What a different world now
Surgeon General just said they were wrong in telling people that masks were not useful for the general public. Congratulations everyone. I was right again.
I think it's surprising that coronavirus got as bad as it has. When it first started they showed video of a city in china and 80%+ of the people were wearing masks and shortly after that they were showing a ghost town. They made business and shops and factories close. There economy has been going down the last couple of years and this would make it even harder for low income people to get by. There have been reports that low income people are eating rats, wild cats and dogs and snakes. And it's strange the trouble in Hong Kong has gone away? And they won't let the CDC help them? If during flu season in the USA 80% of the people were to wear masks the flu season would last about week or less. The ONLY way this got as bad as it has is they are ingesting the virus. Good way to stop the Hong Kong problem.
“Time will tell if the new coronavirus ends up being less or more dangerous than the flu; we don’t fully know yet how bad it is.” And the writer is telling people not to wear a face mask?!?!?!
It is a highly irresponsible statement to make at reducing the urgency and effectiveness of a face mask when you can’t even be sure what the virus is.
If ONE DAY someone was to tell you that this is an engineered virus, would you say something otherwise? But it will be all too late for those who believe in the fallacy of your line of reasoning in this article. This article is meant to play down the panic and pretending that normalcy is still around, where there is none.
2
Frankly, articles that begin by telling us how to wash our hands are patronizing and insulting. Ditto the advice to get a flu shot, and sanitize. Of course, some people do not do these things, and need a stern reminder. But how about acknowledging that many people take these basic health precautions routinely? Articles with the message "Don't worry, wash your hands" aren't reassuring.
4
The lesson I took from this is, if your boss makes you come into work sick, sneeze and cough directly into their coffee cup. Then, when they get sick and try to take time off, tell THEIR boss that you need them for something critical so they have to work while sick... did I get that right?
8
I see how this virus brings out xenophobia, especially among older generations. Just learn how to keep YOURSELF safe by hand washing and self-care and let others worry about themselves. You cannot FORCE others to be sanitary, so maybe just stop with the xenophobia and look at yourself and your practices. Yes, you.
3
Also, don't touch your eyes until you have thoroughly washed your hands.
3
Worked at a CU years ago and the president was a big on people staying home when sick, and still payed with note from DR. He also had boxes of Kleenex around the office for members and staff to use!
Next president of CU wanted people to come in even if you were half dead, and he did away with all the kleenexes to save money! More illnesses going around with the him!
6
Yes, don't shake hands. Do Namaste.
It is used both for greeting and leave-taking.
Namaste may also be spoken without the gesture, or the gesture may be performed wordlessly.
It's normally done from a distance of at least a few feet.
The quality of the smile and eye contact (or, lack there of) during the namaste helps both parties wordlessly communicate their opinion and feelings about the whole thing in the few seconds it takes to do the namaste.
Also, when needed, it can be used to preemptively end a discussion or meeting - in a not so unpleasant manner.
3
Even physicians often don’t have the ability to call out. Despite having a “good job,” I don’t get sick days or PTO. Consequently, I head to the hospital and my child also has to go to school unless we are very very ill. Americans all need more sick leave and a change in corporate culture to support its use. There needs to be recognition that this is a way to decrease absenteeism overall.
4
This article only highlights how little individuals can do: wash your hands properly and get what vaccines are available. Not so helpful as far as individual empowerment goes.
I am vexed by the way experts tip-toe around private sector responsibility and the manner of milquetoast appeal made to private enterprises to "do the right thing" by "allowing" people to stay home when they are sick. Dr. Carroll appeals to these entities as if they have ever prioritized employees over profits. These are policy issues and require the will to delineate and codify them as such. Is that likely in a culture that erodes employee agency continually? No. But people can just wash their hands a little more I guess? Much like climate issues where people work to reduce carbon foot print with the tiny measures they can effect while corporate and systemic purveyors of environmental degradation move forward with their enormous damaging effect.
I understand that Carroll, a PCP, shares what measures the individual can implement, but physicians as a whole must more vigorously protest the many ways healthcare and health policy is negatively impacted by the privileging of business interests over peoples needs. Health IS political. Doctors can't minister to patients without understanding this point and acting in the public arena to encourage, through policy not toothless appeal, that businesses act responsibly, as their effect on health and safety outstrip the nominal effort individual can enact here.
4
Are we spending 400 billion extra under this administration. Wouldn’t that pay for M4A plus all the extras that we supposedly can’t afford?
So what did we receive from this 400 billion per year in spending? Where is all this socialism spending going?
2
Trump's budget cuts NIH funding.
7
I have a terrible cold but everyone is hoarding face masks right now because of their fear of coronavirus. Two local stores are sold out and my university's student health services refused to give me one without seeing me as a patient. Healthy people are stockpiling masks that they don't need (and that won't protect them) and the sick are left without. I wonder how many people I will inadvertently infect.
3
Before reading this article I was NOT in a panic mode, now I really start to worry.
I don’t think this country have solid public health care system and we need to trust it!?
It sounds more like propaganda from some totalitarian country.Most of Americans, including myself don’t have paid sick leave and go to work with common cold or flu symptoms.Add to this real or proposed cuts to Medicaid and attacks on ACA and picture of healthcare in US starts to be bleak. If only defense against Covid-19 is meticulous hand washing and trust in our public health, then no wonder people are panicking.
9
20 seconds of hand washing is a set up for hand eczema and finger tip cracks. I wash my hands frequently, but not for that long. Ouch!
4
Facemasks are useless, especially how people fail to use them on their faces correctly (bend that metal bar around your nose bridge and make sure the mask sits tight to your skin). Also, most of the masks I see in the news are like the one the lady in Costco here is wearing. Useless! It is barely on her and is really just for patients to wear in a clinical setting! One other clue to a bad mask type is one that loops over your ears. Again, useless for most people but common.
Just wash your hands often with soap (don't forget the lower part of the palm) and if you can't wash, use alcohol hand cleaners is a good substitute. (I buy a big bottle and refill small bottles to save money.) Also use chlorine based counter cleaners like those made by Clorox or Lysol (or generics). Try your best to not touch your face. It is not easy but THAT is the main way for corona viruses and influenza to get into your body. Let's all stop shaking hands for a couple years too…
2
If I do not have the ability to wash my hands, I carry individualized packets of Dickenson's witch hazel which is very sanitary and once used, the soiled towelette goes back into the packet and then into the nearest trash can. I will not use hand sanitizer which has more unknown disinfectant chemical "ingredients" - and just doesn't feel "clean" to me. Witch hazel has been around for decades and thoroughly cleanses my hands. I also do not exit a a public bathroom with my just washed clean hands by pulling the door handle - I use a paper towel to grab the handle and then throw out the towel in the nearest trash can. All of this might sound a bit neurotic - but haven't been sick at all this winter season!
7
Best article on the NYT this week on the subject.
I sincerely hope readers not only read attentively, but actually take and follow the advise from Dr Carroll.
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@Chuck
Why do you think this is very helpful? The take away for the individual is that all you can really do is wash you hands well and frequently. That is really it! Is there really any segment of our working population that can afford to stay home everytime they have cold symptoms? Who believes their jobs and incomes are secure in this scenario? But the onus is on the individual to decide whether they can risk income loss, job loss or carrying a potential contagion into the public sphere. Where is the obvious understanding that busniesses must be made to accomocate such scenario because they will not, and HAVE NOT to date, ever made such an accomodation. If the fate of containment rests on individual businesses to "do the right thing" here. I fear the result.
4
YES I clean my phone! This is important.
9
Basic hygiene is lacking and yet people seem to think wearing masks will help. As more bathrooms become co-ed, I observe that many people don’t even wash their hand after using the toilet. (I’m looking at you, boys.)
6
Why is everyone so keen on the flu shot, when every year the efficacy rate is far below 50%? This is the CDC's own data. There is no evidence to support the idea that the flu vaccine will shorten or weaken flu, either. For people who are scientists, I don't understand why "may" is good enough. Additionally, has flu changed or something? When I was a kid 30 years ago, we everyone got something we called "flu" once a year or so. I never heard of anyone dying. Now we act as if it's Ebola. Why? In terms of the coronavirus- no one has explained why it's such a big deal, either. What makes it different/better/worse than flu? Does it depend on the strain? I wash my hands, I get enough sleep and exercise, I'm generally healthy. Haven't had the flu in four years. I had something in 2016 that a flu test said wasn't flu but the doctor said it was, so I was prescribed Tamiflu. The Tamiflu made me incredibly sick. I was only able to take 3 doses because it made me so nauseated. As soon as I stopped the Tamiflu, I was able to recover with 3 or 4 days of bed rest and lots of liquids. I'm not anti-vaccine at all but no one has explained why an ineffective flu vaccine is the answer.
7
@atb
Different viruses spread across the globe each year. Our wonderful scientists and epidemiologists do a pretty good job of guessing which flu viruses will come here. Also, as a virus passes through humans and animals sometimes there is genetic drift, changing their nature and antigenic qualities. When that happens, the vaccine is not as effective.
So the flu does change.
Most of the time, a flu shot prevents us from getting sick, and we don't know it.
The way I see it, batting .500 with a vaccine is better than doing a lot of vomiting. I always get the flu shot.
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@atb
I get a flu shot every year, as does the rest of my family.
In over a decade of doing so, even with the varying reported rates of effectiveness... none of my family have suffered the flu.
Even a 50% efficacy rate will notably decrease infection rates in the population.. precisely because the flue needs high infection rates in people to propagate freely.
YOU.. by refusing flu shots.. are NOT doing your part in the total vaccination profile for the population around you.
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@atb "May" is good enough for me. Even if the prevention rate is below 50%, the chance that I won't get flu is worth the shot. The article laid out the dangers of flu, including up to 25,000 deaths already this year. I'm not surprised that as a kid and as a relatively young person, you don't know anyone who has died from flu. How many elderly, or diabetic, or otherwise immune-compromised people do you know now or did you know as a kid? On the other hand, a good friend of mine just lost his elderly mother because she contracted flu, which turned into pneumonia, which killed her.
8
Handwashing is great, and everyone who can should definitely get a flu shot. But the data strongly suggest that 1) this coronavirus is likely to become pandemic, and 2) its initial case fatality rate (CFR) is likely to be greater than that of an average flu season. In fact, the CFR for this virus may be 5 to 10 times higher than that of ordinary flu, or even higher. Moreover, the US healthcare system is seriously underprepared for an influx of patients, and a pandemic here would be likely to cause extra deaths because not all people would be able to get the care they need.
Thus, it would seem wise for people to prepare for the serious possibility of a pandemic that will affect their communities starting at some point within the coming year. People need to be told what might happen, for instance, that schools or workplaces might be closed for periods of time. We all need to plan financially and logistically for such possibilities. People should be advised to try to lay away non-perishable supplies so that if and when the virus comes to their city, they don't have to go out for a few weeks if they don't want to.
Current public health messaging is disappointing. People need to be told so much more than "don't panic," "the current risk is low," and "wash your hands." If I'm standing on the beach watching the water get sucked out far to sea, my current risk is low. But I know the tsunami is coming. I just don't know how big it is. It would be irrational not to turn away and run.
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@A biologist The initial data seems to not take into account how this Coronavirus like others of that type infects many who are not at all (or barely) symptomatic. They never get tested and never report feeling ill...because they don’t. Several of the Princess Cruise passengers who tested positive feel fine or have the mildest of coughs. They’d never have known they had it in any other scenario and the absence of these people from data pool pushes up the mortality rate artificially high. As the article said this based on other Coronavirus could be as high as 1/3 of infected people. Influenzas cause more of its victims to feel ill.
1
Studies back to at least 1947 show that raising air humidity SIGNIFICANTLY lowers transmission of flu like virus's. Yet our heating systems continue to pump out warm, DRY air -- exactly what the flu viruses need to remain viable for a long time. This is why flu is primarily a winter phenomenon. Hello heating contractors; a marketing opportunity here!
15
@mdavidsaver : And that is why I place large glass containers filled with water around the house. My mother did this and it works like a charm! It takes about 10 days for the water to fully evaporate and just refill - much, much better and healthier than humidifiers.
4
Thanks for the attempt to reassure us. As an older adult, I remain deeply concerned. I dutifully get the flu vaccine yearly, and my doctor also added the pneumonia vaccine. Every year, nonetheless, it only takes a glance from a sick person (usually at work), and I'm down for the count...a very long count of usually 4-6 weeks with bronchitis if I'm lucky, walking pneumonia if I'm not. I'm a consummate hand-washer, too.
For this reason, I am particularly unnerved by the coronavirus. The information we receive seems to indicate that the fatalities are far more prevalent in 60+ adults (among those with no underlying illness). I hope that clearer information about at-risk populations and relevant guidelines is soon forthcoming.
10
@ND Catt I am assuming you got the high dose Flu vaccine in view of your age.
1
The best advice is to dose up on D3. 10,000 IUs per day.
Trump says a virus will die out when the weather gets warmer in the spring. That's wrong, it will decrease once we start getting our sunshine and D3 back in the spring.
Researchers such as Dr. Holick estimate that 50 percent of the general population is at risk of vitamin D deficiency, which is also linked to chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.
2
@Fourteen14 That is too high to take on a daily basis. I think 4000 units is enough.
2
@SridharC
Experts and researchers say that 10,000 IUs per day is fine for everyone, no toxicity has ever been found. Possible toxicity starts at between 200 to 300 nanograms per milliliter on your D3 blood test.
If there were any toxicity, which would be hypercalcemia, it is easily managed by 2 and 1/2 quarts of water, vitamin K2, magnesium, vitamin A, and making sure your PTH does not fall below the bottom of its range.
Note that a person can get 20,000 per day just by being out in the sun. 4000 IU's is better than nothing, but the real magic will not happen until you dose up.
That's when vitamin D3 does it's real job of optimizing your immune system, optimizing your hormone balance, optimizing the expression of your genes, and making you 40 years younger.
1
Not in any way to diminish the suffering from and impact of the Wuhan coronavirus but, for perspective, I would note the C.D.C. estimates that up to 42.9 million people got sick during the 2018-2019 flu season, 647,000 people were hospitalized and 61,200 died. In the current season, half over, it is estimated there have been at least 22 million flu illnesses, 210,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths from flu.
While we appropriately pay serious attention to the evolution of Wuhan coronavirus, let us not let it cloud out the ongoing risks from flu and the need to act accordingly. If quarantining cities in China, cruise ships, and others is sensible and legitimate, maybe we should consider the same for anti-vaxxers here in America.
As with the 40,000 annual deaths in vehicle crashes, the flu is not a "sexy" news story, so does not get nearly the coverage deserved. On the other hand, the Wuhan coronavirus, makes for excellent clickbait. That is not to deny the legitimate stories, many hooked to the unknown elements. Novelty and the unknown get attention, until what was once novel becomes the new normal. That's human nature. Think of suicide bombers. In the mid 2000s when they started happening as more than a rare "curiosity", each had huge news coverage, complete with psychological "analyses", biographies, detailed descriptions, etc. Now when there is a suicide bombing, it is simply covered as is any other bombing, "suicide" simply being consigned to being an adjective.
17
This: "But as international travel becomes easier, eradication becomes harder."
Why can't we just seriously restrict international travel until this disease is eradicated in humans?
For millennia, people stayed closer to home and did just fine.
For those who *must* travel to countries experiencing an outbreak (like China), we can have a mandatory, 2-week quarantine at a government facility.
3
@Rose The economy is global now
2
@Rose Sure, but you’ll have to rename the US ‘land of the neither free nor brave.’ It’s not the plague and you may be fine with depriving innocent people of their freedom based on suspicions, but it’s not as anodyne as you seem to think it is. Plus, unless everyone stops moving and we all starve, it will just not work. I am astounded at how many people, and particularly Americans who are so vehement about freedom, are ready to deprive people of their freedom. It’s apparently not ok to take your assault rifle or car from you, but should you sneeze, a cage awaits.
3
Got the shots, got the worst flu of my life, felt I couldn't breathe. Reminds me of Legionnaire's disease and the difficult tracking of the source through air, water and pipes. Aaron, you wouldn't be blase if you caught this yourself! I was sick for 2 months, only just emerging.
6
missiris, so sorry to read you were so Ill. However, flu vaccines do not carry live virus. It’s impossible to catch the flu from them.
33
@missiris IMA is absolutely correct. Also: correlation is not causation, despite the temptation to conflate the two. Did anyone with the requisite expertise tell you the vaccine caused your illness? I thought not.
10
If you mean the 2018-19 flu, that was a bad one, and the vaccine was a poor match: this was endlessly in the news. I had it myself; ugly, and
persistent.
And the first time I’d had the flu since I started getting my flu shot every year.
6
I love telling Doctor's jokes because, what the heck, they usually hear moaning. I tried your idea of singing Happy Birthday twice while washing my hands. I'll be seeing my analyst tomorrow hihi!
5
@PATRICK
My funny? but true story. When my young son had decided to start using the Men’s washroom, I stand outside at reasonable distance and wait for him. Once a young 20ish man came out the washroom fill very quickly by son. I yelled out to my son, “did you wash your hands.” They both stopped. My son went, “Aw, Mom.” The young man smirked and sauntered on while my son went back to wash his hands.
So every once in a while, I still mentioned hand washing.
1
@PATRICK
Just read that you can also go through the alphabet, maybe it will make you less crazy
I fear a false sense of complacency with regard to the minimal effects on children. It should be stated widely that false security could always be destroyed if the novel Coronavirus mutates.
2
This is America and profits are more important than safety, so there will be no legally required sick days. Ever.
38
About 8-10 years ago there was a push for people to cough or sneeze into their elbow instead of putting a hand to the mouth. The idea was sound as a hand which has just received cough/sneeze spray germs then touches surrounding surfaces spreading infection. An elbow does not. Yet, that teaching/practice seems to have faded (not for me, I got into the habit) as I see less of it - especially by those little germ factories we call children. Too bad for all of us.
20
Kids are actually still taught the ‘vampire cough’ (into the elbow). I notice mostly adults still cough and sneezing into their hands. Also I notice they do not immediately go wash those hands. Older men especially keep handkerchiefs so they can save and preserve the snot and germs in their pockets. These same groups of adults are also the ones most ingrained to shake hands-even with someone who is seated to eat. (I get up and wash my hands if I cannot avoid the handshake.) Society should eliminate the handshake. It is ridiculous and necessary anyway.
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@Anne-Marie Hislop
Amen. I'm always so appalled that people don't do this.
5
It’s driving me crazy on the NYC subway how many people are sneezing and coughing into their hands and then putting them back on handrails. The city should do a public awareness campaign to alert proper protocol!
5
This article is a good reminder what we should be doing everyday regardless of the time of year or the threat of illness. Hand washing, good hygiene should be a habit. It is for me.
I traveled from east coast to Hawai'i late Jan early Feb when the virus was staring to be a threat. While in the restroom I observed how many lacked the proper hand washing techniques while wearing a face mask. Perhaps they had a sanitizing solution, but the basic of hand washing was lacking.
I got a flu shot in Dec knowing how easily a virus is spread during air travel. I habitually wash my hands, keep my hands from my face, wipe surfaces my food is served on. Not germaphobe, just careful to keep from picking up random viruses.
12
Re: flu shots. If you want the general population to get them you'll have to do a better job of getting people to understand that it's not just the elderly and babies that are at risk. I guarantee you that most young or middle aged adults as well as teens don't get a flu shot as they think this is only something that seniors need. True, the worst outcomes of the flu tend to be found in the elderly or very young children but that doesn't mean others don't get very sick, lose significant amounts of time away from school or work, have the potential to pass it on to many others and even sometimes die from the flu.
I haven't been able to convince my own young adult son that he should get a flu shot each year. After getting the flu twice I have gotten a flu shot yearly and so far so good. I have no desire to be so sick again. Yes, sometimes the flu shot isn't perfectly matched but it's better than nothing. And so far, fingers crossed, it's always done the trick. It needs to lose the stigma of just being for old people though. I'd suggest maybe having flu immunization clinics in the fall at college campuses etc.
20
Flu shots should be covered free of charge to those who have no insurance. This situation is disgraceful in our country. It’s always about the money.
40
@Greenie Flu clinics were offered at my kids' colleges, both private and public, and this is going back 10 yrs. Yes, we need to convince the students to partake, but the option is there.
3
@Susi
But you have to convince the kids to get them- they see it as something for "old people" and of course they are invincible.
Regarding this stuff about constantly washing your hands with hot water and soap, exactly where is that supposed to take place when you're not at home? Many public buildings, transit hubs, etc. have only cold water and often no soap. Was thinking about this just yesterday when I arrived at Koch Theater @lincolncenter for New York City Ballet. Having just arrived from outside and used the toilet, I was eager to give my hands a good wash. Although they had soap this time, the water came out in thin short bursts of cold water. Recently had similar problem at Museum of Modern Art. To add insult to injury, these places often have those electric blow dryers (including the very expensive Dyson ones @Moma & @lincolncenter). Could the public health experts (not to mention the media) consider starting to communicate with these grubby institutions where some of us are sometimes forced to use the "facilities."
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@ellienyc I agree with you on every point. For these reasons, I always carry hand sanitizer AND hand sanitizer wipes. It’s better than nothing
10
Yes, I have started doing that too and fortunately had some hand wipes with me the other day.
A certain large big box store will fire people who take more than 3 sick days. A couple of weeks ago it was in the news that a woman who worked for this chain of stores took a week off because she was in the hospital. When she came back, the store gave her a ten year pin for ten years of service and fired her for being sick.
When shopping at this chain that fires people for being sick, you'll see cashiers sneezing, coughing, and handling your money and items while sneezing and coughing. But, what is their choice? They'll be fired if they stay home so they're forced to handle your stuff while ill.
60
We need to change the culture and rules around sick days. Don’t companies realize they lose more productivity when people come in sick and infect their coworkers? Culturally it is considered shameful or weak to take data off when sick. This amid all the “self-care” products people buy. We need to change this.
5
@Linda
So what’s the chain? We can stop shopping there.
2
Not long ago I was checking out of a Morton Williams supermarket here in NYC. I handed the clerk my money and just before she put it in the till and gave me my change she took her bare hand and wiped it clear across her runny drippy nose, THEN got my change out. Was tempted to suggest she keep the change. Why these places can't offer some basic lessons in hygiene or at least leave a box of tissues out is beyond me.
1
Thank you.
Very wise information. People would be wise to practice such behaviors any and all the time. Especially the handwashing instructions.
4
My mother told me more than 50 years ago to never touch my face unless I had just washed my hands. We didn't have tissues, but had handkerchiefs (yuk), which she boiled on laundry day and ironed. Clothes were hung out in the sun to dry. Rugs and curtains also were exposed to sun, which does kill germs. I had the flu in 1956/57 and spent a week flat in bed, feeling as though dying would be an improvement, and I was a healthy teenager. These days the filthiest thing we touch is probably our cell phones; I wipe mine with a disinfecting wipe every day and try to avoid using it if I haven't washed my hands. Take advantage of the wipes at the stores and clean the shopping cart handle. Wipe the kids' toys and books (our library is cleaning all books and other materials as they are returned). Wipe down the car steering wheel and controls. It sounds excessive, but an ounce of prevention.....
16
Me too. If everyone would be a little more conscientious about hygiene we would save so much time and worry - and money. Though it should not always be about money, maybe that would get some people’s attention.
3
As for the (constant) advice to get the flu shot, my personal experience is that the only time I ever got the flu shot, I got the flu (it felt like the death flu). That was 20 years ago and I haven’t gotten the flu since. Even when family members (like my H) got the flu, I did not.
So I personally refuse to get that shot, even now that I am in my sixties. The flu I had 20 years ago was an absolute nightmare. The kind you wish you would die from, because at least then it would stop. Sometimes I wonder if getting through that gave me some sort of long term immunity. Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
14
@Neil Impossible to get flu from the dead virus in flu vaccination, and vaccination only reduces the chances of getting the flu- it does not abolish the risk. Depends on the strains involved to some extent. So you can have the vaccination and still catch the flu.
31
@Patrick In my 72 years I have had real flu only twice -- in 1957 and 1983. Everything else was cold or some other upper respiratory infection . However, for last 15 years or so I have gotten flu shot. About 2 weeks ago I suddenly felt very sick -- feverish, nauseous, etc. Had chicken soup for dinner. Felt that way for 2 or 3 days, but never got worse. Then suddenly went away. Was it a weaker case of flu than I otherwise would have gotten because I had flu shot. Don't know. But am just grateful that aside from that I haven't been sick at all this winter (knock on wood). Some, but not all, years I don't feel terrific for a couple of days after I get flu shot, so always get it on Friday before a weekend when I have nothing planned, but don't believe I have ever "gotten flu" in a year when I had flu shot.
12
@Neil: Wow. You didn’t get the flu from a dead virus in a shot. The only time I got the flu was when I didn’t get a shot. I haven’t had it since, and haven’t missed a year getting vaccinated. Cancelled you right out.
18
Don’t shake hands with sick people? I say don’t shake hands with anyone. You don’t know what people are touching, remember the final scenes of “Contagion,” plus studies have shown that many people don’t wash their hands after using the rest room. Ugh
29
@Lynn in DC
That is why I say don't shake hands with anyone (if you can avoid it). Many illnesses are contagious before the carrier shows signs of the illness.
2
@Lynn in DC
I extended my hand to handshake a guy in the Bay Area recently, and he said, "We do fist bumps instead." Makes sense to me----your knuckles are far less likely to have picked up virus and bacteria than your palms and fingers.
As a worker in a hospital lab, I observe many of my coworkers not practicing proper hand washing. Good luck getting the general public to do it!
People are disgusting.
61
Hand washing is so important! I've gotten in the habit of washing my hands as soon as I get to work and as soon as I get home from work or errands, in addition to before meals/snacks. I started when I was taking public transportation regularly and needed to conserve limited sick days. The habit has stuck and my husband (who does the same) and I have had fewer sick days than in years before. I'm grateful to everyone who practices good handwashing habit even more now that I have a lowered immune system due to pregnancy.
20
I get a flu shot every hear and try to convince others to do so as well. Ditto on washing hands well, and often. I worry about the flu. I also worry, more so, about this new virus, as if what we see in China, and on that cruise, happens elsewhere, as it most probably will, then we are in for quite a nightmare scenario. That is not undue panic, that is a deep worry based in facts.
We are capable of worrying on two fronts! And, one hopes, dealing with more than one scary public health issue at a time.
It need not be one or the other.
So, please, not the thousandth article that says, Worried about the Wuhan virus? Get a flu shot! Enough.
Tell us what disinfectants would be handy, what supplies would be helpful.
Tell us something we do not know.
8
From a nurse-
Thank you for the straight forward, evidence-based advice.
We need to take this virus seriously but in the absence of good information there is a lot of fear-based reporting and conjecture going on. The unknown and the unseeable is frightening.
Now everyone-wash your hands and go get your flu shot!
15
Apropos of flu shots, let's keep in mind that the United States lags the rest of the developed world in many areas of public health, but especially in vaccinations. One big reason is that most Americans only remain with their health insurance company for a few years. So since it doesn't pay for health insurers to spend a lot of money on vaccinations when their patients will likely soon be some other insurer's problem, they don't bother.
But in Britain, where the National Health Service is responsible for your health from conception to death, they do everything possible to keep you as healthy as possible. And that includes launching major campaigns to get people to get their flu shots ("the jab").
And that is yet another reason why socialized medicine keeps people healthier longer and at lower cost than does America's for-profit healthcare system.
And that's why Bernie Sanders is so popular.
158
@Sean What are you talking about? Private insurance covers vaccinations for all children with no out of pocket expenses (well child visits, the appoints you get vaccinations, are also covered at no out of pocket cost).
Flu vaccines are covered by many private insurance companies, and many companies even bring in nurses to give shots at the workplace. The reason, your employer doesn't want its workforce home sick with the flu when you could be working (profit motive).
The profit motive would also predict that insurance companies are going to do everything possible to get the flu shot to people (since paying a ER visit or even urgent care visit is much more expensive). This is definitely what is happening https://anh-usa.org/are-physicians-given-financial-incentives-to-vaccinate-our-children/
Bernie's plan stops being popular once people learn how much it will cost.
24
@Sean
In Ontario the flu shot is promoted and available at no charge in drugstores. What surprised me is that it isn’t offered to travellers from overseas. Different places, different problems.
8
@Sean
Huh? I work in a medium-sized city and drive past numerous pharmacies on my daily commute. They all have signs outside that say "Free flu shots." Even in the small town I live in (population 10,000) both pharmacies offer free flu shots. No insurance required.
23
WRT Hand Washing in Public Bathrooms that have Automatic Faucets. Many Automatic Faucets Do Not supply Warm/Hot Water upon the start of flow. And cut-off before the Water gets Warm/Hot. Is this a Problem? How Hot should the Water get to effectively "wash" your Hands? OR is it just me?
6
@Uscdadnyc The water doesn't have to be hot, or even warm. Use soap, thoroughly lather and rub all surfaces, front and back, from fingertips to wrists, and rinse well afterwards. The time it takes to sing through "Happy Birthday" is about right for the lathering and scrubbing.
5
you can effectively wash your hands with cold water just fine. for the heat to be effective you would practically have to scald your hands anyway. the water acts to rinse off anything the soap bubbles bind up.
9
Just please don't use "anti-bacterial" soap (i.e. that contains things like Tricoslan) with all that hand washing and breed more super-bugs.
23
Omg,Yes!! Nasty bacteria like Pseudomonas tend to build up on the pumps of ‘antibacterial’ soaps because they are tolerant of the chemicals used in the products. Plain soap and water is all you need. What happened to the FDA banning these ‘antibacterial’ chemicals from soaps? I thought it was supposed to have happened already. PS- and please wipe your surfaces with vinegar-, alcohol- or hypochlorus acid-based products instead of the ubiquitous ‘antibacterial wipes’.
1
How does one *not* touch their face? Does your nose never itch? Ears? You never have to rub your eyes? How does one train oneself to be touch free?
16
@Eberlocke I trained myself to not touch my face many years ago (while working at a grimy job where I couldn't wash my hands easily). It takes practice before it becomes a habit, but is doable. I noticed my nose/ears/eyes itched less as I touched them less, too. Not sure why.
13
Simply being mindful of how often you touch your face will reduce how much one does it. Pay attention, make it a priority and a habit. You won’t be perfect but you can decrease it if you’re mindful.
7
@Big City Dweller
Frack, A. If 'pain is an opinion,' there are ways to change your mind. New York Times, 2 December 2019.
"All pain [including itches] is real, but it's also true that it's 'made by the brain' and that we can exert some control over it."
3
And for all our sakes, please sneeze and cough *into the corner of your elbow*! It’s easy to teach kids to do this. I am appalled when I’m out in public and see people sneezing and coughing freely. Sneezing into your hand is no better if you proceed to touch things with that unwashed hand.
27
People that get this new coronavirus die of pneumonia. Would getting the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23 or Pneumovax 23) protect them from this particular pneumonia?
9
@Don Wiss
No. The vaccine that you specify protects only against the 23 strains of pneumococci, a bacterium, that it contains antigens of.
It's unfortunate that this vaccine got tagged "the pneumonia vaccine", for that leads straight to the question you posed. I guess it was felt that "the pneumococcal vaccine" wouldn't mean anything to most people, and since the pneumococcus is the most common cause of bacterial pneumonias, they went for the over-simplified term. Leaving the population blissfully unaware that there are dozens of other causes of pneumonias.
20
@Don Wiss
I doubt that there's just "one" type of pneumonia that's causing the deaths. And it's probably also the case that the health authorities are too busy trying to contain the coronavirus to figure out which pnemonia(s) are killing people.
The vaccines cover only 23 types of pneumonia. The top 10 types account for 62% of invasive disease worldwide. Not sure what the percentage would be for all 23 types.
2
I agree with you with almost everything except the flu shot.
The only thing as bad as people who never go to doctors are people who believe doctors/medical community 100% of the time.
Dr. Brody who writes for your paper has great articles about this ie where doctors go wrong.
The flu shot has notoriously low success rates, even lower for seniors like myself.
I had my last shot seven yrs ago and either because of people coughing on me in the doctors office or because it gave me a low grade flu I was sick for two days. After reading the low success rates every year, never got another one but did follow your other advice and knock on wood have not had a cold or flu since.
Results with my family and friends bear out the written facts ie I know an equal number of people who got the shot and did not it with equal results. Some got the flu, some didn't.
However our de facto criminal big pharmaceutical billionaires keep pushing it on us.
13
The flu shot is definitely good for at-risk people. You are at risk due to your age and should get the flu shot. It's not perfect but lowers your risk. For young, healthy people, the risk of dying from the flu or having severe disabling symptoms is significantly lower, and having the flu does give much better immunity than the vaccine, but there's still a risk of severe symptoms, and at best being unable to function for a full week, which implies people who can't miss work, single parents, people who have no one to nurse them, are probably better off getting the shot. And of course, there are the people who live and work with at-risk people.
16
@Paul If you are allergic to eggs... be careful NOT to get the standard vaccination. It is grown in an egg base. Ask your pharmacist if they have a vaccine not grown in egg.
1
@Paul Flu shots lower the severity of symptoms even when they aren't successful in preventing the virus. The flu kills 10,000 elderly Americans every year (sometimes many more). Seasonal flu is currently a much greater risk to the typical elderly American.
Profits on flu vaccines are very low, no one is pushing it on you to make money. Rather, they want to reduce the number of deaths in the most effective manner.
24
Is China taking steps to clean up the food markets where bats are sold as food?
4
@Karin ingoglia
It wasn't a bat sold as food. I was another wild animal, possibly a pangolin, that caught the virus from a bat. Nobody, not even the Chinese, eats bats.
7
@Ken G Bats are eaten in a number of cultures in Asia, Oceania, and Africa. In southern China, bats are regularly eaten and can be found frequently in markets.
8
People do, indeed, eat bats, particularly in Southeast Asia.
8
I survived several cold seasons abiding by the time honored tradition: Always wash your hands; never touch your face. Flu shots are helpful but I haven't noticed any benefit. Mostly I'm attempting to avoid transmitting the flu to other vulnerable parties. Kids and old people.
The people I want to inject with a bad strain of the T-virus are the ones who come to work, school, or anywhere with a sinus infection. People don't realize most sinus infections are viral. They are usually highly contagious as well. The disease isn't usually deadly but slow moving and extremely counter-productive.
Please, if you have a sinus infection, stay home.
10
Actually, the flu vaccine has some downsides in precisely this situation. It decreases the immune system's ability to respond to viruses at large, which is especially important in a pandemic. More research is needed before making a blanket recommendation of the flu vaccine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3209321/?fbclid=IwAR36dEzqIOYdcBYxIEbVbtTn2yJsTtywa9nqI3VIJJKpYUunkMZP8HTGt7s
4
@Stu , Thanks for linking that. But the authors still recommend that kids get flu shots. From the Discussion: "By no means do we suggest halting annual vaccination of children, especially those at high risk for complications, such as CF patients."
3
@Stu
You're misreading the research findings. As Bill says, they're not proposing that kids stop getting vaccinated for the flu. They're arguing that exposure to actual flu viruses (as seen in the control group results), or exposure to live vaccines--as opposed to inactivated vaccines--produces a greater CD8 T cell response (in children with Cystic Fibrosis.) So they're saying we need to develop a better/broader type of vaccine (see below.)
In other words, if you're worried about the effects of getting a flu vaccine due to inactivated virus, get the live vaccine (kids with cystic fibrosis probably can't do this, but someone in normal health certainly could.)
"….However, long-term annual vaccination using inactivated vaccines may hamper the induction of cross-reactive CD8 T cell responses by natural infections and thus may affect the induction of heterosubtypic immunity. This may render young children who have not previously been infected with an influenza virus more susceptible to infection with a pandemic influenza virus of a novel subtype.
"Therefore, we argue for the development and use of vaccines that could induce broadly protective immune responses in children. For example, it has been demonstrated that live attenuated influenza vaccines induce virus-specific CD8 T cell responses. In addition, it has been demonstrated that live attenuated influenza vaccines are also effective against drift variants in children."
5
Hand washing with soap and water is #1. If the virus gets here in any large way, have your N95 masks on when out and about. I just hope that this isn’t the “big one”.
5
Just got back from Taiwan. People were freaking out. Everyone wearing masks. Airline offices were mobbed with tourists and residents frantic to get out. Started rationing masks to citizens only (tourists were out of luck). I used small spray bottles of diluted bleach, mouthwash, saline solution and mouthwash to constantly sanitize my hands, mouth, and nostrils. Everywhere I went, my temperature was taken and my hands were spritzed. Thanks to Xi Jingping for limiting mainland tourists to Taiwan for so long. It was meant to hurt Taiwan’s economy but instead it spared them this epidemic. Less than 20 people got the virus out of 24 million. Democratic Taiwan got the last laugh.
21
Great article...except for urging people to use wipes that kill germs. Those wipes kill bacteria only and they contribute n a huge way to the development of antibiotic resistance. Only alcohol-based wipes should be used.
10
If the US is using any information coming out of China we can assume it is not correct since they hide facts and cannot control the population due to its size.
The Trump administration in its 2021 budget is cutting the CDC funding by 9%. It's not like they are immune from any of these epidemics that might strike at any time
10
I think we are operating under a false pretext by trusting the data coming out of China to judge the severity of the virus. We know they falsified or slow-rolled the information from the SARS epidemic years ago so why are we taking them at their word now?
10
Good luck with the solid public infrastructure stuff. Asking people to pay for much of anything preventative/insurance is a challenge, because most only know two speeds...grazing and panic. Just look at the woeful number of people living in earthquake or hurricane zones with no insurance against these types of events. Much more interesting to ignore risks like this and then let the media figure out who to make the sacrificial lamb for the tragedy when it arises. Or to get the government to borrow and let future generations pay to fix the results of the issue after it arises. Besides if this pandemic spreads it will effect other people not me.
6
This is the best written easiest to follow tool set for our family and friends / thank you, Dr. Aaron
5
I have a question:
AFTER washing your hands, can/should you moisturize them? Does this undo the benefit relatively quickly or provide a petri dish effect for your clean hands?
If I followed this advice as is, in a very cold climate, my hands would be raw, and more open to infections.
What's the story on hand cream and flu?
21
@SJL I put hand cream on a few minutes after my hands are dry. I’m hardly ever sick.
1
@Rae I am happy for your good health.
But it does not answer the question.
My dog loves my hand cream. It must have good stuff in it.
Good for bacteria? Substrate for sticky viruses?
Let's keep trying.
1
Nurse here. Yes moisturizer after hand washing. Hospitals have it right by the soap pumps.
7
“2019-novel Coronavirus”
What's with the 'novel'? Is this like the Weather Channel names storms? If so, are we really up to the N's in virus names?
The latest storm is "Lamont". How many know who Lamont Cranston was?
Hopefully a little levity in these trying times.
1
@Bartolo Corona virus is a well known virus (see your Lysol bottle). The current strain is previously unknown, hence it is a "novel" aka "new" virus.
4
Sung to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat:”
Wash, wash, wash your hands,
All throughout the day,
The more you scrub, the more you rinse,
The healthier you’ll stay.”
Also:
Please, If you cough or sneeze, Do it in your sleeves.
64
@Dr. J
Here’s my version:
“Wash, wash, wash your hands,
To keep nCoV away,
If you forget, then you could die,
So wash many times each day.”
6
Nice article for reducing anxiety and please lets remember the in my state alone our current Flue has killed over 45 people from young children to the elderly and perfectly healthy athletic teenagers.
However our current flu vaccine is not effective for the flu going around theU.S. this year.
As to washing hands, nice advice yet putting on gloves is more effective because everything you touch may have the been contaminated with the virus, that doorknob , the food plate everything.
We touch our face 23 times every few minutes so hand washing? It is not possible to stop touching our face and for face masks they protect others from your cough unless you are wearing a face helmet the masks is just a placebo. Look it up.
4
@Chelsea Can you delete this? Definitely don't need any silly comments that would deter anyone from getting the flu shot.
13
@Chelsea While this year's flu vaccine may not be a great match for this year's circulating flu viruses, getting a flu shot is still a good idea because it can help lessen the severity of the illness should you contract influenza. We're seeing this in NH at the residential school where I work as a nurse. Many students infected w/ influenza B but having a mild course of illness, probably because they were immunized.
14
@Beth B I think you’re right. I recently had a mild outbreak of shingles yet I had had the recent shingle vaccine (both doses). My dr thought that my outbreak was mild because of the vaccine. I wasn’t aware that vaccines worked this way.
6
The data in this article is woefully old:
“As of Feb. 4, of more than 20,000 cases reported (almost all in China), 400 were linked to death.”
As of today, Feb. 10 (the date of this article) according to the NYT’s itself, there are more than 40,000 cases, and more than 900 deaths. This surpasses the total deaths attributed to the entire SARS epidemic of 2002-2003. The rate of infection and death is more than doubling every five days.
These statistics do not suggest that this virus is going to be contained. While hand-washing and avoiding ill people is certainly sensible advice, the public needs a lot more information on what to do, and not do, when this virus emerges in our local communities.
28
@Norte
400 / 20,000 = 2%
900 / 40,000 = 2.25%
Not a huge difference. And this is still early days - such numbers are fuzzy.
All we can say, for now, is that the death rate is about 2%, over folks of all ages. The death rate for older adults is no doubt MUCH higher. (No, I don't have a figure.)
2
In a country where only the really wealthy have regular health care or paid sick days its rather unrealistic to suggest that sick people stay home from work. There are no public health strategies in the USA because the only persons that matter here are corporations and billionaires!
Wash your hands, of course, but let’s get real. When the government dismantles every safety net and pedestrians spit on the street it’s hard to see how we can protect ourselves from disease.
96
@Justice Holmes What's the source of that "really wealthy only" data? According to the government, more than 90 percent of Americans do have health insurance. Most all of it includes routine care. Further, over half of A. employers provide sick leave ranging from 5 to 9 days, and the percentage of employees covered is about 70. So calm down, use more hand-washing and less hand-waiving.
4
@citicrab Thanks for the information about health insurance coverage in America from Moscow. Who are you kidding with this?
15
@Justice Holmes
You are so right. When I was a public school nurse in a rural area 2010-2018, and calling parents to pick up their sick feverish children, it was real burden to at least half of the families because the parents felt intense pressure not to miss work. Lots of them worked at a local Walmart distribution center (no paid sick days for the average worker) or in the gig economy or for other small businesses that don't offer paid sick leave.
Now working at private residential school, it's a very different story.
24
What does Dr. Carroll think of wearing gloves? I have seen conflicting opinions about whether gloves can help prevent infection. You still don't want to be touching your face, and you have to put them on / take them off and dispose of them properly. I think wearing gloves is a good prompt to avoid touching your nose, eyes, etc.
5
"The [public health] system is currently stretched thin and underfunded."
This is my biggest concern. The CDC's budget has been cut with more cuts being forecast:(http://thenationshealth.aphapublications.org/content/49/3/1.2).
Our current federal government is being administered by people lacking respect for science, whether in public health or climate science.
77
Vote Blue 2020 and regain a respect for scientists and the medical community. trump thinks warm air will kill the corona virus and he is the one who cut the CDC budget.
3
Hospistal staff is told to sing happy birthday 3 times as they get good soapy bubbles going. Large number of deaths from antibiotic resistant superbugs helped bring research and standards there .
3
All common sense recommendation, but in my view the single most important thing people can do is to STAY HOME WHEN YOU'RE SICK. As a former employer, I forbade my employees to come into the office when they were sick. The number of people who send their kids to school sick and go to work sick is staggering. It's inconsiderate and a danger to others. Be socially responsible and keep your sick kids and your sick self at home. You and they will recover more quickly with the rest and you'll help the rest of your community stay well.
32
@Marlene
You are clearly not in the demographic who can simply choose to stay home when someone is sick. If you lived by an hourly wage, paycheck to paycheck, you would literally be choosing food or housing for yourself or your family over social responsibility.
Frankly, the rest of society, led by a decent government and corporate employers should be exercising some social responsibility and demanding that no one who works and has family must choose between destitution and treating an illness.
48
@Marlene a lot of people would be staying home without pay. They cannot afford it. We live in the USA, where profit is the be-all and end-all.
41
@Marlene Walmart fires employees for taking more than 3 days off. That's why you see so many cashiers coughing and sneezing as they bag your items.
9
Drink a lot of fluids. Doing so keeps your body hydrated which is important for good health. Plus it will make you go to the bathroom often to urinate which in turn means you’ll be washing your hands very often, as you should.
15
I'm not sure how useful advice can be from an individual who resorts to logical fallacies in his argumentation. This article by Aaron E. Carroll embodies the "whataboutism" fallacy.
Examples of "whataboutism" in action:
"The mounting deaths from the Coronavirus are alarming." "Yes, but what about the annual deaths from car crashes?"
"African-Americans in the Deep South faced intense racial discrimination in the 1950s." "Yes, but what about the repressive Soviet gulags under Stalin?"
"Rape on U.S. campuses is increasing." "Yes, but what about the high incidence of rape in the Sudan?"
No student of rhetoric uses this logical fallacy to make a convincing argument. It's like building a castle on sand.
11
Please:
1. Blowing out a bunch of candles on a birthday cake with droplets of human fluids and then having everyone share is a really dumb tradition.
2. Put sinks with hot water in all K-6 school classrooms. Most states have little to no regs on this issue.
3. Sick days for all and allow bathroom breaks with enough time for the washed hands habit (Amazon that includes you). We need a government system that demands that even temps, including at home health aides, waiters, caf workers, get sick days. Typhoid Mary is a temp.
103
We haven’t blown out candles for years. We have only one candle on the cake and the birthday person uses a candle snuffer to “blow out” the candle.
Good piece and very helpful, thanks. [On the lighter side, I just had to take the opportunity: a rare missed typo by the Times, I think. "This new version, “2019-novel Coronavirus” or 2019-nCoV, is at the moment thought to be more infections than those two, but less likely to cause death."]
5
I got the flu vaccine for years, and besides getting the worse case of flu in my life in 2009 two months after i got the vaccine, I didn't get the flu. However I noticed that every year I would get colds, stomach bugs etc every 4 to 6 weeks during the winter. Colds would linger for weeks. I finally began to become suspicious and decided not to get the flu vaccine for the first time in 2015-2016 winter. Low and behold I only got sick twice that winter. 2016-2017 winter I only got sick once and it was quick few days and fine. The 2017-2018 I didn't get sick at all, and that winter my wife, two of my nieces families all got the flu and all were vaccinated. My wife was sicker than I had seen her in 20 years and I took care of her the whole time and didn't get even a cold that winter. Last year I was fine and this year a minor cold and that's it. I have done NOTHING different during the past 5 seasons, same diet, life style, supplements etc that I have done for 20 years or more, the ONLY difference is that I avoid the flu vaccine! Scientists need to do some real objective research and find out what the hell is going on with their vaccines!
10
@Paul
This sounds like a study worthy of publication in a medical journal.
5
@Paul At first this sounds as if the vaccine was really not for you. But that YOU have not changed the things you are enumerating, does not mean that there is no omitted variable; maybe people that can spread the colds to you or people that can spread them to people who in turn spread them to you have. You cannot tell. Most of them you do not even know and only few of the others are likely to tell you about such things.
1
@Jim A
Indeed! Paul should start his own journal. And quickly, before he comes down with a virus.
3
This healthcare provider also recommends: get your pneumonia vaccination if you are eligible. (See CDC for details, but basically everyone over 65/anyone with chronic disease or smoker).
No, it will not protect you directly from coronavirus. But most people who die from flu, actually die from the pneumonia that comes *after* the flu. Germs tend to "pile on" when a person's immunity is driven down by a disease.
So in the same way, should you ever contract coronavirus, already being protected from the opportunistic bacteria that may want to pile on, might improve your chances of surviving the ordeal.
And the pneumnovax is recommended anyway.
36
@PNRN
Good advice and I'd go one step further. First, get vaccinated for the flu. Second, disregard the CDC "limits" and just get vaccinated for Pneumonia whoever you are (i.e. you don't have to be young, old, a smoker, or an auto-immune patient.) If you have to pay out of your own pocket, you pay.
What kills people who get the flu is then getting pneumonia (the latest numbers from China seem to indicate that 15% of the coronavirus patients get pneumonia.) The CDC site below describes the two vaccines (PCV13 and PPSV23) that will prevent the worst of that.
The reality is that, short of everyone walking around in bubble wrap, the flu is going to spread. Any number of times I've had people walk up behind me in super markets, or stand next to me in lines, sneezing all over the place, coughing like crazy, complaining about how awful they feel (the poor cashiers looking kind of helpless.) No concern about the fact that they're spreading disease, or that people around them have auto-immune conditions, or other health issues, that make them more vulnerable to illness.
Just get the shots and watch the inevitable happen (to everyone else.)
https://www.cdc.gov/pneumococcal/vaccination.html
9
I thought this article would discuss a hard look at wet markets, looking at regulating and possibly banning them. I also don't know how getting a flu shot has to do with coronavirus. This article does "go beyond" the coronavirus outbreak.
8
@RoxanneC What's a wet market?
2
As the article says, the flu shot has nothing to do with the corona virus; the flu shot is just something everyone can do to protect public health.
2
They give a good advice to wash your hands, but what if there is no bathroom where you could do that? I recently visited Subway in Tampa, they did had no restrooms, neither sanitizer for customers.I had to a sandwich and chips with my hands without proper sanitizing. Nobody cares there about me, you, virus or anything else. I think there should be a federal law or mandate, at least temporary, obliging all restaurants with eat-in option to provide customers with a sanitizer or antibacterial soap as a minimum.
42
@Len These things are cheap and small enough to carry on yourself without having to have a FEDERAL LAW to provide it.
4
@Len Wow, that's shocking. In my country (Scotland), all restaurants with an eat-in option must provide toilets and wash basins. We have very strict standards that are monitored by a Government department called 'Environmental Health'. I suppose the best you can do is carry a mini bottle of hand sanitiser with you, wash your hands ASAP and create a list of no-go restaurants.
27
@Len You're right, but it's also a good idea to carry your own hand sanitizer. I never leave home without it...
And every time I handle cash or a credit card, or touch an outside doorknob, I use my hand sanitizer.
6
As a health care practitioner, I strongly disagree with Dr. Carroll's implication that getting a flu shot would somehow dissuade coronavirus infection.
As most peers of mine recognize, a flu shot contains small amounts of inactivated and/or weakened INFLUENZA virus particles, the same virus that causes the flu. It does not contain coronavirus in any shape, way, or form.
Equating coronavirus is dangerous (in an ethical sense) and extraordinarily misleading to the public at large!
26
I don't think you read beyond the headline or else you didn't understand it. The doctor's point was that running around hysterical about the coronavirus when you haven't even taken the minimal steps to protect yourself from another serious respiratory illness is stupid. It's like people who are afraid to fly in airplanes yet don't wear seatbelts in their cars.
190
@Robert J. Wlkinson That’s not what this article says or implies.
10
@Rae
I'm afraid it does. Perhaps you should read it more carefully.
2
Perhaps a coincidence, but in the years since I started doing two things routinely (besides hand washing), I have not had the flu: I get a flu shot every year, and I keep hand sanitizer in my car and use it the moment I get to the car after shopping or touching public surfaces (e.g., ATM). This year my sister didn’t get a flu shot and ended up in the hospital for 4 days; her husband who had a shot still got the flu, but wasn’t nearly as sick.
71
Hand washing is great. The article gave great steps Great steps on how to be effective. I took the flu shot this year before traveling to Asia in November. Guess what? I got sick in Bali. Absolutely the flu. Thankfully I got better before spending 10 days in China. Having spent a lot of time in Asia, the question I now ask to myself while I am washing my hands, never leaving home without hand sanitizer, and wearing a mask and getting vaccinations, is what are others around me doing? I worked with lots of Medical professionals in China. They all do a yearly physical, and foreigners working there are required to do a medical check, but I never once heard mention of anyone being immunized. At all. Asked foreign friends in China who work with kids about this when the Coronavirus emerged, and they concurred. Never heard of vaccinations being required. To me this is a bigger issue that no one is talking about.
9
@LRM
Vaccines for the novel coronavirus have not yet been developed.
2
@5barris
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/health/coronavirus-treatments.html
Grady, D. China begins testing an antiviral drug in coronavirus patients. New York Times, Thursday, 6 February 2020.
… On Thursday, China began enrolling patients in a clinical trial of remdesivir, an antiviral medicine made by Gilead, the American pharmaceutical giant.....
The report from China published on Tuesday about remdesivir also found that chloroquine, a cheap drug used for decades to treat malaria, could also fight the new coronavirus. Researchers are recommending that it also be studied, along with various antiviral medications, including some of the ones used to treat H.I.V....
1
The woman in the photo was buying 4 bottles of rubbing alcohol. I understand rubbing alcohol, face masks, hand sanitizer, etc. are no longer available in China
3
@Ron She could be sending it to relatives. One of my friends commonly goes to Costco to buy things like bulk vitamins and care products(like shampoos and skincare items to send to family) The last few weeks shes been sending things like vitamin C and trying to ship surgical masks( even though you basically can't buy those now) to relatives in Hong Kong and on the mainland.
2
A nice sensible article.
It is about time.
20
How about taking Vitamin D3 which is good for your immune system and Vitamin A which stops virus’s from replicating? How about oil of oregano, a natural anti viral? Drinking 80-100 ounces of water a day? Washing hands is good but doesn’t go far enough in a culture that consumes sugar at an alarming high level.
10
@Mary Frances I can't tell if this is satire or not. But if you are recommending vitamins over vaccination, shame on you.
You know who is running away from traditional medicine as fast as possible? China- the country has the most clinical trials (you know, evidence based medicine) than any other country.
18
@Mary Frances
Fresh chopped or crushed garlic, left to sit for 15 minutes and added to food.
3
If that worked, nobody would ever be sick in Provence where I am from. Garlic may be good for you, but it does not protect you from viruses (except STDs perhaps thanks to terribly bad breath, but that's coincidental).
10
AND we should stop shaking hands as a greeting. Elbow bumps instead.
83
@Independent
Or just say hi or hello. No touching. Also wear gloves.
4
@Independent I agree with you totally. Another thing that concerns me while you wash your hands in a public bathroom then throw paper towels in trash, next you open the door that many unwashed hands have touched. I keep my towels to use on the door dispose of later.
70
@Independent,
Or fist bump. Instead of shaking hands.
It’s recommended by the World Health Organization as a way to reduce infectious disease transmission.
Also, it’s way cool, very metro. So says the old codger that I am.
13
Panic is the appropriate response to crisis because it prompts action. Be scared for two minutes, then make a plan and prepare so you don’t have to panic again.
16
Hand washing or sanitizing is crucial to diminish the possibility of contamination from any viruses/bacteria. As a nurse and mom I was really adamant about this, even though my children (now both medical students) would try to fake it, I did "smellcheck" . You would be surprised at the number of times they had to go back and re-wash.
18
Excellent work! Cutting through the media frenzy and putting this in perspective is so important. As a healthcare advocate for a major nonprofit, I know firsthand how small every day incremental changes will have more than affect on public health then the next big hot topic.
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20 seconds? Who has 20 seconds to spare?
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@Nate But everyone has 20 seconds to spare to read that email on their phone. Wash the hands everyone!
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@Nate So, how much time do you lose due to infections each year? The average American gets about 3 viral infections a year. If you cut that to 2, that makes up for a lot of 20 second hand washings.
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@Nate or get sick and miserable for a week. Which is preferable?
11
Earlier in another article by NYT, they claimed that masks worn by health workers are a good preventive measure but they provide limited benefit for healthy people. I do not understand why they help one and not the other. My understanding is that if it helps a nurse, it should work well for me too, so I'm not taking my mask off until all this is over.
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@Kevin The article explained it. The masks are not easy to put on properly and you have to be trained to put them on.
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But do we know or is it too early to tell, the recovery rate and what are the best sportive care for those who are inflicted? Its seem so much of an emphasis has been placed on death rate which rightful so spurs up fears, but where is the information of those who have made a recovery and are there any lasting issues because of it?
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or they are still contagious. Ebola became an STD.
2
I work in a county Probation Department, although not with the probationers themselves. We ALL wash our hands and use the sanitizer stations set up all over the building many times each day. To date, only one officer has come down with the flu (which he got from his daughter). Hand washing works.
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Another tip:. don't touch your face unless you are washing it !
11
Great advice. Thank you for laying it out so concisely and practically!
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As noted in this article, frequent hand-washing is the go-to means of preventing infections.
However, washing one’s hands is not always feasible, e.g., when in a car, walking around town, etc.
The CDC states “If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.”
Hand sanitizer gels and liquids are available in pocket/purse sizes, as are single-use packets of gel or wipes. I always carry a couple of such packets wherever I go...just in case.
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@Mon Ray I am currently pregnant and the smell of hand sanitizer is the one and only smell I can not handle. Of course in the office I sit next to someone that finds it necessary to use it every hour.
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@NH I find it as noxious as smelling alcohol on a drunk or a heavy drinker - but it evaporates quickly.
1