Robert Lufkin MD

Asymptomatic #COVID19 transmission is a reality. 23 days after the first positive test result in a resident at this skilled nursing facility, 57 of 89 residents (64%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Until widespread testing, assume everyone is positive. https://bit.ly/3cLSySV https://www.instagram.com/p/B_f7vL9FbMB/?igshid=b4c84diuqh9v

Happy Birthday Coretta Scott King (April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006)! American author, activist, civil rights leader, and the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. She was a leader for the Civil rights movement in the 1960s. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_feuQglg98/?igshid=3qaap9l9ft3y

Happy Birthday Erminnie Adele Platt (April 26, 1836– June 9, 1886)! Geologist and an anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology. Called the "first woman field enthnographer" & elected the first female member of the New York Academy of Sciences. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_fXWCHls8v/?igshid=11h22wele0bg3

Changing definitions may have underestimated China #COVID19 numbers as of February 20 from 55,508 confirmed cases to 232,000 cases. The total number infected is likely to be even higher because mild & asymptomatic cases were not tested. https://bit.ly/3eRZcZC https://www.instagram.com/p/B_aU6WbFZn2/?igshid=17k8pqes81y09

Spread of #COVID19 in an office space with positive cases in blue. For this floor, the attack rate was as high as 43.5%. Office, restaurant, and movie theatre seating may likely be different in a post COVID19 world, at least until a vaccine. https://bit.ly/2XZESjb https://www.instagram.com/p/B_YUsTjFPK2/?igshid=1eibv3xdigayy

If I ever wonder if the local stay at home orders in my neighborhood might be overkill, I just look at the daily positive #COVID19 tests from today [in red] for medical providers in my community mapped by location and I don't feel as much like going out. https://bit.ly/3eLfbIO https://www.instagram.com/p/B_YRKVrFPsw/?igshid=g7uqh8mrjkz2

Happy Birthday Madge Easton Anderson (24 April 1896 - 1982)! Scottish lawyer. She was the first woman admitted to practice as a professional lawyer in the UK when, in 1920, she qualified as a solicitor in Scotland. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Xk4orlM2k/?igshid=43n7317jqwrq

For good political advice don’t go to a physician. For good medical advice don’t go to a politician. I won't advise you on who to vote for, but I will strongly advise you not to inject yourself with bleach to fight #COVID19. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Xi9MolRjE/?igshid=duod16tae0tw

Apple & Google’s new #COVID19 contact tracking technology will be released to developers April 28th, weeks before initially promised. It will be inline with EU privacy laws, by being anonymous, voluntary, transparent, temporary, secure & interoperable. https://tcrn.ch/2S3tmzn https://www.instagram.com/p/B_VtCA1lyHp/?igshid=9jlvj0ubal90

California hospitals will be allowed to resume non-emergency surgeries in the first significant loosening in the state’s stay-at-home order from Gov. Gavin Newsom to slow the spread of #COVID19. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Vl5X4Fmfp/?igshid=1xni4ifczb7j8

Think vaccines are just for infections? This one prevents #cancer. The ambitious WHO [yes that one] plan to eliminate one of the most common cancers in women by 2030 by using a vaccine. That is, of course, unless the antivaccination movement prevents it. https://go.nature.com/2XYw9Ob https://www.instagram.com/p/B_VR-H3FosG/?igshid=1vua5902sgb5f

Happy Birthday Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, DBE (22 April 1858 – 8 May 1944)! English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_VEM9SllVt/?igshid=ggb69emed5kt

Evidence that saliva may be just as effective as [more difficult] 'nasal' swabs for #COVID19 testing [preprint]. Easier to spit into a cup than swabbing the nasopharynx & safer for medical personnel to administer [or can even be done at home by patient]. https://bit.ly/3btfsOQ https://www.instagram.com/p/B_TA6PKFxjt/?igshid=a36qk3fnzx5s

New CDC results show two Californians died of #COVID19 in Feb [6 and 17]. The previously known first death was on Feb 29 in Kirkland, WA. "That means there was community spread happening in California as early as mid-January, if not earlier than that." https://cnn.it/2zntXFH https://www.instagram.com/p/B_SvWdQFZ23/?igshid=42fsnyyju1sq

Long term space flight results in increased brain and CSF volume on MRI which persists up to 1 yr and may be permanent. Microgravity effects on CSF dynamics is suspected. https://bit.ly/2KsuCYx https://www.instagram.com/p/B_SsqSgF7du/?igshid=bqmm8302um5g

Happy Birthday Rita Montalcini (22 April 1909 – 30 December 2012)! Italian Nobel laureate, honored for her work in neurobiology. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF). https://www.instagram.com/p/B_SZPfkFALu/?igshid=7xy9ec10b7bh

Happy Birthday Geertruida Wijsmuller-Meijer (21 April 1896, Alkmaar – 30 August 1978)! Dutch resistance fighter who brought Jewish children & adults into safety before and during the Second World War. She was honored as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_QExxFFyOE/?igshid=mqz38dt8oc85