Sorry, I've been jumping through hoops here so I am just breezin through. Paris had her 38 stitches removed and there is no indication of cancer, Lila ( one of the baby eight sleepy kittens) vanished for four days, then returned with a horrible swollen and infected eye. She was rushed into Rosarito, Saul took care of her and removed a huge foxtail and gave her a shot. Now, she is receiving drops twice a day.
The old volvo sort of died, we're trying to get it in to Luis in town and an oil change for Mike's car. Today is our 37th Anniversary, but we're postponing it till Sunday when we can relax a little bit. Oh haha does this remind anyone of "Love In The Time Of Cholera"? Except that I am not in a boat on the river unfortunately.
Meanwhile, Paris needs a cytopoint shot which was recommended last year (and she received one then) by Dr. Griffin of the Animal Dermatology Clinic in San Diego. Dr. Silva in Rosarito is ordering it so we don't have to head up to Kearny Mesa. Plus, I need to give Paris a bath, and I finally did make the Hummingbird Cake plus put in some late bulbs ! Later, I'll post a picture of baby Lila. Regarding the cytopoint, I've been reading that doggies have been scheduled to receive a follow up shot in eight weeks after the initial shot. Not according to Dr. Griffin or Dr. Silva - so I'm unsure what this eight weeks thing is all about. Paris' shot lasted almost one year, and there were no problems with it - unlike apoquel which I have used on other doggies here.
Still no wash machine, so I'm babying the old one trying to get through and it is a hassle - water all over the laundry room floor and the present wash machine sounds like it's going to blow up, ringing out the soaked rugs and towels by hand like I was down on the farm. Ours should be here on the 6th, but of course we have to pay IVA on it. Oh, and the ants are back, everywhere. I mean everywhere. In China they believe when the ants come out it is an indication of an earthquake - well I hope not.
_P.S. You may already be aware of this, but Rosarito is blocked off at the north entrances. You can enter southwards by the La Paloma, we have done so three times now since last Thursday, papers (er...legal residence cards) in hand - and yet there have been no health checks down there at least when we were there. Also, Zeta noted this past weekend the long lines backed up to where the Scenic Highway collapsed and mentioned the license plates were mostly from the States. I'm not sure what that means, because the license plates of lined up vehicles entering the States at SYPOE in the early mornings are all from California. These are the Mexican people who are on their way to their jobs in the States. So, it could be the folks going down to Ensenada were not all necessarily gringos, right? In normal times, on Fridays the traffic is very heavy going back into Mexico - 98% of this traffic are the Mexican people returning from work to Mexico a majority of whom stay the week in the States and then return for the weekend. Anyways, I would not go down to Ensenada period - the violence is ridiculous.
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This Is Important !
After the last blog, I have not been able to shake feeling low and badly over the use of Hydroxychloroquine here to treat COVID-19 patients. What could I do ? No one is going to listen to an old (radical) surfer from the 60's, and besides that being a foreigner I'm not supposed to comment on Mexican articles or reports.
Here's the good news: today Animal Politico posted a report on Hydroxychloroquine with full information from latest studies on the danger of treating COVID-19 patients with the drug. I jumped for joy - Animal Politico is a powerhouse of really, really intensely brilliant people, so obviously, the word is out there and I am sure the Mexican Doctors and Nurses have or are being informed, thank god.
I wanted to send a comment saying "thank you" but I couldn't subscribe, probably because I'm in VPN. );
~ From Animal Politico: Note reference to the Beloved Robert Mackey !
Cienficos Descartan que La Hidroxicloroquina Combatan El COVID Como Promocionan Trump y Bolsonaro - 05/22/20
" In recent weeks, several studies have questioned the efficacy of this drug in the treatment of COVID-19, generating disinformation.
A large study of almost 100,000 COVID-19 patients ruled out that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are effective against the new coronavirus. He even notes that both drugs increase the risk of dying.
Hydroxychloroquine is normally used to treat conditions such as arthritis, while chloroquine is an antimalarial.
What does the new study say?
The authors of the study published Friday in the scientific journal The Lancet stressed that both drugs had no effect in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.Based on data from 96,000 patients in hundreds of hospitals, they concluded that administering them increased the risk of dying.
To do this, they compared the results of four groups: those who were treated only with hydroxychloroquine, only with chloroquine, and two groups that received one of the two combined with antibiotics.
There was also a control group of patients who did not receive any of these treatments. At the end of the study, 9% of these died.
Among those who were treated only with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, 18% and 16.4% died respectively.
With antibiotics, 22.8% of those who received chloroquine and 23.8% of those who took hydroxychloroquine died.
Based on these data, the study authors estimated that with these medications, patients had a 45% higher risk of dying than those who already suffered from some pathologies.
"Chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine treatment does not benefit COVID-19 patients," said Mandeep Mehra, lead author of the study and executive director of the Brigham and Women's Hospital Center for Advanced Heart Disease, in Boston.
"On the contrary, our finding suggests that it may be associated with an increased risk of serious heart problems and an increased risk of death," he said.
Other Clues to Hydroxychloroquine Failures
Several previous studies have already highlighted the lack of benefits of hydroxychloroquine and its possible risks.On May 14, the results of two studies that also ruled out hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 were released.
The first of these, carried out by French researchers, concluded that this chloroquine derivative does not significantly reduce the risk of admission to resuscitation or death in hospitalized patients with pneumonia caused by COVID-19.
According to the second study, conducted by a Chinese team, hydroxychloroquine does not clear the virus faster than standard treatments in hospitalized patients with a "light" or "moderate" form of the disease. Also the side effects are more important.
The authors of the study published Friday in the scientific journal The Lancet stressed that both drugs had no effect in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
Based on data from 96,000 patients in hundreds of hospitals, they concluded that administering them increased the risk of dying.
To do this, they compared the results of four groups: those who were treated only with hydroxychloroquine, only with chloroquine, and two groups that received one of the two combined with antibiotics.
There was also a control group of patients who did not receive any of these treatments. At the end of the study, 9% of these died.
Among those who were treated only with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, 18% and 16.4% died respectively.
With antibiotics, 22.8% of those who received chloroquine and 23.8% of those who took hydroxychloroquine died.
Based on these data, the study authors estimated that with these medications, patients had a 45% higher risk of dying than those who already suffered from some pathologies.
"Chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine treatment does not benefit COVID-19 patients," said Mandeep Mehra, lead author of the study and executive director of the Brigham and Women's Hospital Center for Advanced Heart Disease, in Boston.
"On the contrary, our finding suggests that it may be associated with an increased risk of serious heart problems and an increased risk of death," he said.
Other Clues to Hydroxychloroquine Failures
Several previous studies have already highlighted the lack of benefits of hydroxychloroquine and its possible risks.On May 14, the results of two studies that also ruled out hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 were released.
The first of these, carried out by French researchers, concluded that this chloroquine derivative does not significantly reduce the risk of admission to resuscitation or death in hospitalized patients with pneumonia caused by COVID-19.
According to the second study, conducted by a Chinese team, hydroxychloroquine does not clear the virus faster than standard treatments in hospitalized patients with a "light" or "moderate" form of the disease. Also the side effects are more important.
Taken together, these results do not support the use of hydroxychloroquine as a routine treatment for patients with COVID-19, "the British medical journal BMJ, which publishes both studies, said in a statement.
The first was based on 181 hospitalized adult patients with pneumonia caused by COVID-19, which forced them to administer oxygen. A total of 84 received hydroxychloroquine daily less than two days after being hospitalized, unlike the other 97.
Receiving this treatment did not change anything, either for transfer to resuscitation (76% of patients treated with hydroxychloroquine were on resuscitation after 21 days, compared to 75% in the other group) or in mortality (the Survival rate on day 21 was 89% and 91% respectively).
The second study was based on 150 adults hospitalized in China with mainly "mild" or "moderate" forms of COVID-19. Half received hydroxychloroquine, the other did not.
In this case, whether or not receiving this treatment has changed nothing in the way in which the patients overcome the coronavirus after four weeks. Furthermore, 30% of those who received hydroxychloroquine suffered side effects (usually diarrhea) compared to 9% in patients who had not taken it.
The dangers of Trump and Bolsonaro's statements
US President Donald Trump claimed that he used hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against COVID-19.But already an older couple ended up in the hospital, and one of them died after following Trump's advice, who said last March that chloroquine had been approved, that it was safe and effective. And consequently, they believed they could use chloroquine phosphate, which was used to clean aquariums, as a preventative measure for COVID-19, according to a report by The Intercept .
The man, who was 68 years old, and his wife of 61, drank the substance. In less than 30 minutes they were rushed to a Phoenix area hospital, where the man died and his wife remained in critical care.
While the Brazilian government of Jair Bolsonaro has recommended the two substances to treat patients with mild symptoms of the new coronavirus.
And Britain for its part passed an order for this drug worth $ 42 million.
The controversial French scientist Didier Raoult promotes the use of this medicine in patients at the beginning of the disease, along with an antibiotic, azithromycin.
But on April 3, the International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC) noted that this study "does not meet the expected standard of the Society, especially in relation to the lack of better explanations of the inclusion and classification criteria for patients to guarantee patient safety. "
They were not the only ones to promote that this drug helped coronavirus patients. In social networks, publications have been shared hundreds of times in which they indicated that this drug cures COVID-19. In several of our verifications we noted that hydroxycolloquine was not approved as a treatment against coronavirus.
But until this May 21, there is no specific drug or treatment to treat or prevent COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
On Sunday, March 23, a couple in Arizona heard President Donald Trump say that chloroquine had been approved, that it was safe and effective. And consequently, they believed they could use chloroquine phosphate, which was used to clean aquariums, as a preventative measure for COVID-19, according to a report by The Intercept .
The man, who was 68 years old, and his wife of 61, drank the substance. In less than 30 minutes they were rushed to a Phoenix area hospital, where the man died and his wife remained in critical care.
In interviews for Vaughn Hillyard of NBC News , the surviving woman stated that "they kept saying he was approved for other things and, you know, Trump kept saying it was basically a cure."
"Don't believe anything the president and his people say, because they don't know what they are talking about. And don't take anything, be very careful, and call your doctor. I mean, this is a pain in the heart that I will never get over, "said the woman.
With information from AFP."
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And same day, today from ..... MSN.....
~ From The Washington Post:
Antimalarial Drug Touted By President Trump Is Linked To Increased risk of Death In Coronavirus Patients, Study Says
by, Ariana Eunjung Cha & Laurie McGinley
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I'll be back manana with the stats, in between giving Paris a bathers,etc. More on Trump's lies coming up.....
Y'all stay healthy and take care...
(;