Thursday, June 11, 2020

2 Steps We've Taken to Lower Covid-19 Risk

David J. Dzielak, PhD. and Robert Wise, Esq. submitted this column. Dr. Dzielak is the former Executive Director of the Mississippi Division of Medicaid.

COVID-19 cases in Mississippi continue apace, with well over 200 new cases a day, and Hinds and Madison counties leading the State with the most cases. Fortunately health care workers have improved treatment techniques since the crisis began so that, according to a recent report of a study in the Wall Street Journal, “after adjusting for age and comorbidities, the overall death rate declined by some 40% from March to April.” Still, we are mindful of incidents that make us wary where peer pressure among friends may mean they are not wearing masks: like the funeral in the hamlet of Baldwyn, Mississippi where 100 attended and 9 ended up infected; or Dr. Dobb’s tale of the hand of cards dealt among friends where everyone left the table with the virus.


We are sharing the two moderate steps we have each taken in the belief they could very well lower our risks from the worst aspects of COVID-19 while we await availability of a targeted vaccine. We are professionals in our sixties. David is a PhD, formerly a professor at UMMC and was for six years the Director of Mississippi Medicaid. Robert is a Jackson lawyer and JD.

While these two steps will not stop our becoming infected, they give us more confidence as we each increase our social interactions. Both steps result from our reading recent studies offered by scientific researchers. You should know that these studies have not received peer review yet. Still, we have not waited given our notion of the risks and rewards.

First, we each received the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) Vaccine. We followed the example offered by Jeffrey E. Gold, an independent data researcher of the Atlanta-based nonprofit Our World Organization, by receiving the easily available, existing MMR Vaccine. Jeff Gold like so many people around the world age 50 and older, had not received the MMR Vaccination. The vaccine did not become available as a single round for infants until 50 years ago in 1971; the recommended dosage changed to two rounds (taken 30 days apart for adults) in 1979. Jeff took the two succeeding rounds of the MMR immediately upon concluding from his research of worldwide data that there is a strong break point for death from the virus at age 50. Those age 49 or younger born since the MMR Vaccine became available for young children had a significantly lower incidence of death from COVID-19 than those ages 50 or older born before the vaccine became available. Persons ages 41 and under who would have received both rounds of the MMR had faired even better than those born when the dosage was one round. Jeff’s conclusion that MMR vaccines may have a protective effect is now corroborated by an unreviewed study of neuroscientists at the University of Cambridge.

Second, we have each added the moderate taking of Vitamin D supplements to our daily routine. We are impressed by research showing an association between those suffering the worst effects of COVID-19 and vitamin D deficiencies. A recent publication by Dr. Eamon Laird and Professor Anne Kenney, Trinity College Dublin, suggests an association between Vitamin D deficiency and mortality from COVID-19. Vitamin D supports the immune system’s fight against the virus in addition to aiding bone and muscle health. The study’s authors believe vitamin D regulates the inflammatory cytokine response which causes the worst consequences of COVID-19, including acute respiratory distress syndrome that can come with ventilation and lead to death. The recommendation is “at least 400 IU vitamin D daily.” Further, there is “strongly circumstantial evidence of associations between vitamin D and the severity of COVID-19 responses, including death.” The Irish researchers “call on the Irish government to update guidelines as a matter of urgency and encourage all adults to take supplements during the COVID-19 crisis.” We are heeding their recommendation with daily D3 supplements.

Getting the MMR is easy enough if you know where to go. The MMR is available at TrustCare just off Old Colony Parkway in Ridgeland. No appointment required; little wait; no copay; no questions; just stick out your arm and here it is. Oh, and come back in 30 days for the booster. By Contrast Walgreens said they ceased giving vaccinations because of social distancing; CVS said they were out.

David notes that according to the Cambridge investigators looking at the effect of the MMR vaccine, the pointy spike proteins on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are known as class 1 viral membrane fusion proteins. The virus uses these structures to attach to human cells to begin the process of infection. The spike proteins have structural similarities to the fusion proteins of both the measles and mumps viruses. In fact, there is a 29 percent similarity. These same surface structures are present on the Rubella virus used in making the MMR vaccine. When an individual receives an MMR vaccination the body begins to make antibodies against the MMR viruses which then protects the individual from getting those infections.

The Cambridge researchers discovered that patients with COVID-19 responded to a diagnostic test for Rubella antibodies as though they had an active Rubella infection instead of their COVID-19 infection. In addition, the greater the severity of the COVID-19 infection, the greater the response to the Rubella antibody test. This suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be targeted at least partially by an antibody raised against Rubella.

As David notes, this does not mean that the presence of Rubella antibodies will protect an individual from getting COVID-19. However, it suggests that pre-existing Rubella antibodies created by receiving a Rubella vaccination may arm the immune system with a potentially effective weapon to lessen the severity of the COVID-19 disease. This is not a panacea but a potential stopgap measure to lessen the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 until a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 is developed and deployed.

Robert reported earlier in the Northside Sun and in JJ on Jeff Gold’s data study suggesting a correlation between persons receiving the MMR and a reduced COVID-19 death rate. Jeff’s statistics show a worldwide break in mortality outcomes from COVID-19 at age 50, comparing those who have had or not had the MMR. Further, Jeff's research shows outcomes were far better in country after country that had extended MMR inoculations, compared to the US or Europe where few over age 50 have received the MMR Vaccine. Jeff’s data are verified by his co-investigators. We are impressed by Jeff’s examples from around the world including:


Hong Kong: Jeff’s study notes Hong Kong is nearly the size of New York City, has the fourth densest population on the planet, and as late as January had crowded street demonstrations. Hong Kong instituted a mass immunization “catch-up” campaign to extend MMR coverage through age 19 and to many adults, especially healthcare, airport, and domestic workers. Despite proximity 563 miles away to the epicenter of the pandemic in Wuhan, China, just four have died in Hong Kong from COVID-19 while New York City has experienced in the same period over 20,000 confirmed or suspected deaths from COVID-19.

South Korea: In response to a large measles outbreak South Korea vaccinated much of its population. South Korea has a mandatory military for all young males. All military recruits in the country are now vaccinated with the MMR. South Korea has had a low incidence of death from COVID-19: just one in South Korea dying for every 4678 people versus the US with one dying in every 225 people according to the New York Times COVID-19 Tracker.

The USS Roosevelt: The USS Roosevelt stopped for a port of call in Vietnam and then set out to sea where an outbreak started. Onboard 1102 tested positive for COVID-19 including its Captain, Brett Crozier. The US military had given all recruits the MMR upon entry regardless of their vaccination histories. For many young sailors that was a double dose. So far only one death, no one currently in ICU, and only seven hospitalized instead of the 100 one would expect from CDC data. Gold reports: “The hospitalization rate for those on the USS Roosevelt appears to be around 20 times lower than that for the general population of COVID-19 positive people in the same age range.”

Madagascar: A country of 27.5 million, Madagascar vaccinated over a quarter of its population with the MMR in 2019 in addition to anyone previously vaccinated. Tally: zero (0) deaths from COVID-19, one of the few countries with no COVID-19 deaths.

The contrast is Belgium which has the highest COVID-19 death rate per capita in the world. Belgium did not even offer the MMR vaccine until 1985 and did not increase dosage to two rounds until 1995. Belgium is half again the size of Hong Kong but has had 9005 COVID-19 deaths in the latest New York Times tally to Hong Kong’s four deaths.

We remain expectant that researchers can come up with a targeted vaccine. Yet that is a bit like entering the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes: we can dwell on our hope for the blessed day, but not knowing when it will arrive, and wanting to lessen our chances of ending up, well, rather dead or compromised, we feel we should do what we actually can do right now We can say taking these two easy steps has given each of us more confidence as we increase our contacts with our friends, family and fellow workers.

24 comments:

Three Years Chapped Ass Experience With Medicaid said...

I don't personally know the Doctor who was Director of Division of Medicaid; however, if the management and supervisory staff members he retained during his tenure there is an example of his professionalism, I would not give his writing any credibility at all. On the other hand, he might have been totally disinterested and simply asleep at the wheel while at Medicaid.

Anonymous said...

Blah, blah, blah.....

Anonymous said...

We're getting closer to the end of the world. Quite a ways off, but getting closer. Stay locked up and fattened up my fleecy little sheep.

Anonymous said...

Do we really need another lawyer giving “expert” medical advice? Of course, maybe he specialized in pandemics in law school.

Anonymous said...

I have noticed that for men, the less hair you have the more likely you are to get COVID. So I am using Rogaine now.

Babies and children don't seem to die from COVID. So I am eating Gerbers baby food now.

Since teenagers don't get COVID, I have started to have exploratory sex with all my close friends.

Since those in their twenties don't die of COVID, I have started to party a lot, drink tons of beer, and swim naked in random swimming pools.

Since school aged children don't die of COVID, I am now no longer working and instead I am texting all day and attending to my Instagram and Facebook.

Since PhDs in one field follow the medical advice of lawyers, I am now listening to Morgan and Morgan commercials for hot to treat my prostate.

Since lawyers now offer medical advice on blogs, I am now turning to Richard Schwartz on when to use a laxative.

Albert Schweitzer M.D. said...


Grat5uituous advise from the wrong kind of "doctors". A doctor of aromatherapy would be just as good.

Though written with an excess of cute (the HAMLET of Baldwin?? Since when did Mississippi have hamlets?) it really gives nothing new.

Until an effective vaccine arrives here are the things that have been observed as working better than nothing.
1. Monty Python strategy: "run away, run away, run away". Works for every infective disease from the plague to leprosy to AIDS. The idea is to not expose yourself; social distancing plus.
2. Hydroxychloroquine. Seems to work; supplies now dried up and to get from a pharmacy must have an ICD9 code.
3. Zinc supplements do seem to have some success in combatting some covid viri of this family. Oddly enough, it seems that zinc is necessary for the virus to function but if a higher concentration is found, it overloads the viral receptors and keeps it from working. One benefit is that zinc is fairly harmless, take too much and generate expensive urine.
4. Vitamin D seems to help in some ways, but this is on a proof level along with smoking, which seems to have about the success. But for heavens sake, if you decide to smoke, smoke cigars or a pipe and not cigarettes. While cigars and pipe smoking have some risks, they are several factors more safe than cigarettes.
5. Vitamin C. Linus Pauling, where are you? Like zinc and vitamin D, questionable benefit but fairly harmless.

So be healthy out there. And careful in listening to experts, most of whom have been wrong. But better listening to an MD tha a PhD and JD.

And stay funny. Stacey Abrams driving through Georgia was lost and went into a country store and asked "how do I get to 285?" They laughed and said: "Diet and exercise"


Anonymous said...

Did they get a bruise patting themselves on the back?

Anonymous said...

Interesting.

Anonymous said...

8:27 I've been listening to The WHO "We won't get fooled again "ever since the US broke ties with WHO. The line “we’ll be fighting in the streets, With our children at our feet.” Has never been more relevant than right now.

Albert Schweitzer M.D. said...


Addendum: In the above post I left out what seems to be the second most important strategy after Monty Python.
Hand washing
And for all, and especially all the nonbelievers, the recommended time for hand washing with soap, is 20 seconds, the time it takes to recite the Lord's Prayer.

Stay safe, stay healthy; diet and exercise.

Anonymous said...

A medical advice column by a PhD (not an MD) and a lawyer (also not an MD) is similar to pontifications by Gomer and Goober Pyle.

Anonymous said...

A lot of snarky comments by people with even less relevant experience and education than the authors. The link with Vitamin D has already been documented, and there are very similar findings with the population in American Sumoa and the correlation with MMR vaccinations. It doesn't take an MD to analyze data and draw conclusions.

Anonymous said...

Great job, gentlemen. We need to move the discussion forward into the 21st Century on how to beat this. I don't want to be a Bubble Boy. Those who are quick to dismiss simple safeguards maybe should return to their neighborhood Cracker Barrel with their camo facemasks on!!!

Anonymous said...

Even a MS State grad could agree with this...

Anonymous said...

Perhaps those who disagree with the MMR vaccine should stay in their trailers until COVID-19 passes.

Anonymous said...

Very thoughtful article. Thank you, Mr. Wise and Dr. Dzaseliejk (close enough).

Anonymous said...

I used to come here everyday.. Covid 19 has made me sick of news related to covid 19. I don't come here as much and am getting tired of when I do come there's still covid 19 stuff.

Anonymous said...

"A medical advice column by a PhD (not an MD) and a lawyer (also not an MD) is similar to pontifications by Gomer and Goober Pyle."

Trolling aside, a couple of points:

1. Virologists can be MDs, PhDs, or dual-tracks (both). The PhD track actually spends more time in school/research than the MD track (which requires the two-year general med-ed). Many of the scientists that are knowledgeable and experienced in virology, epidemiology, etc. and are working to help solve this problem are not MDs. As far as I know (and I may be wrong) Dzielak isn't a virologist, his background is cardiology, but it is in a medical field. In other words, he isn't a PhD in medieval French lit or similar. I don't anything at all about Wise, but I would generally agree that lawyers aren't medical professionals and MDs and "medical science" PhDs aren't legal professionals. I would also agree that getting highly technical advice from someone with no education or experience in that field probably isn't the best idea as a general plan.

2. From what I read, neither of them are offering any medical information that they claim is a result of their own research or expertise. They are writing about what they are doing and explaining the research and data that shaped their reasoning. In other words and in broad terms, they aren't giving "medical advice," they are, at most, passing along the "medical advice" given by others, but more accurately, they are relaying data in support of their own reasoning.

Anonymous said...

Behind every great article is a great author, and behind every great author is a very beautiful woman.

Anonymous said...

Not to conflate two separate streams of thought but Zinc and Vitamin D are supposed to increase the efficiency of Hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients. Oops I said the H word.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Ajay K. Sethi, an infectious disease epidemiologist and associate professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, cautioned that there is no evidence Gold and his co-investigators “used a scientific approach to test their hypothesis that ‘different exposure to vaccines between younger and older people may account for this different morbidity rate [in COVID-19].’”

According to Sethi, some red flags in the report include that the study design is not provided and the authors do not cite relevant research that led to their hypothesis. There’s also no statistical tests to determine if the findings are due to chance.

Etc etc.

I wish this blog would not post unproven wishful thinking or downright disinformation about Covid.

Anonymous said...

David J. Dzielak???? You mean that former grant writer at UMMC who agreed to be Phil’s yes-man at Medicaid. He was a do nothing at UMMC and was a do nothing Medicaid director who l we nothing about healthcare.

Anonymous said...

Vitamin D shouldn't be taken without blood work first, as too much can cause serious heart conditions.

You can receive vitamin D safely through food, such as spinach, avocado, and bananas.

Correction: @8:19 AM said...

RE: 8:19 AM - that was my post and I had a senior moment. It was Potassium (vitamin K) to which I meant to refer, not D.

Please disregard. My apologies.


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