Brief Rant About Armchair Epidemiologists

Someone on Twitter wisely noted that they were amazed at how all his constitutional scholar friends are now experts in epidemiology and immunology.

Truly fascinating, right?

Today's brief rant is a side burn toward those among us who speak like they are experts on COVID-19, quoting unnamed sources that taking chloroquine is either (a) safe or (b) effective as either a prophylactic or treatment for novel coronavirus.

Their "expertise" is really based on something they made up, something they heard, or from the nominal President of the United States who lies repeatedly during his daily propaganda tirades.

I've seen these ignoramuses on private message boards and public social media. What they propose is dangerous and should be ignored. Common sense says to favor the advice of the medical professionals.

What's even worse is the doctors who are just throwing a cocktail of azithromycin, an antibiotic, with chloroquine at patients in hopes of preventing COVID-19 or helping those already infected. Here's an article about why that's not a good idea:

https://www.biospace.com/article/hydroxychloroquine-and-z-pak-may-be-effective-treatment-for-covid-19/

There is one report of a doctor administering this cocktail to a nursing home full of elderly and mostly frail residents in hopes of warding off the disease. Instead, it caused such detrimental effects, it had to be discontinued.

Even the CDC is stressing that there is no known treatment for novel coronavirus right now. Believe them, believe the WHO (even though Trump made the asinine decision to cut their funding), believe the medical researchers who are working day and night to solve the riddle of this pandemic--but don't believe morons like the Fox News talking heads and the non-medical personnel in the White House, including the orange-tinged megalomaniacal troglodyte that is currently soiling the Oval Office.

Yours in ranting,

Michael

Saving Doctor Fauci - A Rant

By now, everyone (even those outside of the U.S.) know who Doctor Anthony Fauci is. In case you don't, though, he is a noted American immunologist and a key figure on the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Click on the link to see his entire CV.

In the daily press conferences held by the team, Fauci is often one of the key speakers, often answering reporters' questions in frank, clear, and concise terms. In addition, he's appeared on multiple TV, radio talk shows, and podcasts as well as magazine articles on- and off-line.

In short, he is truly a beacon of reality that shines past Trump's propaganda nonsense during these long sessions.

Since Fauci's arrival on the scene, he's gotten a whole lot of attention, all of it well-deserved. He's a modest man and when his praises are sung, he quickly redirects the attention to the pandemic and dealing with it.

And yet, Trump, the narcissist, has expressed in private his dismay that Fauci is stealing his (Trump's) limelight. Not only that but today on Twitter, there's a trending topic called #FireFauci. Obviously, this is a hashtag created and amplified by Russian trollbots, QAnon hacks, and malignant MAGAts in order to pressure Trump to get rid of him.

Mark my words: if Trump heeds this push, we are all up shit creek without a paddle because Fauci is the singular voice of sanity in a sea of sewage. If he goes, we all go.

So the next time you hear someone grumbling about Fauci, ask him or her why? Is it that they don't like bad news? Are they immunologists and know better than him? Are they just sick of sitting at home and blame him for their angst?

Whatever it is, ignorance needs to be attacked and destroyed before it kills us all.