More lessons on being skeptical of our media.
A new term “Super Spreaders” is being used to describe those who insist on going to large gatherings of people. It is meant to demean and label such people as selfish. Rioters in major cities are not included in this group. It’s another example of how the media distorts what is happening to match what they want to sell which is pretty much always FEAR. Don’t give in to it. Letting yourself be afraid can lower your immune system so be aware of things that feed fear and avoid them or negate them when you can with truthful facts. When you were small and thought a monster was under the bed hopefully someone turned on the light and let you look under there and see it wasn’t so. That’s what I’m getting at.
Here is a prime example. Every media major group from Fox News to MSNBC, Washington Post and The Hill jumped on a story blaming the motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD last month for super-spreading the Covid-19 virus to as many as 266,796 people. Headlines meant to shock (and sell papers) claimed the 450,000 bikers that attended the event were directly responsible for over a quarter of a million Covid-19 cases and up to $12.2 billion in healthcare costs. – Those are stunning numbers. It turns out those numbers were based on worst-case-scenario modelling that relied on cell phone tower pings, - these anonymized cell-phone data numbers were put together in a paper put out by IZA DP No 13670 and the words ‘could’ and ‘might have’ were all over it. The paper wrote, “Sturgis Motorcycle Rally represents a situation where many of the “worst-case-scenarios” for super spreading occurred simultaneously.” The paper is titled, “The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and Covid-19.” It was published as a ‘white sheet’. One of the authors said it was to start discussions. It was not peer reviewed research. In a way it was speculation for what professors might muse over. Yet I counted 10 major news sources with headlines printed it as if it was fact. Fox News, Wash. Post, NY Times, NBC news, USA Today, Forum News, Jolopnik, IBT, Kaiser Healthnews. Some folks at ‘Reason Magazine’ did some fact-checking and they have put out a counter piece. That study found the researchers assumed that new spikes in cases in areas where people went post-rally must have been caused by those rally attendees, even though there was no particular evidence that it was the case. Other events were happening simultaneously. In South Dakota for example the schools were reopening. The $12.2 billion health care cost was only if every person of that quarter of a million plus cases required hospitalization with a price tag guessed at $46,ooo each. Which we know is probably not the case. Many cases are asymptomatic and cost ‘$0’.
Not surprisingly, South Dakota pushed back. The governor of South Dakota calls it fiction not science. According to South Dakota health officials, 127 new cases in the state occurred that were directly linked to the rally, including one fatal case. As of Sept 2, -- The Covid-19 cases linked to the Sturgis rally were reported in 11 states at the figure at least 260 -300 new cases nationwide. (KHOU 11 news) Compare that number to 266,796. Reality is .1% of the estimate. Computer models have that much error. There are arguments that even one death is one too many. There are arguments that in this country people have, for the most part, been allowed to live their lives and assume the risks as they see fit. Then there’s all the arguments in between. My point is don’t let the media make you afraid. They are good at it. There’s a story of a town that had no cases. “What’s your secret?” the reporter asked. “None of us have TV’s.” they said. (Now that is a joke. Don’t take it seriously.)
Ideas to help deal with Shingles – I was asked, “Did you get the vaccine?” No, I did not because my oncologist told me it was a live virus and because my immune system had been through so much chemotherapy to get rid of lymphoma he advised against it. The ingredients in a Shingles vaccine are sucrose, hydrolyzed porcine (pork) gelatin, urea, sodium chloride, monosodium L-glutamate, sodium phosphate dibasic, potassium phosphate momobasic, potassium chloride, MRC-5 cells, neomycin, bovine calf serum. (MRC-5 cells in essence are cells from an aborted fetus. Just about all vaccines have this in them. Many object to getting vaccines on that basis alone.)
Once a person has Shingles the vaccine is a moot point. I am told 50% of people who get the vaccine get shingles anyway, but ‘not as bad’. Which is impossible to prove. The present epidemiology of it is described as a latent chicken pox virus. Not all but some varieties of childhood chicken pox do not go away completely but the virus sets up somewhere in your body like a hibernating bear. When a person’s immune system is weakened and enough stress happens to that person the virus wakes up and attacks the nerves. Pain and stiffness is the first sign but eventually a skin outbreak appears. It usually looks like tiny blisters that follow a nerve that is just under the skin. The skin blisters are exquisitely painful to any touch. The nerves underneath are inflamed and that affects the muscles too. No matter where the virus attacks it will hurt. I have also been told it can attack internal organs where there won’t be a skin lesion but the pain is deep and just as intense. Many report that they had shingles ONE time and never again, others have told me their’s comes back every time they are under a lot of stress. Stress seems to be a big factor in shingles ‘erupting’.
I have gleaned information on what can help and I offer it to you. I hope you never need it but keep it somewhere because 1 in 3 people are reported to be affected by it at some time in their life after the age of 50. First there are three different creams to slather on. Shinglese, Terasill, and Rescue. You can’t ‘rub them in’ because your skin is too sensitive. The Shinglese was like a smooth brown mud and to me was the best at taking away the heat and sting for at least some temporary relief. The Terasill was thick moistening cream with some colloidal silver in it to prevent skin infection and maybe kill some virus pathogens. The Rescue was only reported to me so I can’t give it a personal testimony.
Supplements – Lysine – 1000 to 3000 mg a day. Lobelia – 475 mg a day, B complex with methylated folate- double the dose recommended on the bottle, Zinc 5 – 50 mg a day, Vitamin C- 1000 a day at least, same with Tumeric, Magnesium glycinate to help with muscle cramping. This should be along with a multiple daily vitamin, Fish oil of some kind, Co Q 10, and vitamin D,
Make sure you get as much rest as possible. You will be easily fatigued especially the first couple weeks. Avoid the sun and heat. Cold packs do not help because they must be applied to the skin but cold air blowing on the lesions does help. Physical activity needs to be slow. It will increase pain if you try to move fast, as do bumps on the road. The jiggling of the skin hurts. Harsh loud sounds hurt, crowds are scary because someone might bump into you. You will not want clothing to touch it but wearing loose clothing made of very light material, like silk is not too bad. I wore my old silk Hawaiian shirt inside out to not have the seams dig in to my skin. I know I looked goofy.
There is a drug Valcyclovir. They gave me 10 days worth. Someone told me her husband got a shot to stop the spread but no one could tell me what it was. There are other Cyclovir drugs but the AMA has very little for you except pain killers. My acupuncturist insisted that although under normal conditions you avoid heat he used a TDP lamp on the blisters – 10 minutes on a spot 10 inches away from the skin. It is magnetic-electric heat. This gave a numbing relief to the skin and accelerated the drying up of the blisters. He also did skull acupuncture with electric current on low. I am surviving week 11 getting a little better each day. It’s better for me not to talk about it much and try to get my mind off it.
A new term “Super Spreaders” is being used to describe those who insist on going to large gatherings of people. It is meant to demean and label such people as selfish. Rioters in major cities are not included in this group. It’s another example of how the media distorts what is happening to match what they want to sell which is pretty much always FEAR. Don’t give in to it. Letting yourself be afraid can lower your immune system so be aware of things that feed fear and avoid them or negate them when you can with truthful facts. When you were small and thought a monster was under the bed hopefully someone turned on the light and let you look under there and see it wasn’t so. That’s what I’m getting at.
Here is a prime example. Every media major group from Fox News to MSNBC, Washington Post and The Hill jumped on a story blaming the motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD last month for super-spreading the Covid-19 virus to as many as 266,796 people. Headlines meant to shock (and sell papers) claimed the 450,000 bikers that attended the event were directly responsible for over a quarter of a million Covid-19 cases and up to $12.2 billion in healthcare costs. – Those are stunning numbers. It turns out those numbers were based on worst-case-scenario modelling that relied on cell phone tower pings, - these anonymized cell-phone data numbers were put together in a paper put out by IZA DP No 13670 and the words ‘could’ and ‘might have’ were all over it. The paper wrote, “Sturgis Motorcycle Rally represents a situation where many of the “worst-case-scenarios” for super spreading occurred simultaneously.” The paper is titled, “The Contagion Externality of a Superspreading Event: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and Covid-19.” It was published as a ‘white sheet’. One of the authors said it was to start discussions. It was not peer reviewed research. In a way it was speculation for what professors might muse over. Yet I counted 10 major news sources with headlines printed it as if it was fact. Fox News, Wash. Post, NY Times, NBC news, USA Today, Forum News, Jolopnik, IBT, Kaiser Healthnews. Some folks at ‘Reason Magazine’ did some fact-checking and they have put out a counter piece. That study found the researchers assumed that new spikes in cases in areas where people went post-rally must have been caused by those rally attendees, even though there was no particular evidence that it was the case. Other events were happening simultaneously. In South Dakota for example the schools were reopening. The $12.2 billion health care cost was only if every person of that quarter of a million plus cases required hospitalization with a price tag guessed at $46,ooo each. Which we know is probably not the case. Many cases are asymptomatic and cost ‘$0’.
Not surprisingly, South Dakota pushed back. The governor of South Dakota calls it fiction not science. According to South Dakota health officials, 127 new cases in the state occurred that were directly linked to the rally, including one fatal case. As of Sept 2, -- The Covid-19 cases linked to the Sturgis rally were reported in 11 states at the figure at least 260 -300 new cases nationwide. (KHOU 11 news) Compare that number to 266,796. Reality is .1% of the estimate. Computer models have that much error. There are arguments that even one death is one too many. There are arguments that in this country people have, for the most part, been allowed to live their lives and assume the risks as they see fit. Then there’s all the arguments in between. My point is don’t let the media make you afraid. They are good at it. There’s a story of a town that had no cases. “What’s your secret?” the reporter asked. “None of us have TV’s.” they said. (Now that is a joke. Don’t take it seriously.)
Ideas to help deal with Shingles – I was asked, “Did you get the vaccine?” No, I did not because my oncologist told me it was a live virus and because my immune system had been through so much chemotherapy to get rid of lymphoma he advised against it. The ingredients in a Shingles vaccine are sucrose, hydrolyzed porcine (pork) gelatin, urea, sodium chloride, monosodium L-glutamate, sodium phosphate dibasic, potassium phosphate momobasic, potassium chloride, MRC-5 cells, neomycin, bovine calf serum. (MRC-5 cells in essence are cells from an aborted fetus. Just about all vaccines have this in them. Many object to getting vaccines on that basis alone.)
Once a person has Shingles the vaccine is a moot point. I am told 50% of people who get the vaccine get shingles anyway, but ‘not as bad’. Which is impossible to prove. The present epidemiology of it is described as a latent chicken pox virus. Not all but some varieties of childhood chicken pox do not go away completely but the virus sets up somewhere in your body like a hibernating bear. When a person’s immune system is weakened and enough stress happens to that person the virus wakes up and attacks the nerves. Pain and stiffness is the first sign but eventually a skin outbreak appears. It usually looks like tiny blisters that follow a nerve that is just under the skin. The skin blisters are exquisitely painful to any touch. The nerves underneath are inflamed and that affects the muscles too. No matter where the virus attacks it will hurt. I have also been told it can attack internal organs where there won’t be a skin lesion but the pain is deep and just as intense. Many report that they had shingles ONE time and never again, others have told me their’s comes back every time they are under a lot of stress. Stress seems to be a big factor in shingles ‘erupting’.
I have gleaned information on what can help and I offer it to you. I hope you never need it but keep it somewhere because 1 in 3 people are reported to be affected by it at some time in their life after the age of 50. First there are three different creams to slather on. Shinglese, Terasill, and Rescue. You can’t ‘rub them in’ because your skin is too sensitive. The Shinglese was like a smooth brown mud and to me was the best at taking away the heat and sting for at least some temporary relief. The Terasill was thick moistening cream with some colloidal silver in it to prevent skin infection and maybe kill some virus pathogens. The Rescue was only reported to me so I can’t give it a personal testimony.
Supplements – Lysine – 1000 to 3000 mg a day. Lobelia – 475 mg a day, B complex with methylated folate- double the dose recommended on the bottle, Zinc 5 – 50 mg a day, Vitamin C- 1000 a day at least, same with Tumeric, Magnesium glycinate to help with muscle cramping. This should be along with a multiple daily vitamin, Fish oil of some kind, Co Q 10, and vitamin D,
Make sure you get as much rest as possible. You will be easily fatigued especially the first couple weeks. Avoid the sun and heat. Cold packs do not help because they must be applied to the skin but cold air blowing on the lesions does help. Physical activity needs to be slow. It will increase pain if you try to move fast, as do bumps on the road. The jiggling of the skin hurts. Harsh loud sounds hurt, crowds are scary because someone might bump into you. You will not want clothing to touch it but wearing loose clothing made of very light material, like silk is not too bad. I wore my old silk Hawaiian shirt inside out to not have the seams dig in to my skin. I know I looked goofy.
There is a drug Valcyclovir. They gave me 10 days worth. Someone told me her husband got a shot to stop the spread but no one could tell me what it was. There are other Cyclovir drugs but the AMA has very little for you except pain killers. My acupuncturist insisted that although under normal conditions you avoid heat he used a TDP lamp on the blisters – 10 minutes on a spot 10 inches away from the skin. It is magnetic-electric heat. This gave a numbing relief to the skin and accelerated the drying up of the blisters. He also did skull acupuncture with electric current on low. I am surviving week 11 getting a little better each day. It’s better for me not to talk about it much and try to get my mind off it.
