You don't have permission to access "http://www.medpagetoday.com/quizzes/news-quiz/120297" on this server. Reference #18.61f4d517.1773558213.8145d53 https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.61f4d517.1773558213.8145d53
You don't have permission to access "http://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/environmentalhealth/120307" on this server. Reference #18.440c3417.1773464559.19c417a1 https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.440c3417.1773464559.19c417a1
400 Bad Request Your request has been blocked by our server's security policies. What to do: If you believe this is an error, please contact our support team.
You don't have permission to access "http://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/uritheflu/120286" on this server. Reference #18.530c3417.1773374547.a8750f8 https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.530c3417.1773374547.a8750f8
Taking care of your heart can feel like a tomorrow problem. After all, strain on the organ often piles up stealthily, plaque building in your arteries or blood pressure ticking upward for years without noticeable symptoms—that is, until a serious issue strikes, and you wish you intervened yesterday. It’s the reason cardiologists suggest auditing your
A one-time lockdown won’t halt the novel coronavirus and repeated periods of social distancing may be required into 2022 to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, Harvard scientists who modeled the pandemic’s trajectory said. Their study comes as the US enters the peak of its COVID-19 caseload and states eye an eventual easing of tough lockdown measures.
Agencies
The Harvard team’s computer simulation, which was published in a paper in the journal Science, assumed that COVID-19 will become seasonal, like closely related coronaviruses that cause the common cold, with higher transmission rates in colder months. But much remains unknown, including the level of immunity acquired by previous infection and how long it lasts, the authors said.
Getty Images
3/5
On-off social distancing
Widespread viral testing would be required in order to determine when the thresholds to re-trigger distancing are crossed, said the authors. The duration and intensity of lockdowns can be relaxed as treatments and vaccines become available. But in their absence, on and then off distancing would give hospitals time to increase critical care capacity to cater for the surge in cases that would occur when the measures are eased. Conversely, too much social distancing without respite can be a bad thing. Under one modeled scenario “the social distancing was so effective that virtually no population immunity is built,” the paper said, hence the need for an intermittent approach.
Shutterstock.com
The authors acknowledged a major drawback in their model is how little we currently know about how strong a previously infected person’s immunity is and how long it lasts. At present the best guesses based on closely-related coronaviruses are that it will confer some immunity, for up to about a year. There might also be some cross-protective immunity against COVID-19 if a person is infected by a common cold-causing betacoronavirus.
PTI
5/5
The virus is here to stay?
The team said it was highly unlikely that immunity will be strong enough and last long enough that COVID-19 will die out after an initial wave, as was the case with the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003. Antibody tests that have just entered the market and look for whether a person has been previously infected will be crucial in answering these vital questions about immunity, they argued, and a vaccine remains the ultimate weapon. Outside experts praised the paper even as they emphasized how much remained unknown.
You don't have permission to access "http://www.medpagetoday.com/quizzes/news-quiz/120297" on this server. Reference #18.61f4d517.1773558213.8145d53 https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.61f4d517.1773558213.8145d53
You don't have permission to access "http://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/environmentalhealth/120307" on this server. Reference #18.440c3417.1773464559.19c417a1 https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.440c3417.1773464559.19c417a1
400 Bad Request Your request has been blocked by our server's security policies. What to do: If you believe this is an error, please contact our support team.
You don't have permission to access "http://www.medpagetoday.com/quizzes/news-quiz/120297" on this server. Reference #18.61f4d517.1773558213.8145d53 https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.61f4d517.1773558213.8145d53
You don't have permission to access "http://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/environmentalhealth/120307" on this server. Reference #18.440c3417.1773464559.19c417a1 https://errors.edgesuite.net/18.440c3417.1773464559.19c417a1
400 Bad Request Your request has been blocked by our server's security policies. What to do: If you believe this is an error, please contact our support team.
