Internist| Germ Fighter| Life is a series of hashtags interrupted by rare moments of enlightenment.
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Jan 21, 2023 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Anyone else surprised to see debates still raging on which exclusive strategy will solve the worst PH crisis in 100 yrs? Dichotomizing this a big reason why we're here & why we risk prolonging unnecessary hardship. Short memory = #LongCovid 1/
Of course we are not going to "_____" our way out of this, whether it's (solely) vaccines/masking/ventilating spaces/therapeutics. I don't know of any credible science/evidence to support this oversimplified dogma. "All or none" was never the best plan. 2/
Jul 3, 2022 • 19 tweets • 5 min read
Let's be real. Whether you invoke the "with" vs "for" #Covid19 debate is besides the point. Hospital ERs weren't closing with this kind of regularity pre-pandemic. The burden of care has changed. Denying it will make things far worse. 1/
When patients either present with or acquire it in hospital, outcomes are often worse. As an internist, I see frail, elderly patients admitted w/ dehydration or a serious fall. They didn't just "happen" to have Covid too. It has actual implications. 2/
May 10, 2022 • 25 tweets • 8 min read
It's March 790, 2020. TL; DR. I'm leaving the #Covid19 ward again wondering why, how & if we will look forward to a day when we can (confidently) say "it'll be better next year". A 🧵 on what a "new normal" is & when it might happen. 1/
First a look back on the history of major pandemics. Even w/ a fraction of our present day resources in medicine & health infrastructure, the flu pandemic of 1918 had its share of similarities to this one because, well - humans are humans. 2/
Feb 16, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
🧵on easing #Covid19 restrictions when Omicron appears to be exiting in many parts of Canada but the pandemic has not. Time to pool our efforts & invest honestly towards sustainable safety, minimal disruption/collateral damage. 1/
Ontario Sci Table data showing lots of positive trends right now. Wastewater signal, hospitalizations, ICU admission, deaths, all on the decline. But a trend is just that. Right direction. Not the finish line. Trends change & 5 waves are proof of that. 2/
Aug 1, 2021 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
In simplest terms, we are counting our chickens before they hatch. Again. Difference is, this time, we may be at risk of losing the whole damn coop. You don't need an epi or immunology degree to figure it out. Just a little common sense. 1/
Variants have evolved more rapidly, w/ greater virulence, transmissibility since pandemic onset:
- Jan '20 D614G (⬆️spread, same virulence, very vax susceptible)
- we were lulled into complacency that mutations would be bested by vaccines. 2/
Jun 9, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Want to know something? Some of my dearest, trusted colleagues, the ones I confide in in my moments of greatest distress, the ones with whom I share the best camaraderie & have the most in common...are Jewish. They embody the essence of the word "mensch" 1/
When I trained many years ago at (what was) Mt Sinai Hospital as a medical resident, many patients thought I was Jewish. At first glance, I looked it. After a few of my silly jabs in Yiddish, even I wondered if I was Abdu or Avram? 😉 2/
