COVID CORNER
More crazy cures, further online blunders and the horror of India’s ‘black fungus’
MASKED ANTI-MASKERS
The ever-evolving world of antivaccine/anti-mask/Covid denial conspiracy theories has now come almost full circle. As more and more people are vaccinated there are now concerns among antivaccine groups that individuals could be at risk from ‘vaccine shedding’, which proposes that those who have had their shots will now be shedding Covid virus spike proteins that will cause irregular menstruation, infertility and miscarriages. These concerns are completely without scientific validity and are based on a misunderstanding both of how vaccines work and of the interaction between viral proteins and fertility, and derive from the belief that Covid-19 is an engineered pandemic intended to depopulate the world and that the vaccine is part of this process. Either that, or that the virus was a hoax designed to get us to submit to vaccination with dangerous fertilitydestroying substances. Due to this fear of contamination by shed proteins, conspiracy groups who were previously defiantly opposed to social distancing are now contemplating advocating it to keep themselves ‘safe’. Likewise, some anti-mask advocates are suggesting their use to defend against the inhalation of these non-existent shed proteins – although some are pointing out that these will go through masks “just like the virus”, a claim also unsupported by evidence. Vice, 11 May 2021.
MASKED LAMB
At the height of the latest lockdown, farmer Robert Hudson was surprised by a lamb born on his farm in Bedale, North Yorkshire, with a black mark on its face that was a perfect simulacrum of a facemask. Of the Lleyn lamb, Hudson said “They occasionally produce a random black mark, but I have never seen one like this before – the fact that it occurred during a global pandemic where everyone is wearing masks is pretty unbelievable.” D.Mirror, D.Mail, 3 April 2021.
INDIAN COVID “CURES”
With the focus of the pandemic now centring on India, a variety of bizarre new cures has emerged from the subcontinent. US Customs agents at Washington Dulles airport confiscated two cow dung cakes from a passenger arriving from India that were intended for use as a cure for Covid infections. Doctors in India are issuing warnings that cow dung is not an effective Covid treatment. Dr JA Jayalal, President of the Indian Medical Association, said: “There is no concrete scientific evidence that cow dung or urine works to boost immunity against COVID-19, it is entirely based on belief.” Indian authorities have also reacted swiftly to the arrival of the claim that Covid is caused by 5G signals by pointing out that, as yet, India has no 5G network.
Elsewhere, an Indian advert that went viral on Twitter advocated the use of numerology to banish Covid. It said: “If you use the changed spelling of CARONAA and COVVIYD-19 by affixing the same to either door or in public places or by tying the banner in all public places CARONAA will disappear from not only from Ananthapuram dist, but also the world. This is guarantee as it is divine power as per NUMEROLOGY”. The ad’s originator, SV Annanadd Rao, who claimed to be a stenographer in the local judicial department, seems to have added letters to his name for numerological benefit as well. BoingBoing.net 11 May; Indian Express, 14 May 2021.
BLACK FUNGUS
Rather more seriously, the second wave of Covid cases in India has also led to an increase in mucormycosis, a normally rare fungal infection. The disease has surged among Indian Covid patients in recent months – there have been 7,200 cases so far this year and 219 deaths, all in Covid patients, with victims contracting the infection between 12 and 15 days after recovering from the coronavirus. Reports of a massive increase in mucormycosis have come from Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Pune; five states, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Telangana, have declared an epidemic, and more are expected to follow. Special black fungus wards have now been set up in the large government hospitals to deal with the threat.
The infection is caused by mucor, a mould that is common in soil, plants, manure and rotting fruits and vegetables. Spores
can be found in the mucous of healthy people, but it does not normally grow in humans. When it does take hold, it is usually in diabetic or severely immunocompromised patients, such as those with HIV/AIDS or advanced cancer. It then grows aggressively, affecting the nose, eyes, and brain. Overall mortality from mucormycosis infection can be as high as 50 per cent. Many of the Indian cases have been in Covid patients who were also diabetic, and doctors suspect the infection may be triggered by the use of steroids. Steroids are frequently used with Covid patients as they reduce inflammation in the lungs and help minimise the damage caused if a patient’s immune system goes into overdrive in what is known as a cytokine storm. They also reduce the strength of the immune system and increase the levels of blood sugar, which is dangerous for diabetics. Dr Akshay Nair, a Mumbai-based surgeon who has operated on several mucormycosis patients, says: “Diabetes lowers the body’s immune defences, coronavirus exacerbates it, and then steroids which help fight Covid-19 add fuel to the fire,” giving the fungus an opportunity to infect the body. Not all mucormycosis patients have been diabetic though.
Doctors are surprised by the severity and the frequency of infections in India’s second wave compared to the first – Dr
Nair said he had come across no more than 10 cases in the last two years, but “this year is something different”, while Dr Raghuraj Hegde, an eye surgeon in Mumbai, said he had seen 19 patients in two weeks, some of whom were so ill that he could not operate on them. The only way to deal with mucormycosis is to operate to remove the infected tissue, then give the patient an intensive course of antifungal drugs. Many patients have lost eyes as a result of attempts to stop the infection reaching the brain and, in some cases, the jawbone has had to be removed to halt the fungus’s spread. BBC News, 9 May 2021.
ZOOM DISASTERS
Even after more than a year of conducting meetings via Zoom and similar apps, some people have still not quite got the hang of the technology. Canadian MP William Amos only had his modesty preserved by the phone he was holding when he took off his jogging clothes to change for a meeting, unaware that the video feed to fellow Members of Parliament was already on. He claimed his embarrassing mishap was “an honest mistake” and promised it would not happen again. Fellow MP Claude DeBellefeuille suggested: “It might be necessary to remind members, especially male ones, that a tie and jacket are obligatory.”
No such excuse was possible for Ohio senator Andrew Brenner, who took part in a Zoom call while at the wheel on the very day his state began a crackdown on ‘distracted driving’. He had changed the background to a picture of the inside of a house so that it would appear he was calling from home, but he was rumbled by other participants who wondered why he might need a seatbelt if that were the case. They also caught glimpses of the road behind him and saw him turn his head as he changed lanes. D.Telegraph, 16 April; Guardian, 8 May 2021.
CRYING OFF
For the second year running, the annual British Town Crier Championships have been cancelled due to Covid. Normally the event sees hundreds of town criers from across the UK gather to yell their traditional “Oyez, oyez” call and deliver a pithy news summary. There were plans for contestants to compete via video, but some found it difficult to make good quality recordings, so instead this year’s contest is going to be totally silent. Participants now need to submit a written version of their shouts – a maximum of 140 words on the subject of nature and the environment – for consideration. Current champion Alistair Chisholm said: “The composition side of the town crying is a skill in itself, so it is a good alternative way of judging a competition.” Sun, 21 April 2021.