If you’ve ever wondered what life was like before vaccines, or what life could be like if we allow immunization rates to fall, now you know. Or, at least, now you have a sense – suffering, death, anxiety, fear, poverty, and more. In 2020, we will certainly fare better in our fight against the novel … Read more
Follow this link to see Medmastery’s video about understanding test sensitivity and specificity.
Making sense of COVID19 test results is no easy task. To do it, we’ll need to dive into statistics. I have delayed getting this blogpost out because, like many others of you out there, statistics was one of my least favorite subjects in school and I have been fighting with my inner procrastinator on this … Read more
Lately I’ve read some commentary on social media (I’ll paraphrase) stating that, “scientists are constantly changing their minds about the Coronavirus and contradicting themselves. They don’t really know what they’re talking about.” Ok, people… Let’s talk about science and COVID19. As my dear friend Nancy would say, “Here’s the scoop of the deal.” It’s all … Read more
The process by which we make decisions is suffused with emotion. We can’t escape it. We are genetically programmed to behave in an emotional, instinctive manner. It is what helped us survive as a species. When our early human ancestors were confronted with a threat, say a charging lion, they didn’t stop to contemplate the … Read more
Most of my recent posts have been very educational in nature – reviewing medical terminology, exploring concepts in statistics, etc. Well, today I am taking off my teacher hat. But before I do, did you know that the word “Doctor” comes from the Latin “Docere” which means “to teach”? I guess taking off that hat … Read more
To mask or not to mask – that is the question… among many many others. It’s now been over a month since I started writing about the novel Coronavirus that hit our world like a ton of bricks. In that time, what we know, or think we know, about this virus has changed. Likewise, guidelines … Read more
Recently, it occurred to me that “social distancing” may be too nebulous of a term. Mostly it occurred to me because my friend Janelle told me it was too nebulous. So, I guess it occurred to Janelle. But then it occurred to me that she is absolutely right! So, there you go. Obviously, some people … Read more
All 50 states are reporting cases of the novel Coronavirus. It’s a COVID-19 world now. Is this our new normal? More people are getting tested (though still not enough). The numbers of cases of COVID-19 are surging, and so are deaths from this frightening illness. Every day we read some new headline about risk factors, … Read more
Well, a great deal has happened since last I wrote. The World Health Organization upgraded the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection status to Pandemic. In Spokane, we now have identified our first 3 cases of COVID-19. Across Washington state (and in many other districts across the country), schools are closed for the next 6 weeks. Colleges are … Read more