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Bird flu virus shows mutations in first severe human infection in US, CDC says (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Summary

The CDC identified rare mutations in the bird flu virus from the first severe U.S. human case, found in a Louisiana resident over 65 with severe respiratory illness.

The mutations, located in the hemagglutinin (HA) gene responsible for cell attachment, differ from those in local backyard flock samples and align with severe cases seen abroad.

The patient was infected with the D1.1 genotype, recently found in U.S. wild birds and poultry, not the B3.13 genotype seen in humans and livestock elsewhere.

The CDC states no person-to-person transmission occurred, and public risk remains low.

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[-] [email protected] 58 points 6 months ago

Just in time for a Trump presidency with an anti-vaxx secretary of health !

[-] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

Don’t worry, it will just go away in the spring like Covid did back when the guy who was president at the time said it would…

[-] [email protected] 39 points 6 months ago

The CDC states no person-to-person transmission occurred, and public risk remains low.

...for now.

[-] [email protected] 33 points 6 months ago

It sure is fun watching helplessly as this unfolds in slow motion.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

I feel like I've been in this situation before ....

[-] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

Something Something mask?

[+] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

[deleted]

[-] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago

KF94 made in South Korea are also a good choice because they are better regulated than the KN from China, and they fit many faces better. The key is to verify the manufacturer as well as get a mask that fits your face well. You shouldn't feel any air escaping from around the outside seal. This also means you should wear the mask properly - I've seen plenty of people will all sorts of masks including N95 that are loose or even exposing the nose...or worse, them pulling the mask away to talk because it muffles them. Why bother wearing anything if you don't actually use it right?

[-] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

N95 requires a proper fit test to be effective against airborne microbes. Even if it feels like it fits, you won’t know if you can achieve a proper seal on that size/type mask without a fit test.

If you have facial hair, it would be highly unusual to ever achieve a seal on an N95 mask, which is why those workers wear air fed whole head masks with attached power units called PAPR or CAPR. These also require training to achieve proper fit/use.

The standard double cartridge, reusable 3M mask can, with the right cartridges, protect you from others but the exhale valve allows you to breathe your own microbes into the world for everyone else to enjoy. These masks also require fit testing to be effective.

KN95 are used in hospital at a threat stage level prior to N95, depending on internal threat assessment grading, per internal hospital policy, by some hospitals.

Also of note, many isolation products used in hospitals are made in China. It’s not unusual to open a box or a wrapper to put a piece of this gear on and have a Chinese character stamped square of paper fall out. What vetting process is used for any of said gear is unknown.

All of that said, standard isolation for standard flu in a hospital is an internally approved surgical mask, unless a CPAP, BiPAP, or nebulizer is in use.

Using a CPAP, BiPAP, or nebulizer makes everything you have, respiratory wise, airborne for a while, during and after use. And I’m a random nobody spouting off on the internet who should not be listened to about anything important, which also applies to the guy posting ahead of me.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

All masks require a fit test to be sure they are working properly.

You won't be allowed to use any authorized mask without a fit test if it's in a mandatory work setting.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Fit tests are not conducted on any but the N95 type and other airborne gear.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

That's just flat out not true.

A location might not accept anything but a fit test on a n95 mask, but you can walk into any place and have them do a test.

I got fit tested for a n95 when I wanted to do air travel, and they said they could test my KF94 as well, they just couldn't offer a certificate to use it anywhere.

The other masks don't just magically have a 100% fit rate, and if you really wanted to know if it fits at all you can get it checked.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Who is “they”? I’m not giving you shit on this point, I’d genuinely like to know who does fit testing besides health care employers.

That said, I’ve never entered a facility that required fit testing on anything but the airborne gear: N95, CAPR, PAPR.

The context for all my dialogue is The States.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Employers require the fit testing to meet saftey guidelines, but the fit testers can be independent businesses. I just googled where to get a fit test and walked in. In my case it was a little side business she ran. I walked out with a card saying I was fit tested for a specific n95 and it was good for 2 years.

A lot of union trades require fit tests as well as their employees can encounter dangerous situations, but at least the person I know in trades said they were mandated to get it, but it's up to them to actually wear the gear, the employer won't force it.

Edit: I should add, I don't know if she would have only tested my kn94 if I'd asked, but I was getting a legit fit test and it was just an aside that she could run a 2nd test if I wanted to know if it fit well at all. So you might need to pay for 2 tests if you unofficially want to know if another type fits.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

In my experience it’s a smell or, now, a particulate test read by a computer.

A smell that can’t breech the N95 and does not linger is sprayed. If you can smell it there’s no tight seal and you fail the fit. Now, it’s often read by computer, because some individuals can’t smell the subtle aromas in the solutions used, more so post COVID. A tube is riveted to the front of the mask while particulate is aerosolized while a computer reads the interior environment of the mask to see if there’s a breach on the seal, and if there is, you fail the fit.

I’ve never encountered “fit” for items that don’t require an airborne seal. There’s training on how to don and doff the gear, often in the form of computer based modules instead of in person, but no “fit”. Or it’s offered and I can decline because once you know you know, for the same gear.

I can only speak to medical and psych facilities, clinics, contexts in the United States.

I did Google it. What I find in a 100mile radius is “online” fit testing certifications for $35-50. Save your money, a particulate breech test in person is required. I’m guessing you got lucky there, by your location.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Dude I really can't undrestand why you can't accept this.

It was a legit full on fit test for a N95 done by a person by a person who does them for workplaces requiring a fit test, with the whole wearing a hood without wearing the mask and them putting this smell into the hood, with you testing you can smell it first, and then with the mask on, and you move your head in all sorts of directions while they add scents with various types of breathing.

You can test ANYTHING if you want within there to see if the smell can penetrate it, it's just required by workplace safety for N95 and life saving respiratory equipment.

ALL MASKS MUST FIT PROPERLY TO WORK, even if they won't certify it.

Edit: This site will find you locations - I looked up 90210 and it found a spot in LA for me that you can phsyically go to for the test. https://wellnessmart.com/spirometry-3/ -> https://wellnessmart.com/wm_locations/los-angelesca/. Book a N95 test, bring a N95 and a KN94 as well, and they might let ya test it for some extra $$$

[-] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago

Who is playing that godawful foreboding music?

[-] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

I believe that is the anthem of a Trump administration.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Cockavirus

[-] [email protected] -4 points 6 months ago

Stop. Eating. Animals.

Its really not hard to stop these pandemics

[-] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Meat will become more expensive as the culling of infected herds/flocks starts ramping up.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

Hopefully we tax it more too. Its killing the climate

this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2024

138 points (98.6% liked)

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