ face)
Moreover instead of laces, they come with elastic bands, extremely uncomfortable for prolonged use)
2. If someone is using mask, he/ she should wear either a proper mask or nothing. There's a rumor going on how Czechs survived by wearing masks, it is completely false. Yes, they were requested to and was never made mandatory except few places in old city centre. However they were provided with genuine surgical masks.
Other home made masks may be great fashion accessories, but they are useless.
3. Now the valve: wearing valved masks in public or even in hospital without 100 percent covid patients should be considered a crime ( read what valves do, those let the expired air completely unfiltered) His friend @ NYC is actually participating in a criminal activity ( however with a velvet mask it's of zero use anyways.
4.Telling someone, ordinary glasses protect your eyes from exposure is a dangerous thing to do. It provides ZERO protection.Its like wearing a sock for condom to have safe sex.
I can go on finding faults in every sentence.
I'm neither a talented doctor not a bureaucrat.
I'm just an epidemiologist with past experience of viral epidemics in Africa.
I don't work for ICMR, just an external consultant.
 
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3. Now the valve: wearing valved masks in public or even in hospital without 100 percent covid patients should be considered a crime ( read what valves do, those let the expired air completely unfiltered) His friend @ NYC is actually participating in a criminal activity ( however with a velvet mask it's of zero use anyways.
Advisory on this should come from icmr/health ministry , the doctors in ICU continued to use masks with valve when i had told them not to, i even complained to the hospital management. Even the army chief was wearing mask with valve during a press breifing few days back.
 
Sadly, there are very few people are like you who actually protest. 99 percent are ignorant, the remaining simply do not care.
ICMR/ health ministry is different. They are oblivious to everything, they may tell everyone to use "gamcha" instead of masks.
 
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