Week 6.5 coronavirus update – kids, pets, more on fake products

The latest Colorado stats are encouraging that everyone’s efforts are making a difference. This graph comes from data from the Colorado Dept of Public Health and Environment.

There appears to be a ground-swell of sentiment that says kids under age 18 don’t get the coronavirus and therefore can run around from house to house with impunity. The most recent report from the US is that 1.7% of all cases of coronavirus have occurred in individuals under age 18. The group with the highest need for hospitalization were those under age 1. And of those who get ill, their likelihood of dying is <1%.

This is reassuring that this virus will not wipe out a generation of our youth. What this doesn’t address is that all individuals, regardless of age, are potential carriers of the coronavirus whether they are ill or not. Although an older sibling may not get ill, that individual can still bring the virus home to the adults and newborns in the family. Everyone needs to follow the stay in place and hand sanitizing guidelines until this settles down or we are able to do more universal testing.

What about pets and other animals and their risk of COVID-19 and spreading the disease to each other and humans? An interesting veterinary study from China was done by spraying SARS-CoV-2 into the nasal passages of various animals and seeing how it spread and whether the animals got sick.

1. Dogs don’t get sick and don’t spread the virus to other dogs.
2. Cats, particularly those < 6 months of age, spread the virus easily to other cats and young cats got quite ill.
3. Ferrets have the virus in their nasal passages for up to one week but did not get sick.
4. No other animals were studied.
5. The transmission from pet to human is assumed possible from cats and ferrets, but was not part of this study.

Planning a road trip? I thought the stay at home mandates were nationwide. However North and South Dakota, Arkansas, Utah, Wyoming, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have no or only partial stay at home mandates.

THE LATEST FAKE TREATMENTS and PRODUCTS:

1. A high concentration alcohol solution was consumed by people in Iran purportedly to clear the coronavirus form their system. Unfortunately about 600 of them were cleared from the planet and another 3000 or so were hospitalized.
2. Lots of fake remedies coming out of Africa.
3. Lots of substandard surgical masks being promoted and sold.
4. Lots of fake hydroxychloroquine. If you can get hydroxychloroquine without prescription, then it’s probably fake.
5. Tons of unproven remedies from homeopaths, naturopaths, chiropractors, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners etc. ranging from intravenous vitamin C to a long list of vitamins, minerals, and herbal concoctions.

What can be done and what is believable? First, any claims of benefit against coronavirus or benefit boosting your immune system are just false. Second, always purchase from a known and reputable source. Ask where the product was manufactured. Many natural products are sold by distributors and not the manufacturer.

Some may say, “What’s the harm? They’re all natural products.”

1. Unregulated products do not have to prove effectiveness for anything.
2. Unless the products state USP on the ingredient label, there is no assurance of quality or quantity of the ingredients.
3. Poor quality products may have toxic components like lead, arsenic, or other poisonous components.
4. Nefarious retailers of these products often present themselves and their products as high quality products by using labels that appear to come from known and regulated pharmaceutical companies.
5. There are many instances of people getting what appears to be pharmaceutical-grade medications at fractions of the retail price. Unless carefully evaluated, these products contain also contain a fraction of the amount of medication listed.
6. Some of the most potent toxins known to man are natural products.
7. As a general rule, there are no free lunches. Properly curated medicinal products do cost more.

Dr. Gipson