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Originally posted by Sig2340:
I read that COVID-19 virus has jumped the blood-brain barrier and been found in the CSF of deceased patients in both China and Japan. China claims to have successfully treated at least one patient in Wuhan who had meningitis in addition to COVID-19.

To our medical professionals:

1. Have you heard this too?
2. Am I correct that this unexpected event is a big deal?

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Originally posted by Doc H.:
A recent finding from a hospital in Beijing. It's not actually an unexpected event: both SARS and MERS - related coronaviruses - have been found in CSF, and viral encephalitis is a known complication of a viral infection (most common, so far, in the US is caused by herpes simplex, and actually affects about one patient in a quarter of a million). Susceptible patients fall into the same groups at risk for severe infections in the first place - immunocompromised, comorbidities, et al. Most patients fully recover, and many have mild symptoms, but it is a big deal for individual patients, because neurological symptoms are often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed, and without reasonably quick intervention you could be in serious trouble.

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Originally posted by BansheeOne:
We may shortly see a somewhat hard total fatality rate in a population that didn't allow its healthcare system to be overwhelmed by an uncontrolled spike of cases like it initially seems to have happened in China, and now in Italy.

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Originally posted by PASig:
How is it that South Korea has been able to test so many people and the USA has not? Were we caught flat footed with these test kits? They've tested tens of thousands of people now and we have only done like 1,000?

I saw a graph that showed a shockingly low number of COVID-19 test kits available in the US right now compared to other countries. What the hell happened?

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Originally posted by PASig:
How is it that South Korea has been able to test so many people and the USA has not? Were we caught flat footed with these test kits? They've tested tens of thousands of people now and we have only done like 1,000?

I saw a graph that showed a shockingly low number of COVID-19 test kits available in the US right now compared to other countries. What the hell happened?

One thing that has not been discussed much about Italy which MAY explain their death rates is that their population is very old overall and I suspect it's a lot of senior people not making it.

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Why South Korea may have more coronavirus cases than the US

South Korea had tested 66,652 people as of Thursday afternoon.

By Joohee Cho

27 February 2020, 11:09

SEOUL, South Korea -- Global health experts say the speed and scope of South Korea’s novel coronavirus diagnostic capability exhibit impressive and significant lab capabilities that no other countries, including the U.S., can match at the moment.

South Korea had tested a total of 66,652 people for the COVID-19 coronavirus virus as of 4 p.m. local time Thursday, whereas Japan had reported administering roughly 1,890 tests and the U.S. only 445. The huge discrepancy compared to other countries reflects how quickly South Korea’s numbers have been rising, experts say.

The total number of confirmed cases so far in South Korea is 1,766, up 505 from the day before. Of the 66,00 people who have been tested, more than 25,000 are still awaiting lab results.

More than 10,000 people a day are being tested around the clock, propelled by a sense of concern that the virus may spread outside of Daegu area, where around 80 percent of all confirmed cases have been found.

"This week is crucial for us in determining whether we have successfully dealt with COVID-19," South Korea Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun said.

The tests are being run at 79 designated health centers, in addition to authorized private hospitals and public health labs across the country.

"We have quickly selected these institutions after training and evaluation programs held on Feb. 7 and 20," official Park Hyun Kyu at Korea's Center for Disease Control told ABC News. "They do preliminary screening, then send all positively sampled results to us for final diagnosis."

Dr. Todd Ellerin, Director of Infectious Disease at South Shore Health in Massachusetts, says the massive number of tests is impressive.

[...]

A big reason for South Korea's success is how quickly they were able to get test kits ready, Ellerin said.

"One thing China did was that [after] the first case came in November, activity began in late December and by January 10th China shared the sequence with the public and they already had test kits on that day."

Officials say the rapid implementation was possible because the South Korean government was able to shorten the process for the newly developed test kits to be approved by its version of the Food and Drug Administration.

"It would normally take about a year to get a test kit approved, but FDA gave out emergency approval to acceptable applicants on a temporary basis," Park told ABC News.

For the testing itself, medical institutions, spread out across local communities, follow detailed instructions provided by the central health authorities and screen applicants with suspicious respiratory symptoms. The meticulous process takes from half an hour to an hour per person.

"It just takes a lot of time because the tester has to change suits to a new one every time," said Park.

"All medical teams dispose of their quarantine suits and inspection tools by using it just once, and new medical tools are used for each patient, every time," an official with Samsung Medical Center, one of the largest testing centers in Seoul, told ABC News.

As number of tests continues to stack up, several locations have set up "drive-thru" centers that could minimize contact between the potential patient and medical staff. This new idea shortens time spent on testing to just 10 minutes per person since the medics do not have to change quarantine suits for every patient.

Applicants must drive to the site in their privately owned vehicles wearing masks. Tests are conducted at a makeshift tent outside of buildings to prevent spreading indoors.

[...]

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Originally posted by PASig:
How is it that South Korea has been able to test so many people and the USA has not? Were we caught flat footed with these test kits? They've tested tens of thousands of people now and we have only done like 1,000?

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We are evaluating plans for the remainder of the tournament. More to come.

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Originally posted by maladat:

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Originally posted by Doc H.:
A recent finding from a hospital in Beijing. It's not actually an unexpected event: both SARS and MERS - related coronaviruses - have been found in CSF, and viral encephalitis is a known complication of a viral infection (most common, so far, in the US is caused by herpes simplex, and actually affects about one patient in a quarter of a million). Susceptible patients fall into the same groups at risk for severe infections in the first place - immunocompromised, comorbidities, et al. Most patients fully recover, and many have mild symptoms, but it is a big deal for individual patients, because neurological symptoms are often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed, and without reasonably quick intervention you could be in serious trouble.

I don't know anything about other viral encephalitises, which I think are what you are talking about in terms of severity.

Howevee, HSV encephalitis (which I don't think you were talking about when discussing severity) is horrific. Without treatment it has about a 90% mortality rate. With treatment, the mortality rate is something like 1 in 3 or 1 in 4, and the majority of survivors have permanent neurological damage.

The reason HSV encephalitis is so bad isn't so much just that there's a virus in the brain as that it essentially causes a bunch of fever blisters in the brain.

I know someone who got HSV encephalitis a couple of years ago. She went from fine to sick to in a coma in a neuro ICU in about three days. She was in the neuro ICU for about a month. She has been extremely fortunate and has almost fully recovered, but will have to take seizure medication for the rest of her life.

I'm not suggesting coronavirus encephalitis would be anything like that, coronavirus is totally different from HSV. I just didn't want people to get the wrong idea that HSV encephalitis isn't a seriously horrible disease.

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Wonder if I will get some money back?