COVID-19 Video Updates Continued, 72-75

 

We’ve added four new videos to our Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) Updates Explained Clearly course on MedCram.com, covering diabetes and COVID-19, re-infections, immunity, academic censorship, and more. Check out our full scope of COVID-19 updates and information here.

 

Dentists; Diabetes; Sensitivity of COVID-19 Antibody Tests

In our 72nd COVID-19 update, Dr. Seheult looks at case numbers around the world and in the U.S., as we start to see some public spaces reopening for business. In addition, he discusses the sensitivity and specificity of antibody testing, citing this study, which looked at four different commercially available tests. 

Dr. Seheult also discusses the interaction between diabetes and COVID -19, drawing from this study the role that glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) may play in determining the hypercoagulability and prognosis for coronavirus patients. Lastly, Dr. Seheult mentions the challenges faced by dentists regarding a lack of clear guidelines and expectations for reopening and providing oral healthcare.

 

Relapse, Re-Infections, & Re-Positives – The Likely Explanation

In the 73rd MedCram COVID-19 update, Dr. Seheult talks about people re-testing positive for COVID-19 even after their symptoms have dissipated. In doing so, he illustrates the mechanisms of Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, or RT-PCR, testing. These tests, which rely on sampling RNA, could potentially pick up a fragment of RNA from viral particles already decimated by the immune system — which can no longer infect the host and cause COVID-19. Further, Dr. Seheult looks at a press release from the Korean CDC on re-infection and re-positives of COVID-19. This research supports the idea that positive tests for patients who have already recovered from COVID-19 may actually be picking up remnants of viral RNA strands, which are incapable of reinfecting the host and infecting others in close contact. 

 

Vitamin D & COVID-19; Academic Censorship

In our 74th COVID-19 video update, Dr. Seheult briefly revisits the conversation on dentists and provides links to resources with information on reopening dental offices. He also discusses this article from The Lancet, which compares mortality rates among countries and looks at the potential role of Vitamin D in COVID-19. As such, he points out the censorship and dilution of the nuance of such information — such as YouTube’s removal of any videos that are not aligned with WHO recommendations — which effectively limits academic discussion of emerging information from peer-reviewed journals or pre-print publications about potentially important supplements and practices that better equip one’s immune system to deal with COVID-19.

 

COVID-19 Lung Autopsies – New Data

In our 75th coronavirus pandemic update, Dr. Seheult talks about the realities of starting to reopen public spaces in San Bernardino County, California, where he works. He also revisits the hypothesis we’ve been talking about for the past few weeks: that SARS-CoV-2 is, to a large extent, a disease of the endothelium. This Washington Post article reports on the New England Journal of Medicine article mentioned below that supports this hypothesis..

The article from the New England Journal of Medicine found that the lungs of patients who died from COVID-19 had “severe endothelial injury associated with the presence of intracellular virus and disrupted cell membranes” and widespread thrombosis, which differentiates SARS-CoV- 2 from the influenza virus. Another article from Science discusses the response of the adaptive immune system and T cells in COVID-19 — and how T cells primed to attack SARS-CoV-2 may already be present in some individuals who haven’t had COVID-19.

 

Stay Tuned for More COVID-19 Updates 

As always, find all of our COVID-19 videos for free (and ad-free) at MedCram.com. While you’re there, check out our full library of courses and lectures on other subjects ranging from Asthma Explained Clearly to Urinalysis Explained Clearly and many more!

Meanwhile, here’s a list of all the COVID-19 resources we’ve shared so far:

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