Infections, swabs, serological tests, fears, risks and useful advice. The Start Magazine interview with Ivano Hammarberg Ferri, doctor, surgeon, oncologist, expert in integration for the support of the cancer patient, pain and chronic degenerative pathology therapist
The numbers of infections go back. We must be afraid
The numbers of infections are enough to get a picture of the situation
What are the numbers to look at to understand what is happening
Start Magazine asked Ivano Hammarberg Ferri, doctor, surgeon, oncologist, expert in integration for the support of the cancer patient , pain and chronic degenerative pathology therapist. You argue that next to the number of infected people, the number of sick people should be communicated. Because
Knowing the number of “positive or negative swabs” is only part of a piece of information that in my opinion should be more complete. That is,
knowing that the contagion continues, that the virus has never ceased its activity, must stimulate the people to have a sense of responsibility towards themselves and others, but knowing the number of positive swabs that are sick also allows you to avoid a unjustified fear that undermines daily life and health. The people must be informed, made aware, empowered and supported, not frightened. The most relevant data would be the number of intensive therapies
. No! Here too, in my opinion, an error is made, the same as above, partial information that generates confusion. What do you need then
I mean, knowing the total number of infected people, the fraction of them that is ill, and being able to combine this number with the admissions to intensive care, from a clearer picture of the situation. Because
First of all it is understood that the risk of ending up in an intensive care unit, although very low, for now, persists, but it is also understood that the measures taken so far to protect us have had an effect and that the growing knowledge of this virus and he taught us to heal sick people immediately and better, drastically reducing hospitalizations in intensive care. He thinks the newspapers – based on official data – are indulging in alarmism
I think that information is a profession, a mission, which requires ethics and seriousness, and a balance, in addition to good taste, which I have seen lacking in more cases. What does it mean
The speech is too broad, we know that a newspaper must sell, we know that the donkey sticks where the owner says, we know that we do not know the whole world that “regulates” the life of newspapers, we know that politics is reflected and is expressed through them, and that making philosophical speeches is of little use, but I would like information that is less sensational and more balanced. You are an advocate of targeted, non-carpet swabs. She does not believe that in this way only part of the infected will be identified, sending the other (if asymptomatic) around to infect
Initially I thought it useful to test only symptomatic patients, to distinguish those infected with Sars Cov 2 from those suffering from flu and parainfluenza syndrome, because this differential diagnosis, in the face of similar and overlapping symptoms, must be done by a doctor. And then
Today I’m not necessarily against screening the whole population but I think that when you test a person, his result must direct you to make decisions. A doctor does tests, diagnoses and then sets up therapy. The question we could ask ourselves is what the Government and Governments project is, because it does not only concern us in Italy. What to do then
Let us return to the question of mass buffers: yes or no
If we discover that 20 million Italians including you and me are positive, we put them all in quarantine
I want to give you a pretty good example: the flu syndrome, if I remember the data correctly, affects between 5 and 8 million Italians in Italy every winter. , these are those who get sick, but how many millions of Italians come into contact with the flu virus or viruses and develop an immune defense without getting sick
Most of the population, a few tens of millions of Italians. If we tested these citizens, they would all be “positive swabs”. He understands
This is why I ask in my posts: “How many positive swabs are sick and how many are healthy
“With this I am not saying that Covid 19 is a” trivial “disease, in some clearly it and, in others it has created devastation and death, but for the mode of contagion I think the comparison is acceptable. In a post on Facebook he talks about a regime “built on fear, ignorance, imposition and the inability of those who suffer to defend themselves”. Ie
This is a very sensitive issue. My opinion after a couple of months of lockdown, to which I was in favor, just look at the posts, suffering and intolerant but favorable, was that in an initial phase the Governments would have looked to save lives, but that they would have looked at later to save the economy of the countries. So what does it mean with those words
In my post I complain, as in others, that I felt crushed, commanded, unprotected. even instead of being in a country that should have allocated money to help the people, I found myself in a country that was asking the people for money. Because he chose and used those words
She asks me why the words regime, oppression, ignorance, etc, she and a journalist, should know the power of verbal, written, bodily language and the art of communication and its strategies. Phrases such as “… we will go to look for them and find them in homes and take them to special centers …” … “to those who refuse treatment we will do the TSO and there is a prison ready” … “science is not democratic” …. . ”We will find a way to neutralize you”… .and many others that I save you do not seem like regime phrases
We want to talk about the Sheriff governors.
I wonder if your question is such or even a provocation! What advice would you give to the government and the Ministry of Health
I am not in a position to give advice to the government or the ministry of health but I gladly share a couple of thoughts. Which
We are faced with a virus that has brought the planet to its knees, which could disappear or regain virulence, for the respect of the population, for the respect of the dead, for the respect of all the frail, the sick, of all those who could not be cured. , saved, helped, it would be the case that they stopped doing politics and joined forces to protect and help the people. It would be a manifestation of human, intellectual, spiritual depth, to forget, during a pandemic, the political alignments and to make a common front to tackle a serious problem. The people, the citizens, the people, need guidance, help, support, not speeches and gossip. Politics is not the cure for the virus, but correct prevention and therapy, and medicine must not be politicized.What do you think of serological tests
It is (in) useful to do them
Serological tests make sense, perhaps, if associated with swabs, lymphocyte typing and clinical examination. The serological test can highlight the movements of IgM and IgG, but even here there can be false positives and negatives, and also subjects like me, who make few antibodies, are not evaluable. What science says about it
A recent study by Karolinska on 200 people shows that even in the face of a poor antibody response there can be a good cell-mediated response, ie the usefulness of a lymphocyte panel. In the study, however, they make it clear that they do not know if this guarantees complete immunity and for how long if so. In a nutshell, at present, no test in use gives us certainty, but a screening with more exams and medical examination can give more useful information. What is the validity of the epidemiological investigation launched by the Government?
All epidemiological analyzes have an importance and a value in relation to the objectives set and the observance of the observation times. You downloaded the Immune
And Why app
No, because I do not agree with this method of managing the contagion problem. I would like to focus on another aspect. Which
After all these welcome questions, if you allow, I would like to remind everyone that we have already had pandemics in the past, we have overcome them thanks to two main elements: prevention and treatment. Prevention depends on the responsibility of each person, for treatments I hope that medicine will find even more effective ones. While waiting for all this, we take care of health, we take care of nutrition, physical activity, rest, passions, and we stimulate our immune system to better face the time to come.
